Sermon Tone Analysis

What is Biblical Faith?

Faith is not the opposite of Evidence

Mormons believe the resurrected Jesus came to America - there is no evidence of this, and only evidence against it.

Yet, by faith Mormons believe this to be true.

What they are calling faith, is not the biblical definition of faith.

Not a leap in the dark

Faith is not a leap in the dark

Many think true faith means doing something that makes no sense, trusting God will provide.

Faith is not the Opposite of good works

Many hold faith and works against each other...

We are saved by faith, not by works

Works can never save you, only faith can save you.

good works ends up playing a strange role of being both friend and foe.

Good works are good, because God wants us to do them, but they can’t save you, they don’t please God, only faith can do that...

Faith is not an “its all good” attitude.

When life’s circumstances become challenging,

the kids just got kicked out of school

Your financial investments are plummeting

You have been diagnosed with a cancer

Your husband just lost his job

And your best friend has just violated your trust in a way that may not be restored

When life happens, faith is not an attitude of, “its all good” God will take care of me.

We often think to be men and women of faith we should respond like this, however, that is not the biblical model of faith.

Faith is not a belief in the right thing

In the early church there was some deviant groups of men and women who believed that you could be saved by knowing the right things, believing certain doctrines to be true.

These groups that thought that salvation came through believing, intellectually agree with, right doctrine were called the gnostics.

the gnostics thought their salvation was dependent upon them gaining some sort of knowledge before they died, and if they did so they would be able to escape the wickedness of the physical world and join God in the spiritual world of heaven.

Gnosticism has reinvented itself in every phase of the church and is alive and well today.

I can say with confidence that each and everyone one of us struggles with gnostic tendencies in our theology.

It is a very popular thought that we receive salvation by knowledge.

We intellectually believe the right things in order to be saved.

If I intellectually believe the fact that Jesus died for my sins I can be saved.

If I can convince myself that the gospel is true than I am saved.

Yet, this is not biblical faith.

We tend to read the stories of the bible and look at the heroes of the faith and think that their salvation was based on what they believed about God.

Yet this is not true.

Abraham was justified by works, and not by faith alone.

Moses was justified by works, and not by faith alone.

Rahab was justified by works, and not by faith alone.

It sounds provocative, yet this is what James says.

So then the question is, are we going to believe what the bible tells us?

Or, are we going to continue thinking about faith in a way that is unbiblical?

So we need to ask the question

What is Biblical Faith?

How should we understand faith?

For many you were taught that faith is nothing more than agreeing with God.

For many think faith is positive thinking

Faith Without Works is Dead

James chapter 2:14-26 is a very helpful passage that

14-

Here James is asking two very honest questions:

What good is it if someone “says” he has faith but does not have works?

Is a good for someone to say that have faith but have no works?

We see this all the time

Award Cerimonies

celebrity interviews

Is this sort of declaration of faith a good thing if they have no works to go along with it?

Is it good for a president to say they have faith but show no works that are in keep with that faith?

James asks this question in the rhetorical sense, the answer is no.

It is not good.

Why is it not good?

confusion

testimony (pharisees)

leading people astray

There is a false sense of security.

perhaps the worst thing we could do is to affirm someone of their relationship with Christ when there is not a lifestyle of faith and repentance

Which leads us to James second question in verse 14

Can that Faith save him?

Can a faith that is not a biblical faith save a person?

NO!

You see, we are saved by faith.

We are saved by a biblical faith, not our idea or our cultures idea of faith.

In the same way many people believe in “god” however, that belief will do them no good if their faith is not in the God of the bible

Jesus as social justice warrior

Jesus as peace child

Jesus as role model

etc.

So James asks the questions...

He then goes on to illustrate his point.

15-

If someone walks into our church today looking for some help, it is obvious they are not dressed for the cold weather and they frail and week as they are lacking in daily food...

And I called that person up front and and said,

“I can see that you are cold, for its winter out and you have no jacket, no hat, and no shoes”

“I also see that you are hungry, and by the looks of it you have not been hungry for a long time.”

“Therefore, by the grace of God go in peace, be warmed, and filled”

And I sent them back out in the cold without giving her warm cloths for her body or food for her belly -

If I did that, would you say that this a good thing?

of course not!

I could give this person all the warm wishes i could muster

I could believe with every fiber of my being that she would actually be warmed and filled.

But if I don’t actually act on these beliefs than they are no good.

In fact, you might say that this would be an evil thing to do.

For what good is it to say be warmed and filled, but not have works to actually give her that which she needs.

This is a powerful illustration, and James says that this is the same sort of thing as saying I have faith but no works.

He says in verse 17

James

These are some powerful words, “faith, if it does not have works, is dead”

James does not allow us to leave faith, as the gnostics do, in the theoretical realm.

James is saying that if faith is left in the theoretical realm, not anchored and apart of ones life, than it is nothing more than a dead faith.

The danger of “I said a prayer” etc.

So if a biblical faith is not just believing something than what is it?

A Biblical Faith is a Faith That Works