The Letter of James - 2:14-20

James 2:14 NLT

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

\

So far, our journey through the book of James has introduced us to many different thoughts on what it truly means to be a Christian.

What’s the implied answer? No.

You say you have faith but your behavior states otherwise. Is that really faith that leads to salvation?

James is not saying that our actions save us. He is not saying that we must do ______ to be saved. What he is saying that saving faith, genuine faith will affect ones behavior.

Genuine faith will affect behavior.

James continues to hit on two main thoughts, faith and attitude.

-098xdrdg

James is making the argument that faith not backed up by actions is not faith at all.

James 2:14–20 NLT

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

=[-p09 ASADZFHJKL’

James 2:

Intellectual Faith

Three marks of true religion

NMYFUGIOP[]\]

=[P0O9UY3E`l;’?

Control your tongue

care for the needy

don't be corrupted by worldly standards

James 2:14 NLT

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

Good question James.

What’s the implied answer? No.

You say you have faith but your behavior states otherwise. Is that real faith that leads to salvation?

James is not saying that our actions save us. He is not saying that we must do ______ to be saved. What he is saying that saving faith, genuine faith will affect one's behavior.

James is making the argument that faith not backed up by actions is not faith at all.

True faith is followed by action.

Intellectual Faith

Intellectual faith is having the right beliefs about theological and doctrinal truths but not letting those truths direct one's life.

One has an understanding of God and what he requires but does not show evidence of life change.

Keep this thought, and we'll come back to it in a moment.

James 2:15–17 NLT

15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Living Faith

Faith is an interesting word.

Remember, I'm an 80's kid. I grew up with MTV. Actually, I was 4 when MTV first came on the air.

I also have an older sister who ruled the tv. Back then, it was a completely different world of technology.

See if anyone remembers our cutting edge technology.

We had the boom box aka, the ghetto blaster that was soon replaced by the Walkman.

This telephone was upgraded to this. And we got an answering machine. Two tapes.

We started with a super 8 camera with film, this camera for photos, and upgraded to a camcorder.

A calculator watch if you were cool enough.

Then there was the television, complete with rabbit ear antennas.

The tv was the centerpiece of furniture.

I can't count the times I hit my head on these corners. I hated those corners.

And if this tv goes out, you had to get it repaired which meant calling a repair guy to come to your house and fix it, which could take weeks if you had the extra money to fix it. If not, it could be months before it was repaired. What did you do? Bring out the smaller tv and set it on top.

Remotes? None.

You had to get up to change the channel. VHF or UHF, channel 1-13. If the signal was weak, adjust the rabbit ears. Maybe add some foil to improve the reception.

One thing that took me a while to understand is that our bodies improve antenna reception.

Wait, hold it there. No, back. Ok, don't move.

Perfect picture.

What did you do?

Then all of our problems were solved with the invention of cable. We got this box with a 20-foot cable. We could channel surf from our seat. Get comfortable on the couch and change the channel with ease. Click, click, click.

Just imagen siblings fighting over the remote. I would use the cable to my advantage. Tie my sister's hands together so she couldn't change the channel.

Oh, and don't run over the cable with the vacuum cleaner because it's back to walking to the tv to change the channel.

MTV. Music Television. Music was the language of the 80's kid.

We would watch hours and hours of music videos. Most not appropriate for teenagers, let alone younger kids.

We eventaully got a VCR. Now, we could make a mixtape of music videos. We would record our faviort music videos on VHS tape so that we could watch them on demand whenever we wanted — no more waiting for them to come back on rotation.

This is where the word faith comes in.

My family was not Christian, we didn't hold Christian values; we occasionally went to church service. Easter, sometimes Christmas.

My sister loved the 80s heartthrobs; one was George Michael. MTV has a song of his on constant rotation. Faith.

I thought this was a religious song. Faith. I never used that word and connected it to religion.

You know the chorus.

'Cause I gotta' have faith

I gotta' have faith

Because I gotta' have faith, faith, faith

I got to have faith, faith, faith

Well, this song has nothing to do with religion. It's about a girl. But when I hear the word faith, I often think of this song. Why? I'm not sure maybe because it's the first association that I have with this word.

But what is faith?

A lot of times I think we have an incomplete understanding of faith. True, biblical, saving faith.

It's much more than an intellectual understanding of someone or something.

In the following verse, James will unpack this idea of faith. It's not some creedal assent without action. True faith produces.

James 2:17 NLT

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Anytime Jesus calls someone to faith; he connects it to action.

Follow me,

deny your self and take up your cross

Obey me

keep my word

keep my commandments

love me, and love one another.

Don't misunderstand this. Works do not save us. Doing the right things will not save us. Going to church service, every Sunday won't save you. Doing good deeds won't get you into heaven. It's not about the good that one does outweigh the bad. That is works based salvation and doesn't exist.

What James is saying is that true faith will produce.

James 2:18 NLT

18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

This is a paradoxical argument and why many think that James and Paul contradict each other. One must realize the intended audience before jumping to such a conclusion. Paul was writing to believers who were influenced by those claiming that one must do to be saved. James was writing to believers who were influenced by those who claim that salvation is intellectual, therefore that completle back away from physical responsibilities.

James argues that faith is not faith if it is mere words and does not lead to actions. Our profession of Christ demands a test to demonstrate our faith. Without actions our claim to faith is false.

James 2:19–20 NLT

19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

I love the sense of sarcasm here. James is referring to the Shema, a Jewish confession that every Israelite was familiar.

Deuteronomy 6:4 NLT

4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

Okay, you have faith. You believe that there is one God. Awesome! Good for you. You get a star.

You believe that there is one God. Even the demons believe this! Don't fool yourselves. Faith without action is dead. Useless. Faith without action is not faith at all.

Mark 1:23–24 NLT

23 Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Mark 5:7 NLT

7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”

Acts 16:16–17 NLT

16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

Even the demons believe this! And they fear God.

James is asking What's the difference? What is the difference between your faith that God exists and the faith of demons?

I believe James is saying that one can believe the right things, believe in the existence of God, make a commitment to Jesus, pray a prayer, get baptized, and still be as far away from God as demons.

Saving faith touches more than the mind; it involves the will and the heart.