Faith That Works FINAL FINAL

Faith That Works

Introduction:

Good morning Forestview and to all those who have tuned in with us online, welcome! It’s great to have you!We are continuing on our journey through the book of James in our series entitled “Faith that works”. So I invite you to open your bibles up to James 2:14-26.And implied in that title, “Faith that works” is the assumption that there can be a faith that does not work. Right?But some of us, right off the bat, might be wondering, what is “faith”. It’s not a word that we tend to use on a regular basis.Well, the word simply means “trust” or “confidence” or “devotion” to someone or something. And in that sense, we do use words like “faith” today that carry the same meaning. For example: We might say I have trust or confidence… or “faith” in a friend or a spouse.Well James is speaking here of faith in the same way, but he’s using it in relation to God, and he is speaking to people who claim to have faith in God but who are not living out that faith in their everyday lives. The Author, Brennan Manning, once stated that “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”And what he is getting at here is that faith in God should be evident, not only in what we believe (intellectually), but also in how we live (practically).That is the very topic of James’ passage here, and it is one that has challenged me greatly as I prepared this talk. I had to look no further than the mirror to find someone who was in need of hearing this message.And the big question that we are going to try to answer this morning is this: how does faith in God work? In other words, how does faith in God change us: both in the way that we see the world and in how we respond to all that we see going on in the world.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your presence this morning, and we ask that you would help us to hear, to understand, and to respond to this message that you have inspired through your servant James. In your name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Passage (James 2:14-27)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “God in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the alter? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was make complete by what he did.And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction.As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.This passage can be divided up into 2 main sections: Bogus faith and Genuine faith.And those two sections can be divided further still into two more: 1) Bogus faith and how it is useless in relation to others, 2) Bogus faith, and how it is useless in relation to God, 3) Genuine faith, and how it is useful in relation to God, and 4) Genuine faith and how it is useful in relation to others.And so those are the four sections that we are going to move through this morning.But first:

1) Bogus Faith, and how it is Useless in Relation to Others

And James begins by asking us a rhetorical question that assumes from us a negative response:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?Now, before we answer James, we need to understand what he has not asked here:He has not asked: “What good is it if someone has faith but has no deeds.” (That they actually have faith - genuine faith.)Instead, he has asked: “What good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds.” So what we have here is a person who has made a claim, but there is no evidence in support of that claim.And without any evidence, what are we, the reader, to conclude about this? Is such a faith genuine? Is it real?Or as James has here asked, “Can such faith save them?”And the answer that is assumed here is no. It can’t. Why? Because James is saying “that right there is not really faith… it’s not real.Yes, it is a claim, but it has not been shown to be anything more than that.

Is My Faith Genuine?

Now, we might be standing back here and saying, “Oh boy, is my faith genuine??”And if we are, I think that is exactly what James would hope from us as a response—not because he wants us to live in doubt (quite the opposite in fact) but because he wants us to be asking this very important question: What is genuine faith look like?AND - what is a counterfeit faith that would lure us away from knowing what is genuine faith? And now James offers us a practical example in verse 15 in order sharpen his point.We have a person who is without the most basic of needs: clothing and food. They’re cold, they’re vulnerable, and they’re starving. It is assumed here that the person who has said: “GO in peace; keep warm and well fed” but has done nothing about their physical needs, that they were in a position to help—That God has blessed them with the very resources to bless others with. But they have done nothing more than offer words in the form of a wish for well-being. I think we can all see the problem here, right? What’s missing?This is that “faith” that is useless in relation to others.If our faith is in Jesus, it is in the one who identified with those in need—like the above example. Jesus, in Matthew 25:42 said “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.”

And they said, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?”And Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”And this is Jesus’ way of expanding what is written in Genesis 1:27— and what it means to be created in the image of God and the incredible value that gives to every human being. How would that change the way we see each other - if only we saw everyone as Jesus sees them. And then James, In verse 17) summarizes this first section: “In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.He’s not mincing words here: such a faith is dead—and it only brings death.

2) Bogus Faith and how it is Useless in Relation to God

And then James, in verse 18, anticipates a possible objection that someone might raise: He writes: But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” As if faith could be exemplified apart from deeds. and he responds, “Show me your faith (and remember, by faith he means trust and devotion and loyalty to God) Show me your faith without deeds, How would you do that? It’s not possible. What evidence could you give?and I will show you my faith by my deeds! In other words, James is saying that good works are the evidence of a genuine faith because a genuine faith always produces good works. He doesn't mean that person becomes perfect as a result of genuine faith, but that they begin to change , slowly over time, from the inside out. And then James gets personal with his readers. He is not here arguing with people outside the Judeo/Christian worldview—he is speaking specifically to his brothers and sisters in the faith who have this shared knowledge of, and belief in, what we now call the Old Testament. And so he turns to those scriptures in support for his argument.In verse 19 he writes: You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.This also seems to be a response to a possible objection that James has anticipated.For someone might say: “Yeah, I can totally show you my faith without deeds! Look at my theology… it’s sound. I believe there is one God!”And this was likely a reference to a famous passage for Israel found in Deuteronomy 6:4 that reads: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”And James is here saying: “That’s good! Your theology is bang on!”

But… he says, remember, even the demons know that and shudder!_You see… the demons believe that God is one, but they do not believe in that one God - for they still live in disobedience and they shudder at the thought of their coming judgment. And James is saying, in comparison, that we too can believe that God exists, without from believing in God- and in so doing, miss all that comes from being in a relationship with God.And this is that useless “faith” in relation to God. For this type of “faith” results only in fear. And so James now contrasts this bogus “faith” of the demons that is useless in relation to God with genuine faith and how it is useful.

3) Genuine Faith, and how it is Useful in Relation to God

20) You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?21) Was not our father Abrahamand here you must imagine his Jewish brothers and sisters ears perking up as they hear the name of Abraham—the one whom the apostle Paul called “the father of all who believe”, in other words, the ultimate example of faith in God!What would James say about their father Abraham??Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he DID when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?This was a pivotal event in the history of Israel: a story that is told in Genesis 22 where Abraham was called by God to offer his one and only son whom he loved dearly in sacrifice to God.And this is a story that is, on its own, next to impossible for us to comprehend. But thankfully we soon discover that it was only Abraham’s faith in God that was being tested here—The question was: Would Abraham trust God even with the life of his one and only son whom he loved?And the answer? Yes! And no sooner was his faith proven to be genuine did an angel of the Lord step in and stop the whole thing from taking place. And in light of this James writes, 22) You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. You could say this another way: you could say that the seed of faith in Abraham, that it had now grown and blossomed and was in full bloom for all to see. In other words: (Was made complete) and evident-shown for what it truely was. Thus, James uses Abraham’s faith here as an example of genuine faith. And then verse 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” And this is a quote from Gen 15:6, and then he goes on to say: and he was called God’s friend!

Now, why did he tack that on to the end?

Remember the demons from before, and how they had a “faith” that resulted only in fear?

Well, Abraham’s faith has resulted in the very opposite of fear: Love, fellowship with God - friendship.

This is a faith that is useful in relation to God!

And then, in vs 24 James goes on to say, “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”

And this is the most difficult verse to deal with in James’ writings, because—if you are familiar with the writings of the apostle Paul—on the surface here it seems as if James is contradicting what the apostle has said elsewhere.

For example, in Romans 3:28 Paul states that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

And James is saying here that a person is justified (or considered righteous) by what they do and not by faith alone.

So we might be wondering, Ok, which is it? Are we justified by faith alone or are we justified by faith and works?

Well, this discrepancy goes away when we realize that both James and Paul are looking at the roll of works from a different perspective in relation to salvation.

Paul is talking about the role of works leading up to salvation - and how we are saved (or justified or made right with God)—not by our good works, but solely based on the good works of Jesus—who did for us what none of us could do on our own—and that is-live a life in complete obedience to the law of God.

And James is looking at the role of works after having been saved.

He is using the word justified or (considered righteous) in the sense of evidence.

It’s kind of like this: If someone were to make a statement to you, and you weren’t sure that it was true, you might ask them to justify that statement. In other words - to provide evidence in support of their claim.

This is how James is using the word—it is seen all throughout this passage.

And so now we come to the final section:

4) Genuine Faith, and how it is useful in relation to others

And now James shares the story of Rahab, a woman who was the very opposite of Abraham—not only was she not an Israelite, she was a Canaanite—a people group that was on the cusp of doing battle with Israel. And she had come to believe that the God of Israel was the one true God.And her faith was proven to be true when she put her own life on the line to protect the Israelite spies and help them escape from her own people who were seeking to kill them. James gives this as an example of faith that was useful in relation to others. And this example is used to contrast with the very first example he gave where the person who offered only a wish for well being.Rahab followed through on that wish. And then James concludes this whole passage with verse 26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.Which is what he has been saying all along.And it’s interesting to note here that the word for spirit, in the Greek, it also means wind or breath.And we often check to see if someone is breathing to see if they are still alive, right?Well, James is saying here with yet another example: in the same way good deeds show a faith to be alive.

Application

So how should we respond to all this?How does faith in God work?Well, all along James has been talking about this genuine faith and how it is useful in our relation to God and how it is useful in relations to others.And Jesus said as much in Luke 10:27 when he said:Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with your mind”; and “Love your neighbour as yourself.” And when you draw those out: This upward relationship with Godand this outward relationship with otherswhat you have is a cross.

And at the front of our Church, here at Forestview, there is a giant window in the shape of a cross.

And what I love about that is that it gives you this perspective of seeing the world through the cross.

Seeing the world from the perspective that Jesus once had—who said in John 15:13 just before he was arrested—not for his crime, but for ours: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Remember that burden that Abraham carried as he climbed that lonely mountain with his son whom he loved, and how God lifted that burden from his shoulders? He lifted it up only to bear it himself.

Here now was another son—Son of God— who willing offered his very life in obedience to his Father (the upward sign of the cross) and in love for us (the outward sign of the cross).

This is the symbol of the greatest love you will ever find.

And all of us carry a burden on our shoulders up a lonely mountain of our own, and God wants to lift that burden from you as well.

Jesus said, (Matthew 11:28 ) “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

And when that burden has been lifted… when you have experienced mercy (that is, not getting what you know you deserve.) and Grace, (getting what you know you do not deserve) it changes you - both in the way that you see the world, and in the way that you respond that world.

As we look at the cross, we see God giving of himself and all he has to us, and when we look through the cross we see the world through Jesus’ who said: “As I have loved you, so love others

Let us pray:

Jesus, let us not lose sight of the great sacrifice of love that you have made for us. Help us to see the world as you do-to love others as you do. Let us not grow weary in doing good, knowing all the great things you have done for us. In your wonderful name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.