Dead Faith or Pointless Works James 2:14-26 Unit 29 Session 4 Hello, Good Morning... thank you for coming, I'm glad you've chosen to worship here this morning in person and online. This morning we're discussing James 2:14-26, and the potential controversary in Christian thought over faith and works. I love this subject, as many of you have heard me discuss prior in messages; I truly enjoy a theme of action and that's partially what today's message is about. Is it enough to just believe in Jesus? I have a simple thought for you this morning, what would you rather have in life, faith which only sounds good or works which ultimately mean nothing? Neither right? That's the whole idea of Dead Faith or Pointless works... The scripture were discussing this morning is so powerful for all who choose to listen to it and apply it, you could use it in such a way to supercharge your life towards following Jesus. Please turn to James 2:14-26 and follow along. Read James 2:14-26 Which is more important, which is better; faith or works? Do we get to heaven through faith in what Christ has done on the cross? Or do we get there by being good people and doing lots of good things? * James plainly says in v.24 : "You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." The great reformer, Martin Luther, was so disgusted with this passage in James that he wrote the whole letter off and called it "an epistle of straw." I'm here to tell you, nothing was put in the Bible for no reason. * Paul had another view. And to make things worse; he proves his point by using the exact same OT quotation that James used. Rom 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Rom 4:1-5 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Paul is clear that you can't earn your way to heaven, but you have to get there by faith alone in the finished work of the cross. This conflict doesn't only raise the question of who is right: Is it Paul or James? But it also raises the issue: Does Scripture contradict itself? We're going to take a close look at this passage in James, and when we've finished, we're going to see clearly that James and Paul don't contradict each other at all, they complement each other, they look at the same truth from different angles. In fact, what you're going to see is that faith requires works to be alive and works requires faith to not be pointless. 1. Our works actively demonstrate our faith ILLUS - So imagine your neighbor is desperate. They've got no food. Their good clothing is just ooofff. I'm not talking about the barn clothing here folks. And no matter how hard they try; they can't get a job, let's just say life has dealt them a bad hand; many are experiencing this right now in this season of life. You're relaxing, watching TV, (knock, knock, knock) at the door. You open it, and there's so and so. You haven't seen him for a while, the pandemic, or maybe life has simply been busy. You give one glance, and say, "Wow, Buddy. Have you lost a lot of weight, you're looking a little thin, man?" He breaks down, "We need help," he says. "We're starving. And if my clothes get any more torn up, I might as well not wear them at all." "Gee," you say. "That's too bad. I wish I could help; I really do. We're down to only three meals a day. I haven't bought a new shirt for two weeks. But hey, let me pray for you." a. James would ask, what sort of faith is that? b. Real faith is demonstrated by real action. In Verse 18, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." c. James makes the implication that it is not possible to demonstrate the reality of your faith without works. Faith is dead unless you do something with it. Jesus Himself as He was speaking of judgement day where all the nations would come before Him, in Matt 25:37-40 had an expectation that faith would be demonstrated in practical good works. d. No miracles, no healing needed. Just people doing good things putting themselves into situations where their own faith is shown to demonstrate that their faith is real. e. This is what our everyday conduct as Christians should look like, actually follow His example. 2. Faith alone is not enough a. Demons know who Jesus is... They aren't going to Heaven i. Mark 1:24 I know who you are; 5:7 What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? ii. What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? b. Why? Faith alone isn't enough i. "Even the demons believe; and they shudder (tremble)!" They believe in God, they're smart enough to be scared. c. The kind of faith that demons have, the kind of faith where there's nothing more than a confession, that's "dead faith." EFCA statement #8 Christian Living - We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God's Word, the Spirit's power, and fervent prayer in Christ's name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ's commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed. I'd like to talk about the difference between intellectual and practical faith. This is where the message becomes relational applicational for Jesus in your life. Illus: Everyone know the equation E=MC2? Of course, you do, its possibly the most well-known equation in the world. Who actually knows what it means? It's a formula that is relevant to energy and the speed of light and long story short it's an endless cycle. If you aren't a theoretical physicist or maybe an astronaut, the formula doesn't mean a thing to you. Something like that is called intellectual faith, you believe it to be true maybe because I just told you it, and maybe your math teacher told you the same thing. People go to college, receive entire degrees revolving around formulas like that. But if you aren't trying shoot satellites into space, travel to mars or some distant planet that will take longer than the normal span of a human life to get there it simply doesn't matter. Now let's talk about something more practical. 10-5=5., that's still a mathematical formula. But, you know that is true. You use things like this every day. Addition and subtraction are far more useful in your life, right? If I give you 10 apples, and you eat or give someone else 5 apples. You now have 5 apples left. This can be proven through mathematics, and it has practical meaning to your life, it's useable and its real. This is called practical faith. Do you see how intellectual faith could be useful, but practical faith is so much more upfront and meaningful? There is much more to having faith than simply saying you've got faith. People want proof that we are what say we are. ILLUS - For instance, what if I go round telling everyone that I'm a giraffe? You'd look at me like I'm crazy, but what if I could prove it? You'd be looking for something we call evidence. You'd say, "But a giraffe has four legs, big ears, a long neck, is incredibly tall. That doesn't sound or look like you at all." It's equally absurd to tell people that you're a Christian if you don't behave like one. What I told people I was a Christian, and people responded, well I know what a Christian is supposed to do, talk and act like and that doesn't sound like you at all. P.S. said last week, Preach the Gospel every day and if you have to use words. It's our actions that matter and what's in our heart, folks. Do you see, It's not enough just to claim it? There has to be evidence, proof of the faith that a person claims to have. Otherwise, it's just dead faith. And here's the thing: If faith doesn't lead to a transformation in behavior, that's exactly what it is; it's dead. ILLUS - John the Baptist pretty much said the same thing. In Luke 3:7-14, when people responded to his preaching by asking, "What shall we do?", he told them, "Give some food to people who don't have any. Give your spare shirt to someone who doesn't have one." When the tax collectors asked him the same question, he said, "Don't collect more money than you're supposed to." When the soldiers asked, he said, "Don't intimidate people; don't falsely accuse people; be content with your wages." What do you think John would say to the American Church, or to Boycevillians who say I have faith, I know what E=MC2 (I have intellectual faith, I'm going to heaven, I'm saved). But yet don't act as Jesus has commanded us to do to show our faith. It's the same as what James is saying: Faith without works is dead. Real faith leads to a transformation in behavior. There are doors open all around us to serve. 3. Faith Substitutes a. Talk When all is said and done, there's a lot more said than done. ILLUS - A father had two sons, and he said to the first one, "Son, go and work in my vineyard." But his son had better things to do than work for his father. He said, "Not a chance. I've got things to do, people to see, places to go." But later on, he had a change of heart, and went to work. In the meantime, the father went to the second son and told him to go and work in the vineyard too. "Sure," said his second son. "Not a problem." But he didn't go. "Which one," asked the Lord, "did the will of his father?" Which one? Not the one who said he was going but didn't go. The one that did the will of his father was the one that did more than just talk, went out into the vineyard, and actually did some work. Talk is not enough; intentions are not enough. Real faith translates into real action. We need to priorities our life and God needs to be at the top, our family second, work third, and so on. b. Prayer - might be some eyebrows raised on this one Prayer is very important, don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. I'm not against prayer. But for some its actually easier to go and pray and take no other action, when the situation required further intervention. Prayer is absolutely essential for Christians to be engaged in, but prayer was never meant to be a substitute for action. Jesus was a man of prayer, but He was also a man of action. If prayer becomes a substitute for Godly directed action, that prayer is then nothing but an escape. God has called us to have a living, vibrant faith; a faith that results in works; a faith that brings about personal transformation. 4. Faith Qualities a. Absolute submission to God The first story is the story of Abraham. Blessed through Sarah, many nations. Abraham had faith birth, 37 years later tested, justified through works. Gen 18-23 James says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. It was a time in Abraham's life when God wanted to see the quality of his faith and called him to sacrifice his son, Isaac on an altar. How did Abraham respond? Did he run away like Jonah did? Did he pretend not to hear? None of these; it says in Genesis 22:3, "Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey." He rose early in the morning. Was he in a hurry to get rid of his son? Of course not! But he was eager to please God. Let God be God; let Him call the shots. God is the only one with absolute wisdom and absolute power, and that qualifies Him to be in absolute control. b. Risk Taking The second story is about a woman named Rahab. Joshua 2 James says, "And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?" ILLUS - What sort of woman was Rahab? Well, for a start, she was a prostitute. But when she found faith in God, she took a chance. When the spies came to spy out the city of Jericho, they lodged with her. And somebody told the king. Now imagine the difficulty she was facing. The enemies of her people are staying under her roof, the king finds out and sends men who demand that she give them up. What should she do? The easy way out would be to hand them over. But she didn't take the easy way out. She had faith in God, and that faith led her to hide the spies. She took a risk. I'm not talking about doing stupid things; I'm talking about stepping out in faith. Taking a risk and trusting God. It was that faith-inspired risk-taking quality that took Rahab from being a prostitute in a pagan country to a new land where she became the great-grandmother of David. She took some faith steps, just like Peter did when he stepped out of the boat and walked on water. Sure, he sank; but nobody else in the boat stepped out. Faith has that risk-taking quality. Without Faith, and action because of the faith we will never know what God could have done with a situation in and of the past. Any other kind of faith is a poor substitute; it's dead faith. Let's finish by going back to our original question: Does Scripture contradict itself, (do you remember the views)? One said saying Faith is best (Paul), and the other works are more important (basically what the whole discussion has been about)? Are Paul and James at odds with each other? Not at all: The key to the whole mystery is found in verse 26 in our passage: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James uses an analogy to show the relationship of faith to works. It is like the body that contains the human spirit. Without the spirit within the body, the body is pointless. A live body has the human spirit within it; if not, then the body is dead. In the same way, a living faith has the righteous works already within it waiting to be done; if not, then that faith is dead and so are the works. It is faith alone that saves us; but if that faith does not produce good works, then it's not real faith. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you. Church, your life must be with God, if not it's pointless. However, everything you do must be a result of the faith you have in Jesus Christ and it must be real and genuine. The two go hand in hand. Empowered By The Holy Spirit Acts 3: 1-20 Unit 28 Session 2