James 3: Faith that Works
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Bookmarks & Needs:
Bookmarks & Needs:
B: James 2:14-26
N:
Opening
Opening
Welcome
Lord’s Supper on 10/31
Budget discussion following morning service on 11/7
Business meeting, including budget vote, at 11/14 at 5:30 pm.
MNM status $11,317.75
We are in our third week of a six-week series in the book of James, in which we are looking to James for wisdom: the knowledge of how to live a life that glorifies God. Last week, we considered what it means to have wisdom in trials, and we reflected back on James 1:2-4, which I believe are in many respects the “thesis” of the book of James. This morning, we will consider what many find to be a difficult passage as we consider the section of James 2 from which our subtitle for this series “a faith that works” comes. Let’s stand in honor of God’s Word together as we read our focal passage:
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder. 20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
PRAYER
Gym memberships are great. Did you all know that I have a gym membership? In fact, I have two gym memberships right now. They’re (thankfully) included with my health insurance. I can show you my Defined app on my phone. I have a swipe card for any Snap Fitness I want to visit. All of those machines. All of those weights. All of the possibilities. I can even take a guest if I want to. Anyway, you’d think that with two gym memberships, I would be in great shape. That I’d be fit and strong and all of that. But I’m not. Why? Because unfortunately, I don’t go to either gym right now, and haven’t since COVID started. Masks, time, laziness… There are lots of “reasons” why. But think about it this way for a moment: I can say that I have gym memberships, but do my actions prove it? Are my gym memberships useful at the moment? Some of you might even be sitting there thinking, “man, two gym memberships that you don’t even USE? What a waste.”
Now I’ll admit that this is kind of a weak analogy, so let’s just call it a comparative illustration instead. But we find here in chapter 2 of the Epistle of James a passage that says that faith that doesn’t show itself in good works is useless, that it’s dead, that it doesn’t save… much like a gym membership that I never use is useless, and doesn’t make me stronger or help me live a healthier lifestyle. We might look at a person who claims to have a saving faith in Christ, but who never exercises it in actually doing what Christ has called us to, and say, “Man, Jesus died for you, and you don’t ever do what is right? What a waste.”
Some of you hearing this right now are already up in arms over what I’ve said: “We’re not saved by works. We’re saved by grace alone through faith alone.” Hear me on this: I completely agree with you, so don’t tune me out or call me a heretic just yet. However, I also completely agree with James, so we’re going to start with this supposed conflict. Strap in, because this ride is going to be a little bumpy.
The [supposed] conflict of faith and works
The [supposed] conflict of faith and works
The reformer Martin Luther at one point said about the Epistle of James that he didn’t think it should have been included in the biblical canon. He called it “an epistle of straw,” because of its apparent conflict with the message of the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ: that salvation is somehow by grace plus works, or that we have to earn it somehow. And this flies in the face of what Scripture says in many places, but especially in Ephesians 2:
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
I mean, this is pretty clear, right? You are saved by grace through faith, not from yourselves, it is a gift from God, and stated definitively: not from works, so that no one can boast. No one can look at God and inform Him that He must save us, because it is only by His grace that ANYONE can be saved. Grace is something that cannot be earned, because then it would cease to be grace according to Romans 11:6. Therefore, no one can boast about forcing God to save them because of how awesome they are, because we can’t earn it by works and we never could. This is clear biblical soteriology (soteriology is the doctrine of salvation).
But Paul talks about works, and so does James. And if you just lift the verses from James in this passage out of their greater context, it really seems like James is saying the exact opposite thing from Paul—namely that faith alone doesn’t save, and that faith needs works added to it in order to save us:
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
The way that James posed these questions together assumes that the answer to both questions is going to be “no:” If someone claims to have faith but does not have works, it is of no good, and that such faith cannot save him. That’s a tough pill for us to swallow. But James wasn’t done. Four more times in this passage, he basically makes the same indictment against a workless faith:
17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
So what do we do with this? How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction in Scripture? Well, let me clearly say here that there is no conflict. Paul and James are addressing different issues that just sound the same because of the language used.
James is not saying that you need to jump through any hoops in order to earn your salvation. And Paul is not saying that you can claim to have Jesus, and have zero change in your life, do no good works at all, and have any confidence whatsoever in your salvation. So what ARE they each saying, exactly?
The [actual] connection of faith and works
The [actual] connection of faith and works
The messages in Paul and James regarding work and faith actually go together in a very practical way.
Paul was addressing the erroneous concept that salvation could somehow be earned. When Paul spoke, he often expanded his phrasing of the word “works” to be “works of the law.” The references for this are myriad, so let me just give you a couple of examples:
20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.
So Paul is addressing the wrong idea that someone must jump through ceremonial hoops in order to be saved. Since he’s ordinarily addressing Gentiles, he’s telling them that they don’t have to become Jewish in order to be saved by grace through faith in Christ. In fact, he very clearly says that those who are in Christ are absolutely to do good works:
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
and certainly we cannot forget the very next verse from that passage in Ephesians 2:
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
While we are not saved by works, as those who are saved, we have good works that God has prepared for us to do. So Paul says to do good works, not in order to be saved, but because we are saved!
James was addressing a completely different issue: He was writing to Jewish converts and addressing the erroneous thinking that one could have true, saving faith that did nothing. Paul completely agrees with James as far as this is concerned!
14 He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.
For us to not serve the Lord through doing good works with gratitude to Him is to be at best disobedient, and at worst, it should give us great pause about our actual spiritual state: maybe we don’t want to do good works because we don’t actually have faith? What if our faith isn’t real? Plastic? Fake? Let’s look at our focal passage some more to help us define and explore this:
Fake faith does not save us.
Fake faith does not save us.
First of all, let’s be clear: only God saves us. And He saves us by His grace through faith.
Now, this is a hard thing to say, but it must be said: if you claim to believe in Jesus, but your life looks exactly like the world in every respect (perhaps other than that you come to church), you should be concerned that you don’t actually have saving faith.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
What James is referring to here is what I call the “fire insurance” perspective of salvation: I have it for when I actually need it, but I’m only going to use it the one time, and meanwhile, I’ll live completely for myself and do whatever I want. This is assuming upon the grace of God, and James through this question leads us to the understanding that seeing our salvation as only a “get out of hell free” card is an incredibly dangerous place to be.
However, James is also not saying that as long as you work hard at “good” things, then you will be saved. Salvation is still only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Working hard so that you “look” saved when you haven’t ever actually surrendered to Christ is no different than claiming that you have faith when you really don’t.
I think that John Calvin said it very well:
“Faith alone justifies, but faith that justifies is never alone.”
Now, before I move on to the rest of our consideration of our text this morning, I need to say: You might already be wrestling in your heart over this. You might be squirming internally, because you aren’t sure if you’re saved… and in fact, you may even feel convinced that you aren’t saved because you have no desire to do good works and serve others out of a heart of gratitude to God. I think you’re exactly where you need to be!
This morning’s message is a difficult one to preach, and a difficult one to hear. And while you might be a little uncomfortable, I believe that it is the work of the Spirit, doing His job of convicting about sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). Surrender your life to Christ this morning! Even right now where you are, trust that it is only through God’s gracious gift of grace in giving Jesus to die on the cross in our place that you can be saved—because He took our sins on Himself and suffered in our place. And then that He defeated death for us as well, so we can live forever with Him. Surrender to the Lord right now. Don’t trust your works: they aren’t good enough to save you. Don’t trust your claim of faith that you know isn’t real, because you can’t fake out God. He knows whether your faith is fake or true.
My goal this morning is not to make anyone doubt their salvation. It’s to have us confirm our salvation through considering what the Bible has to say as a warning to us through James. It’s about wisdom, because the only way we’re going to live a life that glorifies God is through true faith in Jesus.
10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.
So how do we confirm our salvation? How do we know if our faith is true faith, and not fake?
True faith shows itself by work instead of just words.
True faith shows itself by work instead of just words.
Did you notice how verse 14 read? It said “What good is it…if someone CLAIMS to have faith...” The person is view is the one who simply says that they believe, but doesn’t live in accordance with such a claim. So James goes on to illustrate what he means with a practical example from life. His example isn’t primarily an argument for what we should do when faced with a brother or sister in need (although it does include that). It’s more about the difference between work and words:
15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
James is incredibly clear. He uses the illustration of finding a brother or sister in need when we have the ability to readily meet the need, and all we give instead are platitudes. “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed.” Those platitudes and words of blessing are worthless to the person you are giving them to. Now, we should care for the truly needy around us, and especially those in the church. But that’s not James’ primary point. It’s that a claim of faith that has no works that accompany it is devoid of usefulness. It’s just empty words. It’s actually dead.
Consider the priest and the Levite from the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. Each of them come upon this man who had been set upon by robbers and left for dead, and each one passed by him on the other side of the road. How useful was their faith to that robbed man? Not useful at all. They probably said the right things, and maybe even did the things they thought would obligate God to them (works of the law), but they didn’t do those things that evidenced that they had a living faith. They were the people that God spoke of in Isaiah:
13 The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.
A living faith is able to be seen in good works, not just heard. This is because:
True faith cannot be separated from good works.
True faith cannot be separated from good works.
How can faith be proven true? None of us have a “faith-meter” that shows the genuineness of our faith in Christ. None of us can look inside someone else somehow and know whether they actually belong to Christ. No, the only indicator that we have whether someone’s faith is genuine is if it actually works.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.
James creates this imaginary “someone” who says that there are different kinds of people: those who do good works, and those who just simply have faith. James will have none of this. He says, “Fine. Show me your faith by some other means, and I will show you my faith by what I actually do.” The first option is simply impossible. How else can faith be shown other than by action?
In fact, true faith will always produce good works in some way. When Paul wrote his first correspondence to the church at Thessalonica, he clearly connected the fact that their work was produced by their faith:
3 We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s not just enough to think rightly about God. We need that thinking and our love for God to overflow into doing rightly.
In a statement that is fairly shocking to us, James says that the demons think rightly about God. They are orthodox monotheists. They know there is just one God, but that doesn’t make them saved:
19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
No, our faith is to be worked out in our lives, because it’s God who is working in us, according to Paul:
12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
If we have no desire to do the things that God would have us do, we should take a step back and take stock: if it is God who is works by His Spirit within His children to will and work according to His good purpose, if we are not experiencing that drive at all, we are at least in the midst of a problem in our fellowship with Him. A living faith doesn’t make us perfect, because we’re in a process of sanctification: being made more like Jesus.
Fake faith is useless.
Fake faith is useless.
Illustration from Scripture of two people who showed their faith by their actions: a Jew and a Gentile, a man and a woman, a patriarch and a prostitute, both of whom are commended for their faith in God:
21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
This was Abraham’s test:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, 18 the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.
Then we have Rahab, who had faith that God was able to both destroy Jericho and deliver her from its destruction.
25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
These both went through trials, and thus are evidence to us of the reality of our thesis statement in James 1:2-4
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Both are listed in both the hall of faith in Hebrews 11, and both are in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew.
Fake faith is dead.
Fake faith is dead.
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
The comparison here is clear: a body without a spirit is a dead thing. Faith without accompanying works is a dead thing. We should have a living, breathing, serving faith, because we have a living, breathing, serving Savior.
Closing
Closing
How are we living to declare our faith? How are we showing our faith to those around us? Wisdom would tell us that living a life that glorifies God includes the doing of good works not in order to be saved, but because we are saved.
Invitation
PRAYER
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Bible reading: Hebrews 8 today. Finishing Hebrews this week, and then starting on Psalms 31-60.
Go vote in our municipal election. Early voting is already going on. Election is November 2.
Instructions for visitors
Benediction:
16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.