Sermon Tone Analysis

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B: James 2:14-26

N:

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:

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 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:

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:

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:

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 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:

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:

and certainly we cannot forget the very next verse from that passage in Ephesians 2:

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!

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.

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.

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).