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Functional Faith
Recently I splurged and bought a combination of battery powered tools.
This little blower was part of the collection.
It’s great for cleaning up after small projects, blowing out the garage and clearing leaves from the front porch.
This blower has a purpose - to create a flow of air that can move things.
That’s its function.
In order to accomplish its purpose, the blower needs the motor and the battery.
When both the motor and battery are present, the blower is functional.
However, if I separate the motor from the battery, the blower is no longer functional.
It cannot accomplish its purpose.
It is dead.
It is useless.
Our passage today deals with faith.
Faith has a purpose.
The purpose of faith is to deliver us from sin to righteousness; the purpose of faith is to transform us.
In order for faith to accomplish its purpose, faith needs belief and action.
When both belief and action are present, faith is functional.
But if belief is separated from action, faith is no longer functional.
It cannot accomplish its purpose.
It is dead.
It is useless.
Functional faith is belief in action.
If we believe we are to accept all people and we act on that belief by initiating a conversation with someone of a different race, our faith is functional.
It is saving us from the sin of partiality (2:1-13).
Both belief and action are necessary for our faith to function and transform us.
If you separate belief from action, faith is no longer functional.
In the words of James, faith without works is dead.
Its nonfunctional.
It cannot accomplish its purpose of transforming our lives.
In this section of his letter, James is confronting those who wrongly insist that belief alone is sufficient for the Christian life.
In verse 14 James confronts those pushing this false idea.
What is the purpose of faith according to verse 14?
It is to save us.
The function of faith is to deliver us.
The point of verse 14 is that faith limited to belief cannot accomplish its purpose to save us..
In this context, what does save mean?
To whom did James write this letter?
To Jewish Christians; they possessed justification salvation.
Throughout the letter he addresses them as his brothers and his beloved brothers.
Therefore, save in this context, does not refer to “go to heaven when you die”.
Save means to deliver or rescue.
Looking at 1:1 to 2:13, are there things from which believers need to be delivered?
In 1:5-8, believers, then and now, need to be delivered from double-mindedness when asking for wisdom.
In 1:13-15, believers need to be delivered from temptations to sin that arise in the midst of trials.
In 1:19-21 believers need to be delivered from filthiness and wickedness and receive the Word.
In 1:22-25, Christians need to be delivered from the deception that hearing the Word is enough.
In 1:26 believers need to be delivered from out-of-control tongues.
In 2:1-13, believers need to be delivered from the sin of partiality.
Faith without works, belief without action is powerless to deliver us from any of these things.
It is dead.
It is nonfunctional.
It really is not faith at all.
James next gives an illustration of how useless faith without works really is.
What is the purpose of speaking a blessing over the needy?
To bless them!
But what is needed in addition to the verbal blessing?
A gift basket full of clothes and food.
The verbal blessing alone is useless - actually its worse than useless, its cruel.
In verse 17 James reiterates the point faith without works is dead.
Belief alone cannot save.
Belief alone can’t do anything.
It is dead.
Nonfunctional.
James anticipates pushback.
In 2:18-26 he gives a thought problem and two illustrations to further drive home the truth that functional faith is belief in action.
“You can have it both ways.”
seems to be the idea James is confronting.
The idea is that for some people just believing is capable of transforming their lives and for others believing and doing is what transforms them.
James exposes the fallacy that belief alone transforms.
First, without works of some kind it is impossible to demonstrate the reality of your faith.
If you say you believe evangelism is important, but never share the gospel, how does God or anyone know what you really believe?
It’s all words.
That’s all you have.
Second, the enemies of God, the demons, have correct beliefs about God, but they are not transformed by them!
You can’t have it both ways.
The purpose of faith is to save us.
It is to deliver us from sin to righteousness.
Faith requires belief in action to accomplish its purposes in us.
Again, verse 20 emphasizes that faith has a purpose.
Faith without works is useless; it doesn’t work.
Faith with works is useful.
Useful for what?
For delivering us from sin to righteousness.
For transforming us to be more like Christ.
James next gives two illustrations to prove his point.
The first is the faith of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people and the father of faith.
Genesis 15:1-6 records God’s promise to Abraham that he would have a son who would be heir to the covenant.
Verse 6 says Abraham believed the Lord, but what was the ultimate proof, the ultimate demonstration that Abraham believed God?
How did Abraham show his faith by his works?
This is what James means by the word “justified”.
To demonstrate one’s faith clearly.
Abraham clearly demonstrated his faith by sacrificing Isaac.
By his action of sacrificing Isaac, Abraham proved, demonstrated, gave evidence that he truly feared God and trusted God.
That is what James means when he says Abraham was justified by works.
His “work” of sacrificing Isaac made it clear to God and to all that Abraham genuinely believed God’s promise of an heir.
Abraham believed God would resurrect Isaac because Isaac was the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant (Heb.
11:17-19).
Through his functional faith, Abraham became father of the Jewish nation, forefather to Messiah and a friend of God.
James closes this section with a final illustration.
It is an illustration of the functional faith of Rahab, a gentile prostitute in the days of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land.
Joshua 2:8-11 records the story of Rahab and three Israeli spies sent to Jericho to gather intelligence.
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