Got Fruit?

Introduction

Last week, we spoke about the importance of remembering how God has shown mercy to us so that we would show that same mercy to others and not play favorites.

Tonight, we will continue James’ theme of being doers of God’s word in discussing how saving faith is a faith that works. So go ahead and turn with me to James 2:14-26 as we will be camping out there this evening.

Back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s the milk company started a “got milk” campaign to encourage people to drink more milk.

The big pull was to get celebrities and athletes to appear in their commercials and on their billboards holding a glass of milk and sporting a milk mustache.

The ad would then end with the question… “Got Milk?” and the whole point was to say that these athletes and celebrities had milk because they were healthy, successful, and most importantly, they had milk mustaches to prove it.

But if they did not have these physical evidences of drinking milk…if there was no milk mustache to be found…did they really have milk according to the commercial?

In the same way as the milk slogan asks, “Got milk”... we can ask ourselves the question…Got Fruit? For if we say we have faith in Christ, do we really have any evidence to prove it?

FCF: Why is it that... if we are honest... we often say we believe in Jesus, but at times, practically live like atheists who don’t even believe God exists? Why do we talk about the importance of holiness but live holy-less lives that look like the world?

Sermon Idea: Ultimately, we need a living faith that works…we need real faith that produces real fruit…and this is the main truth God wants us to see from tonight’s text…That genuine and saving faith in Christ will always make itself evident in the fruit of our lives....but if there is no fruit, then the seed of faith has not taken root, and one’s “faith” is dead.

Now, before we dive in to tonight’s text, I want to remind you of what James is and is not doing in his letter...

James is not giving us a list of things that we must do to be saved. He has already made clear that the new birth of salvation comes through the gospel in chapter 1 verse 18.

Since that point he now begins to flesh out what someone who has been born again’s faith should look like in the rest of the letter.

Remember, James is saying throughout this letter that if you claim that you have faith in Jesus, that Jesus is your Lord and master....then this is what your life should look like.

With those truths in mind, lets dive into the first section in verses 14-17, where James says that a faith that does not work is a dead faith.

Verse 14 reads, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Faith Without Works Is Dead (vs 14-17)

James’ main point can be seen in verses 14 and 17 as he repeats his thought...that if faith does not produce works…a changed life...that type of faith is dead.

Notice, he does not say that faith does not save...but takes aim at a certain kind of faith...dead faith...and says that “that” type of faith, one that does not produce good works, will not save.

If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

"The new birth would be a thing to be ridiculed if it did not really produce a hatred of sin and a love for holiness." -Charles Spurgeon

James is not saying that works should be added to faith, but that works should naturally grow from faith.

To make his point James provides an example in verse 16 and makes clear that it does no good to give a brother or sister in Christ a wishful prayer but then do nothing to practically care or provide for them.

This is the same point James makes in chapter 1 about being doers of the word.

In 1 John 3:17-18, John agrees with James and gives the clear result of neglecting to care for people in the church when we have the resources to do so: “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Just as it is useless to wish someone to be warmed and fed but not provide the means to accomplish what you say...if someone professes faith that does not produce works...it is a dead faith, and cannot save.

Genuine faith can be likened to a seed that is alive and planted in soil. If the seed is alive in the soil, then it will produce a plant. But if the seed does not produce a plant, we can agree that the seed is dead. It does no good to add a plant on top of the soil if the seed below it is dead.

In the same way, James is not saying that faith is dead until works are added to it, but that faith is only alive and can be called saving faith if it naturally produces good works...just as a seed is alive only if it naturally produces a plant.

It is not faith + works = salvation...but Living faith (working faith) = Salvation

So, lets stop for a minute and apply this truth…we need to examine our hearts to see if we have a living faith that has produced a changed heart and can be proven by our actions.

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Is your faith living and active? Have you been made a new creation through the gospel of Jesus Christ? Can others see fruit as evidence of your faith in Jesus?

James makes clear that if you profess to have “faith” but the faith you have does not produce a changed heart that results in a changed life…your faith is not Biblical saving faith…but a dead faith, and you are deceiving yourself.

Response Of A Critic (vs 18-20)

In verse 18 James continues his thought by responding to a critic who claims that one can have faith or works...but they do not need both....look at verse 18, “But someone will say, “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.”

Essentially the critic is saying, “Why are you insisting that everyone has to be the same? Some people have faith; others have works!”

James counters this claim by saying that faith and works are vitally connected and cannot be separated.

He proves his point in two ways:

First, James makes the claim that a person cannot show that they have faith apart from works...for how can a dead faith with no works be demonstrated

James uses the word “show” twice in verse 18 to highlight that works are not being added to faith...but that genuine saving faith has works, and if such works are present, they will “show up” to be observed by others.

Another place we can see this from Scripture is Ephesians 2:8-10, which makes clear that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and that both grace and faith are gifts from God.

However, verse 10 makes clear that we are God’s workmanship and have been created for good works...which means good works will always follow genuine saving faith. “Salvation is not gained through works but rather good works are the fruit of saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Next, James gives a practical example in the lives of the demons…look at verse 19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

The demons believed that God was one, which to James’ Jewish audience, would raise some flags as they recited the Shema each day. Yet, James says simply having mental assent to a truth is not genuine faith.

James is essentially saying, “Yes, you are right to affirm that God is one-but do you realize that even the demons intellectually believe this as well? And they demonstrate a more rational response to their confession than you do....at least they shudder in fear of their coming judgement!”

A historical faith in truth does not save but it must be a trusting faith that places one’s life and authority under and to God.

The demons’ faith had no works. They believed in the truth that Jesus was the Son of God, but did not submit their lives to him and their faith did not produce any obedience.

So, both faith and works are necessary for salvation...but we must remember that good works are performed by believers due to Christ working in them (Galatians 2:19-20)...therefore, our confidence in our salvation is based on Christ, not our performance of good works.

We must remember that there is no such thing as Jesus being “my savior” but not “my Lord.” True saving faith means submission to Christ as both Savior and Lord of one’s life.

So, Jesus is either Savior and Lord or he is nothing…if we have not submitted our lives to Jesus and live like He is Lord, then our faith is no better than the demons’ faith…which is a dead faith that does not save.

Examples of True Faith: Abraham and Rahab (vs 21-26)

After addressing his opponent by asking if he wants to be shown that faith apart from works is useless, James gives two examples to demonstrate his point in verses 21-26 in the lives of Abraham and Rahab.

James first uses the example of how Abraham was justified by his works in passing the test of offering up his Son Isaac as God commanded him.

James says in verse 21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.”

Because Abraham believed and fully trusted God, he demonstrated his faith by obeying what God commanded him to do (Hebrews 11:17-19).

Hebrews 11 makes clear that genuine faith must be seen in obedience and that without faith it is impossible to please God...therefore, it is genuine faith that produces works and a life of obedience.

James is not saying that Abraham was justified in that he was declared righteous because of his obedience, but that Abraham was justified, in that he proved he was righteous and that his faith was genuine through his obedience.

In verse 22-23, James shows that faith was always what was working through Abraham to produce his obedience and that his faith reached maturity and became complete by his obedience.

James is not saying that Abraham’s obedience added to his faith and then his faith was complete...as if we need to add something to faith to make it genuine...rather, just as a seed comes to full maturity in a plant...genuine faith will always grow into maturity in a life of obedience, and bring one’s faith to completion.

But wait...James says in verse 24, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Does this not contradict what Paul says that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone in Ephesians 2?

The key issue at stake in verse 24 is understanding that “justified” has two meanings for James and Paul.

Important to see that James wrote this letter before Paul wrote Romans and Galatians.

James uses “justified” as a public presentation (demonstration of righteousness), where Paul uses “justified” as a pronouncement (declaration) of righteousness.

We can see the use of justified to mean a demonstration of righteousness in Matthew 11:19, where Jesus said, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

Greg Gilbert provides a good illustration on how to understand these two meanings of justification:

“Think of it as the difference between a wedding minister’s pronouncement that a couple are man and wife and his public presentation of them to the congregation as people who are acting in a way that is agreeing with the pronouncement he has just made.”

Paul’s use of Justification: “God declares someone to be in the right through faith in Jesus Christ alone.”

James’ use of justification: “Someone proves themselves to be right with God through a life of obedience which shows their professed faith to be real.”

Both Jesus and Paul agree with James that living faith will express itself in a life of obedience.

Jesus makes clear in Matthew 7:16-27 that one will know if someone is his disciple by the way they live their lives, “you will know them by their fruit”…and they will be those who “hear my word and do it.”

In Ephesians 4:17 Paul made clear that if one has faith in Jesus, the expectation is that one will no longer live like sinners who do not believe in Jesus…but will put on the new self and their lives will look more and more like Christ.

In verse 25 James gives the same use of “justified” in the story of Rahab by saying that like Abraham, she too proved herself to be righteous through her obedience to God…which demonstrated that her faith was real, living, saving faith.

James closes in verse 26 with the same statement he began with in verse 14… “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

Essentially, saying that you are a Christian, but not having any evidence of Christ in your life by the way you live is like walking up to a coffin and saying that the person lying there is alive....we must stop deceiving ourselves…faith, if it does not have works, is a dead faith.

So what about you…do you have fruit?

Real faith, faith that saves, is a faith that trust’s in God’s promises to do what he said (James 2:23).

Just as you are fully trusting in that chair to hold you up, saving faith is putting all of your life in the person of Jesus and what he has done for you through his life, death, and resurrection.

We do not need to try to add works to our lives to make our faith genuine…for like the plant illustration, that will not make faith real.

Instead, We must turn from our sin and false faith and trust in Christ to represent us, to live and die in our place, and thereby to save us from our sin.

This genuine faith will then produce a life of obedience to Christ because we are trusting and submitting our lives to his lordship.

We must seek to live out our faith…not simply in our words and speech but in actions and deeds.

Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is never alone and is always accompanied by a changed life that produces good works.

Therefore, may we seek to live out our faith…not simply in our words and speech but in our actions and deeds…proving like Abraham and Rahab, that our faith is a living faith that works…Amen?

LETS PRAY