James 2:14-19 (2)

Derek Del Rosario

James • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

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James 2:14-19 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [f]your works, and I will show you my faith by [g]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

Today we are going to continue with our verse by

verse Bible study series through the book of James.

And as you can see up on our video screens, the focus of our Bible

verses today in James Chapter 2 is:

SLIDE

FAITH THAT WORKS

And James is going to have some interesting things to teach us about

the CONNECTION BETWEEN faith and works in the lives as Christians.

Story - FAITH AND WORKS

There was once a Scotsman who rowed people across a river. On one oar he had carved the word 'faith' and on the other oar he had carved the word 'works'. One day as he was rowing, one of the passengers noticed the carvings and asked him about them. The Scotsman did not reply but pulled in the oar marked 'works' and started to row with only one oar. The boat went round in circles. He then pulled in the oar marked 'faith' and started to row only with the 'works' oar. The boat again went round in circles, but this time in the opposite direction. He then rowed with both oars and reached the other bank safely.

Before his passenger got off the boat he said, 'A Christian must row his life using both oars, faith and works. Only then will he reach heaven's shore.'

True faith influences the heart and life, so that we obey God and serve...

Well our Bible text today is going to focus on the connection between….FAITH and WORKS.

And we are going to see that it is possible to BELIEVE IN JESUS, and yet not be a Christian and not go to heaven.

The Bible actually teaches us that there are TWO KINDS OF FAITH, there is a DEAD FAITH, and also a TRUE LIVING FAITH.

And God’s word is going to teach us that

SLIDE

GOOD WORKS will always be an outward sign of a true inward Christian faith!

And if you are taking notes this morning, in our Bible text we are going to see

SLIDE

5 Qualities of a true Christian Faith

These are five qualities that we need to make sure are evident in our lives as Believers today that have a TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

So let’s get started and please open up your Bibles with us to the book

of James Chapter 2.

And we will begin where we left off last Saturday, by reading verse 14.

SLIDE

James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

faith save him?

As we get started here, keep in mind that the author of this epistle, Jesus’ brother James is writing this letter to teach Christians how to live.

So all of the instructions in the book of James, are designed to help us walk victoriously through the problems, challenges and pains of real life.

Now James begins this section of his letter by mentioning the two main themes of our Bible text today.

Let’s read verse 14 again… What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

I want to define our TWO MAIN TERMS that are both found in this section here, faith and works.

By “faith” the Bible is talking about WHAT WE BELIEVE spiritually.

And by “works” (which also could be translated deeds or actions) we are talking about THE THINGS WE DO.

And what James is going to show us today is that there IS ALWAYS A CONNECTION between what we truly believe and what we do.

This verse is important because verse 14 might be the most misunderstood verse in the entire New Testament!

Is James saying that we are saved not only by our faith, but we also need to have works or good deeds too?

What do you think, are we saved by faith or by our works, or by some combination of the two?

The reason that this verse is controversial is because some people have tried to teach that James is saying that we are saved by both faith and works.

So what does the Bible teach us about our salvation as Christians?

The greatest reformation in the history of the church answered that important question for us! (SLIDE)

And that happened through… The great Theologian Martin Luther (1483-1586) and the other Christian reformers.

At that time, Martin Luther and every other believer in Jesus grew up in Europe under the only religion available at that time, Roman Catholicism.

Now there were two major problems with that.

#1- The people weren’t allowed to have their own bibles, and the Catholics outlawed the translating of the Bible into the languages of the common man.

But a 2nd and more important problem was that the Catholic Church was teaching that people were saved by a combination of Faith and works!

They taught that people could be saved by faith and being part of the church, or by faith and giving alms or by faith and completing the sacraments.

But Martin Luther who was a Catholic priest at that time, found his answers about salvation in the Bible.

And when he read this famous passage that is up on the screens…

SLIDE

“The just shall live by faith” - (Romans 1:17 and Habakkuk 2:4)

he was convinced that the Bible teaches us that we are saved by faith.

And we know that the Bible teaches us that Martin Luther was right, we are saved only by faith in Jesus.

Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes our salvation for us over in…

SLIDE

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Now because Martin Luther had to fight so hard for this truth, and so many Christians died in this religious struggle, Martin Luther didn’t even like the book of James.

Martin Luther believed that here in verse 14, James contradicted the rest of the Biblical message that we are saved by faith in Christ alone.

But James isn’t talking about SAVING FAITH here, what James is teaching us about is HOW WE SHOULD LIVE as true believers.

With faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and our King, and with good works that flow out from that inner faith.

So James introduces this topic here in verse 14 by asking us two rhetorical questions…

James asks us … What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

And the obvious answers to James questions is NO, and in the rest of our Bible verses, James is going to show us that TRUE FAITH WORKS!

So let’s continue on by reading verses 15 to 17 together. (SLIDE)

15-17- Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

In order to prove this Biblical truth, James brings up a hypothetical situation here that could happen at any church

And I want you to try and put yourself in this story and think about how you would respond to this situation if it happened to you.

TELL STORY POOR MAN AT CHURCH

So in this story, you as a Christian see a poor and hurting believer at church after the service.

You can tell that this believer is wearing dirty clothes that they probably slept in, and it is obvious that they are hungry and without money!

Here is your question… How would you respond to them? What you would you do about it?

Would you buy them a meal after church or offer them a snack, Would you try and ignore them, and just continue to talk with the people that you already know?

Or maybe worst of all, would you do what James says here in verse

STOP TELLING STORY POOR MAN AT CHURCH

16, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,”

What God wants and expects from us is to have a vibrant living inward faith that is willing to meet some of the needs around us!

When we see needs, we need to pray and ask God if He wants to use us to meet that need and bless that person.

And in this we see the first of our five qualities of a true Christian faith

(SLIDE)

And that is…

#1-A true Faith will be a blessing to others.

(v.15-16) (REPEAT)

It is the responsibility of each of us as Christians to care for each other, and in order to help us do that, God brings each of us opportunities TO DO GOOD WORKS throughout the week.

Listen to what the Bible teaches us about this over in

(SLIDE)

Ephesians 2:10 - “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them!”

So Christian, are you looking for those good works that God has prepared for you?

Are you ready to put YOUR FAITH TO WORK, by being a blessing to others?

So many of you do that here, and I want to tell you thank you, and I want to encourage you to keep it up!

But there are some people that claim to be Christians, and claim to have faith, yet they don’t do any good works in the name of Jesus.

So what about them?

What happens to those people that never experience any changes at all, and never do any good works for Jesus, yet they claim to be Christians?

James describes that kind of person for us right here in verse 17, so

let’s read that verse again.

17- In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The person that claims to have a faith in Jesus, but that never has any actions or good works that flow from that faith, has what James calls a dead faith or we could call it a useless faith.

And in this we see the 2nd of our five qualities of a true Christian faith. (SLIDE)

And that is…

#2-A Faith without works (actions) is dead. (v.17) (REPEAT)

F2S this is so important, because the Bible is teaching us that there is a DEAD FAITH out there that has many people deceived.

So what are the characteristics of DEAD FAITH?

For one, People with a dead faith never respond to the Holy Spirit.

People with a dead faith have no desire or even the ability to walk in those Good Works that Jesus brings before true believers every day.

So there is a danger here…and that danger is having a dead faith…. A faith that doesn’t work… a faith that won’t save us.

F2S, instead of a DEAD FAITH, what we want is a living faith! Amen?

A living faith will produce good works that Jesus described as being

SPIRITUAL FRUIT!

Listen to what Jesus said about these good works in…

(SLIDE)-

John 15:8 “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

How can you make your heavenly Father happy and bring Him glory? By bearing much fruit!

And again, this spiritual fruit is the good works that should flow naturally from the life of the believer that has a TRUE FAITH.

And we can even identify the true believers around us, How? By seeing if they are bearing spiritual fruit.

Listen to the way that Jesus said we would be able to identify a true Believer over in…

(SLIDE)

Matthew 7:16-20 -“16 By their fruit you will recognize them… 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” If our faith is alive and vibrant, there will be evidence of it, there will be good fruit in our lives.

If a person’s faith is dead, there will be an obvious lack of fruit in their lives.

TELL STORY DEREK

And I know this is true first hand because I spent from 2000 - 2008 with Dead Faith

I lived with A DEAD FAITH!

Didn’t you believe in God Derek? Yes, I believed in God but I

had a dead faith! I would go to church but I also would do the things of the flesh for six other days

I never really tried to stop sinning, and I didn’t have a desire to do the things of God.

Why? I had a dead faith!

True saving faith will always change the way a person lives.

STOP STORY DEREK

TELL STORY ABOUT THE BOMB

Let me give you an example of the difference between true faith and dead faith.

What if I told you right now that there is a huge bomb planted in this back room that is going to blow this gym to pieces in exactly one minute!

But after telling you that, I continued standing here and talking, and I never did anything about it.

My actions would show you that I don’t really believe what I am saying, that there is a bomb in here.

But if I ran out of the gym screaming with terror on my face, carrying my Bible of course, you would know that I believe what I am saying.

STOP TELLING THE BOMB STORY

True faith will always result in good works!

So what are the good works or spiritual fruit that God wants to see in our lives?

You can always start by doing the essentials of the Christian faith. Reading your Bible and praying and serving, and being part of the body of Christ the church.

But most of your good works are going to be simply:

SLIDE

Doing the things that God has uniquely called you to do.

Lets finish up our Bible study this morning by reading verses 18 and 19 together.

(SLIDE)

James 18-19- But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

So here in verse 18 James reinforces the fact that true Christian faith will be backed up by good works and deeds.

And James points to his own life as a Christian as an example of that here in verse

SLIDE

James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works..

Notice that two different times here James mentions that faith should be SHOWN to ( or SEEN BY ) others.

And in this we see the 3rd of our five qualities of a true Christian faith.

(SLIDE)

And that is…

#3-True Faith will be seen by others. (v.18)

*REPEAT*

SLIDE (WRITE THIS DOWN)

“True faith is like calories… you can’t see them, but you can always see the results.”

REPEAT

Listen to what Jesus had to say about our good works being seen by others over in…

SLIDE

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

God wants our good works to be seen by the people around us!

And it’s even better when people know that we are doing those good works because of Jesus, and because of the love that Jesus has FOR THEM.

Here in verse 19 James gives us one final

example of dead faith and did you notice who James uses as an example of having dead faith?

Let’s read verse 19 again…You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.

Did you know that the demons believe all of the right things about the Christian faith?

Remember, Demons are fallen angels, and believe it or not, they know and believe that Jesus is true.

If Demons were sitting here in our gym this morning, (and I am glad they aren’t) the demons would agree that every word from the Bible is true.

Demons believe all of the right things about Jesus, they have what we would call an ORTHODOX faith or set of beliefs.

And as James says here in verse 19, the demons believe and even tremble, but as we all know they aren’t saved… WHY aren’t the demons saved?

Demon’s aren’t saved because they have a dead faith and they don’t have Jesus as their LORD AND SAVIOR.

And in this we see the fourth of our five qualities of a true Christian faith.

(SLIDE)

And that is…

#4-True Faith is not just intellectual agreement, but it comes from the heart. (v.19)

***REPEAT***

If I went over right now and talked to all of the drunks on the strip in the casinos and asked them this question… Do you believe in God… How do you think they would answer that question?

I can guarantee you that every single drunk over there would say… ((Hiccup)) Yes, I believe in God… (( Slurred) ) yes

Demons, drunks and so many others believe in Jesus up here (HEAD KNOWLEDGE) but they don’t know Jesus down here! (in the heart)

The problem is that only an intelectual knowledge of Jesus won’t lead to any good Works or to a changed life!

Instead these kinds of people continue on with their dead faith in their unchanging sinful lifestyle.

Listen to how the Bible describes people with a dead faith over in

(SLIDE)-

Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

But here is the worst part about it, most of these people who believe in Jesus intillectually, yet have a dead faith, believe that they are fine spiritually.

They think that they are going to heaven, even though their faith is dead.

And I want you to listen to what Jesus said about these kind of people that believe in him but have a dead faith.

Jesus speaking said this over in…

(SLIDE)

Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

And in this we see the fifth and final of our five qualities of a true Christian faith.

(SLIDE)

And that is…

#5-It is possible for a person to be deceived about their faith. (v.19)

***REPEAT***

The famous ancient Greek philosopher Socrates once said…The unexamined life is not worth living…

But more importantly, the Bible says that same truth, listen to what

God’s word tells us in…

(SLIDE)-

2nd Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.”

True faith will always affect and change our conduct and our deeds and our decisions over time.

So Christian, I want to finish up our sermon this morning by having each one of us examine our faith.

Does your faith listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit?

Does your faith desire to walk in the Good Works that Jesus has prepared for you to walk in every day?

None of us are perfect, but the good news is that God has a vibrant and active and living faith available for each one of us.

Christian, God has a faith for you THAT WORKS!

And your Christian faith is also designed to help you.

And let me just tell you as the owner of Fit 2 Serve, I love seeing and hearing about all of the good fruit and the good works that are flowing out of you and building up God’s Kingdom.

So let’s let these Biblical truth’s instruct and encourage us this morning!

And F2S, that is today’s good news about FAITH THAT WORKS!

Amen?

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