Practical Christianity - Faith the Works
Book of James • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsReal Christianity puts feet to it’s faith.
Notes
Transcript
Text: James 2:14-26
Theme: Real Christianity puts feet to it’s faith.
There is a time in every young boy’s life, usually between the ages of ten to twelve, when their favorite phrase is: “Oh yeah? Prove it?” Now, you don’t hear them saying this to their parents or their teachers, but to other ten to twelve-year-old boys.
One boy begins by saying, “I’m stronger than you,” or “I’m faster than you,” or “I’m smarter than you.” Any which of those claims immediate invites the reply from every boy within the vicinity, “Oh yeah? Prove it!” That’s a ten-year-old’s way of saying, ‘Put up or shut up!’
In this section of Scripture, the Apostle James is telling his readers: “You say you’re a Christian? Prove it!” We’ve come to the heart of the Apostle’s message. The core of James’ epistle is Faith that Works. James believes in, and teaches a faith way of life that enters into the everyday and the nitty-gritty of our existence as Christians.
Even in James’ day – only 30-40 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, there were some professing Christians who had abandoned the essence of the Christian faith. What is that essence? Jesus told His disciples, “. . . If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23).
James was fearful that some in the church were substituting rhetoric for righteousness, convenience for unconditional faith, and bogus faith for real faith.
Those are still fears for the church today.
There were those who, in James’ day as in our day, maintain that salvation is based upon the acceptance of certain doctrines and creeds. These are people who intellectually assent to the truth, but it has not changed their hearts.
These folks came around to James and said, “We’re Christians because we have believed the right things.” James says, “Oh yeah? Prove it!”
I. THE HYPOTHESIS – FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD
I. THE HYPOTHESIS – FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14, ESV)
1. a hypothesis is a tentative theory or explanation that is adopted to explain why certain things happen the way they do
2. after a hypothesis is constructed, we set about the task of trying to prove or disprove it by the facts that we observe in nature around us
A. FACT ONE – A PROFESSION OF FAITH DOES NOT IMPLY POSSESSION OF CHRIST
A. FACT ONE – A PROFESSION OF FAITH DOES NOT IMPLY POSSESSION OF CHRIST
1. a proper understanding of vs. 14 is important because it governs the interpretation of the entire passage
a. this statement has persuaded some critics that James is teaching salvation through faith and works (in other words, the Catholics are right and the rest of us are wrong)
1) the form of the questions in vs. 14 indicates that a negative answer is warrented
a) What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
b) What good is faith if it doesn’t have works ... well ... it’s no good
c) the same is true of the second question: Can that faith save him?
d) again, the answer is No, faith without works cannot save a person
ILLUS. There you have it. It’s the end of our church. It’s the end of Christianity as we know it. People will say, “What more do you want? That proves the Bible has divergent views. They contradict each other. The Bible is not a uniform body of teaching. It’s not an infallible guidebook. Paul says we are justified by faith alone, not by what we do. James says we’re justified by what we do and not by faith alone.
b. here is why Martin Luther didn’t care for the Letter of James
ILLUS. He didn’t think it expressed the “nature of the Gospel,” and that it appeared to contradict Paul’s statements about justification by faith alone. Also, it didn’t directly mention Christ. Luther concluded, “Therefore St James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.”
1) with all due respect to Martin, he just got this one wrong!
c. a surface reading of the passage seems to imply that the Apostle James is at odds with the Apostle Paul who taught justification by faith alone
1) for Paul, faith practically equals salvation
"For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." (Romans 3:28, ESV)
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [Ah ... but read on] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV)
2) the Bible is pretty clear about justification by faith alone
d. James, however, sees two kinds of faith: saving faith and professing faith
1) the first is real faith the second is a bogus faith
2) for James, justification is indeed by faith, but faith that justifies is also a faith that works
a) Jesus told his disciples that if we are genuinely his that we would be doing the same kind of things he did
““Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12, ESV)
3) genuine faith will always manifest itself in post-conversion works
2. the emphasis is on the word say or claim – if a man say he hath faith . . .
a. James pictures a man who boasts and maybe even brags about his faith
b. yet, when you examine this man’s life there are no outward indications that he is a true child of God
1) he’s made a ‘confession’, but there is no ‘cross’ in his life
3. this kind of life demonstrates very plainly that this man’s ‘faith’ is just a matter of words and nothing more
a. if a man has real faith in Christ, it is bound to make a difference in his behavior
4. there is a huge difference — an eternity of difference — in making a profession of faith and having a real possession of Christ in one’s heart
a. we have many, many people in our culture who claim or say that they are a Christian, but who – I believe – are not
1) they say that they ‘believe’
2) they say that they ‘have faith’
3) they will tell you they’ve ‘walked an aisle and made a profession of faith’
b. but there is no changed life, no changed behavior, no changed attitude, no changed character
1) James says, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works
2) that word works means a vocation that employs us and implies a life good deeds, and doing the works of Christ, and laboring for Jesus and righteous behavior that conforms to God’s revealed Word
"You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." (Matthew 7:16-18, ESV)
c. if a changed life is not evident, James asks a very pointed question: can faith save him?
1) that phrase is better translated, “Can that kind of faith save?”
2) James is not disputing the importance of faith
3) rather, he is opposing the notion that saving faith can be a mere intellectual exercise void of a commitment to active obedience
5. I think that James is being a little sarcastic here
a. what he is saying is this: “Can a mere ‘profession’ of intellectual belief save a person?”
b. the answer is no
ILLUS. To make his point, James uses an illustration that he may have personally witnessed. He speaks of an affluent person commiserating with a poverty-stricken brother or sister who actually lacks the essentials of life. The fact that this prosperous one expresses a desire to see the other clothed and fed, but does absolutely nothing to help, shows that his concern is not real, but merely a matter of hypocritical words.
"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. 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." (James 2:15-18, ESV)
c. do you hear the ten-year-old boy in James saying, “Oh yeah? Prove it?”
d. just as professed compassion without action is phony, the kind of faith that is without works is mere empty profession, not genuine saving faith
"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." (1 John 2:3-6, ESV)
II. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTHENTIC FAITH
II. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTHENTIC FAITH
1. real Christianity puts feet to it’s faith
2. even the Apostle Paul agrees with this
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:9-10, ESV)
3. James presents the facts
4. they seem conclusive enough to prove his hypothesis correct – faith without works is dead
A. Fact One – a Profession of Faith Does Not Imply Possession of Christ
A. FACT TWO – SERVING FAITH IS AUTHENTIC FAITH
A. FACT TWO – SERVING FAITH IS AUTHENTIC FAITH
"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. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?" (James 2:18-20, ESV)
ILLUS. Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Religious Philosopher tells a modern-day parable about inauthentic faith in his story called Duckland. He writes: It was Sunday morning, and all the ducks dutifully came to church, waddling through the doors and down the aisle into their pews where they comfortably squatted. When all were well-settled, and the hymns were sung, the duck minister waddled to his pulpit, opened the Duck Bible and quacked: "Ducks! You have wings, and with wings you can fly like eagles. You can soar into the sky! Use your wings!" It was marvelous, elevating duck scripture, and thus all the ducks quacked their assent with a hearty "Amen!" - and then they plopped down from their pews and waddled home.
1. in the lives of many church goers today, there is a yawning chasm between profession and action – between professed faith and works
2. James says too many believers were talking a good talk, but they weren’t walking much of the walk
a. he says "Show me your faith without your works" and “I’ll show you my faith by my works”
b. the Devil and his demons believe in the reality of Jesus Christ, but that does not make them believers!
c. Kent Hughes says, “There's not a demon in the universe who is an atheist!"
3. knowing the facts about God, Jesus and the Gospel is one thing
a. trusting Him and depending upon His Son, Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul, and mind is quite another
4. without Christian works faith remains invisible
a. authentic faith cannot be shown without works to support it
b. for those wishing to believe otherwise, James tags them as foolish
1) their faith is shallow and useless
2) it serves no purpose for them, nor for anyone else
5. authentic faith pushes beyond the realm of rhetoric, and accepts the personal responsibility to serve a brother or sister in Christ, and even those who remain outside the family of God
"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”" (Matthew 13:23, ESV)
B. FACT THREE – SACRIFICING FAITH IS AUTHENTIC FAITH
B. FACT THREE – SACRIFICING FAITH IS AUTHENTIC FAITH
1. faith can be viewed by how much we are willing to sacrifice
2. James uses the illustrations of Abraham and Rahab
"You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;" (James 2:22, ESV)
"And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?" (James 2:25, ESV)
ILLUS. James and Paul seem to be using the word ‘justify’ in two different ways. The primary way in which Paul uses the word “justify”emphasized the sense of being declared righteous by God through faith” on the basis of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. James, however, uses the word “justify” to emphasize the way in which works demonstrate that someone has been justified by faith as evidenced by that person’s good works.
3. Abraham and Rahab exhibited a faith in God that was vindicated by good works
a. to understand the working relationship of faith and works in the life of Abraham we must venture into the book of Genesis
"And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6, ESV)
b. in this verse we have the first instance of the word believe in scripture
1) God saved Abraham on the basis of faith alone
2) we might say that Abraham was "faithing" in the Lord
4. Abraham put his trust in God's word alone and as a result he was declared righteous apart from works
5. however, Abraham's life followed the formula found in James’ epistle of SALVATION = WORKS
a. 40 years after meeting God, Abraham's faith is still authentic and carrying him into works of obedience
ILLUS. In Genesis 22 we find God testing the faith of Abraham at the point of God asking for the life of Abraham's only son Isaac (Gen. 22:2)
b. his faith was challenged
1) it was put to the test to prove itself true and authentic
6. God's command was contrary to his common sense, natural affections, and his life long dreams
a. but authentic faith takes us into the realm of self-sacrifice that pushes through the common, natural and dreams
"You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;" (James 2:22, ESV)
Our faith is expressed through specific, concrete, practical works. When John Wesley was six-years-old the parsonage in which he lived with his family caught fire. The alarm was given and the parents thought everyone was out of the house safely. But when they started counting, they discovered that one of the children was missing. And, to their horror, they saw young John at an upper story window, caught in the burning building. The father, a devout, scholarly Anglican minister, immediately dropped to his knees, praying that God would save the boy. His mother, who not only was a person of great faith but also a very practical woman, immediately ran next door, got a neighbor with a ladder and, working with the neighbor, rescued her son from the flaming house.
There are times when the best way to express your faith is to get off your knees, go get a neighbor with a ladder, and do what has to be done in a given situation.
Apart from works of love, your faith is dead -- as "lifeless as a corpse." James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. NIV