Conduct
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· 1 viewWe believe that Christians should live for the glory of God And the well-being of others, that their conduct should be blameless that they should be faithful stewards of the life God has given them.
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Transcript
Intro
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.
We are saved by faith, that fact is not disputed, we also don't really argue over the fact that we need to walk by faith. Without faith we know that it is impossible to please God. Having confidence that what God says is true and following Him in spit of the consequences. But it doesn't end there, the next part of faith, what we are going to to go through today is works. Christian Conduct. Is it enough to be just followers of Jesus or does it mean our lives have to change as well. This is something that is argued about a lot it seems like.
There is a relationship between faith and works. That relationship says that without works faith is dead. If you say you have faith in Jesus but the way you conduct yourself shows something completely different, then that is not faith. We struggle to know sometimes if we are truly saved, How do we know for sure. As young believers this is a question I hear often. How do I know I am saved by the grace of God?
Have you gone through the motions of praying the prayer and giving your life to Jesus? then your conduct will start to show it. We need both oars to row properly.
We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God And the well-being of others, that their conduct should be blameless that they should be faithful stewards of the life God has given them.
A Proposition
A Proposition
One thing I do understand before we get into this is that this section of scripture is often misunderstood as conflicting with Paul’s teaching of Justification by Faith alone. How is it possible that we are declared as children of God by faith alone, then we read that faith without works is dead. To put this to rest I want to share a couple passage with you.
first of all Paul as well talks about the idea that our works are important in our faith. for we will be held accountable by what we do here on this earth.
6 So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Each one will be repaid according to what we have done here on this earth. then we also have the fruit of the spirit. Saying that followers of Jesus, those that are indwelt by the Spirit will be seen by the fruit that comes out of their lives. You see, not contradictory but rather they do support each other. It is essential to understand that if you are a follower of Jesus, it will be seen in the way that you live your life. If the following statement concern you, or anger you, I challenge you to look into your life and ask God to see why there is no fruit of your faith.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
We start out similar to an interrogation to answer the question, what good is it to say you have faith but you do not do anything about it? Kind of a leading question. Can faith without works save? Is it an essential that we live for the glory of God and be faithful stewards in the way we live with what God has given us? This is not deeds done to earn merit before God
Genuine faith is a natural byproduct of being regenerated by the work of the HS and therefore also affects our behavior. What we will see here today is that faith that does not also regenerate a believers behavior is as one commentator put it, “superfluous and spurious”
15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?
The proposition, can a works-less faith save you, is given an illustration. The illustration I think is designed to be humorous, or even ludicrous. The illustration given here is an overstatement that is designed to show the dire need of the person asking, they are desperate and likely will perish without help.
Also it is the case of a believer “brother or sister” who is in need. I would have liked to see the looks on their faces at hearing this story. It would have been slightly scandalous, the idea of someone being Naked. Shocking them into listening t what He had to say. The fellow Believer does not even have enough to clothe themselves.
If we see a brother or sister “fellow Christian and need” and say I hope you find clothes and food, have a nice day, what good does that do to them. Be warm and eat your fill is what the illustration is saying they did to the needy person but did nothing about it.
What good does it do to do something like this? To say we have faith and then not conduct ourselves as such.
17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
In the same way if we say we have faith, but the faith is not seen in how we follow the commands of Jesus, then the faith is dead. we are not all perfect, not by any means. we struggle with sin and temptation, falling back to our old way of life. but if our brothers and sisters are in Christ are in need and we can not even stop to help them, what good is our faith? Do you say you are saved by faith? then is it seen in the way that you follow Jesus?
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Six: False Faith (James 2:14–26)
No man can come to Christ by faith and remain the same any more than he can come into contact with a 220-volt wire and remain the same.
The argument for Works and Faith
The argument for Works and Faith
Now that James has proposed that Faith and works need to work together we get an argument for why this is. Again we get a shock to the readers at the time to get them to pay attention. Conduct and faith run hand in hand. It does come down to stewardship and what we are doing with the life and the stuff God has given us and are we using it for the glory of the Lord.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.
I have always loved this question and it makes me laugh. Go ahead you say you believe in Jesus and have faith in Him, show me without following Him. Show me you believe in Jesus without following the commands He has set out for us. Go ahead, I am waiting.
It is like saying that I trust this music stand to hold me table and not fall down but never setting it down. Or telling my father in law I trust that he knows how to fly a plane, but refusing to get in the seat beside him in the plane. Having saving faith is great, but our conduct needs to show that for we can not have one without the other.
19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
The second argument to support this. “You believe God is one”.
The Shema from Deut 6:4 “4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” It is something Orthodox Jews would have said all the time in their worship and their lives. Saying you believe God is not enough it is telling us. For even the demons believe this and tremble. The demons that are destined for the lake of fire believe that God is God and they are not, the Tremble and yet still try to lead us astray. The demons saying they believe God is who he says He is did not bring them peace, they refuse to give their lives over to God.
20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?
Foolish person, do you realize yet what this means, that faith without works is useless, it is dead. Your conduct needs to reflect the reality of your life.
21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete,
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
More evidence if you need it, taken from the OT. We go back to the story of Abraham. His faith was counted to Him as righteousness because He stepped out and left all He knew to follow God. His faith and his actions were inseparable. God spoke and Abraham walked and obeyed in faith.
Works are not the sole source of our faith, that is not what this is saying at all. But rather that faith and our conduct, how we follow what Jesus taught us go hand in hand, they need to work together. Like Abraham stepped out, so our faith involves the whole person. Saving faith leads to action.
The fruits of the spirit is another passage that explains this well. To have the HS in our lives means that something is going to come out of it.
We have one more example given to drive the point home.
25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
Rahab’s life was saved not just because she believed in the God of Israel and feared Him. It involved her putting her life on the line and showing her trust through her actions.
Works do not save, that is not what this is saying. but example after example is given to show that we can know we are saved, by the actions that come out of our lives. But there is a flip side to that as well. Someone can hide for a long time putting on a show, doing all the right things and making it look like they have faith in Jesus but never have they committed their lives to Him in faith.
We need both. By grace are we saved through faith alone, but our works will be held accountable by our Lord. Will we be found living our lives for Him. It is essential to know that our faith will come out in the way that we conduct our lives and follow Jesus.
In conclusion
In conclusion
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
The end of the matter, we get one more illustration. As the body without the spirit is just a corpse, so faith without action is dead. If there are no acts that spring from faith, that faith is nor more alive then a dead body.
This does not mean that by living out our faith we can make God do what we ask for, that is a misinterpretation of this passage. It doesn't tun God into a Genie that grants our every will and wish. But true faith, as seen in the scriptures will be seen in our conduct.
So What?
So What?
D.L. Moody often said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather.” He did not say that because he had been a successful shoe salesman; he said it because he was a dedicated Christian. Dynamic faith obeys God and proves itself in daily life and works. Alas, we still have church members today who fit the description given in Titus
16 They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
I challenge you to examine your life and make sure that you possess faith like this. A dynamic faith. This may not seem like a big deal but I believe it to be an essential, if you have saving faith, then it needs to start to change the way that you live your life. If it is not changing your life then you need to examine your heart. I found some questions to help guide you in this if you need.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Six: False Faith (James 2:14–26)
1. Was there a time when I honestly realized I was a sinner and admitted this to myself and to God?
2. Was there a time when my heart stirred me to flee from the wrath to come? Have I ever seriously been alarmed over my sins?
3. Do I truly understand the Gospel, that Christ died for my sins and arose again? Do I understand and confess that I cannot save myself?
4. Did I sincerely repent of my sins and turn from them? Or do I secretly love sin and want to enjoy it?
5. Have I trusted Christ and Christ alone for my salvation? Do I enjoy a living relationship with Him through the Word and in the Spirit?
6. Has there been a change in my life? Do I maintain good works, or are my works occasional and weak? Do I seek to grow in the things of the Lord? Can others tell that I have been with Jesus?
7. Do I have a desire to share Christ with others? Or am I ashamed of Him?
8. Do I enjoy the fellowship of God’s people? Is worship a delight to me?
9. Am I ready for the Lord’s return? Or will I be ashamed when He comes for me