If someone were to stop you at some point this week and ask you if you attended a Christian church worship service regularly then you would probably answer yes. If they asked you what the pastor had been preaching about lately, hopefully you could answer them by telling them that we were currently working through the epistle/book of James. If they responded by saying, “You know, I’ve never really spent much time in James, could you sum up that book for me in as few words as possible?” could you answer them? Well, my hope is that you could answer them by just giving them the title that I’ve repeatedly given you as to this sermon series: True Faith Works. This title is deliberate in that it conveys the fact that true saving faith, while producing salvation, ought to produce good works as well. That’s the mindset that we are to have when it comes to the relationship of faith and works.
You see, this text, the one that we have for today, is one of the most often, in my opinion, misinterpreted texts in all of Scripture. This is the text that many people misinterpret to somehow think that our works play any role in our salvation at all in terms of our earning it. James begins by asking, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” You see, many have interpreted this verse to pit faith against works. They see these words as James making a distinction between faith and works and placing works above faith or on equal footing in terms of their salvific value. However, if you will recall, I said that the focus of this entire look at James’ epistle would be on connecting faith AND works, not distinguishing them. Remember C.S. Lewis’ quote about faith and works being two blades on a pair of scissors…neither one is any good without the other? The question that really must be answered of James introductory remarks here is, “What does faith mean?” As we’ve already seen, James doesn’t consider faith to be simply acknowledgment of God and Jesus as his Son. James doesn’t consider a memorization of Scripture and right theology to be faith. James considers faith to be a belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior and an understanding of what God has done for us that leaves us with no options other than to rejoice, praise him, and respond with carrying out the good works that God has commanded us to do.
Did y’all know that my father-in-law is a doctor? Some of you are thinking, “I’ve met your father-in-law and he’s not a doctor. He worked for the Corp of Engineers.” You’re right, he did, and he’s technically a marine biologist. However, he does have his PhD, and when Amy and I got married our programs said Dr. and Mrs. Steven Lane Ashby. “That’s not a real doctor” some of you are thinking. Well, I’m not getting into that debate, but I have shown you that a word as plain as doctor can have multiple meanings depending on your perspective. Well, from James’ perspective (and ours as well), faith does too. What some consider faith I would just call church attendance. What some consider faith I consider a passing relationship with God. What some would call faith I would simply call a quest for knowledge about the spiritual. These are the types of faiths that James is referring to when he asks, “Can that faith save him?” You see, James has already laid out with quite a bit of forcefulness that true faith, a saving faith, is one that spurs us to do good works as well. To drive this point home, James gives us four different case studies or examples for seeing what true faith looks like.
The first study or example that he gives us is found in vv. 15-17. “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.” This is a hypothetical example of someone coming up to another who is without clothing (although the Greek reads more of a lack of outer garments); so this is someone in their underwear and lacking adequate nutrition. We’re not talking about the latest fashions or the best meal; we’re talking about the basic necessities. Playing off of the example involving favoritism that we saw last Sunday, imagine your reaction between a stranger and someone you know. We would certainly jump into action and give our friends or our family the shirt off of our backs and the food off of our plates, but would we do that with the stranger? Would we help them or would we just give them some empty cliché about God being with them. Of course, we know that God will be with them if they are his children, but aren’t we called to more. Look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 as he talks about what he will have to say to all at the time of judgment. “‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” You see the difference between faith that works and faith that is dead? Do you see that Jesus never says that as long we acknowledge him to be the Incarnate Son, then there is no need for action?
The next case study of sorts that James gives us is what we find in vv. 18-19. “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!” Now, one word of caution on this one is that we cannot fall into the trap of going too far in the other direction and mistaking good works as sure signs of faith in Christ. There are many people out there who are good and moral, yet are completely separated from Christ. Basically, what James is telling his audience here is that while faith is crucial, there must also be some expression of it for us to really know that it has taken root. Simply having faith and believing in Christ as our savior isn’t enough. Now, it’s not insufficient from a salvation standpoint, but from the perspective that if we actually do have this true saving faith, then good works will naturally flow from it. Again, James isn’t denying the concept that we’re saved by faith alone in Christ alone, but he’s saying that when we have this faith, which alone is our hope for salvation, then good works will naturally flow out from it. If they don’t, then it’s not real faith; just look at the demons as an example.
Now, hypotheticals are always good teaching points, but real life examples tend to drive a point home much better. Well, James, knowing this, gives the examples of Abraham and Rahab from the Old Testament as the final two case studies on true faith working. “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” First, think of Abraham. Think back to that story in Genesis 22 when Abraham is willing to sacrifice his Son, Isaac, only to have God provide a substitute via a ram caught in the thicket. Abraham’s work of being willing to sacrifice his son validated the faith that Abraham had in God, a faith that God gave to him. Now, I need to clear up a bit of a misinterpretation from many English translations of James 2. When we read the words of James saying that Abraham’s faith “was completed by his works” and that he was “justified by works and not faith alone” our first thought is that it seems as if James is advocating some type of works righteousness. It seems upon first glance that James is at odds with Paul’s words in Romans 4 when he said that Abraham was justified by faith. “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” This last part being Paul’s quotation of the words of Genesis 15:6. However, we need to understand the words completed and alone in their respective contexts. When James says that Abraham’s faith was completed by his works, he’s saying it with the mindset that once his works were seen, then we knew that his faith was real. And when he says that Abraham was justified by his works and not his faith alone, he’s simply repeating this same sentiment. He’s simply repeating what he said just prior to this about head knowledge or acknowledgement alone not being enough, not being a true faith. In order for it to be a true faith, it ought to produce good works as well.
The final example of true faith comes from that of Rahab, the story of the helpful pagan prostitute in Joshua 2. In summation, despite having every reason to divulge the location of two Hebrew spies, she keeps them safe from the king of Jericho. When asked why she would do such a thing, she tells the spies that she knows that this is from the Lord. Now, we can understand why James would use Abraham as an example for these Jewish Christians, but Rahab? Well, in keeping with the theme that salvation, true saving faith, comes from much more than head knowledge, then it is a very fitting example. Also, Rahab was someone who was not part of national Israel, thus showing that salvation is for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. You see, all that Rahab knew of God was the stories that had made their way to Jericho. She had heard of the exodus from Egypt and the events in the wilderness. Yet, all it took for her to know the power of God was to hear the mighty things that he had done on account of his people. This was enough for her to have faith, and to put that faith into action.
James ends by saying, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” I want you to glance back over our text for today. What you find is that three times James repeats this sentiment. Verse 17, “So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Verse 20, “faith apart from works is useless (or dead)”, and now these words here in v. 26. Do you think that James is trying to tell us something here about faith without works? He’s telling us that one should produce the other. He’s telling us that faith, true saving faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, should produce good works. Faith in the God as he is revealed to us through His Word, ought to ignite us into action. I really don’t know any better way to bring this to a close than to simply ask a question that we’ve asked over and over again and will continue to ask for the rest of this series, does your faith work? If you can sit here this morning and read your Bible during the week and remain unstirred to go out in search of the poor, the desperate, and the lost, then you have to ask yourself if you truly have faith. We’re saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. However, we know that we have such saving faith because it causes our hearts to be stirred to action. We don’t do things (or at least we shouldn’t) to gain public notoriety or praise from someone else. We don’t do good works to receive praise from men, but because of the joy that we have in knowing that God has created us, sustained us, and given up his Son for our salvation. We are to respond to the good news of the gospel by giving God all we have in every aspect of life. There is nothing that we can be called to do that is too much compared to what God has already done for us. We must ask, “Does my faith produce good works?” Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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