Faithworks Pt. 3

If you would please take your
Bibles and turn back once again after that great introduction
to this message. We’re in chapter two. We’re in
that lengthy section that I have entitled Faith Works, which begins
in verse 14 and courses down through the end of the chapter,
verse 26. It is a difficult passage. It has been misunderstood, mischaracterized. It has created theological controversy
unnecessarily. And we have, in beginning to
look at this, have seen that there really shouldn’t be controversy,
there shouldn’t be disparity in the understanding of this
passage, because it promotes what the rest of scripture promotes,
and that is justification by faith. But as it is James’ purpose
in his entire epistle, what James wants us to look at is not at
the nature of our works, but the nature of our faith. And
a faith that is real and legitimate will issue forth in good works. Until we come to faith in Christ,
Thomas Brooks said that our best services are but glorious sins. He says that the very best an
unbeliever can do is sin even further in God’s sight. that it’s only by God’s grace
and it’s only by salvation through faith alone in Christ alone that
we are even fitted to be able to serve Christ. No amount of
works from an unbelieving heart will endear us to Almighty God. Regardless of how clearly and
loudly and consistently we’ll proclaim that we believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, If there are no works, however, to back that
up, if there are no fruit to our professions of faith, then
our faith is deemed to be dead. This is just one more in a long
series of tests of faith that James is issuing forth. If you
would pick up with me in verse 14. of Chapter 2. Chapter 2, verse 14, faith works. What use is it, brethren, if
a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith
save him? If a brother or sister is without
clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to
them, go in peace, be warmed, be filled, and yet you do not
give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, you
have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without the
works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe
that God is one. You do well. The demons also
believe and shudder. But are you willing to recognize,
you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was
not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered up Isaac,
his son, on the altar? You see that faith was working
with his works and not as a result of the works. Faith was perfected. pardon me, as a result of the
works, faith was perfected, and the scripture was fulfilled which
says, and Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness. And he was called the friend
of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by
faith alone. And in the same way, was not
Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the
messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the
body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is
dead. James begins this very dynamic
section by exposing empty faith, and he recounts one who says
he has faith. His testimony is clear. He consistently
promotes himself, declares himself as a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, But upon further review, upon closer inspection of his
life, it is seen that he has no works. That doesn’t mean that
he never does any good thing, but his life is not a consistent
testimony, an ongoing, continuous, perpetual testimony, as is his
verbal testimony. There is no ongoing perpetual
testimony of good works in his life. Doesn’t mean that he never
does an occasional act of kindness, but generally speaking, the man
is a dud. His faith is a dud. Works said one faithful. commentator are a necessary product
of faith. It doesn’t mean that we’re saved
by works, but it does mean that if we say that we believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, we ought to be able to look and we ought
to be able to see fruit to our profession of faith. James gives
this remarkable illustration, empty faith illustrated in verses
15 and 16. That of the brother in need who
is literally turned aside, brushed off by the so-called believer. It’s a very specific illustration
with a very unmistakable example that James provides. But it is
just an example, as I said. James isn’t saying that if there’s
one sure way to prove your faith, go give away some money. That’s
not what he’s saying at all. Caring for one another’s needs,
providing for someone in legitimate need, is just one of many ways,
as we saw. Unfortunately, even that one
so often gets left off, doesn’t it? And so James’ conclusion,
once he has exposed this empty faith and given an illustration
of it, now he indicts it, he condemns it in verse 17. Even
so, faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. It is
a dead body. It provides no evidence whatsoever
of life. We came into the second section
where James provides us two very logical arguments on the whole
issue of faith and works. These works are not limited to
giving away our funds as we saw and I heard that the saints of
this body were busy this week. And to me that is not only to
me but to others who are watching. Those are evidences of faith
that doesn’t earn you salvation in heaven. But it is an evidence
of the fact that Christ has touched your heart and your life. As
I said, it isn’t just the blessing of money, it’s the blessing of
truthfulness with one another. As we learned about on Wednesday
night, it’s the blessing of yieldedness to one another, deferring to
one another. It’s the blessing of bearing one another’s burdens,
cultivating peace with one another, hospitality towards one another,
help, prayer, All of those things go into what is involved in good
works, which ought to be the natural production of good faith. We looked at the verse, verse
18. where James takes this first
logical argument and it was probably something that went like this.
It was a well-known phrase in the church where somebody was
trying to suggest that they had faith and it was fine that you
do works and let’s just leave it at that. We’re all Christians
here, right? Kind of the first version of
the ecumenical movement. You be you and I’ll be me. Well,
James, takes a quote that was liable to be from someone in
the midst, a true believer who really truly assessed the situation
and said this in its entirety. I believe verse 18 is the entire
quote. You have faith and I have works.
Show me your faith without the works. And I will show you my
faith by my works. We saw that that difficult passage
isn’t as difficult as some people make it out to be. The new American
standard tips its hand interpretationally when it says, someone may well
say, James affirms this statement and so do I. That little word
well means that the new American standard essentially is tipping
their hand to suggest that James affirms this statement, all of
the statement of verse 18. And as I pointed out, even though
quote marks are not inspired, I think that all of verse 18
is the argument of a friend of his, a friend in the faith, somebody
who has it right, that look, if you want to prove Your faith
without the works, it is impossible. But I’ll show you my faith by
my works. That’s the argument that James
affirms, but he immediately launches in to a completely different
logical argument, that of sound doctrine. And which of us would
not affirm that, the importance of sound doctrine? And he cites
one of the most basic tenets of sound doctrine, taken even
from the Ten Commandments. You believe that God is one. And he says, great. You do well. That’s a good point. That’s a
great point of doctrine to hold. But it’s not enough. If that’s
all there is to your life, if your life doesn’t measure up,
There are others who affirm sound doctrine, not the least of which
are the demons. The demons could not only sign
our doctrinal statement, they could correct it, right? Because
they know God better than anyone, but they hate him for who he
is. You do well, James says, to say
that God is one, but the demons also believe and they shudder,
they tremble. But he takes him to the core
issue there in verse 20. Are you willing to recognize,
you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? It’s
the second time that he’s issued forth a condemnation on a faith
that produces no works. Faith without works is dead,
verse 17. Faith without works is useless,
verse 20. And he’ll come back again at
the end to say that faith without works is absolutely unequivocally dead. But in addition
to these two logical arguments that he produces, he also wants
to give us two biblical illustrations of the point that he’s been making. This bare profession of faith
without works is not true faith. It’s not biblical faith. And
so he wants to provide two examples from scripture of what real faith
looks like. Is it just huddling in the corner
affirming some sound doctrinal statement? It’s not what James
says. It’s a life. It’s a life lived
that testifies of the faith that the lips claim to believe. And
for this portion, if you would, Begin with me in verse 21. Was
not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his
son Isaac on the altar? That title father was a constant
title. one of the indicators, another
of many, that indicates that this epistle was written to those
first century Christians in and around Jerusalem, Jewish believers,
largely, that had been converted to Christ, that had brought all
their Jewish baggage with them, That now we’re drawn to this
idea of justification by faith and setting aside the law almost
in its entirety. And so James seizes upon this
opportunity and reminds them of their father, their forefather,
Abraham. This was constantly the claim
of the Jews. We have Abraham for our father,
Matthew chapter three. John 8. We are Abraham’s descendants. It was constantly their claim
that Abraham was their father. And so, James essentially says,
listen up. You claim to be Abraham’s children? I have a message for you. James wasn’t zeroing in on or
playing up the fact that they were of Jewish descent as if
that was any more important than anything. What he’s pointing
to, he’s stressing the concept of a life that is changed by
faith, a life that becomes a living manifestation of faith. He’s
talking about a life like Abraham, not a blood descendant of Abraham,
And Abraham’s example still must have and should have and rightfully,
even with us, us should carry great weight. We should look
to people in scripture, people that were touched by God’s grace.
What was their example in the faith? And so in order to do
that, I want you to turn back to Genesis chapter 22. Because James is going to point
out here that Abraham was justified when he offered up Isaac, his
son, on the altar. And in Genesis chapter 22, we
read that incredible account. Now it came about after these
things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and
he said, here I am. You know what’s interesting as
I read that? Most people never get any further
than this. They’re just plain not available.
They never pick up their phone. They never reply to the text.
They never answer the email. They’re never available to God,
but Abraham was. God said, take now your son. You almost have to step back
from this. And know immediately that God
is testing Abraham like no test has ever been issued. Take now
your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac. I mean, at any point in there,
Abraham had to be going, certainly you don’t mean, no, you can’t,
it isn’t possible. Okay. Take now your son, your
only son, whom you love, Isaac, go to the land of Moriah and
offer him there as a burnt offering. I didn’t misspeak. You know the
story, but every time we read it, it has to hit us. This was
a horrible thing in Abraham’s mind that he was being asked
to do because this was to be the generation Of the people. Offering there is a burnt offering
on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. But I want you
to see this next part. So Abraham. So Abraham. You would expect almost anything
there except so Abraham. I might expect, now Abraham disagreed
with God. I might expect, but Abraham was
aghast at the very idea. Or, well, Abraham took issue
with God. However, Abraham appealed to
God. Nevertheless, Abraham disobeyed
God. And Abraham had had it with God. You could expect almost anything
there. Except, so Abraham. But such is his faith. And Abraham
believed God. Look at verse 3. So Abraham believed God and he
rose early in the morning. I inserted that part that Abraham
believed God and you could literally do that at every point in the
remainder of this narrative. Bear with me. So Abraham believed
God and rose early in the morning, and he believed God and he saddled
his donkey and he believed God and he took two of his young
men with him and Isaac his son and he believed God and he split
wood for the burnt offering and he believed God and he arose
and he believed God and he went to the place where God had told
him. On the third day, Abraham raised
his eyes and saw the place from a distance. And Abraham believed
God and said to his young men, stay here with the donkey and
the lad and I will go over there and we will worship and return
to you. And Abraham believed God and
took the wood of the burnt offering that he had split. And he believed
God and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he believed God and
he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of
them walked off together. Isaac, remember Isaac? Isaac’s
a little curious at this point. Well, he should be. Isaac spoke
to Abraham, his father, verse seven, and said, my father. He
said, here I am, my son. And he said, behold, the fire
and the wood But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
Well, we pick up right where we left off. And Abraham believed
God and said, God will provide for himself. the lamb for the
bird offering my son. So the two of them walked on
together. They came to the place of which God had told him. Abraham
believed God and he built the altar there. And Abraham believed
God and he arranged the wood. And Abraham believed God and
he bound his son Isaac. And Abraham believed God and
he laid him on the altar. And Abraham believed God. And
he stretched out his hand. And Abraham believed God and
he took out the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called
to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. He said, here
I am. He said, do not stretch out your
hand against the lad and do nothing. For now I know that you believe
Now I know that you fear God. For since you have not withheld
your son, your only son from me. Then Abraham raised his eyes
and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket
by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram
and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his
son. Abraham called that place the Lord will provide as it is
to this day. Abraham believed God. But when
Abraham, when it says that Abraham believed God had changed everything.
It made him to rise. It made him to saddle his donkey.
It made him to split wood. It made him to gather his son
and two servants. It made him to go and do and
to take every step necessary to do exactly what God had asked
him to do. It was a test of faith. And Abraham,
by God’s grace, passed because he came to sacrifice his son.
It is absolutely one of the highlights in all of scripture, not just
Abraham’s life. And James and Paul are in absolute
agreement here that that was the touch point where Abraham’s
faith was seen as righteousness. It changed his life. It touched
his life. It changed him from a man of simple profession
of faith to a man whose faith changed his life. You know what’s
interesting? The scriptures never record any
other tests. No more tests of Abraham’s faith.
It was proven once and for all by this simple but profound test
of faith. Here’s the truth. What if Abraham had just said,
yeah, okay, God. I believe I’m a believer. I was
baptized in such and such a date. I go to such and such a church.
I made a profession of faith. Here’s my profession. That’s
how most people treat their so-called faith. It’s just a thing of the
moment. But as one faithful pastor said,
had there been no works, Abraham would not have been justified.
That would have been because the absence of works would have
meant that he had no real faith. The faith that justifies must
be a working faith. Abraham’s works supported his
faith. Without that faith, the deed
would not have been performed. It establishes the nature of
his faith as living, dynamic, action-producing. It was real
faith. Abraham was a real believer.
And in that sense, there is no disparity between what James
promotes and what the Apostle Paul promotes. Both promote salvation
by justification through faith alone in Christ alone. But what
James does is back away and say, not unlike what Paul does, what
James does is back away and he say, okay, but let’s examine
the nature of the faith. I believe in justification by
faith. Paul is looking at most of life
is pre-christian. He’s preaching the gospel in
every one of his epistles. Justification by faith is the
only means of salvation. Paul was against this idea of
legalism where you could do enough things to earn your salvation. That was old Judaism. James,
on the other hand, is post-Christian. James is looking at a bunch of
people who profess faith in Christ, and he’s challenging them to
their very core. Are you really and truly saved?
Does your life measure up and match up with the testimony of
your lips? As one faithful pastor put it,
James opposes antinomianism, which is no law. I don’t have
to obey any laws It is the error of those who theoretically or
practically put holiness of life aside as if, and I want you to
listen, as if assent to the truths of the gospel released them from
the obligation to live soberly, righteously, and godly. What
does that sound like? It sounds like Christianity in
our day. Just make a profession of faith. Write it down. Make
sure you write down the date. Even the time. When you gave
your life to Jesus. Because that counts for everything.
And then you rest squarely on that. Alone. A mere bald profession
of faith. Abraham. Abraham was sighted. The testimony
of a lineage of faith as Abraham’s, it was commonplace. Many Jews
laid claim to faith, faith like Abraham’s, as if they were justified
merely by aligning themselves under this great forefather of
the faith. But as we look at Abraham’s faith,
it wasn’t just a bare profession. It was a life changed by God
himself. But further, not only is there
a difference in perspectives, Paul looking largely at people
before they come to faith in Christ and preaching the gospel
of justification by faith. James, on the other hand, from
a different perspective, looking at people who do profess faith
and examining the nature of that faith. But beyond that, Paul
is one who speaks to people needing to be justified before God. That’s justification by faith.
What James is talking about is how are we justified? Where is
the legitimacy of our faith in the eyes of people? Is our faith justified in that
sense? Are we an example of Christ to
those who are watching us? And this is no different than
what Paul urges, is it? Galatians 5, 6. In Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working
through love. Your life ought to look differently
after you come to Christ. You should look the part and
act the part. when Paul wrote to the Thessalonian
church in the first chapter of that great epistle. We give thanks
to God always for all of you making mention of you in our
prayers, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor
of love and steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wasn’t saying, boy, if you just keep it up, you might get
yourself saved. That’s not what he said at all,
is it? Sinners, are only justified before
a holy God by their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
That’s it. No degree of character, no amount of good works. Don’t
rush out if you’re not saved yet and open a soup kitchen and
think that if you run a soup kitchen for 50 years that it
will earn you salvation. It won’t. It’s only by divine grace. It’s only by placing our faith
in Jesus Christ and in him alone for salvation. But that kind
of faith changes a person. It changes them from within.
And then you can go open a soup kitchen. It isn’t that works provide or
supply or add to anything that’s missing in our lives as believers.
They don’t pay God back one bit. They simply testify that the
faith is legitimate. It’s real. One pastor put it
this way. Faith is the motivating power
of works. That’s what makes us want to
get up and do something for the Lord. It is the motivating power
of works and there can be no works of faith without faith.
That’s why all these, it’s kind of ridiculous to have a lot of
these so-called faith-based ministries that don’t really believe in
justification by faith in the first place. And you peel it
all away, and what it really is, is justification by works
if you only show up to our faith-based ministry, so-called. There can
be no fruit without the tree, said one. This verse underlines
the inseparability of a living faith and Christian deeds. You can’t have one without the
other. If your faith is legitimate, it will issue forth in works.
If you have works, but you have not placed your faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, it is a dead work. Empty. Faith and good works, you can’t
divide them. They’re one and the same. Let
me illustrate this. If you come to my house in April
and you come out with me to my shed, you’re going to see a little
plant just bursting forth through the soil. And you’re going to
ask me, what is that plant, that large leafy plant? I’m going
to tell you, it’s butternut. So be it. You come back two months
later and you’ll see this large vining plant taking up most of
my garden. And you’ll ask me, what is that
large vining plant? I’ll tell you, it’s butternut.
And then you come back to me in the fall, and you’ll see these
large, tan-colored, oblong fruits, and you’ll ask me, what is that?
And I’ll tell you, it’s butternut. And then you’ll come on Thanksgiving
to my house, and you’ll see this bowl of orange mashed potato-looking
stuff. And you’ll ask me, what is that?
And I’ll say once again, it’s butternut. The fruit is the same
exact part of the plant. Works are as much a part of faith
as a butternut squash is to that little green sprig in April. Look at verse 22, Paul says,
or James rather says, you see that faith was working with his
works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. Faith
was at work His faith was growing. His works were essentially the
fruit of his faith. They were not in any way meritorious
in his life. They were merely proof. The specific
evidence of faith. And it’s no different than what
we saw of Abraham on any of the other occasions of his life.
His life was changed and touched by the grace of God. He showed
forth good works in the promise of his son. He showed forth good
works, the fruit of faith in his departure from his own land
to an unknown country. He showed forth good works in
the sacrifice of his son. That was the keystone. That was
the final. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness. Genesis 15 6. Wherever there is genuine faith,
it will blossom. It will bear fruit. It will be
seen. That little quote, Genesis 15
6 quotes really quotes Abraham at the beginning of his life,
hardly before any fruit had been manifest. Merely a here I am,
Lord, that was the heart of faith. Because of that he was seen as
the friend of God, verse 23. James isn’t here, he isn’t teaching
here that we’re declared righteous ever by our works. He’s not teaching
that. Works apart from faith. What
James is talking about here, what he’s insisting on, is that
our profession of faith has to be augmented. It has to be seen. It has to be verified through
the fruit that comes from that faith in our lives. Robert Johnstone,
one of my heroes in the faith, he tells us that it is faith,
but it’s the kind of faith that James is interested in. It’s
the kind of faith, he says, that produces good works. He says
this, We should not be contented. Do you hear that? He’s talking
to you. We should not be contented if
we see in our minds some such ascent to divine truth. That
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t believe it. What he’s saying is don’t
stop there. We should not be contented if
we see in our minds some such ascent to divine truth as in
a liberal use of the word may be called faith. But we should
carefully examine whether it be an operative, fruit-bearing
belief for only this is saving faith. That’s James’ concern,
remember? James wants to make absolutely
sure that those first century Jewish believers were really
and truly in the faith. But he has the same concern for
you and I. And so he offers up a second example. We have plenty of time. Look
at verse 25. In the same way was not Rahab
the harlot also justified by works? When she received the messengers
and sent them out, by another way. When he says, when James
says here, in the same way, he’s basically promoting another,
just another example that teaches the exact same principle that
he’s already laid forward. That Abraham’s life was changed,
that his profession of faith was not just mere words, but
it was a changed heart and life that issued forth. But somebody
might take a look at this and they might say, yeah, but it’s
Abraham. the father of the faithful. He
is one of our greatest forefathers and he heard God’s audible voice
and he had all this privilege. Of course, he’s going to respond.
He was chosen for the job and equipped as such. What about Rahab though? Two
people couldn’t be further ends of the spectrum than Abraham,
the forefather of our faith, and Rahab. the harlot. And the conclusion that you have
to begin to draw almost immediately. As one faithful shepherd put
it, if genuine, justifying faith bore in her as well as Abraham
the fruit of good works, then the faith of all the justified
will be fruit-bearing. Did you hear what he said? That
if you take Abraham and you take Rahab and you look at their lives
and both of them have fruit-bearing lives as a result of their faith
in Almighty God, then it is expected of all of us because all of us
fit somewhere in between, don’t we? Abraham was a Jew, Rahab
was a Gentile. Abraham was called to be the
father of many nations. Rahab was just almost an unknown,
even in her own city, an inhabitant of Jericho. Abraham was the God-appointed
head of a nation. Rahab was a woman known as the prostitute. Abraham walked with God, was
faithful for more than 30 years. Rahab knew almost nothing of
God, heard a testimony about Him, and believed. And it changed
her life. She was at the very bottom, rock
bottom of a social spectrum. If you would, and it may take
a few of you a few minutes, turn to Joshua. Joshua chapter 2. If this is the clean part of
your Bible, I understand this will give you opportunity to
change all of that. John Calvin, in looking at this
passage and seeing Abraham on one end of the spectrum and Rahab
on the other, said this, James designedly, in other words, on
purpose, put two persons so different in their character in order to
more clearly show that no one Whatever may have been his or
her condition, nation, class, society, has ever been counted
righteous without good works. That’s John Calvin. Let’s look at Rahab. Look at verse 1. Then Joshua
the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim saying,
Go, view the land, especially Jericho. So they went, they came
into the house of the harlot, a harlot, whose name was Rahab,
and lodged there. It was told the king of Jericho,
saying, behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here
tonight to search out the land. And the king of Jericho sent
word to Rahab, saying, bring out the men whom have come to
you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search
out all the land. But the woman had taken the two
men and hid them. And she said, yes, the men came
to me, but I did not know where they were from. When I was in
seminary, it’s a fascinating passage. It’s a fascinating thing.
One of my seminary profs said, if you ever want to develop a
theme for your doctoral dissertation, which I never did, Take up the
theme of deception in the Bible, because here God affirms what
she did, and she’s lying through her teeth. I don’t know where they’re from.
Verse 5, it came about when it was time to shut the gate at
dark, that the men went out. I do not know where the men went.
Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. Lie after
lie after lie. verse six, but she had brought
them up on the roof, hidden them in the stalks of the flax, which
she had in order on the roof. So the men pursued them on the
road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those were pursuing
them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now, before they lay
down, she came up to the roof and said to the men, here’s her
testimony. I know that the Lord has given
you the land, and the terror of you has fallen on us, and
that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before
you. For we have heard how the Lord
dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came
into Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites
who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly
destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts
melted. No courage remained in any man any longer because of
you. For the Lord your God, he is
God in heaven, above and on earth beneath. Great testimony. Now, therefore, please swear
to me by the Lord, since I’ve dealt kindly with you, that you
will also deal kindly with my father’s household. Give me a
pledge of truth. Spare my father, my mother, my
brothers, my sisters, all who belong to them and deliver our
lives from death. Here she is negotiating, but
listen to her testimony. But now we also have the testimony
of her works. She saw God for who He is and
hid these spies intentionally as an act of faith. In other
words, her faith did something, and it mattered. And she sent
them out with this energetic action, urging them to leave
quickly, not through the door, but through the window, and not
back to their camp, but up into the hills. Out the window they
went and head for the hills, boys. That’s an act of faith. And as one faithful pastor said,
all justifying faith in whatever class of persons it is found
produces works. Whether it’s a simple harlot
woman or whether it’s the father of many nations, faith produces
works and for everyone in between. varying in kind according to
the circumstances, but all expressive of love to God and trust in Him. The only faith which is pleasing
to God is such a profound and influential belief in His truth
as it reveals its presence in the soul by moral beauty and
an earnest devotedness in the outer life. It changes our lives,
people. It changes our lives. And James
issues forth the conclusion once more. He means it. When he said in
verse 17, faith, if it has no works, is dead. And when he says
it in verse 20, faith without works is useless, utterly useless,
like a dead body. He says it again in verse 26,
just as the body without the works, the spirit, is dead, so
also faith without works is dead. Those two things are coordinate.
You can’t have one without the other. And if one is missing,
then it is death itself. There is no such thing as a faith
that does not change the individual into whom it came. I’m going
to take you to one last passage. I don’t even know where you are.
Genesis, Joshua, turn if you would to Hebrews chapter 11.
It wasn’t just Abraham, and it wasn’t just Rahab. But it’s interesting that those
two individuals find themselves in what we so familiarly call
the Hall of Faith. Because what we have in this
is the testimony of what faith is. This doesn’t run counter
to what James is proclaiming. It affirms it. Look at verse
one. Faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the convictions of things not seen. Well, that was
true of both Abraham and Rahab. From it, or for by it, men of
old gained approval. By faith, we understand that
the worlds were prepared by the word of God. Look at this list. By faith, Abel did something. He offered to God a better sacrifice. Jump down to verse 7. By faith,
Noah did something. It changed his life. He prepared
an ark for the salvation of his household. Here’s our hero of
the faith. By faith, verse 8, Abraham obeyed. Simple. An act of faith. Living his life as an alien.
Look at verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when he was
tested, offered up Isaac. The very passage that we considered.
By faith, verse 24, Moses refused. It changed his life. He refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. By faith, verse 27,
he left Egypt. It did something. It changed
him. By faith, verse 28, he kept the Passover. Then here’s another
hero of our faith, albeit new for some of us. Verse 31, by
faith, Rahab. The harlot did not perish along with those who
were disobedient as she welcomed the spies in peace. It’s the
exact testimony of Joshua 2. But I want you to look at verse
32. This isn’t new. This isn’t exclusive to Abraham
and Rahab and Moses and the great forefathers of our faith. This
is a common theme with every believer. Faith, real faith,
changes us. Look at verse 32. What more shall
I say? Time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
David, Samuel, the prophets. And you can tell he’s just getting
cranked up to give a whole long lengthy list when he says, rather
than focus on the individuals, look at the great acts of faith.
Look at the great works. Look at the lives that were changed
because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what
they did. It was a living faith. It was
an active faith. They conquered kingdoms. They
performed acts of righteousness. They obtained promises. They
shut the mouths of lions. They quenched the power of fire.
They escaped the edge of the sword from weakness were made
strong. They became mighty in war, put
foreign armies to flight. It changes their lives. It’s
a different thing. It’s a different kind of faith.
It’s not just a simple ascent to a set of doctrines. As Spurgeon
put it, we believe that men are saved by faith alone. James believes
that. But not a faith which is alone. Men are saved by faith without
works. But not a faith which is without
works. We need to examine our heart
before a holy God. Let’s pray. Our merciful God, we relish this
passage. We love this passage. We came
to this passage so bewildered at what it seemed to teach, that
somehow we could earn salvation by good works. And Lord, now
we see that could not possibly be the case. That very thought
runs counter to scripture itself. We are saved by faith alone in
Christ alone. What James is looking at is the
nature of our faith. And Lord, we have good cause
to examine our hearts and our lives. If our lives don’t proclaim
the same message that we declare with our lips, then it is what
James calls a dead, useless faith. Lord God, if there are any here
who believe that they can earn their way to heaven by good works,
Lord, shame them in their works. Bring them to repentance for
their works. Show them how empty and feeble
and offensive they are to you. The very idea that someone could
think they would earn your favor by their works. But Lord, there’s
another group here as well. The group that has come to faith
in Christ, they say it, they regularly proclaim it, they’ve
been baptized, they come to church. And yet their lives seem to be
untouched. They’re unconcerned about others
and the needs that others have. Father, for them, we pray that
you would bring them to repentance. Bring them to repentance for
their dead faith. and bring them into a true and
vibrant and living faith. A faith that testifies by its
works that they are really and truly saved. Lord God, we pray that you would
do your work in every heart, in every life. It’s in Jesus’
name that we pray. Amen.