FAITH THAT WORKS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 29, 2024 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: May 29, 2024 from James 2:14-26

Theme: As those who hope to be judged on the basis of God’s mercy, we should never judge one another with the unmerciful attitude of outward favoritism.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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James was a good pastor. He taught the people about the kinds of things that really matter. And so, we come to a section of his letter that deals with a subject that is at the very heart of our life with Christ. He takes up the matter of ‘faith’.

The Bible tells us, in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is essential in that, without it, it’s impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:6 goes on to tell us, “for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Perhaps the best verse to tell us about the essential nature of faith is John 3:16. It says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. In the New Testament, the word for ‘faith’ (pistis) is the noun form of the verb ‘to believe’ (pisteuō). And so the vital need for faith is shown to us in the straightforward call to ‘believe’ for salvation. As it says in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved …”

But what exactly is the nature of saving faith? In order to be saved by faith, it’s crucial that we have the right kind of faith. And as good Pastor James shows us, the faith that saves is a truly life-transforming kind of faith that goes beyond mere mental assent; and that demonstrates itself in practical action. In James 2:14-26, James wrote;

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 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? Thus 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 without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:14-26).

James taught his readers that they were not saved by just any ‘faith’—that is, by a faith that is mental assent only. He shows us that faith only saves if it’s the kind of faith that demonstrates itself in works.

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So; how does James show us this? He begins with …

1. THE PROPOSITION THAT, WITHOUT WORKS, FAITH IS INEFFECTIVE (v. 14).

He set this proposition forth in the form of a rhetorical question. In verse 14, he asked;

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” (v. 14). He asked if a faith that does not show itself in works can actually save anyone, and his implied answer is that it cannot. It is ‘unprofitable’ for salvation. It would be like a fruit tree that does not produce fruit—perhaps impressive to look at; but of no value in the thing for which it was planted. It would be like the ‘barren fig tree’ that our Lord cursed (Matthew 22:18-18).

Now; there have been many who have seen James’ words as presenting a form of teaching that was in opposition to that of the apostle Paul. Paul, after all, taught that we’re saved by faith apart from works—particularly, works as defined by obedience to God’s law. For example, Paul pointed to the atoning work of Jesus on the cross—whom God set forth as a propitiation for our sins—and declared;

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28).

Paul even pointed to the example of Abraham as James did—and even from the same passage that James pointed to—and wrote;

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found 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 accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness … (Romans 4:1-5).

But James, in this passage, also points to Abraham’s example and says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). So; are Paul’s words and James’ words in contradiction to one another with respect to the whole matter of faith and works?

The answer is no. The apparent conflict is not a matter of contradiction in doctrine, but rather a matter of distinction of emphasis. In writing in Romans about the great doctrine of ‘justification by faith’, Paul affirmed that we are saved by God’s grace through faith apart from the works of the law. Paul was writing about the only condition necessary to receive God’s saving grace. But James was writing about the kind of life that results from that saving grace. In writing about the nature of true Christian living, James affirmed that a faith that truly justifies is a faith that demonstrates itself through a life of holy action. Paul’s and James’ two emphases are basically the two sides of the same coin; and together, both Paul and James would say that we are saved by faith alone; but not by a faith that stays alone.

This is an important point to be made today; especially at a time when so many satisfy themselves that they are saved simply because they have “believed” intellectually in the gospel of Jesus—but who have not yet experienced the life-change in Jesus that absolutely must accompany true faith. Paul’s warning would be directed toward those who think that they can earn God’s saving grace by doing enough good works; but James’s warning would be directed toward those who think that a mere profession of faith is sufficient. Paul and James would insist that we are saved by faith—not works; but they would also both insist that it’s a faith that goes on to prove itself by works.

So; that was James’ basic proposition: A faith without works is ineffective. It can’t save. And then, he goes on in the rest of the passage to offer …

2. PROOFS OF THE PROPOSITION (vv. 15-26).

He first proves that faith without works is ineffective through examples of acts of simple compassion. In verses 15-17, he wrote; “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 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? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

The phrase “Depart in peace” would have been a familiar greeting in the Middle East. But how are needy people helped by such a greeting alone? James speaks of ‘a brother or sister’ in need; and such an ineffective ‘blessing’ constitutes mere words without action. This makes us think of what the apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:16-17;

But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-17).

Pious words of blessing may sound beautiful; but merely saying “I wish you well” has no value in accomplishing what was really needed. By analogy, James said that faith without works is “dead” (that is, inoperative). It’s “dead” in the same way that a flashlight with worn-out batteries can be ‘dead’. Words of blessing without acts of love are inoperative; and faith that doesn’t have works is also inoperative. It doesn’t do what it proposes to do—that is, bring about salvation.

Second, James proves that faith without works is ineffective through the nature of measurable demonstration. In verse 18, he wrote; “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.”

If a man tells his children, “I love your mother”; but he never kisses her, or never takes her out, or never buys her flowers, or never brings her favorite cup of cocoa to her in the morning, his kids can doubt that he really loves her. But his kids can know for certain that he really loves her—even if he never comes right out and uses the words in front of them—if he kisses her, and takes her out, and buys her flowers, and brings her cocoa. His actions prove that he loves her. Similarly, someone who never actually says that they have faith can be followed around and documented to genuinely have faith—even without words—by the fact that they have works that accompany faith. If a man were to boast, “I have faith”, but didn’t have the kind of works that would accompany faith, he would be shown up by the man who never boasted of faith at all, and yet demonstrates it through his works.

Third, James proves that faith without works is ineffective by pointing to a comparison with demons. In rather shocking words, he wrote in verse 19, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

James, who was writing to Jewish readers (see 1:1), may here be subtly reminding them of the Jewish Shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5;

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

Every Jewish man and woman knew those words from the time they were little. But the mere claim to believe the Shema and say, “I believe that there is one God” would put them at no advantage all by itself—even if they believed it sincerely. James wrote that if you believed what the Shema declared—and affirmed that there is one God—“You do well.” It was as if he said, “Good for you.” But much more is needed. To believe that there is one God places someone at no greater advantage than the demons. They believe too—and they have even seen the one true God, and tremble at the thought of what they have seen. But their belief doesn’t save them.

Fourth, James points to the greatest of all Old Testament heroes of faith. He proves that faith without works is ineffective through the example of Abraham. In verses 20-24, he wrote; “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”

Pastor James was pointing—very strategically—to the true biblical model of a saved “believer”. The apostle Paul wrote, in Galatians 3:9, “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Galatians 3:9); or as it’s translated in the New International Version, “Abraham, the man of faith”; or as it’s translated in the New American Standard Version, “Abraham, the believer”. God called childless old Abraham from a pagan land to Canaan; and promised him that He would give him the land he beheld, make him into a great nation, and cause that the whole world be blessed through him (Genesis 12:1-3). Abraham—though he was as good as dead in respect to naturally having children (Hebrews 11:12)—nevertheless recognized that God was promising that the Seed of the woman (that is, the Christ) would be born from him (see Genesis 3:15; and also Galatians 3:15-18). Later, God told still-childless Abraham to look up to the night sky and count the stars if he could. God told Abraham that that’s how many children he would have. Abraham believed God, and God counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).

And Abraham even went on to prove the reality of his faith by works. Much later, when his promised son Isaac was a young man, God commanded Abraham to take him to a certain place and sacrifice him (Genesis 22:2). Abraham obeyed (even though it was a test, and God later stopped him; see Genesis 22:12). Abraham trusted that even if God commanded him to sacrifice his son, God was able to raise Isaac from the dead and fulfill His promise (Hebrews 11:19). Thus, Abraham was justified by a faith that truly worked in practical obedience; and his faith was thus “perfected”.

Fifth, James gives another Old Testament example. He proved that faith without works is ineffective through the example of Rahab. Rahab’s example is similar to that of Abraham; and so in verse 25, he wrote, “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?”

Rahab lived in Jericho—a very wicked city in the land that God promised to Israel. The people of Jericho were fearful of the Israelites; but this one woman—Rahab—put her own life on the line and hid some Israelite spies. She sent them away secretly and sent the authorities of her own people out on a “wild goose chase” after them. This could have cost her life; but she did it because she had faith that the God of Israel was the one true God; and that He had indeed promised the land to the Jewish people. She told the spies;

“… for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” (Joshua 2:11-13).

The content of her faith was that God would indeed give the land to Israel, and that the spies would return, and that they would indeed spare her family. And in demonstration of that faith, she hid the two spies at the possible risk of her life. So; Rahab was truly an example of how saving faith demonstrates itself in good deeds. And as a result, God honored her by making her a member of the lineage of those from whom the Lord Jesus was to be born (Matthew 1:5).

And sixthly, James gives us one more proof that faith without works is ineffective; this time, through the analogy of the human body. In verse 26, he wrote; “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

A body without a living spirit is ‘dead’—not only in the physical sense, but also in the operational sense. It doesn’t move. It doesn’t work. It is ineffective. And in the same way, faith without works is dead in an operational sense. It doesn’t accomplish anything. For faith to save, it must be a faith that shows itself in works.

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So then; as James shows us, faith without works is inoperative. True saving faith will show itself by works. And the place where this truth truly comes down to ‘street-level’ experience is in the area of faithful obedience to our Lord’s commands.

Do we claim to have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior? Well; we certainly won’t prove it by merely formulating a list of ‘good deeds’ for ourselves to perform. Instead, what we need to do is ask ourselves, “Is there something the Lord is calling me to do today? Would the reality of my faith be proven if I rose up and did what He Himself is telling me to do in His word? What would happen to my claim of faith if I—for whatever reason—refused to do what He said or hesitated to obey Him? How can I call Him ‘Lord, Lord’; and yet not do what He says?”

May God help us to prove the reality of our faith by putting it into active obedience to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ!

AE