Highlands Fellowship The Book of James: Faith Without Works is Dead Transcript
Well, hey good morning everyone. If we have not had the chance to meet yet, my name is Paul Eaton and I have the joy of serving as the Bristol campus pastor. Amen, we are one church in many locations. So, whether you're joining us in Bristol or in Marion, one of our venues here in Abingdon, online, TV, or wherever you find yourself this weekend, man, we are so so glad that you're a part of our gathering. You know, tomorrow is Memorial Day. It's a day where we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
And we don't just remember those who gave their lives, but we also remember the families that carry that loss every day. And so, we just want to honor and remember those who not only gave their lives, but those families that remember or that carry that loss every day. And so, we see you. We remember you. We honor you this weekend with grateful hearts. We are in week seven of our series in the book of James. And James is one of the most practical books in the New Testament.
And as we've seen already, James is all about an authentic faith lived out daily as we grow and as we mature in Christ. And today we come to one of the most debated passages in James. Commentators and theologians, they have wrestled with this passage. Because at first glance, it almost seems like James is saying something that contradicts the rest of the New Testament. So, if you have your Bible or your Bible app, go ahead and open up to James chapter two. And we're going to start in verse 14. You can also find our passage for today as well as the notes for this message in the Highlands Fellowship app.
So, let's go ahead and read our text. James says, "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace. Keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith. I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that, and they shudder.
You foolish person. Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 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. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Now, I want to start our time this morning by showing you an image. And I want you to tell me what you see, okay? So, I need some participation here, all right? So, let's take a look at this image. What do you see? A duck? A rabbit? Okay, so I'm hearing a duck and a rabbit. Now, if you don't see it, if you look at it facing this direction, it's a duck. And if you look at it facing this direction, it's a rabbit. So, who is right? That's the question. Who is right?
And that same tension shows up in our passage today. People read James and this passage in particular and they go, "Wait a second. I thought we were saved by grace. And now James here is talking about deeds. So, which is it?" And here's what confuses people. James in chapter 2 verse 24 says, "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone." Paul in Galatians 2:16 says this, "We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. Because by the works of the law no one will be justified."
So, we have to ask ourselves, who is right? James or Paul? Well, the answer of course is yes, right? It's both of them. So, let me try to provide just a little clarity for us this morning. Paul and James are not arguing with each other. They are addressing different problems. So, remember, each of these letters were written to a specific group of people. So, what problems are they addressing? Well, Paul is dealing with people who think, "If I do enough good, then I can earn God's favor and he will accept me." Well, that's legalism. James on the other hand is dealing with people who think if I believe in Jesus, then how I live doesn't really matter. Well, that's laxity.
Paul's talking about the root or the source of our salvation. James is talking about the fruit or the evidence of our salvation. Paul, he tells us how to become a Christian and James, he tells us how to show that we are one. Paul and James are not fighting each other. They're standing back to back fighting two different lies defending the very same gospel. Paul famously writes in Ephesians 2:8-10, "For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." So, by grace through faith. But Paul doesn't stop there. He says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
So, as we look at our passage in James 2, James is not saying that our works save us, rather that our works reveal the kind of faith that we actually have. Now, I need to be completely honest with you. This message, this passage, it is difficult. It's one of those passages that confronts us and challenges us. It forces us to examine our lives. I can tell you that as I was studying and preparing for this message, I was deeply challenged and deeply convicted. And so, I want to encourage you to lean in with me this morning because I believe that God has a word for us.
So, here is the question that I believe this text forces us to wrestle with. What does your life say about your faith? Is it a real, authentic, living faith or a dead, useless faith? With that, I want to answer this question this morning. What is real faith? I believe James gives us a few truths about that in this passage. So, the first thing I want us to see is that real faith is not just something you say. Look with me at James 2 verse 14. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
You know, that word claims matters. In other words, it's possible to talk about a real and authentic faith and not actually have it. So, how do we know if we have a real faith? What is the litmus test for this? He tells us to look for fruit. If I see a tree with lovely red apples hanging from its branches, I can say with a decent amount of certainty that that is an apple tree. And if I'm not entirely sure, I can go grab a fruit off of it. I can touch it. I can smell it. I can inspect it. I can even taste it and know what kind of tree it is. I don't need to dig the tree up and inspect the roots to be able to tell what kind of tree this is. I just know it's an apple tree based on its fruit.
And James is saying that deeds are the fruit of a real faith. That real faith produces something in our lives. Jesus in Matthew 7 verses 20 and 21 says, "Thus by their fruit, you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven." So, James is essentially asking us, "Does your life back up your words?" Because what is on the outside is evidence of what is on the inside. So, real faith is not just something that you say.
Secondly, real faith is not just something you feel. James continues in chapter 2, starting in verse 15. He says, "Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James gives us a picture. Someone is in need. They're naked. They're starving. They are really struggling. And the response they receive is, "I hope you stay warm and well fed." And on the surface, that sounds kind and compassionate, but James says, "What good is that?" If nothing actually changes for the person in need, what value did those words really have?
You know, we live in a culture that confuses feeling something with actually doing something. You can feel compassion, emotion, even feel deeply moved, and still never move towards the person that's hurting. We may say things like, "Man, that just breaks my heart," or "thoughts and prayers." And we keep walking by. Now to be clear, prayer matters. We should pray. But, sometimes, "I'll pray for you" can just be a really spiritual way of saying, "I'm not getting involved." James is saying that faith that only feels something, but never leads to action, is not living faith.
John echoes something similar in 1 John chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? God's compassion, his grace, his goodness and love towards us should compel us to show the same to others. You know, when you read the Gospels, that's exactly what Jesus did. Jesus wasn't just moved emotionally by suffering. He moved toward people in their suffering. He drew near to the hurting, the broken, the overlooked, the shamed.
Here's the reality, though. You and I, we can't meet every need. We can't. You can't fix every problem. But, we can be faithful and be obedient to what God puts in front of us. And most of the time, it doesn't look dramatic. It looks ordinary. It looks like buying someone's groceries that's in front of you in line, and maybe their card's declined, and they're about to have to leave empty-handed. Maybe it's quietly meeting a tangible need that you're aware of. Or taking somebody a meal, or sitting with someone who's alone or feels invisible.
So, the next time you encounter someone in need, instead of just saying, "I'll pray for you," let's be the kind of people that stop and pray with them right then. And then I want to encourage you to ask one more question. What do you need right now? And see if there's anything that the Lord will allow you to do in that situation. So, the third thing is this, that real faith is not just something you believe. James chapter 2 verse 18 and 19 says this, "But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have deeds. Show me your faith without your deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that, and they shudder.'"
James here, he introduces this hypothetical person who believes that faith and works can be separated. As if we can claim faith in God with no evidence of it. And James isn't holding back here. He says even the demons believe. I don't know about you, but that's probably not the comparison that any of us want, right? But James' point is clear. It's possible to believe all the right things about Jesus and still not actually follow him. Demons, they know who Jesus is. They have seen and experienced his power and his authority. They believe so deeply that James says that they shudder. But their belief never leads to surrender, to trust, to obedience, or to love for God.
James is giving us a loving warning here. Don't confuse knowing about Jesus with actually knowing him. Because real faith does more than just inform our mind. It transforms our life. Real faith isn't just something that you agree with intellectually. It changes the way that you live, the way you love, the way you treat people, the way you respond to God. Real faith is not just something you believe. It transforms who you are. So real faith is not just something we say, or we feel, or we believe, but real faith is something we do.
James 2:20 says, "You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" I'll prove it to you. And then he goes on to illustrate this with two very different people, Abraham and Rahab. And I love this. As we'll see, they are very different, all right? So let's take a look at Abraham real quick. So James 2:21-24: was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and that his faith was made complete by what he did. 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." You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
Now, if you're not familiar with Abraham's story, we find his story in the book of Genesis. And James here is taking the events of Genesis 15 through 22 and really condensing them. So, let me just give you a quick flyover of what happens. In Genesis 15, God takes Abraham outside and tells him to look up at the stars in the sky. And he says, "That's how your offspring will be." God tells Abraham that he will have a son that's his own flesh and blood. The problem is Abraham and his wife Sarah, they don't have kids. And they're no spring chickens. And years later in Genesis 22, God has given them a son, Isaac, as the fulfillment of this promise to give him descendants. But now, God tells Abraham to take this son and to sacrifice him. And to prove his faith and his trust in God.
What we see is Abraham obeys. He trusts God with what he loves most. And right before Abraham kills his son, God stops him and says, "Don't harm him. Don't do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God seeing that you've not withheld your son, your only son from me." Abraham was given a promise by God. And he believed so deeply in that promise that he was willing to do whatever God asked him to do. And when James says in verse 24 that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone, he's saying that a person's right standing before God is demonstrated by their works. Abraham wasn't just made right with God because he obeyed. His obedience, like what he did, revealed the kind of faith that he already had.
And then in verse 25, we read about Rahab. It says this, "In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?" Rahab's story is found in Joshua chapter 2. The Israelite people are about to destroy Jericho and they sent two spies to scout out the land and the city. Well, the king finds out about these spies and sends men to capture them. Well, they run into Rahab and she welcomes them into her home. She hides them from the king's men and then lies to them as well in order to protect these spies. And then she helps them to escape.
Why would she do that? Well, we read in Joshua chapter 2 that she had heard about God and what he had done, how he rescued his people, and she believed that he was the one true God. And she risks her life by choosing to align herself with God and his people. Rahab didn't just believe something about God. She acted on it. She demonstrated her faith by what she did. Rahab and Abraham, man, they could not have been more different. One was an insider and the patriarch of Israel. The other an outsider, a prostitute in a pagan city. One had a long history with God. The other had only heard about him. But both acted on their faith and they demonstrated an authentic, living faith.
James concludes in verse 26 with a very clear picture. He says as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. A body, no breath, no movement, no life. It's dead. That's what a faith without deeds is. It's dead. You know, I fear that many have a faith that stays in their head or even in their hearts, but it never makes its way to their mouth, to their hands, or their feet. It never breaks our hearts for the broken and the hurting. It never moves us toward them. It doesn't serve those in need. It never moves us away from our sin. It doesn't move us toward one another to do life together. James tells us that faith is dead.
You know, it's clear to me when I read the Bible that God is very much interested in how we live. Faith in God is so much more than a one-time decision or an experience that you had years ago. You know, some of us, we may relate more to Abraham. We have this long history with God. Others of us may have come from broken places like Rahab, and God radically saved you. But James says it doesn't matter where you come from. Real faith looks the same in both. It shows up in how we live.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:5, he says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you, unless of course you failed the test?" You know, I think when we hold up this passage in James to our lives, and we honestly examine ourselves like 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, we'll either be comforted or convicted. Comforted because the fruit in our lives shows the faith that we have, that we have a real faith. Or convicted, because we realize that our faith is dead.
Real faith, it doesn't just believe in Jesus. It follows him. And the good news is this, we are not saved by our works. We are saved by Jesus, by his work, by his perfect, sinless life, his death, burial, and resurrection. We receive him by grace through faith. And the evidence of that will be a faith that shows up not just in what we say, or what we feel, or what we believe, but in how we live and in what we do.
So, I want to ask us again this morning to consider the question that I asked earlier. What does your life reveal about your faith? If someone followed you and I around for a week, not just here on Sunday, but at home, at work, at the gym, at school, or in the car, what would they say about your faith? Would they see a real living faith, or a dead, useless faith? Because real faith, it shows up in how we live.
Would you pray with me? I just want to ask you, what is God putting in front of you this morning? How is he leading you to respond? What is he asking you to do to live out your faith? Is it to take your faith public through baptism? Maybe there's someone that the Lord has brought to mind over these last few minutes that you can serve or help meet a tangible need that they have. What is God saying to you right now? Don't ignore it.
If you're here this morning and you realize that you don't have faith, and you want to believe on Jesus and surrender your life to him for the very first time, I just want to invite you to pray this with me. God, I know that I'm a sinner. And that I need you. God, I confess that I have tried to live my life apart from you for far too long and I don't want to do that anymore. I believe that you sent your son Jesus to live a perfect sinless life, to die on the cross for my sins. God, I receive your love and your grace this morning. And I want to follow you with my whole life. If you prayed that with me, man, I just want to say we are so excited for you. I truly believe that following Jesus is the best thing that we can do in this life.
And now, we live out our faith. So, for all of us, would you pray this with me? Father, would you help us to live out our faith? To show with our lives your love that has transformed our hearts. God, we trust you. Not just with our words, but with our whole lives. God, we confess where our faith has become lifeless. God, we ask that you would just reveal to us where we need to surrender, where we need to repent, where we need to trust. God, show us the steps that we need to take today. As we follow you, and Lord, would you give us the courage to move? We love you. And we pray these things in your name Jesus. Amen.