Go! And… Live The Faith You Profess Series

Go! And… Live the Faith You Profess

The Final Sermon in the “Go! And…” Series

INTRODUCTION – Bringing the Series to a Climax

Church—today we arrive at the end of our Go! And… series.

We have travelled through Scripture together:

Go! And proclaim.

Go! And forgive.

Go! And trust.

Go! And obey.

Go! And fight the good fight.

Go! And pray.

Go! And live ready.

Go! And call upon the Lord.

Go! And walk in the Spirit.

And many other Go! And Sermons

And now, as I draw the series to a close, God gives us one final command—a command that sums up everything we have learned:

Go! And… Live the Faith You Profess

Because the world has heard enough Christians talk.

The world is longing to see Christians walk.

Not merely professing the faith—but possessing it.

Not merely agreeing intellectually—but living sacrificially.

Today we bring the series home with two verses that stand as bookends of Gospel truth.

James 2:24 (NLT): “So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.”

Romans 3:28 (NLT): “So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

Two verses.

Two apostles.

One Gospel.

One truth that calls us to a faith that moves.

1. Go! And… Understand the Root and the Fruit of Faith

Romans 3:28 is the trumpet blast of reformation:

“We are made right with God through faith…”

James 2:24 is the echo of transformation:

“…we are shown to be right with God by what we do…”

Paul addresses people who try to earn salvation by religious works.

James addresses people who claim to have faith but show no change.

Both expose spiritual error.

Both magnify the Gospel.

Paul speaks of root.

James speaks of fruit.

Paul speaks of justification before God.

James speaks of justification before people.

There is no contradiction—just completion.

Ephesians 2:8–10 (NLT) “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

Paul and James agree perfectly:

Grace saves us.

Faith receives it.

Works reveal it.

Tim Keller helps us here: “We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith that remains alone.”

Keller reminds us that saving faith is a living seed—it grows, it produces, it bears fruit.

If nothing grows, nothing was planted.

This is why this sermon is the final message in the Go! And… series.

Everything God has taught us in this series is meant to produce fruit—obedience, trust, surrender, service, holiness.

2. Go! And… Embrace a Living, Visible, Obedient Faith

James gives us two powerful illustrations: Abraham and Rahab.

Abraham – Faith that Acts

James 2:21–22 (NLT): “Our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.”

“His faith and his actions worked together…”

The Greek word is sunergei—“to cooperate, to work together.”

A living faith cooperates with obedience.

Rahab – Faith that Risks

James 2:25 (NLT): Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.”

“…shown to be right with God by her actions.”

Rahab’s faith moved her to risk her life.

Faith always moves.

Faith always responds.

Matthew 7:17–20 (NLT) “A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

“A good tree produces good fruit…”

“…you can identify people by their actions.”

Jesus teaches exactly what James teaches.

Fruit never creates the tree—

but fruit reveals the tree.

John Piper said: “Faith is the root of salvation; love is the fruit of salvation.”

This is the heartbeat of James.

Fruit is not optional; fruit is inevitable.

If the Saviour lives in you, the Saviour lives through you.

And so as we conclude this series, God asks us:

Does your life reveal Christ?

Does your daily walk match your Sunday profession?

Is your faith visible to a watching world?

3. Go! And… Reject Dead Faith and Pursue Transformation

James makes a shocking statement.