Intro: What does your faith say? That is the question you should ask yourself this morning as you listen to this message. What does your lifestyle say about the God you say you serve? James is clearly pulling no punches as He deals directly with living, abiding full life generating faith. Does your faith agree that God is God and you are not? Does your faith say that you’re saved by grace alone by faith alone not by works but for works. Is your faith one of hypocritical holiness or righteous action?
Before we try to break this passage down understand that James is not saying that works save. Number one he is not talking about works of the law. He is not talking about trying to keep the 613 laws and other requirements heaped onto people in Jesus’ day. He is talking about an outworking of the Holy Spirit of God that changes us into new creatures. I don’t treat my wife right because I have to, but because God is in the process of liberating me from myself and my sinful nature. I don’t discipline my children because I have to but because my father instructs me it is best for them to be trained and instructed to know Him. I don’t feed and clothe people because I have to but because it is what God recreated me to do!!! I don’t love you guys when you mess up or confess my sins when I fall because I have too but because I can and because it heals and my God covers it.
Too many of us are asking the same question as people asked in the Bible. What must I do to be saved? The response is always believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You don’t work to God he has already worked toward you. What you should ask is what should I do now that I know Jesus. You know what people usually ask me? How much should I give, how much does God want me to come to Church? How much translation, what can I do (least amount) to get to heaven.
Zodhiates, a Greek-American Bible Scholar remarks that
Christianity is not getting a few notions into our heads, but it is a change of the seat of all our affections and dispositions, a change of the heart. True, we begin with the head, but we travel to the heart, and from the heart we travel to the hand.
James is addressing a group of Jews who in practicing their faith may have believed works no longer have anything to do with faith. James is defeating the Devils ideas about faith in this passage.
The devil would love to lead you to believe one of two things. First Good deeds by themselves without faith in Christ will deliver you to the pearly gates and well done. Not true. Jesus said in Matthew 7:23. Depart from me you who do iniquity I knew you not. Jesus again connects believing faith and Christ like behavior. Second I believe in Jesus as my Savior but it has absolutely no impact on daily living, no relationship to God so-ever, no relationship to others based on Jesus work. That type of belief does not save. James wants us to not be deceived. He wants us to be delivered from the power of Sin and developed in the power of God’s Holy Spirit, “He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do.” Ephesians 2.10 Our lives are to be lives bearing much fruit, why? Jesus the giver of life and bringer of fruit lives in us.
This is not about works producing faith. It is instead about saving faith producing works.
Good works are the evidence of salvation and satisfaction with Christ. Good works are just God coming out of His people.
Our attitudes, actions and assets can be released when we have eternal security in our relationship with Jesus.
I. Out loud faith is not just words (James1.14 “if someone says he has faith but he has no works”)
Faith is not about simply learning to give the right answer or the right saying. Words that are not backed with compassion at best are empty at worst destructive. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is confidence. What do we put our confidence in? We place our trust our confidence in Jesus. Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” I am confident God keeps His word therefore I do what He says!!
Lord is said louder with your hands and feet than with your mouth!
For lack of a better way to say it talk is cheep.
Romans 7:4 “So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.
Paul is saying you were married to Christ in order to produce abundant fruit for God!
Words do not clothe the naked, words do not feed the hungry, words do not house the homeless, words do not accept the outcast, words do not respect the unborn, elderly, forgive the homosexual, wife abuser, murder, adulterer etc. God working through you does!
Faith has enough confidence in God to do what seems to the world to be supernatural but to the children of God it is the every day confidence we have that Christ is alive and living in us!
Why do I never say just say this prayer. Because if the relationship with Jesus doesn’t connect your heart to your hands it is dead!
II. Out loud faith is not just feelings (James 2:15)
The life of a person of faith is not based on feelings. Our life as followers of Jesus Christ is based on the truth of who He is and what He has done and is doing in our life. Sometimes I don’t feel very good about the way I treated Jesus or someone he put in my journey of life on any given day. But the focus of my faith is not my emotions. Emotions trick and fool you to the reality around you. The focus of my faith is what the writer to the Hebrews encourages us to fixing our eyes on Jesus. Forgetting what lies behind my feelings and failures. I press on in Christ.
Some of you base you relationship with God on liver shivers and goose bumps. If the basis of you faith never moves you to obedience to what God says they you need to get a new foundation for your faith!
James 2.15 “15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Its like saying God bless you man hope Jesus gives you a coat and warm meal. Man I really feel for your predicament. That is nothing more than empty sympathy.
Galatians 6:10 “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Why? We are recreated in Christ Jesus to do this very thing.” Eph 2.10 The Holy Spirit flows into our lives so that we can live and give as Jesus did!
Out loud faith lives and gives as unto Jesus Christ. Real faith gives to meet real needs and declare the praise of the King Jesus.
Faith is not empty words or emotional feelings.
III. Out loud faith is not just thoughts (James 2.18)
For some faith is only found in the thoughts. According to Romans 12.1-2 our way of thinking is to be changed but not just our way of thinking. Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice. Life is to be lived as a sacrifice to God and His glory. Faith is not meant to be an intellectual debate with no life commitment. What does James mean when he says faith without works is dead?
The faith that the disciples and apostles had was evident in the life and lifestyle they lived. Acts 4:13 it was evident to the people that Peter, James, John, Bartholemu, all of them had been with Jesus.
James the brother of Jesus says that if you have faith show me. He must have visited Missouri. If you say you are concerned about your health because you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, do you get adequate rest, do you exercise properly, is what you eat healthy?
We are invited into a relationship with Jesus Christ that was designed by God to make us holy and spiritually healthy. Is there evidence of this in your life? James does not want us to be deceived if this is not a reality in our lives.
IV. Out loud faith is not just belief (James 2.19-20)
The demons believe and shutter but they demonstrate rebellion and disobedience rather than obedience. It is very foolish according to the Bible to be an atheist. Even the Devil believes there is a God. However there is a hellish disconnect in his decisions about how to respond to that God.
James’ major concern is trying to show that a dynamic faith demonstrates itself in concrete practical obedience.
Believing is the root, behaving is the fruit. What does your behavior, your lifestyle say about what you believe about God. What is the difference? Do you know about God? Or do you know God? Are you certain that the promises of God can be believed and acted upon?
V. Out loud faith is what you do
In James’ context remember he is not talking about becoming a Follower of Christ but behaving as a follower of Christ. He wants us to grow and mature in our relationship with Christ. That happens as we apply to our daily lifestyle the truths revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
James gives us two powerful illustrations. Abraham and Rahab.
Romans 4.3 “For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." NASB
What does Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded by God to be his approval of Abraham."
If you read the story about Abraham what should strike you? God said that Abraham was righteous before He offered His son Isaac. Abraham’s faith was demonstrated by his doing what God told him.
Rahab may have been a prostitute. Rahab saved a couple of Hebrew spies lives and for that faith, doing what God had told her she wound up in the family tree of Jesus. God’s had of blessing comes to the heart of obedience!!!
Our faith is not determined by what we do. It is demonstrated by what we do!! The two faith and works are inseparable. They cannot be divorced.
Warren Wiersbe ““No man can come to Christ by faith and remain the same anymore than he can come into contact with a 220-volt wire and remain the same.”
Some of you are completely comfortable being just the same as you were when you first said you trusted Christ. The more I come to know Jesus the more I come to know I need Him to change me. The more I need Him to change the way I talk, think, and act.
An old boatman painted the word “faith” on one oar of his boat and “works” on the other. He was asked his reason for this. In answer, he slipped the oar with “faith” into the water and rowed. The boat, of course, made a very tight circle. Returning to the dock, the boatman then said, “Now, let’s try ‘works’ without ‘faith’ and see what happens. The oar marked “works” was put in place and the boatman began rowing with just the “works” oar. Again the boat went into a tight circle but in the opposite direction. When the boatman again returned to the wharf, he interpreted his experiment in these strong and convincing words, “You see, to make a passage across the lake, one needs both oars working simultaneously in order to keep the boat in a straight and narrow way. If one does not have the use of both oars, he makes no progress either across the lake nor as a Christian.
Conclusion: Faith demonstrates its existence in obedience. What does your faith say? Does it say all to Jesus I continually surrender all to Him I freely give.
What should I do?
1) If you have never trusted Christ talk to Him tell Him the sins and disobedience in your life ask Him to forgive and cleanse you and He will.
2) If you have trusted Him test your faith by a Biblical Standard
1 Corinthians 13.5 “Test yourself to see if you are in the faith.”
What good deeds, what fruit has your relationship to Christ produced?
3) If you haven’t followed Him in finding a place of service in this body ask Him to reveal an opportunity.
4) How do you treat non-believers and believers in need?
