This morning I am beginning a new sermon series called 40 Days of Faith. For the next forty days (or six weeks), I will be sharing six messages that I hope will strengthen your faith and mine.
1. Living Out Your Faith
2. Deepening Your Faith (Prayer)
3. Deepening Your Faith (Bible Study)
4. Deepening Your Faith (Giving)
5. Deepening Your Faith (Ministry)
6. Sharing Your Faith
If you want to gain physical strength, there are certain things you must do (eat right, exercise, sleep, etc.). The same is true for spiritual strength. If you desire to strengthen your faith, there are certain habits you must practice (prayer, Bible study, giving, ministry, outreach, etc.). These are the fundamentals of the Christian life.
This morning’s message is called Living Out Your Faith. I want to challenge you to live out your faith. Faith is something that is supposed to change our lives. Over the next forty days, I hope that your life will be changed for the better.
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In 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? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
“THE BIG IDEA”: Real faith results in deeds of obedience toward God and compassion toward others.
Faith isn’t just a Sunday morning thing. Your faith—if it’s real faith—should affect how you live your life throughout the week.
1. Real faith is more than words.
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (v. 14).
The word “claims” is very important. Does merely claiming to have faith mean that a person really has it? No. People claim many things without them being true. This week some people claimed that 12 of the 13 trapped miners in West Virginia were alive. But unfortunately that wasn’t correct. Only 1 of the 13 was alive. What people say is often not true. Many people who claim to be Christians are actually not genuine believers. They say they have faith but really do not.
James asks, “Can such faith save him [the person who claims to have faith but has no deeds]?” The key word in that question is “such.” In other words, “Can that kind of faith save him?” The answer is, “No.” The word “save” refers to acquittal at the final judgment. The question is, “What type of faith can guarantee a favorable verdict in the final judgment?” Not a faith that consists only of talk. Only a faith that produces works can provide security in the final judgment.
The King James Version is a bit misleading here. It says, “Can faith save him?” But James is not questioning whether or not genuine faith in Christ saves. He is saying that a person who says he has faith but had no deeds really does not possess saving faith. The Bible is clear that we are saved by faith alone. For example, we read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “It is by grace you have been, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Faith alone saves, but faith is never alone. Faith always produces deeds.
Real faith is more than words. Not everyone who has a Christian bumper sticker on his car has real faith. Not everyone who holds up a John 3:16 sign at a football game has real faith. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).
2. Real faith is more than feelings.
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (vv.15-17).
In these verses James gives us a story illustrating someone who has a phony faith (a “dead” faith). This person happens to meet a couple of Christians who are in desperate need of the basic necessities of life—food and clothing. He has the means to help them but offers them nothing except his wish that they be well. His faith has feelings but no deeds—“it is not accompanied by action.” James asks, “What good is [this man’s faith]?” None at all. The proper response is found in 1 John 3:18, which says, “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” Real faith is more than words and feelings.
3. Real faith is more than beliefs.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder (v. 19).
James is writing this letter to Jews. The basic creed of Judaism appears in Deuteronomy 6:4: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” That statement is absolutely true, but mere acceptance of it does not constitute saving faith. James says that even demons believe in the existence of one God. If you read the Gospels you’ll discover that the demons are orthodox in their beliefs about God (cf. Mat. 8:29-30; Mark 5:7; Luke 4:41; Acts 19:15). The behavior of demons demonstrates that someone can believe the right things and still have an evil character.
The person who James is speaking to possesses intellectual faith, a faith that only touches the mind. We see intellectual faith when we hear someone say, “I believe that eight times eight is sixty-four,” or when they say, “I believe that World War II ended in 1945.” Both facts are true, but accepting them involves only the mind, not the will. Whenever someone sincerely says, “I believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,” that person is claiming a commitment to Jesus Christ. Commitment to Christ is a willingness to obey Him, not merely the acceptance of right doctrines about Him. Real faith is more than beliefs.
4. Real faith is demonstrated by deeds.
Let’s go back to verse 18 for a moment. In this verse James imagines a conversation with a person taking an opposing view. The opponent says, “You have faith; I have deeds.” James responded, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” In other words, the opponent claims, “James, you ought to let some people emphasize faith while others emphasize works.” But James insists, “Real faith shows itself in deeds.” You simply cannot find an example of real faith that does not show itself in works. There is no room for some people to emphasize faith while others stress deeds. You must have both. Genuine commitment to Jesus Christ demonstrates its presence by deeds. Faith produces works. You can’t have one without the other.
James continues the conversation in verse 20: “You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” Then in verses 21-25 he gives two Old Testament examples of real faith, Abraham and Rahab—two people who showed genuine faith by their deeds. These two are exact opposites. Abraham was a man. Rahab was a woman. Abraham was the father of Israel. Rahab was a Gentile. Abraham was a major character in the Bible. Rahab was a minor character. Abraham was a patriarch. Rahab was a prostitute (I’m sure she changed her profession). Abraham was a somebody. Rahab was a nobody. They had only one thing in common—faith in God. This shows us that faith can come to anyone.
a. Abraham
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? (v. 21).
(Explain story.) Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac proved that he would obey God no matter what. But James is not saying that Abraham was saved by offering Isaac on the altar. The book of Genesis is clear that Abraham was saved before that event. Verse 23 says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” That quotation is taken from Genesis 15:6. The account of Abraham offering Isaac on the altar is found in Genesis 22. About thirty years passed between Genesis 15 and 22. Abraham was declared righteous by God (or saved) before he offered Isaac on the altar. He was saved when he “believed.” And his obedience demonstrated the integrity of his faith.
Some have seen James as contradicting Paul (most notably Martin Luther). Paul wrote in Romans 4 that Abraham was not justified (declared righteous) by his works. James writes here in verse 24, “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” Do Paul and James conflict? Absolutely not! James was contrasting two types of faith, one which was genuine and another which was false. Paul was contrasting two ways of salvation, one which God approved, and another which human beings devised. James described the kind of faith that proved or demonstrated righteousness before human beings. Paul described the kind of faith that received God’s approval. They were not opposing one another, but they fought against different enemies of the gospel. Paul said that a person is only saved by faith, not works (which is true). James said that a person who has real faith will also have works (which is also true).
b. Rahab
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? (v. 25).
Rahab received into her home Israelite spies whom Joshua sent to spy out the city of Jericho (see Josh. 2). She hid them in her home and protected them from their pursuers. She deliberately misled the pursuers by sending them off in a different direction while she continued to hide the spies. Later, she guided the spies in making their escape. If residents—especially the rulers—of Jericho had known of her acts of disloyalty, they would likely have put her to death. Joshua 2:8-13 makes it clear that Rahab’s faith in Israel’s God caused her to protect His representatives. Again, faith came first then followed the deeds.
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (v. 26).
In Genesis 2:7, God formed the first man by breathing life into his body. The union of spirit and body produced a living human being. In death the spirit departs, and the body decays into dust. A body without the spirit is a corpse.
In the same way faith without works is also dead. A person claiming to have faith but lacking works is spiritually as lifeless as a corpse. An inactive faith, entombed in words or feelings or a creed, has no more usefulness than a body with no heartbeat or breath.
Conclusion
If you were tried in a court of law for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? The prosecutor could say, “He says he is a Christian; he believes in God; he must be a Christian.” But your defense attorney would answer, “Faith without deeds is dead.”
What you do reveals who you are.
Are you living out your faith? If not, are you sure your faith is real?
Lord, I confess to You that I am a sinner. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave. I ask you today to become my Lord and Savior. Because You have forgiven me, I will follow You.
If you have committed your life to Christ, but aren’t living out your faith as you should, would you ask God to strengthen your faith in the next forty days?
