James 2C. After what we heard from James last week, I m surprised you ve returned. I certainly felt convicted over what James taught

Transcription

1 James 2C After what we heard frm James last week, I m surprised yu ve returned I certainly felt cnvicted ver what James taught And I acknwledge this is tugh material I didn t structure my teaching with an intent t entertain r sth with light-hearted stries What I did d - and am ding - is wrestle with this text fr hurs and days Because my jb is t get this right, as best I can And then my jb is t share it with yu as Gd has revealed it t me And t leave it t the Hly Spirit t tell yu what t d with what yu learn And I admit that makes fr ne heck f a dwner smetimes But if yu re like me, the cnvictin sn gives way t this thrilling recgnitin f hw awesme ur Gd is And f hw imprtant my life is t Gd, that I can live in such a way that I bring Him glry And nthing matters mre t Gd than His glry And I get excited at the prspect f serving Him in the days He gives me And then I see the wisdm f Gd s wrd in the way it prpels me frward int a life that des gd wrks We ended n v.17, as James makes his pint clear If ur faith desn t yield gd wrks t the glry f Gd, is it a useless faith It is useless fr thers wh are in need ur wrks f charity and service 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 James 2C! 2 It is useless t urselves because ur eternal reward is based n wrks dne in faith If we arrive at the judgment mment withut wrks, we will cme thrugh the judgment mment empty handed Mst imprtantly, a faith absent wrks is useless t Gd As Jesus said: Ma#. 5:16 Let yur light shine befre men in such a way that they may see yur gd wrks, and glrify yur Father wh is in heaven. The light is a symbl fr ur faith in the Gspel, and Jesus tld us t let ur faith shine in such a way that the wrld sees ur gd wrks and glrified Gd As I reflected n this part f James letter, I was frced t cnfrnt many assumptins I have made abut my wn life and abut scripture itself Perhaps yu have dne the same thing this week I wndered if I was pleasing the Lrd in my wrks I hpe He is pleased in my teaching and pastring But even if that were true, is He pleased with my wrks as a husband, r father r in my secret thughts? Is he pleased in my prayer life r in the way I spend my mney r in the way I spend my free time? I fund myself asking mre and mre what will the Lrd say t me n my judgment day abut these things And in terms f Scripture, I ve fund myself taking a secnd lk at a number f passages where Jesus r NT writers tell us t take the judgment seat mment seriusly Paul, fr example, describes the judgment seat f Christ this way: 2Cr. 5:9 Therefre we als have as ur ambitin, whether at hme r absent, t be pleasing t Him. 2Cr. 5:10 Fr we must all appear befre the judgment seat f Christ, s that each ne may be recmpensed fr his deeds in the bdy, accrding t what he has dne, whether gd r bad Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 James 2C! 3 2Cr. 5:11 Therefre, knwing the fear f the Lrd, we persuade men, but we are made manifest t Gd; and I hpe that we are made manifest als in yur cnsciences. Paul says shuld have as ur ambitin t be pleasing t Christ Knwing we knw we will be judged by Him and rewarded accrdingly And Paul adds, where gd r bad There can be a bad utcme t that judgment And a bad judgment is the result f a Christian wh lives a life withut striving t please His Master That s a life lived withut a fear f the Lrd Lk hw Paul begins his next thught...knwing the fear f the Lrd Have yu wndered why Paul was s tireless in his effrts t spread the Gspel? Why did Paul place himself in harms way and endure such misery at times? And why did he d it willingly? He says he did it because he knew the fear f the Lrd And he let his fear and respect and awe and desire t please His Lrd drive him t a life f gd wrks S in chapter 2 up t verse 17, James has made this simple argument We must pay attentin t hw we respnd t the tests f ur faith We must take these test seriusly and set ur mind t passing them And passing a test is an pprtunity t d gd deeds r gd wrks In fact, we must set ur minds n the gal f living a Christian life that prduces gd wrks f faith By serving in ur gift, seeking ways t spread the Gspel and in all we d glrifying Gd 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 James 2C! 4 James then argues we must be dedicated t this path, because we are t be judged accrding t the Law f Liberty This judgment is ne f wrks, nt a judgment fr sin But it still brings the pssibility f a bad utcme And if we haven t shwn wrks f mercy, then why shuld we expect ur judge t shw mercy t us at that mment? Instead we will see a harsh judgment Because that will be the utcme fr a believer wh lives a life absent gd wrks They will have a faith, but it is a dead, useless faith Nw James was a smart man, and he was guided by the Hly Spirit S he anticipated what sme might argue t refute his cncerns James anticipated that sme might try t cunter his argument and claim that Christians d nt need t wrry abut such things And he ffers that argument in v.18 James 2:18 But smene may well say, Yu have faith and I have wrks; shw me yur faith withut the wrks, and I will shw yu my faith by my wrks. James speaks as if her were an bjectr, wh disagreed with James argument Nw befre I explain yu what the bjectr is saying, let me tell yu that this verse and the nes that fllw are ften misunderstd, even amng many evangelical Christians S t help clear things up, let me ask yu a questin Hw wuld smene bjectin t James teaching? Fr example, wuld smene try t cntradict James by prpsing that it s perfectly OK t have faith but n wrks? Wuld anyne ever argue that pint? Nt in my experience Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 James 2C! 5 Arguing that faith withut wrks is a perfectly acceptable ptin fr a Christian desn t even make sense S this wasn t an argument that James wrried abut either Instead, James wrried abut the ppsite argument He is wrried that smene might argue that there is n such thing as a believer wh has faith withut wrks Or said anther way, James wrried that smene might argue that every true believer must prduce wrks And therefre, a faith that prduces n wrk wuld nt be true faith And we have certainly heard many teachers making that claim S James pses that same argument himself in v.18 An bjectr might say, Yu say James that a man may have have faith by itself, but can that man shw me his faith withut wrks? N. Hw can yu shw faith withut wrks? Yu can t, since faith itself is invisible A believer can nly shw faith by wrks Therefre, a true faith must have wrks And if a faith has n wrks, then it is nt a true faith S, the bjectr is suggesting that James is wrried abut smething that he desn t need t wrry abut True faith will always prduce wrks, s why spend time wrrying abut peple wh lack wrks...they aren t believers in the first place James wanted t raise this questin because he knew it was a thught in the church, bth then and nw And the James makes the cunter-argument t dispel it, t challenge it James 2:19 Yu believe that Gd is ne. Yu d well; the demns als believe, and shudder Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 James 2C! 6 In v.19 James refutes this argument s pwerfully that it immediately shuts up anyne wh might argue therwise James makes an example f the demn realm t disprve the bjectr s assumptin that a sure belief autmatically prduce behavir cnsistent with that belief James says d yu believe Gd is ne He s referring t the Jewish Shema, the cnfessins f the Jew fund in Deut 6:4 Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel! The LORD is ur Gd, the LORD is ne! This statement frm Scripture is nt a statement f the Gspel James is purpsely nt using an example f belief in the Gspel, because his pint is nt abut wh is saved He is arguing a general pint abut the relatinship between any belief and behavir S James says that when a persn accepts a statement f Scripture t be true, they d well But nw James wants the reader t cnsider whether a strng belief must always result in behavir cnsistent with that belief? Or is it pssible t have a strng belief and yet still act in ways that are incnsistent with that belief? T prve his pint, James says cnsider Exhibit A: the demn wrld Demns are falling angels They were nce in heaven serving the Living Gd They knew the gdness f Gd and they understd His pwer And when Lucifer rebelled against Gd, a third f the angelic realm rebelled with him And tgether, these rebellius angels have cme under judgment and are appinted a place in the abyss and later the Lake f Fire 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 James 2C! 7 In the meantime, these fallen angels - r demns we call them - serve Satan as they await their judgment mment James pints ut that these demns als believe that Gd is One Again, ntice that James didn t say that they believe in the Gspel Rather, the demns knw that Gd exists, that He is the nly true Gd They have this knwledge frm firsthand experience It desn t even require faith n their part They have seen Him They knw He is real and that He has real pwer They als knw He will be their judge And they knw that He will hld them accuntable fr their sin in rebelling against Him Yu see prf f their belief and understanding in the Gspels when Jesus encuntered a legin f demns Luke 8:28 Seeing Jesus, he cried ut and fell befre Him, and said in a lud vice, What business d we have with each ther, Jesus, Sn f the Mst High Gd? I beg Yu, d nt trment me. Luke 8:29 Fr He had cmmanded the unclean spirit t cme ut f the man. Fr it had seized him many times; and he was bund with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he wuld break his bnds and be driven by the demn int the desert. Luke 8:30 And Jesus asked him, What is yur name? And he said, Legin ; fr many demns had entered him. Luke 8:31 They were implring Him nt t cmmand them t g away int the abyss. They immediately recgnized Jesus, they knew Him t be Lrd They called Him by name And they anticipated that Jesus wuld cast them int the abyss, int Hell The demns knw all these things Their belief is abslutely 100% sure 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 James 2C! 8 They have n dubt abut what their future hlds And yet James says that belief nly prduces a shudder Unique wrd in the New Testament, and it means t shiver in fear James is saying that these demns are s certain f their cming judgment, they are shivering in fear And yet that belief in Gd didn t stp them frm rebelling against Him It hasn t brught them t repentance They cntinue rebelling tday S t the bjectr wh says that a true faith will always result in wrks cnsistent with that faith, James asks yu t cnsider the demns Demns knw the same thing yu knw In a sense, demns have an even better understanding f Gd then we d And yet they aren t living a life f gd wrks fr Gd S shuld we assume that a believer s belief in Gd will always cmpel him t prduce gd wrks? The bvius answer is n. There must be a cnscience decisin t fllw that faith with behavir Sme might argue that Christians are different than the demns because we have the Spirit And the indwelling f the Hly Spirit ensures we are brught t gd wrks But Scripture never makes that prmise It prmises us that the Spirit is a depsit and a guarantee f ur future inheritance in Christ But Scripture als teaches clearly that the degree f ur inheritance is in ur cntrl and nt assured And if we re nt careful, Paul says in Eph 4:30 that a believer can grieve the Spirit 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 James 2C! 9 Others might pint t Ephesians 2:10 where Paul says we were created in Christ Jesus fr gd wrks, which Gd has prepared befrehand s that we wuld walk in them Is Paul teaching that a believer s gd wrks are inevitable because Gd has rdained them t happen? N, Paul is teaching that the curse f ur wrks has been established by Gd, nt the inevitability f us fllwing that curse Gd has already decided what wrks we are t accmplish t please Him S we can t decide fr urselves what wrks please Gd But the questin remains will I serve Him in thse wrks r d ther things that please myself instead? S James warns that it s pssible fr a Christian act, in a sense, like the demns We can knw the truth abut Jesus, yet we can still find ways t sin against Him and nt live a life pleasing t Him If we hld the view that true faith always prduces wrks, we risk making tw serius dctrinal errrs First, this thinking neutralizes the pwer f James teaching in chapter 2 Slwly but surely, we begin t let urselves ff the very hk James is trying t set in ur hearts Why wrry s much abut passing tests r serving the needs f ur hungry and pr brthers and sisters? What happens t ur sense f urgency? Why wuld we ever need t re-evaluate ur lives and questin ur decisins? Wn t we just rest in the cnfidence that ur faith will naturally prduce gd wrks fr Christ? Like a plane n autpilt, we can take in the scenery knwing that we ll get t ur destinatin ne way r anther 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 James 2C! 10 This is exactly the kind f cmplacency that James is wrking t end The secnd prblem with this errr is even mre trubling Making wrks are necessary demnstratin f saving faith mves us perilusly clse t a Gspel f wrks, Where we suggest t believers that there is smething we must d t ensure ur salvatin Frtunately, James makes clear that he is nt arguing fr such a view by using tw Old Testament examples James 2:20 But are yu willing t recgnize, yu flish fellw, that faith withut wrks is useless? James 2:21 Was nt Abraham ur father justified by wrks when he ffered up Isaac his sn n the altar? James 2:22 Yu see that faith was wrking with his wrks, and as a result f the wrks, faith was perfected; James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and he was called the friend f Gd. James 2:24 Yu see that a man is justified by wrks and nt by faith alne. First, James uses the stry f Abraham sacrificing Isaac n the muntain in Chapter 22 f Genesis James begins again with his thesis, that faith is useless withut wrks Nt absent r false r fake, just useless And his use f Abraham as an example is especially imprtant, because Abraham was declared t be righteus by faith at an earlier pint in Genesis 15 But in Genesis 22 Gd gave Abraham an pprtunity t display His faith thrugh wrks, s that Abraham might accmplish smething imprtant fr Gd s glry In v.21 James says that Abraham was justified by wrks when he ffered up Isaac As cnfusing as this verse can be t sme Bible students, the prper interpretatin is fairly easy It rests n an understanding f the wrk justified 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 James 2C! 11 The wrd always means declared righteus, nt t make smene righteus In Genesis 15, Gd declared Abraham t be righteus n the basis f His faith But in Genesis 22, Abraham was declared t be righteus by his wrks In Genesis 15, it was Gd s judgment that Abraham be cunted (r reckned as ) righteus But in Genesis 22, it was Abraham s turn t make that declaratin fr himself thrugh his wn actins And his bedient actins had the effect f declaring the same things that was already true frm Gd s perspective James isn t saying that Abraham was mre righteus by his actins Just that his actins became his testimny abut his faith That s why James says in v.22 that his faith was wrking with his wrks and in that way his faith was perfected ( The Greek wrd is telel, which means brught t it s intended end r reaching a gal In ther wrds, Abraham s faith had accmplished the wrk that Gd had purpse fr Abraham s life And as a result f Abraham s gd wrk, Gd s earlier declaratin f Abraham s righteusness was fulfilled The Greek wrd fr fulfilled is pler, which means bringing t an end r making cmplete Abraham had brught t cmpletin the wrk Gd began in declaring Abraham righteus by faith Finally, James uses anther example f saving faith put t wrk James 2:25 In the same way, was nt Rahab the harlt als justified by wrks when she received the messengers and sent them ut by anther way? James 2:26 Fr just as the bdy withut the spirit is dead, s als faith withut wrks is dead Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 James 2C! 12 Rahab was the prstitute wh believed in the testimny f the invading Jews cncerning Gd s plans t destry her twn f Jerich And when Jshua sent spies int the land, she hid them frm the Jerich king Her kindness t thse messengers was an meaningful act f mercy t men she shuld have seen as enemies And because she acted n her faith, the spies assured her that she wuld be saved when the city was destryed She culd have remained silent She still wuld have had belief in the Gd is Israel But if she hadn t acted n that faith t prtect the spies, then she wuld have lst her earthly life in the invasin James pint is there are benefits fr Gd s glry when we act n ur faith and perfrm wrks And there are persnal benefits when we act n ur faith and d the wrks that ur faith requires In Rahab s case, the reward was her life was spared when Israel defeated Jerich And her name was preserved in Scripture in the line f Jesus She was the mther f Baz, the husband f Ruth Hw kind f James t clse n the example f Rahab If he had ended n Abraham, perhaps we wuld have wndered if this gal was ut f reach fr us Only men f Abraham s stature culd btain such a testimny But then there is Rahab, a harlt James reminds us If she culd act n her faith in a simple way, taking in strangers in her hme Perhaps we can d the same then? As James reminds us in v.26...a dead bdy is a very real thing, but it s entirely useless...dn t live a life f very real but very useless faith 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.