Are you Dead? James 2:14-26 We continue this morning in our study of the letter written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, to the dispersed Jews living outside of Israel. We come to the 2 nd half of chapter 2 which may be the most difficult passage in all of the New Testament and is often misunderstood and misapplied. So we will do our best to make it understandable and to make sure that we get the point of what James is telling us. So let s dig into this difficult text. James 2:14 (ESV) 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? Right here in the beginning of this passage, we are confronted with some difficult questions. Two rhetorical questions that James asks that have been so mistaught and misunderstood that entire movements within the church have risen up and have fallen. Fights between groups within the church have been centered on how this verse is interpreted and applied. Before we dig too far into this text, I want to preface everything with another Biblical truth: Ephesians 2:8 9 (ESV) 1 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Our salvation is by faith alone, it is not the result of works. Please understand that nothing that I say or that James says changes the doctrine of salvation by Grace through faith. You did not work for your salvation. That doctrine is the pillar of soteriology or the doctrine of salvation. So keep that in mind as we go back to James 2:14. James 2:14 (ESV) 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? James is not saying something different here. He is not saying that faith will not save you. True faith in a true God will absolutely save you as Paul clearly taught. James is not disputing that. Our understanding of this passage in James is dependent on one phrase that is often overlooked. If someone says he has faith but does not have works. Let me see If I can explain this better. James is not disputing true faith in a true God provides salvation. James is asking if simply the profession of faith is enough. In other words, does simply saying you believe in God and in the death of Jesus provide a person with salvation? 2 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
James 2:19 (ESV) 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder! Even the demons believe, but they will not receive salvation, their fate has been sealed forever. So clearly simple belief is not sufficient for salvation. James 2:14 (ESV) 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? You see the Apostle Paul in Ephesians was dealing with the Judaizers who were trying to make salvation about the works you do, the keeping of the law to which he responded that we are saved by faith. James, on the other hand, was dealing with the exact opposite issue, easy believism, that is simply a belief system, not a system of living. Paul and James are not fight toe to toe on this issue as many scholars have attempted to say. Dr. MacArthur says: They are not standing face-to-face confronting each other, but are standing back-to-back fighting two common enemies. Paul opposes works-righteous legalism; James opposes easy-believism. 1 1 John F. MacArthur Jr., James, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1998), 125. 3 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
Both, legalism and easy-believism distort the gospel message and both are attempts by Satan to thwart the work of the Holy Spirit in our world. Salvation is always the work of God in our lives to bring us to the point of salvation and then to give us the faith to truly believe. Salvation always brings about a transformation, from death to life. If there is no transformation, then we remain the walking dead. If there is no transformation, then we remain dead in our trespasses and sins. That is is the point James is making here, faith without transformation does not save. So what is faith without transformation? Often it is described as giving mental assent to the gospel but not trusting in God. Others argue that faith without transformation is trusting in your action of repeating a prayer, or signing a card saying you believe, or trusting in your walking down an aisle in church. Trusting in your own action and not in the action of Jesus on the cross. James illustrates this in the next few verses: James 2:15 17 (ESV) 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 4 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
James illustrates by showing how we can simply say something but that being insufficient. We can see someone who is hungry and needs food and clothes and say to them be warm and be filled, but not give them anything to eat or any clothes to wear. Have we actually done anything for them? No of course not. Just saying be warm and be full does nothing to help them. No look at verse 17. James says that faith that does not actually have a transformation with it is like saying being warm and full, it does nothing. Immediately following the verse in Ephesians, we saw a little bit ago where Paul argued for salvation by grace through faith we read: Ephesians 2:8 10 (ESV) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We are saved by grace through faith so that you can do the good works God has already prepared for us to do. If there are no good works being performed logic would dictate that there has been no salvation. That is the exact point that James is making here. There has to be some transformation from dead to living as demonstrated by what you do. 5 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
Repentance involves turning and going in the same direction as God is going. We cannot be a follower of Jesus when we are going in the opposite direction. Before salvation, we were enemies with God, but at salvation, we are transformed to be followers of God which dictates we go in the direction He is going. But this argument is not finished here. It goes on. Look at verse 18. James 2:18 (ESV) 18 But someone will say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. The reality that faith without works is dead is displayed in this statement. Someone can claim to have faith in God but there is no way that can be proven apart from good works. What is the demonstration of faith in the life of the believer? Good works, which we have seen God has prepared for us to do. If there is no transformation then there are no good works which then fails to demonstrate true faith. James 2:19 (ESV) 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder! We come back to the verse we saw earlier. The demons believe, they know the truth but are not given saving faith to trust God. 6 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
Knowing the truth of the gospel message is not the same as trusting it. James 2:20 21 (ESV) 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? We have to be careful here! But James drives home his point that true saving faith involves commitment and transformation. Abraham was promised a son through Sarah to be the father of the Jewish people. But then God told Abraham to go up to Mount Moriah and there sacrifice Isaac. Abraham had faith in God and God s promises and was willing to do what God had told him to do. He was not saved because of that action. That action of being willing to trust God with the life of his son demonstrated his true faith and trust in God. His faith actually had feet and did the good works God had prepared for him to do. James 2:22 23 (ESV) 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God. 7 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
Abraham s salvation was proven by his actions. It was not provided by his actions only proven by them. Imagine if you will, that Abraham did not have faith in God. Then he would not have been willing to offer up Isaac, he would not have trusted God. Our faith must play itself out in our actions. A failure on our part to do the good works God has prepared for us to do indicates that no transformation has occurred which means no salvation has occurred. Abraham was not saved because he offered Isaac up when God told him to. Abraham was saved because he trusted God which then gave him the confidence to offer up Isaac when God told him to. This next verse is also a little sticky for us. James 2:24 (ESV) 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the light of Paul s statement that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works how do we interpret this statement of James? We interpret it just the way he did in the previous verse. We are justified by saving faith which is demonstrated by the works we do, which were prepared by God beforehand. If there are not good works, there was no transformation which means there was no salvation. It is that 8 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
simple. We are not saved by our good works, but if good works are not present, we have not been saved. James 2:25 (ESV) 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? James give us another example of someone who demonstrates their faith through their actions. This time Rahab who was a prostitute living in the walls of Jericho who provided protection and escape for the Israelite spies before the fall of Jericho. James has one more analogy for us to understand the relationship between faith and works. James 2:26 (ESV) 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. I have seen a lot of people die. I have seen the last breath and the body transition from a living body to a dead body. I have seen it go the other way too and that is more freaky. But we all understand what James is saying here, even if you have never seen anyone die. When the breath of life is gone out of the body the body no longer functions. Sure we can artificially keep the breath of life going, but when it stops the body is no longer alive, it is dead. We need air to survive. 9 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
Faith is the body in this analogy and works is the breath of life, the spirit, the pneuma. Faith without works is not a living faith it is dead, just like a body without breath is dead. I don t know how you can look at these verses and not conclude that God demands from us a transformation and without that transformation salvation is not real. Conclusion God has provided us with His Word, His instructions for how we are to live. The reality that we are be different than the world. We are to wear the white hats. But James faced the same thing we face in our world today. A doctrine that some have called easy-believism. You see it is difficult to be evangelistically minded and still hold people accountable for transformation in their life. It is far easier to say that we had x number of people come to the Lord than it is to say that we made x number of disciples. Disciple-making is hard work. You have to spend time with them and teach them all that God has said. You have to be willing to call them out when they are not doing what God has said. You have to be willing to correct errors and set a good example. I want you to know that is hard work. It is a lifetime investment. But that is what we do here at Friendship Grace Brethren Church. We are investing in your lives so that you can demonstrate your saving faith by your good works. We teach you the hard stuff so that you are not superficial. We call you out when you are not walking the way 10 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,
God has told us to walk. We expect good works out of you because by those good works you demonstrate your true saving faith. Let s Pray! 11 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,