SPRINGCREEK FELLOWSHIP
Sunday, April 24, 2022
  • There Is No Other Name

      • Psalm 138CSB

  • I Got Saved
  • What A Friend We Have In Jesus (Converse)
  • His Mercy Is More
  • James 2:14-26
    This morning we come to one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament.
    If it is not carefully understood, it can lead to serious error in a key area of doctrine (salvation)!
    We begin with a FOUNDATION:
    Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB
    For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.
    Colossians 2:6–7 CSB
    So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.
    Romans 1:17 CSB
    For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
    We are SAVED by FAITH and we are to LIVE by FAITH!
    Q: “How do I know if I’m living by faith?”
    Our passage this morning answers that question!
    APPARENTLY, there were some in James’ day who spoke the language of Christianity without reflecting the reality of its truth in their lives (aren’t you glad those days are gone)!
    FAITH & WORKS are mentioned TEN times in the THIRTEEN verses of this section!
    James is about to set forth in a very clear tones the major premise of his letter: (2:26)!
    James 2:26 CSB
    For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

    AN OVERVIEW…

    BEFORE beginning the actual message, and by way of INTRODUCTION, I’d like to present an OVERVIEW of the passage (a look at the grove as it were, before examining the trees)!
    I am indebted to J.A. Motyer’s commentary (1985) for this bird’s-eye view:
    To arrive at a correct definition of faith, James introduces four illustrations: the ill-clad and hungry brother [or sister] Christian (15-17), the believing but troubled demons (18-20), Abraham, the friend of God (21-24), and Rahab who welcomed Joshua’s spies (25-26).
    NOTICE THREE THINGS about these illustrations:
    1. Each illustration ends with a summary statement of what James wants us to learn (17, 20, 24, 26) [dead, useless, not, and dead].
    BYW, if your conclusion is different from James’, then you need to keep studying!
    2. The first two are NEGATIVE (what faith is not); and the second two are POSITIVE (what faith is).
    3. The first and last illustrations deal with the manward evidence of a true [and saving] faith (hungry people are fed; endangered spies are received); the second and third illustrations deal with the Godward evidence of a true faith (peace with God—not terror, and a life of obedience to God’s will).
    MESSAGE: If we SAY we have faith, their needs to be EVIDENCE in our lives to back our claim! In other words, “What are the characteristics of a faith that works?”

    I. REAL FAITH is MORE than VERBAL AFFIRMATION! – (2:14-18)

    NOTE that in (vv.14-15), James is referring to what someone “says”about their faith (not about faith itself).
    As he rejects the false, ‘say-so’faith, he points out several reasons for the failure of this verbal-affirmation faith!

    1. Verbal Faith Does Not SAVE! – (v.14)

    James uses TWO rhetorical questions to make his point—both of which anticipate an answer in the NEGATIVE!
    FIRST QUESTION: (v.14a) – “What good is it…?”
    SECOND QUESTION: (v.14b) – “Can SUCH faith save him?”– NO!
    In other words, a faith that does not demonstrate its genuineness in WORKS will not save!

    2. Verbal Faith Does Not SERVE – (vv.15-16)

    Because verbal faith is POWERLESS to save, it is also incapable of SERVING!
    (v.16a) – “…Go in peace” was the blessing pronounced by the deacons in the early church at the close of Communion, which is why James is specific, “and one of you says to them…”
    (v.16c) – He then repeats the question of (v.14a), “…what good is it?”
    1 John 3:17–20 CSB
    If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
    It is a sobering truth that if you are not serving, you may NOT be saved!

    3. Verbal Faith Does Not SURVIVE! – (vv.17-18)

    According to (v.17), it was NEVER alive in the first place!
    (Matthew 7:16-21)
    The fruit of your life will be manifest, and though we may fool some, we will one day stand before the One who TRULY knows…
    Before changing directions, James gives a bold challenge to the “say-so-faith” crowd in (v.18)!
    James 2:18 CSB
    But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.

    II. REAL FAITH is MORE than MENTAL ASSENT! – (2:19)

    (v.19a) is the SHEMA! –
    Deuteronomy 6:4 CSB
    “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
    (Deuteronomy 6:4), that great declaration of FAITH that was part of the very fabric of their lives! (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)—the (John 3:16) of the OT!
    (v.19b) –
    (Mark 1:24; 5:7) – There are no ATHEISTS among the demons!
    · What does their faith gain them? FEAR! – “…they shudder!”
    · The same is true for those who believe but do not ACT!

    III. REAL FAITH is MORE than a POSITIVE ATTITUDE! – (2:20-25)

    1. Abraham the Patriarch! – (vv.20-24)

    Genesis 15:6 CSB
    Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
    (Genesis 15:6; 22:1-12) (Hebrews 11:17) – The offering of his son was the “testing”of Abraham’s faith!
    It’s important to note that there’s a time frame of thirty-plus years between Abraham’s believing God and God testing Abraham’s faith!
    Q: What about Paul’s teaching in (Romans 4:1-5)? Is there a contradiction?
    A: NO. It’s a matter of PERSPECTIVE!
    · Paul is talking about our standing before God! – “…not before God” (v.2)
    · James is talking about our faith before men! – “…show me […] I will show you…”
    That Paul and James are on the same page regarding faith and works is abundantly clear in the writings of Paul:
    Romans 1:5 CSB
    Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles,
    Romans 16:26 CSB
    but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God to advance the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles—
    “…obedience of faith”
    Galatians 5:6 CSB
    For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.
    “…faith working through love.”

    2. Rahab the Prostitute! – (v.25) – (Joshua 2:9-11)

    Because of her FAITH, Rahab went into action—with ALL her life; her house, her resources, her ingenuity, and her personal safety (and that of her family’s as well)!
    ABRAHAM – The FATHER of Israel (and OUR spiritual father as well); RAHAB – a prostitute in a pagan land! BOTH WERE SAVED BY A FAITH THAT WORKS!
    Philippians 2:12 CSB
    Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

    CONCLUSION – (2:26)

    Peter Davids writes, “James does not argue for faith instead of works or works instead of faith or even works above faith, but for faith and works.”
    Motyer – “...faith productive of works.”
    Bo Reicke – “Faith constitutes the foundation but reaches fruition in works of mercy.”
    PERSONALLY, I have a much simpler approach, borrowed from a phrase frequently used at weddings: “What God has joined together, let not man separate!”
    INVITE (BELIEVE) – GROW – SERVE!

      • Ephesians 2:8–9CSB

      • Colossians 2:6–7CSB

      • Romans 1:17CSB

      • James 2:26CSB

      • 1 John 3:17–20CSB

      • James 2:18CSB

      • Deuteronomy 6:4CSB

      • Genesis 15:6CSB

      • Romans 1:5CSB

      • Romans 16:26CSB

      • Galatians 5:6CSB

      • Philippians 2:12CSB

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