Introduction.
In the closing section of chapter 2 James highlights
the central theme of his whole epistle "faith without
works is dead"
James
2:17 even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone.
If Faith does not have
works, deeds and actions of obedience to back
it up, then that faith is inoperative, for it is dead.
It is a false faith.
True saving faith will
never be alone it will produce fruit to accompany it.
James is not challenging
the person, who claims to be a Christian because of
the presence of good works in his life. He is challenging
the person, who claims to be a Christian in spite of
the absence of good works in his life.
Faith alone saves, but
faith that saves is not alone; good works always accompanies
it. The new life in Christ produces a new life style,
new values, and the fruit of good works. James shows
us that Faith without fruit is false and futile.
False Faith shows no
Compassion. False faith shows no fruits of Conversion.
False faith has no communion with God.
Having pointed out
1.
A Claim that is False v 14
2.
A Comparison that is Foolish v 15, 16
3.
A Conviction that Is Firm. V 17,18
He amplifies the subject
as he challenged his readers to recognise real faith.
1.The
Question that he Asks. V 20
The Amp Bible-
makes it very clear what James is saying. " Are
you willing to be shown proof, you foolish, unproductive,
spiritually-deficient fellow, that Faith apart from
good works is inactive and ineffective and worthless?
James is certainly not
paying a compliment to the type of person he has in
mind. This kind of person often has a lot to say but
little to show.
The Bible makes it clear
that eloquence and ignorance can often go together.
The Bible also makes it clear that empty vessels can
make the greatest noise.
Thus, the man, who says he has faith,
but has no fruit, is an empty, and foolish man and his
faith is dead. This kind of faith, which is accompanied,
by a lot of talking and no walking, is a dead faith,
it is FATAL!! The question that James is asking the
spiritually blind soul is " Do you really want
to know? Do you want evidence of what I am saying is
true?
Friends, there are those
who ask questions about the Christian Faith, they ask
sincerely because they want to believe.
The insincere enquirer
does not want to know the truth, they only want to debate
and to discredit the faith. They do not want to forsake
their sin
But
as William Gurnall once said " One, who
is trying to open and to understand the Bible without
the Holy Spirit’s help, is like trying to open
a door with the wrong key.
The person without the
Holy Spirit does not accept the things, which come from
the Spirit. To him they are foolishness because they
are spiritually discerned. Jesus said-
John
3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved.
There is also a challenge
for the Christian. We can know the Word of God, listen
to its exposition. Be aware of the need for the application
of the truth, and yet fail to act in submission to the
truth.
James is stating that
claiming to be a Christian without the evidence of a
goodly life that is manifest in good works is a false
claim.
There are many good moral
people today who give to charity, are involved in the
good works in the community, are regular Churchgoers,
and are good upstanding citizens.
Yet, they have no testimony
of ever having been being genuinely born again into
the family of God.
John
Blanchard: "The point is not that the presence
of fruit proves the presence of faith, but the absence
of fruit proves the absence of faith."
1.The
Question that he Asks. V 20
2.
The Clarification that he Makes. V 21-25
Having challenged his
readers to recognise a faith that is False, Futile and
Fatal, James now uses two Old Testament Illustrations.
James
2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Having dealt with the
"Work of Faith" he now turns to look
at works that proceed from Real Faith. Having the Jews
primarily in mind, he uses the illustration of Abraham.
Was not our forefather
Abraham shown to be justified—made acceptable to
God by his works when he brought to the altar as an
offering his own son Isaac
The Faithful Patriarch--- Abraham is not
only the National Father of Israel, he is the Spiritual
father of all who believe. The Apostle Paul
Gal
3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith,
the same are the children of Abraham.
Therefore all can identify
with the illustration, which James is using. The life
of Abraham shows him to be a great man of Faith, but
James is drawing his illustration from Gen 22, when
Abraham, in obedience to God’s command, was willing
to place his son on the Altar of sacrifice.
James
2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works,
when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Is James saying that
God declared Abraham righteous because of what he did?
Does his works justify a man? Is this in conflict to
what Paul declares, "We are justified by faith"?
There is a Key word that
we need to get hold of in verse 21--- (When) for it
underlines a time element in this debate. GEN
15-1-6)
Gen
15:6 and he believed in the LORD; and he counted it
to him for righteousness.
Abraham believed, he
trusted in, relied on and remained steadfast to the
Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The word "accounted" is a legal and
a financial term, which means to put into ones account.
As
Warren Wiersbe says—" Abraham was a
spiritual bankrupt but he trusted God, and in return
God put righteousness into Abraham’s account.
In Gen 15—Abraham
was declared righteous by faith he was justified by
faith.
Rom
4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
The question before us
is, When was Abraham justified? The Answer is, 40 years
before he offered Isaac on Mount Moriah.
Justification is
a very important doctrine for the child of God to understand.
Justification
is an act of God, whereby He declares the believing
Sinner righteous, on the basis of the sacrificial work
of Jesus on the cross.
Erwin
W. Lutzer-- The doctrine of justification is
the foundation that supports all of the other benefits
we receive from Christ. God does not justify us
because we are worthy, but by justifying us He makes
us worthy.
To say that God justifies the ungodly
means quite simply that God, in his amazing love, treats
the sinner as if he was a good man Justification means
"just-as-if-I-never-sinned."
Justification is not a process. It is
not something that the sinner does, it is something
that God does when a sinner trust His Son as their Saviour.
How can you tell if a
person is justified? If this is, a private matter between
the Sinner and God? Abraham answers this very important
question for us.
The person, who has been
justified, demonstrates their faith in their obedience
to God, and their works displays that faith. (James
2: 21, 22)
The Principle of Faith—v 22 "Seest
thou how faith wrought with his works"
His Faith was co-operating
with his works. Faith and actions working together and
we see this on Mount Moriah, as Abraham offers up Isaac
to God.
there is a perfect
relationship between "Faith &Works"
Yes by faith Abraham
was justified and his righteousness was declared. But
forty years later his works demonstrated his faith and
his righteousness, when he placed Isaac on the Altar
of sacrifice.
Having pointed out a
false and a dead faith in the previous verses,
James now highlights a living and a dynamic faith.
This is the kind of faith that obeys God at all
times and proves itself in daily life by works.
Today many profess faith
in Christ but deny Him by their works. Those who believe
in God must be careful to maintain good works. Abraham’s
"Faith" was the energizing force that
moved him to action, and his action was the evidence
of his faith.
Abraham was justified
before God by Faith, and his works justified him before
men. His faith was not dead and fruitless; his was a
living faith, which was displayed by his works.
When we look at Abraham’s
faith, we find it at work, and when we examine his work,
we find that it is the product of his faith.
Faith,
that does not include faithfulness to Christ’s
call to walk in newness of life and in obedience to
God, is a distortion of the Gospel.
The kind of faith that
does not give attention to ethical issues — telling
the truth, seeking to live morally clean lives, shunning
evil, fighting personal immorality and social injustice,
feeding the hungry, caring for the needy, and seeking
the lost.
A
person, who claims to have faith without works
is like a person who puts all their effort into building
the foundation of a house and never builds anything
on that foundation.
But
a person, who displays great works but has no
faith, is like a person who builds their house on sand
without any foundation.
The
Principle of Faith—v 22 "faith
wrought with his works
The
Proof of Faith—v22
"by works was his faith made perfect"
Abraham’s faith
was not only credited to him, it was made complete by
what he did. His faith was brought out in the open for
all to see, by his staggering act of obedience on Mount
Moriah.
A.W.
Tozer: "Faith isn't trusting God while the
sea is still. Faith is trusting God when the storms
come!"
The
Privilege of Faith—v23
James
2:23 and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness:
and he was called the Friend of God.
What a wonderful privilege
to be called the friend of God—to be God’s
friend. Our mindset is usually reversed. We love the
old hymns like "What a friend we have in Jesus"
Jesus the sinners friend I hide myself in Thee"
and this truth is a real blessing to the soul.
"I’ve
found a friend oh such a friend; Oh such a friend He
loved me ere I knew Him
He
drew me with the cords of love and thus He bound me
to Him.
And
round my heart still closely twine Those ties that none
can sever
For
I am His and He is mine forever and forever
Abraham was called the
friend of God! But this privilege is not just limited
to one man
John
15:14 &15 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever
I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for
the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have
called you friends; for all things that I have heard
of my Father I have made known unto you.
We are His friends. We
can share our secrets with Him and He will share His
with us. Real faith has not only communion but it has
communication from God.
The Principle of Faith "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works"
The
Proof of Faith "by
works was his faith made perfect"
The
Privilege of Faith "he was called the Friend of God"
The
Promise of Faith v 23
"the scripture was fulfilled "
This kills the argument
of those who say that his works made Abraham righteous.
James is not quoting from the incident on Mount Moriah
in gen. 22. He is quoting from gen. 15, forty years
earlier when Abraham had believed God.
(Verses
24& 25) Having used Abraham in his illustration,
James now uses Rahab, who was a Gentile and was known
as Rahab the Harlot as his second witness. He now goes
to the bottom of the social barrel as he reminds his
readers of the story of Rahab.
Israel is about to invade
Jericho. Joshua has sent in his spies to the city, and
there they meet Rahab who confessed her faith in Israel’s
God
Josh
2:11 The LORD your God, he is God in heaven above,
and in earth beneath. How similar her confession is
to what James in verse 19 "Thou believest
that there is one God; thou doest well
Rahab confessed
her faith and confirmed
her faith by her works by protecting the Spies. Her
faith came first, as she identified herself with the
God of Israel and her faith was confirmed when she put
her own life on the line to save the lives of two of
God’s children.
Heb 11:31 by
faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed
not, when she had received the spies with peace. Her
Faith was practical for her works accompanied it.
The Apostle Paul defines
practical Christianity, as: Faith working in love.
Galatians
5:6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working
through love."
Paul is saying that if
we are in Christ, neither being a Jew nor Gentile counts
for anything. It is only Faith that is activated, energised,
and expressed and is working through love that matters.
Illustration
A Pastor was talking to a professing Christian and asked
him if he was active in a local church. The man responded,
"No, but the dying thief on the cross wasn’t
active in any church and yet he was still accepted."
The Pastor then asked
if he was baptized. The man responded, "The dying
thief on the cross was not baptized and he still made
it to heaven." The Pastor then asked if he had
partaken of the Lord’s Table. The man responded,
"No, but the dying thief didn’t either,
and Christ still received him." The Pastor
then commented:
"The
only difference between you and the dying thief is that
he was dying in his belief, and you are dead in yours."
Our response to God’s
love is to be more than simple belief. It is to be a
belief so strong that it calls us to action. James is
calling for: Faith working in love.
1.The
Question that he Asks. V 20
2.
The Clarification that he Makes. V 21-25
3
The Conclusion that he States v 25
James 2:26 for
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead also.
James
now makes his closing statement by using yet another
illustration. He states as a body without the spirit
(without breath is lifeless) so faith apart from its
works is also dead.
We know that there is
life in a physical body when it is breathing and actions
are displayed. We know that faith is a living faith,
when it is active in good works, which bring glory to
God.
James challenges us to put our faith
to work – to make it fruitful and productive.
When we
do:
-
We
will be saved from the chastisement of God
-
We
will be justified before others
-
Our
faith will be strengthened and increased
James is speaking of works of faith –
works that show others the reality and reliability of
God.
Those are the kinds of works by which
we are justified in the sight of others.
May the
Lord give us the Grace to Prove what we Profess.
Only the Truth
that in life we have spoken
Only the Seed on
earth we have sown
These shall pass
onward, when we are forgotten
Fruits of the harvest
by what we have done
Only remembered,
Only Remembered
By what we have
done.
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