James 2v14-26
Real Faith Acts
Frank Abendale was made famous through the movie "Catch Me If You Can", starring Leonardo de Caprio. It's really an amazing story about this young guy who managed to get away for a number of years posing as a doctor, posing as a lawyer and even posing as a pilot; while at the same time using brilliantly crafted counterfeit money to steal money from the banks. And the amazing thing is that apparently he did all of this by the time he was 18 years old.
It's hard to believe. And it’s a scary thought. How would you feel if you'd been paying him to be your doctor and you’d had surgery with someone completely unqualified? Or if you’d paid him to be your lawyer?Or maybe the worst scenario, if he was your pilot?
It’s a scary thought that someone could get away with this.
Pretending to be someone that they are not, and deceiving many people.
Well, that’s really what the book of James is all about. Exposing FAKE faith.....people who pretend to have faith. They can know all the right things. They can say all the right things. But actually it's all just an act.
And it’s a more scary act than that of Frank Abendale. When he was asked, "Did you ever deceive yourself? Your actions were so convincing. Did you ever believe in your own heart that you really were a doctor or a lawyer or a pilot?" His answer was “No, I always knew it was just an act."
Well the scary thing about fake faith is that normally such people aren’t just deceiving others. They are also deceiving themselves.
So I’m really grateful for this book of James. It's not a very comfortable book. It challenges us. It gets under our skin. But it’s a crucial book for exposing fake faith and making sure our faith is genuine.
So far we’ve seen (in ch 1) that real faith is tested. We’ve seen that real faith submits to God’s Word. Last week we saw that real faith doesn’t discriminate. And the main point this morning is that real faith acts.
I’ve been working hard on this passage the last couple of weeks. And I think I’ve understood it more clearly than I have before. I think a lot of people read this passage and they think it’s all about adding deeds to your faith. People often think you are saved by faith, and after being saved, you need to produce deeds. You need to add deeds to your faith. But really that’s not the point of this passage. James isn’t saying, "Okay cool, you've got faith. Now you need to produce deeds." Instead, he’s saying that your faithwillhave deeds if it’s a true saving faith.
And the key verse in our passage is verse 26:
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
You see, we often talk about dead religion as just going through the motions of Christianity; as having lots of activities, but it’s not coming from the heart. It isn’t motivated by true faith, so those are deeds that are dead.
But can you see here, James puts it the other way round?
He’s not talking about deaddeeds. He’s talking about deadfaith.
He says, “faithwithoutdeedsis dead.”
I think this is a radical truth. James isn’t just saying we must add deeds to our faith. Rather in the words of Dick Lucas, he’s saying;
“In all true saving faith, at its heart, there is always activity. And without that activity, it is not true saving faith.” (x2)
So that’s where we are headed. Let’s get into our passage.
Firstly, we’ll look at faith without activity (verses 14-19);then secondly, we’ll look at faith with activity (verses 20-25).
1)So firstly, faith without activity:
According to James if a faith does not have any activity, then it lacks three things. Firstly, it lacks value. Secondly, it lacks proof. And thirdly, it lacks comfort.
i)So firstly, it lacks value.
In Verse 15 James uses the illustration of a poor man who doesn’t have anyclothes. And he doesn’t have anyfood.
In other words, he’s cold. And he’s hungry.
And someone comes up to him. Instead of giving him something warm to wear and something filling to eat, he just offers him words. He says; "Be warm. And be well fed."
How useless are those words! They don’t do anything to help this man’s condition.
I mean, just put yourself in a poor man’s shoes. Imagine you are standing outside in the cold and you are hungry, and someone comes up to you wearing a nice warm jacket and holding a mug of coffee in the one hand and a Big Mac in the other. And all they offeryouare words. "Ah I really feel for you? I wish you could get warm. If only someone could give you a nice jacket to wear. Or a bite of their Big Mac burger.Anyway. I wish you well. Be warm! Be well fed! Good bye."
How ridiculous!Would you have any gratitude for that person! How useless are their words!
Well that’s the illustration James uses. And he’s not just challenging our concern for the poor. That’s a side application. His point here is about faith.
Look at verse 15:
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.”
As the puritan Thomas Manton puts it;
“The poor will not thank you for your good wishes, neither will God for saying you have faith."
So you can claim that you're a Christian. You can claim that you believe in Jesus. But if your faith is not accompanied by action, then those are just empty words.
Useless in God’s sight.
ii)Secondly, faith without activity lacks proof.
I remember when I was at varsity in Stellenbosch, I was attending a good Bible teaching church. A friend of mine once visited one of the other churches and he was telling me about some of the unbiblical practices in that church. And I remember being very frustrated when I expressed my disapproval.
And he responded by saying; "Oh well, different strokes for different okes.”
I found that very frustrating, as if the differences didn't matter.
Well that’s kind of what we see in verse 18. Someone comes along and says; "This isn't such a big deal;
you’ve got faith; I’ve got deeds.
It's not a big deal.
Some of us are more focused on truth. We go to Bible college, make sure all our doctrine is right.
But others are more practical. We are not so worried about what we believe. As long as we are active and doing good in our Christian lives.
Different strokes for different okes. We all wired differently. Let’s celebrate our differences. You have faith. I have deeds."
Well according to James that’s not a compromise we can make.
Look at verse 18.
“But someone will say, “you have faith; I have deeds."
Showme your faithwithoutdeeds, and I will show youmyfaithbywhat Ido.”
In other words, James gives them a challenge here. Prove to me that you've got faith!We’ve already said that it's not enough just to have words. So how on earth are you going to prove your faith to me if you don’t have deeds? There’s no other way!
I’v told the story before about Blandin, the tight rope walker, who used to walk across Niagra Falls on a tight rope. One day he even pushed a wheel barrow across and when he got across, the people were so amazed. And he asked them; "Do you believe I could push you across Niagara falls?" And the people said; "Yes, we’ve seen the evidence. We believe you can do it." And then he said; "Well then, come and get in the wheel barrow."
None of them wanted to get in.
You see, that’s the difference between just believing something in your head and having faith. The proof that you really have faith is that you are willing to act upon what you believe.
I don't know how many of you have seen these video clips and articles coming out about how Donald Trump has been 'born again', and other republican’s sharing their testimony about how they’ve come to faith.
And I must admit I’ve been quite skeptical, especially since the ones I saw came out just before voting day. And the Rebublicans were relying heavily on evangelical support.
But I was debating this with my mother-in-law. She sent a helpful reply. She just said: “The proof will be in the fruit.”
And that’s exactly right. That’s James’ point here. Speaking words is not sufficient proof. Anyone can give a moving testimony and use the Christian jargon and speak about what Jesus has done. But the proof will be in the deeds. Will they live and speak and lead in a way that proves their faith?
Of course we should pray that they will. Not just in America, but for our own leaders as well.
So, faith without activity lacks value. It lacks proof. And then thirdly, it lacks comfort.
iii) it lacks comfort
Maybe you are still not convinced. Maybe you think we are undervaluing doctrine. I mean, imagine someone has a clear understanding of doctrine. They agree with the doctrines of the Trinity and the Deity of Christ and the Substitutionary Atonement. They can express these things clearly. Surely that counts for something. Surely that is proof of genuine faith?
Well according to James, that’s not enough. In fact, if that’s all you've got, then that shouldn’t give you any more comfort than the demons receive.
Look at verse 19:
You believe that there is one God.
I think that’s better translated as: “You believe that God is one.”
This is a reference to a creed of the Jewish faith.
From Deuteronomy 6 verse 4, The Shema:
Hear oh Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One.
It’s something a Jewish person will say every morning and evening.
And so James takes us back to this basic statement of Biblical faith.
You believe that God is One. Good! Well even the demons believe that and shudder.
Do you remember when Jesus was on earth? Who were the quickest to recognize his identity? Not the disciples. They were pretty slow. It was demon-possessed people. Right from the beginning, the demons would cry out; "This is the Son of God."
And so I wonder if you realized this; the theology in hell is orthodox! The devil knows his Bible, and probably better than all of us. The demons have an accurate view of the Trinity, and the Deity of Christ, and the Substitutionary Atonement. They can express these doctrines clearly.
Yet notice the affect it has on their lives at the end of verse 19: They believe that God is One. And they shudder.
And you would also shudder if you were a demon and you believed the Bible.
Its not a very comforting book for demons.
And neither should it be a comforting book for us. If we just have the doctrine without the deeds, then we are no different from the demons.
So I think this is a very relevant warning for South Africa where so many people claim to be saved, simply because they were baptized as kids, or they did a confirmation class at school, or they said a sinners prayer at an evangelistic meeting where they asked Jesus to come into their hearts. These things have given them a false sense of comfort. But they haven't actually done anything. There hasn’t been any activity. And now they think they are going to heaven, no matter how they live.
That’s a false comfort.
And so this is what James says about faith without activity. It’s got not value. Its got no proof. And it shouldn’t provide you with comfort.
We've looked at this from a negative point of view; faith without activity. Now let us look at it positively. What does it look like to have faith with activity?
2) Faith with activity
James gives us two examples in verses 20-26. Firstly, of the patriarch, and then secondly, the prostitute.
And the amazing thing James says is that both of these two people were justified by their deeds.
Just look at verse 24. This is the point James is making through these examples:
“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
And so this is the point where some people argue that James is contradicting Paul. We are studying Galatians in our Bible studies. It was written by Paul and over and over again we see this emphasis; a man is justified byfaithin Jesus and not by works of the law.Paul is very strong on this; a man is not justified by his works. And so isn’t this a contradiction?
What does James mean when he speaks about justification by deeds?
Well let’s look at the examples.
i) Firstly, the patriarch(verse 21)
The Patriarch Abraham who is often known in the Bible as the hero of faith. The great example in the Old Testament of a man who had faith. And yet according to James, he’s a hero of deeds.
Look at verse 21:
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous…
why?...
“for what hedidwhen he offered his son Isaac on the altar.”
Abraham was justified by his deeds.
And yet its very important for us to notice thetypeof deeds James is talking about.
Look at verse 22:
“You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
The word for 'complete' in verse 22 could also be translated as 'mature'. And so James isn’t saying that you need to add your deeds to your faith as if they two separate things. He isn't saying you need to put them together before you can be justified. No, James is talking about a refined and a mature and a perfect faith which expresses itself in deeds.
That’sthe type of deeds James is talking about. The deeds that come from faith.
And so you see James also believes in justification by faith.
Look at verse 23:
And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it wascreditedto him as righteousness’ and he was called God’s friend.
So how did Abraham become righteous? Simply by believing in God. That’s how he was justified. That’s how he became God’s friend. James also believes in justification by faith.
But the pointJameswants to emphasize is that a true faith will be demonstrated in deeds.
And so this is how some people have put it:
We are justified by faith alone.But true faith is never alone.
I think that’s right
We are justified by faith alone.But true faith is never alone. It’ll always be expressed in deeds.
That's the context in which we must read verse 24.
“you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
If you just read that on its own it sounds like a contradiction of Paul. But if we read it in its context, then we see thetypeof deeds James is talking about. He’s talking about the deeds of faith.
And that’snotthe type of deeds Paul is talking about when he talks about works of the law. Paul is talking about religious observances, self-relying effort. If you think that by your own good works (going to church every Sunday, praying five times a day, keeping all kinds of laws, being as good as you can); you will somehow be good enough for God, as if righteousness is a wage you need to earn, you are wrong!Thosekind of deeds will not justify anyone.
And so this is very important for us to understand. Deeds are crucial in the Christian life. We can’t get away from it. There is so much emphasis in the NT about what we do. There are so many commands about effort.
Hebrews 12 verse 14:
“Make every effort to be holy.”
2 Peter 1 verse 5:
“Make every effort to add to your faith goodness and knowledge and self-control.”
Philippians 2 verse 11:
‘Workoutyour salvation with fear and trembling.’
And so this isn’t just a teaching of James. It’s the teaching of the NT. We need to put in effort. There are things we need to do.
But at the same time we need to keep on asking ourselves this question: Are our deeds self-relying deeds?Or are they deeds of faith?
So maybe we can just take a few moments now to examine our deeds. You might want to close your eyes. Think about all the religious deeds in your life; whether it's saying grace, doing your quiet time, sharing the gospel with a friend, coming to church on Sunday or giving money to the church. Maybe its fighting a sin in your life, whether it's lust or anger.
Think about what lies behind those deeds. Are they self-relying deeds? Are you trying to earn acceptance from God? Are you trying to make yourself feel better about yourself? Are you trying to make yourself look good in the sight of others?