Can Faith Alone Save? (James 2:14-18) [2025-11-16]

You guys find your seats. Let me invite you to open your

Bibles to the Book of James, chapter 2.

James 2 · chapter mention

This morning we're going to be in verses 14 to 18.

We've been going through the Book of James for several weeks

now, and this morning we're going to be in verses chapter 2,

verses 14 to 18. Let me read the text, open us

some word of prayer and we'll jump into the sermon this

morning. James 2 beginning in verse 14.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but

does not have works, can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily

food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and

filled without giving in the things needed for the body, what

good is that? So also faith by itself, if it

does not have works, is dead. 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.

Let's pray. Father, we ask you as your

people that you would speak to us.

Lord, Lord, that we ask that your Spirit would open our

spiritual ears, our spiritual hearts, our spiritual minds.

That we would be able to receive the implanted word with

meekness. That it would conform us to the

image of Christ and that it would convict us of sin.

That it would remind us of the forgiveness of Christ and that

it would sanctify us, Lord, to love and good works.

Got to pray as we look at this text and as we discuss the

nature of faith and whether what kind of faith saves and what

kind of faith doesn't save, that you would help us to discern

where is my faith? What kind of faith do I have

this morning? I pray God that you would help

us to discern that accurately, that nobody would hear, would

leave this place deceived about their faith, but that we would

have clarity on where we stand with you God, I pray this in

Jesus name, Amen. Imagine if you had a fire

without heat, or you had a lamp without light.

You had a book without words. You had a car without an engine.

You had a clock without time. You had a chair without legs.

Or that'd be funny, right? You had a bicycle without

wheels. You had a pen without ink.

So was a Christian without works this morning James asked the

question to us. What good is it if we say that

we have faith but don't have works?

Can faith alone save us? That's the question this

morning. Let's start by looking at

expedition of the text. I'll go through it verse by

verse and try to help us explain and understand and explain it,

and then I'll give application to us.

So let's start looking at verse 14.

A the first part of verse 14 where James writes.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but

does not have works? So James starts off our passage

this morning with a question. He asked the question of what

good is it? Or in other words, what benefit

is it? What advantage is it?

My brothers? This reminds us once again that

James is not asking this question to the lost world.

He's asking it to the church. He's asking it to Christians.

He's saying church family. My beloved brothers, what good

is it if someone if one of you says that he has faith?

We have to call this a profession of faith, right?

We use that phrase a profession of faith.

Someone says they have faith. What good is it if you have this

profession of faith but they do not have works?

Now, first we need to ask ourselves what is faith?

How is James using faith here and what is works?

This person says that they have faith.

They say they have it, but then what does faith mean in that

sentence? What does it mean?

And that's the question, isn't it?

That's the question. The problem with the word faith

is the same problem with the word love.

People mean all sorts of things when they use these two words

along with other words. If I went to 100 different

evangelical churches all across America, and I asked 50 people

at each church, do you have of faith, Most if not many, if not

all would say yes. Now does that mean that most, if

not many, if not all in the evangelical church are saved?

Maybe, maybe not. So what does faith mean in this

verse? I think James leaves it

ambiguous for a reason. The point is not like, let me

explain what faith is. Yet the point is this.

This person says they have faith.

That's the point. This person says they have

faith. And James asked, what good is it

if you say that you have faith, but you don't have works?

Now, how is James defining works here?

Works is a broad Greek term. It's used 169 times in the New

Testament. It can refer to any kind of

action, any kind of accomplishment, any kind of

deed, any kind of labour. It's a very broad term.

James has already given us some examples of works, hasn't he?

He said visiting widows and orphans and their afflictions,

those would be examples of. And he's going to list another

example in just a minute, caring for the poor.

But these are just examples. Works are essentially anything

that is done for the Lord in the name of the Lord.

Anything, anything that's done for the Lord in the name of the

Lord. And so James is asking the

question, what good is it? What advantage is it?

What benefit is it if a person claims they have faith, but they

don't have works with it? And then he's going to answer

this question with another question.

The way he's going to answer his own question is ask another

question. Look at 14 B.

Can that faith save him and that save him Now?

I'll point out what James doesn't ask here.

He doesn't ask can faith save him.

He doesn't ask that he asked can that faith save him.

Literally, can the faith save him?

James uses the definite article in the Greek whole.

It's the It's a definite article.

You should translate it as the, but the NET Bible has a helpful

note here. The article here is anaphoric,

referring to the previous mention of the noun pistis faith

in the verse. In other words, when James uses

the definite article here, it's referring back to something, and

it's referring back to the faith that he mentioned in 14 A.

This is why you will see translations such as Can that

faith save him? This is ESV and NASB translate.

Or can such faith save him? This is how the OR can this kind

of faith save him as the net Bible translates it Had James

asked the question can faith save him, the answer would be

yes, most assuredly yes. But James doesn't ask that.

James asked, can that faith, meaning a faith that does not

have works, can that faith save him?

And So what is the answer to James's question?

If you notice, James doesn't come out and answer his

question. He doesn't answer it.

Why? I think James wants the

conclusion on their own. He doesn't just come out and say

yes or no. I think he wants us to arrive at

the conclusion on her own. Now, two side notes I want to

point out, just really side notes #1 next week we're going

to see this word that, and the word is justified.

We're going to see this word justified in our text next week.

And it's going to cause some problems.

And the reason it's going to cause some problems is because

we're going to have difficulty reconciling what James is

writing about justification and what Paul is writing about

justification. If you put Paul and James side

by side, they say contradictory statements.

But before we get there next week, I'm going to, I want to

point out that when when we talk about it next week, I'm going to

point us back to this initial word that James uses, Sozo, sozo

save. He doesn't use the word

justified first. He uses the word sozo first

save. I'm going to point us back to

that. Keep that in mind.

Why is that important? Because sozo is used in the past

tense, the present tense, and the future tense throughout the

New Testament. We'll come back to that second

side note that I want to make. Keep in mind that James is

asking these questions to Christians.

He's not asking this to the lost world.

He did not write a letter to the lost world.

He wrote it to the churches and the dispersion.

He is asking these questions to Christians.

James is asking the church, church family, can that kind of

faith save you? He's not saying that, well, I'm

a Christian, that that question doesn't apply to me.

No, it does, because he's asking it of you.

He's asking it of me, look at verses 15 to 16.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily

food, 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? James is now going to give a

practical example of works, or more specifically a lack of

works, if a brother or sister. Let me pause right there.

He says, if a brother or sister, why is that important?

Certainly this example would be true for the lost world in some

measure, absolutely. But the reality is that there

are always poor, there are always the hungry in this world.

There is no way that the church can solve world hunger or world

poverty. James's point is, let's just

start with the church. Let's just start with the

household of God. If a brother or sister walked

into this place and they were poorly clothed.

Now remember, this is during a time where people didn't have 20

different outfits, right? Most of us, if I were to go into

your wardrobe, even if you know you college students who are

living on ramen, right? If I were to go into your

wardrobe, you've got at least like 10 different outfits or 10

different things to wear. Except for Josie, she's shaking

her head. She's like, no, I don't know.

I've seen you wear at least 10 different things.

Most of us have many different outfits.

But remember, this is during the day where they might have one

outfit, literally one thing to wear and they would wear it over

and over and over again. And the reason they are poorly

clothed is because worn out, you wear the same thing over and

over again, it gets worn out. In addition, not only are they

poorly clove, but they're lacking in food.

They're lacking in daily food, he says.

So it's not like they're, you know, they're having to forego

going to Chipotle or they're having to forego getting sushi.

That's not the case, James says. They're not even eating every

day. They are so poor that they

cannot, that they're wearing rags and they don't even eat

every day. And then someone in the church

sees this brother or sister, and as they're walking out, they're

leaving the church, they see them and this person who's

poorly dressed and is hungry and out of the kindness of their

heart, they say to them, go in peace, be warmed, be filled.

What a kind thing to say, to wish someone peace, to wish them

warmth from the cold, to wish them a full stomach.

What a kind sentiment. But James asks if someone says

these things, they don't give them the things needed for the

body. They don't provide them with a

new shirt or new pants, they don't even give them a piece of

bread. James ask what good are those

words? Now here's the connection that

James is making a person who says these kind words.

They they give the pretense they care about this person, right?

But their lack of actions testify that their words have no

foundation. What they really care about is

saving their clothes and or saving their food.

And James is using that as an example to say in the same way a

person who makes a profession of faith, they say that they have

faith, but they have no works. They give the pretense that they

care about God, but their lack of works testify that their

profession has no foundation. Do you see the connection?

That's the connection James is making.

Look at verse 17. So also faith by itself, if it

does not have works, is dead faith by itself, meaning it's

not accompanied with works. Just as the statements be warmed

is not accompanied with the giving of clothes, be filled is

not accompanied with the giving of food.

Faith, that is by itself and is not accompanied by works, is

dead. Now what does he mean it's dead?

Well, suppose you saw someone lying in a bed, not moving.

You walked in. You see your maybe your grandma

or your grandpa lying in a bed. They're not moving.

Suppose for what's just hypothetical reasons, you

couldn't touch them. You couldn't go near them, so

you can't feel for a heartbeat. You can't see if they're

breathing, you just see them at a distance for whatever reason.

How do you know if they are sleeping or if they are dead?

Do they eventually move? Do they eventually move?

If they never move, we would conclude they are dead.

In the same way, James writes that a person who says they have

faith, but their faith does not move them.

Their faith is dead because if you have faith, it'll move you.

Look at verse 18 A But someone will say you have faith and I

have works. James now is going to quote a

hypothetical someone. This hypothetical someone says

to James, you have faith and I have works.

Now the new Living Translation brings out the sense, I think of

this statement. Here's how they translate it in

the new Living translation. Some have faith and some have

works. I think that's the idea.

In other words, James anticipates a person in the

church who just listened to this argument.

They just listened to verses 14 to 17, and he anticipates

somebody hearing this argument and then objecting to James's

argument. And the way that they're

objecting to it is that they say to him, listen, brother James, I

hear you. But listen, not everybody in the

church is going to have both, brother.

Some people in the church will have faith, Other people in the

church will have works. It's kind of like spiritual

gifts. Some have the prophecy, some

have the gift of teaching. Not everybody's going to have

both. You can't expect people to have

both the gift of prophecy and the gift of teaching.

Same with faith and works. Not everybody's going to have

both. James.

Now how is James going to respond to this objection?

Look at A-Team B show me your faith apart from your works.

James response is this. You say you have faith.

Very well, show me your faith apart from your works.

In other words, James is asking the question, how will you

testify that you actually have faith apart from your works?

Like if a guy was dating a girl and he told her that he loved

her, but he never did anything for her before marrying him.

Doesn't she need some form of proof?

Doesn't she need some form of warrant?

Doesn't she need some foundation upon which to trust that his

love for her is genuine? Or she just going to take his

word for it. Likewise, James is saying, how

can you possibly testify that you have faith apart from your

works? Good verse 18 CI will show you

my faith by my works. James says I will show you my

faith by my works. Not by my words, but by my

works. James's argument is very simple.

It's a very simple argument. It's like this.

Suppose a farmer took you to an orchard and he showed you 2

apple trees. One of the apple trees is full

of apples, hundreds of apples. The other apple tree has zero

apples on it, or maybe a few rotten ones.

Suppose the farmer tried to convince you that both trees,

both apple trees are good trees and the and you're like, how?

And the farmer says this. Listen, listen, some apple trees

have apples, others have leaves. Would you buy that argument?

The way we know that it is a good apple tree is if it has

apples. If it produces apples.

The way that you will know your faith is genuine is if it

produces works. Stop their exposition.

Application of the text. I have 7 points of application

#1 What good is a profession of faith?

What good is a profession of faith?

What do Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Justin Bieber, Tom

Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, Chuck Norris, Alice

Cooper, and Steve Harvey all have in common?

They've all made a profession of faith.

Now, I'm not calling into question the profession of

faith. I don't know them.

I'm asking. I'm simply asking the question,

what good is it? What good is a profession of

faith? Often when somebody asks me, are

they a Christian, right, talking about somebody else or you know,

and they're like, well, is your mom a Christian?

Is your dad a Christian? Is, is the person who's been

visiting our church for the past two weeks, Are they a Christian?

I will often answer, they are a professing Christian.

They are a professing Christian. What does that mean?

It means they say that they are a Christian.

They say that they have faith and James is asking the

question, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has

faith? Essentially, what good is a

profession of faith? Nobody is saved by a profession

of faith. Make sure you hear that.

Nobody is saved by a profession of faith.

We know this to be true because on the Day of Judgment, Jesus

says, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in

your name? Did we not cast out demons in

your names? Did we not do many mighty works

and we perfect faith in you, Lord.

And Jesus says, I will say to them, I don't know you.

Now here's why this is so important.

There are some of you here. This is true for every single

church in the world. There are some of you here that

are basing their assurance of salvation on their profession of

faith. Whether you would state it or

not, if somebody asked you how do you know that you are saved,

you would answer because I made a profession of faith.

You may not word it that way, but that's what you mean.

There are some of you here that are basing the fact like how,

what? What are you standing on to

believe that when you die you're going to go to heaven.

I made a profession of faith. You are basing that because

somebody told you, it could have been your parents, it could have

been your youth pastor, it could have been a disciple, it could

have been the pastor, it could have been a friend.

But somebody told you that because you made a profession of

faith, you're now saved. Friend, listen to me.

Your profession of faith in and of itself means very little.

Very little #2 be careful not to overemphasize or under emphasize

works. Be careful not to overemphasize

or under emphasize works. I find that in the church there

are certain words that people think of as always positive or

always negative. So for example, the the word

grace. Grace is always positive.

Condemnation. Condemnation is always negative.

But then we get to certain words where it's not so simple words

like law. Is law a good thing?

Paul says it is. Now we know that the law is good

if one uses it lawfully. First Timothy 1/8 And yet so

often in the church, isn't law usually spoken of in a negative

sense? Another another of these words

is the word works. Works?

Are works a good thing? Well, it depends.

It depends on what we're talking about, depends on what context

we're talking about them. We must be careful not to over

emphasize or under emphasize works.

How can we over emphasize works? Luke 18-9 Jesus told the parable

to some who trusted in themselves that they were

righteous. This referring to the Pharisees.

You remember that parable? The Pharisee said I fast twice a

week, I give tithes of all that I get.

Now is it bad to fast twice a week?

Is it bad to give tithes of all that you get?

No, of course not. Of course not.

The problem is not his works. The problem is he's trusting in

his works. The problem is his trusting in

his works. On the flip side, how can we

under emphasize works? Another parable, Matthew 2211

and 12, when the king came in to look at the guest, he saw a man

there who had no wedding garment, and he said to him,

Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?

And he was speechless. Then the king said to the

attendants, bind him hand and foot and cast him in the outer

darkness. Now, people, scholars will

debate about what that parable means, but one way to interpret

this is here is a man who responded to the call of

salvation. He made a profession of faith.

He said he wanted to be a Christian, but then at the Day

of Judgment he had nothing to show for it.

He had no wedding garment. All he had was his profession.

All he had was his invitation in hand.

How important are works well for justification?

They are poisonous for justification.

They are poisonous Ephesians 28 For by grace you have been saved

through faith. This is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of what works.

Works are poisonous for justification, but for

salvation, salvation, they are necessary.

For salvation they are necessary #3 We are saved by faith alone,

but saving faith is never alone. Now I didn't coin this some.

This is a well known phrase. You've heard it before I'm sure.

We are saved by faith alone, but saving faith is never alone.

One of the greatest contributions to the church was

it was a church's father named Martin Luther.

We started what is known as the Protestant Reformation.

Now full explanation of this is beyond the scope of the sermon,

but here's why it matters. One of the primary reasons that

we are Protestants, right we are, we're Protestants is

because we hold to a doctrine called solafide.

Solafide. It's a Latin phrase which means

faith alone. Luther had read a series of

verses in the Bible that not only changed his mind about the

nature of salvation, but also changed the nature of the

church. Romans 117 For in the

righteousness of God is revealed from faith.

For faith as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

One more. Romans 328 For we hold that one

is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Now here's the question though. If Luther was right, if Paul is

right, if we are saved by faith alone, why does James ask in

verse 14 if this man's faith can save him?

Why does James ask that? The answer lies in one tiny

little Greek word. It's like one letter in the

Greek whole. It's the definite article in the

Greek translated as that. Can that faith save him?

The word that clearly refers to the first part of the verse, a

faith without works. Can a faith without works save a

person? And the answer is no.

The answer is no. We are saved by faith alone, but

saving faith is never alone. One of the questions we have to

ask is this. What is the difference between

faith and saving faith? You ever ask yourself that

question? What is the difference between

faith and saving faith? More, more, more pointed.

How do you know that your faith is saving faith?

How do you know some of you here will hear that and will

immediately think, Don't, Don't try to.

Don't you try to convince me I'm not saved.

Don't you try to convince me of that.

That's the devil speaking. That's not the Spirit speaking.

How do you know that your faith is a saving faith?

This question will get answered next week, but for now, James

says that saving faith has works.

It has works for Christian. Words without Christian works

are empty and meaningless. Christian words without works

are empty and meaningless. Imagine Meriton and we expanded

it. Now you should never do this.

I'm just doing it for effect, right?

You should never take the word God and add to it or anything

like that. But just bear with me.

Imagine if we took the parable, the Good Samaritan, and we

expanded it. A man was going down from

Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers who stripped him

and beat him, leaving him half dead.

Now, by chance, the priest was going down that road and when he

saw him he said, I hope you were able to find medical care.

So likewise A Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,

said, it's going to be cold tonight.

I hope you make it home in time. Those are kind words, aren't

they? But they're empty.

They're meaningless. Why?

Because they give the pretense of caring when in reality all

they care about is themselves. James gives this real life

example of the emptiness and meaninglessness of a profession

of faith without works. In the same way that a person

says they have faith, this person says they care about

their brother. And in the same way that this

person's faith is absent of works, this person is absent of

love for their brother or sister.

There are many Christians who can talk the talk.

They know Christian words. They know Christian phrases.

They know Christian lingo, but the question is, do they walk

the walk? Do they actually go and give

this brother and sister some clothing and some food?

That's the question. Church family, be careful that

we don't use prayer as a cover for action.

I'll pray for you. Be careful that we don't use

kind words as a cover for kind action.

Be careful that we don't use theology as a cover for

compassion. Christian words without

Christian works are empty and meaningless. 5A.

Christian who does not live out their faith does not live, they

are dead. A Christian who does not live

out their faith does not live, they are dead.

Now, I don't want to belabor this point, but James Brit, he

wants to emphasize it. James says that faith by itself,

if it does not have works, it is dead.

And if the faith is dead, so is the person.

If the faith is dead, so is the person.

Here's why this matters. Let me ask a question.

This is a very important question.

Does a lack of works testify to a lack of sanctification or a

lack of salvation? If you were to look at your own

life or get your brother and sister's life, you see a lack of

works either in your life or your brother and sister's life.

Is there a lack of works, a lack of sanctification, or a lack of

salvation? It depends.

Here's why. It depends, because every true

born again Christian will not have perfect works.

None of us love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

None of us do. None of us love our neighbor as

ourselves. And that's OK.

It's that we are all being sanctified.

We're all being conformed into the image of Christ.

But we must be careful here. We must be careful here, because

sometimes a lack of works doesn't testify to a lack of

sanctification. Sometimes it testifies to a lack

of salvation. In other words, what this person

needs is not sanctification, but regeneration.

They don't need sanctification, they need regeneration.

Why? Because they're dead.

They're dead. They are not unsanctified.

They are unregenerate. Trying to sanctify a spiritually

dead person is like taking a corpse to a gym to work out.

They don't need a better workout plan.

They don't need heavier weights. They don't need a better

trainer. They need to be made alive.

A Christian who does not live out their faith is not living.

They are dead. 6 The measure is Christ, not anybody else's faith

or works. The measure is Christ, not

anybody else's faith or works. James gives this example of an

objector to his argument. You see, James has just made

several arguments in verses 14 to 17.

I love these kind of examples because it reminds me of like,

oh, like I'm not the only pastor that gets objected to, right?

James is like, someone in the church is going to say this to

me. He anticipates his argument

being objected. He writes, someone will say, you

have faith. I have works.

The argument is this. This is this is the premise of

the argument. Hey, brother James, people are

different. People are different.

Just like spiritual gifts. Some have the gift of teaching,

some have the gift of leadership, some have the gift

of mercy. 1 is not better than the other.

They're just different, you know?

So Fred has works, I have faith. He's got the the gift of faith

or works. I have the gift of faith.

Here's where this argument is dangerous.

We must not start comparing ourselves to other Christians,

either in faith or in works. Why?

Because the measure is Christ, not anybody else.

The measure is Christ, not anybody else.

Here's why this matters. Suppose you are at a church.

You walked into a you moved to a brand new city.

You walk into a church and here's who's in your church.

John the Baptist, Moses, King David, Jeremiah, Isaiah,

Abraham, Joseph, the prophet Daniel, and the Apostle Paul.

You know what we might think? This is what I would think after

being there for like a few weeks, maybe after one week, I

don't even know if I'm saved. I mean, I mean, I have faith

and, and I thought I had works, but good grief, these men put me

to shame. I, I was, I mean, I was

convinced, I would say, but like getting stoned and walking back

into a city to share the gospel. I'll be honest, I don't even

know if I'm saved anymore. I mean, I, I don't even know.

Now, on the other side, suppose we walk into a church that is

still with the Levite and the priest and the Good Samaritan

and Demas and Justin Bieber. We're all saved.

Everybody here is saved. We all have faith.

We're all God's children. We all have works.

Everybody has works. Everybody here has faith.

Brother and sister, the measure is Christ.

If you turn inwardly and look at your faith, or you turn

outwardly and look at other people's faith, you will do one

of two things. You either question your

salvation or you will applaud your salvation.

If you turn inwardly and look at your works, or you turn

outwardly and look at others works, you will do one of two

things. You will either question your

salvation or you will applaud your salvation.

So what are we to do? We look upwardly.

We look upwardly, we look at Christ.

The measure is Christ last .7 Works may not be sufficient for

assurance, but they are necessary.

Works may not be. Works are not sufficient for I

said it's not may. Works are not sufficient for for

assurance, but they are necessary.

James writes show me your faith apart from your works and I will

show you my faith by my works. James's argument is that works

are not. His argument is not that works

are sufficient to show faith. That's not what he's saying.

He's not arguing that works are sufficient to show your faith,

but rather that they are necessary.

Now here's the question. Why are works not sufficient to

show faith? In other words, why is it like,

if, if anybody right now question their assurance

question if they were a Christian, you go out like, you

know, you write a big check to the church, you go and start

feeding people outside and you, you go donate all your clothes

right to your, to your college roommate or whatever, right?

Like what? And you're like, OK, I'm saved.

I have works. Why are works not sufficient for

assurance? Here's why.

Because the lost world can do works, the lost world can do

works. The lost world can go to this

brother, sister and give him some clothes and give him some

food. Does that mean they're saved?

No, no. Works are not sufficient for

assurance. We cannot look solely to our

works for assurance of salvation.

When we think of assurance, we always want to think in terms of

objective warrant and subjective warrant.

I've talked about this before. Subjective warrant is our works,

but subjective warrant is not sufficient for assurance.

Why we need objective warrant? What is objective warrant?

Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead.

But just because subjective warrant is not sufficient

doesn't mean it's not necessary. They are.

They are necessary. And let me be clear here, this

is so important, especially for our church.

This is so important for us and our culture and our church.

Don't turn works into solely a spreadsheet of horizontal

actions. Don't turn works.

Like I don't know if I'm say man, that that sermon by Matt

really shook me or it really caused me to question.

I don't know. Let me see what I need to start

doing. Don't turn works into a

spreadsheet of horizontal actions.

The 1st and greatest work that we do is to love the Lord your

God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

That's the first and greatest work that we do.

Works starts with a love for God and affection for Christ, a joy

in the Holy Spirit, and when we have that, it produces love for

our neighbor. Let's pray.