What Is Saving Faith?

Wow, good morning, church.

It's good to see you all.

It's good to be joined by everyone at home as well.

Our sermon this morning picks up our series in the letter of James.

We're looking at James chapter 2, verses 14 through 26.

James 2:14–26

This is probably one of the most famous parts of the whole letter of James, and we're going

to tackle it this morning together.

So let me pray for us, and then I'll read our text.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, as we have just sung, it's so easy to be distracted by so many other things

when it comes to the worship of you.

Lord, we think about our own acts.

We think about what other people think.

We think about maybe, Lord, whatever it is.

But Jesus, we confess that it is indeed all about you.

You are the center of all that is good and true and right.

You are the one who has created and redeemed us.

So we pray this morning as we come to Your Word, Lord Jesus, that Your Spirit would come

and grant us understanding.

Challenge us, convict us, change us, bring us to new life this morning, Lord.

In Your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay, James chapter 2, verses 14 through 26.

James 2:14–26

Let me read this for us.

James says,

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 warm and filled, without giving them 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.

You believe that God is one, you do well.

Even the demons believe and shudder.

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works,

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.

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, 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?

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Well, what is saving faith?

That's what James wants us to consider in our text today.

If you say or claim that you have faith in Jesus, but it doesn't make any difference in

the works and the actions of your life, can that so-called faith really save you?

Now, that's an important question.

Imagine showing up to an event confident that your name is on the guest list.

I guess some of us had that experience this morning if you're here.

Some of us at home have probably had that experience, maybe.

You know, all week you've been touting to your friends how great it is to be going there,

this event, this gala, this gathering.

Imagine only to find when you arrive at the door, your name is nowhere to be found.

Jesus himself spoke like this.

He said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

So is our faith genuine, saving faith or not?

But it doesn't just matter for eternity.

It's also now that this question matters.

I grew up in Pennsylvania, not too far from the town of Hershey, where Hershey's chocolate

is from.

When you drive through the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, they actually sometimes pump

chocolate smell into the air, especially in the amusement park.

Hershey is the town of chocolate.

So growing up, that's mostly what we ate when it came to chocolate, chocolate Hershey's.

But then I got married.

And in my wife's hometown, there's this little chocolate shop that makes homemade small batch

real deal chocolate.

And trying that for the first time, I thought, oh man, this is something else.

I'd been eating chocolate all my life, but not like this.

Now, could it be that some of us have been dining, have been eating, have been feasting

on a faith that's not really faith at all?

And the sweetness and the satisfaction of real saving faith, could it be that we've been missing

it?

And so James wants to challenge us this morning.

He wants to shock us.

He wants to wake us up to the real thing.

What is saving faith?

And our passage has four parts.

The first two parts tell us what saving faith is not.

And the second two show us what it is.

So we're going to look at those four parts.

What it's not, what it is.

So first, saving faith is not mere pious talk.

In verses 15 through 17, James presents us with an example.

A brother or sister, that is a fellow Christian, a member of your local church, is in need.

They need clothes.

They need food.

They need practical help getting their feet under them.

And you, seeing their needs, say, go in peace.

Be warm and well-fed.

But then you don't actually give them the things that you need insofar as in your power to do so.

Is that saving faith, James asks?

It sure sounds spiritual, right?

Go in peace.

A blessing.

Be warm and well-fed.

You know, the way that's worded, it could imply that God will provide your needs.

It's almost like a prayer.

It all sounds like pretty pious talk.

But James is quite blunt.

Faith without works is dead.

If your faith, if my faith, is just talk and your heart is not moved to action,

then your faith is not merely little.

Your faith is not merely immature.

It's quite possibly dead.

Now, a lot of us know what to say in the right situations, don't we?

In this setting or in that setting with this group of people or that group of people,

we sort of learn how to speak and how to talk.

And sometimes that can be a helpful thing.

But, you know, if you've grown up in the church or if you've spent some time around Christians,

you maybe know how to talk the Christian talk.

You know the lingo.

You know the vocab.

But James is quite clear.

That is no reliable evidence of a living faith,

of a real, dynamic, trusting relationship with God in Christ.

Because after all, that is what faith is.

It's a wholehearted trust in Christ alone for life now and for life to come.

But James goes even a little deeper.

He says, saving faith isn't just mere pious talk.

He says, second, saving faith is not mere proper doctrine.

Doctrine, what you know.

In verses 18 and 19, James begins by sort of positing an imaginary conversation partner.

And this conversation partner, this imaginary conversation partner says,

Oh, look, James, some people have faith.

Some people have works.

Different strokes for different folks.

Why are we being so picky here?

And James says, well, okay.

Show me your faith.

How do I know you have it?

I can show you my faith by my works, James says.

How will you show me?

By what you profess to believe?

By the doctrines that you hold?

Is that going to be how you prove to me your faith?

And then he says this.

You believe that God is one.

You do well.

Now, this doctrine, this biblical truth that God is one, is one of the most foundational,

in fact, it is really the most foundational creed of the Hebrew Bible of the Old Testament.

The Lord your God, the Lord is one.

Deuteronomy 6.4.

There is only one true God.

Do you believe that?

Good, James says.

You should believe that.

That's exactly what you ought to believe.

But merely having the right doctrines in your head isn't saving faith.

Even the demons believe and shudder.

Verse 19.

If we were to give, imagine, we were to give demons a theology test,

James says, they would probably pass.

They know that God is one.

They know that there's only one true creator God,

and that all the rest of the so-called gods are just idols.

They even shudder at the thought.

But they haven't surrendered to God in genuine saving faith.

Now, I'm glad, as a church, that we love sound doctrine.

We love to think right thoughts after God,

to know Him better,

to understand who God has revealed Himself to be in Jesus and in Scripture,

and not just according to our own imaginations.

We need to be theologically sharp thinkers.

But a mere head full of doctrine is not a sure sign of a heart full of surrender,

full of faith in Christ.

So what is saving faith?

Not just what you say with your mouth.

Not just what you know in your head.

It's more than pious talk.

It's more even than proper doctrines.

So what is it?

How do we know if we've got the real thing?

What's the evidence that we have?

This saving trust in Christ alone for life now and life to come.

Well, in the rest of the passage, James gives two examples of genuine saving faith.

The first is Abraham, and the second is Rahab.

And these two examples form James' fourth,

excuse me, his third and his fourth point in this passage.

So number three then, saving faith.

Saving faith is proved by obedience to God's commands.

Saving faith is proved by evidence, by obedience to God's commands.

If the demons believe and shudder, James now points us to Abraham who believes and obeys.

Abraham, of course, is the father of the Jewish nation,

the great starting point of God's covenant with Israel,

that covenant that would bring blessing to all the nations of the earth.

And the decisive moment for Abraham in his life,

as you read through Abraham's narrative,

the decisive moment for Abraham comes in Genesis 15.

When after going years without a child,

years of God seemingly not fulfilling his promises to him and Sarah, his wife,

God takes Abraham out on a starry night,

and he says,

look at the stars, Abraham.

Can you count them?

And Abraham doesn't answer.

He's probably just shaking his head.

Of course I can't count them, God.

Staring in wonder at the vast night sky.

And then God says to him,

so shall your offspring be.

Countless.

And then at that moment, upon hearing God's promise,

Genesis 15, 6 says,

and Abraham believed the Lord,

and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.

Abraham became a believer,

became a man of faith, real faith that night.

And God counted it to him as righteousness.

That is, God viewed Abraham as wholly acceptable despite his sin.

But James is asking a question here.

He's saying,

when was the moment of truth for Abraham's faith?

It's one thing to look up at the stars and have a moment.

When did we find out that Abraham's faith that night was the real deal?

That moment came years later.

When God had fulfilled his promise and given Abraham and Sarah a son,

whom they named Isaac.

And then God told Abraham to take his only son,

this son that he loved,

and to let him go.

To give him up as a sacrifice to God.

The ultimate test.

And a test, by the way,

that's never repeated in the Bible for a human parent ever again.

This was an utterly unique moment for Abraham,

the father of faith.

And you can read this story in Genesis 22,

when Abraham takes Isaac up Mount Moriah,

not knowing how God is going to fulfill his promise through Isaac

to bless all the nations,

if now God's telling him to sacrifice Isaac.

In fact, the New Testament will look back on that moment

in the book of Hebrews and say,

Abraham perhaps even believed in the resurrection of the dead in that moment.

And that's how he was able to march up that hill.

But before Abraham can lower the knife,

the angel of the Lord calls out,

Abraham, don't harm the boy.

Now I know you fear God.

And God provides a ram as a substitute for Isaac.

And then in that moment,

God renews, he repeats,

he reiterates his promise to Abraham

to bless all the nations of the whole world

through him and his offspring.

And that's a promise, by the way,

that would ultimately come true

in Abraham's ultimate, long, far-off offspring,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus, who like Isaac,

was also led up a hill

with wood on his back.

But unlike Isaac,

Jesus did become a sacrifice.

The one true sacrifice

for the sins of all of us,

you and me.

He took our place

and he died the death

that we deserve to die

because of our sin.

And he offers eternal life

for all who will repent

and believe in him.

But again,

that faith in Jesus

that saves us,

how do we know

it's genuine faith?

The thing that proves

his faith,

Abraham's faith,

are his works.

In verse 22,

James says,

real living faith

is active along with works,

even completed,

that is carried forth

to its goal by works,

by deeds,

by actions

in obedience to God.

But then James

says something

a little confusing

in verse 21.

He says that Abraham

was justified

by works.

And again,

in verse 24,

he says that a person

is justified by works

and not by faith alone.

Now,

the reason that's confusing

is because if you read

the Apostle Paul,

on the surface,

it sounds like Paul

and James

are saying completely

opposite things.

In Romans 3,

Paul will say,

a person

is justified

by faith

apart from works

of the law.

Now,

this apparent contradiction

has caused

a lot of head-scratching

in the history

of Christianity.

But I think

the context

of James

shows us

that Paul

and James

are using

the word

justify

in different ways

to talk about

different things

to address

different needs.

Paul

was writing

to Christians

that thought

they had to keep

the Torah,

they had to keep

the law of Moses

in order to be saved.

James is speaking

to Christians

who think

that giving mere

lip service

to Jesus

will save them.

So you see,

Paul is combating

legalism,

that I have to do

something

to earn

my status

with God

and James

is combating

nominalism.

If I just say

the right things

then I'm in.

So Paul

has to talk

about what

actually puts

you in a right

relationship

with God

and James

has to talk

about what

actually demonstrates

the validity

or the reality

of your relationship

with God.

For Paul then,

when he uses

the word justification,

he means something

kind of unique.

He means the act

whereby God

reckons us,

declares us

righteous.

For Paul,

justification

means God

declaring us

righteous

because of our

union with Jesus,

the righteous one,

in faith.

Because Jesus

is righteous

and faith

unites us

to Jesus,

then God

declares us,

justifies us

in Jesus

through faith alone.

That's what

justification

means for Paul.

But for James,

justification

here means

the evidence,

the proof,

how do we know

that you have

saving faith

in union

with Jesus?

So for Paul,

to justify

means to make

or to declare

righteous.

For James,

to justify

is to prove

or to demonstrate

that you have

faith in the first

place.

Now,

this shouldn't

surprise us

that two different

biblical writers

should use the

same word

in different ways.

That happens

all the time

in real world

language use,

does it not?

And the New Testament

writers are very much

writing in the real world.

Imagine you overheard

me talking on my cell phone

saying something like,

where does he get off?

Okay,

you'd think,

either I was really

mad at someone,

or I was asking

which subway stop

was closest

to the particular

destination.

Where does he get off?

And you'd only know

which one it was

by the context,

maybe my tone of voice,

but ultimately

the context, right?

You know,

the same is true

when we read

the New Testament.

Lots of words.

There's a handful

that can actually be used

in very different ways.

Sanctification is one of them.

You read through

the New Testament,

sometimes sanctification

means that you are

positionally clean

before God.

Sometimes sanctification

means this growing

increase in righteousness.

You just have to

look at the context

and know which one

the writer means.

And in reality,

James and Paul,

though they have

their different emphases,

and they have

their different audiences,

and they have

their different styles,

they actually both

come down

on the same side

of this issue.

When you read

across the entire

of their works,

you find that there's

a lot of unity

and harmony.

Faith saves us.

Both will agree,

but faith without works

is dead.

Paul will say

in Galatians 5,

in Christ Jesus,

the only thing

that counts

is faith

working through love.

The only thing

that counts

is faith

working through love.

a kind of faith

that changes your life.

A real relationship

with Christ.

I think it was Calvin

who synthesized

this brilliantly.

He said,

we are saved

by faith alone,

but not by a faith

that stays alone.

We're saved

by faith alone,

but not by a faith

that stays alone.

A faith that will

generate works.

Now, do works add

something to our faith?

Is faith sort of

square one

and then we've got

to build a little

castle of righteousness

on top of that?

No, James isn't saying

that faith needs

to be supplemented.

He's saying that

if your faith

doesn't flow forth

in a desire to obey God,

then it's not really

faith at all.

It's a test.

It's an evidence

of the real thing.

Which brings us

back to Abraham then.

Abraham,

whose works

justify,

and for James

that means proves

or demonstrates

that his faith

is the real deal.

That he is actually

in a saving relationship

with God.

Saving faith,

Abraham shows us,

is proved

by obedience

to God's commands.

So as you look

at your own heart,

your own life,

do you see a desire

and the follow-through

to keep God's commands?

James isn't talking

about being perfect here.

Abraham was far

from perfect.

Read his story

in Genesis

and you will find that out.

But his faith

made a difference

in what he did.

He took God

at his word

even if it was

counter-cultural,

even if it wasn't

popular,

even when it was costly.

And that brings us

to our last point.

James' last example

is Rahab.

And here we see

this fourth point.

Fourth,

saving faith

is proved

in particular

by love

for God's people.

Abraham showed us

that saving faith

was proved

or demonstrated

by obedience

to God's commands.

James wants to

focus it down

and say,

saving faith

is proved

in particular

by love

for God's people.

He writes

in verse 25,

and in the same way

was not also Rahab

the prostitute

justified by works

that is proved

to be faithful

when she received

the messengers

and sent them out

by another way.

Now you probably

couldn't imagine

two characters

more different

in the Bible

than Abraham

and Rahab.

One a male,

the other a female.

One of them old,

the other probably young

or maybe middle-aged.

One the father

of the Jewish nation,

the other a Gentile.

One wealthy,

the other a prostitute.

But by juxtaposing

these two figures

and holding them

both up

as exemplars

of faith,

James is making

a brilliant rhetorical point,

is he not?

That no matter

what your background

or your upbringing

or your social status

or your gender

or your class

or your race,

there is an equal place

for you

in the people

of God.

Whether you're

an Abraham

or a Rahab,

this family

is one

in Jesus.

And Rahab's story

is so powerful.

Joshua 2,

that's where she enters

the biblical storyline.

And in that moment,

the people of Israel

are about to take

the promised land.

They're about to

kind of come in

and God's going to

give it to them

and they come

to the city

of Jericho first.

And Joshua,

the leader of Israel,

sends spies into Jericho

to check it out.

And they meet Rahab.

And Rahab tells them,

she says,

we've heard all about

what your God did

in Egypt.

We've heard all about

how he dried up

the Red Sea.

We've heard all about

how he conquered

those other kings

on the other side

of the Jordan,

our neighbors

just over the water.

And you know,

most of my town,

our hearts are melting

in fear when we've heard

of all this

because we know

that your God

is the God

in heavens above

and the one true God

in earth beneath.

In other words,

Rahab professes faith

in the God of Israel

having heard

the message

of what God has done.

She hears

and she believes.

But what demonstrates

that her faith

is genuine

is the real deal.

What demonstrates

that her faith

is saving faith.

The evidence

is the costly kindness

that she shows

to the people of God.

At great risk

to herself,

she hides the spies

from the Jericho authorities

when they come knocking

and she stages

their daring escape

from the city,

putting her own neck

on the line

to save this handful

of spies

from getting caught

and getting killed.

And in Jewish tradition,

Rahab becomes

the model

Gentile convert.

She becomes

sort of the hero

of those who would

come to faith

from the outside.

And in the New Testament,

we see that Rahab

even becomes part

of the family line

of the Messiah,

of Jesus,

in Matthew 1.

And here,

James holds her up

as an example

of real saving faith,

faith that works,

faith that flows forth

in practical love

for the people of God.

So how about us, friends?

Do we have

the real thing?

Is our faith

mere talk?

Is it mere ideas?

Or is it a living

relationship

that bears the fruit

of obedience to God

and love

for our brothers

and sisters in Christ?

You know,

this is the sort of passage

that invites

self-examination,

does it not?

It's a challenging passage.

And by design,

James wants it

to be

very straightforward

and cause us

to do some soul-searching.

But as we apply

this passage

to our hearts,

the first thing

to say

is that we should

not do it alone.

I know many of us

have what we might call

tender consciences.

When we hear

a passage like this,

we bring all

of our failures

and all of our

shortcomings

to mind

and we can just

despair

of our relationship

with Christ.

We think of all

the ways

we've fallen short

and all the ways

we're not where

we want to be

and we think,

well,

maybe I just,

maybe I don't have it

at all.

Well,

friends,

if that's you,

let me encourage

you strongly

to find

a mature

fellow believer.

Reach out

to one of the pastors,

your small group leader,

an older friend

in the faith

that you trust.

Find a mature

fellow believer

and talk to them

about your doubts

and fears.

The reality is

we are often

not the best judge

of our own

spiritual state.

Bernard of Clairvaux

supposedly said,

he who appoints

himself

his own

spiritual master

has a fool

for a disciple.

You see

what he's saying

there?

If you look

to yourself

as your own

spiritual guide,

you're leading

a fool,

i.e.

you're being

very foolish

to think

that you're

the best one

to assess

your own

spiritual life.

There's too

much you'll

miss.

Whether in

fear

or in pride,

you've got

blind spots.

I've got

blind spots.

We need

someone else

to take a look

at our life

and say,

yeah,

brother,

yeah,

sister,

you know what?

You have

failed.

But look

at all this

other fruit

in your life

that,

you know,

doesn't come

to mind,

that I see

and I affirm.

Be encouraged.

So find

someone to

talk to

about this

as you do

some examination.

Second,

then,

be open

to repentance.

That is,

if God

is showing

you areas

of your life

that do

need to

change,

areas

where your

faith isn't

bearing good

fruit,

then today,

even now,

as we draw

this service

to a close,

go to God

in prayer.

Admit

your failing,

your shortcoming,

your fear.

Ask Him

for the strength

and the courage

and the wisdom

and the direction

to act.

You know,

all of us

have room

to grow here.

You can't read

the end of

James chapter 2

James 2 · chapter mention

and not be

convicted.

Perhaps God

is pinpointing

a specific

thing

in your life,

an area

of obedience

or an area

of love

where you know

you need to

change.

If that is

true,

take heart.

What you're

experiencing

is conviction

is conviction.

And conviction

is the work

of God

the Holy Spirit,

Jesus tells us.

So if you are

feeling the tug

of conviction

on your heart,

then the Spirit,

the one who imparts

saving face

in the first place,

is at work

in you,

inviting you

deeper into life.

Conviction

is a sign

that God's

loving you

and drawing you

deeper into

His life

of love.

So don't delay.

Respond

to the Spirit's

work

and repent

and go to God

your Father

who loves you

and open your

hands and say,

okay, Lord,

let's go.

Third,

perhaps you've

come to realize

that your faith

up till now

maybe has been

just talk

and ideas.

maybe what God

is showing you

is that you

don't have

real saving

faith.

What do you

do?

Well,

friends,

the answer

is very

straightforward.

Turn

to God,

the God

who loves

you

and gave

His own

Son for you.

Admit,

admit that you've

been deceiving

yourselves

and maybe deceiving

others.

ask Him

to forgive

your hypocrisy.

Ask Him

to forgive you,

not because you

deserve to be

forgiven,

but because Christ

died for you

in love,

because He loves

hypocrites

and fakes.

He loves them

and shed His

own blood

for them.

Admit that you've

been deceiving

yourself.

Ask God

for forgiveness

and commit

your life

to Him

from this

day forward.

surrender to

Him

as your

Lord,

trusting that

His paths,

costly though

they may be

at times,

are the paths

of life.

And after

you've made

that commitment,

then tell

somebody.

Make a call.

Send an email.

Let a Christian

friend know

about the change

that's taken

place.

Because,

friends,

here's the good

news.

Faith without

works is dead.

But,

as James

and the rest

of the New

Testament authors

know and

proclaim,

our God

specializes

in raising

the dead.

Does He not?

Through

faith,

God makes

us alive

together with

Christ,

saving us

by grace,

creating us

anew

in Christ

Jesus,

creating us

in Christ

Jesus

for good

works.

which God

prepared

beforehand

that we

should walk

in them.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's pray

together.

Lord Jesus,

we take

just a moment

of quiet

before You

now.

And we

lay before You

areas where

Your Spirit

is working

to convict

us and to

draw us

into life.

Lord,

so many

of us

over these

last few

weeks have

been particularly

convicted when

it comes to

racial injustice

in our

country.

Lord,

we pray that

You would

continue to

convict us

and You would

continue to

bring genuine

lasting repentance

that we might

not simply say

be warm and

well fed,

but that we

might act in

love and

charity and

use what good

resources we've

been given to

plead for

justice and for

change.

God,

perhaps it's

another area,

Lord, how we

use our time,

how we use our

money, the

relationships we

have.

Lord, perhaps

even You're

bringing to mind

a particular

brother or

sister in the

faith and need

who needs

care.

Father, we

know that Your

Word says

perfect love

drives out fear.

So we pray that

the perfect love

of Christ for us

would drive out

fear and allow

us to respond

with acts of

love to those

whom You've

placed on our

heart.

Lord, we know

also that perhaps

some who've been

able to hear the

service this

morning don't

have saving

faith.

Father, we

think of that

moment when You

asked Ezekiel to

go out and look

at a valley and

the valley was

full of dry

bones.

And Ezekiel said,

God, how can

these dry bones

live?

They're dry.

They're dead.

But then Your

Spirit came and

brought it to

life.

Spirit, would

You come and

would You bring

life this morning?

Would You awaken

saving faith in

Christ for those

with ears to

hear?

We ask all

this in the

powerful name of

Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.