Faith and Works: The True Measure of Belief

Music.

For listening to the Generations Church podcast. Today, Pastor Jeff continues

with our series from the book of James.

If you have your Bible, we will be looking at James chapter 2, verses 14 through 26.

James 2:14–26

And now today's message, faith and works.

For the past few weeks, we've been walking through the book of James.

And if you've been here with us, you know that the purpose of the book of James

is to correct the false belief that a person can have faith without change of

behavior and to give practical instruction regarding the Christian life.

See, so many of us, we think that we can just say, hey, I believe in God and

we're good, but that's not what the Bible says.

The Bible says that if you really are a child of God, then your life is going to change.

Change your life is going to look differently

so we've been giving a big idea

each week and you should have been handed a section of notes there when you

walked in week one our big idea was that the testing of our faith through trials

adversity suffering etc produces in us a steadfast spirit and endurance.

And endurance is an invaluable characteristic of those who follow Christ.

We talked about the fact that God is working in us and producing something in us.

And as hard as it is, and as much as we don't like it, he uses our trials to

form us into who he wants us to be.

We also talked about the necessity for us to consciously, daily,

sometimes by the hour, sometimes by the minute and second, to choose joy.

We have to make that conscious decision every day to choose it.

And then last week, we studied James 1, 19 through 27.

And our big idea was that believers are to hear, to receive, and obey.

Because the person who both listens and responds to the word of God is blessed. Say blessed.

Good job. You're awake. And so we want you to not just simply hear the word

of God, but we want you to receive it.

And in order to receive it and to apply it and to put it into actions,

we looked at last week that we have to cleanse ourselves from our sin.

We have to cleanse ourselves from our iniquities and our shortcomings.

And that's the application of our spiritual soap. 1 John 1.9,

if we confess our sins, he's faithful.

He'll forgive us our sins. He'll cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so this morning, before we dive into the word of God,

I just know that some of us need to do some business with God and do some of

that cleansing right now in our hearts and in our minds,

because it does us no good if we come together and we sing to him and we hear

his word preached from the word of God and the Holy Spirit's trying to teach

you and trying to speak to you,

but our hearts are cold and the seed of the gospel and the seed of the word

of God falls on hardness.

So you don't receive it. You may hear it, but you don't receive it.

And so I want to give you just a moment just to pray in your heart right now and ask the Lord.

What David asked, Lord, if there's any wicked or unclean way in me,

would you reveal it right now? And that's my prayer as well, Father.

We want to be people of clean hands and hearts and lips.

Forgive us for failing, for wanting our own ways instead of yours.

Forgive us for not surrendering to you in every aspect of our lives. Would you empower us?

Holy Spirit, speak to us, illuminate the Word of God this morning as I bring

it forth, I'm scattering, God, and I'm just relying on you because it's you that does the work.

So work amongst your people. Work in my heart. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

This morning, I want to, before we jump into the message, I just want to remind

you, if you haven't been here or you've missed a past message in this series.

They're all building on each other. And today is our third week in the book

of James. If you missed a message, you can go to your favorite streaming platform.

We have a brand new Generations Church podcast that I'm really excited about

because we want to get the word out.

We want the gospel to go to the ends of the world, the ends of the earth.

And so that is one way that we can do that. So you can go to Spotify or iTunes.

You can go to iHeart and you So it's easiest if you just go to our Facebook page and find the link,

or you can go online and there's links on our website at generationschurch.us.

Now that we have that, let's continue.

This morning, if you have your Bibles, we'll be looking at James chapter 2,

James 2 · chapter mention

and we'll be in verses 14 through 26.

And before we read it together, let me just give you today's big idea.

We just walked over what the previous weeks were.

And so if you're ready, say, I'm ready.

All right, we're ready. Today's big idea is this.

Faith without works is a dead faith.

Faith without works or actions is a dead faith.

We've learned together that it's one thing to listen and receive the word,

but how many of y'all know it's a whole nother ball game to try to do that next

part and put it into action, isn't it?

It's so much harder, but to be living God's best life that he has for you,

we must learn to be people of action who not only hear the word of God,

but receive the Word of God, and then we respond to the Word of God in righteous living, in action.

James elaborates on this idea in chapter 2 by comparing the relationship between faith and works.

And this comparison, rightly so, has drawn the attention of pastors and theologians

for hundreds and hundreds of years.

You can read libraries of books on faith and works.

Here's what a couple of the giants of the faith have said through the years about faith and works.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, faith without works is not faith at all.

Now catch this, this is really powerful.

Faith without works is not faith at all, but a simple lack of obedience to God.

Well, thanks for punching us right in the face. If we're not walking the walk

and we're only talking the talk,

it's because we lack obedience to the word of God and we lack obedience to God himself.

The great English preacher Charles Spurgeon said, faith and works are bound up in the same bundle.

He that obeys God, trusts God. And he that trusts God, obeys God.

He that is without faith is without works. And he that is without works is without faith.

Do you see how the two are starting to go hand in hand?

C.S. Lewis said, regarding the debate about faith and works,

it's like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is the most important.

They're both equally important. And if you have your Bible or your favorite

app, I want to ask you, invite you to follow along.

The words will also be on a screen, but I really want to encourage you,

bring a copy of God's word so you can highlight it, you can circle, you can underline it.

Be men and women and students of the word of God.

Verse 14 says this, what good is it, my brothers and sisters.

Someone claims to have faith, but does not have works.

Can such faith save him?

What an incredible start there. He says, if a brother or sister is without clothes

and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace,

stay warm and be well fed, but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?

In the same way, faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

But someone will say, you have faith. I have works.

Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works.

Verse 19, you believe that God is one. Good.

Even the demons believe and they shudder.

Senseless person, are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Say useless.

Useless. Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar?

You see that faith was active together with his works and by works.

Faith was made complete.

And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God,

there's that faith, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

And he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

In the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving

the messengers and sending them out by a different route? It's in the Old Testament there.

Verse 26, for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is.

Dead. There's an incredible amount of information here and so little time to go over it.

But here in chapter 2, James makes several comparisons and gives us examples

of people even mentioned throughout Scripture who pursued faith and works.

And in fact, if you really want to get a deep dive at men and women of faith,

just read through the heroes of the faith that is listed out in Hebrews Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11, and you'll quickly see that those that we hold up in high regard,

those people that we've heard about in Sunday school or we've heard messages about,

they had both incredible faith,

but they also had righteous works to back up their faith.

Look with me at verse 14. James asks two really important questions.

He says, excuse me, what good is it, my brothers and and sisters?

If someone claims to have faith but does not have works, can such faith save him?

So two questions. What good is it if someone claims to have faith but their

life doesn't back it up? And then a really important question.

If someone has that kind of faith that just is all talk and doesn't have a life

to back it up, is it in fact a faith that saves him or her?

And I'm going to submit to you that no, it's not.

These two questions in this verse are the heart of what C.S.

Lewis referred to in the debate about faith and works.

And James will start to get into some practical examples, which will highlight

the point he's trying to make.

But before we go on, let me ask you this question.

What good is all the faith in the world if it doesn't move you to action? What good is it?

Can a person with an inactive faith truly be saved?

That's the part of our first verse. And it's really difficult to reconcile,

especially in light of other passages like Ephesians 2, 8, and 9.

I grew up and went to children's church and Awana and youth ministry.

And I knew this verse, Ephesians 2, 8, 9.

For you are saved by, say it out loud, grace. You're saved by grace through faith.

And this is not from yourselves. selves. It is God's gift. So let me pause there.

Is salvation through faith?

Yes. Is it a free gift? Yes.

What do you do with gifts? You receive it, right? If he's given you this free

gift, you have to receive it.

9 says, not from works so that no one can boast.

So, on one hand, we see that we know salvation is not by works.

There's other verses, not by works of righteousness, which we've done.

So, it's not by works.

But it seems really clear from Scripture that faith alone, or works alone, isn't complete.

James is saying, a faith-filled person will also be a person of righteous action.

If your faith is real, there'll be a works, there'll be character,

there'll be a life that is real behind that faith.

And so we're saved by grace and not by works.

But here, let me try to clear this up for you. And it's in your notes.

We're saved by grace and faith unto good works.

I've heard it said this way. We are not saved by good works.

We are saved to good works.

You with me? Nod your head up and down if you're with me. We're saved by grace

through faith for and to good works, not by good works.

And so once you're truly saved, the righteous action of a transformed heart and mind follows suit.

And that's where the works come in.

We don't work to be saved. we work because we are saved.

1 John says, we love him because he first loved us.

James 14 is describing a man who has this profession of faith,

but there's nothing about that person's life that would indicate that he's a true Christian.

And so many people say, hey, I'm a a Christian.

I've heard it this week talking to people. Oh yeah. Cause obviously I'm a pastor.

They want to know what I do. I say, what are they? Oh yeah. I believe there's a God. I believe.

And they think if I believe that there's a God, then I'm good.

Listen to what Jesus said in the middle of the sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew chapter seven, he said this, And I'm reading from verses 17 through 20.

It says, in the same way, excuse me, every good tree produces good fruit,

but a bad tree produces bad fruit.

A good tree can't produce bad fruit. Neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.

Kind of sounds like Dr. Seuss, right? A little bit.

Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And then this is a pretty pretty powerful statement that Jesus makes.

You'll recognize them by their fruit.

Now, are we supposed to judge? No, there is one judge.

But I did hear a pastor once say, it's wrong to judge, but it's okay to be fruit inspectors.

And what he's saying is that you're going to recognize people by the way they

act, the way they speak, the way they treat their spouse, the way they treat

their parents, the way they treat their co-workers, there's going to be evidence.

If that seed has taken root and it's been received and it's been watered and

it's growing, there's going to be fruit that says that's a fruit tree.

And likewise, when you're a Christian, it takes root and it begins to grow and

the Spirit of God is working in you and making you more and more like Jesus.

We're supposed to look like our claims.

Number two, a true Christian is identified by the fruit they bear,

not simply the words they share.

Don't tell me you're saved. Show me.

Show me with your complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God.

I talk to our kids about this all the time. Just because you're a pastor's kid

doesn't mean you're a Christian.

Just because you go to church doesn't mean you're a Christian.

It's not that way. It's not enough just to say, oh, I believe in God.

Or, oh, yeah, I believe in Jesus.

Look what James says here in verses 18 through 20. He said, someone will say,

you have faith and I have works.

Show me your faith without works. He's saying, there's no such thing as a true

faith if your life doesn't follow behind.

He says, and I'll show you faith by my works.

He says, I have something here behind my belief that's going to back up what I say.

Is your walk backing up your talk when it comes to Jesus Christ?

19 says, you believe that God is one. Good. Good job.

He said, even the demons believe. You know that the demons, they believe that God is God.

They know that Jesus is fully God.

God they know and they shudder

they shudder verse 20 says you're

a senseless person are you willing

to learn that faith without works is useless if you believe that you're a Christian

and your life doesn't back it up James says man you're senseless you're senseless

I'm not calling you that I would never call you that because I'm a a nice guy.

But the word of God says you're senseless.

James says it's impossible to prove your faith without a life of good works.

You can say you believe in God all you want, but even the demons believe in God.

When it comes to faith and works, there's really two camps.

There's the person that works and works and works and works.

Do you know there's religions based on works? Most all of them are.

They'll work and work and work and work.

And hopefully one day it'll be enough.

If I could just do enough or if I can just have enough knowledge about God or

if I can just have do this or do this or do this, yet their life never truly changes.

And James writes us and he says, if you truly believe and you are truly saved

by grace, then your life will change.

You cannot come to Christ and not be truly changed from the inside out.

Jesus warned us about that. He said.

Didn't I come once in a while to church? He says, I will announce to them,

and this should be the most terrifying, scary phrase you've ever heard in your life.

I never knew you. I never knew you.

Depart from me, you lawbreaker.

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and what?

What's it say? Verse 24. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and,

acts, acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And I'm here this morning and my heart is for you. It's for you.

I always say that it's not about me and it's not about Generations Church.

It's not about what I want from you.

It's what I want for you. Because if you will submit whatever the hardest thing

is right now in your life that you're holding on to. Maybe it's freedom. Maybe it's money.

Maybe it's health. Maybe, I don't know. Only you know in the depths of your heart.

But whatever that is, if you will release that to him and let him be an authority

over every aspect of your life, the Word of God says you're going to be blessed.

I want a blessed life for you. I want you to live a life not living painful consequences of sin.

I want the best for you. I want you to live out God's purposes for you.

I'm for you. My heart is for you. And I want you, beyond anything,

for you to know that if, God forbid, something happened and you were to walk

outside this building and get hit by a bus or a car or something happened to

you and had a heart attack or a stroke and you pass from this life to the the

next, that you wouldn't hear that.

I never knew you. Depart from me.

I'm not trying to scare anybody. People get upset that pastors are,

you know, there's only one way to heaven. Yeah, there is. There is.

And it's not judgmental for me to say that. It's actually the most loving,

humble, caring thing I can do.

If I'm out on the street and I see a bus rearing down on a little kid.

Am I going to run and dive and try to get them out of the way?

Or am I just going to let them sit there and wonder where they're at walking

in the middle of the street? No.

The gospel, the good news that we can be saved compels us.

Paul said, it's the gospel that compels us to do what we do.

And I want you to understand, and I want you to know beyond a shadow out of

a doubt that if you leave this place, you're going to spend eternity with Jesus

Christ in heaven, in a beautiful city full of all the amenities.

He said, I'm going away and I'm preparing a mansion for you.

I will come back and I will get you. But it's not going to be those who just

claim to have faith or just claim to know God.

It's going to be those who had faith and a a life that backs it up.

James continues in verse 21, and he says, wasn't Abraham our father justified

by works and offering Isaac his son on the altar?

You see that faith, here it is, faith was active together with works.

Let me ask you the question today. Is your faith active with your lifestyle?

Is your faith active with your works? Is your faith active in your speech?

Is your faith active with your significant other?

Is your faith active in your finances?

Ouch, why'd you have to go there? Faith was active together with his works,

and by works, faith was made complete.

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God,

And it was credited to him as righteousness because righteousness doesn't come from me.

It doesn't come from you, right?

We needed God's righteousness to make us complete and pure, standing before him clean.

And then it says, and he was called God's friend.

Number three in your notes, real faith is active. Real faith believes God.

Real faith obeys even when you don't understand or maybe you're hesitant to obey God.

You might get hurt. You might lose a friend. You might not know where the next meal is coming from.

But real faith believes and steps out on the waves knowing that he is with you.

Real faith takes God at his word. Real faith forgives even when someone has

never asked you to forgive them. That's a hard one.

It's kind of easier. Like if my wife sins against me, which she's never done

because she's perfect, but if she sins against me, if she comes to me and says,

hey baby, I'm sorry I did that.

Will you forgive me? Come give me kisses.

I'll say, of course I forgive you. I love you. What if she never owns it?

What if for the rest of our lives, she never owns that? Am I called to forgive? Oh yeah.

Is it as easy as, hey baby, will you forgive me? Of course not.

It could be the hardest thing you ever do, but are you called to do it?

Are we called to do it? Real faith is active.

Real faith is followed up by real works and real actions.

This morning, we need to understand that faith and works are partners.

C.S. Lewis made the point earlier. It's like trying to decide which pair of

the scissors, which blade is sharper. You need them both.

They complete each other. And you can have both as a follower of Christ.

Your works will flow from your faith.

And your faith will grow as a result of your works. That's why we're always,

we have Saturday serve coming up.

We've been collecting all summer long. We've been collecting for 72 backpacks.

We still got some to do. I want to invite you to help out with that.

They've got to be in by Friday. And then Saturday's our next Saturday service.

And we're going to gather in here and we will have 72 backpacks and we are going

to pack them all. And we are going to pray over them.

And then next Sunday is National Backpack Day.

And we're having an awesome service. And then following the service,

we're having a cookout and a block party. We're putting invitations on people's

doors all throughout the neighborhood.

We want to invite you to come back and be there. And we're going to have kids

coming to get their backpacks.

We've partnered with the school next door and said, hey, we want to bless you.

From 11 to 1.30, they are welcome to come get a free backpack and all their school supplies.

Because we want to be the hands and feet of Jesus. us.

And when you work, I don't like to work out.

My kids, my boys, they love to work out. When they work out,

guess what? It's hard work. But the more they do it, the stronger they become.

The stronger you serve, the more you work, the stronger your faith becomes.

They go hand in hand. Faith and and work are partners.

Music.

You've been listening to the Generations Church podcast. Be sure to check back

next week as Pastor Jeff continues our study on the book of James.

If you'd like more information about Generations Church, feel free to get in

touch with us at info at generationschurch.us or head over to our website,

generationschurch.us.

Thanks for listening.

Thank you.