The book of James is a very practical book. It’s not seen as a very conceptual theological writing, like Romans. But if you look closely, you start to see things that are quite profound about what it means to be a Christian. How we should live our lives, and Why we should act or think the way we do. Most of James 1 discusses trials and how we experience hardships as Christians. James said that the testing of our faith produces perseverance. In chapter 1, James also discusses how we should ask for Wisdom when we are lacking it. He said that we need to ask as one who believes, not as a doubter who is double-minded. It’s practical advice, but when you look at the instruction you learn a lot about our condition and who God is. Reading between the lines, or at least reading closely with some analysis, you see that James tells us that we tend to lack wisdom and are prone to be doubtful. But that’s not how God is. God gives graciously without finding fault. James reminds us that those of us who are in humble circumstances are actually in a high position in God’s Kingdom, and those of us who are rich in something should be proud because they, along with any riches or blessings, will pass away. In James 2 he discusses how we shouldn’t show any favoritism, because God doesn’t show favoritism among his believers. We see God showing a unique and personal love for different people in different ways, because God is the source of every good and perfect gift. And we see ourselves misinterpreting those blessings as a type of favoritism. We need to remind ourselves that God loves all of his Elect, and we have to trust that God, in his divine wisdom and his Sovereignty is working for the good of all who believe and are called. James points us to a faith in the things we don’t see, or more specifically God’s Kingdom. To accomplish any of the things that James asks us to work on, we need a Faith. And that faith needs to be In God. The only way we know who God is, is by studying his Word. But that’s just the first step. To truly have faith in the Word, we should be not just hearers of the word, but doers of the word. James tells us that Faith must have a result to be Good. Let’s continue with James 2 today.
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
So James asks, what good is Faith without deeds? Can such a faith save us? He goes directly into an example. There’s someone without clothes or food. A brother says, Go in Peace, Keep Warm and Well Fed. Words without actions. Empty phrases, but no help. Obviously those words are no good to the person that needs help. The words don’t solve the problem. Keep in mind that verses 15-16 are James giving an example here. He isn’t saying that if you have faith in God you will always help fill every need that anyone asks of you. He isn’t saying that you need to clothe and feed people in order to have a faith that saves. You need to be wise and careful in how you help and how you care for others. You should care for others, but caring for one person doesn’t always look the same as it does for another. For one person the best thing to do might be to pray for them and their situation, and for another you might give clothing and food, and also pray for them. So these two verses aren’t to be taken as an instruction on how to administer a charity or how to do charitable works. These two verses are merely an analogy or an example about how faith without any deeds is no good. If you read one or two verses in James alone, you can end up with some serious theological error. Last post, there were a few verses that could be stripped of context to make a case for class warfare, and this post, there are a few examples that might indicate that you need to do certain works of charity, like clothing and feeding people, in order to achieve a faith that saves. But verses 15-16 are just an analogy to say that just like empty words without action is no good, so is an empty faith without deeds.. Verse 17 clearly states that the prior two verses were just an example because he starts by saying, “in the same way,” and he says a faith without any accompanying actions is dead.
So James asks us, “What good is it?” Because that’s an important question, and it’s a telling question. The problem for us is it’s a common question. What good is it? And the words are kind of common. We can use the word good to mean, “Fine, very well, OK, I agree, Not Bad. And if we’re being sarcastic, which is actually more common for me, we can use good to mean the total opposite.” and the other thing is “good” isn’t as good as “great, fantastic, marvelous, amazing”. It’s actually a pretty bland word. Sometimes we say “oh, that’s no good.” The store gave us a coupon but it expired that same day. What good is that? But when James asks , “what good is that?” it’s a more severe and important question. Other translations say, what Profit is it, what does it serve? What does one gain from that? Because James’s use of the word Good, is referring to something that God gives us. It’s not our word Good; it’s God’s good. When God created the heavens and the Earth He said it’s good. So when James asks, “What Good is it”? It’s a more serious question. Why? Because we’re talking about our faith, here. Remember what James said last chapter! Every good and perfect gift is from above. Our faith is a good and perfect gift. So it should be from above. So our faith is a Gift from God. Right? If your faith doesn’t produce any works, there’s something wrong with it. And if you say you have faith and you claim it’s from God, but your faith is no good, you’re saying that God’s gifts are no good! You’re saying that something that God gives to you is unprofitable or not much gain. Something from God is something that’s not serving you. So that’s a serious problem, if you are misrepresenting God, or his Gifts.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
So there are different types of people out there. Paul had to write to a lot of Jewish believers who would say that their faith isn’t enough to be saved. They believed that had to contribute works to their salvation. They were legalists, who were perverting the Gospel and the grace of God. Their deeds illustrated a LACK of faith because they didn’t fully trust in Jesus’ work on the cross. Even though they believed in God, they believed that they needed to appease God and add works to Jesus’s sacrifice. They believed in God, but it wasn’t the God of the Bible.
Other people say, “I don’t need deeds, I have faith”. Those people might be lying to themselves, because they don’t have a faith that produces deeds. They may live in such a way that they do not follow God, and use “grace” as a generic pardon for their general disobedience. Those people LACK faith also, but lack the faith that God’s law is Good. They lack a faith that God rewards those who follow his commands. They lack faith to give up personal creature comforts and sacrifice earthly gain in order to store up eternal treasure and permanent joy in God’s Kingdom. They also claim to believe in one God, but they don’t believe that God’s laws are worth studying and following. Based on their actions, you can see that they don’t believe in the God of the Bible either.
To those types of people James says, “you say you have faith, but that might just be empty words.” Here’s how you see faith, you see action. The way to see faith is to see action. I will show you my faith. The way I will show it to you is by acting on it. The way you illustrate your lack of faith is by doing something else.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.
Let’s talk about Abraham and Issac. Abraham had a faith in God. By faith, he offered his son to God. That was an act of faith. It takes much less faith to say, “I am going to do this my way. I am sure God’s fine with that” In both instances you express a belief in God, but only in the first one do you act as if your belief or faith is real. Verse 22 , Abraham’s faith and actions were working together. Sometimes we use faith as an excuse not to act. We say, “I am saved by faith, so I don’t need works or deeds”. That’s an example of using your faith in God to justify your disobedience towards God. So they aren’t working together. Although James wasn’t writing to the same types of people that Paul was, there were pharisees or legalists who did the opposite. They used their lack of faith in God (or Jesus) to justify their strict obedience toward God (continuing in acting out legal sacrifice and offerings). That’s another example of when your faith and your actions don’t work together.
If there are people out there who don’t believe in God, and they are focused on their own comfort and happiness, that’s at least consistent. Your Sundays are planned out because you sleep in maybe with a hangover, you play golf and watch sports religiously, never attend a church, never contribute to a charity, and don’t believe in God, you have a faith, but it isn’t the faith that James is talking about either. You have faith that there are no eternal consequences. You have faith that there is no judgement. You have faith that the Bible is a myth. You have faith that your own happiness is most important, and righteousness is meaningless. You have faith that this existence is all there is. You have faith that you can figure this out on your own. You also have actions that are working together with that faith. For that Atheist, their faith and actions are working together.
In Verse 23, James says that Abraham believed in God, and he acted like he believed in God. His faith and his works were working together because he truly believed. His belief was credited to him as righteousness. His works didn’t buy that righteousness, he was credited it because of his belief.
24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
We are considered righteous by what we do and not by faith alone. This is another verse that can be dangerous to read alone. Because it seems to preach the opposite of what Paul preaches in Ephesians 2.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We are saved by faith, not by works that none may boast. But James counters, if there are no works, if there is no action, and no evidence of belief, then your faith may be dead. And Dead Faith can’t save anyone. Paul says we are saved by our faith alone. But James says a true faith doesn’t exist as faith alone, it only exists alongside some action. If all you have is faith alone, Paul says that’s enough to save you, but James says it probably isn’t really living faith. They aren’t contradictions, but they need to be considered and thought about, before being accepted or rejected. That’s why we continue to read and study. Unless you read Ephesians, you might be confused by James. And vice versa. The funny thing is right after Paul writes about grace alone no works, so none may boast, he reminds the reader in Ephesians 2:10 that we were created by God to do good works which were prepared before time. Also, in Galatians 5:5-6
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
In the King James, it says “Faith WORKING through love.”
Paul never advocates a dead faith, he is always talking about a faith that expresses itself, or a faith that works or acts. Paul says we were created for these good works. So what kind of faith doesn’t lead us to the good works that we were created for? James would say a dead one, or one that is NOT GOOD.
When you read everything together, Paul and James don’t really disagree. Paul gets to the works, and James understands the grace. Together the two paint a picture that shows us what true faith really looks like. True Faith is alive and wonderful. God’s grace and love is sufficient in that it can save us whether we do anything good or not. But God goes beyond saving us and also blesses us in such a way that we aren’t left there with grace alone. We COULD be a bunch of no good, idle, self-centered jerks and still be saved. But God’s love produces good works in us and makes us happy and fulfilled. God’s love makes us enjoy his Word and his creation. Even when we are in happy or sad times, we still can experience God’s Joy. Even though our salvation is based on grace alone, our lives are never intended to stop there. If our lives were all “grace alone”, we wouldn’t need any love or compassion. We wouldn’t need any fruits of the spirit or growth. We wouldn’t need any purpose. But we have a purpose, and it’s to experience God’s presence in our lives and grow in those Good works, that God had preordained for us to do.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
We don’t know much about Rahab, except for her questionable profession. Her life probably did not seem all that noteworthy to anybody in Jericho. Her story would have been one that people embarrassingly glossed over or joked about. But God had a plan for her. She and many of the others in Jericho heard about the newly freed Isrealites. She had heard about their escape from the Egyptian slavery, the parting of the Red Sea, and their military conquest over the Amorite kings. She had seen evidence that they had God on their side, and when she spoke to the spies, she affirmed that she had Faith that the God of Israel was lord of heaven above and earth below. She wanted to help God’s people. Primarily for her and her family’s protection. She wasn’t fearful of the army, but because she believed in the Strength of the God who empowered that army. The book of Joshua says “Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.” She and her family were adopted into God’s family. She became an Israelite. She took all of her past and turned away from it. All the trajectory of her life, and changed direction. The book of Hebrews explains that “By faith Rahab welcomed the spies.” James said she was considered righteous for what she had done. So she had faith in God’s power and lordship and character. And that faith was alive because it WORKED or ACTED or Expressed itself through her life. That faith worked in her and changed her actions. It changed her allegiance, it changed her nationality, and it changed her identity. When faith is alive it starts working, we start to learn our true identity and our true purpose. We are saved by grace alone, through faith. But we are blessed with a living faith that will work and change and grow us.