Welcome to the Islands Christian Church podcast.
Subscribe to hear a new episode every week.
Thanks for joining us. All righty, we're going to jump
into our talk now. If you have your Bibles, James,
chapter 2 verses 14 through 26 is where we're going to be.
So I like to say something about myself.
I think it's quite honest. I like to say that one of my
biggest problems that I have as a person is I talk a good game.
Anybody want to agree with that? So yes, Steven, you talk a good
game, like one of my biggest easy Claire, OK, like one of my
somebody Claire's looking for a place to live.
No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, here's the thing,
I talk a big game. I, I can, I can do this, right?
I just matter of fact, when I was growing up, I always had
friends of mine that were bigger than me, you know what I mean?
And so like I would, I would, I would run my mouth with them
because I feel like I was safe, you know, because I could talk a
good game and then I could, I could run and they would take
care of the business. The problem is, is, you know,
talk is cheap, right? That's what we say in our
culture, talk is cheap. We even have another saying you
can talk the talk, but can you, right?
We all know it, right? We just kind of know it on some
level. We all live with this tension
inside of us. We say things like my marriage
is very important to me, but then our actions betray that
statement. We say things like I'm going to
be a great, I'm going to be a better father for my children.
But then we spend more time with our buddies than we do with our
kids, right? So we understand this tension,
this tension of claiming something but never producing
any visible action to support those claims.
And if nothing ever materializes from your claims, then it is
right for you and for others around you to question those
claims. In other words, if I tell my
wife Marianne, I'm going to be a better husband, I'm going to
start doing this and I'm going to do the dishes more and I'm
going to do this more and I'm going to.
And then two or three weeks go by and I make 0 movement towards
those claims. It is in her right to question
that, right? It is normal for us to question.
Now, in our text this morning, James directly confronts this
tension. He doesn't do this this morning
in a way that shames us. He doesn't do this in a way that
tells us to try harder or to be better.
We all know that those are not useful things.
And I know that for a lot of you, that's what you think
religion is and what Christianity is.
But Christianity is not try harder and be better, and James
is not going to do that today. What James is going to do today
with the text is he's going to encourage you to look inwardly
and ask hard questions about yourself, questions about the
claims that you believe and how your actions are aligning with
those claims. All right, he just got James is
going to say to us, hey, take a little inventory of your life
and decide if the things you claim you believe, are they
aligning with the actions of your life.
Now, last weekend we said that God is the one who plants the
gospel in US and we are the ones who care for or tend to our
faith. That's what we said.
We tend to our faith and we talked about the ways we tend to
our faith, right? Well, today this is what we're
going to see. We're going to see that when you
care for your faith and you tend to your faith, your faith will
be visible. Your faith will be visible.
So that's the big idea. So if you take notes, if you
write things down, that's it right there.
A faith that's cared for is visible.
You see it and other people see it.
Remember, for James, the question is not, do you believe
in Jesus? No, the question for James is,
has the gospel taken root in your life and has it produced
any fruit in your living? Has the gospel produced?
Has the gospel taken root in your life and has it produced
any fruit in your living? All right, so James chapter 2,
verses 14 through 26, we're just going to read through this.
I know it's a chunk of Scripture, but when you're
preaching through a book of the Bible, this is what you have to
do unless you want to take two years to do it.
So this is here we go, you ready?
14 through 26 it says What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?
That's a question. What good is it, my brothers and
sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds, can
such faith save them? Another question, suppose a
brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.
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?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied
by action, is dead. But someone will say, well, you
have faith and I have deeds. Well, show me your faith without
deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
You believe that there is one God good.
Even the demons believe that. And shudder, you foolish person,
do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he
did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together,
and his faith was made complete by what he did 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. You see that a person is
considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not Rahab the prostitute considered
righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies
and sent them off in a different direction?
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds
is dead. By the way, it's just a
rhetorical masterpiece. Like if you like to, it's just,
it is a rhetoric. Like read it over and over again
those sections. It's just a piece of rhetorical
masterpiece. So there's three ideas we're
going to unpack from this text. So if you take notes, here's the
three ideas #1 faith is visible #2 faith goes beyond right
doctrine, so #1 faith is visible #2 faith goes beyond right
doctrine, and #3 faith pursues obedience.
Faith pursues obedience. So faith is visible.
Faith goes beyond right doctrine, and faith pursues
obedience. So #1 faith is visible.
Verses 14 through 17 So faith the claims that you believe in
Jesus and believe in God, all the claims we have, If it has no
accompanying action, then according to James, it is
useless. It is no use at all.
I don't know if you guys know this or not, but psychologists
have discovered that our brains have the ability to trick us and
to think we're making progress. They have discovered that just
by saying you're going to do something out loud gives you a
little dopamine hit that lets you believe you've already made
some progress towards that thing you're going to do.
So for example, you could say I'm going to get in shape, I'm
going to get fit, right? And you by saying it out loud to
another person or even to yourself, your brain already
gets a little dopamine hit for you to kind of feel like you've
made some progress to getting fit and getting in shape.
You could say, I'm going to read more books this year.
And like just the saying, it tricks your brain.
And here's the thing though, if I never actually go get in
shape, if I ever actually go and work on my fitness, have I made
any progress towards that? Absolutely not.
If I don't start reading more books in the year, I've not made
any progress towards that. And so while I'm making a claim
and I'm feeling a bit of a dopamine hit, like I'm making
progress, the reality is we all know instinctively that if I
don't go to the gym or if I don't start eating better and if
I don't start reading more books, then I'm, it doesn't
matter what I feel, right? It doesn't matter what what the
dopamine's doing inside of me. It doesn't matter how good I
feel about myself. If I'm not taking some action,
then the claims are useless. This is what James is saying.
James is saying the same thing happens spiritually.
He says if I claim to have faith but nothing visible, I mean
nothing visible ever emerges from that faith, then my claim
is useless. It doesn't matter if when I tell
somebody I believe in Jesus. It doesn't matter if I say,
well, I go to church and I believe in God.
It doesn't matter if that makes me feel good for James.
If there's no visible nothing visible to exhibit that faith,
then the claim is useless. And then James, remember, this
starts with a question, all right?
And then he has another question.
He says, can such faith save? Wow, what a hard question.
Like that's an in your face question.
Can such faith save? What is James doing there?
OK, he says faith without visible manifestation, without
visible action. He says that faith is dead.
It's useless. It's basically non existent.
And then he asked the question, can that faith save?
And the implied answer is what? No, it can't.
Well, why not? Because for James, faith without
visible manifestation is not faith.
It's more it's we say it's dead. No, that means it doesn't.
What is something that's dead? Something that's dead is not
existent. So for James, such a faith can't
save because such a faith doesn't exist at all.
Then James, after he asked that question, can such a faith save?
Well, he says no, that a faith that's not visible can't save
because a faith that's not visible is not faith, period.
All right. And then he has this analogy
where he uses this analogy that we all instinctively understand.
He describes someone without clothing and without daily food.
I love the fact that he uses the word daily there without daily
food. In other words, the situation is
dire, OK. And he says this person doesn't
have clothes and so they're naked and hungry.
And the assumption is they're going to be hungry tomorrow
unless someone steps in and helps them.
OK, And the the analogy, the the person who sees them naked and
hungry in the analogy, what does the person say to them?
To this naked hungry man? What is what?
What does the person say to them?
Go in peace, keep warm and well fed.
It's like a spit in the face, right?
You're naked and hungry. Go have some peace.
Now this is an an analogy, all right, so check this out.
These are compassionate sounding words.
They the sentiment of the person who said go in peace, keep warm
and well fed. That sentiment is probably
genuine. They genuinely feel empathy.
But James uses this analogy to say this Words are cheap.
Words are cheap. If there's no visible action
that follows those words, then those words are useless to a
person in need. Now James is using this analogy
about how useless the words are to a person in need.
To say the same thing is true about our faith, your faith, and
my faith. Even if it feels, feels a lot.
We are all into feelings, right? In our culture, we love
feelings. It's all about feelings.
Even if my faith feels a lot. Even if my faith talks a lot.
I mean, I'm a preacher. We talk a lot, OK, So even if my
faith feels a lot, even if, even even if my faith is talkative
and speaks a lot. But if my faith never moves,
James says, it is as useless as a man who looks at a naked
hungry man and says go in peace, be fed and keep war.
James is saying that faith that never becomes visible is
useless, and this is the point of the analogy.
It's not mainly about compassion, though certainly we
as Jesus followers should be compassionate toward other
people. The point of the analogy is
about the visibility of faith and the visibility of
compassion. So, so my point, the point is,
hey, if you claim to have compassion, then you'll have
some action to go with it. If you claim to have faith, then
you'll have some action to go with it.
This is what James is saying. Eventually, your faith will
become visible. Real faith will change the way
you speak. It will it will change the the
way you treat people. It will change the way you
respond to God's promptings in your life.
It'll change the way that you trust God.
It'll change the way you obey. You see, faith is more than
sentiment. Faith is visible.
So first of all #1 faith is visible.
When we tend to and we care for our faith, it will be visible.
That's number one. Number two, faith goes beyond
right doctrine. When you tend to and care for
your faith, you will see that faith goes beyond right
doctrine. Verses 18 and 19.
In verse 19, James says this great saying.
He says you believe that there is one God good.
Even the demons believe that and shudder.
Now, what's he, what's he's doing here rhetorically is in
the middle of this little section, he's kind of throwing a
bomb. He's throwing a rhetorical bomb
right in the middle of his writing to say, hey, notice
this, pay attention to what I'm doing.
I'm trying to get your attention.
So what James is doing is he's saying, hey, it's possible for
you and I to know true things about God and still not actually
have faith in God. That's hard to hear, I know.
So it's possible to to know good doctrine and not have trust in
your heavenly Father. What James is saying is that
demons are not atheist. Demons are not atheist.
They're not. They're not confused about
whether God exists. They're not confused about who
Jesus is. They know God is real.
They know he's powerful. Go read the Gospel of Mark.
There's a couple scenes where Jesus interacts with people who
are possessed by demons and they say Jesus, son of the Most high,
what are you going to do with us?
Like everybody else is trying to figure out how to figure out who
Jesus is, the demon possessed people or like we know exactly
who you are. So James is forcing us to make a
distinction between believing true things about Jesus and
trusting Jesus with our lives. These are two different things.
You believe there's one God. In other words, you have good
doctrine. You you're orthodox, you have a
good understanding of the Scriptures.
You know a lot of stuff about God.
You've read the Bible, You have good understanding.
Yes. So do demons that that is not
equal trust in Jesus. That is not equal
transformation. That is not equal.
A life submitted to Christ. Now, I want to be really clear
here because I don't want you to walk out hearing something I
didn't say. James is not saying doctrine
doesn't matter. He's not saying that at all.
Doctrine matters deeply. What you believe about God, sin,
salvation, grace, the cross, what you believe about the
resurrection, all that matters because what we believe shapes
how we live. It shapes what we understand.
It shapes everything. This is not one of those moments
where you need to hear me saying, oh, doctrine doesn't
matter, just go out and be a good person.
That is absolutely not what I'm saying.
Doctrine certainly matters. What you believe is important.
But James is warning us that we can confuse right doctrine with
transformational faith. We can assume.
We can assume that because we have the right beliefs about
stuff that will have transformation in our lives.
If you take notes, write this down.
I think this sums it up in a sentence.
Correct doctrine is necessary for faith.
It's necessary for faith, but it is not sufficient for faith.
It is not sufficient for faith. Living faith is more than just
knowing true things about Jesus. Living faith trusts Jesus,
follows Jesus, surrenders to Jesus, obeys.
Jesus doesn't just understand the truth, but moves because of
the truth. So first of all, faith is
visible. And secondly, faith is more than
right doctrine. And then lastly, faith will
pursue obedience. Verses 20 through 26, faith will
pursue obedience. DA Carson says faith becomes
true faith or complete faith when it is joined to obedience
to Christ. And this is exactly what James
is arguing in verses 20 through 26.
Faith in works cannot be separated.
You can't say well I have faith and well I have works.
No, James is saying they can't be separated.
They belong together, not because your good works create
faith, but because living faith produces good works.
Let me say that again, because I think he can go by us without,
without thinking. Good works and faith are, are
inseparable. They're, they're, they're
together not because our good works create our faith.
No, the opposite. They are inseparable because
faith will always produce good works.
Always. Living faith produces obedience.
Obedience. What is that?
If you can narrow it down to just one statement, obedience is
simply radical trust in God. It's just radical trust in God.
It's believing that God is good, that God will come through for
me, that God is wise, that I can rely on God.
And then I can trust God so much that I will order my life around
His ways of doing things. I will be convinced that His
ways of doing things are the best ways of doing things.
I'll trust him and I'll be obedient.
This is what James is saying. Faith pursues obedience to God.
And then he gives 2 examples which are the strangest thing to
me. Again, rhetorically genius,
strangest thing. Of these two examples, one
example is a guy named Abraham. Can we all agree Abraham's kind
of a big deal? Come on, we all grew up Father
Abraham who sung this had many sons.
Many sons had father Abraham. And I am 1.
Abraham's kind of a big deal, right?
That's one example. Father of the faith left Irv,
you know, and went to a land I will show you and, you know,
just champion of the faith. And then the other example is a
Gentile prostitute. There's a song about her.
Rahab. Rahab I don't, I don't anybody
sing a song about I don't know what a crazy thing, just think
about writing for a second. He uses 2 examples.
Who could not be more different. Abraham, the father of the
faith. Rahab, the gentile woman with a
really complicated past. Abraham is respected.
Rahab is completely unexpected to show up in the book of James.
Abraham is the center of Israel's story.
Rahab is someone that some of you here are going, I don't know
who that is. You know who Abraham is, but
you're not sure who Rahab is. But here she is showing up.
You should go read. You should go read about her.
Google her here. She is showing up in the book of
James. And James puts them side by side
because Abraham and Rahab show us the same thing.
Ready Abraham and Rahab show us that living faith always results
in visual obedience. Faith always results in visual
trust filled obedience to God. Abraham offered Isaac in
obedience to God in Genesis chapter 22.
Now this is important. Genesis chapter 22, he offers
Isaac in obedience to God. But it is in Genesis 15, it is
in Genesis 15 that Abraham is declared righteous before God
based on his faith. OK?
So it is not his act of offering Isaac in a sacrifice that makes
him righteous. No, that's not that's not what's
going on here at all. In Genesis 15, he's declared
righteous because of his faith. When he offers Isaac, that's not
him becoming righteous, that that's him revealing his faith.
That's not him getting faith, that's him showing his faith.
He obeyed because he trusted God.
He believed he had all that happening internally, but it
resulted in an action. This is why James says Abraham's
faith was made complete. Go back and read this.
It says his faith was made complete.
That's interesting to me. It was made.
It was made complete by what he did.
By offering Isaac and a sacrifice, his faith was made
complete. Notice that James didn't say his
faith was generated or created or his faith started.
His faith didn't start with his obedience.
His faith was made complete or brought to fruition or made
visible or brought to maturity through his obedience.
In other words, Abraham's faith was not just an internal belief.
It became visible in obedience. And Rahab shows us the same
thing. She trusted the God of Israel.
And how did that trust become visible?
When she protected the spies? They came into her home.
She risked her life for them. She put forth visible obedience.
So James is not saying this is important.
Hear me say this. James is not saying that we earn
our salvation through good works.
He is saying that our works and our deeds spring forth from our
faith. Our works and deeds do not
produce or create our faith. They are the result of our
faith. Works are the root of your
salvation. They are the fruit of your
faith. And this is how James and Paul
fit perfectly together in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 89
and 10, Paul says this for it is by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not from yourselves.
It is the gift of God. The faith is a gift from God,
not by works so that no one can boast.
And then in verse 10, Paul says, for we you are God's handiwork
created in Christ Jesus to do what everybody say it to do what
good works you were created in Christ Jesus to do what?
Say it again, good works which God prepared in advance for us
to do. So Paul and James write 2 very
different things it seems, but they're not different.
They're not contradictory at all.
Paul is focusing on how faith is received.
How is faith received as a gift? God plants faith in you.
Faith is a gift from God. That's what Paul focuses on.
James, on the other hand, focuses on what that faith
produces. So for Paul, it's like, how did
you get faith? God gave it to you as a gift.
For James, it's like when now that God gave you this faith,
what's happening? What's going on?
How is it visible? What is it producing?
Paul says works do not save us. James says saving faith never
remains without good works. In other words, Paul says you
can only be saved by placing your faith in Christ.
And James says and if you've placed your faith in Christ,
your faith will be visible in your life.
These two writers are not enemies.
They are are two sides of the same gospel truth.
So the call on believers life is for you and I not to try to
manufacture some type of righteousness for God or try to
convince people we're good. No, the call on your life today
is simply to trust God deeply, to believe that He's given you
the gift of faith, and then trust Him deeply enough to move
in that faith and obey Him where He's leading you.
Abraham did that, Rahab did that.
And by the grace of God, my friend, through the faith that
God has given you, you can do it as well.
You can trust God deeply and your faith will be visible.
Not perfectly, not instantly, and never to convince him you're
good enough. But as you trust God, your faith
will move. It will become visible.
It will, it will pursue obedience because that's what
faith is cared for does. It happens over time.
I've been following Jesus a long time, and I long for obedience
more now than I did just six months ago and six years ago and
10 years ago, because that's the work the Spirit is doing inside
of us as we care for and tend to our faith.
Our faith will pursue obedience. As we wrap up.
The book of Hebrews in chapter 12 tells us this.
I love this. It says 1st 2.
It says fixing our eyes on Jesus.
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus the
pioneer and perfector of our faith.
For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is the pioneer and
perfector of our faith. He's the founder, He's the
author. How's that?
Well, it's because Jesus did exactly what we're talking about
today. He walked in radical obedience
to his Father, even to the point of death.
And death on a cross. You see, for Jesus, he believed
his Father was trustworthy to a ruthless extent.
He was staring down Calvary, and he placed his life fully in the
hand of his heavenly Father. Where Adam failed to trust God,
Jesus trusted him completely. Where I struggle to obey, and
where you struggle to obey, Jesus obeyed perfectly.
And now because of his trust in God, he not only saves you from
your sin and saves me from my sin, but Jesus leads us into
deeper trust in our Heavenly Father.
So this morning, whether your faith is weak, feeble, or if
your faith feels strong and deep, you need to know this.
Jesus is the author of your faith.
He is the perfector of your faith.
In other words, because you have faith in Jesus Christ, he is
working in you right now to produce something that in you
that can only be produced by him, by his work in you.
And it's not perfection. So don't pursue perfection.
It's not performative. It's not to convince anyone else
that you're a good Christian, die to that.
It's not works to convince God you're a good person.
So much deeper. It's Christ Jesus himself
working in you because He loves you and wants nothing but the
very best for you, and He's leading you to that place.
This is the work Jesus is doing in you, and one day you will
arrive to this place in your walk with Him where you find
that you genuinely love all that is good and holy, where you
genuine, genuinely love all that is righteous, all that is
aligned with Christ's heart. You would genuinely love that
and despise the evil and the darkness.
That's the work He's doing. Your role is to tend to it, care
for, trust him ruthlessly. Can we stand together and pray?
Father, I'll thank you for these men and women who sit in this
room and, and, and, and. Let me teach them.
I'm honored and grateful. I'm so thankful I get to do
this, and I pray that we might be men and women who just trust
you deeply, Jesus. They remember that you are the
author and you are the pioneer. You are the founder.
You are the perfector of our faith.
You will have what's yours, Jesus, and I'm so thankful that
you will, because I am yours. We are yours.
Go with us as we leave this place today, help us to be men
and women who do not make claims of faith, but who have faith
that's visible and faith that pursues obedience.
We pray this for us in the name of Christ, Amen.
Thank you, friends, love you. See you back here next Sunday.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe so you
hear a new episode every week. You can also worship with us in
person in Savannah, GA or watch our live stream on Facebook and
YouTube every Sunday at 9:15. Have a great week.