“THE WORKS OF FAITH”
JAMES 2:14-26
I. Introduction
Christianity – biblical Christianity – is different from any other religion that exists (or has ever existed) on this earth. All true Christians believe that. But what makes it different? Is it that the founder of Christianity is alive, while Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, and every other person normally associated with the founding of a religion is dead? That certainly is a big difference. But there is an even bigger one.
And it is simply this: Christianity – biblical Christianity – is the only religion that teaches salvation is solely and completely by faith, not by works. All of the work that needs to be done in order for us to be saved has been done. God Himself has done it, and He has told us all about it in the Bible. There’s nothing we can do to enhance it or to improve it. We can neither correct it nor amend it. And we can’t make it better because it’s already perfect.
So all that God requires of us is that we believe what He has told us, that we embrace it, and that we trust Him, and Him alone to save us. That is saving faith, and the writer of Hebrews defines it and then tells us that such faith is the only thing that pleases God.
Hebrews 11:1, 6a
1 …faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…
6a And without faith it is impossible to please God…
This is the faith – faith alone in Christ alone – that differentiates biblical Christianity from every other religion. And I emphasize the word “biblical” because far too much of what casually passes for Christianity today is merely masquerading as biblical Christianity.
But why do so many people fall for it? They fall for it because they want to. They fall for it because, salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, when fully understood for what it is, means that they have no part in earning their own salvation. It means that their eternal destiny isn’t in their own hands. It’s in God’s hands. And man’s pride rebels at that.
Salvation by faith means no salvation by works. But the unvarnished truth is that salvation by works seems right in the eyes of sinful man. That’s because one of sinful man’s most basic desires is to control his own destiny. Salvation by works appeals to that desire. But there’s something else. All people, whether they’re religious or not, have an innate sense of right and wrong. It’s that innate sense of right and wrong that drives the conviction that their salvation should be based on their “good works” outweighing their “bad works.”
Therefore, whenever man invents a religion, or whenever he finds one he likes, it always, always involves some form of salvation by works. And that is why we can say that “good works” is the basis upon which every religion except biblical Christianity is built.
Again, to mind of sinful man, the way to salvation is by the way of works. It seems right, doesn’t it? But listen to the words of the wise King Solomon.
Proverbs 14:12; 12:15
12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
15 They way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
From where does the wise man get his counsel? He gets it from the Bible. And while the Bible clearly and forcefully teaches that no one can be saved by doing good works, it just as clearly and forcefully teaches that everyone who is saved lives a life filled with good works.
That seems to be a simple enough distinction, but the misinformation, the misunderstanding, and the vast amount of confusion that exists over the relationship between faith and works is immense. So this morning we are going to look to the Lord Jesus’ half-brother, James, to help us sort it all out and clear up any confusion that may yet linger among us.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
II. Review
Working our way through Luke’s gospel, we’ve come to the place where Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. He and His disciples have come to the city of Jericho. While passing through the city Jesus performs His last recorded miracle before the crucifixion. He restores the eyesight of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Then, a short time later, while still in Jericho, He calls a tax-gatherer by the name of Zaccheus to Himself and announces that the man is saved.
In both cases, a cursory reading of the passages, might lead you to think that the blind man and the tax-gatherer were saved because of what they had done – salvation by works. But, of course, that wasn’t the case at all. Both Bartimaeus and Zaccheus were saved by faith completely apart from works. What was seen in them was the works of salvation, not the salvation of works. A quick review of those two passages will reveal what actually hap-pened. In both cases it was a three-step process that followed the biblical order.
• First, the God blessed both Bartimaeus and Zaccheus with the gift of saving faith.
• Second, both Bartimaeus and Zaccheus responded to God’s gift of saving faith by joyfully receiving Christ.
• Third, both Bartimaeus and Zaccheus took action. Bartimaeus began to follow Jesus, and Zaccheus began to turn away from his worldly wealth and power. But neither of those “works,” saved them. On the contrary, doing those things – following Jesus and turning away from the world – demonstrated true repentance, the true repentance that always accompanies true salvation.
So let me say it again. In the cases of Bartimaeus and Zaccheus, those things that they did were the works of salvation, not the salvation of works. Turn with me to Luke 18:38.
Luke 18:38
38 And (Bartimaeus) called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Knowing who Jesus is and calling on Him results in saving faith. V. 42 proves it.
*Luke 18:42
42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”
The blessings of saving faith are evident. V. 43 proves it.
Luke 18:43
43 And immediately (Bartimaeus) regained his sight, and began following (Jesus), glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.
So the formerly blind man follows Jesus, not to earn his salvation, but because of it. Now consider the tax-gatherer. Turn to Luke 19:4.
Luke 19:4
4 And (Zachheus) ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.
Believing who Jesus really is and the need to get close to Him and be blessed by Him are evidence of saving faith. V. 6 proves it.
Luke 19:6
6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him (Jesus) gladly.
As a result of saving faith the tax-gatherer joyfully receives Christ. Vv. 8-9 prove it.
Luke 19:8-9a
8 And Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my posses-sions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
9a And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house…”
From this moment on, the tax-gatherer’s life is changed, not so that he can begin to work for his salvation, but so that he can begin to do the works of his salvation. Thus, authentic faith is active faith. And active faith is visible faith. And that brings us to this morning’s text.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
III. Text
James 2:14-26 are among the most consistently misinterpreted, misunderstood, and misap-plied verses in the entire NT. This is especially true when they are taken out of context. But when they are carefully read, studied, and compared with other Scripture, they become per-fectly clear and understandable. And that is a good thing because James 2:14-26 is critical to our understanding of true religion, false religion, and the salvation of our eternal souls.
*James 2:14-26 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
14 What use it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 Even so faith, if it has no works is dead, being by itself.
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
As we go through this passage we need to keep this one fact in mind. The only “work” God requires of us is the “work of faith” in Christ. Jesus said so when He was asked…
John 6:28b-29
28b “What shall we do, that we may work the works (plural) of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work (singular) of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
Some people like to argue that faith is a human work, but it’s the work of God. It cannot be a human work. If it were a human work there would be no need for divine grace and we could all go out and start working our way to heaven. But Ephesians 2:8-9 tell us plainly that our salvation is, “by grace” and “not as a result of works.”
Suppose you receive an anonymous check for $1000. The money may be yours, but it’s no good until you endorse the check. Did you earn the money? No! Is the act of endorsing the check work? No! The gift was offered, but until you signed for it, it wasn’t yours. In a sim-ilar way, your faith is how you receive Christ, but your faith is not a work.
Now let me ask you a question. “Is your faith genuine?” “Yes,” you say, “it is.” Well, I hear what you say. I have your testimony. I want to believe you. But what evidence do I have? How do I know that your faith is real? So I ask another question. “What have you done to demonstrate the genuineness of your faith?” Do you see the problem here?
I may want to believe your testimony, but unless and until I see evidence of your faith, I can’t know for sure if you have saving faith at all. This is the issue that James deals with in the passage that is before us this morning. And he cuts right to it.
*James 2:14
14 What use it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
What faith is James talking about here? He is talking about the faith that we claim we have.
The context tells us that this man believes the basic elements of the gospel. He believes in the existence of God, he believes the Bible is God’s Word, he believes that Jesus is who He says He is, and he believes in His death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. So the “nuts and bolts” of this man’s belief are not in question. He believes all the right things.
The question is not whether he believes the facts. He says he does. The question is, “Does he possess any evidence to support his claim that he believes the facts?” That’s a pretty good question, isn’t it? So what would it take to display such evidence? James has already given us a partial list of things that could be used to answer that question. Among them are endurance (James 1:3), perseverance under trial (v. 12), obedience to the Word (v. 22), and compassion for the poor and needy (v. 27). In later chapters James will speak of the works of faith being seen in the control of one’s tongue, humility, truthfulness, and patience.
Those are the kinds of “works” that demonstrate and display genuine saving faith. Those are the kinds of “works” that genuine saving faith produces. So the answer to the rhetorical question at the end of James 2:14 is, “No! A faith that is claimed but produces nothing is not genuine saving faith at all.” At best it’s a faith that hasn’t been activated. It’s like a check for $1000 that hasn’t been endorsed. It may look very nice indeed, but it is worthless.
*James 2:15-17
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 Even so faith, if it has no works is dead, being by itself.
The “faith” James speaks of in v. 14 is nothing more than lip service. In v. 15 he expands on that point by giving the example of someone who is in dire need of the most fundamental necessities of life. (The Greek in v. 15 doesn’t indicate nakedness and starvation, but a lack of decent clothing and proper nutrition.) How hypocritical it is to wish such people well while doing nothing for them. A modern parallel to v. 16 might be someone who has no winter coat and tries to get by on one poor meal each day, and all you can do is say, “Have a nice day.”
James pulls no punches. In v. 17 he bluntly states a simple fact. Anyone who claims to have genuine saving faith and does what the one in v. 16 does may well have some kind of faith, but it isn’t saving faith.
It is a so-called faith that remains unverified by works, and as such, is dead. It is useless, it is worthless, and it has no redeeming value whatsoever. Such is the faith of far too many people today who would never miss church on Sunday morning. Listen, Jesus taught that genuine saving faith is to be activated so as to be put to good use.
He said that to serve others is to serve Him, and not to serve others is to forsake Him. Such service or lack of it literally identifies and defines both Jesus’ own sheep (those whom He has saved), and the goats (those whom He has not saved). Let me read just a few verses from one of the definitive passage on this subject. Jesus Himself is speaking about His Second Coming.
*Matthew 25:31, 33-40
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on His left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hun-gry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink?
38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39 ‘And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”
Jesus goes on to say the exact opposite to those on His left. Their lack of saving faith is pro-ven by their lack of the works of saving faith. So their end is not in the kingdom of God, but is in, “…the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (v. 41).” Those who enter the kingdom of God will be those who had true faith and lived it out in a life of obedience and service as opposed to those who merely claimed to believe in Jesus.
*James 2:18-20
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works
is useless?
In v. 18 James continues making his point. He reiterates that showing faith is impossible without practical evidence, a visible outworking of it. It is only a living faith that produces fruit. A faith that cannot be demonstrated is not a living faith, and as such, it produces nothing of eternal value. That kind of so-called faith is, as James has just said in v. 17, dead.
Is someone you know or love truly saved? How can you tell? They may say that they are, but the only real proof of someone’s salvation is a changed life. What one says may be open to question, but how one lives one’s life is not. That’s the salient point here.
Now James takes it even further. Acknowledging the facts about Jesus and being in agree-ment with doctrines of Christianity have no value if a person refuses to humble himself and receive Jesus. Only then is his faith activated. Think once more of that check that came in the mail. It’s in his hand. He believes in it. But unless and until he endorses it, until he acti-vates it, it remains completely worthless. But he “believes” in it, doesn’t he?
So James, with a bit of sarcasm, addresses this very thing in v. 19. He says that the demons believe it. They believe all of it. They know who God is. They know who Jesus is. They know what the Bible is. They know what sin is. They know what salvation is. They know that heaven and hell are real. They know it all and they believe it all. They also hate it all. They hate God and they are lost (and terrified). Their belief, their “faith,” if you will, is pure-ly academic. Does it produce eternal fruit? No. It merely produces death. It is a dead faith.
Such is the faith that multiplied millions profess, thinking that they will be welcomed into heaven. And they refuse to respond to James’ question in v. 20. “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” Sadly, most will not.
But James isn’t finished. Now he comes at the relationship between faith and works from another direction. He has already spoken of a dead faith that can never save. Next he will speak of a living faith that can never fail to save. His examples are Abraham, the Hebrews’ patriarch, and Rahab, a Gentile prostitute.
*James 2:21-24
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.
What? Is James contradicting himself? No, not at all! These verses must be understood in the larger context of the whole epistle. But if one ignores the rest of James’ argument, and focuses solely on these three verses, it does appear to be contradictory.
This is a classic example of what happens when we take verses out of their original context, try to build doctrine around them, and then expect to understand the Scriptures.
Here is the key to understanding James 2:14-26. In vv. 14-20 James was dealing with what genuine saving “looks like.” Such faith testifies to its genuineness by producing the fruit of good works. James wasn’t talking about the substance of the faith that saves souls.
But now, in vv. 21-26, James deals with not what genuine saving faith looks like, but what it does, what it actually accomplishes. Abraham wasn’t justified by faith because he offered up Isaac in Genesis 22. He had been justified by faith back in Genesis 15 when he believed God. It was then that God saw Abraham’s faith. But men didn’t see Abraham’s faith until he offered up Isaac. Only then was his justification proven to men. It is in that sense that Abraham was justified by works. Do you see that?
This may help. The phrase “justified by faith” relates to a believer’s standing before God. It is something God can see, but men cannot. But the phrase, “justified by works” relates to a believer’s standing before other men. Or, stated another way, God knows you that are saved because He can see the faith that is in your heart. But men cannot do that. Men can only know that you are saved by seeing the works that your faithful heart can produce.
So, in the sight of God, you are justified by faith. But, in the sight of men, you are justified by works. Both statements are true, and the only way you can know which statement is in question is to deal with it in its biblical context. Listen to James 2:21 as it’s translated in the Amplified Bible. “Was not our forefather Abraham [shown to be] justified by [his] works when he brought to the altar as an offering his own son Isaac?” That helps, doesn’t it? Abraham wasn’t saved by his works. Abraham was shown to be saved by his works.
As a result, James 2:22 says that Abraham’s salvation was “perfected.” He means that Abraham’s justification was complete. It accomplished two things. First, it saved his eter-nal soul. Second, it produced fruit, the good works God had intended it to produce. Now, understood in its proper context, James 2:24, which says, “You see that a man is (“shown to be”) justified by works, not by faith alone,” makes perfect sense, does it not? I hope so.
Rahab is James’ second example of a living faith that was shown by its actions.
*James 2:25-26
25 And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Abraham was the father of the Hebrews, a leader, a moral man, and a noble Chaldean. But Rahab was a Gentile, a common person, an immoral woman, and a degraded Canaanite. They could not have been more different. But God chose to save them both.
By the faith that God gave her and placed in her heart, Rahab acknowledged Him as the only true God. (saving faith) And by the faith she demonstrated back in Joshua 2, which is the faith that James reports here in James 2:25, we can see it as it works itself out in providing safe passage for God’s people. (the works of saving faith)
So James has made his case. Finally, in v. 26, James concludes his argument by saying that a person who professes faith, but has no works to back up his or her claim, has a false faith, a useless faith, a faith that is as lifeless as a dead body. It has no value. It has no life. It is dead. Only a vibrant, genuine, and living faith in Christ saves. That’s the only kind of faith that can produce and display true salvation for all to see.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IV. Conclusion
The sad reality is that all who profess faith in Christ are not Christians. One of Jesus’ most somber warnings addressed that very issue. He spoke of those who “say,” but do not “do.” They may look alive to men, but they are dead to God.
*Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of hea-ven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many mir-acles?’
23 “And I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
The world believes in salvation by works, but the world is wrong. Listen, good works do not contribute to your salvation, but they will always be a characteristic of it. They are never the cause of your salvation, but they are always the evidence of it. Let me close with the words of the Apostle Paul.
2 Corinthians 13:5
5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?
~ Pray ~