SHOW ME YOUR FAITH
James 2:14-26
9/07/2003
I once heard someone ask, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” I believe that it was St. Augustine who said, “Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.” Good works do not save, we are saved by grace through faith, but it is not enough to claim faith; there should be some evidence to prove your claim.
I could tell you that I have pets, and even if you were to come over to my house and not see our two dogs and one old cat, you will still see the evidence of them by their toys, their food bowls, the water dish in the kitchen and the litter box. We can claim that we have faith all day long, but there should be some evidence to prove it. There should be some evidence to back up our claim.
This morning, we are going to continue our look at James’ teachings, which we began last Sunday, that there should be something substantial in our lives to back up our claim that we have faith in Jesus Christ. I’m going to read it from Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Message. (READ JAMES 2: 14-26)
Faith should produce actions of faith in our lives. If there are no actions, then according to James, our faith is dead, useless, and powerless. And if our faith is dead, useless, and powerless, then we are still bound to our sins, and have fooled ourselves.
We see in the first couple of verses that anyone can have a faith who simply believes the facts. It is the faith of the historian. He accepts the reality of what has happened in the past, but he doesn’t see how that action in the past affects his life today, so he doesn’t do anything about those facts. This kind of faith – a faith that simply believes the facts but never acts on them cannot . . . SAVE:
Verse 14: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” It is not the facts of the Gospel – the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus – that saves us. Those facts tell us who Jesus is, the sinless Son of God who died to pay for our sins. Then once we know who Jesus is and what He did for us, only then we can place our faith in Him! That is what saves us.
Let’s say you were drowning, and someone threw you a life preserver. Now if you didn’t know what a life preserver was then you wouldn’t know that it could save your life, but even if you did know what a life preserver was, if you didn’t believe that it could save your life, then you would never reach out to grab it. However, when you know what it is, and you have faith in what it can do, then you will have works, reaching out and grabbing onto the life preserver. (PAUSE)
A faith that only believes the facts but doesn’t act on them can’t SATISFY. Knowledge about Jesus will never satisfy. Only a relationship with Jesus can satisfy. Christianity is not religion, ritual, laws or rules, it’s a relationship with Jesus Christ.
And faith can’t SHOW. Verse 18: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.’” Knowledge about Jesus can never change you on its own. But once you place your complete faith in Him, He changes you, which produces works in your life. By those works, people can see the reality of your faith.
The scripture says even demons know all the facts about Jesus. They had seen Jesus do miracles, signs, and wonders. They knew His power and His character. Their knowledge of God makes them shake with fear, but it doesn’t save them.
The most dangerous place that you can be in is to know all about God and know how to get saved, but never personally place your complete faith in Jesus Christ. And there are a lot of people in the world, who attend church, and know about Jesus, but they aren’t saved. They don’t have eternal life, but instead have fooled themselves.
In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven (Matt. 7:21-23). So the question is, “How do we know if our faith is genuine?” Well, James deals with that question; he gives us some characteristics or tests of true faith.
True faith will . . .
1) Lead you to repentance. Last week’s passage from James chapter 1 reminded us, in verse 21: “Rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.”
It will cause you to turn from your sins, and surrender your life to Christ. Now I’m not saying that a Christian will never sin, the Bible is clear that we as Christians will struggle with sin until the day we go to be with the Lord. But it also clearly teaches that Christians should not be dominated by sin, nor practicing sin, or living sinful lifestyles.
Today it’s hard to tell the Christian apart from the world. They’re doing the same things, dressing in the same clothes, talking the same way, and living the same lifestyles. Many in the church today haven’t stood for anything in so long that now they’ll fall for anything. They’ve become so open-minded that their brains have fallen out.
It seems like today we’re telling Jesus that we want Him to be our Savior, but not our Lord. We’re saying, “Not Thy will, but my will be done.” Now no one would probably come out and say that, but our actions show it loud and clear. (If I’m not preaching to you, that’s great, just nudge your neighbor and say, “he’s preaching to you, you know.”) (PAUSE)
2) True faith will not only help you turn from your sins, it will help you be obedient. Remember the words from last week, “Be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” We are given very specific commands in the Bible; one of them is known as the great commission. Go into all the world and make disciples. Jesus wasn’t just talking to Peter, James, and John. He wasn’t just talking to Paul, Silas, or Timothy. He was talking to all who believe in Him.
Do you say (or think), “Well I don’t know how to make disciples.” That’s probably because you’ve never been discipled yourself. And that’s on us ministers. Pastors are not only supposed to preach the Gospel, but Ephesians tells us that we are to equip the saints for the works of ministry. And it’s obvious that a lot of preachers have dropped the ball. They weren’t doers of the Word.
True faith will also make you acceptable to God. The apostle Paul says in the book of Romans “A person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” (Rom. 3:28) Now some will say, “Wait a minute, that’s not what James is saying in James chapter 2:21-24,” where he’s talking about Abraham did by following God’s orders to sacrifice his son on the altar. And I would say, “Oh yes it is.”
We have to keep in mind that the focus of this passage is proving a person’s claim to have true faith. That’s why James says what he says in vs. 14, “What good is it if you say your have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” But you go on down to vs. 18 and James clarifies it. “But someone will say, ‘you have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works and I by my works will show you my faith.”
Your faith, and only your faith justifies you, or makes you acceptable to God, but the works of your faith prove its genuineness. They don’t prove it to God, He already knows if it’s genuine, but our works prove it to ourselves and sets an example to others.
In our courts of law, sometimes innocent people have been accused of crimes. They and God knew that they were innocent, but that wasn’t enough. They needed to convince a jury that they were innocent. The evidence had to be brought forth in such a way that the jury could see where that person stood.
When Paul said, “man is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law,” he was talking about the specific duties that had to be done in Jewish law to make a person acceptable to God. He is talking against those who try to be saved by deeds instead of true faith. When James says that men are justified by works, he is speaking of those who confuse mere intellectual acknowledgment of the facts with true faith.
As a church leader, James had seen a lot of shallow faith. In the beginning of the church, the faith of the people had been genuine. He had watched as people gave up all their possessions in order to help take care of the needs of other people within the church. He had seen people die rather than deny their faith in Jesus Christ. But now, near the end of his life, James saw others who claimed to have a relationship with Jesus, but their lives never bore any fruit as a result of that relationship.
It is faith apart from works that saves you and makes you acceptable to God, but it is faith producing works that proves that you are righteous before God. True faith is not chanting some mantra over and over again hoping that you will get healed or blessed. It’s not following a bunch of rules and rituals. True faith is totally trusting in Jesus Christ. It’s believing in Him and in what He has said, and then acting upon your beliefs.
True faith will save you from your sins. It will satisfy your longing to be in a right relationship with God. And it will show the world you are His child. True faith will also help you to be obedient, and when you falter, it will lead you to repentance and make you acceptable to God. And true faith will always be demonstrated by works.
Let me share with you a story I received a while back that illustrates faith. A mountain climber had always dreamed of climbing the highest mountain. After years of preparation, he decided to do it. Since he wanted all the glory to himself, he chose to do it alone.
The day went very well and when he was just a few feet from the top he noticed that night had fallen and it was very dark. There was no moon, no stars, no clouds. He couldn’t see anything, but he was confident so he decided to continue on to the top and stay the night there.
With his next step, he slipped and began falling downward at a great speed. He could only see black spots and feel the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity. He kept falling, and in those moments of great fear, he recalled all the good and bad moments of his life.
He was now thinking how close to death he was when all of a sudden the rope tied around his waist pulled on him very hard. His body was literally hanging in the air. Only the rope was holding him and at this moment of stillness, he had no other choice but to scream, “HELP ME, GOD!”
All of a sudden, a deep voice coming from the sky answered, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?”
“SAVE ME, GOD!”
God asked, “DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE I CAN SAVE YOU?”
“OF COURSE I DO!” the man answered.
“THEN CUT OFF THE ROPE TIED TO YOUR WAIST,” God said.
There was a moment of silence, then the man decided to hold on to that rope with all the strength he had left.
The next day, a rescue team found the man, dead and frozen, his body hanging, his fists tightly clenched around a rope tied to his waist—ONLY TEN FEET AWAY FROM THE GROUND.
The person who thinks that he or she can get saved and go live that same lifestyle that they were living before they got saved is a fool. James says that they are deceiving themselves. It would be the same as a person who continued to live in poverty even after they won a million dollars. Their new standing will cause them to take action and leave their past behind. They’re going to go out and spend money!
No one has to change their life before they come to Jesus, in fact, you can’t change your life without coming to Jesus, but once you do come to Him, then He will change your life and make you want to leave your past behind.
In Luke chapter 18 verse 7 and 8 Jesus says, “Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
So the question for everyone here today is; How attached are YOU to your rope? Have you let go and completely trusted in Jesus Christ? If so, what evidence can you see in your own life that you have true faith? What evidence can others see? If there isn’t any, then why isn’t there?
If you examine yourself and find that there is no true faith, then come forward this morning, and place your whole weight on Jesus. Take Him as your savior. Place your complete faith in Him.
2. If you examine yourself and find that there is true faith, but it is not showing itself, then I would challenge you to come and seek God’s forgiveness, and give over total control of your life to Him.
Jesus said, “If you confess Me before men then I will confess you before My Father in heaven.” He went to the cross publicly for you, and one of the best evidence of true faith is kneeling before the cross publicly for Him, so as we sing #491 in the Blue Hymnal, won’t you come forward this morning?
BENEDICTION: Go now to share Jesus Christ with your voice, that all may hear the good news of his love. Go to share Jesus with your hands, that others may sense the gospel in your works and in your touch. And go to share Jesus with all your heart, that in your life, others may see the Spirit of Christ living and working among us.
