Examples of Living Faith
James 2:21-26
Preached by Pastor Tony Miano
Pico Canyon Community Church
April 22, 2001
Introduction: During the two weeks prior to Easter, we considered what James had to say about faith and good works—how the two are related and how the two are different. We saw how James made a clear distinction between a professed faith and a genuine faith. We also saw that James and Paul agree that the Christian is saved by faith alone, apart from good works.
Today we’re going to finish our study on faith and good works as we take a look at verses 21-26 in James, chapter two. As we do that we’ll notice that James shifts gears from exposing dead faith to giving examples of living faith. As is the case with most of chapter two in James’ letter, much of what James says in these last six verses have been the subject of passionate and sometimes bitter debate. We will find a verse that seems to contradict everything we’ve been studying about justification by faith alone. Once again we will learn that what you see is not always what you get.
As I’ve already mentioned, we are going to find examples of living faith in James 2:21-26—two in particular. We are going to see living faith in the lives of two people who couldn’t be more different than they were. The contrast between these two personalities would be complete if it had not been for one characteristic that would forever link them.
One was a man revered by his people. The other was a woman probably reviled by hers. One was a patriarch the other was a prostitute. One was a Jew, the other a Gentile. One is best known for the life he lived. The other is probably best known for the lie she told. The two people James writes about at the end of chapter two were from different genders, different cultures, different races, and different times. Yet they shared something in common that will bind them together as brother and sister for all eternity, though they never met here on earth. Both of these people were examples of genuine and living faith.
Let’s begin by reading James 2:14-26.
In reading this passage, I’m reminded of how important what we do here on Sunday morning really is. What if I had decided to pull James 2:21-26 out of the air and preach it one morning? Let’s say there was some confusion in our church regarding faith and good works. I know some of you are new in your faith. Others of you have just begun to really study God’s Word. Still others of you are investigating the claims of Christianity, having yet to commit your life to Christ.
Now, certainly, I could preach this passage of Scripture, by itself, and explain the relationship between faith and good works. But how much easier will it be for us to truly grasp what James is saying in these last six verses having already done our homework in the first twenty verses in the chapter?
Our study has shown us that James and Paul agree theologically. Our study has shown us that there is a difference between a professed faith in Christ and a genuine faith in Christ. Our study has shown us that a faith of the lips, that kind of faith, does not lead to everlasting life. We’ve learned that a genuine faith is a working faith. We’ve learned that we don’t work for our salvation. We work because of our salvation. We’ve learned all of this by doing a verse-by-verse-study of James’ writing in chapter two.
This verse-by-verse, sometimes word-by-word study of the text has equipped us to approach another difficult passage with confidence because we already know where James stands. We know that James believes as Paul does—that the believer is justified by faith alone, apart from works. Knowing that, not because it’s something we want to believe, or because it’s something we feel right about, but because we’ve studied the text and, I believe, rightly divided it, gives us a much firmer foundation for today’s study than if we had randomly chosen these last six verses to try to explain with a snapshot approach the relationship between faith and good works.
So when we see words or phrases today that seem to contradict one of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, we don’t have to walk away scratching our heads. We don’t have to walk away assuming that there is a mystery here that is too far over our heads for us to understand. We don’t have to walk away frustrated and thinking of words such as study and teaching as laborious, tiresome, and boring.
We know, because we’ve seen it before, that the fog will lift and our eyes will clear if we will just take the time to dig a little deeper. And I’ve had the great joy of seeing that happen firsthand in some of your lives. I’ve seen some of you dig for the first time and surprise yourself because you’re finding yourself excited to learn more. I’ve seen it in the way your questions have matured just in these first six months that we’ve been studying the Word together.
Is there a time and a place for the topical study of God’s Word? Absolutely! Remember, we took a few weeks to look at what the Bible says about giving. We’ve looked to God’s Word in dealing with topics like prayer and being good witnesses in our homes. I’ve shared with some of you before that it’s important for me to be sensitive to where our people are spiritually and what issues may need to be addressed in the here and now.
When there is an issue affecting our church family, we will take the time to deal with it and see what God’s Word would teach us about it. That’s one way we’re going to grow closer as a family. But what you are going to find on those occasions when I teach topically that we’ll be able to tackle the issue through verse-by-verse exposition of a passage of Scripture. We can do that because, contrary to what some even in church circles would say, the Bible is relevant for today. It is practical for today.
We don’t have to dress it up, spruce it up, or disguise it as something else. And we don’t have to make excuses or apologies for it. The Bible has guided mankind out of the slavery of sin to salvation in Jesus Christ, for many centuries, in every conceivable society. The twenty-first century can’t throw a curveball at God’s Word that the Scriptures won’t hit right out of the park. To think otherwise is to minimize the authority and supernatural power of the Word of God and place that divine authority into the hands of man’s methods and philosophies.
That wasn’t my sermon for today, but I thought it had to be said. So let’s dig in and look at a couple of genuine examples of living faith.
Abraham’s Example of Living Faith
We’ll start by looking at Abraham’s example of Living faith. In verse 21 we read, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the alter?” This is one of the verses Martin Luther keyed on when he made the allegation that James was teaching a works theology. We need to remember that Martin Luther was completely opposed to the Roman Catholic notion that one is saved by faith and good works. So any writing that Luther considered to be sympathetic to that notion was looked upon as straw suitable only for the fire. But Luther was missing the point that James was making, the point that we’ve come to understand over the last few weeks. “[James was not dealing with the means of salvation at all, but rather with its outcome, the evidence that it had genuinely occurred” (MacArthur, p. 136).
James begins by introducing Abraham to his readers as “our father.” The Greek word used for “father” can also be translated as “ancestor.” Earlier I had described Abraham as a Jewish patriarch. Since James is writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, it makes sense that he would refer to Abraham this way. But the reference is not just to Abraham’s race. He is not only the father of the Jewish people. He is the spiritual father of the Christian.
In Galatians, the apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of the faith who are sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). And in Romans 4:16 Paul wrote, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).
Having linked Abraham to not only his Jewish readers’ lineage, but to every believer as well, James says that Abraham was “justified by works.” One of the keys to understanding this verse lies in understanding its context. Another key is found in understanding the meaning of the word “justified.”
The word appears only three times in all of chapter two. All three appearances are in the passage we’re studying this morning. The word “justified” comes from the Greek word dikaioo. It means, “to deem to be right, to show to be right or righteous, to declare to be righteous, [and/or] to pronounce righteousness” (Vine, p. 615).
This very important word has many different nuances. The question is whether James is saying that Abraham was declared to be righteous by his willingness to sacrifice his son. Isaac, or was he shown to be righteous through that act? Again, context will help us to determine which use of the word is appropriate here. In order to answer the question about which form of the word “justified” James is using here, in verse 21, we have to answer yet another question. Is James disagreeing with Paul here? Let’s turn back to Romans 4 and see. We’ll begin at verse 2.
“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:2-5).
Paul makes it abundantly clear that justification is by faith alone—so clear that to draw any other conclusion from this passage of Scripture is to lack integrity in the study of the Word. Paul uses Abraham as his example of justification by faith alone and makes reference to a time in Abraham’s life that is documented in Genesis 15.
“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.’ Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’”
And Abram said, ‘Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.’ Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’ And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if your are able to count them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:1-6).
Here we see Abraham declared righteous by God, not as a result of anything Abraham did. He was declared righteous; God justified him because of his faith alone—nothing else. He wasn’t declared righteous as if God was rewarding him for services rendered, which would naturally follow a work. Abraham was declared righteous because God chose to extend His favor to him.
Turning our attention back to James 2 for just a moment, we see that James mentions one of the most well known Bible stories of the Old Testament—Abraham’s offering of Isaac as a sacrifice. We find the account of this incredible story in Genesis 22. We’ll pick up the story in verse 9.
“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”
“He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.”
“Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘in the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’ Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, ‘By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’”
So, are we seeing two different points of view here? Whereas Paul is definitely making the point that man is justified by faith alone, is James contradicting him by using the good work, the good choice of Abraham to obey God and sacrifice his son, to make the point that man is justified by what he does? Remember context is everything.
James has spent the last twenty verses making the point that a genuine faith is a working faith. It’s a faith that can be seen by the people around us. It’s not a faith of the lips, but one that labors—not of the mind, but of the heart. Don’t forget what James wrote in 1:17-18. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” Salvation is a gift of grace, not of works. It is the exercise of God’s sovereign will that brings about man’s salvation, not the perceived goodness of man’s will.
If that’s not enough proof, consider this. According to Paul, God declared Abraham righteous. We see the Greek word for “justified” or “declared righteous” used in the sense of an acquittal. The event that James uses to illustrate his point occurred some thirty years later. God had already declared Abraham righteous. God had already acquitted him of his unrighteousness and clothed him in the righteousness of God.
What we see in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac is an act of obedience in which Abraham is shown to be righteous before men. James uses the same Greek word that Paul does, but in a different way. James uses it in the sense of vindication. Any doubt that his faith was genuine was vindicated before men by his willingness to sacrifice his son out of unwavering obedience to God.
Jerry Bridges, in his excellent book “The Pursuit of Holiness,” which every believer should have on his or her bookshelf, wrote, “Faith and holiness are inextricably linked. Obeying the commands of God usually involves believing the promises of God” (Bridges, p. 145). The working of Abraham’s faith manifested itself through the fact that Abraham confidently believed that he and his only son would walk down from the mountain together. The only way Abraham could have carried out this incredible act of obedience was if the genuineness of his faith brought him to the point of unwavering belief in the promises of God.
Not only does James agree with Paul’s teaching of justification by faith alone, but Paul agrees with James’ assertion that our faith in Christ is validated before men by the works we do. Ephesians 2:8-9 is often quoted, and should be memorized by every believer, as the epitome of “salvation by grace through faith alone” teaching. But look at what Paul says in the next verse. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
James continues to make his point in verse 22. “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works faith was perfected.” James’ use of the phrase “you see” serves to let his readers know that he is going to explain the results of a faith that works.
It’s important for us to understand that James is not saying that faith cooperates with works in the salvation process. That’s something that other religions have assumed James is saying here. We’ve had a few opportunities as we’ve studied James, chapter two, to use the analogy of the tree and its fruit. We’ve referred to the times when Jesus used this analogy to make his points about genuine faith. Well, we can take advantage of the poignancy of this illustration again, here in verse 22. “We cannot say that the fruit of the tree cooperates with the tree, but we can say that the fruit helps us to know the nature of the tree” (Hiebert, p. 173).
Theologian R.C.H. Lenski wrote, “It is [an error to think] that faith and works (or faith and love) pull together like a team of horses. Works are not independent or stand in equal partnership with faith. They are produced by true faith” (Lenski, p. 591). When we think of faith working with works, we should think of it the same way we think of a plant or tree naturally bearing fruit. The fruit does not come alongside the plant and cooperate in its own growth. “Bearing fruit is not a function added to a plant but is an integral part of its design and purpose” (MacArthur, p. 139).
James tells us that as a result of these works, which are produced by a genuine faith, that kind of faith is perfected. The word “perfected” also means “brought to maturity.” The fruit of a tree is not brought to maturity by its own doing. It is brought to maturity because of the nutrition and support it receives from the plant or tree.
Once the fruit is separated from the plant it immediately begins to die. The fruit cannot live independent of the plant. The plant, if it is real, if it is healthy and mature, will naturally bear fruit. The plant and the fruit are inseparable. Likewise, faith and works are inseparable.
James and Paul agree on this essential truth of the Christian faith—man is justified, declared to be righteous, by grace alone, through faith alone. If, perchance, you need more proof that James and Paul agree, look at verse 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.”
James quotes the same passage of Scripture that we saw quoted by Paul in Romans 4. The fact that James begins the verse with the word “and” tells us that he is about to give us further results “of Abraham’s supreme act of faith” (Hiebert, p. 174). Let’s take a few minutes and look a little closer at this Old Testament quotation.
The phrase “Abraham believed God” doesn’t simply speak of Abraham believing what God said. The meaning goes much deeper than that. The way this phrase is constructed in the Greek points to the fact that Abraham’s faith placed God at its center. Abraham’s faith relied more on the sovereignty and character of God to bring about the fulfillment of His promises, than just the words of God, although they, too, were completely trustworthy.
The verse goes on to say, “and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” The Greek word for “reckoned” also means, “to count, calculate, or credit to one’s account.” Abraham was a sinner. Although he was a sinner, God declared him to be righteous. And God—now this is extremely important to understand—God did not declare Abraham righteous because of Abraham’s act of believing. As I said when we first looked at this verse this morning, he was declared righteous, the righteousness of God was added to his account, because of the sovereignty and grace of God.
Although Abraham did not know Jesus Christ, he “embraced the promised Messiah and the perfect righteousness of [the Messiah]” (Lenski, p. 594). Listen to the exchange Jesus had with the Jews in John 8:53-56. “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”
“Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, “He is our God”; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say to you that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’”
By declaring Abraham righteous, God was saying that the trust He saw from Abraham was a result of the genuineness of his faith, which was expressed through his belief in God’s sovereignty and that all of God’s promises would be fulfilled.
At the end of verse 23, we see that Abraham “was called the friend of God.” The first thing we should notice is that this last phrase in verse 23 is not part of the Old Testament quotation. These are James’ words again. It’s interesting that James would add these words, especially since he doesn’t follow it with any words to back it up, and because James’ readers, if they were at all well-versed in the Old Testament scriptures, would have known that Abraham is not given the title “friend of God” during his lifetime. So why did James write these words.
Many Christians, many churches for that matter, consider this beautiful phrase as being objective. What that means is that they look at the phrase, “friend of God,” as if the emphasis were on the Christian being a friend to God. Many Christians believe that they are the ones that initiate their relationship with God. I think this mindset cheapens, in a sense, the magnitude and significance of God’s grace. When we think we initiate our relationship with God, then it seems that we are extending grace to Him. It’s as if we are saying, “God should be so lucky to have me as a friend. Look at the wonderful thing I have done for God.”
A better and more biblical understanding of the phrase “friend of God” is to see it as subjective. In other words, God is the one who is treating us as a friend. Do you see the difference? Do you see how the grace of God shines through with much greater light when we look at the phrase this way? By seeing the relationship as sovereignly and graciously initiated by God, I think we will be far less likely to take it for granted.
The Greek translation of this Old Testament verse uses the word philos for “friend.” Philos, as it’s used here, speaks of a love one shares with another because of a common bond. “The expression here is meant to call attention to the amazing privilege of intimacy with God that Abraham enjoyed” (Hiebert, p. 175). This incredible relationship with God is not a right we can demand. We can’t shake our fist at God and say, “I’m good enough. You have to accept me!” No. This relationship with God is a privilege. It is a privilege given to those whom God has chosen to extend His wonderful grace. And, again, it is all about grace.
Listen to the words of Jesus that we find in John 15:12-17. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friend if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another.”
The person with a genuine faith in Christ is one whom Christ has chosen as a friend. He chooses his friends based on their obedience, which is the outworking of their faith. The friend of God is only able to obey the commands of God, because God first justified them, by their faith alone. Once again we see that faith and works are inseparable—not cooperative—inseparable.
And this brings us to the conclusion of Abraham’s example of living faith, which we find in verse 24. This verse, which has been argued and debated for centuries, should be somewhat anticlimactic for us. By now, when it comes to faith and good works, we should know what James is talking about. We can approach this verse with confidence because we’ve taken the time to study James’ writing verse-by-verse. And verse 24 says, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
As in verse 22, James begins this verse with the phrase “You see.” If you were here a couple of weeks ago, you’ll remember that we looked at verses 18-20 through the lens of a conversation James was having with an imaginary objector. Well, James continues to paint that same picture through verse 23.
In verse 22, when James says, “You see,” he is still addressing the imaginary objector. But in verse 24, he changes the word “you” from singular, as in verse 22, to plural. James returns his attention and conversation to his readers. Because of the wording in the Greek, we can look at the phrase “You see,” this way—“You should see.” James is telling his readers that after all of the discussion they should be able to see the obvious.
Again, what is obvious to James, what should have been obvious to his readers and should be obvious to us as well, is that faith and works are inseparable. James puts the cap on his argument by saying that a man is shown to be righteous by what he does, not just by what he claims.
Those of you who know me well know that I enjoy studying military history, particularly the Civil War. But I enjoy all kinds of military history. R. Kent Hughes, in his book, James—Faith That Works, shares this story.
It is said that Napoleon, while looking at some papers, let slip the bridle of his horse, which reared so that the Emperor was in danger. A corporal of the grenadiers leaped forward and caught the bridle, bringing the horse under control. Napoleon saluted the corporal and said, “Thank you, Captain.” “Of what company, Sire?” asked the corporal. “Of my guards,” replied Napoleon. The young corporal picked up his musket, hurled it aside, and walked across the field toward the emperor’s staff, tearing of his corporal stripes as he went. When he took his place among the officers, they asked him what he was doing. He replied that he was a captain of the guards. “By whose order?” queried one of them. “The Emperor’s order,” he replied. A man of less faith might have picked up his musket, stepped back into the ranks, and boasted for the rest of his life that Napoleon had called him a captain. This describes the difference between mental assent and true faith, which takes God at His word and acts upon it. (Hughes, p. 120).
I like that story. A man who only claims to be a Captain is no more a Captain than the private he’s marching next to in the mud. In the same way a person who claims to be a Christian is no more a Christian than the unbeliever they are marching next to through life—unless their claim is backed up by action. Bragging about faith does make that faith real. Yes. We are saved by faith alone, “but not a faith which is alone” (Hughes, p. 120). It has to be a faith that works.
Rahab’s Example of Living Faith
Now, let’s take a look at Rahab’s example of living faith. I think we can come up with a reasonable answer for why James would choose two people who were so different in just about every way. James’ readers, after hearing about the great faith of Abraham, could have come to the conclusion that Abraham was an unfair example of a working faith, a living faith. His readers could have looked to Abraham’s faith as unattainable because he was such a great man.
Again, the great teacher anticipates his students’ next question and provides an example of genuine, living faith that the average reader could more easily relate to. In verse 25 we read, “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?”
“In the same way” is a key phrase in this verse. By using this phrase, James is saying that what I’m about to teach you is consistent with what I just taught you. Now that we know where James is coming from, we can see with confidence where he is going.
We find the story of Rahab in Joshua 2. Rahab was an innkeeper and prostitute in the fortified city of Jericho. It had been an impenetrable stronghold for many centuries. In fact, today it is known as the oldest fortified city. Being a major city, Jericho would have been a place of extensive commerce that saw hundreds, if not thousands of visitors enter her walls every year.
This put Rahab in a unique position. Both of her occupations—one honorable and one not—afforded her ample opportunity to hear about what was going in the world, outside the city walls. One thing she certainly heard about was this nation that was making its way toward Jericho, from Egypt. This nation, the people called Israel, was the talk of the town, every tavern and inn. Rahab certainly heard of the “One God” the people of Israel served and how this “One God” led an entire nation, literally millions of people, out from under the fist of one of the most powerful nations in the known world—Egypt.
As a result of the testimonies she heard, Rahab came to a genuine belief that there is only one true God. She had never seen God. She had never experienced the miracle-working touch of the Father’s hand. She heard and she believed by faith. Listen to the prostitute’s own testimony.
Rahab had just helped the two Israeli spies hide on her roof. Before she left them she said these words. “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melted away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed” (Joshua 2:9-10).
Listen very carefully to what she says in the next verse. “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on the earth” (Joshua 2:11). Rahab believed by faith.
But her story does not end there. We know with certainty that Rahab’s faith was not simply capitulation to a set of facts on some intellectual level. She did not simply way the evidence and came to the right conclusion in her mind. She was justified; she was shown to be righteous by what she did next. It was her faith in God that saved her, but it was what she did as a result of that faith that gave proof to the genuineness of her faith.
James tells us that Rahab was shown to be righteous “when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way.” And in the great chapter about the heroes of the faith, which we find in Hebrews 11, we read, “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient” (Heb. 11:31a).
The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that Rahab’s life was saved by faith alone. The verse does not say that faith and good works spared Rahab. God declared her righteous because of her faith alone and saved her. And she was shown to be righteous, listed among the heroes of the faith because of the heroic work her faith produced.
Abraham was shown to be righteous because of his willingness to obey God and sacrifice his son. In the same way, Rahab was shown to be righteous because of her willingness to obey and trust in the Lord and protect the Hebrew spies. But both were saved by the grace of God alone through faith alone before they ever lifted a finger, before Abraham ever lifted his knife and before Rahab ever moved the straw to conceal the bodies of the two men.
James finishes this great chapter of his letter with these words. “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” James reiterates the point he has made so well. Just like a body without a spirit is useless, faith without works is useless.
Paul, who would agree with James, might have had this in mind when he penned the words, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves”(II Corinthians 13:5a)! All of us, myself included, should look in the mirror each day and ask the question, “Am I paying God lip service, or do I really live for Him as a result of my genuine faith in Him?
Sometimes that mirror you look into can be fogged over, fogged over by doubt, or fogged over by the notion that you have to get your life in order before you can begin to walk by faith. To think that you must do something, that you must make yourself right before God before you can live in obedience to His Word and call yourself a Christian is a delusion—plain and simple. The life in Christ you think you are seeking will not come until God first declares you right before Him. And that, my friends, is a free gift. You can’t earn it. You can’t clean yourself up enough to deserve it.
You might be here this morning and think of this step of faith, a faith leading to repentance and genuine fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, as a big commitment, a commitment you’re not ready to make. Hear me when I tell you that you are already making a huge commitment by denying your need to live by faith, by not acknowledging Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, by assuming that you have to have all your ducks in a row before you can live for Him, and by believing that your own perceived goodness or the works of your own hands has anything at all to do with your salvation.
For 24 years of my life I lived under the cloud of that kind of commitment. And it was by the grace of God that I realized that that kind of faith would not save me. I give thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that He saved me from that wrong way of thinking, for saving me from the delusion that I could save myself, for forgiving my sins and calling me his friend. What a privilege! What grace! What joy! What peace! Let’s pray.
