Profitable Faith

PROFITABLE FAITH—James 2:14-26

Attention:

Pre- TV ‘Horders’ era—The house on Old Kibbee Rd./packed to the ceiling with boxes—year after year same situation.

Hoarders—So many things which are “profitable” to them that they miss the goodness of life & their purpose.

Entering into a new life requires that they properly assess worth...become Discerners of profitability

& thus

Discerners of reality.

Need:

We have much that is unnecessary/unneeded.

James divided/isolated/separated salvific faith from conceptual faith on the basis of works.

*Saving faith must be distinguished from conceptual faith—by its work.

What distinguishes saving faith & conceptual/philosophical faith?

4 factors that set apart a profitable faith.

Faith that profits enables...

1— A profitable faith enables...

SALVATION(:14)

Explanation:(:14)

:14—“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”

There is no “profit” or benefit to one’s “faith” if there are no “works” which that “faith” accomplishes. “Works” themselves are those deeds or that business to which faith applies itself or is about doing.

Thus one must question whether ‘workless’ faith is saving faith. That is to seriously question whether it is possible for that type of faith to “save” a person at all.

Of course the answer is obvious....it cannot!

Being saved is all about a new birth... a dynamic shift in understanding & belief that brings new realizations, goals,

“Profit/Use/Good”(See :17)—ofelov—Advantage, profit. Strong—from ofellw (to heap up, i.e. accumulate or benefit); gain:-- advantageth, profit. Used 3X.

“Faith”—pistiv—Strong—Persuasion, i.e. Credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially Reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, Constancy in such profession; by extension, the System of religious (Gospel) truth itself:-- Assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

“Works/Deeds”—ergon—1) Business, employment, that which any one is occupied—1a) That which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking; 2) Any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind; 3) An act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasized in opp. to that which is less than work. Strong—from a primary (but obsolete) ergw (to work); Toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, An act:-- Deed, doing, labor, work.

“Save”—swzw—1) To save, keep safe & sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.

Argumentation:

1Cor. 15:1-8—“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received & in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, & that He was buried, & that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, & that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”

Isa 53:3-11(Acts 8:29-38)—“He is despised & rejected by men, A Man of sorrows & acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, & we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, & afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed & He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison & from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, & be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.”