Saving Faith Works

Scripture Passage: James 2:14-26

The Bible is unique in that it shares how no person can ever make himself/herself acceptable to God.  It is impossible.  We can only be saved by God's grace (see the Gospel of Grace for more information on this).

So when we read in James 2:24 that a person is justified by what he does and not faith alone, it is a perceived contradiction in God's word.  Is it by grace through faith or is it by good works that one is justified before God?

Let us explore the tension between faith and works and resolve this conflict by studying God's word carefully.

Main Point:  Saving faith works.

1. Your faith without works is useless.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17, NIV)

• Verse 14 is an unseemly question considering our study of Galatians and the freedom we have in Christ:
  • What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (James 2:14, NIV)
• Galatians teaches clearly that we cannot be saved by the works of the law (or any good works for that matter).
• Here, James raises the question with the implied answer of "No" - faith without deeds cannot save you.
• So are we saved by faith or by works?
  • An example is given of a supposed believer who encounters a brother or sister in Christ - one with whom you share the kingdom of God and will spend eternity with serving God together.
  • You wish them well but do nothing to help them.
  • What good is it? The obvious answer is no good.
  • So, says James, faith without works is "dead" - no good.
• Keep in mind that when we talk about the biblical writers, we are not pitting one human author against another.
  • The Bible is the word of God from start to finish.
  • The human authors were used by God to write the books and even allowed to use their own God-given gifts and personalities in the process.
  • But it is all God's word - without error or mistake of any kind.
  • So Paul (who wrote Galatians) and James (author of James) are not at odds with one another.
  • But it is a perceived contradiction.
  • Since we know God makes no mistakes, then a perceived contradiction in God's word gives us the impetus to dig deeper and determine how to correctly interpret God's word in such a way as to resolve the conflict.
• In any event, it is clear that spoken faith is useless without good works that make a difference in the lives of other people.

2. People can only see your faith by your works.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:18-19, NIV)

• What is the difference between a person with faith and a person with deeds?
  • A person who claims faith but has no good works to prove it is not very convincing.
  • We live in a world that is generally skeptical, cynical, and distrusting of any religious claim.
  • Your spoken faith without any good works is just one opinon among many.
  • A person with good works is hard to deny:  Mother Theresa confronted President Bill Clinton about abortion and told him to give the babies to her - she would care for them in her many orphanages.  Because of the life she had lived in ministering to the outcasts and diseased in Indian society, the former president said it was hard to argue with her on that point.
• Now it is possible to have genuine faith in the LORD Jesus Christ and no overt good works - one could be disabled or bedridden but a constant prayer warrior.
• It is also possible to do many good works but have no genuine faith - many people try to do good works, in their own idea of salvation, to make them acceptable to God.
• James is talking about the matter of saving faith:
  • You show me your faith without deeds - show me your saving faith without deeds.
  • I will show you my faith by what I do - my saving faith by what I do.
• There is a big difference between acknowledging God exists (religiosity) and placing your faith/trust in the LORD Jesus Christ (saving faith).
  • Even the demons believe in God - and they believe in ONE God.
  • Does that mean demons are saved?  No, they do not have saving faith - only a belief in the reality of God.
  • Do I have to believe IN something because I believe it exists?  Of course not - we all know politicians that exist but we do not believe IN them (or their political agenda).
  • A spoken faith without deeds to back it up is no different in the world's eyes than the faith of a demon.
• The key here is that in the eyes of the people of this world, faith should make a difference in your life.
• If you claim to have faith but nothing in your life makes a difference to anyone in the world, then the world sees nothing but irrelevance.
• Here's another way to put it:  the only Jesus that many people with ever know is the Jesus you portray by your own life.
  • You are the flesh and blood Jesus to the people in your sphere of influence.
  • Is your Jesus irrelevant to the people around you?

3. Saving faith results in good works that justify you before the world.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. ²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:20-26, NIV)

James provides three different example of saving faith to prove his point:

• Compassion - helping others in need
  • James 2:15-16 talks about a brother or sister in need
  • Will saving faith stand around and do nothing to help? No!
• Commitment - Trusting and obeying God when you don't like His command.
  • James 2:21 shares the example of Abraham, a man who was commanded by God to offer up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. 
  • This was not an uncommon practice for the people living in Canaan at the time.  So Abraham clearly understood the command even though he was heartbroken.
  • Abraham went through all the steps to offer his son on an altar to God.  Just as he got to the point of killing his son, God stopped him.
  • Will saving faith back away from an uncomfortable command and ignore God? No!
• Character - doing what is right in a difficult situation
  • James 2:25 talks about Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho.  She was aware of two spies from the Hebrew people who were in her house. 
  • She gave them lodging and then hid them from her own government to keep them from being killed. 
  • She knew about and had faith in the God of Abraham.  It was a difficult situation for her personally but she did the right thing by misdirecting the soldiers looking for the two spies.  She saved their lives.
  • Will saving faith avoid doing what is right in a difficult situation? No!

In all three examples, saving faith without the accompanying action would be nonsensical - it would not reflect saving faith.

James is making a critical point that saving faith requires action to back it up - otherwise it is not saving faith.

Does it still seem contradictory that James appears to say we are justified by works while Paul says we are justified by faith?

You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. (James 2:24, NIV)

Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16, NIV)

Since James uses the same Scripture regarding Abrahams faith (Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness - ref. Gen. 15:6), then Paul and James are in agreement that faith alone brings one into a righteous standing with God.

So the real question that this whole apparent contradiction hinges on is this - justified to whom?

• If a person is justified by what he does as it says in James 2:24, then to whom must we be justified?
• The New Testament speaks of salvation by faith alone literally hundreds of times.
• Galatians 2:16 makes it clear we cannot be justified before God by "observing the law" - that is to say, by doing the good works the law requires.
• So if we cannot be justified by works before God, then to whom must we be justified?  The answer is, the people of this world.
• You make a claim of saving faith to the people of this world.  Baptism is your public profession of faith in the LORD Jesus.
• How will the world know you are genuine in your profession - that is, how will you be justified before the world?
  • Your saving faith will justify you to the world by the good works result from it.

God knows your heart.  You do not have to justify your faith in Him to Him.  He already knows whether your faith is genuine or not.

So the bottom line is this:  saving faith works.

When you have genuine faith in the LORD Jesus, you will show it to people in your life through your compassion, character, commitment.  You will make a difference to them and that will justify your claim to saving faith.

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV)

We are not saved by works ... but saved for works!  And that is how saving faith works.