This morning's message comes from James 2, verses 14 through 26. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works. And faith was completed by his works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we admit that this culture often desensitizes us to your glory and your majesty, your perfections, Lord. We don't see you as we ought. But Lord, we desire, by your grace here this morning, to see you presented in your word, see Christ, to have him made known to us in our hearts and in our minds, Lord. I pray for your help, your mercy, your grace, Lord, that you would sustain us, that you would help myself as I bring your word forward to your people, Lord, that you would empower your truth, Lord, to be effective for your purposes. And Lord, perhaps more needed, I pray for your people who come here with a great burden upon them and a great requirement upon them to receive from you, to hear your word, Lord. And I just pray that you would strengthen your people, ready their minds and their hearts, Lord, to receive that which comes from you. And by your spirit, would you cause it to be effective in their lives, transforming the way they interact in their homes and their jobs and their community, Lord. I just pray that you would help us as we open your truth, Lord. Guide us by your spirit. Show us, Lord, your beauty and your majesty here this morning as we open your word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. James 2, 14 through 26, has often been contested and argued in many ways. People seem to think that the book of James, and specifically this part of James, is some kind of apostle heavyweight championship where James and Paul are having some contested argument about faith and works. But nothing could be further from the truth. That's not really what this passage is about. James, as I mentioned, when we first started the book of James, was written well before Paul wrote Galatians, and the book of Galatians was not written to refute the teaching of James. So there's no argument here, there's no tension. They're actually very much in agreement. And we believe in the coherency of Scripture. That's just a big word to say that no part of Scripture contradicts another part of Scripture. Yes? Every bit of Scripture is absolutely true and without error. It does not err. So, this passage will help us discern what is the right way to view faith and works. What is their relationship? Really, what is the difference between a false faith and a true faith? That's what we're going to see here this morning. What is the difference between a false faith and a true faith? That's what God's Word speaks to us. A living faith, or as you might have guessed, a dead faith. A living faith or a dead faith. So James begins by posing a very good question. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? It's a good question. It's intended to be answered in the negative. No, that faith cannot save him. A faith that does not have works is not a saving faith at all. What good is it? It's no good at all. The implied response launches James into a very clear argument, not about faith and works, but about faith and faith, true faith and false faith, living faith and dead faith. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? This is a very straightforward way of arguing. I could pose this question in a way that's maybe more familiar to us. What good is it, friends, if I say I love my wife, but I do not show her that I love? What good is it? Sisters, you're welcome to tell me how good that is, right? And not good at all, right? As it's been said many times, there was a man, he said, look, I don't understand what the big deal is. I told you I loved you when we got married, and if anything changes, I'll let you know, right? It doesn't work if we don't show our faith. It doesn't work if we don't show our love. We can have a lot of words, but they mean nothing if there is not action connected to them, and that is James' argument here. He uses three specific points that we'll break our time here into. Three points, three descriptions of this dead faith, okay? Three descriptions. The first is a fake faith, okay? A fake faith. It's friendly, but it's phony. So our first one here is a fake faith found in verse 15. He gives us this example. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and poorly clothed, by the way, does not mean he lacks fashion sense. It means that he is not able to clothe himself and he's lacking in daily food. He doesn't even have the food for today. And one of you says to them, go in peace. be warmed, be filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, again he asks, what good is that? What good is it? What good is it to have mere verbal expressions of faith, of love, of compassion to those in need, just words, words heaped up in an empty way? This really reads, when he says, go in peace, be warmed and filled, this reads like a prayer, A prayer that sounds very, very pious. A prayer of care and love, but not a prayer that searches the individual's own heart and says, do I have any extra clothing? Do I have any food? It's not a prayer that has a willingness to care. No care for the poor. Truly, this kind of speaking, be warmed, be filled, see you later, shows they don't really care at all, do they? They don't really care at all. It shows their heart. And what James is saying it shows is their true standing with Christ. This question, can that faith save him, tells us how important this passage is to us. This is about an eternal matter. Can the faith save? This is not just a matter of, is that the best way to live your Christian life? This is not a matter of, is this really the best way to be the best Christian you can be? This is a matter of does that faith save? What does saving faith really look like? No care for the poor. James is probably echoing Jesus over in Matthew 25. You may be familiar with this passage. The parable of the sheep on his right, the goats on his left. He will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devils and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sounds like James, doesn't it? Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? When? Then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. And so you have here this parable that clearly points out those who heap up kind words only, but do not do, are in effect not serving Christ, not truly obeying Christ. They do not love Jesus Christ. And that's why here at Tapestry, we do not just say we're gonna pray We're gonna pray for our community, but rather we seek opportunities to actually serve. Now, do we do this service so that we can get into heaven? No. Do we do this service so that we can somehow appease an angry God? No, because all our good works, we couldn't pile up enough good works to get right with God. We couldn't pile up enough good activities to please God or to placate an angry God, rightfully, justly angry at our sin. We couldn't do enough, and we know it. We feel that. We could never bring enough to God. We know we're always lacking. So then why serve at all? We're always lacking. Let's just pray. We got good theology now. We've got a prayer to pray. Lord, just be merciful unto me. And then I go my way and do nothing. It's a fake faith because a real faith says, where can I live out this love? I've been loved with such a great love. Where can I now live it out? The faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead faith. The Apostle John agrees with this. You could look in 1 John 3.10. In fact, the Apostle John spends quite a bit of time on this. 1 John 3.10, by this it is evident. You see an evidence of those who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Verses 16 through 18 of the same chapter in 1 John 3. By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us. And so, because of that reality that Christ has laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and see his brother in need, sound familiar? yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Again, another question that responds in the negative, it doesn't abide in him. Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. And so you see both Christ, the Apostle John, they're giving us the same truth here this morning as James. That people who only sound religious, who only sound religious, have a dead faith. A faith that's not alive. Faith by itself, in just words, a profession of faith. Our country is full of those who make professions of faith. And I would say to us and to all of them, faith by itself, if it does not have compassion and love for those in need, is a dead faith. of fake faith. James then moves on as he introduces someone who is, he's probably not being passive aggressive here and talking to someone in the congregation or receiving the letter, but yet he is talking to everyone who's receiving this letter, giving us kind of someone to argue with. This someone to argue with is not Paul. He's not arguing with Paul, but rather a common way to present an idea in this time to have an argument laid forward to address. Someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. So here's our second example description of this dead faith. This is a fallen angel faith, a demon faith. Yeah, it's that bad. It's dead. If that wasn't bad enough, this is the kind of faith that demons have. Listen to what he says in verse 19. You believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe. Even the demons believe. You may already be aware that Satan knows his scripture. Can you see how he used it when he tempted our Lord in the desert? He knows his scripture. Satan's theology is most likely better than ours. His understanding of who God is, How God created, I mean, he's been there a long time, he's been observing these things for a long time. His demons are no different, they've learned from him. And James, he cites the Shema, Deuteronomy 6, 4. It says, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Very fitting for James to use this, speaking to his Jewish audience, that is a verse that every Jew and every demon knows. The demons, they understand who Christ is. They recognize who Christ is, who he truly is. In Matthew 8, 29, the demons cried out, what have you to do with us, O son of God? The demons make this statement, O son of God. And the Pharisees wouldn't even say that, would they? The Pharisees wouldn't even go that far. but they recognize. Mark 1.24, demon says, I know who you are, the Holy One of God. I know who you are. Acts 19.15, demon says, there Jesus I know, and I know about Paul. The demons know who Christ is, they recognize Christ, their theology is good. And so it is, especially among our excellent reformed circles, our theology is great. Our systems are well-oiled, well-presented, everything laid out. And I am not suggesting that we should not have good theology. We should have good theology. What I'm saying is what James is saying, that that theology apart from works is dead. It's lifeless. It's cold and empty in some ivory tower somewhere, and it's of no use. It doesn't produce life. It's useless. Do you want me to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? What the irony is here in this passage, friends, is how the demons Respond. Even the demons believe and they shudder. Even the demons have a response. Even the demons have some kind of work happening from their belief. They shudder at the terror of coming judgment. Even the demons believe and they respond, yet there are Christians and myself falling in that category at times where I read beautiful, amazing, glorious truth about our holy and righteous God, and I sit there like this, hmm, cool. It's not enough. to just see who God is, to revel in the majesty and beauty of our Lord and Savior and the wonderful work of salvation on the cross and walk away unaffected. In fact, if you truly have seen and tasted the glory of God and the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, then you will not be unaffected. It would be like saying, I walked out into the middle of I-35 and got hit by a truck and just kept on walking. something that powerful and that amazing, friends, it does not leave you unaffected. What good is a container with a label on it? Food, medicine, and yet you open it up and there's nothing inside. Is that any good for the hungry? No. Does that treat the sick? No. And so we can have the labels of theology, but do we have the life of it? Biblical truth alone is no substitute for saving faith. It's just a fallen angel faith. It's just the same faith the demons have. It's dead. It's dead faith. And so with verse 20, James transitions and says, do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? And he transitions to using scripture. He gives us two examples from scripture. Two positive examples to go against this third example of description of dead faith. That is a fool's faith, right? Do you want to be shown, oh, empty-headed one? That's what that literally means. You empty-headed person, that faith apart from works is useless. He gives two scripture examples, Abraham and Rahab, and he drives home his argument with scripture, as we should do with all the arguments that we make, yes? Any arguments we get into, sure, we can have logic, we can give practical, pragmatic reasons, we can discuss it till we all turn blue in the face, but at the end of it, as James does here at the end of this point, we should use God's word. We should go to God's word and apply God's word to our arguments. But what's interesting is this is where the arguments get challenging. Because this is where the crux of the contested discussion between James and Paul starts to come into play. Because if you recall back in Romans 3, 28, Paul says, for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. We hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. But James says in verse 22, you see that a person is justified by works and not faith alone. That sounds pretty contradictory. Trust me, I sat and stared at it for a good solid week before I even glanced at a single other piece of information because I wanted to understand what is the relationship between these two. Well, they're not opposed to one another. They're back-to-back. In fact, Chaplain James Covey referenced that just briefly in his message last week. You might recall, he did some very interesting hand gesture that I can't quite pull off, but it was very good for me mentally because I'm a picture guy. So back-to-back, they're facing opposite sides. Here on one end is the legalist saying, you need to add works, Paul. You need to plus something to your faith. to make it good enough. And then over here, no, no, James, I just said I believe. I don't need to do anything. I don't need to change how I live. It's all right. You see the opposing camps here. And Paul and James are standing on the truth as good soldiers of the cross and looking both directions and dealing with it, right? And so Paul's addressing one question. How can man stand before a holy and just God and be justified? The answer, by faith alone. Yes, by faith alone. Before God, man's declared judicially righteous based upon the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ alone, not based on any works, not based on any deeds, not based on anything we do. I'm thankful for that. James is addressing a different question entirely, and that's why you get a different answer, right? You're not asking the right question. I often coach the kids when we're doing family worship. You're not asking the right question. So here, James is addressing our opening question. What good is a faith that does not work? What good is it? Men were claiming to have faith, but their lives were completely unchanged. You can see that in verse 18. Someone will say, you have faith and I have works. I don't need change how I live. I don't need to have anything happening to me or from me because of my faith. I just know it up here, like the demons, right? I just speak it a lot, right? Fake. How do we know? that we have genuine faith? That's the question James is answering. He's challenging those who just profess faith, all of us. He's challenging all of us who profess faith. Is it genuine? Is it real? Is it authentic? And James' answer to how can you know if one's faith is genuine? You can see it. You can see it. Now, God doesn't need our works to determine if our faith is genuine, right? He can see our hearts. But James is not answering that question. James is asking, how can you and I know among one another that this faith is real? Well, we can see it in each other. James wants to be shown. He wants to be shown when someone claims to have saving faith. And we should want that too. We should want that for each other and for the glory of God. I want to see that faith living in you. I wanna see that faith producing fruit in your lives, love to your spouse and your neighbor. James is using the word justified here. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way Christ used the word justified back in Luke 7.35. Yes, it's true, you can use the same word and have different intended meaning, yes? And here is the way that James is using it in Luke 7.35. Here's the same way that Christ is using it is the same way James is using it. And Christ uses it in Luke 7.35 this way, wisdom is justified by all her children. Now, did Jesus mean that wisdom is declared righteous before a holy God by all of her children? No, that doesn't even fit, right? No. Jesus is saying that wisdom is demonstrated to be true and wise by the things that come from it, right? And so our faith is shown to be genuine by the things that come from it. James is just saying, show me, show me that your faith is true. He's a lot like the U.S. Congressman from Missouri. All right, Willard Vandiver, who said, frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I'm from Missouri, you have got to show me. Yeah, it's the show me state, right? A beautiful state. You see, in verse 18, he says, show me. In verse 22, he says, you see. In verse 24, he says, you see. That's how we know that James is not talking about justification before God. He's talking about justification before man. Not that we must be justified before man, but James would have every person reading this letter look into their own hearts. Are they truly believing in the Lord? Are they confident in Christ? By the way, Paul agrees. He doesn't disagree. Check out Galatians 5, 6. For in Christ, Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. No works count for anything, but only faith working through love. That's all that James is saying. And James' answer is just echoing what Christ said. You will know them by their fruit. You can see Matthew 7, 18. And so Abraham's faith, these two positive examples from the scripture, Abraham's faith was evident in his willingness to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham was justified by faith, we agree with Paul, trusting in God in chapter 15 of Genesis. But it came to full fruition, James tells us. It was shown, displayed, fully alive and mature, fruitful, useful, in chapter 22, when Abraham acted on that promise, believed God. Hebrews 11 gives us some very similar language over there. You're welcome to check that out. You see that justification, according to James, is demonstrated to man when we act on our trust in God. Simply saying the words, simply knowing the words, cannot save its dead faith. A living faith's operational. Just like with Rahab, he uses another example. Rahab's faith was displayed when she served the spies. So just so you can take this home, Abraham's faith was one of sacrifice. And Rahab's faith was one of service. Do those two words describe how you respond to God's glorious promise of salvation? Rahab's faith was displayed when she served the spies by protecting them, aiding them, giving them hospitality. She exercised her faith in the true and living God. And both of these individuals had a faith that reacted, not out of dutiful obligation, but more like a spiritual reflex. If someone's alive, and you go and you take that little hammer and you hit their knee, what's bound to happen? Doctors, nurses, medical professionals among us, and anybody else, right? It's going to respond, yes? And so, all James is saying is, where's the spiritual reflex? Church, where is our spiritual reflex? In the day-to-day, when we come among the poor and the needy, when we're engaging in theological discussions, where's our spiritual reflex? Only faith. that produces obedience to God truly matters. Whether one is a patriarch like Abraham or a prostitute like Rahab, and everybody in between, James is very clear that faith is all that matters. True, living faith, not dead faith. So here's our focus. Is James saying faith plus works equals salvation? No, I hope that's pretty apparent. If it's not apparent, go read this section of chapter 2 over and over until God shows you that that is not true. James is not saying faithless works equals salvation. We are saved by faith alone. But the faith that saves is never alone. Heard that before? I think it's well said, and I agree. Here's our takeaway, our focus. James is emphasizing the inseparable connection between faith and works. It's inseparable. Now let me be clear, for the Christian, there is definitely a distinction between faith and works. We recognize, yeah, I'm not saved by my works. I'm saved by faith alone and Christ alone. But we cannot create an unbiblical division between the two. That is, splitting faith and works is a lot like splitting an atom. And really, when we split that atom, it has destructive consequences, nuking our spiritual life, if you will, if you can let me extend that metaphor. We can't split them unnecessarily. We can make distinctions about them, and it's important that we have those distinctions correct, yes? Because remember, this is a matter of salvation. But James clarifies that we're not saved by a fake faith or fallen angel faith or foolish faith, but by a functioning faith, a faith that's operational. If it doesn't work, then it's broken. Why do I have to spend 30 minutes explaining that? I guess just so we can all be edified, but it's that simple, right? I could have just said that and sat back down. If the faith doesn't work, then it's broken. It's that simple. Works cannot be the ground of our justification, the basis of our justification, because they can't atone for sin, right? But faith in Christ alone will have the inevitable effect of a transformed life. Faith and works are really two sides of the same coin. That's the main point here. Working in harmony to demonstrate a vibrant, vital faith, all to the glory of God. So let me give you three points of application, and then we'll wrap up. James is often emphasizing practical things. So first, at a high level, we can learn from this passage that the way people are using words is not always the way that you're understanding words. And so that's just an important lesson to learn from this passage. Paul and James were not pitted against one another, and neither do we always need to be so pitted against each other with our words. We can take the time to understand one another, hear one another, and have that full discussion. That would bring glory to God. Second, we must use a passage like this to examine the authenticity of our faith. Do our actions really reflect what we believe? Are we truly trusting God? Now, we may not be heretics with our theological understanding, but the question is, are we hypocrites in the way we're living that out? Do we walk in love that can be seen and felt and known by our neighbors and our family? May God give us grace to have true faith. I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. We want to be full of works so that our Father in heaven would be glorified. Isn't that what scripture says? Third here, in application, in the function here, let us always remember and reapply this truth, that salvation's not about earning our way to heaven, but it's about exercising the gift of faith we've been given. Faith in the promise of God, faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, faithfully walking in the spirit according to his word. In short, a living faith, not a dead faith. In our last verse, verse 26, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James went through great length to give example and argument and scriptural support over and over in this section. He was layering this truth, this kind of faith, that is alive, it turns the world upside down. This kind of faith that's alive brings glory to God. James 2, 14 through 26 is a powerful reminder that faith without works is indeed dead. May God increase our faith. Let's pray. Lord God, we do thank you for your grace that saves us, Lord. We thank you for this passage that is so pointed and clear about what faith truly is, Lord. We thank you that our salvation is not based upon our works, Lord, but we pray that you would give the increase in our lives and our church, Lord, that you would bring forth fruit of faith, that we would believe you, that we would believe we're not called to just sit on the sidelines to speak lofty words, to think lofty thoughts, Lord, but to live out, to walk worthy of the calling with which you've called us, Lord. I pray that you would apply this truth to our lives, that it would empower us to go forward. Because of your gospel, because of your grace, Lord, would you help us to live in a way that brings true honor to your holy name. And it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.