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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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FAITH
WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD (1) (James 2:14-20) 10-31-12 Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. SAVING FAITH IS NOT
WITHOUT WORKS (14-16) A. Does Faith Without Works
Save? (14) 1. James’
readers were guilty of showing partiality, particularly in not meeting the
needs of the poor. Yet they claimed that they had a strong faith as
believers. Such rationale was as foolish as a person saying that he has
committed murder but not adultery. Either way it is sinful behavior. Either
way it does not evidence a person’s faith as genuine. James, in the next two
sections, is not saying that a person must have works in order to be saved,
rather that a person’s works give evidence of salvation and saving faith. 2. To James, there was there was absolutely
no “benefit” (“use” - o,phelos - benefit or advantage) for someone to say that he has faith yet at the
same time did not display works. a) “Faith”
is the Greek word pi,stis which
comes from the Greek word pei,thō that
means to be persuaded or have confidence in something or someone. Saving
faith is having been persuaded by the truth of Scripture and placing one’s
faith in the work of Christ on the cross for forgiveness of sins and
salvation. b) “Works” (e,rga - deeds or actions) are deeds done with a purpose in keeping with
God’s Law, commands, or will. c) The Scriptures are clear that salvation
is by faith alone and not by the addition of works (Ro 1:17; 3:21-22; Ga
2:16; 3:22; Ep 2:8-9). 3. James
asks the question, is this (kind of) faith able to save? A negative answer is
required in the Greek. In other words, is a faith without works after
salvation, a genuine faith? James will argue that this kind of faith is not
“able” (du,namai
- capable) to save in that, genuine
faith is accompanied by works and good deeds. “Save” or “salvation” (sō,zō, sōtê,rios - deliver, rescure, or preserve) in this context and most contexts in the
Scriptures means that an individual is forgiven of their sins and receives
eternal life (Ro 5:9-10; 10:13; 1Co 1:21; 9:22; 1Ti 1:15; He 7:25). B. Illustration of Worthless
Faith (15-16) 1. The
illustration James uses may not totally be an illustration, but a possible
example of what his readers may have been doing. In their partiality, they
were neglecting believers who were in need of food and clothing. 2. These neglected believers were insufficiently
clothed (gumnos - lit. “naked”) and in need of “daily” (epê,meros - of the day, daily) food. Yet his readers might not lift a finger to
help because of their partiality. 3. Perhaps they did do something, but it was
with mere words. The illustration suggests someone pronouncing a wonderful
blessing upon a needy person but doing nothing about it. The form of blessing
was, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well.” They did not give anything toward
their needs except a verbal blessing. 4. James rightly states, “what benefit (o,phelos - same word as vs. 14) is that?” How did that help in a God-honoring
practical way? C. Conclusion: Faith Without
Works is Dead (17) 1. In the
same way (“even so” - hou,tōs kai, emphatically), James returns to his main subject on faith
without works. 2. If faith evidences “no works” (mê, e,rga - )
and is “by itself” (kath, eautên)
it is not saving faith. In fact, it is faith that is “dead” (nekra,), meaning that it is not a living or active saving
faith. 3. James’ conclusion is that faith, in order
to be saving faith, must be accompanied by good deeds and works which
overflow from a true faith. II. SAVING FAITH IS EVIDENCED
BY WORKS (18-20) A. Faith is Demonstrated by
Works (18) 1. This
passage is difficult to interpret because some manuscripts do not include the
second part and no quotation marks are used in Greek to show who is speaking
(a third party for all of it, a third party and James together, or James for
all of it). The first part readily can be taken as a third party’s incorrect
proposition (“You have faith and I have works,” as if both are
acceptable, sort of “You’re OK, I’m OK”). The second part readily can
be taken as James’ litmus test to such error, “show me your faith without
the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 2. This tests the comparison between one who
has faith with one who has works. This is not a comparison between one with
the doctrine of “faith alone” versus “faith plus works.” 3. James described that a faith that has no
works has no “demonstration” (dei,knumi - exhibit, point out, show) of saving faith. Whereas, the one who has works is
indeed demonstrating his genuine faith “from” (ek - out of) those
works. 4. Saving
faith will indeed have evidences of good deeds as the believer grows and
matures (Tit 2:14; 3:8; 3:14 cp. Mt 3:7, 8; 5:16;
7:21; 13:18–23; Jn 8:30, 31; 15:6). (See evidences of salvation in 1
John: Familial Relationship (1Jo 3:1-10); Love (1Jo
3:11-18; 4:7-21); Truth (1Jo 3:19-4:6); Faith (1Jo 5:1-5). B. Illustration of Mere
Acknowledgement of Belief (19) 1. What
could be a cause of such disingenuous faith? James gives one cause as mere
intellectual belief as the acknowledgement of truths. 2. Perhaps the response of some of James’
readers were that they were believers because they could spout several
doctrines. Specifically they believed that “God is one.” This no doubt refers
to the Jewish Shema in Dt 6:4, “Hear [Hb. Shema], O Israel! The LORD is
our God, the LORD is one!” This of course set Israel’s monotheistic
belief (one God) apart from Paganism’s polytheism (many gods). They have done
well (kalōs - same as Jm 2:8) to believe this, but this is not
equivalent to saving faith. 3. Even the demons “believe” and know other
orthodox doctrines (Mt 8:29, 30; Mk 5:7; Lk 4:41; 8:31; Ac 19:15), but they
certainly are not saved. However, even they “shudder” (phri,ssō - shiver from fear, terrified, an
onomatopoeic word) in their
acknowledgement of God and His truth. 4. Saving faith is more than mere
intellectual assent. It would include volitional assent and trust to the
atoning work of Christ on the cross. According to the Westminster Confession,
saving faith is whereby we “receive and rest upon him alone for salvation,
as he is offered to us in the gospel.” (WSC 86) C. Conclusion:
Acknowledgement of Faith Without Works is Worthless (20) 1. Instead,
what James’ readers were to “acknowledge” (aorist infinitive -
ginōskō - know, recognize, or acknowledge) was that a faith
without works was not a saving faith. 2. James uses the exclamation “O foolish
man” toward anyone who did not adhere to his teaching on saving faith. 3. A faith without works was absolutely
“useless” (argo,s - idle or not working) in
terms of their view of the Scriptures and accomplishing salvation. III. OBSERVATIONS AND
APPLICATIONS A. In regard to the doctrine
of salvation, there are two battlefields. The first is outside the camp that
takes place between “faith alone” and “faith plus works.” The second battle
is within the camp that takes place between “fruit produced by faith” and
“dead faith.” Both are crucial battlefields over truth, which determine the
eternal victory. Therefore this is not a battle over splitting hairs, but one
of the most important doctrine in the Scriptures. B. This teaching in James, when one
understands it properly, is most helpful. It teaches that a person cannot
merely profess to know Christ. There must be a genuine faith that produces
genuine fruit. Otherwise, Christianity is reduced to a mere acknowledgement
of doctrines. C. Genuine Christianity comes from a genuine
faith that produces genuine change in a genuine believer. Though change will
never be total in this life, it will nonetheless produce genuine works and
genuine evidence. |
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