James 2:14-17

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

The first kinds of works that James points to that reveal evidence of true faith are works that show:

1. Compassion for the crown of God’s creation (14-17)

Now, when I say compassion for the crown of God’s creation, I’m not talking about global warming and saving the whales. Because while whales are part of God’s creation, they are not the crown of His creation. Psalm 8 and Ephesians 2:10 remind us that God’s masterpiece is man, as James says people are God’s prized possession. Sadly today we are prizing creation over the crown of His creation, as a result we are worshiping creation instead of the Creator. Now the way that verse 15 is worded in the original Greek, makes it clear that James is making reference to all people not just Christians. He is not just telling us to take care of the needs in the church but to compassionately care for all people, regardless of their race or religion. This means feeding the hungry instead of finding fault with humanity. Today the church has become so focused on the failures that we have forgotten to be the hands and feet. We have become failure focused instead of service focused. As a result we are adept at criticizing and inept at caring. But real faith cares from a heart of compassion, it’s faith that follows in the footsteps of Jesus who spent most of His time caring for the hurting masses of humanity. Real faith is focused on feeding the hungry not humiliating the hurting with calloused and uncaring words. What good does it do to recognize the need but not respond? To see those who are cold and hungry and say stay warm, eat well and have a good day but not to love them like the Lord? Faith that talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk is worthless because it does no good to tell someone about your faith if they can’t see it. That’s the kind of faith that the Pharisee in the parable of the Good Samaritan had, he saw the man in need and crossed over to the other side so he wouldn’t have to stop and help the hurting.  Galatians 5:6 – “For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.” We are called to be moved by love not motivated by legalism. This is a faith that says, “I love you because Jesus first loved me.” That lends a helping hand because Jesus helped you in your hour of need. James objected to a “faith” filled with pious words but void of practice. Real faith is seen in practices not principles.  A conviction that refuses to obey the commands of Christ is not just cold its dead. It’s an intellectual belief not faith. There is a great story of the tightrope walker, Blondin who would cross over the Niagara Falls walking on a tightrope. One day he turned to his large audience and asked them, “How many believe I can walk across this tightrope over the Falls pushing a wheelbarrow?” People cheered loudly; they were sure the great Blondin could do it. Then he asked, “How many believe I can push a wheelbarrow across the tightrope with a man sitting in it?” Again, there was a loud response. Blondin then pointed to the Prince of Wales and said, “Okay, then get into the wheelbarrow.” But the man refused. There is a big difference between intellectual belief and faith. Between the faith we SAY we have, and the action faith we really have. Faith and works go together like inhaling and exhaling as Billy Graham said, “Faith is taking the Gospel in, works is taking the Gospel out.” Real belief involves faith keeping company with action. Because if you don’t live it, you don’t really believe it. Matthew 9:36 reminds us that when Jesus “saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus saw the crowds and had compassion, but what about us do we display compassion or contempt? When we see people in need do, we think of ways to help or do we wander what they did to get in that situation and find reason why we can’t? Are you cultivating compassion or contempt? This goes back to how you view people, either as a priced possession or a pain and a problem. Why was it that when Jesus walked the earth the helpless flocked to him, but today they seem to shy away from His followers? What if the church stopped trying to look cool and started loving like Christ? Part of this involves Christians coming together corporately and caring for the hurting. But it also involves individual Christians taking the time to touch the lives of others. Why don’t we do that because we haven’t orientated ourselves to service. How many of us miss opportunities because not only are we not intentionally looking for them, but because we haven’t prepared ourselves to participate. One of the things the Lord impressed on my heart is to be prepared so that when needs arises I wasn’t taken by surprise. So I made what I called a Blessing jar, just an ordinary jar with the verse Proverbs 14:31 “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Into this jar I put a portion of money every month so that I am always prepared to participate and meet the needs of those God calls me to. Compassion is more than just giving your money its giving yourself. If your faith doesn’t show compassion, it just might be dead.

James 2:14-26

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. ¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” ¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? ²¹ Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. ²³ And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. ²⁴ So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. ²⁵ Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. ²⁶ Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.

As we continue in the series “The Litmus Test for Life” James walks us through the fifth test, the works test where we shift from talking about our prejudice with people to the proof that our faith is real and not a fake. Because when it comes to faith, we either have the real deal or a dead deal. James starts by stating a powerful point that we desperately need to pay attention to today, that faith without works is dead. But he doesn’t just make the point, he restates it no less than six times in these 13 verses. His point is simply but profound, that faith without fruit is a farce. Genuine faith is evidenced not in what we say but in what we do, in our walk not just our talk. James is reiterating what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:15-20,  “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

This is the question that James is asking, can a faith that doesn’t bear fruit be considered a saving faith? And then he answers his own question. No, its a dead faith because faith without fruit is a fraud. Now if that’s the only kind of faith you have, then it means you’re dead too, dead in your sins. And the only cure for being dead in your sins is to come to the Savior and accept His sacrifice for your sin. In his typical teacher preacher style, James lays out four arguments, and supports them with illustrations to prove his point. Now this brings up a very controversial and confusing subject that has divided the church for centuries. Few passages have caused more problems than the one we are looking at today. Because it’s here that some people erroneously teach that we are called to work for our salvation. But it’s not the verse that causes the problems, it’s the way people have mishandled and misinterpreted the verse that has caused the problems. When we look at it in the correct context, as a series of tests to determine whether or not our faith is real, we see it not as working for our salvation but works that show our salvation. James is as clear as Jesus, and the rest of the New Testament, that salvation is by faith. It’s the result of Christs work on the cross not ours, therefore we don’t work for our faith we work as a result of our faith. Let me make it absolutely crystal clear, we are not working to gain or maintain salvation. There are many today who are trying to work their way into heaven, because they have fallen for a false belief system. One that teaches them that if our good outweighs the bad we will get in. But salvation is based on Christs and His work on the cross not ours. God doesn’t grade on a curve, he grades on the cross. Works based salvation is from Satan, who wants you to waste your life working for a forgiveness that is not only free but can set you free. Now let me address the other half of my statement because there are some of you who while you may not be working to gain salvation are trying to work to try and maintain your salvation. When Jesus said it is finished he meant it. Why do we believe the lie that we have to maintain God’s greatest miracle? And who do we think we are to believe that we can? When we do we are deceived by the devil, so that our faith becomes motivated by fear or arrogance. You’re not maintaining your salvation, you’re maintaining your pride. Instead of enjoying salvation we sacrifice our time and our talents on the altar of ego, relying on self instead of resting in the Savior. Look works-based salvation doesn’t promote salvation it promotes self, as we trade trusting for trying. It’s one of the devils destructive doctrines, because it points to self-effort not the Savior. It points people to our work not His. Genuine grace points people to God but works based salvation points people to trying to be good. Is the way you are living your life pointing people to Jesus and His grace or to you and trying to be good? Are you pointing people to marvel at the miracle of Salvation or to the misery of trying to maintain it? Do you have a peace-based salvation or a performance-based salvation? If your salvation is based on the Lord, then you can’t lose it. But if you think you can lose it then it was built on a lie not the Lord. Why won’t we just accept the freedom of forgiveness that comes from genuine faith and stop trying to work to maintain salvation? Because we are afraid people will come to Jesus for salvation and then go right back to a life of selfishness and sin. But that’s not real salvation its fire insurance not assurance. Which do you have “Assurance” or “Insurance”? Both words sound very similar and have similar meanings. One of the definitions of both is a guaranty. Assurance is a guaranty of your word and Insurance is a guaranty of payment. The same, yet different. I have assurance that if certain people tell me that they will do something that I don’t have to worry about it. Their word is all I need. And I have insurance, lot’s of insurance, life, vehicle, home owners and health just to name a few. They guaranty me compensation if anything were to happen. But the one big difference is that assurance is not based on anything I do where Insurance has everything to do with what I do. Several years ago I got a “Final Notice” from my insurance company saying that I owed them money. I was sure the bill had been paid and after checking discovered that there was a glitch and I was indeed paid up. But the point was that my insurance was only as good as long as I paid my premiums. If you don’t pay your bill, then your insurance will be cancelled and you have nothing. So back to the question at hand: Do you have “Assurance” or “Insurance”? Do you have assurance that if you died today that you would end up in Heaven with our Lord or do you have insurance, thinking that as long as you do the right things that you will end up in Heaven. Are you basing it on God’s Word or your work? I don’t want anyone to believe the lie that they can work for their salvation, but, I do want everyone to live in such a way that you show your salvation by your works. In order to do that, over the next few weeks we’re going to look at four kinds of works that will show evidence of true faith. So that you know that you have assurance of salvation instead of insurance.