James 2:15-26 Part 2 Bible Teaching

JAMES 2.end – Part II
Meat
March 22 2015
Welcome
Prayer
Music
Silence

Okay, We left off last week with James giving us an example of verse 14 of chapter two which said:

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

And he added:

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Looking back at verse 14 James asked:

“If a man SAY he has faith” – if he makes a verbal profession of faith:

“I believe.”
“I trust in Jesus.”
“I follow Jesus”

But he does nothing to substantiate his expression or claim he would be like a person who sees a person in need of clothing or food but only SAYS to him,

“be warmed or be filled,” that this type of response profits nobody – neither the speaker NOR the receiver.

It does not profit (“ofelos” in the Greek) – what advantage does it produce, what gain?

In large part due to the Protestant Reformation and Luther’s focus on grace (which really stopped short in my estimation of putting grace ahead of religious ritual – but that’s another matter) but since the Reformation Sola Gratia (grace alone) has been a strong standard in Christian circles.

And for good reason. Paul said clearly, plainly and succinctly:

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Romans 11:6 “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

We mentioned last week how important it is, when we approach James, that we remember that he is speaking of FAITH – and what saving faith looks like.

According to James it looks no more like a guy claiming to follow Jesus but never showing it than it looks like a person saying he cares for the poor but does nothing to actually help them.

In other words, the coin of salvation, which is granted by God according to His grace according to our faith has another side – what James calls works.

If a person claims to have received the coin of salvation by God’s grace through faith James is saying that hand in hand with His professed faith there would be works.

Otherwise, he adds, “what would the faith profit?”

I think we sometimes get the idea that God is not a God who cares about improvements, or profits, or fixing things.

On the contrary, that is all He is about – saving, redeeming, fixing, reconciling . . . and therefore improving or profiting.

I think we can safely say that Christianity is all about such things, and it’s NOT just centered on the fact that we have individually been redeemed.

I am convinced that God wants all redemptions to produce fruit . . . to profit . . . to increase.

The focus on Sola Gratia, if not taught contextually can have the tendency to cause some people to think that Christianity is all about them when frankly it is really all about others.

In some ways I think Paul is speaking of “faith saving” while James is talking about the lives of those who have been “saved by faith.”

Paul is speaking about why God grants the coin of salvation to an individual and James is talking about the lives of those who have been given the coin.

I think a short revisit to the board will help illustrate this – excuse the redundancy.

(GO TO BOARD AND EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE)

Okay so James goes on (verse 18-26) and says:

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Okay.

So after saying: (at verse 17)
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

He adds:

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

I gotta be honest with you the way this passage comes out in the King James really bothers me personally.

I don’t get the way it’s written. So I consulted some other translations. They put it this way:

(BBE) But a man may say, You have faith and I have works; let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works.

(TCNT) Some one, indeed, may say–“You are a man of faith, and I am a man of action.” “Then show me your faith,” I reply, “apart from any actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions.”

(WNT) Nay, some one will say, “You have faith, I have actions: prove to me your faith apart from corresponding actions and I will prove mine to you by my actions.

In other words, James is presenting a theoretical discussion for us. And he says,

Suppose a guy makes an observation and looking at another guys says (to him)

“You are a man of faith and I am a man of action,” and then he throws down the challenge:

“You show me your faith – display it – without any actions at all, without any works, or without displaying any activity and I will prove my faith by my activities, my labor, and the works you see me do.”

Because of this passage many people have suggested that Paul, when he wrote about faith saving us, that he was referring to what God sees in the heart of a person – their belief, their faith in Christ – and seeing this God grants a person salvation, therefore it is by grace that we are saved through faith and not of works.

They go on to suggest that James here is writing to what men see – that because the faith of a person is invisible (we cannot ever really know what a person believes in their heart) that men look upon the works of another to determine the existence of their faith in Christ.

In other words Paul’s faith speaks to how God determines our Christianity and James works speaks to how men view the same.

While there may be truth to the fact that God sees the heart and men see the hands I don’t think we can use the literal works of literal hands to prove a person has faith in Jesus.

Often the opposite is the case – meaning that there are those who trust so little in the finished work of Christ they work themselves to death as a means to try and earn their place in heaven.

Additionally, I reject the teaching that Paul was addressing God’s view of people (by looking at the faith in their hearts) and James was speaking of how men see us as Christians because the initial premise posed by James was:

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can (such a faith) save him?”

So the question remains – Is a faith that arrives alone and never moves a person to work love able to save?

While we have to say, “No, that type of faith could and would never save anyone,” we have to add (paradoxically) that “such a faith could never be considered Christian faith in the first place, which is a type of faith that, ALONE, does save.”

We could appeal to a number of analogies to support this.

Saving faith is like a genuine living acorn – small and self-contained at first but in the end it will (not it must, but it will because of its nature) grow into an enormous tree of loving works.

It is in this context that we begin to understand Jesus words when He says in
Matthew 25 beginning at verse 34

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

To me, this describes those who, possessing acorn faith naturally grew into magnificent trees of love and served without any mandate . . . to the point they had to ask the Lord when they ever served Him?

In the parable of the sower Jesus uses similar analogies (to the acorn) likening the word to seed cast on four types of ground with only one landing on good earth and therefore producing abundant fruit.

In this parable we note that the failure of the seed to grow is not the type or level of faith but the quality of the heart-ground upon which the good seed (being the Word of God) falls.

We also note that the reasons Jesus gave for the seed NOT bearing fruit (not working, not profiting) was that the ground upon which it fell was either too shallow, was rocky, or was among thorns.

Bringing James comments into play, we remember that he has told them that what people say must be in harmony with what they do.

He has also pointed out that the recipients of his epistle were giving honor to the rich but ignoring the poor.

When Jesus explains the parable of the Sower he explains that the stony ground represented persecutions due to the Word and that the Thorny ground represented the cares and riches of the World choking the fruit out I think we can find parallels to James admonition.

Possibly, the believers he was writing to were claiming to have faith in Jesus (the seed was planted in their hearts) but they were being persecuted, or they were showing partiality to the rich and not the poor because that is where their hearts were and James was plainly telling them that the end-result of such faith was, as Jesus described, they would be gathered up and burned.

James moves on now and sort of assails belief that arrives alone, saying:

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

It’s almost like James took one of the single most important and distinguished beliefs in all of Judaism and Christianity – monotheism – which is reiterated in the first of the Ten Commandments – and says:

“Good for you. You do well. But even the devils accept or believe this, in fact they tremble over the fact.”

I find in this statement an important reiteration from James:

Even something as important as a monotheistic view of God, which implies they have no other God but Him, is hollow if it arrives alone.

IOW, doctrine alone cannot save a person – even the demons know correct doctrine. Their failure comes down to practice. They love the self so much that their correct understanding or belief in the One God is irrelevant – they’re still demons.

Paul touches on the principle when he reminds us in 1st Corithians 13:2

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

Again, James works are speaking of works of love so there is perfect harmony here.

The Word tremble here (frisso) is interesting because it is rarely used in the New Testament and also it basically describes the experience of having our hair stand up on end or to shutter with fright.

So essentially James compares the empty belief a person could have in the One true God to a demon who has the same belief – to the extent that they are terrified of Him – but that knowledge of Him does not move them to acquiescence to His ultimate will – which is love, the works of love, Loving God and Loving our fellowman.

James adds

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

The way this is written its sort of hard to get what he is asking but what he is saying is:

Do you want to understand better, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

“Will you have a full demonstration of my insight? Will you accept the clearest proofs that what I am saying is true?” he seems to ask.

And he asks this in preparation to give two examples from scripture of faith and works – one of Abraham and one of Rahab – which– we will get to in a minute.

But note the somewhat caustic pejorative James uses, referring to his reader as:

“O vain man.”

The King James translates this vain and other translations use “foolish” but the Greek word is Kenos and it realy means “empty.”

I like this definition better because someone who had said faith but no love would certainly be empty wouldn’t they?

Apparently James felt that of all the evidences of faith and works in scripture that he could use to bolster his stance by citing Abraham and Rahab as prime examples.

That’s initially intriguing isn’t it?
There’s a grand purpose to his choosing these two.

And so he says:

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Remember, he was writing to the converts from the House of Israel that had been scattered (into places not mentioned).

And so he appeals to two old Testament examples – the first being Father Abraham – the Father of Faith, right?

The illustration is pretty radical when we think about it. I mean Paul uses Abraham as the pillar of faith and as the example of being made righteous by faith alone and yet James uses this same person to prove faith that produces works. Pretty cool, in my opinion.

Wow. And so he says:

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Remember now, the sense that James is appealing to this example of Abraham is in the sense that a person who professes faith in God proves/illustrates/shows the existence of this faith which they claim to have by labors.

It’s not that Abrahams actions justified Him before God – James couldn’t be saying this otherwise we would have a conflict with Paul who makes it clear in

Romans 4:3 that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

This Pauline principle was true in Abraham’s day and it remains the same with us unto salvation.

But James point is to say it was the actions Abraham took that justified the faith that saved him (or put him in favor with God) and it was his actions or labors that proved (fulfilled, made perfect) he really had placed his faith and trust in God.

He is NOT suggesting that the ground upon which we are accepted by God is that we keep the law, or are perfect, or that our good works make an atonement for our sins, and that it is on their account that we are pardoned of sin.

Not at all.

Nor does he ever deny that it is necessary that a man should believe in order to be saved.

But James does clearly teach (and it is a teaching that cannot be ignored) that where there are no good works in the life of a professor then professions of faith are in fact empty and that such a faith is dead.

Now, let me stop here because it is at this point where everyone with an opinion jumps in the ring and gives their definition of what “Works” in the Christian life consist.

Most of the opinions revolve around concepts like

Living holy lives OR
Doing something for the poor OR
Serving people in the Church OR
. . . well you know – obeying ALL of God’s commandments.

In my estimation it is on this point that we are faced with the greatest frustration.

Remember, back when we talked about how even the devils believe, that I cited 1st Corinthians 13 as a means to show that knowledge and faith cannot save, which said:

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

Well after that Paul addresses all action (or works) and says:

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Verse 2 tells us that knowledge and faith aren’t sufficient without love – that even the devils believe.

But verse 3 then takes us to outward expressions of devotion and labors aren’t enough, saying:

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

With knowledge and faith and giving to the poor failing UNLESS we have love then it only makes sense that the works James is talking about is the work of love.

Loving what? Loving who?

When Jesus was approached by a lawyer in Matthew, he asked Jesus, tempting him:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

So the labor, the work, the good we do is summarized by these two commands –

Love God.
Love Neighbor.

A faith that says it believes in God (as even the devils believe) but does not love him and his neighbor (as the devils love neither) is dead faith. Empty.

In other words, faith without love for God and Neighbor is dead. Empty and is not the type or level of faith that can save.

It is at this point where James supplies us with two primary examples of Old Testament characters who showed ultimate love for God and ultimate love for neighbor.

The first, Abraham, who believe God and his promises that he would have a son and that that son would be the source of progeny numbering in heights to that of the stars.

But having believed that God would grant him such a son, his faith was made perfect when God told Abraham to go and sacrifice the same.

It was one thing for Abraham to believe God (and God imputed righteousness to Abraham for believing) but it was quite another thing for Abraham to prove that faith by illustrating love for God above all other things on earth.

Wild.

By acting, Abraham proved his faith and trust in the living God and the actions made his said faith complete, full, perfect.

What were the actions? James uses Abraham’s actions of completing the first commandment of Loving God . . . even more than His own son.

God commanded Abraham and Abraham who claimed to love and believe in God went and acted proving his utmost for God over all other things.

In respect to this James adds:

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

The word, “wrought” in the Greek is SOON ER GAYO and it means:

“co-operat with,”

It is used in scripture when two people or agents co-operate to produce a result.

Some would suggest that Abraham was made righteous by first trusting in God and His promises but it was only once his faith was tested that his place with God was assured or when he was really saved.

I would suggest that Abraham was justified by God when he first believed and that his faith cooperated later to help Abraham show, in this case God, an ultimate love for Him.

This is the case with each of us. God will allow us to express faith. To claim Him as our God and King. And then He slowly places us in positions where our said faith is proven not to be a dead faith.

How? By and through our love. First for Him then for each other – the two great commandments.

In this we see a reciprocity, a co-operation, between faith and love.

(Verse 23)

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

That is, in Abraham’s case, the said faith was proven genuine by the act of obedience to God and illustrated that Abraham loved the Lord above all other things – the first great commandment.

And so James then reiterates his point, saying:

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Again, I do not believe James is saying that we are justified before God by faith and love but he says:

24 Ye see then how that by works or actions a man is justified, and not by faith only.

The line, “a man” may allude to the fact that our professed faith cannot possibly justify us (as HUMANS in the audience of HUMANS) without actions that prove our inward faith outwardly).

He is obviously warning believers against a cold, abstract, inoperative faith. He is pushing for a faith that performs acts of love and again, in his first example given shows how Abraham proved his faith by showing love for the Lord God with all his heart, the first great commandment.

Then he moves on to the second commandment which is like unto the first and is, “To love neighbor as self,” and he appeals to another Old Testament example – the actions of a whore named Rahab.

And so he says:

25 Likewise (with the second great commandment being LIKE UNTO the first, I think James use of likewise is important here. Anyway) Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

In the same sense in which Abraham proved his faith by an act of utter love for God alone James uses the story of Rahab to illustrate the second great commandment – to love neighbor as self.

Her’s was not just a stated faith – it acted, proving her faith in God.

There are a number of things about the story of Rahab that I love. First of all, she was a harlot. Actually living as a harlot when she exercised both faith and love.

Secondly, it was faith first that made Rahab great in the eyes of God and which granted her a place in the Hebrews 11 hall of fame of faith which says:

(Hebrews 11:31) “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”

Third, what proved Rahab’s faith was action that fulfilled the second great commandment of loving neighbor as self.

You recall the story. It’s found in
Joshua chapter 2. Let’s work through it quickly.

1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, “Go view the land, even Jericho.” And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.”
3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, “Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.”
4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, “There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:”
5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
9 And she said unto the men, (a statement of faith) “I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. (Statement of faith)
12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:
13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
14 And the men answered her, “Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.”
15 Then . . . she . . . let . . . them . . . down (an action of love for her neighbor) by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.
17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

Rabab believed – actually before the men even arrived in need of her help. And when they did arrive (why they went to her house remains a mystery but I would guess they were led of the Spirit) she proved her faith in the living God by her actions of love for neighbor.

James wraps the point up with another reiteration, saying:

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

I think the meaning here is obvious – just as the body is animated or kept alive by the presence of the soul, and that when the soul or spirit leaves the body dies so faith without love is equally dead.

In other words there is as much necessity that faith and works should be united to constitute the true Christian as there is that the spirit and body must co-exist.

Remove either we don’t have a human being. Remove faith or love we don’t have a Christian.

Questions/comments