James 2:14-26 - Four Illustrations Regarding Faith

Introduction:

As I sat down to work on this sermon I discovered that I needed to hear the instruction in our passage. This week was busy and I knew it would be hard to find a lot of time to prepare a sermon. Therefore I planned to spend a good amount of time on Thursday in sermon prep. When Thursday arrived I had two meetings in the morning but after that I planned to be home and in my office preparing. However, when I got home my wife told me that someone in our congregation was taken to the hospital and placed in ICU. I immediately called them and then texted them letting them know that I was praying for them and I’d be willing to come and see them if they wanted.

Later that day I received word that this person was able to see visitors. I wanted to go but I thought about my sermon and how much more I had to do. Initially I decided to reach out to them again and let them know that I was thinking about them and praying. However, as I read James 2:14-26 I was convicted as I read these words, “What good is it, my brother's, 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?” (14-16)

If James were with me he might have said, “Chris, if a brother or sister is sick but you only take the time to text them and say, ‘Brother, I prayed for you. Don’t be anxious or worried, I am sure you are in good hands and everything will work out. Sleep well, be comfortable, stay warm. I hope you get out soon. I love for you!” Then he would say, “What good is that? You of little faith. Will God not help you visit this person and help you prepare a sermon?”

Three Ways This Text Might Impact You Today

First, this sermon may convict you. You may consider this text and decide that you should do better at making the most of every opportunity that you are given to express your faith by loving those around you. If our faith is weak then this may cause us to not love God and others the way that we would if our faith was healthy and strong.

Secondly, maybe you will look at this text and a friend may come to mind who needs to be encouraged in the faith as James is doing here. Perhaps their faith is weak and they are beginning to wander into error and sin. At the end of this letter we will all be exhorted to be ready to engage in these types of situations when James writes, “My brother's, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (5:19-20)

How will you know if someone is struggling and they need encouragement? James has already given us examples of how a healthy faith will express itself. A healthy faith will make us servants of God in all areas of life (1), will allow us to persevere trials with joy (2-4), will be praying for wisdom (5-8), will be boasting in the grace that they have received (9), a healthy faith will keep the privileged humble (10), will enable us to remain steadfast in trial with hope (12), will teach us to confess our sin and progress in holiness (13-15), will receive grace and bear fruit consistent with our new nature (16-18), we will be hearers and doers of God’s Word (19-25), will change our speech and our manner of life (26-27). We all know someone who needs encouragement to live by faith in these ways.

Third, as you consider this text you may realize that your faith in God is not a saving faith. Perhaps you confess that you are a believer and that you agree with the truths in the bible, however, you may see that your faith in God is not bearing the fruits of love and righteousness that should be visible when there is real genuine faith unto salvation. You are outwardly attached to Christ in some way but there is no real connection to the life of Christ and the grace which produces fruitfulness in the ways mentioned above.

Today’s Sermon: James 1:15-26

Last week we saw in verse 14 that James began to address faith and its fruits by asking two questions, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” When James says, “Can that faith save him?” James supplies a definite article (ho) before ‘faith’ and this means that he is speaking of a specific kind of faith that people often profess but it cannot save. A person is indeed justified before God by faith, but not this kind of faith!

When Paul wrote to the Galatians he reminded them that there is only one Gospel that saves a sinner and he was shocked that they were turning away from it. (1:7) Similarly, in our text James is shocked that they are professing a different kind of faith and he is reminding them that they are in danger! (James 1:18, 2:1)

• If they live by this they will not please God and love Him rightly.

• If they live this way they will not love others as God desires.

• If they live this way their gospel will be tainted and ineffective.

Because of this James asks, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” Then he says, “That kind of faith cannot save him, can it?”. Don’t boast of this type of faith and say something that is contrary to the truth. (3:14)

The problem that James is addressing also troubled the Puritan Samuel Ward when he considered what was going on in his generation. He wrote, “When I look into the world, and upon the lives of those who call themselves believers, I begin to question...Faith is to them but a name, a sound, a mere word, and not a powerful thing. Why are so many of Christ’s followers so dead, so dull, and so melancholy?...Faith finds its luster in action, and not in a notion. Faith enters the heart and not just our heads.”

In this letter James addresses this problem because the consequences are so dire. In every generation there are so many ‘who will call themselves believers’ but they do not have works. Proverbs 13:7 says, “One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” Similarly, there are many people who profess to be rich in faith but if you search you can find no evidence of saving faith.

Previously in James 2:5 James shocked these proud boasters when he told them that it was the poor in their congregations who are ‘rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom’. The poor were not boasting about their faith but James looked and saw evidence that they are rich in faith. James would not have said this if it were not true. When he said those words he was doing more than shaming them for this sin being committed against the poor; he was stating a fact.

• James sees that the faith of the poor when they endure afflictions.

• He sees faith when they look to God, pray, and entrust themselves to Him when they are sinned against.

• Even in that moment they do not resist the rich. That is a picture of irony regarding a faith that works! (James 5:6)

There are two different types of faith. There is a faith that is often boasted of but it does not produce spiritual life and it has never saved a single person. Then there is a faith that can save the worst and most vile of sinners. There are two things that we can say about this type of dead faith.

• First, if one professes a faith but he does not have works that faith cannot save him.

• Second, if a believer, like those James is writing to in this letter, professes a faith but they do not display the appropriate works it will not profit them when they stand before God and give account to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Curtis Vaughan, in his commentary on James, addresses the importance of these things according to verse 14 when James asks, ‘Can that faith save him?’. Vaughan writes, “‘Save’ does not refer to the initial experience of salvation but to acquittal in the judgment at the end of the age. The criterion then will not be profession but performance. As Paul says God at the judgment ‘will render to every man according to his works’ {Romans 2:6}” (p.57)

John Bunyan spoke of this as well when he writes, “At the day of doom men shall be judged according to their fruits...It will not be said then, ‘Did you believe?’ but, ‘Were you doers, or talkers only?’ and accordingly shall they be judged...Not that anything can be accepted that is not of faith. But I speak this to show how insignificant the profession of talk will be at that day.”

Illustration: Recently, I went to the grocery store and when I was leaving there was a woman who was confronted at her car by the store manager for having items in the cart that were not paid for. The woman professed strongly that she had not taken anything but the evidence proved otherwise. Her profession of innocence was not enough to vindicate her in this situation. No, the manager found her guilty because of the evidence that they found in the bags that was not paid for. That is how it will be when we all stand before God to give account for the deeds done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Jesus speaks of this as well in Matthew 25:31-40 when He says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to me.’”

Because of these things we should be grateful for the teaching that James is giving us in this letter. These things should be an incentive for us to respond to what we are learning in James 2:14-26 and not quickly leave here and forget what we have learned. (1:22-25)

How should we respond? Samuel Ward encourages us to “Study, strive, and endeavor to believe, as you do with something difficult to understand. Pray for the ability to believe...By faith put off your sackcloth and put on the garments of joy and gladness...The principle benefit and beauty of faith is in its use, and not in the bare possession of it.”

The recipients of this teaching need to respond by abandoning the excuses they have accepted regarding these things. It appears that some have begun to justify this sin in two ways.

• First, some are saying that some people have ‘faith’ and others have ‘works’. (18) This reminds me of something Ray Haas has told me, “Everyone wants to be the chicken that gives the egg, but far fewer people want to be the pig that donates the ham.” It costs the man nothing if he makes bold claims regarding a faith that has no works associated with it. A man who has the life of Christ living in Him will lay down his life for someone as he walks by faith.

• Second, some think that as long as they believe the right things that ‘works’ don’t matter. (19) We must acknowledge that we must have both ‘works’ and ‘faith’.

  • It is wrong if someone says that can have ‘faith’ without ‘works’.

  • It is also wrong to think we say we can have ‘works’ but not be concerned with what someone believes.

  • Faith and Works go together and cannot be separated.

James addresses these problems by giving four illustrations in verses 15-26. In these verses James shows us what saving faith IS and what it IS NOT. Let’s look at these illustrations.

First, in James 2:15-17 James uses the illustration of how a man who professes to have faith responds to a person who is in need within the congregation. We read, “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.” (negative illustration pertaining to others)

Second, in James 2:18-20 James uses the illustration of a demon. A demon knows the truth about God and even shudders (trembles) but the demon does not have saving faith. James writes, “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?” (negative illustration pertaining to God)

Third, in James 2:21-24 James uses an illustration regarding saving faith and how it was seen in the life of Abraham. We read, “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.” (positive illustration pertaining to God)

Fourth, in James 2:25-26 James uses the illustration regarding saving faith and how it expressed itself in the life of Rahab the prostitute. We read, “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.” (positive illustration pertaining to others)

Did you notice that at the end of each of these illustrations James summarizes something about faith that James wants his readers to understand about faith?

• “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (17)

• “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” (20)

• “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (24)

• “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (26)

I’d like to spend our remaining time speaking specifically about these four verses.

#1- In verse 17 James says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”.

• Faith that is devoid of works is dead. (James 2:17)

• Works done apart from faith is a dead work. (Romans 14:23)

• Neither of these things please the LORD and they need to be repented of. (Hebrews 6:1)

A faith that does not express itself in love for God and for its neighbor is a dead faith. When James speaks of such a dead faith he is referring to what is happening on the inside of a person. This person is outwardly fruitless because they are inwardly dead. This is a problem with the roots that shows up in the barren branches.

#2- In verse 20 James is about to transition to his two godly examples of faith and he says, “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”. There is good news that we can have a faith that produces godly works.

James has given two illustrations regarding what faith is not and he concludes that those who profess faith while not having works are ‘foolish’. The ‘foolish person’ is a vain man, empty man, an unwise man.

• James is referring to a ‘vain man’ is a prideful and arrogant man who has a very high opinion of his faith. And yet, he does not see that the faith he so confidently boasts about is useless.

• James is speaking of an ‘empty man’ who claims to possess great faith but no evidence can be found of this faith. His mouth speaks of faith but his hands and feet do not work for the glory of God or for the good of his neighbor.

• James speaks of a man who is ‘unwise’. He is an empty-headed and lacks godly wisdom. If this man had wisdom and faith he would obey verses like Proverbs 11:24, “One (a faithful man) gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another (a faithless man) withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”

James addresses the foolish person quite strongly but the good news is that James is also inviting the foolish person to learn wisdom from the next two illustrations. We see this when James says, ‘Do you want to be shown, you foolish person…’. All of us should be grateful for invitations such as these in scriptures. Consider Wisdom’s invitation in Proverbs 8:4-7a, “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth.”

How should we respond to such invitations? James 1:3-5 told us to pray for wisdom in faith. Then consider the instruction that we are given in Proverbs 2:1-6, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding, if you seek it...and search for it...then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding…”.

#3- If we consider the lives of faithful people like Abraham and Rahab we will agree with James in verse 24 when he says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Abraham and Rahab’s faith was seen in the way that they obeyed God and loved God’s people.

Faith without works cannot save a person. Neither can works apart from faith save a person. (Matthew 5:20) However, saving faith expresses itself in love for God and obedience to His commands.

Verse 24 is the most controversial verse in this letter. It may help us to speak a little bit about the meaning of the word ‘justification’. It has a couple of meanings that must be considered.

• First, justification can speak of being declared righteous. It speaks of being acquitted from all guilt and condemnation. This is how we see Paul so often use the word when people are always trying to add a work to the Gospel for salvation.

• Secondly, justification can also speak of vindication. It speaks of something that provides evidence that one has been made righteous. This is the meaning that James is using this word in this verse. Saving faith is vindicated by works done by the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 2:20)

#4- in verse 26 James summarizes his entire argument by saying, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” This is similar to what James said in verse 17- ‘faith by itself is dead’.

Therefore, James’ argument began and now he has concluded his argument by speaking about the deadness of such a faith that produces no works. In between these verses James spoke of the uselessness of such a faith and the desperate need for every person to be justified by a faith that is expressed through works done by the Spirit.

James has addressed the foolishness of thinking that a profession without works can save us.

We cannot continue in such folly.

Therefore, after James has shown us this he gave us two examples- Abraham and Rahab. Their example shows us how faith in God and His Word brings forth life which produces godly works. We are now new creations in Christ. (1:18) God saved Abraham the father of all Jews. And He saved Rahab a Gentile prostitute. God saved a man and He also saved this woman. Both of them were saved by faith and this faith transformed their lives!

Samuel Ward spoke of the need to see that we are spiritually dead and that we need to be justified and given spiritual life when he wrote, “The covetous, when he is blessed with goods, applauds his soul as if he has received that which is truly good. The sensual, when he is satisfied with the husk of pleasure, cries out that he is living a royal and happy life. The ambitious, when he has climbed the steep and slippery hill of honor, thinks he is in the highest sphere of happiness.” Then he writes, “Alas! Do not all of these know they are in the chambers of death? They are dead while they are alive! They are walking ghosts in the form of living men...There are many by-paths you might tread in life, but only one true way of happiness. There are many errors, but only one grand truth. Consider, each of you who are looking into the ways of life, what Christ said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”