Faith Plus Works

Tom Shrader works through James 2:14-26, addressing the apparent tension between James and Paul on faith and works by showing that James uses 'justified' to mean vindication before men, not acquittal before God. Saving faith, Shrader argues, is entirely God's gift and contributes nothing to human effort, but genuine faith will always produce a changed life as its evidence. Using Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac and Rahab's protection of the spies as illustrations, he calls listeners to examine whether their profession of faith is matched by a transformed life.

“I'm saved by grace alone through faith alone, but the faith that saves me is never alone — it's always accompanied by a transformed life.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Blue Jean Theology (2006)

Recorded: 2006 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 50 min

Themes: faith, works, salvation, grace, changed life, evidence of faith, belief, obedience, doubting your salvation, new believer, questioning your faith, spiritually stagnant, young adult, seeker, struggling with assurance, nominal christian

Scripture: James 1:1, James 1:2, James 1:3, James 1:12, James 1:21, James 1:22, James 2:14-26, James 2:17, James 2:18, James 2:19, James 2:20, James 2:21, James 2:23, James 2:26, Ephesians 2:8, Philippians 2:12, Matthew 7, Matthew 11:28, Matthew 13, John 15, 1 John 3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Romans 3:4, Romans 4:2, Romans 4:3, Acts 2:42-47, Genesis 15:1, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 15:6, Genesis 22:2, Genesis 22:3, Deuteronomy 6:4, Joshua 2

Theological Themes: justification, sola fide, saving faith, sanctification, james and paul, imputed righteousness, fruit of faith, monergism

Full Transcript

Introduction to James and the Series

Let me invite you to open your Bibles to the book of James, chapter 2, verse 14. We are working our way through a verse-by-verse study of the book of James. We've been interrupted here along the way a couple of times, so let me just remind you briefly. This is James, the half-brother of Jesus, writing to, as he says in verse 1, the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. He is writing to Jews who have made a profession of faith, who believe.

We assume they are dispersed for a couple of reasons. One, out of obedience to share the truth, but also out of persecution and suffering. As they came to Christ, their connections within the Jewish community were severed, with persecution on top of that. We understand that. We can assume that is part of what is going on when we look at verse 2 of chapter 1: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." The key verse in this book is chapter 1, verse 22: "Prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."

Salvation by Grace Alone

We have titled this series Blue Gene Theology — this is really practical stuff. The Reformers coined the phrase, or at least it has been attached to them, salvation by grace alone. We have heard that phrase over and over again, and we embrace it here at East Valley Bible Church: that we are saved, delivered from our sins, by God's work alone.

In his book *In the Grip of Grace*, Max Lucado writes this: "What a God. Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our sin, nor does He compromise His standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does He relax His demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, He assumes our sin and incredibly sentences Himself. God's holiness is honored, our sin is punished, and we are redeemed. God does what we cannot do so we can be what we dare not dream — perfect before God."

That is all done as a result of God. God saves sinners. God is the one who saves His people. He did everything. We contribute nothing to that process.

Does James Contradict Paul?

Along comes James, and at first reading through his book, it seems like he may be contradicting that. In fact, the very verse we have in front of us today, James asks a question: "What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works?" James seems to be saying that this salvation thing is indeed a joint venture — it is God doing what He does, but it is also man's work. At least on the surface, that is what he seems to be saying.

We understand the Apostle Paul, and there is no way Paul is going to teach that salvation is by works. And yet Paul writes in Philippians 2:12: "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Along the road I have had people come to me and say, "Listen, even Paul says I'm supposed to work out my salvation." Is that what Paul is saying? No, that is not what he is saying. Paul is very clear throughout his writing that we are saved by grace alone.

It could not be any clearer than in Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." If there is anybody who questions whether works contribute to salvation, all we have to do is go to that single passage of Scripture and it explodes that idea. Right after it, Paul says we are created as His workmanship. There is a connection between faith and works, but that connection is not dealing with salvation — it is dealing with living the Christian life.

The Central Point

I have essentially one point today, and I am going to make it over and over again. Here it is: I am saved by grace alone through faith alone, but the faith that saves me is never alone. It is always accompanied by a transformed life.

On first reading, I could go to James and say, wait a minute, James seems to be challenging that. Look at chapter 2, verse 21: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works?" On the surface, it looks like we have something that contradicts another part of Scripture. We know that is not the case — Scripture is not going to contradict itself — so we are going to have to do a little work and unpack this. Whenever we see an apparent contradiction, all we have to do is take Scripture, compare Scripture with Scripture, and let it speak clearly. If we reach a point where it remains mystery and we cannot unpack it, that is all right too. But this is frankly not that difficult to understand, and I think we will get our arms around it today.

What James Is Actually Asking

James poses a question: "What use is it if a man says he has faith but has no works?" The idea here is not that this man necessarily has saving faith, but that he claims to. When James uses the word "faith," he is likely referring to the basic truths — the essence of God, Scripture, all of that. If someone claims to have this, but has no works, can that faith save him?

We can talk about what works means by looking right through James' letter. In chapter 1, verse 3, he talks about endurance. In chapter 1, verse 12, he talks about perseverance. In chapter 1, verse 21, he talks about the pure life and obedience to Scripture. There is a clear pattern of what a transformed life looks like throughout this book.

The Faith That Produces Fruit

We already looked at compassion, impartiality, and all these works. But James has a fundamental question. The way the question is structured — and we can't see this in the English reading, but in the Greek — it anticipates a negative answer. In other words, can this faith save him? And the answer is no.

It is really important to understand that James is not asking this question in a vacuum. The question assumes that these people believe they are saved by faith alone, otherwise there would be no point in asking it. James is not undoing that assumption. James is not coming along and saying, no, no, you're not saved by faith alone, it's faith plus works. That is not what he is saying. James is simply declaring that the faith that saves produces fruit.

It is the very same point that Jesus makes in Matthew chapter 7 when He says, "So every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit." It is the same idea that Jesus has in John 15 when He says, "I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing." It is the same idea that Jesus has in Matthew chapter 13 after He shares the parable of the soils, when He says, "The one on whom the seed was sown is good soil. This is the man who hears the Word and understands it and bears fruit and brings forth fruit, a hundred, sixty, thirty fold." It is the same idea that John writes in 1 John 3 when he says, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother." All of them are saying the same thing.

Salvation Is Entirely God's Work

You are saved by grace through faith. My salvation is entirely based on what God does. God initiates the process, God completes the process, and I contribute nothing to my salvation. I am a sinner — that is what I bring to the table. He brings grace and mercy and forgiveness.

Just as we read from Max Lucado, He doesn't overlook our sin, He doesn't condone our sin, He doesn't excuse our rebellion, but He provides the solution completely from Himself. He sentences Himself to death. Jesus comes and dies so that we can have eternal life. I bring absolutely nothing to that as it relates to salvation.

So what do the works do? Are they important? Absolutely they are important, but not as it relates to salvation. They are evidence of a changed life. It becomes clear to everyone around you. All of a sudden, people see that there is a difference in you. Something has changed.

A Personal Testimony of Changed Life

I want to be autobiographical here. When God saved me, my life changed, and it became pretty clear to everyone around me that something was different — perhaps more to Susan than anyone else. I sort of wish I could have her here to tell you this story. As she shares it, she talks about when God saved me, she talks about the change. She talks about me coming home, and this is what she said: every day I would come home and say, "Do you know Christ?" And she would say no, and I would say, "You're going to hell." Now that doesn't sound right to me — that doesn't sound like something I would do. But after about three weeks, I said to her, "Do you know Christ?" She said no, and I said, "You're going to hell." And she said, "Are you going to be there?" And I said no. And she said, "Then it won't be that bad, and I'll be fine." We were not on a real tight relationship at the time.

But if you listen to her, she would say that after two or three months, she had to say, "Something is just different with him. He is not the same guy I was married to four months ago." Life had changed. Paul writes this in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5: "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith, examine yourselves."

Swinging from Legalism to License

Jesus was writing to these Jews, and here is what had happened to them. They had been under the bondage of legalism and ritual and tradition. They had heard and embraced Jesus' words recorded in Matthew chapter 11 verse 28: "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The idea of heavy laden there is to be weighed down or loaded up. All of you who are weary — not only from life's struggles, though He certainly gives you relief there — but all of you who are weary from working out your salvation, all of you who are exhausted from trying to follow all this ritual, all this tradition, all this legalism: come to Me and I will give you rest.

These Jews had heard this and embraced that truth, but they had swung all the way to the other side and said, "I'm saved, I've got faith — I can do whatever I want. No more rules, no more regulation, nothing binding me up anymore. I don't have to live by all these dos and don'ts. I am now free."

Growing Up Under Legalism

To be autobiographical again — I was born and raised in a Catholic church. Catholic grade school, Catholic high school, Catholic college. And I have had what feels like thousands of conversations with men and women, friends who have been in the Catholic church, priests and even a bishop. My point in those conversations is not to argue. But I am telling you: I was there all that time and I never once heard that I am saved by grace through faith. I heard that Jesus died for my sin, but then it was you better do this, and you better do this, and you better do this. That is what I heard.

Salvation by Grace Alone

If you have something called purgatory, then by its very definition, something is going on there beyond simply being saved. It doesn't make sense. Say whatever you want to say, but you are teaching a works salvation. The very fact that I can sin my way out, get my way in, sin my way out again means I am doing a bunch of stuff.

When I heard that I am saved by grace through faith, I said, "Oh my gosh, I've never heard anything like this." My view had been: do all these good things, try not to do too many bad things, have the good stack be higher than the bad stack, and you're in heaven. The strategy was to die when the stacks were in your favor. The problem I had was that the good stack was so small and the bad stack was so high that I said, "This is never going to work." So I just decided to see how high I could get the bad stack.

When I heard that none of that matters as it relates to salvation, and that I am saved by Christ's work and Christ alone, those were the sweetest words I had ever heard. I couldn't get to the foot of the cross fast enough.

James on Faith Without Works

But works are important. Because my life and my heart have now been changed, there ought to be evidence of it. That is what James is saying. James is saying, listen, if you say you are a Christian but there is no change in your life, can that faith save you?

His conclusion is that it is of no value at all. Look at verse 17: "Even so, if faith has no works, it is dead." Verse 20: "Faith without works is useless." Verse 26: "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." That is his conclusion, and it is implied in the whole question at the beginning — implied with a negative answer assumed. Can that faith save me? No.

If someone says, "I prayed this prayer, I walked this aisle, I went to a summer camp, I went to a Young Life camp, I was a little five-year-old girl and I prayed and asked Jesus" — if I say all those things but there is no evidence of a life change, I have no biblical assurance of my salvation. That is really important. You have to get this.

Assurance and Its True Foundation

When someone comes to me and asks, "Can I know that I'm saved? Can I be assured of my salvation?" I will always ask, "Why are you asking?" Sometimes it is doctrinal confusion. More often than not, it is personal sin in a life that has gotten off track and they are wondering if they have out-sinned God's grace.

So when somebody says to me, "I'm wondering about my salvation," I ask them why. Is it that you do not understand the promises of God — in which case we go through them — or is it because there is something in your life, and when you test it you find yourself thinking, "Somebody who is really a Christian shouldn't be living like this, and I'm living like this, so I wonder if I'm a Christian"? That is what James is talking about, except the people he is addressing are not even asking the question. He is forcing the question on them.

He says in verse 14 that if anybody claims to have faith, says that they have believed, that they are orthodox, but there are no works to support it, James is asking: can that faith save you? And the answer is no. Let me say it again. If you have made a profession of faith but there is no change in your life, you have no biblical assurance of your salvation. If you are going back to a prayer you prayed, and when we ask what difference it has made the answer is none, something is wrong.

Faith That Affects How You Live

I remember dealing with a man in business one time. He was in the midst of taking advantage of someone, and that someone happened to be me, in the middle of a business deal. I said something really stupid to him — I said, "I thought you were a Christian." It was a dumb thing to say. I was probably trying to lash out and hurt him. He said to me, "I am, but that doesn't affect the way I do business." I said, amen to that, my friend. If anybody wonders about that, have them ask me.

Here is what the Bible teaches. If you are a Christian, it affects the way you live and the way you do business. If you are married, it affects the kind of spouse you are. We were right in here yesterday afternoon for a wedding, and as Luke was delivering the message — even in the course of the vows — what he was saying is that your marriage is different from what the world says. God sets the standard and expects you to live by it. So if you are truly His, marriage is not about two people; it is about three — the two of you and God in the middle of it. If that is not the case, then your faith is not real.

If you are a businessperson and you live as though this book does not exist, James is saying you had better ask the question. And I do not need to get into the judging part here. I am not asking you to judge the person next to you.

This Word Is for You

This is one of those messages where afterward you find yourself thinking, "I wish Bob was here to hear this." Bob really needs this. Well, let's forget Bob and Betty for a second and talk about you. Let's assume that in His sovereignty God did not have them here but has you here, and maybe you need it. Let's not play that game this morning.

He is talking to you, and He is talking to me, and He is saying you need to grapple with this. You need to really come to grips with this. And He gives a very simple illustration — an illustration about compassion.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

Verse 15: "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food." There is somebody, James says, who has a real need, deprived of the necessities of life. And you say to them, "Go in peace, be warm, and be filled." In essence, what he is saying is, warm yourself and feed yourself, yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body. What use is it? The answer is absolutely none.

"Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." Life begins to change when I understand who Christ is.

The Early Church as a Living Example

Keep a mark there in James chapter 2, and turn to the book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 42. Peter has delivered this incredible sermon. God uses it, people are being saved — about 3,000 that day. I love the fact that numbers don't matter, but God counted them nonetheless.

Here is the result, verse 42: "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, had all things in common. They began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. And continually, day by day, without ceasing, with one mind in the temple, and they were breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, having favor with all people."

Now, that is not natural. We should offer a quick disclaimer when we read this: James is not giving us a prescription for socialism. He is not saying, let's sell everything, pool it all together, and redistribute it among the church family. What he is saying is that here were people who had a need, here were people who had a solution, and they met it.

The result is striking. They find themselves praising God, and in verse 47 they find favor with all the people. The people around them are looking at this and saying, this is different. And the result was that "the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." God was taking that changed life and using it in other people's lives in a significant way. This is a wonderful expression of what James is talking about.

Faith and Works Fit Together Like a Hand in a Glove

Let's go back to James chapter 2. James has made his point, but he is not done. If I say I have faith and I do not have works, that faith is dead. These go hand in glove.

Verse 18: "But someone may well say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works." Eugene Peterson paraphrases that verse this way: "I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, sounds good, you take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department. Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together like a hand in a glove." These things are inseparable.

In fact, so empty are works without faith that James says in verse 19, "You believe God is one." That would be a common belief — "the Lord is one," from Deuteronomy 6:4. The Jews believed that. He is writing to these Jewish believers. You believe the Lord is one, wonderful, great, perfect. "The demons believe also and shudder."

He is talking about faith. If you want to talk about merely intellectual faith, mental assent faith, believing faith without works — the demons believe. The demons believe in the Trinity. The demons know the Scripture. The demons understood who Jesus was. When Jesus encounters demon-possessed men, they say, you are the Messiah, you are the Christ. They know all of those facts. They believe, and they shudder. The word means literally to bristle or tremble, and is commonly used in association with great fear. Larry used to always paraphrase James 2:19 this way: "The demons believe and it scares the snot out of them." They believe and they are frightened — but we do not expect to see the demons in heaven.

Are You Willing to Acknowledge It?

It is a picture, James says, of people who have faith but do not act on that faith. There are no works accompanying it. Their faith is head knowledge. And this is what he says in verse 20: "You foolish fellow." The word foolish carries the idea of empty or defective — one who is opposed to the truth. "Are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?" It is rotten. It has no value. That is what he is saying.

So James starts with a question: can faith without works save anybody? The answer is no. He pushes the point by asking another question: are you willing to acknowledge this? Do you get this? And then he gives an illustration.

The Illustration of Abraham

Verse 21: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works?" Stop right there and turn to Romans chapter 4. In verse 2, Paul makes another point: "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about but not before God. For Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."

It appears that Paul and James are contradicting one another. James says in chapter 2, verse...

Two Authors, Two Moments, One Man

"Was not Abraham our father justified by works?" Paul says if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

Autobiographically, I hadn't been a believer very long, and Larry was teaching through the book of Romans while I was working my way through the book of James. He had just done Romans chapter 4, and I had just read James chapter 2. I called him and said, "I haven't been at this very long, but this book is infallible, right? No contradictions, right? All fits together, right?" I said, "Well, I found a loophole here, my friend. Maybe you guys have never read these consciously at the same time, but Paul is saying that I'm justified by faith and James is saying I'm justified by works, and obviously those two ideas contradict one another. What do you do here?" He said, "Boy, that sounds like a tough one," and he hung up — meaning, go figure it out, you can figure this out.

And you really can if you spend a little bit of time at this. So let's do that.

Paul's Perspective: Justification in Genesis 15

Stay in Romans chapter 4 and look at verse 2: "If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God." Then Paul asks, "For what does the Scripture say?" and quotes from Genesis chapter 15 verse 6: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." That word "reckoned" is a banking term — it is credited to his account.

James says this: "Was not our father Abraham justified by works?" And then he gives us his point in time — when Abraham offered up Isaac, his son, on the altar. All of a sudden we see that both of these men are talking about the same man, Abraham, but they are coming at this from two different perspectives and two different points in time.

Move from Romans to Genesis — the first book, right on the front. Genesis chapter 15 verse 1: "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram.'" Now look at verse 5: "Now look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them. And God said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'" Then Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. There is the point of justification before God — the point in time when, to use a legal term, Abraham is acquitted.

One Word, Two Meanings

The word translated "justified" in the Greek carries two different meanings. One pertains to acquittal — declaring or treating someone as righteous. The other pertains to vindication — proof of righteousness. One is the point in time; the other is the evidence of it.

Paul is talking about the moment in Genesis 15. Paul is saying Abraham was declared righteous before God at the very moment he believed. James was not talking about that moment at all. He did not reference Genesis 15. He referenced the moment in Genesis 22. When James speaks of justification, he is not using the term in that first sense — acquittal before God. He is using it in the second sense: vindication, or proof of righteousness. Paul himself wrote in Romans chapter 3 verse 4, "That you may be justified in your words" — in other words, people are going to see this, your life is going to declare it.

James's Perspective: Vindication in Genesis 22

So James refers to this point in Genesis 22, where God says to Abraham in verse 2: "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac." I love how specific God gets at this point. If God had simply said, "Take your son and sacrifice him," what would Abraham have done? He would have said, "Come on, Ishmael, we're going for a ride." That is exactly what he would have done — "Take my son, kill my son, You must mean Ishmael. Ishmael, we're going for a ride." But God does not leave that door open. Take your son, your only son — and in case you missed it, it is Isaac. Take that thing you love so much, take him, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.

Verse 3 records no emotion, no disobedience, no regret — none of that is written. Early in the morning, he saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose and went to the place of which God had told him. The word "early" tells us this is happening swiftly, promptly. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes, saw the place from a distance, and said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder and" — notice the next word — "we will worship and we will return to you."

Faith That Believes in Resurrection

Now wait a minute. We know, because we have the advantage of knowing the rest of the story, that Abraham's intention at this point is to kill Isaac. He has prepared to do it. And yet before that takes place, he says "we" — a plural personal pronoun — "me and him are coming back." That does not compute at all. He is willing to kill Isaac, and yet he says we are going to return. When you are talking about faith, there is faith right there.

He knows the promise of God. He knows the promise concerning his descendants. He knows all that has been promised through Isaac. For any of that to take place, Isaac has to be alive. Somehow, some way, Isaac has to come back. In a sense, even if he is not fully aware of all that it implies, Abraham is believing in a resurrection of some sort. He knows he is going to kill this child, and yet he knows Isaac is coming back.

Abraham and Isaac: A Picture of Faith in Action

Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, so the two of them walked together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father." He said, "Here I am, son." Isaac said, "Behold, we have fire and wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham utters that magnificent phrase: "God will provide for Himself the lamb."

There are all sorts of pictures here of Christ — Isaac carrying the wood, the carrying of the cross, the sacrifice. But we want to stay focused on this story. They came to the place of which God had told them. Abraham built the altar there, arranged the wood, bound his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

We talk about the faith of Abraham, but there had to be a measure of faith on Isaac's part as well. Abraham at this point is about 130 years old, and Isaac is about 30. Isaac could likely outrun him, out-fight him, out-wrestle him. So not only do we see this great picture of faith on Abraham's part, but we also see Isaac willingly climb up onto that altar — and that is a wonderful picture in itself.

Verse 10: "And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son, but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham!' He said, 'Here I am.' 'Do not stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'" That is the incident James is talking about.

Tying It All Together: Justified by Works

Let's go back to James and see this all come together. James says Abraham was justified by works. It is important to remember that the word he is using there carries a secondary meaning — it means vindicated, or proof of righteousness. From Scripture we clearly see that Abraham was saved by his faith, by the grace that is manifest in that faith. The evidence of that — the justification, and I hesitate to use the term because it can be easily misunderstood, but it is helpful here — is the vindication before man, the evidence before man.

There is no greater point of that evidence than this moment, where Abraham is willing to kill his only son. James is referring not to that point where Abraham is declared righteous in Genesis 15, but to what happens seven chapters and years later, when he is willing to sacrifice his son, his only son. James' point is this: faith was working together with his works, and as the result of his works, faith was perfected.

The idea of being perfected here is not about sinless perfection, but that the faith has manifested itself. MacArthur writes this simple sentence: "When a person is born again through saving faith and is given a new nature by God, he is given the genetic structure, as it were, for producing moral and spiritual good works." That is the sense in which faith is perfected — faith is evidenced, faith can be seen, it is fulfilled.

Look at verse 23: "The Scripture is fulfilled." The idea there is not necessarily something of a prophetic nature, but a principle — the fulfillment of a principle, the evidence of a principle. The Scripture fulfills what it says: Abraham believed God and was declared righteous before Him, and he was called a friend of God. The evidence of that is found in chapter 22.

Justified Before Man: The Evidence of a Transformed Life

"You see that a man is justified by his works and not by faith alone." Justified before God? No — Scripture is very clear that we are justified before God based on faith, based on grace. But this justification before man, this evidence before man, is a transformed and changed life. That is the point James is making.

If someone says, "I love Jesus," but all of their life is lived as though He does not exist, James is saying that person has made a mockery of faith. You can attend all the Bible studies you want, lead all the small groups you want, and memorize all the verses you want, but if life is not transformed, if life is not changed, if there is no connection between what you believe and how you behave, something is missing.

We have to go back to what James said in verse 14. He is starting with the assumption of someone who says they have faith. If you say you have faith and you are not living a transformed life — and that does not mean a perfect life, it does not mean a life without sin, but if your heart is not changed — then something is wrong. That faith is not real. That is the point he is making.

That is why you will sometimes hear people say, based on polls and surveys of the American population, that there is no difference between those who are in church and those who are in the world — on issues like abortion or any number of other things. I believe that, and I do not have a problem with that, because what that question does is assume that being in church is the same as being a Christian. The church — even this room today — has in it people who are not Christians. Some of you, by your own declaration, did not take communion today, though you are in church and might even say that East Valley Bible Church is your church.

It always gets to me a little when someone will say, "Do you know so-and-so?" and I say, "Well, not really." And they say, "They go to your church," and then proceed to tell me what that person just did, and I find myself thinking, oh my.

Rahab and the Connection Between Faith and Life

He uses an incredible illustration, and what a contrast it is. On one hand, the mighty Abraham; on the other, the prostitute, the harlot, Rahab. "And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by her works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?" He goes back to Joshua chapter 2, where Joshua sends out the spies to survey the land. The story unfolds: Rahab the harlot takes them in and hides them from the enemy. James is saying, look, there is a connection here between what she says and how she lives.

One commentator puts it simply: when she had the opportunity to demonstrate her trust in the Lord, she placed her life on the line. That is what James is talking about. Second Corinthians 5:17 carries the same idea: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come, and all these things are from God who reconciles us to Himself through Christ and gives us a ministry of reconciliation." If I say I am a Christian, I am a new creature, and the new creature brings forth new works.

The first of those new works is that I am reconciled with God, and now I have a ministry of reconciliation. I am right with God, so now I can be about living a life that is transformed, visible, and clear — not perfect, but one where someone looks and sees a difference. That is precisely what James is responding to.

The Danger of Faith Without Transformation

James is responding to people who said, "I have been freed from ritual and legalism, from Judaism, and now it is a free-for-all. I have faith. I signed the card. I made the pledge. I did the deal. I have the faith, but I will live any way I want." James says, wait — time out. You missed the point. Liberty is not license to go on sinning. If you really have faith, you will have the works that result from that saving faith. That is his point.

And without those works, faith is dead. That is how he concludes this section, verse 26: "Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." If I say I have faith and there are no adjoining works, I have — and I am conscious of the phrase I am choosing here — no biblical assurance of my salvation.

Now, I am not saying there is no struggle. Paul knows struggle. "I do the things I don't want to do. I don't do the things I do want to do." That struggle is real, and we acknowledge it. But if, in the midst of that struggle, you are sinning away without any remorse or repentance in you, then we have to wonder whether you are His child at all. That is what James is saying.

We cannot look into anyone's heart — that is the classic line. But we can be fruit inspectors. If you say Jesus is Lord and you are living in continuous, unrepentant, ongoing sin, something is wrong. There ought to be things you are about, things you do and things you refuse to do — not for salvation, but as a result of it.

Two Kinds of Faith

So if we were to put a bow on it: there is a faith that does not save. It can even have a degree of orthodoxy in its beliefs, but it is not real and it is not genuine. Saving faith has not only the right facts and the right knowledge, but a life that is transformed by it. I am saved by God and God alone.

Max Lucado writes these words, and they are wonderful. Please take note: "Salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, and God-originated. It is not from man to God, but from God to man. Grace is created by God and given to man. On the basis of this point alone, Christianity is set apart from any other religion in the world."

Christianity Stands Apart from Every Other Religion

We instinctively know something is wrong with us. Even without a written law, we somehow know. We sneak around when we do certain things because we understand they are wrong. That is called conscience. And religion — all religion, take them all and lump them together — has essentially this same idea at its core: I, as a human being, am going to try to get into a right relationship with God by something that I do. Some might bring in Jesus and add that He died, but ultimately all religion is about what I am going to do to get right with God.

Biblical Christianity is none of that. Grace is created by God and given to man. On that basis alone, Christianity is set apart from every other religion in the world. Every other approach to God is a bartering system: if I do this, God will do that. Either I am saved by what I do — works — or by what I experience — emotion — or by what I know — knowledge. Religion says I am saved based on what I do, what I know, or what I experience. Biblical Christianity says no: I am saved by grace through faith.

Lucado's closing thought captures it well: "By contrast, Christianity has no whiff of negotiating at all. Man is not the negotiator. Indeed, man has no grounds from which to negotiate."

Faith Expressed in Life

It is all of God. James is not coming along and teaching another way of salvation. What he is doing is saying, listen, true salvation from God has a difference and makes a difference in your life. How practical is it?

We need to read chapter 3, verse 1 through verse 12. It is the single longest contiguous passage in Scripture dealing with the tongue. What James is saying is this: if you say you are saved, then what comes out of your mouth is showing us what is really in there. There ought to be a difference — in what you do, what you say, how you act, how you respond.

Next week we are going to look at James chapter 3, verses 1 through 12, and we are going to talk about the tongue and what that means for each of us.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You. Thank You for a salvation that we find in Your Son, Jesus, and in no one or nowhere else. For those sitting here today saying, "Wait a minute, God has nailed me — I know I am not saved. What do I do?" — God, touch their hearts. Give them the wisdom and the courage to come and talk to those who will be at the front of the room after this service, or to call us at the church, to make sure that what we say we believe really does match up with how we live.

God, we thank You for the grace that we have received and for the mercy You have shown to us. Let it fill our hearts with thanksgiving and love for You. We pray this to You in Christ's name, amen.