Alright, let's return to James
chapter 2. James chapter 2. And I also want
you to turn back to Ephesians chapter 2 that I read in the
opening of our service here today. Because I want to go there first
and then get to the book of James. The title of the message is True
Faith and Good Works. true faith, and good works. Now, if you've studied any at
all in the scriptures or even the history of the so-called
church, as they call church history, which by the way is a very biased
history, you know that the book of James has been a rather controversial
book among many people who profess to be Christian. And it's because
of this particular passage here that we're going to look at today,
James chapter 2 and verse 14, about good works, faith and works,
especially when it gets down to Abraham there. Verse 21, was
not Abraham our father justified by works? And many people say,
well, James is opposing the apostle paul because the apostle paul
said in romans chapter four and we'll look at that in a moment
that uh... abraham was justified by the
grace of god not by his works here james said he's justified
by his works not even her people validate denominationalism based
on their view of this. They say, well, you know, it's
okay for you to believe one thing about justification and for me
to believe another thing. We're both Christian because
Paul and James disagree. Well, first of all, that is not
true. Paul and James do not disagree on how a sinner is justified
before God. They do not. and they're talking
about two different things but we're going to look at this the
first thing I want to do before we get into this passage is I
want to lay down the foundational principle of true Christianity
concerning the salvation of sinners and that's this and this is what
i try to emphasize every message uh... on tell our t.v. messages
are really try to emphasize this and that is salvation is all
of the grace of god in christ not of works uh... salvation uh... is is all of
grace in its in its beginning in its continuation and in its
culmination one hundred percent grace and at no time in no way,
to no degree, at no stage is salvation, or any part of it,
conditioned on the works and the will of men and women. Now
let me tell you something, it's all conditioned on Christ. And
Christ fulfilled all the conditions that would earn and merit my
salvation as a sinner. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. And this is the truth
that sets Christianity, true Christianity, apart from all
other religions. Right there. I'm telling you,
here's the way it is. If you make salvation in any
way conditioned on the works and the will of sinners, then
if you think that's the message of Jesus Christ, then his message
really in its essence is no different than Buddha or Mohammed or Confucius
or any other false preacher. Now that's so. And God did a
great injustice when he rejected Cain. Now that's what it says. Look at Ephesians 2 and verse
8. And this is just one example
of the multitude of scriptures that we could go to that not
only shows graphically that salvation is all of grace, but it excludes
the works of men and women as forming any part of the ground
or cause of our salvation. It says, for by grace are you
saved. Now that grace is wrapped up
in the glorious person and the finished work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what he'd been talking
about. Look back in verse 4 of Ephesians 2. But God who is rich
in mercy, and that's what salvation is, it's mercy. You don't earn
it, you don't deserve it. That's the way it is. Hath quickened
us together with Christ, and look in parenthesis there, by
grace you're saved. Now when were we quickened together
with Christ? We who are saved now. That's
who he's talking about. He's talking about believers
here. When were we quickened together with Christ? When Christ
was raised from the dead. That's what he's talking about.
Because he was our representative. He was our substitute. He was
our surety. He was our sin bearer. Our sin
offering. He was made sin. Christ who knew
no sin. That we might be, for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God. So that when he died,
I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
When he arose, I arose. Out of that grave. And in time,
in the process of time, when it pleased the Lord to reveal
His Son in me, He sent His Holy Spirit to bring me under the
preaching of the gospel, and I was born again by the Spirit,
brought to life, raised from the dead spiritually, to see
Christ, to know my sins and to see Christ. For by grace are
you saved through faith, verse 8. Now faith is involved here. Faith, what is that? That's believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, that's the gift of God.
That's not of yourselves. That's not of the works or the
will of man. Faith is not, listen, sinners
who are saved and are given the gift of faith, they do decide
for Christ, but faith is not a decision. Faith is a gift from
God that brings a sinner to Christ. to rest in him, to plead his
merits, the merits of his blood and righteousness. And he says,
that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Everything in
salvation is a gift. I honestly believe it this way.
I've told y'all how many times have I said, take the next breath,
that's a gift from God. It's all a gift from God. And
he says in verse nine, not of works, not of works, not of works,
lest any man should boast. So at whatever point, if you
believe that salvation is based upon, or caused by, or earned
through, or merited by, or attained by your works, at whatever point
that is, that gives you room to boast. But see, salvation
through the Lord Jesus Christ, by God's grace, will not allow
us any room to boast, except in one thing, the cross. of our
Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should glory,
should boast, have confidence, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. So there's no part of salvation
that is gained or maintained by our works, by our efforts. Our works cannot save us. Our
works cannot make us righteous or holy. Our works cannot sanctify
us. I'm going to be preaching some
messages on sanctification. Well, our works do not sanctify
us. Our works cannot earn salvation
or any part of it for us. Sinners are not justified, that
is declared not guilty, made righteous before God by works,
but only by the blood. and the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's the fun... Whatever
this book says from Genesis to Revelation, that's the truth
that is always supported and is always given to the people
who read it. Now, here's the question. Well,
if that's the case... Now, you know what people do
with that. They'll say, well, if that's the case, then we don't
work at all. Or if that's the case, then we can throw caution
to the wind. We don't have to fight the warfare
of the flesh and the spirit. We don't have to strive to be
conformed to the image. Is that what the Bible teaches?
And the answer is absolutely not. What place, is there any
place for good works in salvation? Now the answer is yes. Look at
verse 10 of Ephesians chapter 2. What did he say? Saved by grace, through faith,
that none of yourselves, gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should bow. But what place do they have?
Verse 10. For we are his workmanship. Now
what is God's workmanship? A sinner saved by grace. You're
not a self-made person. You're not your own workmanship.
If you're saved, you're the workmanship of God. He's the worker. He's
the doer of this. He's the creator of this. Created
in Christ Jesus. That's the ground of that workmanship.
Christ came and redeemed us from our sins. Paid our debt to law
and justice. And brought forth an everlasting
righteousness of infinite value whereby God could justify sinners
like me and you. Created in Christ Jesus. Unto. Now what does that suggest, that
unto? It means it's not because of. In other words, created in
Christ Jesus not because of good works, but unto good works. It's
the fruit. It's the result. It's the product.
It's the effect. Unto good works which God hath
before ordained, prepared that we should walk in them. Now that's
the place of those good works. Good works are the foreordination
of God. God saves His people by His grace
that they might live unto Him and for His glory, not unto themselves
and for their own pleasure. That's what He does. That we
should walk in them. Good works are the fruit of God's
grace and love and gratitude. Even faith is the fruit of God's
grace. And then we come to the book
of James. Look at James chapter 2 and verse 14. What James is
teaching is this, that good works, and we've talked a lot about
good works last year, how that good works are the work of God
in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory. Good works are the
proof and evidence of our faith in Christ. Do we really believe
what we say we believe? That's the question that James
is answering. Let me give you two things that
the Bible teaches concerning this foundational principle,
concerning works. And here's what it tells us.
Works without faith are dead works. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. What does that mean? That means
without Christ, I can do nothing. That's what he said. Without
me, you can do nothing. Without Christ, you know, you see, Christ
is the vine, John 15, we're the branches, we who believe in Him. The branches bear fruit, that's
what good works are, that's what obedience is, the fruit of the
Spirit. The branches bear fruit from
the life of the vine, you see. So now any works, any attempts
to obey, any attempts to be a good person as the world sees it,
any attempts of morality without faith, without Christ, those
are dead works. In fact, when the Holy Spirit
convicts us of sin, he brings us to repentance of dead works. Those are works aimed at saving
ourselves, works aimed at establishing a righteousness. So works without
faith are dead works. And then secondly, faith without
works is dead faith. Now that's what James is saying.
Look at verse 14. He says, what does it profit?
What does it gain? What advantage is there? My brethren,
Though a man say he hath faith, now the key word there is say.
This is a person who says with his mouth that he has faith,
he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a claim of salvation. So though a man say he hath faith
and have not works, can faith save him? Can that, and in the
original, if you were to read that in the original, There'd
be a definite article before that word faith there. Can that
faith save him? That's how it would read in the
original language. I don't know why the King James translators
left the definite article out, but they did. Can that faith
save him? That kind of faith that is not
accompanied with the fruit of obedience, the fruit of worship,
the fruit of the Spirit. the fruit of good works. Can
that kind of faith save you? I told the Sunday school class
this morning, I said, you know, when you come to passages like
this and other passages, it's a time for self-examination.
The Bible commands us to examine ourselves, to see whether or
not we're truly in the faith, which means, do I truly believe
Christ? I claim, I tell you, I'm a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust him. I rest in him for
all my salvation. He's my all and in all. I have
no righteousness but Christ. The forgiveness of my sins, past,
present, and future are all by the blood of Christ. I have life
from Christ. I love Christ. I say all those
things, all right. And so when I come to passages
like this, it's time for self-examination. Do I really mean what I say? Or am I just pretending? Am I
fooling myself? You know, people, the Bible,
Jeremiah 17 says, the heart's deceitful, desperately wicked
above all things. Am I deceiving myself? How can
I know and not be deceived? Well, we go to the word of God.
Not to the word of men, not even to our own hearts. We go to the
word of God. But these times of self-examination, there's
two things I really want to know. I want to know this for certain.
I want to know, number one, that I'm trusting the true Christ
of the Bible and not a counterfeit. And my friend, there are counterfeits. The Bible teaches us Christ in
His Olivet Discourse, His message on the Mount of Olives. He told
His disciples that in the last days there would come false Christ,
false preachers who preach false Christ. And He said this, He
said in the last days there would be some who are so close in their
proclamation, in their preaching, False preachers now who are so
close that if it were possible, they could deceive the very elect.
Thank God that it's not possible for the elect to be deceived
under perdition, damnation. But I want to know that I'm trusting
the true Christ. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter
11, if those who come to you preach another Jesus, another
of a different kind, You say, I don't want to be, I don't want
to come to judgment and find out that I was trusting a false
Christ. How about you? Well, how am I
going to know for sure that I'm trusting the true Christ? I've
got to get into the word of God and find out what God's word
says of the true Christ, who he is. He's God and man in one
person. Anything less is a counterfeit.
There's a whole denomination that claims to be Christian who
denies that Jesus of Nazareth is God. That is a counterfeit
Christ. You think I'm being too hard?
No, sir. That's what this book says. That's
what God's Word says of Him. He is Emmanuel. What does that
mean? God with us. The Word was made flesh. What
is the Word? That's God, the Son, incarnate,
was made flesh and dwelt among us. He is the great I Am. They wanted to stone Him because
He claimed to be God. Now, if He's not God, then He
was a sham imposter. But He is God. He's God in human
flesh. He's man in every way except
one. He's without sin. perfect man. That's who he is. Those who deny
his humanity, they trust a counterfeit. What did he do? He came to this
earth and obeyed the law unto death and accomplished the redemption
and secured the salvation of his people. Anything less is
a counterfeit. His righteousness alone justifies
me before God. You add anything to it or take
anything away from it, you've got a counterfeit. You see what
I'm saying? It's the doctrine of Christ, the truth, that identifies
Him and distinguishes Him from all counterfeits. So I want to
know that I'm trusting the true Christ. Here's the second thing.
I want to know that my faith is true, genuine, real faith
and not just a claim. Not just some kind of a hypocritical
statement that I make. I want to know that my faith
is truly the gift of God. And that's where we come to the
book of James here. And the first thing he brings
out here is this, faith without works is dead. You can say you
believe all you want, but faith without works, that's just dead.
That's not real, genuine, saving faith. That's what he's saying. Look at verse 14 again, what
doth it profit? My brethren, though a man say
he hath faith and have not works, that accompany that faith. Can
that faith save him? Is that the kind of faith that
God gives? Remember what it said in Ephesians
2? It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. In other words, it's believing
in Christ, trusting Christ. That's the kind of faith that
God gives. And if that faith is not accompanied
with the fruit of good works by the power of the Holy Spirit,
is that the kind of faith that God gives? Is that the kind of
faith that saves? And the answer is no. That kind of faith won't
do anybody any good. All that is is hypocrisy. All
that is is just somebody just sounding off, trying to be religious. Now, I know people get into these
things and they bring all kinds of objections. Like, for example,
I heard a fellow ask this question one time. He said, well, if faith
is accompanied by works, how many works does it have to be
accompanied with? And I said this. I wrote an article
on that years ago. I said, it's not an issue of
how many works. In fact, if you're starting to
count them up, you're going to be in a mess. It's not an issue of how many
works. It's an issue, here's the issue, of the works that
accompany faith. It's a life lived in the grace
of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it is. It's a tenor
of life. And we're all going to mess up,
royally, badly. We're all sinners. And we all
come short of the glory of God in our best moments of obedience.
As I said, our works, even our good works that are the fruit
of faith cannot save us, cannot make us righteous or holy. We
who believe in Christ live in the light of this glorious fact. David expressed it. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. That's right. We live in the light of this
glorious flag. Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity,
who would stand? But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mightest be just when thou judgest. You see, it's
not a question of how many, and don't try to count them, don't
try to list them, that's not the issue. It's a life lived
in the grace of God. A sinner saved by grace, constantly
fighting, the warfare of the flesh and the spirit, worshiping
God, trusting Christ, learning of Him. Now, he gives an example
here. And it's one of the most common
examples that would appear in that day and sometimes in our
day. He says in verse 15, look, it's the most basic kind of work.
He says, if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily
food, Now incidentally he says you're a brother or sister in
Christ. That's what he's talking about. Now we're to help everybody
that we can who are in, that's in need if we can, if we have
the ability. But here he's talking about a
special bond. A fellowship between brothers
and sisters in Christ. And he says, If a brother or
sister in Christ be naked and destitute of daily food, and
one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,
notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful
to the body, what does it profit? John, look over 1 John chapter
3. John dealt with this. Here's a brother or sister in
need. And he's not talking about welfare states here. He's not
talking about supporting those who are able to work but don't
work. He's talking about somebody who's
genuinely in need. Food and clothing. A brother
or sister in Christ. And what is it about a brother
or sister in Christ that we are to claim? We say we love them.
We're to love the brethren. You can't love God and hate the
brethren. Scripture says that. Look here in verse 13 of 1 John
3. He says, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know
that we've passed from death unto life because we love the
brethren. Love of the brethren, and that's talking about loyalty
to one another in the faith, being concerned for one another.
We love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer. He may not have drawn a gun and
shot him or stabbed him with a knife. But hatred here is equivalent
to murder. Christ taught that in Sermon
on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5. And you know that no murderer
hath eternal life abiding in him. So hereby perceive we the
love of God because he laid down his life for us. Christ laid
down his life for us when we were yet enemies. We love those who love us. We
love those who we think deserve our love. Isn't that right? That's
us by nature, isn't it? That's not the way God loved
us. He loved us when we were yet enemies, not deserving of
His love or His favor. He says, and we ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren. That's the highest expression
of love, giving your life for the brethren. But look at verse
17, but whoso hath this world's good, who has the ability of
having the possessions of this world, and seeth his brother
have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him."
In other words, has no compassion. How dwelleth the love of God
in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. That's what James is saying
right here. That's what he's saying. He's
the most basic kind. In other words, faith, love,
all these things are evidenced by our actions in helping one
another. And there are other expressions
of it. Look back here in James 2. Look at verse 17. You see, works don't save us.
That's not what he's saying here. They simply prove The genuineness
of our faith. We love Christ and His people.
We believe in Him. We rest in Him. He says in verse
17, Even so faith, if it hath not worked, is dead, being alone.
Any claim of faith not accompanied by this life lived in the grace
of God for His glory and in love to Him and His people is dead
faith. Dead faith. Look at verse 18. He says, yes,
yea, a man may say, now there's another key word, he may say,
thou hast faith and I have works, show me thy, here's the answer.
You could put this in quotes like this. A man may say, quote,
thou hast faith and I have works, close the quote. James says,
here's the answer, show me thy faith without thy works and I
will show thee my faith by my works. Now here's what's happening
here. The sense here is that James is anticipating an objection.
You know, a person may argue, say, well, now, our church over
here, we stress faith. But now our church over here,
our denomination over here, we stress works. Well, that's OK. It's just no big deal. It's just
a matter of emphasis. James says, oh, no. Oh, no, it
is a big deal. This is a very big deal. Those
who have faith, are to seek to be diligent to do good works
whenever the opportunity arises. Live that life in the grace of
God, in obedience to Him, to love their neighbor, to obey
God, to be conformed to the image of Christ. It's not an option.
You know what? It's a desire that God puts in
the heart of His people. Fight the warfare of the flesh
and the spirit. If one truly has saving faith,
that faith will, to some degree, be accompanied by good works
of love and obedience. Don't try to count them. It's
not a question of how many. It's a tenor of life of the people
of God. And those who don't have those
works accompanying their faith, it's dead faith. I had a fellow
write me a letter years ago. And he asked this question. He
said, which is more important? orthodoxy or obedience now by
orthodoxy what he meant was our doctrine you could put it this
way which is more important doctrine or obedience right doctrine or
obedience which is more important and I wrote him back and I said
this to him I said well I'm surprised that you would separate the two
because the Bible does not you see wrong doctrine makes
the obedience to be dead Legalism. And listen, right doctrine without
obedience makes faith dead. They come together. That's what
the Bible teaches. Here's a person who's been brought
to faith in Christ in whom the Holy Spirit has done a marvelous
work of grace in that person's heart. And now what the new birth
is? Giving us a new heart. He said,
I'll give you a new heart. I'll put a new spirit within
you. I'll write my laws, my word within your heart." Somebody
said, well, are you telling me a person can believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and not have a miraculous change within? Oh, no. There
is a miraculous change within. Now, most religions, they don't
know what that change is all about. And what it means, we
read about it last week in Philippians chapter 3. Paul said, those things
that were gained to me, now I count them but lost for Christ. What
a change. The things that I thought recommended me unto God and made
me righteous, now I count them but dung. That's a change, isn't
it? That I may win Christ and be found in. Oh, there's a marvelous
change. But the Bible does not separate
right doctrine from obedience. Look at verse 19 here. And so
what James says there in verse 18, he says, no, it is a big
deal. Show me your faith without your
works. That's a sham religion, but I'll show you my faith by
my works. I'm going to show that my faith is genuine in Christ,
that I'm not just a hypocrite, that I'm not just making a claim
here that's groundless. Well, look at verse 19. He says,
thou believest there is one God. Now there's one God. And the
doctrine of the Trinity doesn't deny there's one God, as some
say. We believe in one God in three
persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
One God. He said, thou believest there's one God, thou doest well.
That's a right thing to believe. That's right doctrine. But he
says the devils also believe that and tremble. You think Satan believes that
there's more than one God? No, he knows there's one God.
Oh yeah, he tried to be God. But he got put down. The devils
believe that and tremble. He says, verse 20, but wilt thou
know, O vain man. Now this, this is the key now
where he's talking, he's talking about a vain man. What's a vain
man? That's a lost man. That's one who's unprofitable.
that faith without works is dead. In other words, if you claim
to have faith that's not accompanied with a life of obedience in the
grace of God, not trying to be saved by your works, not trying
to establish your own righteousness, but living in the grace of God,
living in the assurance of salvation by the blood and righteousness
of Christ. If your faith is not accompanied, you're a vain person.
That's what he's saying. Faith without works is dead.
Now, beginning at verse 21, here's what he does. He shows here that
works prove genuine, authentic faith. That's what they do. These works, this obedience proves
genuine, authentic faith, real faith, saving faith, the faith
that's the gift of God. And he uses two examples. And
it's interesting, isn't it, how he does it. One is a patriarch,
Abraham. Well, we can certainly see how
he would use Abraham as an example, especially to the Jews. They'd
be impressed by that. But the other one is not such
a likely example. It's a prostitute named Rahab. So the two examples he uses of
faith and obedience, genuine faith, is a patriarch and a prostitute. Now, isn't that something? Why
would he pick the prostitute? Yeah, sure, Abraham, but Rahab? Well, I want you to see something
here. Look at verse 21. He says, Was not Abraham our
father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar? Now, you remember it's recorded
in Genesis 22. God told Abraham, you remember the story of Abraham
and Sarah, how God promised them a child, they didn't have a child,
and Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was close to that age,
and then God came and said, I'm going to make good on my promise.
And they had Isaac, the miracle child, the child of promise.
Then Isaac grew up, he was still a young man, but I believe when
all this happened, he was probably around 18 to 20, maybe 22 years
old. And God said, take your only
son Isaac and take him and offer him as a sacrifice unto me. And
it's recorded in Genesis 22 how Abraham took him up on the mount.
And how he built the altar and he laid Isaac upon, bound him
hand and foot and laid him on that altar, lifted his hand in
the air with a knife and started to come down on Isaac and God
stopped him. And you remember how the story
got, he looked over in the thicket and there was a ram. There was
a sacrifice. God was testing Abraham's faith. Do you really believe what you
say you believe, Abraham? And Abraham proved his faith
to be genuine. Now that's what that's talking
about. Was not Abraham our father justified by works? What does
that mean? Does that mean he was justified
before a holy God based on his works? And the answer is no.
What James is talking about here is not justification before God. He's talking about being justified,
justifying our faith before men, our witness. That's what he's
talking about. Look over at Romans chapter 4.
Now, as I told you, some people believe, well, James and Paul
are at odds here. They're not. Romans 4 and verse
1. Paul writes, what shall we say
then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath
found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to
glory. Now listen to this next statement, but not before God. Now what's Paul talking about?
How a sinner is justified before God. How can a sinful man or woman
Be declared not guilty, righteous before a holy God. And he says,
for what saith the scripture, verse three, Abraham believed
God and it was counted, imputed unto him for righteousness. What
was imputed to him? What God promised him. And what
was that? The coming of Christ. The merits
of Christ, the Messiah. Our Lord said in John chapter
8, he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he sought and
he was glad. And he says in verse 4, now to
him that worketh is the reward not reckoned or not accounted
of grace but of debt. In other words, if Abraham had
to work for this, it's not grace. It's something he earned. It's debt. God owed it to him.
But he says, but to him that worketh not, you hear that? To
him that what? Worketh not. But believeth on
him that justifieth who? The ungodly. That's all of us
by nature. His faith is counted for righteousness. Now what was Abraham's faith?
Christ and him crucified and risen. And then he says, even
as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom
God imputeth righteousness without works. That's how a sinner is
justified before God. It's based on the imputed, the
accounted, the charged righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our
sins were charged to Him. He was made sin. His righteousness
is charged to us. Our works have nothing to do
with it. Our justification before God. Now James is talking about
something entirely different. James is talking about the justification
of our faith before men. Do you, do I really believe what
we claim? Is it genuine? Or is it just
talk? That's the difference. Two different
subjects here. Look back at James 2. Keep your
finger there at Romans 4. But look at James 2 again. 22
Now he said Abraham was justified by works when he offered Isaac
his son upon Abraham's faith was justified before men. That's
what he's saying That's his subject. He says see us now how faith
wrought with his works his claim of belief Working with his works
and by works was faith made perfect now that word perfect means complete
It means to reach a goal What is faith's goal? What is the
goal of faith? It's to bring a sinner into submission
to Christ in all things. Any faith that is not accompanied
by works, that life of obedience, is incomplete. It hasn't reached
its goal. It's sham. It's false. It's just
a claim. It's hypocritical. But that faith,
which is accompanied by works, motivated by grace and love and
gratitude, That's the goal. It's reached its goal. It's completion. So he says in verse 23, now look
at this. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness, and
he was called the friend of God. Now, the scripture was fulfilled.
What scripture is that talking about? It's talking about Genesis
15 and verse 6. Genesis 15 and verse 6. You can
look it up. Now here's what's happening. Abraham offered up Isaac on that
altar because God told him to do it. Do you really believe
God, Abraham? Well, let's test it. That's recorded
in Genesis 22. And Abraham's faith was vindicated
and proven to be real and genuine. This verse 23 here is quoted
from Genesis 15 when Abraham was already justified before
God. You see Abraham was already justified
before God in Christ before in Genesis 22 when he offered up
Isaac. So what is it saying here? Here's
Abraham, a sinner saved by grace. Is he? A sinner who's been brought
to faith in Christ, who claims to be a child of God, a friend
of God. Is he really? Let's test it. Abraham, take your son up on
that mount. Take your son up there. That's
what Paul... And Paul is showing here in Romans
4 that Abraham was not justified by anything he did. Look back
at Romans 4, verse 9. He says, cometh this blessedness,
that salvation, that justification before God, then upon the circumcision
only or upon the uncircumcision also. In other words, is it just
for the Jews or the Gentiles who? For we say that faith was
reckoned, Abraham, for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision. He says, not
in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being
uncircumcised. That he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised. That
righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Now let me just
paraphrase that for you real quick. Here's what he's saying. Now Abraham, you know the right
of circumcision was given to Abraham and it was carried down
through the law of Moses. It was the circumcision of the
flesh. It was a outward sign of their
physical connection with Abraham. And it was a type of circumcision
of the heart. And the Jews, one of the things
they boasted in as their righteousness and their salvation was their
circumcision. Well, here's what Paul's saying.
He said, well, was Abraham justified before God before he was circumcised
or after? And Paul says it was before.
Well, what does that teach then, Paul? It teaches that circumcision
had nothing to do with it. It was all of grace, period. Not of works. Nothing of the
flesh, lest any man should boast. Now go back to James real quick. He says, we're justified by Christ's
righteousness imputed to us. The proof of that is our faith
in Christ, and the proof of our faith is the obedience of grace. Good works. We cannot, verse
24, you see then how that by works a man is justified and
not by faith only. And notice what he's saying is
this, it's not just your claim of faith that proves it to be
genuine, but it's the works that accompany it, the works of love
and grace and gratitude. And then he says in verse 25,
likewise in the same way also was not Rahab the harlot justified
by works when she had received the messengers and sent them
out another way. Remember when the Hebrew children,
the children of Israel came on the brink of the promised land
and they sent spies over into Jericho and Rahab the harlot
helped them. She let down that scarlet cord
and she helped them out to get out safely. She sided with the
people of God. She believed God and sided with
the people of God rather than her own nation. That's Rahab. As I said, it seemed right to
use Abraham as an example, the father of the nation Israel physically,
the spiritual father of spiritual Israel in the sense he was the
archetype of believers. But what about Rahab? She was
a prostitute, a woman of ill repute. Many pious and self-righteous
religionists have either tried to ignore this or water it down.
I even heard one preacher say Rahab wasn't really a harlot.
She was an innkeeper or a house mother. What is that? That might be a madam. I don't
know. No, Rahab was a harlot. She was a prostitute. She sold
her body to men in order to make a living. That's what she did.
And yet Rahab is mentioned in the human genealogy of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 5. She married a man named Salmon.
They had a boy named Boaz, who married a woman named Ruth, who
had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David. Rahab was
David's great-great-grandmother. Think about that. She's mentioned
in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 31 as one of the great women of
faith. And she's called Rahab the harlot.
You think, well, maybe I ought to drop the harlot thing there.
Somebody said, was she a harlot after she was saved? No, she
married Salmon. She became his wife. But why does it say Rahab the
harlot? I'll tell you why. Because it's stressing the fact
that salvation is by grace. God saves sinners, of whom I
am chief. She's a woman who had nothing
to recommend her unto God. She's justified based on a righteousness
she had no part in producing. But she proved her faith, her
God-given faith, why? She sided with the people of
God against her own nation. She let down that scarlet cord
and helped those men out of that city safe. She believed God. She was a Gentile. Not only a
Gentile, but an Amorite and a harlot. She's just one of the many examples
of how God justifies the ungodly. And yet James uses her as he
was inspired of the Holy Spirit as an example of one who had
genuine faith. And it says in verse 26 of James
2, For as the body without the Spirit is dead, this human body,
Without the spirit, the soul, without breath, it's a dead body. Well, in the same way faith without
works is dead faith. All right.