Now let's open our Bibles to
the book of James, chapter 2. James, chapter 2. And if you have a bulletin, and
you'll look on the back of your bulletin, that basically what
you have written out there with some scripture is my message
this morning. I decided to give you a cheat
sheet. And if you don't have a bulletin, you can raise your
hand and maybe some Compassionate soul back there might bring you
one. But this is a this is important. Obviously, I've entitled the
message last week. I entitled it saving faith and
works of faith from James chapter two. And this is part two of
that saving faith and works of faith. And it comes from the
book of James here in chapter two, beginning of verse 14, where
he says, What does it profit my brethren? Though a man say
he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? And remember
last week I talked about the different kinds of faith, professions
of faith. And what James is talking about
here is the kind of faith that is not evidenced with the fruit
of obedience and good works. Is that the kind of faith that
God uses to bring a sinner to Christ? And the answer is obviously
not, because saving faith is accompanied by the fruit of obedience
and good works. And we're going to talk about
that this morning. And he uses a very, very plain,
a very simple example of that. There's many examples we could
use. There's all kinds of works and obedience that we could talk
about. But he says, for example, in verse 15, if a brother or
sister be naked or destitute of daily food, And one of you
saying to them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, and
notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful
to the body, what does it profit?" In other words, if you don't
help them with the necessities of life, you might claim to love
them, you might claim to believe in Christ, you might claim to
be a brother or sister in Christ, but you don't help them. When
you're capable of doing that and you have the opportunity
of doing it, what does that profit? What you're showing there is
that your profession of faith and your talk of love is nothing.
It's profitless, it's vanity. So he says in verse 17, even
so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Faith does
not exist alone. In other words, just saying you
believe, you believe, you believe. Just saying you believe in Christ,
or just saying that you believe God's Word, or that you love
God's Word, that's talk, if it's not evidenced by the fruit of
action and deeds that are appropriate to faith of the glory of God.
Now, those works don't save you, and they don't make you holy,
and listen to me, they don't earn you blessings from God.
You don't earn anything from God. God is God, and you are
you. You don't earn anything from
God. But there are evidences, and he says in verse 18, Yea,
a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy
faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by
my works. That's a little difficult in
the construction of the language there, because a lot of that
depends on where you put the punctuation. Well, in the original
Greek, there was no punctuation. They didn't use periods and commas
like we do. A lot of the writers just had
to put it where they thought it was. But basically, what I
think he's saying there is, it's not just one or the other. Somebody
says, well, I've got faith. You've got works. I'll live with
my faith. You live with... No, it's not one or the other.
They both come together. Verse 19, Thou believest there
is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also
believe and tremble. Think of the devils there as
the demons, Satan's minions, who know there is a God, who
know that God is. And they believe that, but they
tremble. They don't have any obedience,
love, no good works. There's nothing to accompany
that. That's just intellectual faith. We talked about that last
week. And then verse 20, But wilt thou know, O vain man. So who's he talking to here?
The one who says, I have faith, but no works. The vain man, that's
empty. He says that faith without works
is dead. You go into the book of James,
and you know many people have had so much problem with this
issue of James and works. Where do works fit into the scheme
of salvation? How do they operate? What are they? Things like that.
And especially in next week, I want to get into this a little
bit more about comparing James, what he says, and writes here
by inspiration of the Spirit, as compared to what Paul The
Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans chapter 4 specifically
as he was inspired by the Spirit because they both use Abraham
as an example. James in verse 21, was not Abraham
our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar? And of course, Paul makes a very,
very strong argument in the book of Romans chapter 4 that Abraham
was justified by faith. Well, are they at odds here?
And the answer is no, they're talking about two different things.
And that's what I want you to see in the back of your bulletin
there concerning these seven foundational truths. And I thought
it appropriate to write them down for you because I know some
of you take notes and some of you, I know I go so fast and
flip the passage of scripture and everything, so there it is.
And the seven foundational truths. But you have to keep in mind
as you study the scripture, and let me tell you something, there's
no scripture from Genesis to Revelation that will deny or
contradict or ignore these seven foundational truths. No scripture. And let's look at them. Number
one, our justification before God. What is it to be justified
before God? It means to be not guilty. It
means to be declared righteous before God. You don't owe a debt
to His law and justice. That's salvation. That's what
that is. To be saved is to be justified. To be justified is to be saved.
You understand that? The Bible says that we're all
sinners. We were ruined in the fall. We're sinners and the wages
of sin is death. How can a sinner be justified
before God? Well, our justification before
God is not by our works. It's not by any work that we
try to do. And listen to me, this is important.
It's not by any work that God does through us or in us. But it's by, underscore this,
the finished work of Christ on the cross, His blood. And his
righteousness alone, his righteousness imputed. You know what imputed
means? That means his righteousness charged to me. My sin was charged
to him. He took the responsibility. He
became responsible for the debt of my sin to God. And that's
why he became guilty. He was actually guilty. Because
my sin, my debt, was charged to Him. Just like Paul and Philemon. When he told Philemon about that
slave Onesimus who had stolen from him and run away, he said,
put his debt to you on my account. Well, Christ said that to the
Father. Put their debt, the debt of the sins of His sheep, God's
elect, His church, put it on my account. And give them the
righteousness that He worked out on Calvary. That's justification
before God. Nothing added, nothing taken
away. The sole ground. This is what it is. Listen, that
first point there, that's the heart of the gospel right there.
That answers the eternal question. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? How can God be both a righteous
judge and do what's right and just and holy and still save
in love and mercy and grace a sinner like me who deserves death, justly
deserves death. How can God be both a righteous
judge as well as a gracious, merciful, loving Father, Redeemer? It's only by the finished work
of Christ, the God-man mediator, the Savior, the Redeemer, the
surety, the substitute, the sin-bearer, the sin-offering, the one who
died on Calvary, to redeem us from our sins. The Bible teaches
in Romans chapter 3, I've got one verse there noted, you can
look up the whole context of it though, it says that by deeds
of law, that's works, your attempts to keep the law, shall no flesh
be justified in God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. And all sin that comes short of the glory of God And
there in verse 24, that I've got cited there in your bulletin,
being justified freely, that is, without cause. In other words,
that means there was nothing in me to cause God to justify
me. Nothing in me. There was no condition
that I have or can meet in order to incite God to justify me. In other words, the source of
my justification before God is in God himself. If God If God
did it in any way looked at us, we would be damned. So he says
being justified freely by his grace, that free gift. Now, how did that free gift come
to a sinner like me? Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. That's point number one. Now,
everything in the scripture will support that, even this right
here that we read in the book of James. But now here's the
second point, look at it. All whom God has justified by
His grace in Christ, all whom Christ redeemed on the cross,
are called by the Spirit of God and the Word to faith in Christ. And you know what that is? That's
the new birth. That's why I had Brother Ron read John chapter
3. You must be born again. That's the work of the Holy Spirit
in us. It is the fruit and the result
of being justified in Christ. It's the fruit and result of
His death for us. The new birth is not the cause
or the ground of our salvation. Christ and Him crucified is the
cause and ground. The work of the Holy Spirit in
the new birth in giving us spiritual life, giving us eyes to see,
ears to hear, hearts and minds to know and love and understand
the truth of God, faith, He gives us faith. For by grace are ye
saved, through faith, that not of yourselves. It is the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." You see that? That's the work of the Spirit
in us, and you must be born again. Listen, the work of the Spirit
in us is just as necessary as the work of Christ for us. You
will not get into heaven without being born again, but for a different
reason. The work of Christ for us is
the ground of our salvation. The work of the Spirit in us
is the fruit of that ground. You see the difference? Look
at the passage that I quoted here. Now, there is a mistake
here. It says second Thessalonians. I don't know who the Thessalonians
were. Probably some renegade group that stepped up because
they didn't like the pastor, but this is the Thessalonians. I remember one time I was teaching
in Cottageville with Brother Doug Weaver Pastors, and I was
teaching from the book of 1 Thessalonians. And you know, they call them
Thessalonians. They were from a town called
Thessalonica. And I couldn't get Thessalonians
and Thessalonica out of my mind. Got them mixed up, and I kept
saying Thessalonikians. And I couldn't get it straight.
And I thought, well, maybe those were the guys in Thessalonica
who wore Nike tennis shoes. I don't know. But it's 2 Thessalonians,
not Thessalonians. But listen to it. He says in
chapter 2, verse 13, he says, But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Now that's
election. But election is not an end in and of itself, it's
not, listen, election is not salvation, it's unto salvation,
he says, through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Now that sanctification of the spirit is when the spirit
sets you apart in the new birth. You are born again by the Spirit. You are miraculously raised from
the dead spiritually and you come to faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ and repentance. And it says, whereunto he called
you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the fruit of Christ's
death. That's the new birth. James spoke of it back here in
James chapter 1, verse 18. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. that we should be a kind of first
fruits of his creature. So those who are justified in
Christ shall be born of the Spirit. They shall, under the preaching
of the gospel, where unto he called you by our gospel, they
shall be brought to faith in Christ. And then repentance. And that's point number three.
Look at number three. All whom he calls to faith in
Christ are brought to repent of their sins, including their
own self-righteous works. And the reason I added that that
way is because so many people, when you talk about repentance
of sin, our minds automatically go to the dregs of society, and
we think about them quitting doing what they're doing. Like,
for example, our minds will go to the drunk who quits drinking,
or they'll go to the drug addict who quits taking drugs. Or to
the whoremonger that quits whoring around. All those things, you
know, that we think. Or to the person who has no interest
in religion. All of a sudden they start going
to church. And they give their lives to
Christ and they get baptized and all that. That's the way
we think. And let me tell you something now. Those things can
be and are included. Now that's so. That's repentance if it leads
a sinner to Christ now for salvation. For example, you can start going
to church and get baptized and have confidence and faith in
the fact that you've been baptized. That's not repentance. If your
faith and confidence is in your baptism, that's not salvation.
That's not the new birth. That's not faith in Christ. That's
faith in what you've done. That's works, you see. You say,
well, I had an experience. I had a dream. Let me tell you
something. If you had a dream, forget about
it, OK? Just go to the Word of God. Just
go to the Word of God. Don't be going around telling
everybody about your dream. All right? It could have been a bad
meal that day or something. Go to the Word of God. That's
the only thing that's going to last. Dreams come, dreams go.
Feelings come, feelings go. They can all be deceiving. Go
to God's Word. It'll last forever. Everything
else withers away. But you see, look at what I put
here, Philippians 3, verse 7 through 8. Paul said this, he said, but
what things were gained to me, those things I thought recommended
me unto God, those things that I thought were my salvation,
my righteousness before God, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ." That's repentance. Now, faith and repentance come
together in the new birth. It's not like God brings you
to faith and then years down the road you come to repentance.
It's not like that he brings you to repentance and years down
the road they come together. You can't turn to Christ without
turning away from everything else as recommending you unto
God. When Christ becomes your only hope, your only salvation,
your only righteousness before God, you'll see that everything
else, no matter how noble it appears, no matter how religious,
no matter how moral in the eyes of men, you'll see that everything
else is nothing but lost, even dumb, that you may win Christ
and be found in Him. not having your own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ. That's repentance. And then look at the fourth point.
Now, the works God does in and through believers, the works
now, are the fruits and effects of Christ's work in saving us
from our sins and making us righteous before God. Now that's just a
different aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Look
at John chapter 3 that Brother Ron read. Now I've got Ephesians
2.10 quoted there, but I want you to look at these. Now what
we're doing here now is we're getting to what James is teaching
in his book. about faith and works, right
here, beginning at verse 4, or beginning at point number 4.
And here in John chapter 3, look at verse 18. Now, you remember
he talked about Nicodemus, he must be born again. Nicodemus
didn't understand what he was meaning, because Nicodemus, his
mind was on physical things, not on spiritual things. So he
talked about going back into your mother's womb and being
born again. Well, that's silly. Nobody can do that. And Christ
told him, he said, well, you only talk about the things you
know. That's what we do. We talk about things we know.
We don't we or things we think we know. But but he says the
spiritual aspect of this. First of all, he says it's all
the fruit and effect of Christ being lifted up on the cross.
Memory said as Moses had lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
So must the son of man be lifted up. And he says in verse 15,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. And then he says, for God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. That's not universal salvation.
That's not universal salvation. If it were, we wouldn't have
to be here this morning. We wouldn't have to worry about
anything. He says, for God sent not his son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him Might be saved. Now look at verse 18. He that
believeth on him, on Christ, is not condemned. He's justified. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
is risen again. Seated at the right hand of the
Father, ever living, to make intercession for us. So if you
believe on Christ, you know what? That's an evidence that you're
not in a condemned state. You're justified. Your believing
didn't justify you. Christ did that on the cross.
Your believing in him evidences that he did it for you. You see
what I'm saying? And so he says, but he that believeth
not is condemned already. because he had not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God." This is the condemnation,
listen to this, that light has come into the world, that's the
gospel, that's Christ himself in the gospel, the truth of how
God saves sinners, and men love darkness rather than light because
their what? Their deeds were evil. Now, deeds
there refers to man's attempt, now remember who he's talking
to now, he's talking to Nicodemus, a Pharisee. A man who's doing
his dead-level best to establish his own righteousness before
God by his works. Those are evil deeds. They're
born of unbelief. They're performed by one who
does not have faith. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God. They're done out of self-righteousness,
to the glory of self, and not to the glory... If you're trying
to be saved, or earn your way into God's favor and blessings
by your works, that's self-righteous deeds. They're evil. They don't
glorify God. They don't exalt Christ. They're
not done out of humility, you see. Their deeds were evil. Verse
24, everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. You see, the
Gospel is going to continually remind us of that fact. And if
you don't come to faith in Christ, that's like rubbing sandpaper.
on your hand or something. It's just going to hurt. And
he says, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be
reproved, exposed. Now, I could stand up here and
I could talk to you and preach against all the drunkenness that
exists in our society today, and that's okay. And everyone
in here should say, Amen. It's sad. It ought not be. The abuse of alcohol, that's
a terrible, terrible, terrible thing. But now when I come up
here and I start talking about you who are trying to establish
a righteousness by your church going, your baptism, your works,
your giving, whatever it is, if you're trying to be recommended
unto God by those things, that's evil. I tell you, the only ones
who are going to say amen to that, and that's the ones who
know Christ and know what God requires for salvation, righteousness,
holiness, that can only be found in him. But now look at verse
21. He says, But he that doeth truth,
that's believing the gospel, that's following Christ, cometh
to the light that his deeds may be manifest, that they are wrought
in God. What does that mean? That they're
the work of God. That person who believes his
works are the works of God. Look at your bullet again, number
four. Look at the passage that I quoted, Ephesians 2.10. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
not because of, but unto good works, which God hath before
ordained, that we should walk in them." That's the work of
God, my friend. If I have any good works, it's
not of me. Paul says, it's not I, but Christ
that liveth in me. Galatians 2.20. That's right. It's the work of God. Look over at Romans 7. And I'm going to refer to this
passage twice. I've got one of these verses
cited in your bulletin. Romans 7. And look at this. Verse 4. He says, Wherefore, my brethren,
You also are become dead to the law. Now what does it mean to
be dead to the law? It means this, now see where
there's sin, now listen to me, where there is sin, the law justly
demands death. 1 Corinthians 15 says that the
strength of sin is the law. What that means is the power
of sin to condemn a person is the law that requires death pertaining
to justice. In other words, if you've committed
the crime, you do the time, which all the wages of sin is death.
So he says you're dead to the law. Well, the law requires death
where sin is charged, where sin is committed. All right. Now,
he says you're dead to the law. In other words, the law can no
more require your death because you've already died to the law.
Justice has been satisfied. Righteousness has been established.
You're no longer guilty. That's what he's saying there
when he says you're dead to the law. It doesn't mean that you don't
owe God obedience. You do, but it's not a debt.
It's not a legal debt. It's a debt of love. And grace
and gratitude, but you're dead to the law. The law has no no
matter against you. Now, how did I become dead to
the law? Look at where for my brethren,
you are become dead to the law. by the body of Christ. What does that mean? That means
his death on the cross. He said, this is my body which
is broken for you. This is my blood which is shed
for you. Sinners who are saved have become
dead to the law, not by what they've given, Not by what they've
suffered, not by what they have done, are doing, or plan to do,
but they're dead to the law totally, exclusively through the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He took my death. He took my
death. And when He died, I died. Now,
you say, well, you know, in other words, There's no conditions
I meet. All the requirements are met.
Yes, every requirement that God has of me is met fully in Christ.
Well, what does that mean then for me? What am I to do? Well,
look at it. He says, that or in order that you should be married
to another. Who are you married to? You're
married to Christ. He's your husband. That's he's the husband
of the church. Even to him who's raised from
the dead, now look at it, that we should what? Lay down and
not think about it again? Or not worship? Not obeying? No. That we should bring forth
fruit unto God. Do you see that? Bring forth
fruit. We don't produce fruit. We bear
it. Christ is the vine. We're the
branches. The life comes from the vine.
The power comes from the vine, you see. Watered by the Word,
you see. And so, we don't produce fruit.
We bear it. Now, hold your finger there at
Romans 7, because I'm going to come back to it. But look back
on your bulletin there. Here's point number five. Our
justification before God and the genuineness of our faith
in Christ will be proven by the fruit and evidence of good works.
Now that's what James is teaching. Have you been justified before
God? Well, what's the first evidence? Do you believe in Christ? Do
you rest in Him? Have you come to repentance of
dead works and idolatry? Well, is your profession of faith
in Him, is it real? Is it genuine? Is it true? Or
is it just talk? Empty, vain talk? Vain fellow? Well, it's going to be proven.
James had already talked about how it's going to be proven by
trials. Faith is going to be proven, tested by trials. You
say, well, I don't want trials. Well, you don't want faith then.
In fact, Paul said in Philippians chapter 1 that those trials and
testings of faith are just as much a gift of God as the faith
itself. You say, God don't give me that
gift. Well, you don't want the gift of faith either. So you're
going to have trials. But then there's going to be
the evidence of good works that prove it. Look at James 2, our
text, verse 18. Now he'd already said, even so
faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. If you
have a profession of faith in Christ that's not evidenced or
proven by the fruit of good works, then it's dead, being alone. He says, yea, a man may say thou
hast faith and I have works, show me thy faith without thy
works and I will show thee my faith by my works. What some
people believe, well, it's either one or the other. No, it's not
one or the other. It's both. I had a fellow write
me one time, and he asked this question. He said, which is more
important in the Bible? He said, is it orthodoxy or obedience? That's the way he put it. Orthodoxy
means what you believe. You know, I'm orthodox in the
faith. I believe what the Bible says,
all right? Faith. Which is more important in the
Bible, what you believe or what you do? Obedience. And I wrote him back and I said
this, I said, well, I'm amazed that you would separate the two
because the Bible does not. The Bible doesn't separate what
we say and what we do. Because the Bible says that the
only evidence of the genuineness of what we say when we profess
to have faith in Christ is what we do by way of obedience. That's
right. And so it's not one or the other
here. As this fellow that James is speaking to, he's teaching
the church here, and he's showing you here's a man who says, well,
I've got faith, you've got works, I'll take care of the faith business,
you take care of the works business. Oh no, it doesn't work that way.
They come together. That's what he's saying. So a
man may say this, but how do you know it's true? Well, look
at number six on your bulletin. Now here, I want you to understand
that this is not really what James is teaching specifically
in his book, but it's important that we continue to understand
this. Now understand, works without faith are dead works. A person
can be working hard to obey the law, Love God perfectly. Love your neighbor as yourself.
The law of love, he called it over here, the royal law, James
said. The royal law. I'm going to love
my neighbor perfectly. I'm going to do my best. And
a person could be working hard to do that. But my friend, without
faith in Christ, you know what they're doing? Look at Romans
7. Again. And I've got verse 5 marked there.
Now remember what he said in verse 4. You become dead to the
law. How? By the death of Christ.
His blood, His righteousness alone. That you should be married
to Christ. That's a saving relationship
with Christ. That's a love relationship with
Christ. That's a faith relationship with Christ. In order that you
should do what? That you should bring forth fruit
unto God. Verse 5. For when we were in the flesh. Now to be in the flesh here means
when we were in unbelief. Not born again. He said, when we were unbelievers,
the motions of sins, now that word motions is passions. You
had a passion for something. The passions of sins, which were
by the law, did work in our members, the members refers to the physical
body, our eyes, our ears, our tongues, our hands, our feet,
did work in our members to bring forth what? Fruit unto death. Now there's two ways that that
happens in a person's life. Different people, but there's
basically two ways. When it says, the passions of
sins which were by the law. Here's a person, for example,
who looks at the law of God. The law says, love your neighbor
as yourself. Love God perfectly. And they look at the law of God
and it stirs them up passionately in utter rebellion. I'm going
to go out and get everything I can get. I don't care who I
hurt. I'm going to steal from you. I'm going to murder you.
You know, there are people like that in this world, aren't there?
They have a passion for rebellion. They're irreligious. They're
not concerned for anybody or anything but themselves. It's
I, me, my. There you deal with them all
the time. They break the law, they see
a law, and they're passionate to rebel against that law. If
they see a law that says 55 miles an hour, they got to put the
pedal to the metal. Because I'm not going to let
anybody rule over me. That's one way. But now here's
another way. That the passions of sins, which
are by the law, a person looks at the law, and they said, man,
I'm going to do my best to keep that law, to keep every law,
to obey every law, and I pray that God, based on that, will
bless me and save me and reward me." That was Saul of Tarsus. He looked at the law, you remember,
and he was trying to establish his own righteousness before
God. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was circumcised the eighth
day. A Hebrew of Hebrews is touching the law of Pharisee. He was doing
his best passionately in religion to be saved by his works. That's
the second one. Most common way in a lot of religious
people, isn't it? Now, that person who passionately
rebels, what's he doing? Bringing forth fruit unto death.
Wages of sin is death. But that person who's passionately
seeking to establish a righteousness by his prayers, by his baptism,
by his giving, by his church going, or anything else, what
is he doing? He's bringing forth fruit unto
death, too. Because that's self-righteousness,
and God hates it. You see, that works without faith
are dead. So he says, we work to bring
forth fruit unto death. Verse six of Romans seven says,
but now we're delivered from the law that being dead wherein
we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and
not in oldness of the letter. In other words, now being a born
again person justified by the righteousness of Christ. Being
born again by the spirit. Now I can serve God. In newness
of spirit. What is that newness of the spirit?
That's the motivation of grace and gratitude and love to the
praise and the honor and the glory of God's grace in Christ.
That's what it means in Matthew 5, 16, when it says, let your
light so shine before men that they may see your good works
and do what? Glorify your father, which is
in heaven. The light there is not your good
works. The light there is the gospel of Christ that exalts
him. That point centers to Christ.
And that just proves that the works that you do are the work
of God in you. Well, look at number 7. Now,
this is what James is saying here. Faith without works is
dead faith. Now, just as works without faith
are dead works, faith without works is dead faith. Verse 17
of James 2. Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Look at it again. Verse 18. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast
faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." I want to
spend my life proving that my faith is real, that it's not
just sham religion, that I'm not just a hypocrite, that I'm
not just a talker, but that I'm a doer of the Word. Do you remember
back in James 1, he said in verse 22, be ye doers of the Word?
and not hearers only, deceiving yourself. Somebody says, well,
but I don't do it perfectly. That's not what he's talking
about here. I know you don't do it perfectly. I don't either.
None of us do. If we could do it perfectly,
we wouldn't need faith. Did you know that? If we could
do it perfectly, we wouldn't need Christ. We wouldn't need
grace. We wouldn't need mercy. If you could do it perfectly,
you wouldn't be in the same struggle I am, the warfare of the flesh
and the spirit. But be doers of the word. What does that mean?
Come to Christ. Lean on Him. Trust in Him. Rest
in Him for all salvation. And then spend the rest of your
life seeking to obey Him in newness of the Spirit. Thanking Him. Because not to be saved, that's
dead works. But because you already are by
the grace of God. Knowing that even now, it's your
best times, you don't deserve the mercy and grace of God in
Christ. And so he says in verse 19, thou believest there's one
God, thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble. You
see, that's what he's showing there is that you can say you
believe something and not really believe it. Verse 20, but wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works is dead. Now he's going
to go on to use Abraham and a very, what we might see from our viewpoint,
an unlikely character in scripture to prove what he's saying. He's
going to use Abraham and then a woman named Rahab. She was
a harlot. And I'll get to that next week.
But this is the issue in James. James is not talking about how
a sinner is justified before God. He's talking about how a
sinner who claims to be justified before God in Christ, how that
sinner evidences that state. He's not talking about how God
saves sinners, he's talking about how a sinner who claims to believe
in Christ evidences that to himself and to others with works wrought
by God, wrought by the Spirit. Alright.