James chapter two. Some of this we've heard the
first hour, but I feel it necessary to reiterate the fact that James
is speaking to the Lord's people, the Lord's elect. He says it
in verse one that he's writing to the 12 tribes and that's the
Lord's spiritual people. Paul gives, I'm sorry, James,
not Paul. We've been going after Paul so
many times. I said Paul by accident. Anyways,
James is giving God's elect instruction regarding faith and works, faith
and works. And he makes this statement that
we're gonna read in just a moment. He says, faith without works
is dead. Faith without works is dead.
Now, as I was reading throughout the book of James, I was trying
to find the Lord's face and seek the passage the Lord would have
me preach unto you. And this particular passage has
been misconstrued in a lot of false religions and has been
something where it gives men a self-righteousness. But I believe
the Lord's given me clarity on what James is talking about in
this particular passage. My hope that this hour, before
we leave here, We will have complete clarity on James chapter two,
what he means by saying faith without works is dead. Now, all
of scripture, we must realize this first and foremost, all
of scripture is the perfectly harmonious instrument in the
salvation of God's people. Perfectly harmonious. It never
contradicts itself. It never says one thing here
and then says something different over here. It all says exactly
what it's supposed to say to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. I want to warn you that we're
going to be turning in various places. I normally don't have us turn
very much. So this morning we're going to
have, I think it's four or five places. So just bear with me
as we do that. So the first thing I want to
look at here is our text in James chapter two, he's writing into
the 12 tribes, those that are chosen in Christ before time
washed in the blood. And he says in James chapter
two, verse 17 through the end of the chapter, even so faith,
If it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 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. Thou believest that there is
one God, thou doest well. The devil also, the devils also
believe and tremble. But will thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Gives us some examples here.
It says, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when
he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how
faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? The scripture was fulfilled,
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto
him for righteousness. and he was called the friend
of God. You see then how that by works a man is justified and
not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the
harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers
and hath sent them out another way. For as the body without
the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. As I mentioned before, some have
misconstrued these verses to make it say what they want it
to say. They try to make you think that your works is your
justification before God. But Paul made it very clear that
no man is justified by the works or the deeds of the law. We're
not. Paul's not contradicting James
and James is not contradicting Paul here. I want to elaborate
on that in a moment, but We have to understand that the only way
to prove scripture is with scripture. Anytime that we come across a
passage of scripture that we may not understand, we don't
have to be afraid of our lack of understanding. He tells us
in James 1 that if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
Lord, if I don't have understanding of this passage, That doesn't,
I need you to reveal it. That's the problem. I'm the problem.
Lord, you're gonna have to give me understanding. You're gonna
have to open it up. Shine your light and reveal the
truth here. God's word is infallible and
never contradicts itself in any way. Paul clearly tells us in
Galatians 2 that no one is justified by the works of the law. No one
is justified by the works of the law. Turn with me to Galatians
chapter 2. I'll show you that. We're laying the foundation of
understanding right now of what James is saying. Paul says no one is justified
by the works of the law. Look at Galatians 2 verse 16,
knowing this is something we know that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by
the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
That's a very clear passage of scripture. Matter of fact, Paul
clearly states that if you're even circumcised, then you're
a debtor to the entire law. It's not just that you can't
be justified by it, but in keeping the law, you become a debtor
into the entire law to keep it. We can't keep one law ever, can
we? That was the issue he was dealing with with Galatians is
they were saying, yes, it's Christ, but you have to be circumcised.
And they became a debtor to the whole law. They were double-minded
men. Do we see that? Keeping the law cannot equal
justification. It's iniquity. It's iniquity. No man is justified by the deeds
of the law. It becomes debt unto us. It's
reckoned unto us for debt. Look in Romans chapter four.
I'll show you that. Romans chapter four. Look in verse one. James is also dealing with Abraham,
so it's fitting that we're in Romans 4 as well, when Paul says
in verse 1, For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof
to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness?
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. That's not very confusing, is
it? That's not confusing at all. And the scripture never contradicts
itself. Look back in chapter three. Paul's
addressing the same issue again, verse 20. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Look at verse 28. Therefore,
we conclude what a man is justified by faith, that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law. Now James is saying
you're justified by works. Paul's saying that no man is
justified by the works of the law. Are they contradicting themselves? No. No, certainly not. Paul is saying no flesh can be
justified by the works of the law. James didn't say we are
justified by the works of the law. He said we're justified
by works. James is dealing with justification before men. He's
counteracting, if you will, the antinomian ideology that because
we are saved by grace, we can do anything we want to without
consequence, without notion of coming to church. I don't even
need to go to service. I don't even need to come to church.
I'm saved by grace. This is what James is talking about. Paul and James are in perfect
harmony. One is dealing with lawlessness and one's dealing
with self-righteousness. Do we see that? James is dealing
with lawless living, not looking unto Christ, which is the fulfillment
of the law. That's how the Lord's people
live, lawless, is looking to Christ. No, I'm talking about
a lifestyle where, yeah, I've got salvation figured out. It's
all by grace. And then you continue in the
way that we were before. No, the Lord, He gives it a need,
doesn't he? A genuine need for the gospel. Paul was dealing with the issue
of these that were adding to the finished work of Christ.
They were saying, okay, you need to be circumcised, or you need
to do this, or you need to do that. They were double-minded.
This is what Paul is saying. No flesh is justified by the
works of the law. And James says, you're justified
before men by your work. See, faith operates in love.
Faith operates in love. Our justification before God
is only in the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the presence of men, how
do we know that we've passed from death unto life? We love
the brethren. This is what the Lord tells us
very clearly. Paul is dealing with self-righteous lawmongering. James is dealing with lawless,
frivolous life. Our God speaks in a language
that he alone must interpret, doesn't he? This is a spiritual
book. This isn't something that we
can learn by, uh, well, the scripture is clear, ever learning, but
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. I want to know
the truth. Don't you? I want to know what James is saying.
I want to know what Paul is saying. And I believe the Lord showed
me what they're both saying. Paul says, and you're already
in Romans three, look at verse 24. Paul is speaking of the cause. James is merely speaking of the
effect. I want to say that again. Paul
is speaking of the cause. James is speaking of the effect.
Paul is declaring how a sinner is justified before God. Look
at verse 24. This is so clear. Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. James is saying that the evidence,
the evidence of that justification before God is the love that you
have towards your brethren. He actually gives us that example
in our passage. James is not talking about our
justification before God or he would contradict everything about
being all of grace. James could not be saying that
you are justified before God that you have a righteousness
before God if you keep the law. If he is saying that, he's contradicting
that it's all by grace. So that can't be what he's saying.
Paul and James are dealing with a lawless and lawmongering people. They are saying the same thing,
but in a different way. James is declaring the effect
of faith before men. He's declaring the effect of
faith. And I don't want this to be confusing. I don't want this to be complicated.
This is one of those messages that's very pastorial. It's a difficult message because
it's simple in design. And yet this is a subject, this
is one of the most sensitive subjects in gospel churches,
works and grace. And I want to be very clear that
salvation is all of grace. I don't want that to be confusing.
So why is James saying that you're justified by works? Because he's
talking about the way that you and I see each other. Abraham
was not justified before God because he believed God. Abraham
was justified, therefore he believed God. You and I see that. We see
that he was justified, therefore he believed God. Do we see that? You and I are justified before
each other because we have a need. We confess Christ is all. We
are looking unto Christ and in looking unto Christ, the Lord
calls that a good work. How is that possible? That looking
unto Christ, given faith to believe him, he calls that a good work. He said, let your light so shine
before men that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father which is in heaven. What good work is he talking
about? Looking unto Jesus. If you're looking to Christ,
You fulfilled the law. If you're looking to Christ,
you're justified before God. If you're looking to Christ,
you're justified before men because that will come out in love one
towards another. One towards another and unto
him. We love him because he first loved us. We know we've passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. I'm not
saying to examine yourself. I'm not telling you to see, do
I love the brethren? I'm not telling you to see, do
I love God? How do I know if I'm justified
because I love brother Al? No, that's not what I'm saying. Look to Christ and you're justified
because he's made you look to him. He is our justification. He is our justification. Paul is saying that this effect
of faith before men comes out in the form of love. Look back
in our text in James chapter two. We won't have to turn many
more places. James chapter two in verse 14.
He says, what does it profit, my
brethren, though a man say he has faith and hath not works?
Can faith save him? Now he certainly could not be
talking about the faith of Christ because yes, the faith of Christ
is given because we've been saved. What is he talking about then?
He's talking about the faith that is in the description in
the verse before. What does it profit my brethren, though a
man say he hath faith and hath not works. Verse 16, and one
of you say unto them, oh, I'm sorry, verse 15. If a brother
or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you
say unto them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding
you give them not those things which are needful to the body,
what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. He can't be talking about the
faith of Christ. He must be talking about the
faith that hath not the works to have compassion upon the brethren.
What is the picture here? He's saying if you see your brother
or your sister that has a need and you say, well, if God wants
you to have food, you can, you'll have food. It ain't my job to
give you food. That's not the mentality, is it? That's not
the love that the Lord gives us one towards another. We really
love each other, don't we? I was in Florida, didn't have
a clue who any of you people were. And one day I get a text
from, I was actually looking at that text the other day, the
original text that Rob Hicks gave me whenever he said, would
you be interested in coming up here and preaching? And I thought,
I think you got the wrong guy, but I'm willing to try. And so
we ended up, you know the story. I mean, I'm standing here. So
what's my point? My point is I had no idea that
I loved you. I had no idea. When I met you, my wife met you,
we fell in love with you. Why? Because you're pretty? Well,
some of you, yeah. All of you are pretty. I'm just
kidding. You love me because I'm pretty? No, no. Why? Because
something that the Lord does by his spirit. His spirit bears
witness one with another in the form of love one towards another. We truly, genuinely love each
other in the Lord Jesus Christ. In so much, and you know this
is true, that if you had a need or I had a need, we would want
to meet that need one towards another. Why? Because I love
you. Because you love me. Because of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts. James is saying if you don't
have that love, your faith is dead. If you don't love one another
in deed and in word and in action, in works, then your love is dead.
Now, I am not saying that we look at our love as our justification
before God. That is not what I'm saying.
But you and I know well, those who we love in the gospel is
because we Our hearts have been knit together in the gospel.
Our love one towards another in the same, when we were eating
just last Sunday here, what conversation did we have? It was about the
gospel, wasn't it? Yeah, there was some humanitarian things,
but we have one thing needful, don't we? We are really brothers
and sisters in Christ. And James is saying, if you don't
love your brother, which you have seen, how can you say that
you love God whom you've not seen? This is what James is dealing
with. Therefore, we justify one another. We say, I believe that
you're a believer because of your confession and because of
your work, your work that comes out in love. This is what James
is talking about. He's not saying that we go around
and and say, well, if the Lord wants you to have food, you'll
have food. I can't help you. My pantry's full and you don't have
a single loaf of bread, but oh well, Lord wants you to have
it, you'll have it. No, that's not love. That's being presumptuous
on God. That's not belief. That's not
faith. That's faith without works and it's dead. This is what James
is saying. We never, and I'm trying to be
as clear as I can this morning, we never examine ourself for
this love. We never, I don't justify myself
by examining myself. No, this is for you to observe. And we don't do it unto each
other. We do it unto the Lord. That is the whole point. We're
doing it with one singular focus unto the Lord. And if we love
him, If he's given us his love, it will come out. How does it
come out? In our love towards him and in
our love one towards another. This is what James is talking
about. Faith operates by love. James is just combating lawless,
loveless life. He's combating falseness. John
tells us that we know we've passed from death unto life. For this
one reason, we love the brethren. But it doesn't say examine yourself
to see if you love your brethren, to see if you pass from death
unto life. That's not what John's saying, is it? Look to Christ. Look, that's the message. Everything
the Lord requires, he must provide. And he provides that love in
his people. He gives us his love towards
him and towards each other. John goes on to say, but whoso
hath this world's good and seeth his brothers have need, and shutteth
up his bowels of compassion, how so dwelleth the love of God
in you? If you see your brother has need and you have no compassion
upon them, how can you say the love of God dwells in you? No,
we see each other having need, and how often do we pray for
one another, bear one another's burdens, and we do it not for
reward, not out of obligation, not because we have to, but because
we love one another. Isn't that true? We do out of
love, love unto him and love for each other. Do not look at
our love, but we really do love. We look to his love, don't we?
Lord, if the requirement is me to have perfect love, you're
gonna have to give it. You're gonna have to give it.
And he does, he does. We look to his love and this
is the effect of faith. That's what Paul is, that's what
James is talking about. This is the effect. This is the effect. Paul is speaking of the cause. The cause is Jesus Christ. We
are justified because of Jesus Christ. I can't be any more clear
than that. We are justified because of Jesus
Christ, period. The effect of that justification
is that we look to Christ. The effect of that justification
is because we look unto him. Now we don't examine ourself
and say, well, well, we do examine ourself and say, is there anything
else that I'm looking to besides Christ? Absolutely. But we don't
examine ourself for love. We don't examine ourself for
our, we don't justify ourself is what I'm trying to say. The
Lord justifies his people. He justifies us before the throne
because of Christ. And he justifies us to each other,
to each other by the love that we show forth. This is what he's talking about
in Hebrews when he says, he makes you perfect in every good work
to do his will, working in you. You feel like the Lord. Yeah,
I remember a song in religion. He's still working on me to make
me what I ought to be. I hate that song so bad. That's
not what he's talking about. He's still working on me. No,
it's what he's bestowed in his people. And is it not true that
in this life, There is a trial that you're going into, a trial
that you're in, or a trial that you're coming out of, and all
of it is demanding you to look to Christ. All of it is making
you look to Christ. That's Him working in you, that
which is pleasing in His sight. What is pleasing in His sight?
Christ. You looking to Christ, the faith that he gives, that
demands. He commands his people look. He commands his people
to live. He doesn't ask and request. Aren't
you glad? He maketh me. I'm thankful you
read that, Greg. He maketh me to lie down in green pasture.
He didn't offer me a green pasture. He makes me. He makes me. He
leads me. If he don't lead me, I don't
know where to go. That's the effect of justification. And
it also comes out in love one towards another, one towards
another. He doesn't leave us to ourself.
He works that which is pleasing in his sight. And it's all through
the Lord Jesus Christ. I feel like I should repeat that.
How are we pleasing in his sight? The Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Through Jesus Christ, we bear the fruit of Christ because we
are connected to the vine. He says, I am the true vine and
you are the branches. We bear forth his fruit unto
the Lord. We really do. All through and
by faith, looking unto Christ. And it does manifest itself in
love. It truly does. Through him, our love is made
perfect. That's what he talks about here. Look in verse 22. Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works and by works was faith made perfect. What that word perfect means,
it means proven. It means tried. It means tested
and revealed and declared to be sincere, to be sincere, to
be unfamed, to be true, to be genuine. See, no judgment can
ever be made whatsoever by what a man professes, but by what
he practices. Let me say that again. No judgment
can be made by what a man just professes, but by what he practices. If I say that I love my wife,
And I never show that. And I'm unfaithful to my wife.
Do you believe I love my wife? But if I say I love the Lord
Jesus Christ, not as I should, Lord, increase our love. That's
the prayer, isn't it? But it's going to manifest itself.
And how does it do that? You're going to be faithful to
the gospel. He gives you that love towards him where you have
to be here. Is it not true that it's not a burden to come to
the Lord's house and to hear this good news? Do we look to
that as our justification before God? No, you didn't come here
this morning to have righteousness. You came here because the Christ
is your righteousness. That's the hope, isn't it? You
didn't come here this morning in order to receive justification.
You came here because your hope is that he justified you on the
cross of Calvary. Is that not true? That's exactly
how it manifests itself. He gives the desire that only
he can fulfill, only he can feel. And it's in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. If I say I love my wife and don't
show it, my love is dead. This is what James is talking
about. Faith without works is dead. Now, he can't be talking about
works as in an act of virtue for righteousness, because if
that was the case, Abraham's works would have saved him. And
that's not what God is talking about in his scripture. Whenever
he talks about Abraham believed God and it was counted to him
for righteousness. Abraham believed God because faith was reckoned
unto him. because he was made the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. It's got to be understood. He
was given faith to believe God or he would have never believed
God. We believe that to be true, don't we? So James couldn't be
talking about works as in something or some kind of virtue before
the Lord, but he's talking about obedience. He's talking about
obedience. Are you obedient unto the Lord?
Well, not as I ought to be. But do you not have a desire
to hear his gospel? Do you not have a desire to worship
him? Do you not have a desire to see his face? Who put that
desire there? Who gave you the means to do
that? Are you not here this morning because of that? You're obedient
unto him. He said, failing not the assembling of yourself. You're
obedient. Now, do we ever look at our obedience
as our justification of righteousness? No. No. But the Lord causes his people
He said this, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they
follow me. They're obedient, they're obedient.
They listen to his, we listen to his voice, don't we? I wish
I could all the time and never waver. And as far as the flesh
going back to the vomit that we are and, but no, he really
does cause his people to come into him over and over. And how do we do that physically?
Through the eyes of faith, we come to Christ. We come to Christ
alone. Looking unto Christ is not optional
for the Lord's people. They're commanded to obey. Look,
looking unto Jesus. Do you live looking? Yes. Not
as I ought to. That's not how the Lord sees
it. If you have faith, you're always looking. Because of what
the Lord Jesus Christ did, you're justified before God. Therefore,
faith has been reckoned unto you and you believe God. We live
looking, don't we? We live believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's not just a strong suggestion, is it? When
the Lord said, believe, did you say no? Well, it would have done
any good. He's God. You mean you obeyed? I had to. I didn't have any choice
in the matter. Exactly. And everything God requires,
he provides. This is the whole point. We can
never get away from that. We always have to. That's the
foundation of the gospel. Everything God requires, he must
provide. So if I'm to be justified before God, he's going to have
to do it. If I'm to be justified before
man, he's going to have to do it. How does he do it? He made
us the righteousness of God in Him. He gives us faith that looks
to Christ alone. And in looking to Christ alone,
we'll find out we love each other. He does that, and He gets all
the glory for it. He gives us His love that's shed
abroad in our heart, one towards another and unto Him. We never
look at our love, we never look at what we do, but we really
are justified before man because we love the Lord, because He's
made us to do so. He's made us to do so. God works in his people to do
that which is pleasing to him all by faith, all by faith. And I already read this to us,
I'll read it again. God makes us perfect in every
good work to do his will. How are we perfect in every good
work? Scripture says there's none good,
no not one. How are we perfect? Because we're looking unto Christ. Because we're looking unto the
Lord Jesus Christ, not to self, not to what we do, but to what
he has done. We're not looking to our works
as righteousness, but we're looking to his work alone. Because of
him giving us this faith that looks to him, he's working in
us that which is well pleasing in his sight all through Jesus
Christ. I want to try to simplify this
quickly. Was Abraham justified because
he worked? Was Abraham justified because
he worked? Or did he work looking unto the
Lord because he was justified? There's the difference. He worked
looking unto the Lord because he was justified. Now, it is
in Christ we live. It is in Christ we move. and
it is in Christ we have our being. What does that mean? That means
everything you do, he sees that you are looking to Christ at
all times through the faith that he gives. That's what he sees.
And the way God sees it is really how it is. No matter how bent
out of shape we get at our jobs or in life and things that are
troubles and trials that we see, he still sees you looking to
Christ as all. He still sees Christ as your
justification. Therefore we live in him and
we live, move and have our being in him. That's what James is
telling us. Good works do not go before justification
as the cause ever. Good works do not go before justification
as the cause of justification, but it's the effect of it unto
fruit. It's the effect of it unto fruit.
We're not called to be fruit inspectors of ourself, but we
do examine one another and see if the love that they, that shone
forth, you would never have called me to be your pastor if I misspoke
from the pulpit every time I stood and I didn't preach the grace.
Is that not true? That's a judgment you have to make. That's the
way the Lord's designed it. You examine to see if the love
that I am saying I have towards the gospel is true, how? By the
confession over and over that we have towards the Lord about
him and towards each other, how we treat one another. What is
that? Well, that's what he's talking
about as works, our confession, looking unto Christ alone. And
as we are looking unto Christ alone, these things just bubble
over. The Lord does it and he gets
all the glory. We don't examine it ourself. We don't see what's
bubbling over me today. No, that's not what we look to
Christ alone. And in doing so, it will manifest
itself in love towards him, physically manifest itself towards him and
towards his people. No amount of good works could
have fixed the fact that Abraham was an idolater. No amount of
free will works religion could have fixed the fact that Rahab
was a harlot. They couldn't have fixed it.
So works can't precede justification. It can't. I don't work and then
become justified. As a matter of fact, the Lord
doesn't give faith and then say justified. No, no, faith is reckoned
because of righteousness, because of justification. Faith is given
when life is given because we are already the righteousness
of God in Christ Jesus. We have already been justified
before the throne of God. No, both Rahab and Abraham acted
by faith alone. Abraham didn't offer Isaac up
as payment for his sin, did he? Abraham didn't offer Isaac up
as payment for his sin. He did it out of obedience. Abraham
believed God. He did it by faith, not to obligate
God, but by faith. Rahab didn't put the red cord
in the window whenever the spies came into the land, did she?
Out of obligation or to say, okay, Lord, now you owe me something.
No, she put the cord in the window as her only hope, looking into
the blood of Christ. Abraham said, Lord, you're the
one that's going to have to provide this lamb. I know my son, me
sacrificing my son is not going to do any good for me in salvation,
but I'm going to believe you. I know that you can resurrect
him. What caused him to do the impossible? Faith. God did that. God said, believe, and Abraham
believed. Rahab didn't put the cord in
the window saying, okay, now, Lord, you owe me to spare my
life because I've honored your word. No, she put the court in
the window, believing God's word. Believing. How do you live your
life? Believing God's word. That's how we live. Why? Because
you've been justified in his sight. Because you have been
made the righteousness of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. You
can't help but believe because he's made you believe. That's
the point, isn't it? They obeyed the Lord's command.
They did the impossible. They believed God. You know,
it's impossible to believe God. It's impossible to believe God
on your own. He has to do it. If you find
yourself believing for a brief moment, it's because he's made
you do that. He's made you do that. In the fullness of time, the
Lord gives his people faith that always looks to him, always looks
to Christ. Romans chapter four is very clear.
If Abraham was justified by works, we read this earlier. Abraham
was justified by works. He would have had whereupon to
glory, but not before God. Don't miss that. If Abraham was
justified by works, he would have been able to glory, but
he would have never been able to glory before God. Do we see
that? Why? No flesh shall glory in
his presence. Even if he was justified by his
works, it would have done him no good before God. That's the
point. This doesn't contradict James. It tells us exactly that
no flesh shall glory in the Lord's presence. So what is he talking
about? We work in everything that we do, looking unto Christ. And therefore men see that. Our
brethren see that and they glorify. How much of an encouragement
some of you have been to me just in conversation. When I was,
I can't, I'm not gonna call you up every time I'm discouraged.
That would bring you down. And you don't call me up every time you're
discouraged. But how many times have we had conversations about the gospel?
And it's just like the Lord lifted the burden of just reality for
a brief moment. We see his face. You know what
I'm talking about. That's the good works he's talking
about. He gets all the glory in that. He does that. The spirit
bears witness there. And that faith manifests itself
in that love, one toward another and unto him. You and I know that it's the
same blood that the cord represented at Rahab's is our only hope of
justification. You and I know that the Lord's
going to have to provide himself a lamb if we are to be justified
as Abraham did. And we live looking unto Christ. Faith has to, faith must, faith
always looks to Christ. believes him and obeys and bows
to him. Further example that it's not
our works that justify us, he says in Romans chapter four,
verse five, to him that worketh not. That's pretty simple, isn't
it? To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth, his faith is counted for righteousness. To him that worketh not. That's
clear, isn't it? That's very, very clear. Faith is reckoned
because of justification and righteousness. Faith is not because
of justification. Somebody said, yeah, well, you're
not justified until the Lord gives you faith. You won't find
that in the scripture. Faith is reckoned because of justification.
Faith is reckoned because of we being made the righteousness
of God in him. Because of this, Rahab showed
compassion to the spies. She brought them in, she risked
her life, she fed them, she put them up, she hid them, she helped
them escape. What compelled her to do that?
Was it to obligate God? No, it was faith looking to Christ. And it was the love that she
had for the Lord Jesus Christ. She never did say, okay, I've
done my part, now God has to do his. That wasn't the motivation,
is it? No, it's not our motivation either. She didn't do it for
righteousness, but she did it because righteousness had been
imputed. Now in closing, let's read James
chapter two again in verse 17. Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. 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. God, believe
us that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils believe,
also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead. When God gives life, when God
gives his spirit, he reveals our justification, our righteousness
is all in Christ. And we believe that by faith.
We believe that by the faith that he gives us. The same faith
also manifests itself in love and obedience unto him. He causes
us to obey him. Now we, and I've already given
multiple examples, but I'll say again, when he says live, did
we say no? No, we lived. When the Lord commands,
we obey, and everything he requires, he must provide. Aren't you thankful?
We don't ever have to examine ourself to see, am I obeying
him enough? Am I loving enough? Am I doing
enough? Do I have good works? That's
not what this message is this morning. This message is look
to Christ. And all of those things I just said are going to happen
because you're looking to Christ. He's gonna do that in his people.
This is what he's promised to do. Everything he requires, he
provides. We know we've passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren and we love God because
he first loved us. We never look at our love towards
God or our brethren as our justification or we have none. We never look
to our love towards God or our brethren as our justification.
Say, I know that I am a believer. I know that I am one of the elect
of God because I love you. No, there's no justification
in that. We look to the love of Christ,
don't we? We look to everything he provided as our justification. We look to Christ alone, his
finished work. In looking to Christ alone, we live, move,
and have our being in him. And in doing so, our actions
will reflect his love. Look to Christ and your actions
will reflect his love towards the brethren, towards the Lord.
We don't ever look to those actions. Don't look to them. Don't look
to him for justification or righteousness, look to Christ, that's the point.
And as long as our eye is fixed upon him, we are living, moving,
and have our being in him. Am I making sense this morning?
I believe I am. He is our justification. Our good works are only found
in Christ Jesus. Our good works are not found
in us. Our good works are only found in looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if we are looking, he's the
one that's done that. He's the one that's caused us
to look. It's not a choice we've made,
not a prayer we've prayed, but we're looking because he's made
us to do so. He alone is our justification
before God. And us looking to him is our
justification before man. Us looking to him is our justification
before man. We see the love that he sheds
abroad in our heart. The only way he sheds that love
abroad is if we're looking to him, if he's made us to do so. They that say they love God but
have no love of the brethren are dead and trespasses and in
sin. They that say they believe the truth but they preach another
gospel, they're dead and trespasses and in sin. They that say they
believe they have faith, have no need of attending service,
no need of hearing the gospel, they're dead. They're dead. Those
are the those are the things that are necessary for the believer,
not out of obligation, not out of for a righteousness or for
justification. I've got to have him. I've got
to hear of him. I've got to worship him. He did
that. Man has no need to bear the burdens
of the. Local assembly, no love in their
heart, they're dead. That's what James is saying.
That's what James is talking about in works. God's people
are justified before God by Christ alone. And God's people are justified
before men by the confession of Christ. By the confession
of Christ. And how that manifests in love. This is what being justified
by works means. This is what he's talking about.
This is what he's talking about, looking unto Christ. Looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.
You wanna be justified before God? Look to Christ. Christ is your justification.
You want to be justified before men? Look to Christ. Christ is
your justification. That's the whole point. That's
the whole point. He's the end of lawless antinomianism,
and he's the end of the law for righteousness. We're free in
Christ Jesus, but we live and we move and we have our being
in that freedom, looking unto the Lord. And as we look unto
him, men will see those good works and glorify our Father
which is in heaven. We don't see them. I don't see the things
I'm describing as if I had to see them, I would have no hope.
But aren't you glad the Lord sees everything that he requires,
he provided, and he really provides in his people. And he sees, he
really sees it in his people, in Christ Jesus, all in Christ
Jesus. That's our hope this morning.
Let's pray. Lord, cause us to understand
more and more of the simplicity of your gospel, that everything
you require, you provide. And you really provide in your
people by the Lord Jesus Christ.