James Series - Faith Without Deeds

 

Faith Without Deeds

James 2:14-25

Faith and works is a discussion that had nearly brought division among the early church and divided the churches throughout the ages. Works (deeds) and faith (belief) are not two separate entities but one with complimenting manifestations. So let’s look at the first portion of the text, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”

James, as the elder of the Jerusalem church, helped establish the Jewish understanding of works or deeds that were accustomed in the Jewish faith by law and the Christian faith by grace accompanied by deeds. For before Christ, the people lived according to the law of Moses (Torah) (Samaritans), the Tanakh (the Hebrew scripture: Torah, prophets, and other collected writings, the Mishna, a collection of original oral laws supplementing scriptural laws, and  Talmud, the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology.) The jewish mindset understood the defilement of death, and that nothing dead had breath (life and action). “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) 

James’ thoughts on faith were “life”, living, vibrant, and real because of the belief in the forgiveness of sins by the sacrificial blood of Christ (“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Heb. 9:22) on the cross for the sins of all (justification) was the atoning work of grace; and this new life in Christ must have living proof (deeds) of its reality of its sinlessness.

 To James, death is the absence of life, spirit, and action (movement) and death is a pollutant to the living (unclean)(the law). He saw some with mere mental faith and needed the evidence of the accompaniment of actions (works) to show its genuineness. He wasn’t advocating for a works based salvation such as Judaism. 

After the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostles established in the gospels and the epistles by the Holy Spirit (letters to the churches) salvation was by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-10). It was in this time frame, James is arguing against the formation of a teaching that cognitive faith, belief was merely in Jesus’ name alone, it is all that was needed for salvation. James has seen the need for the practicality and verification of the faith as proof (believing deeds) of faith. While some left out the teachings of deeds in the church, leading people not pursuing a deeper knowledge or life evidenced by the deeds of faith. He brings into question the salvation and genuineness of their faith by believing in the name of Jesus alone. He argues from the postulate their faith is dead without evidential and actionable deeds. 

First, he established the issue of the neglect of the poor, and the fruit of stinginess, greed, and empathy; the unwillingness or showing unwillingness to share with others, even among their own family, friends, and fellow believers. “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”

 Second, James brings the spiritual world into the comparison. As he postulates, the devil and his demons even believe in the person and power of Jesus and they shutter in the fear of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They don’t have a saving faith, only an understanding of their belief in the severity and majesty of Jesus’ judgment that awaits them. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

James closes this portion of the text with stating the foolishness of the decision made by those who only believe in the name of Jesus, for it is without evidence of a changed life (regeneration) and is useless.

Application - In our churches world-wide today, we hear and see the preaching and teaching that any belief in the name of Jesus, without repentance or the atoning work of Christ for forgiveness and cleansing of our sins (1 John 1:9, Heb.9:22) and without our confession of His Lordship is cheap grace. There is no need for evidence of a changed life, we can assimilate faith in Christ into our previous belief system. This incorporation and addition is not faith but an act of works. Then there are religions that require works to earn salvation, this too isn’t what James is claiming as showing works in order to show faith.

James' point is that the confessing faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior (justification) needs to be evidenced by the sanctification, the regenerative working of the Holy Spirit in the setting apart to godliness and holiness, and a changed life (new creation). This is all evidenced in the reality of life by good deeds done in the body. Not that the good deeds will bring salvation, but they are the evidence of a life changed from death to the fleshly sinful nature to an abundant life led by the Holy Spirit, which is evidenced by doing the works of God that Jesus said we would do in abundance and quantity. “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Next, James brings the patriarch Abraham’s righteousness into the argument for faith with deeds. Let’s look at the next portion of the text, “Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

James brought in the jewish reasoning that the jewish leaders had given Jesus for their salvation, they were children of Abraham, “We are the descendants of Abraham,” they answered, “and we have never been anybody's slaves. What do you mean, then, by saying, 'You will be free'?” Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave of sin…“Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did.” (John 8:33-34,39)

In the Jerusalem church as well as in the churches spread out in Samaria, Asia minor, and in Rome, Faith was still being attached in a way to the law and heritage by some. So James takes it back to the patriarch Abraham, a gentile called by God from Ur of the Chaldeans. The jewish faith draws back to Abraham as the beginnings of the Israelite nation and the covenant made by God to Abraham and his descendants through Issac. God called Abraham’s faith, trust, and obedience to God as righteousness, and it was this righteous obedience and trust that led Abraham to obey God’s command to offer Issac as a sacrifice to God, his beloved son by his wife Sarah. Abraham offered up Issac on an altar on Mount Moriah but was stopped by God who saw Abraham’s fear and trust in God “Then Isaac said to Abraham, “My father!” Abraham answered, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “See, here is the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for the burnt gift?” Abraham said, “God will have for Himself a lamb ready for the burnt gift, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place that God told them about. Abraham built the altar there, and set the wood in place. Then he tied rope around his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” And Abraham said, “Here I am.” The angel of the Lord said, “Do not put out your hand against the boy. Do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God. You have not kept from Me your son, your only son.” (Gen. 22:7-12) 

It was this act of righteousness that the jewish people accredited to themselves by heritage, and supplemented works in their obedience to the Mosaic laws by the rabbinical works done in the temple in Jerusalem. 

James knew from his own faith by grace, the need for accompanied acts of righteousness but not by the rabbinical laws but from a Spirit-led life. James may have remembered John the Baptist preaching on the Jordan, to be baptized in righteousness. “Do something to show me that your hearts are changed. Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones.“ (Matt. 3:8-9)

James understood that a person is considered righteous by their belief, their faith, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace and not by a mere act of acknowledgement and belief about Jesus or God the Father, or a patriarch.

Last, James uses the gentile woman Rahab as an example of faith accompanied by deeds. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho. When the two jewish spies sent in by Joshua asked her to hide them from the Jericho authorities, she did this because she feared God and the Jewish army that came into their land. After the Jericho authorities questioned her and left her home, she helped the spies leave by a different way to escape detection, but not before asking for their protection when the Israelite army took Jericho. Even in her sinful lifestyle, God forgave her sins because of her fear and acknowledgement of Him,  “...for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” (Jos.2:11b) (this was accounted to her as faith) and to her an act of righteousness in assisting the jewish spies. 

James finishes this portion of the text, summing up faith accompanied by deeds, “a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” and “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” 

Application - These righteous acts were not the results of human reasoning or kindness, but because of the faith, fear of God (reverence), and the trust in God to deliver what He said he would do. How many people have put trust in their human reasoning and human abilities to do good deeds to earn God’s salvation? These are futile! Both examples from Old Testament scripture show that it was faith in God, not in mankind that they trusted in God with their lives. And in this faith, they did good works (deeds) that God accounted to them as righteousness and he delivered them from this world and unto himself. God’s covenant with Abaham was fulfilled, and even today all who have faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, can be called children of Abraham by God’s covenant. And Rahab, because of her faith and fear of God, was saved and she was included into the heritage of God’s people and in the lineage of David, whose lineage led to Jesus.

In closing, God sent His only Son to save the world by believing in Him for eternal life (John 3:16). It was in the sacrificial giving of His life for the sins of all who will believe in Him, that they would be saved. And this wasn't the work of man, but of God and His love for mankind. But in believing in Jesus, it is more than a cerebral knowledge of who He is and what he has done. For if this is what your hope is in, it is no different than the demons. It is with the heart that one believes and confesses with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and Savior, and we confess our sinfulness from the heart and ask and receive the forgiveness and justification before God by the blood of Christ that covers our lives is His righteousness, we are changed from the inside out. And it is in the inward and the outward changes that we evidence the works of God in us and our doing of God’s work in the world that Jesus said we will do. So we are saved by grace through faith evidenced by the works of God in us and through us. Being doers of the Word and not mere hearers.

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ for salvation. For Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I have revised my webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. I’m adding answers each week to questions that pertain to our time today. Thank you http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com