October 1, 2023 | James 2:14-26 | Pastor Chris Baker
Good morning, church! We’re going to read James 2:14-26 this morning. As you’re turning there, I feel it’s appropriate to point out there are two types of people in the world.
There are those who acknowledge The Princess Bride as the greatest film of all time and then there are those who are wrong.
The Princess Bride is a story of true love. It features kings and princesses, pirates and giants, heroes and villains, joy and revenge, Sicilians and Spaniards. It has everything.
There comes a point in the movie where our hero named Westley lies dead in the pit of despair. His companions are devastated, but they still hold out hope. They hope to buy a miracle.
And in one of my favorite scenes in the whole move they visit Miracle Max—played by Billy Crystal. Miracle Max is a retired miracle worker, so he’s reluctant to get involved. But when he learns that Westley is fighting for true love and that his friends can offer the princely sum of $65 he is willing to help and informs the friends that just so happens that Westley is only mostly dead.
“There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. Now, all dead...well, with all dead, there's usually only one thing that you can do. Go through his clothes and look for loose change.”
Max gives the friends a miracle pill and sends them off wishing them good luck storming the castle. Westley returns to life a bit later, recuses the princess, and they all live happily ever after.
I share that story with you because James is writing about two faiths—a faith that is alive and leads to eternal life and a faith that is dead and leads to hell. There’s no in between. There’s no mostly dead faith or mostly alive faith. Faith is either alive or is dead.
Let’s read what James has to say.
Read James 2:14-26
I opened with a thought about The Princess Bride to inject something lighthearted into a very heavy sermon. James is concerned about fake faith—those who profess to be followers of Jesus, but their lives don’t match the Biblical pattern of following Jesus.
Faith means to receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation, trusting him to forgive our sins, and guide us to eternal joy, on the basis of his divine power and atoning death. That definition is taken from the Baptist Catechism first put together by Baptists in 1689 in Great Britain.
To put it more succinctly faith is putting all your hope in Jesus. James’s point in this passage is that you can’t do that with mere words. If words are all you have, then your don’t have faith. You have a dead faith, not a living faith and dead faith can’t save anyone.
James was concerned that some of his audience claimed to follow Jesus, yet there was no evidence their faith was real.
I’d submit this is a serious problem for the church today. Simple knowledge of the gospel is not saving faith. The vast majority of American adults (69%) self-identify as “Christian” according a Cultural Research Center study led by George Barna. That’s 222 million people.
(https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CRC_AWVI2021_Release06_Digital_01_20210831.pdf)
Church, we simply do not live in a country where 222 million people are putting all their hope in Jesus Christ alone in this life and the next. If we did, things would be vastly different. And I’m not just stating and opinion.
That same study revealed that of those 69% who claim to follow Jesus only 9% actually possess a biblical worldview.
Listen to some of the other things these folks who identify as Christians believe:
72% argue that people are basically good, 71% consider feelings, experience, or the input of friends and family as their most trusted sources of moral guidance, 66% say that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue, 64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value, 58% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven, 58% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity, 57% believe in karma, 52% claim that determining moral truth is up to each individual; there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time.
Those are supposed to be Christians, church. James’s concern is alive and well today.
I want to concede up front that I recognize this text pushes some of us into an uncomfortable place. You might think it’s not up to us to decide who is saved and who isn’t. You might even think about a loved one who was baptized or walked an aisle in a church somewhere many years ago and you believe they have saving faith—yet there’s no evidence of them living anything like the Biblical version of faith. Based on what James teaches in this passage, it’s likely their faith is dead. That means it doesn’t exist. It’s not saving faith.
Salvation is by faith alone, but saving faith is never alone. It is always accompanied by a change in attitude and a change in action. It’s accompanied by works. Works are not a means of salvation, they are a necessary evidence of salvation. That’s the sermon in a sentence. Works are not a means of salvation, they are a necessary evidence of salvation.
That’s a truth we see all over Scripture, not just in James. Saving faith is accompanied by changed works.
1 John 1:6 If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Listen to Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
Genuine faith is visible faith. And the genuineness of faith is reflected more by what you do than by what you say. A person who claims to follow Jesus, but does not lead a Christ-honoring obedient life is a fake. Knowing about Jesus does not equal saved by Jesus.
James leans hard into that truth in these verses and it’s no accident. He has been building to this throughout the book. James is teaching us how genuine faith lives.
As genuine faith matures, it develops a consistent pattern of viewing trials as joy. Genuine faith asks God for wisdom instead of blaming Him for temptation. Genuine faith embraces the Word of God and allows its power to work change through the Holy Spirit.
James doesn’t mean if you fail in one of these areas once you’re not saved. But the general trajectory of your life should be toward Jesus, not away from Jesus.
These tests of genuine faith James has been laying before us reach a crescendo in this back half of chapter 2 with the test of works. Genuine faith, which we’ll call living faith today to match the text, living faith works. Dead faith doesn’t. Dead faith is fake faith and it’s marked by fake compassion. Look at verse 14:
Dead Faith is marked by fake compassion
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
James creates a scene here to show what dead faith looks like. He uses a rhetorical question and an illustration. What good—that is what practical help to you or anyone else—is saying you have faith if it doesn’t change anything. James says that faith in word only doesn’t save.
Here’s the illustration. He presents a person who is destitute. They lack sufficient clothing and other resources to keep themselves warm and fed. They’re cold and hungry. And they’re not strangers. This isn’t the guy holding up a sign at an intersection in Columbia. This, according to James, is a brother or sister. This is someone who’s a part of your church. They’re your family.
Remember, James is writing this letter to Christians who used to be Jewish and they played it pretty fast and loose with the definition of neighbor. They reduced it down to someone who is Jewish—someone who is like them. So James goes there. If someone in your church is starving how do you respond? That doesn’t mean we don’t help the stranger on the street. I think we have an obligation to the poor regardless if they’re strangers or not.
But the argument here is that dead faith won’t even help a friend and fellow member of the body of Christ when they’re starving.
John echoes this same thing. 1 John 3:17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.
That’s living faith. What does dead faith say? When a friend is cold and hungry, what does dead faith say? “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed.” Christianese garbldegook.
There are hurts that need to be met with words and there are hurts that need to be met with actions. Living faith wants to know the difference and it wants to meet the need the right way. This response is callous. It acknowledges the need without expressing compassion to meet it.
Dead faith claims to be a follower of Jesus who said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Then it sees a neighbor starving and turns its back. That’s dead faith. It fakes compassion. It lacks mercy. Tim Keller wrote well in his book Ministries of Mercy.
“Mercy to the full range of human needs is such an essential mark of a Christian that it can be used as a test of true faith. Mercy is not optional or an addition to being a Christian. Rather, a life poured out in deeds of mercy is the sign of genuine faith.” ( Ministries of Mercy , 35).
The reason dead faith is missing the action step that faith requires is that it is based on a fake confession. Look at verse 18:
Dead Faith is marked by fake confession
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?
James is still arguing with this imaginary man in verse 18. James has genuine faith. So, he says, to another man who is claiming to have faith without works, he says, “You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works.”
This imaginary man says I’m a Christian. One of those 222 million according to the Barna survey. I’m a Christian. James says, “Show me that you’re a Christian without works. Go ahead, I’ll wait.” You can’t do it. If there is no substance to faith, then faith is dead and your confession of faith in Jesus is fake.
But wait, imaginary man says. I believe. James says even the demons believe, but their belief has some effect because it makes them shudder.
Faith that is at the thought-level or in theory only—faith that doesn’t produce change is dead faith. It fakes compassion because it’s based on a fake confession. Dead faith isn’t saving faith. It needs to be brought to life.
James closes chapter two by giving us two examples of living faith marked by a changed heart that leads to changed action.
Living Faith is marked by a changed heart that leads to a change in action
21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Remember, James is writing to an audience of Christians who grew up Jewish. They knew the Old Testament, so he points them back to Abraham. He quotes Genesis 15.
This is a huge moment in Abraham’s life. He just rescued Lot and defeated four kings in battle, but he was struggling because God had not yet given him a son—the promised son fro Genesis 12.
He does what a lot of us do when we don’t understand what God is doing. He complains.
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
God answers Abraham’s complaint with a promise, and Abraham believes. Abraham responds with living faith. We know it’s not dead faith because of verse 6. In fact, that verse is vital if we’re going to understand the relationship between faith and works.
This is salvation through faith alone taught in the Old Testament. Abraham was saved by grace through faith, just like you if you’re here and you belong to Jesus.
Paul writes in Ephesians 2: For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.
A lot of folks think Paul and James disagree. They don’t. They’re not going head to head against each other, they’re fighting back-to-back to defend the truth. Works don’t save. Faith saves. But faith that saves is always accompanied by works. And Paul uses the same text to prove his point as James does. Look at Romans 4. Paul takes the outward sign of faith—circumcision in the Old Testament—and shows us that it’s not the outward thing that saves. It’s faith that drives the outward thing. Think baptism today. Baptism happens as an outward sign of your faith. Baptism doesn’t save, baptism follows saving faith just like every other good work we do. Listen to Paul:
9 Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. 10 In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also.
Paul is saying that Abraham was saved by faith long before he ever received the outward sign of faith—circumcision.
He goes on to say: 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do.
Abraham’s faith was confirmed through his actions. That happened most vividly in Genesis 22 when Abraham heard God’s command to sacrifice Isaac, the very son God promised in Genesis 12.
Living faith is marked by a changed heart that leads to a change in action. Listen to how living faith worked itself out in Abraham. God told him to sacrifice his son and here’s what he did:
4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
Abraham was so confident in God’s goodness even in the face of this bizarre command the the writer of Hebrews will later tell us Abraham considered God to be able even to raise (his son) from the dead. (Heb. 11:9)
Genesis 22 shows us Abraham’s deeds, but it was Genesis 15 that told us his faith was real. Genesis 15 was the change in heart that resulted in righteousness. Genesis 22 shows us the change in action that flows from living faith.
We are made right in God’s sight by faith alone. Nothing that we do saves us. But saving faith is never alone. It always results in a change in attitude and a change in action.
We see it illustrated in Abraham. And maybe you think Abraham is aiming too high. He’s the father of Israel. James, of course Abraham got it right. I’m no Abraham.
James gives us yet another example. It’s just one verse, but it makes a great point. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. She never had God appear to her or speak to her, yet we saw her faith in Him put into action. You can read her story in Joshua 2. She didn’t see the miracles God performed for Israel, but she heard about them and believed and her belief changed her attitude and her actions.
James closes chapter 2 with this: For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
If our faith is in word or in idea only, it is simply not saving faith. Saving faith will produce changed works. Paul said in Ephesians 2 that good works are what God created us in Christ Jesus to do.
Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. That should resonate with us good Missourians, right? Willard Duncan Vandiver, a Congressman from Missouri gave this state its motto back in 1899. During a speech he said, “I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.”
Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works, James said. If faith doesn’t produce changed attitudes and changed actions, it’s a dead faith. It has no power to save and your soul is in danger.
So, how do we walk away from this text? What’s the application? First, examine your own heart. I have no desire to make anyone doubt their salvation. This text should do the opposite for those of us who belong to Christ. Don’t hear this sermon and think that if you ever sin you must not be a Christian. That’s not the point. The point is progress, not perfection.
Does the general trajectory of your life bear evidence of good works that result from living, active faith? Do you see the fruit of the Holy Spirit growing in your life? Are you marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Then, friend, hear this Word and be thankful that God’s salvation depends not on your goodness but on His and be thankful for God’s gift of faith.
Examine your heart. If you don’t see the fruit of living faith then you need to genuinely question whether your faith is alive. Have you repented of your sins and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
Romans 10:9 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. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
Do that today if that’s you.
Finally, let James 2 be a guide for you as you have a conversation with lost friends and co-workers. So many of those 222 million people are those we rub shoulders with everyday. They say they’re Christians. They say they believe in Jesus. But for many of them their faith sided. Pray for them. Have real conversations with them. Care enough about their souls to make it lovingly awkward and you’ll see the Holy Spirit work. Let’s pray.
Questions for Further Discussion and Reflection
How does the prevalence of self-identified Christians with varying beliefs, as mentioned in the sermon, relate to James's concerns about fake faith?
Do you agree with the statement, "Salvation is by faith alone, but saving faith is never alone"? Why or why not?
Salvation is often emphasized as being solely by God's grace through faith. How does James' emphasis on works in these verses align with or differ from this?
What are some biblical passages, other than James, that support the idea that genuine faith is accompanied by changed works?
How do you interpret the passage from 1 John 1:6, which discusses the relationship between fellowship with God and walking in darkness?
What is the significance of the statement, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven," in Matthew 7:21?
How does the sermon illustrate the relationship between faith and works through the example of Abraham?
Do you agree with the assertion that Paul and James do not actually disagree on the relationship between faith and works? Why or why not?
What does it mean to have faith that produces "changed attitudes and changed actions"?
How can we apply the message of this sermon to our own lives, especially in terms of examining our own faith and the faith of those around us?
How do you balance the emphasis on faith with the importance of good works in your life?