Covenant Baptist Church
Sermon Guide for July 1, 2018
James 2:14-26 NASB1995
Vs 14-16: Verbal faith alone can deflect responsibility and does not actively participate with God in doing good in the world.
14 Dear brothers, what’s the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren’t proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone? 15 If you have a friend who is in need of food and clothing, 16 and you say to him, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty,” and then don’t give him clothes or food, what good does that do? James 2:14-16
Can you trust a faith that is unwilling to meet the physical needs of others to be the kind of faith that makes our rescue from sin possible? Is this really what faith is or is something missing?
Vs 17: Just saying we have faith isn’t really faith.
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. James 2:17
Faith that is only verbalized and never results in good works is powerless.
Vs 18: Salvation by faith alone doesn’t mean faith is only something we say:
18 But someone may well argue, “You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can’t prove whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act.” James 2:18
James predicts the argument that someone my pose. It goes like this: We are saved by faith alone! James response to the statement that we are saved by faith alone is “yes, that is true but faith that saves us is never alone”
Confidence or faith, as we are talking about it, leads to action. Works are a fundamental part of the makeup of faith.
Vs 19: Believing in the reality of God is not the same as placing faith/confidence in God.
19 Are there still some among you who hold that “only believing” is enough? Believing in one God? Well, remember that the demons believe this too—so strongly that they tremble in terror! James 2:19
Believing becomes the saving kind of faith only when there is a transfer of trust (allegiance) based on what is believed.
Real faith isn’t perfect but it is certain enough that it is willing to act on what it believes.
I do believe; help my unbelief. Mark 9:24
Jesus didn’t, nor does He now, require perfect faith; just the kind of faith that depends on Him, trusting him enough to obey Him.
Vs 20-23: The Example of Abraham
But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. James 2:20-23
Abraham actively trusted God. He did not merely believe that God was real or just believe God could do something.
Vs 24: Conclusion from Abraham’s example
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. James 2:24
Justified: Dikaioo (de-ki-ah-o) - to render as just or innocent; righteous (right) before God.