Faith Is Only As Good As Its Object

FAITH IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS OBJECT James 2:14-24

Introduction: 1) James is not teaching us that works can save us. He is teaching us that Biblical faith, faith that pleases God, faith that saves from sin is so powerful that it results in works. What he means by works is that faith produces obedience to God. In our text today, he uses Abraham has an example of this illustration. 2) Many people today in our modern Church culture praise faith in and of itself and the result is that they leave the impression that faith in faith is the only important thing. This is not true of course. The power of faith is totally dependent upon the object of that faith. For example: Here is a faith that saves: Galatians 2:20. There are many examples of faith that does not save, it is useless: Sacramentalism, works, baptismal regeneration, universalism (no hell), it really does matter what Church you go to, Galatians 1 3) Faith is not something that is passive. Faith is only Biblical faith when it depends upon and attaches itself to the correct object namely, God’s faithfulness and God’s promises. When this kind of faith is exercised the result is always the same, resistance to sin and obedience to God’s will. This is what we will look at this morning as James speaks to us about Abraham as the example of walking by faith as a believer.

I. Faith is Active - James 2:21,22 A. Abraham was already a believer - James 2:23 B. Abraham demonstrated his faith in his obedience to God. - James 2:21 1. How did Abraham obey God without any doubt or questioning? 2. He believed in the faithfulness of God to keep his promises to Abraham - 2 Peter 1:3,4; Genesis 12:1-4; 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:17-19 3. Abraham’s faith lead to his obedience to God because of his strong faith in the faithfulness of God to keep his promises to him (Now I know you love me)

II. Faith is only as good as its object A. Faith works through love - Galatians 5:6 1. This is referring to the object of our faith which is Christ. 2. It is more specifically referring to his love for us which creates a confidence in his faithfulness to our good (This is when Romans 8:28 becomes powerful, notice how Romans 8 ends with powerful truths about God’s love for us, this is a major role of the Spirit Romans 5:5, fruit of the Spirit is love, Ephesians 3, Galatians 2:20, the more secure we are in his love the more we love him and the result is always more obedience, If you love me keep my commandments, he it is that loves that keeps my commandments, it kills sin at its root because sin does not love us but wants to kill us and to sin we have to reject or turn away or ignore the love of Christ for us, this is how love gives faith power to work) B. Faith must have a powerful object for faith to be active 1. The promises of God (important to attach faith to specific promises of Scripture, you’ll get more prayers answered when you pray scripture, Example: Desire the Sincere milk of the Word) 2. The character of God which gives us assurance of his faithfulness and steadfast love for us (Hebrews 12:2 Paul is trying to do this with wavering struggling Christians in their faith)

Conclusion: 1) Faith is not some nilly willy thing where we trust in general but trust in nothing specifically. Faith is not faith until it latches onto something powerful like God’s faithfulness and his promises. 2) you will find your faith will not be active or moved to resist sin and obey God until your faith attaches itself to God’s faithfulness and promises. 3) Faith never does nothing, when it attaches itself to the right object, James is telling us that it always moves us to be obedient to God and that is the test of whether you have faith or not or how powerful your faith is. If you want to grow in faith, you have to think more deeply about God’s character and attach yourself to the promises of God in the Scripture.