READING 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. DEAD FAITH James 2:14-26 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. There is a faith in God, Christ, Scripture and the Gospel that does not save. 17, 20, 26 à “Dead Faith” Inevitably, people with dead faith always substitute words for deeds. • They want you to believe that they are what they say. • But we must understand that we are what we do. • True faith will always be seen in works. • Dead faith will not be seen at all. What we see from this passage is that there is a faith in God and even in Christ that does not save. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) And later in the same sermon, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) • In other words, it is not the sayers, it is the doers. • Trust not in what people say, trust in what they do. In John 8 we find graphic illustration of this kind of faith. John 8:30-32 “As he was saying these things, many believed in him." 31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word—that is in obedience—you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free… from bondage to sin and death and hell and judgment...all implied.” In other words, they said they believed and Jesus said your belief is not sufficient unless it involves a new birth—a transformation—which leads to a life of obedience. Valid saving faith has always Been verified By fruit. And a false dead faith is indicated by the absence of righteous actions. There is an impression that a simple knowledge of the gospel is equal to acceptance of saving faith. …knowing the truth equals redemption. James will not permit any such deception to go unchallenged. People who believe the facts of the gospel—but don’t make conclusive commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ— must be confronted with a reality. In fact, James is a series of tests By which you can evaluate whether your faith is living dead faith. • The first test was the test of trials. Remember in chapter 1 verses 2 through 13? • The second was the test of temptation, where you place the blame in temptation was an indicator of living faith or dead faith. • The third was the response to the Word that comes at the end of chapter 1. • And then we have been looking in chapter 2 at the test of your response to the poor and the needy. Now, in the second chapter and verses 14 through 20, he brings up the test of works. By “works” James means action and behavior. Behavior which is obedient to God's Word and manifests a godly nature. How we then, proves who we are. This is the climax of James’ argument. • It pulls all the other “tests” together. • Every other test is a righteous work. I must say that heaven is a free gift. • There is no way that you could earn it. • There is no way that you could ever deserve it. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. The Bible clearly says that heaven is a free gift: Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. we receive this free gift through faith. So, there is a kind of faith that saves. • And there is another kind of faith that does not save. o James calls it “dead faith”. Now it's clear that many people possess that kind of faith. I say it’s clear—because James brings it up. Key Illustration There are things that look like faith, But only one kind of faith that can open the door to heaven. James Begins this section By descriBing what saving faith is NOT. 1. Empty Confession (14) What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If someone says he has faith...for the sake of argument, a man comes along, he makes that claim. • "I have faith, I Believe. I Believe in God. I Believe in Christ." • He confesses to believe in the death of Christ. • He may even confess to believe in the resurrection of Christ. First Question: What good is such a claim if a person doesn’t have good works? • …righteous deeds as the pattern of his life what good is such faith? • The answer is that it’s not good at all. 2nd Question: “Can that faith save him?” • The way that the question is asked in Greek here leaves only one answer: NO • That faith can’t save him can it? Dead faith SAYS, but never DOES • In John 15, Jesus said, "Take the branch that has no fruit, cut it down, tie it up and throw it in the fire." • That fruitless branch, I believe, represents a Judas disciple • —somebody who is outwardly attached but there's no life flow and therefore there's no product. If salvation is a new birth… • If salvation is a transformation… • If salvation is a total change… • then it must demonstrate itself in the behavior consistent with that new nature. If I am a new person, there will Be new factors in my conduct. Now somebody's going to say… “Well, wait a minute. Isn't James in conflict with Paul?” This is the typical argument. If we accept what James says that we have to have works, aren't we denying what Paul said when he said faith alone, faith alone, grace alone, grace alone, and if you add any works to grace, you have messed up grace? Doesn't Paul say we are saved simply and only and totally By grace? Romans 11:16 à But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. Galatians 2:16 à …yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. So Paul says not works, and James says “works.” Aren’t James and Paul in conflict here? I would say that James and Paul are not standing face to face in conflict here. Rather, they are standing back-to-back fighting two different, but common, enemies. Paul was facing the common enemy of legalism.