Bottom Line Up Front

James is clear, genuine faith will produce good works. 

We are not saved by works, but we are saved for works. We’re not saved because we do good, we do good because we have been saved. We are not saved because we have changed our lives, our lives are changed because we are saved. If we reverse this or if works do not follow our “faith,” we’re in for a world of hurt on judgment day. 

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

There’s a saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” Whenever someone says one thing and does another, we instinctively believe what they do. No matter how eloquently or sincerely they say the words, if their actions contradict them we believe their actions. Rightly so. It’s easy to make claims. It’s easy to say the right things. But actions reveal the truth.  

We’ve come to what is considered “the theological high point” of James’s letter. James bends over backwards to make his point clear that there is a type of faith that saves, and just as importantly, a type of faith that does not. When it comes to saving faith, actions speak louder than words. 

Let’s read this one verse, James 2:14, then I’ll pray and we’ll start dissecting it. http://vbrisket.com/groups/how-to-unlock-a-motorola-telephone-theunlockr/members/ “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 

What James emphasized in this text, and what we will see is not unique to James, is the truth that what we do reveals who we are. The genuineness of a profession faith is proven more by what we do that what we say. A person who says they are Christian but does not live a Christ-honoring life is a fraud, they are self-deceived. 

YOU DO NOT BECOME BY DOING

James is not suggesting people need to act more like Christians to become Christians. We do not become by doing. We do because we are. If we do not do, we are not. Someone who has genuine faith is going to live in line with their faith. Perhaps not perfectly, but they will experience the sanctification of the Holy Spirit who works in us and produces the fruit of the Spirit, we call that sanctification. However, those who have no evidence of sanctification, have no reason to hope in their salvation. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Or as the New American Standard Bible 1995 says, “…and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” If you are not being sanctified, made holy, by the Holy Spirit, you will not be seeing the Lord when you die.  

GOOD WORKS 

James wrote to people who claimed to have faith but did not live in line with their claims. They were hypocrites and their faith was superficial. Now concerning works, we’ll address this more in depth later, but when James speaks of works he is not suggesting that works are something you have to add to faith to be saved. No, he is saying that by the very nature of saving faith, those who possess it will produce good works. A profession of faith that produces no sanctification, no holiness, is a dead faith. Good works are to a believer what breathing is to a live human being. No breathe, no life. No works, no faith. At least no saving faith.  

This is not the most comfortable topic to preach – dead faith, unsaving faith – but it’s absolutely necessary that the church recognizes and deals with this fact: there is an unsaving kind of faith. The unsaving faith damns people to hell because it is so close in appearance to the saving faith. It’s like a clock at a train station that runs just a few minutes late. The difference is subtle, the consequences are not. The unsaving faith acknowledges truths about Jesus, but saving faith trusts in the reality of those truths and submits to their implications. 

MERE ACKNOWLDEMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS SAVING FAITH

Lots of people will acknowledge certain truths about Jesus without trusting in Him. Take for instance Nicodemus, who believed Jesus was a teacher from God and that he performed miracles by divine power. We read of him in John 3:2, “This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’” Jesus made it clear in the next verse that no matter how sincere he was, merely acknowledging these truths does not constitute spiritual rebirth. “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3) 

Mere acknowledgement, awe of His miraculous works, the desire to gain from Him, and various other superficial attraction to Jesus is nothing new. He encountered such faith early on in His ministry. Listen to how John described the crowds in John 2:23-25, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” 

Folks, this should be a wake-up call for the church. John said many believed in His name. Many believed He was sent from God. Why did He not entrust Himself to them? Because He knew they were not really followers. They had a superficial, unsaving faith. They only wanted what He would give them. 

DO PEOPLE STILL JUST WANT TO USE JESUS?

Would you agree it’s possible that some people still only come to Jesus to get what He has to offer? The promise of a better marriage, or a new purpose in life, spiritual warm-fuzzies or a sense of morality, eternity in Heaven; some people might only want what Jesus offers but have no interest in submitting themselves to Him? 

Here’s another example from John, “As he was saying these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:30-31) Notice that Jesus told those who “believed in Him” that they must remain in His Word if they were truly His disciples. But that’s not necessarily the force in John 8. That last part of verse 31, “The Truth will set you free” rubbed people the wrong way, as Jesus often did. 

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE

An argument arose about that because they were not willing to hear the hard truth that they needed to be set free. They were good Jews, offspring of Abraham. They may have believed true things about Jesus, but they were not willing to believe THE TRUTH about Jesus – that He came to set captives free, that they were held captive to sin, and they needed to be set free. By verse 40, they were so mad at what Jesus was insinuating, they were seeking to kill Him. From believing in Him in verse 30 to seeking to kill Him in verse 40, all in one conversation. Jesus knew then and He knows now – not everyone who “believes in Him” is willing to really believe the truth. 

I cannot recall how many times I have had someone begin their testimony with, “I have always had God in my life.” No you haven’t. The Bible says you were dead in your sin. Is the Bible lying? I think people who begin their testimony this way are thinking along the same lines as the Jews who relied on being Abraham’s offspring. Unfortunately, I’m not sure they respond any differently when told they may still be dead in their sin. 

James understood the culture of his church and was concerned about their eternal salvation. Thus, he presented several tests of faith so that the reader would examine their lives and really seek to confirm their salvation, or for some, to obtain it. John MacArthur says, “All of the tests are based on the foundational truth that people who make no irrevocable commitment to renounce sin and obey and serve the Lord Jesus Christ have no claim on Him and should be confronted with the reality of their lostness. How we live proves who we are – or are not – in God’s sight.” 

AND SO PROVE TO BE MY DISCIPLES

MacArthur isn’t saying anything Jesus didn’t say. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 15:7-8 where Jesus once again associates abiding in Him with proof of discipleship, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” How does Jesus say a person proves he or she is His disciple? Not by mere profession but by bearing much fruit, which glorifies God the Father and it comes by abiding in Jesus and His Word abiding in you. Anyone can “say they have faith” but only those who live by that profession have any claim to the truth. In the words of James, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22) Do not be deceived. Those who hear the Gospel, who hear of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but do not submit to Him as Lord in obedience and trust in Him as Savior in repentance are deceiving themselves no matter what they claim.   

Remember that James’ original audience were Jewish Christians who fled their homes and were exiled for their Christian faith. James recognized even some of them who had paid such a high price in the name of Jesus were not genuine believers. Paul also recognized this sad reality, which is why he exhorted the Corinthian church to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves…” (2 Corinthians 13:5) This is nothing new or unusual; it was common in the church then and it is common now.

YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM BY YOUR FRUITS

Jesus warned us about this when He said in Matthew 7:16-17, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” You can tell who has real faith and who does not. And more importantly, you can tell if you have real faith or not. If your first instinct is to begin inspecting other people’s fruit, that might be your first sign this message is for you. Examine your own life first because eternity is too long to be…wrong! 

WHAT GOOD IS IT?

James begins this provocative point with a rhetorical question. He asked, Dawei What good is it, my brothers This is an unpopular question if you really dig into it. James is implying something here. What benefit is this unsaving faith? What good does it do anyone? What’s the point of going to church and half-heartedly singing worship songs and listening to a sermon you have no intention of applying? What good does it do in this life or in the life to come to trust in sentimentalism, religious warm-fuzzies in the moment that fade away once you walk out the door? 

What good is it, my brothers if someone says he has faith James does not say, “If someone has faith…” but rather “If someone says he has faith…” Let me state the obvious, claiming to have faith is not the same as having faith. Someone making such a claim would almost certainly have affirmed the basic tenets of the faith – the virgin birth, sinless life, divinity of Jesus, His atoning death, burial, and resurrection from the dead on the third day. A person may say he has faith but what is that claim if that faith does not have works? 

WHAT ARE WORKS?

What did James mean when he said works? This is where James and Paul get pitted against one another as if there’s a contradiction between their doctrines of salvation. The reality is that Paul and James wrote to different audiences with different issues. Paul wrote about reliance upon “works of the Law” like ceremonial cleanness and circumcision and obedience as a basis for one’s justification with God. Paul confronted the notion that you can make yourself right with God by being good. James on the other hand wrote about the absence of evidence of genuine saving faith among those who claimed to be Christian but showed nothing distinctly Christian in their life. 

The truth is faith was no less important to James than it was to Paul. I appreciate Dan McCartney’s perspective when he wrote, “It is precisely because faith is so important to James that he harshly condemns a false variety of it. James, like the Old Testament prophets, condemns not faith, but a hypocritical faith that fails to produce righteous behavior.” James so cherished genuine faith that he was compelled to expose the imitation. 

In Ephesians 2:4-8 Paul it made it clear we are not saved by works. So, the question is, is James saying we are saved by works? Not at all. Remember, he is writing to people already professing the name of Christ and he’s calling out the pew sitters who think they’re saved, who think they have faith, but whose lives testify to the opposite. And he’s asking them to examine their faith to see if it’s real; if it is genuine, saving faith. 

Paul argues we are saved by grace, through faith, but people sometimes forget that in the same passage, Paul continues by saying we are saved for good works created in Christ Jesus. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) This is James’ point, too.

GENUINE FAITH WILL PRODUCE GOOD WORKS

Genuine faith will produce good works. We are not saved by works, but we are saved for works. We’re not saved because we do good, we do good because we have been saved. We are not saved because we have changed our lives, our lives are changed because we are saved. 

Works-based righteousness puts the work of man first and makes it effectual in our salvation. In other words, if I do good works, then God will accept me. If I do the work of goodness, then God will do the work of blessing and forgiveness. But the gospel tells us that God works first. It is God’s work that is effectual in our salvation. We respond to Him, not Him to us. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) 

Then, after we have been given new life in Christ, been forgiven our sins, given the righteousness that we could never earn ourselves and have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into God’s kingdom and adopted as His children, after God has done all of that sovereign work while we are still dead in sin, then and only then do we do the work of obedience and godliness as we follow Jesus. And that only by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. 

ONLY GOD SAVES US

To be perfectly clear, God is the One who saves. He saves us in terms of justification – where we are instantly made right with Him by faith in His Son Jesus. We are set free from the penalty of sin. 

God is saving us in terms of sanctification – where we are progressively made like His Son by the Holy Spirit who dwells within every born-again believer. We are set free from the power of sin. Steve Lawson says, “The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to produce the life of God in the heart of what was formerly a dead sinner.” 

Finally, God will save us in terms of glorification – where we will be with Him forever in Heaven and our faith will be made sight. We will be set free from the presence of sin.

It is God who saves us. But those whom He saves, He changes. James is really asking the question that most motivates my ministry philosophy. I am deeply concerned for the “many” who will say to Jesus “Lord, Lord” expecting to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant,” but will hear Jesus’ condemnation instead, “‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-22. Nothing could be more tragic than that moment. 

Daniel Doriani describes such a person in the modern church: “They accept the biblical diagnosis of the human condition. They understand how Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection remedy their estrangement from God. They go to church from time to time. They like to read and talk about spiritual things. They seem to live decent lives. Yet there is nothing distinctly Christian about their behavior. There is no real sacrifice, no costly obedience, no good deed that goes against the grain, nothing that challenges their well-designed life.” 

THAT KIND OF FAITH

James asks, ‘Can that kind of faith same him?’ James asked, “can that faith save him?” because he knew that there were people in the church who needed to grapple with that very real question, or they would be numbered among the “many.” If Christians who were exiled from their homes for their faith needed to take a hard look at their faith and how it affected their lives or failed to affect their lives, how much more do we? 

I know this is not comfortable. I know it’s not easy to hear this. I’ve had people tell me over the years the reason they’re leaving my church is because I keep making them question their salvation. I don’t like it when people leave and I am not trying to hurt your feelings, but this is a sacrifice I’m willing to live with if it means self-deceived lost people come to a realization that their “faith,” whatever it is, isn’t a saving faith and then they get saved. 

James asked, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” No, we all instinctively know there is a kind of faith that is dead, and dead faith is not going stand up under God’s righteous judgment. Why are we so prone to get sentimental when it comes to the most important area of our lives?  

ACTIONS, NOT TALK

Remember that James has already prepared us for this serious question in 1:25, where he describes the man whom God blesses as not a “hearer who forgets but a doer who acts.” Again, in James 1:26-27, James tells us that true religion expresses itself in action, not talk. Jesus said in John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Notice it is not those who talked a good game. It is those who have done good. What does Jesus mean, “those who have done good”? MacArthur explains this well, “Where there is true salvation, where sovereign grace reaches down to regenerate and transform a person from sinner to saint, God will create in the soul of that person new longings to forsake sin and self and gladly serve the Lord Jesus Christ and obey His divine standards of righteousness.” 

When someone is born again, they do not immediately fully understand every implication of the Gospel and everything the Lord would have them do and not do. However, there is an immediate re-orientation of the sinner’s heart. In fact, there is a new heart – from one like stone to one like flesh. When God calls a sinner into His family and into His kingdom and makes that sinner a saint and child of God, He gives that person a new nature. 

I WISH I HAD A TESTIMONY

When I was a teenager, I went to my friends’ church for youth rallies. It was a mega-church that attracted a lot of troubled teenagers. I remember standing in the middle of a room during one of those rallies and saying out loud, “I wish I had a testimony.” What I meant is I wish I could point to the Holy Spirit’s work in my life, evidencing the kind of radical life change some of these other teens had who had been turned from drug use and sex and all kinds of bad stuff. That’s what I meant. But the truth is I did not have a testimony because though I had been baptized five years earlier and prayed for forgiveness of my sin at a youth camp, I did not truly believe I was a sinner. I felt I didn’t have a testimony because in reality I did not have a new nature. I was still dead in my sin and I did not even know it. 

It was not for another 10 years that I finally came to really believe the Gospel and trust in Jesus. Then I knew I was a sinner. I wasn’t doing anything at 28 that I wasn’t doing at 18. The difference is at 28 I was born again by the Holy Spirit, and I finally came to saving faith in Jesus. I went from believing truths about Jesus to believing Jesus. From believing truths about Jesus to believing the truth of what Jesus had to say about me. I had an emotional experience when I was 13. I got the spiritual warm-fuzzies. I considered myself a Christian, but I would have gone to hell if I had died prior to February 7, 2006. I know when the Lord gave me new life. My question is, do you?   

NO TIME FOR SENTIMENTAL THEOLOGY

This is no time for sentimental theology. When you die, what is the basis of your hope? If it is not that you believe the Gospel, have been forgiven of your sin, have been given Christ’s righteousness, then you should repent and believe the gospel. And how do you know you’ve believed the Gospel? Your life is being changed and you can see the difference. You’re being made like Christ by the Holy Spirit who is working in you.  

There is no question with more gravity than this, “can your faith save you?” 

The only appropriate response to this question is a sober self-assessment of what your faith has already produced in your life. If you can say with sincerity that you see the fruit of the Spirit, the evidence of His presence: increasing self-control, mercy toward others, purity, and repentance then praise Jesus for saving a wretch like yourself; now abide in His Word and so prove to be His disciples and bring glory to our Father by your good works.  

If on the other hand, your faith has not resulted in a changed life, if you are tempted to try harder to do better and somehow prove you’re good enough, you should stop right there and repent. You should come to grips with the true weight of your depravity. Your sin, whether it is the sin of adultery, drug-use, profane living or of self-righteous goodness is heinous to God. You should acknowledge that God is holy, and His standard is perfection. You will never achieve it. Trust in Jesus as Savior and submit to Him as Lord. Abide in Him and His Word.  

TWO CANDLES

Do you see this candle here? This is nothing remarkable or unusual, is it. It’s behaving exactly as we expect it to. What we’ve witnessed is a brand-new candle bear the effects of the heat of the flame. The heat of the flame melts the wax. This is nothing remarkable or unusual. Neither is the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a born-again child of God. Like heat to a flame, so is a changed life to a genuine believer. 

What would be remarkable or unusual is if this flame did not burn the candle. See how I have this other candle? It didn’t melt. In fact, this “flame” has had absolutely no effect on this candle. Why? Because it’s fake. It’s childish…which is why we give these fake candles with battery operated ‘flames’ to little kids, they’re safe and cute. But it doesn’t do anything. It may have a cute little light, but it produces no heat. It has the appearance of a flame from a distance, but the truth becomes clear when over time it has no effect on the candle. 

Every real flame produces real heat by nature of what it is. In the same way, everyone with real faith will see real change by nature of who they are. That is not exceptional or remarkable. What is remarkable is a person who claims to have faith but has no works. Can that faith save him? 

Can your faith save you?‬‬‬

James Bibliography

Calvin, Jean. (1995). Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: A Harmony of The Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke: And the Epistles of James and Jude. William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.

Doriani, Daniel M. (2007). Reformed Expository Commentary: James. P&R Publishing. 

Hughes, R. K. (1991). James: Faith that works. Crossway Books. 

MacArthur, John. (1998). The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series: James. Moody Publishers. 

McCartney, Dan G. (2009). Baker Exegetical Commentary: James. Baker Academic. 

Moo, Douglas J. (2015). Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: James. IVP Academic. 

Richardson, Kurt A. (1997). New American Commentary: James. B&H Publishing.