I would hope that every member of The Branches church KNOWS that God gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior and puts their trust in Him to be their Savior…that’s salvation 101.
This is our 11th week in the book of James and so far it may seem like all it has been is a set of standards that I should be living up to…let me add another one.
14 What use is it, my brothers 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 if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Notice James uses almost the same scenario here as he did when talking about partiality…making reference to a 2 man com(ing) into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothing and also comes in a man in dirty clothes 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say…you…(have)…become judges with evil thoughts?
In both those instances the issue is someone coming into Church and being treated in a manner that is not Christ like…BUT…how it is often perceived is I’m being told how to act…that seems to be the problem with religion today…it’s too authoritative.
Having lived through the 60’s…a time when a full-fledged cultural rebellion was underway…probably one of the most divisive decades in U.S. history…an era marked by the civil rights movement…the Vietnam War…political assassinations protests…the emerging ‘generation gap.’ …when all forms of authority were being questioned…and it’s still prevalent today.
As Christians we live in a world that is increasingly shaped by anti-authority sentiments…the problem with authority is we don’t trust it and we don’t like it.
Heard a statement defining the political landscape in this country…The Republicans lie…and the Democrats leave out the parts that are true.
In James there are two authoritative issues…one is the idea that someone should do this or that simply ‘because the Bible says so’ …we’ve probably all heard it… ‘The Bible says it…I believe it…that settles it’…and number two…because ‘Jesus says so.’
With respect to the Bible…how can an ancient document have the right to command me to any belief…action…or practice….really…why should any book bind me to matters of faith…and life?
Within the church the question is what do we mean by authority…how can there be such a thing as an authoritative book? …what sort of claim are we making about a book when we say that it’s authoritative?
A phrase often used in religious circles is…‘authority of Scripture’ …a term used by evangelicals…pastors…and theologians to mean… ‘trust us…we are the ones who know what the Bible says.’
Unfortunately…when some in the church talk about authority they are often talking about controlling people or situations…that everything is regulated or controlled properly according to their desires.
Is that really what the Bible is for…to control the church?…when I say church I mean you as members.
If you spend much time in the Bible then you know that most of the Bible does not consist of rules…regulations…creeds…or a list of commands that are to be obeyed or believed.
When the Bible is treated in that fashion all you’re doing is taking your place alongside a long list of Christians who have traditionally tried to make the Bible a set of abstract truths…rules…and regulations…that’s not what the Bible is.
If you look in Scripture to find where the authority is held…the answer is on page after page…all authority in the Bible lies with God Himself.
The writers of the New Testament were giving the foundational document to the Church bearing God’s authority.
And what does Jesus say about Himself…‘all authority is given to me’… that is exactly the conclusion of those who heard the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew records the crowds were so amazed at His teaching because (Matt. 7:29):
“He taught as one having authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
BUT…here’s where the issue with Jesus as a teacher comes in…here’s how the secular world sees Jesus as a teacher…go online and look at who are identified as teachers:
–5 famous teachers in history who made a difference…Jesus isn’t one of them.
–17 teachers who changed the world for the better…Jesus isn’t one of them.
–20 famous teachers everyone should know…again…Jesus isn’t one of them.
Yet the writers of the four Gospels make it clear that Jesus was a teacher… history has shown the contributions Jesus has made in the area of art… literature…medicine…politics…economics…religion…science…education…human rights and the improvements of mankind in general.
No leader ever born has inspired mankind to a greater extent than Jesus…yet He is not even recognized as one of the 20 famous teachers of all time.
BUT…here we see the most significant impact of Jesus’s teaching and what sets Him apart as only a teacher…if Jesus is only a teacher…then all He can do is frustrate me by calling me to a set of standards I cannot attain.
What is the point of presenting me with standards that I cannot possibly come close to reaching? …why frustrate me with that…here’s the Ten Commandments, live by them…I can’t…what good is there in telling me to be what I can never be?
I would be happier if I never knew it.
Here’s where Jesus’s authority comes in…not only did He come to give me godly standards to live by…but He came to live by them…giving me the example and also the ability to live a life He both taught and lived Himself.
As a true follower of Jesus…as a believer…when I am born again thru salvation — thru the Spirit of God — then I realize that Jesus did not come only to teach me BUT…He came to make me what He teaches that I should be.
This is what James is doing in his book…he is writing about the practical aspects of the Christian life…already covered a number of them…his book is like a series of brief sayings arranged in the form of a letter under the authority of God.
What occurs in a person’s life is the result of being a Christian…not the reason I’m a Christian…so we may have a better understanding of how God works in the life of a Christian.
James continues in his description of the Christian life…a passage of Scripture that has caused so much confusion and controversy over the years that some have even tried to remove it from the Bible.
In verses 14 thru 20 James seems to be countering another Biblical doctrine by emphasizing that a profession in Jesus as Lord and Savior is evidenced more by what a person does than by what he claims.
14 if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
This is the second time that James has concluded that if we’re not living a certain way…it brings into question our salvation.
Earlier he stated that
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue…this person’s religion is worthless.
Now he’s suggesting that if you’re not doing something your faith is dead.
faith if it has no works, is dead.
James seems to be hammering us pretty hard on the importance of how to live a Christian life…all the while…implying exactly the opposite of what we have all been taught since Sunday School…it is faith that gives us eternal life…but …James is declaring the importance of doing something in addition to believing….that faith without works is dead.
This is one of the concepts Martin Luther battled the Catholic church over…he stated salvation is by faith…outside of anything we can do… that is how to receive eternal life.
He was so insistent on justification by grace through faith alone in Jesus—that this single statement along with 94 other reasons is why we’re not part of the Catholic church.
That started what is known as the Protestant Reformation that resulted in an estimated 8 million Christians being killed by Christians…and the eventual excommunication of Luther from the church by the pope and being condemned as an outlaw.
So here we have a similar issue…if you’re familiar with Paul’s writing then you know there is an apparent contradiction between Paul’s writing about salvation by faith and James’ position on the issue of salvation being by works.
Let me just say something about that right up front…there is no contradiction in the Bible…well hold it…you just mentioned one…Paul wrote…(Romans 3:28).
For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works.
Which seems to be in direct opposition to James’ statement of faith if it has no works, is dead…so there is a contradiction.
That’s just one example people use of why they don’t read the Bible… ‘there’s just too many contradictions in it’…most people can’t even tell you what those contradictions are…they just use that as an excuse not to read the Bible.
SO…is there a contradiction between what Paul wrote…Jesus taught…and what James is implying that as Christians [1:22]?
22 prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.
That statement along with [2:17] …faith if it has no works is dead being by itself…seems to suggest a contradiction and the necessity of doing things.
A careful contextual study of this passage reveals there’s not a contradiction… context is the KEY.
James begins by asking three rhetorical questions that are examples of worthless faith.
FIRST question…14 What use is it…if someone says he has faith, but he has no works?
Notice James is saying ‘IF— someone says he has faith’ …
Faith alone is enough to be made right with God…for by grace you are saved through faith [Eph. 2:8] that’s one side of the coin…the other side is…works.
The two go hand in hand…you cannot separate the two…it appears that the two can be distinguished from one another…faith and works…but genuine faith is only known by its deeds.
What is genuine faith?…faith that is demonstrated by good works.
Doing things is not salvation …it’s the result of salvation.
SECOND question…Can that faith save him? …James seems to be making a clear distinction between claiming to have faith…and having faith…can just claiming to have faith be enough to get you into Heaven?
Goes back to what I just said…what is genuine faith?…faith that is demonstrated by good works.
Faith without works is dead because it comes from a heart that has not been regenerated by God…it’s just an empty profession of faith that is worthless.
SO…what is the answer to the question…Can that faith save him? …the answer to that question is in the question itself…don’t see this in any English translation because they all just simply ask the question…Can that faith save him? …and that is the correct translation…BUT…in the Greek it gives you both the question and the answer.
On the surface it seems as though James is asking a question without giving you the answer…but the answer is in the question.
Too often the English doesn’t bring out clearly what is written in the Greek… we lose something in the translation…that’s with any language.
In the Greek this is a negative rhetorical question…in the English it seems to be an open-ended question…can that faith save him? …so what’s the answer? …James gives you the answer in the question…there’s a little two letter participle (μή) in that question that is the KEY.
When a question begins with that word…a negative answer is expected…so the best translation could actually be…Can that faith save him? …No, of course not.
A mere claim of faith is not sufficient…genuine faith produces good works.
THIRD question…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?
A living faith in Christ will always respond to the needs of others with action… not mere lip service…the ol…‘I’m praying for you brother’ doesn’t gain much traction when someone is in need of help…saving faith manifests itself in good works.