One of the things we treasured and cherished week after week during the fall of 2009 was the truth that we are justified by faith alone. As we went through Galatians, we found ourselves moved to tears of joy and delighting in the reality that God demands perfect obedience that we could never meet; that he has provided his Son who live perfectly obedient, died for our sins, and was raised from the dead; and that if we place our faith in him, his perfect righteousness is credited to us. It was a freeing message to realize that we could never do enough good works to be righteous, wasn’t it? Such a realization had been the very purpose of the law, condemning us and showing our need for another to live righteously for us. So, we rejoiced in the reality that nothing we do contributes to our righteous standing before God, that Christ was all we had, and that the demand for us was simply to have faith in him.
It was such a good season in the life of the church as many of us realized how strong our tendencies were to think that we were justified before God based on our good works, or by limiting our number of bad works, or by making penance for our works so that we might be forgiven. We acknowledged together that though those feelings that we needed to work for our righteousness felt like holiness, our thinking was actually an assault on the gospel, an assault on the sufficiency of Christ’s work. When we placed before us the options of rely on the works of the law and allow Christ to be of no advantage to you or trust in Christ alone and rest no longer in your works of obedience to the law, we gladly rested in Christ alone. Our singing grew more passionate during this season as we sang songs like, “Christ Receiveth Sinful Men,” “Free from the Law, O Happy Condition,” and “All I Have Is Christ.” Some of us even said afterwards that we could afford starting right back over at the beginning of Galatians and going through it again immediately.
I thank God for the way he poured out his grace on us as we went through Galatians as a church and found ourselves richly delighting in the gospel and the truth of justification by faith alone every week.
But perhaps as you struggled to believe the good news that is the gospel and to realize and accept the freedom from condemnation that is yours through faith in Christ, you had a burning and lingering question in the back of your mind. Perhaps that question went something like this: “But what about the book of James?” or maybe, “Doesn’t James say that we’re not justified by faith alone?” or maybe, “Isn’t the only place the phrase ‘justified by faith alone’ appears in the Bible is when James says, ‘You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone’?”
So, we could respond to this apparent discrepancy in a couple of wrong ways. We could say, “Well, I’m going with Paul; forget James.” But we can’t do that because all of the Bible is God’s Word written through human authors. Therefore, both Paul and James are written as these men were inspired by the Holy Spirit and penned the very words of God. We could, then, say, “Well, we know they don’t contradict each other,” and submit ourselves to the fact that the secret things belong to God. And, that has an appearance of godliness, doesn’t it? It is good to acknowledge that God is greater than we are and that we cannot know all things exhaustively as he does. But it ignores the fact that what we’re discussing is not something secret but something God has revealed to us. Therefore, we have the responsibility to study that which God has revealed, and if we ignore or do not give ourselves to seeing what it is that James says, we are depriving ourselves of the gift that God has given us in these verses. After all, all Scripture is useful for teaching and correcting and training us in righteousness.
Therefore, this morning I want us to walk through these verses and see what it is that James is saying, and I’ll state right off the bat that James is not saying anything that contradicts the truth that we are justified by faith alone, which we saw clearly in Galatians. In fact, I think James is saying in part what the end of Galatians implies. Do you remember at the end of Galatians how Paul kept stressing that if anyone has genuine faith in Christ that the Spirit will transform their hearts in such a way that they will fulfill the command to love their neighbor as themselves? James simply says the same thing in these verses negatively. That is, if anyone does not exhibit the kind of heart that comes when one is justified by faith, then we should conclude that someone does not have genuine faith.
But instead of giving simple summary statements, let’s look at the text in greater detail. First, we have James’ thesis: Faith that does not result in works of obedience is dead and does not save.
Again, this is James’ thesis, and he repeats it throughout these verses. In verse 17, we read, “So also, faith by itself if it does not have works is dead.” Again, in verse 20, “Faith apart from works is useless.” Finally, in verses 26, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” James doesn’t leave us to wonder what his main point is, does he? Faith apart from works is dead, useless, and unable to save.
So, we know that there is a certain kind of faith, a certain category of faith that is not saving. One that is useless and dead. What kind of faith is this? James has already told us; it is one that does not bring forth works of obedience to the Lord. But, as is common with James, he illustrates it for us in verses 14-17. He writes in verse 14, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” This is a good question and applicable to life, isn’t it?
Even when I was young and not given to studying these kinds of issues, this question burdened me. I remember going down to the river front in Paducah, KY where I lived and sharing the gospel with people who were there. And I remember one time sitting down at a picnic table with a man, asking him if I could share the gospel with him, getting his permission, and then speaking to him of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and our need to respond in faith. But then something happened that I didn’t expect. He said, “Okay, I believe that.”
Now, completely expecting him to say, “Leave me alone, kid” after I finished sharing with him, I wasn’t completely sure how to respond. So, I said, “Great,” probably (wrongly) granted him instant assurance that he was saved, and then got up and went on my way (mentioning nothing to him about baptism, being in a church, etc.).
But as I walked away, I began to ask myself, “Isn’t there something more?” What if this man’s life doesn’t change at all? What if he goes on living just like he did before, does nothing to reveal a heart that loves the Lord, and never gathers with the Lord’s people?” I wanted so desperately to run back and him and say, “Maybe you didn’t get me.” But, I kept telling myself, “He said he believed; what more is there?”
I needed James at that point. He asks the question I was asking. It’s the question of verse 14, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” Can a faith that does not result in a life of works of obedience really save?
James gives an illustration to help us answer the question. He writes in verses 15-16, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” We would answer, “That is no good. You’ve given nothing but empty words.” It’s like saying to someone, “I really want to be the kind of person who helps make sure your needs are met,” then when that person says, “Great, I don’t even have food today” you answer, “Bummer. I really hope you find a way to get some.” They are empty words that mean nothing.
Therefore, James concludes that in the same way a profession to believe that does not issue forth in good works is not true faith. He writes, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (v. 17). So far, then, we see that a profession of faith is just that – a profession. However, only faith that issues forth in works of obedience to God’s commands is actually good. Otherwise, like saying, “Be warmed and filled” without giving someone things needed for warmth and food are empty words, so a claim to believe that does not issue forth in good works is an empty claim to believe that is not real and does not save.
So, we’re beginning to see that James is pointing us to things that will serve as evidence of faith. Then, in verses 18-19, James shows tells us something that we probably already have in our minds from verses 14-17. He tells us here that faith and works are always found together because works are the evidence of true faith.
In verse 18, then, James deals with an objection from someone who sees faith and works as separate spiritual gifts or virtues. That is, the objection comes in the claim that someone can have one of these and not the other. It’s like acknowledging that you have a gift of encouragement, for example, but not teaching. These are perhaps separate gifts or virtues so that one might say to another, “That person is a teacher and that person is an encourager” while acknowledging that the teacher is not necessarily given to encouragement or that the encourager is not gifted to teach.
That is the gist of the claim in verse 18 as James says, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’” So, does that work? Could you just have faith and not works? James answers, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Do you see what James is saying here? Though many want to pit James against Paul and claim that James does not understand that we are justified not on the basis of our works but through faith in Christ, James actually argues on the basis here that we are indeed right with God through faith. But, his argument is dealing with what kind of faith is real, genuine, and saving.
To the person who says, “I have faith” and yet doesn’t have works, how is that faith real. Were you and I standing on the roof of this building, and you said, “I can jump off this building, hit the ground running, and be unscathed. It would have no negative effects on my body,” I would probably say, “Do you really believe that?” That is, “Do you really have faith that what you’re claiming is true?” Then, I would say, “Do it.” And if you responded, “No way,” then I would conclude that you don’t really believe it.
On the other hand, if you said, “I can jump off this building, hit the ground running, and be unscathed. It would have no negative effects on my body,” and I said, “You don’t really believe that,” you could prove it to me by jumping off the building.
James is saying that a claim to believe something without any actions or works to follow shows that you don’t really believe, while a willingness to act on your faith shows that you really do believe. In fact, James adds, if you want a kind of faith that doesn’t show forth in works, then you’re no better off than the demons. After all, they exhibit a certain kind of belief or faith. James writes, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”
So, James is saying, a faith that does not issue forth in works is the same kind of faith demons have. It’s the kind of faith that perhaps does indeed believe certain things, but it’s not the kind of faith that is real, genuine, and saving.
Therefore, even as we said that you can’t trust in Christ and your works for your righteous standing before Christ, so James says that you can’t claim to have true saving faith unless that faith leads to good works. That is, as we have heard numerous times, “Faith alone justifies, but true justifying faith never comes alone.” Rather, justifying faith leads to a life of obedience to our Lord.
Finally, James shows us that one of the purposes of trials in our lives is to reveal the genuineness of our faith.
Now, before we get to the final two illustrations James uses to make his point in this text, I do want to argue that James is using a word here a bit differently than Paul does. James writes in verse 24, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” This does seem, at first glance, to be out of step with Paul’s affirmation in Galatians 2:16, where he says, “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.” I don’t know of anything more Paul can say to show that we’re not justified by works or even faith and works. He says, “We’re justified by faith and not by the works of the law” again and again. Additionally, in Romans 4:1-6, he writes, “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works.”
So, in light of what Paul says in these texts (and many others like them), how can James say, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”? Well, I think the key is in understanding that James is using the word “justified” a bit differently in Paul. And we shouldn’t be surprised by this. Biblical authors often use terms a bit differently from one another. So, for example, when Paul uses the word “called,” he means someone who is saved. For Paul, there is no one who is called who isn’t saved. In fact, to be called in Paul so clearly means to be saved that Paul does not write to the Corinthians, “Consider your salvation, brothers” but “Consider your calling, brothers” (1 Cor. 1:26).
However, if we conclude that all biblical authors use the word “call” or “calling” or “called” the same way Paul does, then we would find ourselves really confused by Matthew’s declaration that “many are called but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14).
Well, in the same way, Paul uses “justified” (in most cases) to refer to God’s declaration of righteousness for us. For Paul to say that we are justified by faith means that God declares us righteous on the basis of our faith in Christ and not on the basis of our good works. James, however, seems to be using “justified” to mean something like “to vindicate in judgment.”1 By “vindicate” we mean “to prove true” or “genuine” much like jumping off the roof of this building would vindicate your claim to believe that you could do so unscathed. And, if you understand that James uses justified in this sense, then his argument makes perfect sense in these final two illustrations from Abraham and Rahab.
First, James writes, “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our faith justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the alter? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God.” (vv. 20-23).
Now what is James referring to here. Well, we remember when God made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a multitude of descendants that Abraham went out looked up at the stars that God said were equal to the number of his offspring, and the text says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Well, what happened in Genesis 22? We know the story. God told Abraham to go and kill his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice.
Now, this was the only son through whom God said the promise would come. It was his beloved son born miraculously to Abraham and Sarah when they were 100 and 90 years old, respectively. So, how did Abraham respond? Did he say, “Are you crazy, God? I would never do that.” No. He took his son and made a journey to kill him and offer him as a sacrifice.
Why would he do that? It’s because he believed God just like Genesis 15:6 said. I mean, think about it. If God said you’re never going to be physically harmed a day in your life and then he told you to run your car off the grand canyon, and if you really believed God, then you would get in your car and go, wouldn’t you? I mean, if you really believed what he said to be true, you’d be thinking as you’re racing your car to the edge of the canyon, “I’m really curious how God is going to keep me from being physically harmed.”
Well, Abraham was thinking something like that when he took Isaac to kill him. We read in Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
Do you see? Abraham was thinking, “God promised to provide offspring through Isaac, and I believe his promise. So, I’m willing even to kill him if God says so because I’m so certain that God will keep his promise that he’ll raise him from the dead if he has to in order to fulfill his promise.”
Abraham’s action proved that Genesis 15:6 is not a verse that tells us that Abraham believed God’s promise sounded nice or convinced him that God was really kind. No. Abraham had true faith. He really believed God, and it was clear that he had faith when he raised the knife ready to kill his son. As James says, that kind of faith produces works and those works fulfilled his faith, completed it, were the kind of actions that come when there is genuine faith. That’s why James says in verse 25, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
Merely saying you believe doesn’t prove faith. It doesn’t vindicate you as having real faith. Works on the basis of that faith do vindicate genuine faith.
Then, James gives a final example from Rahab. He writes, “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” (v. 25).
Rahab had told the two spies in Joshua 2:9, “I know that the LORD has given you the land.” That is, she was saying, “I believe you all are going to conquer us and take this land because of your God. He will do it.” That was a claim to faith. But then when the king’s men came to the house and could have caught the spies, Rahab sent them away and sent the messengers out safely.
Consider what a bold move that was. The army of Jericho could have dealt a serious blow to the Israelites if they had killed these spies. What would happen when word got back to the Israelites that their spies had been killed? The previous generation of Israelites had already been too afraid to go into the land, fearing they would be conquered. But you know what Rahab was thinking, “I know God is going to give this land to the Israelites. It doesn’t matter if these spies or killed or anything else. I believe God is going to do this. I know God is going to do this.”
How do we know she had genuine faith, then? It was revealed when she chose to hide the spies and send them out so as not to get caught. That’s what someone does when they really believe that God is going to do what he said he’s going to do. It is faith that leads to those kinds of works that is real, genuine, saving faith. That’s why James concludes the section, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (v. 26).
So, if we go back to the beginning of James’ letter and remember that he has been talking about the trials and tests that come throughout our lives as God’s work in us to refine our faith, I think we can conclude that God will allow us numerous opportunities in this life to demonstrate the genuineness of our faith the same way he did with Abraham and Rahab. He will call us to tasks again and again that will either reveal that we have genuine faith or that our claim to faith is merely empty words. And as we walk through this life, with our works vindicating our faith, these very works will be used to show that we had genuine faith.
James agrees with Paul that we are justified by faith alone. But James also wants us to see clearly that justifying faith is vindicated throughout this life only when we are willing to do those works of obedience that require faith in our crucified and risen Lord. So, perhaps as we come to the table this morning, we can ask ourselves, “Does our life reflect that we have genuine faith?” If not, let us repent, look to the crucified and risen Christ as our only hope, and then walk forth in a life of obedience and trust that is revealed in our works of obedience to the one who has justified us. Amen.