James 2:14-26 (Fool’s God, part 3)

These are my notes from a sermon series. It has not been proofed for spelling or grammatical errors. I present it to you as-is.

We are in a series of lessons looking at the difference between real faith and imitation faith. I have approached this like a surgeon doing surgery. I have been meticulous and detailed in dissecting this section of God’s Word. Because if you misunderstand what James is saying then you will be bound up by legalism and thinking that you have to measure up and perform good enough to be saved. You begin to think your salvation is based on good works. “If I believe in Jesus and am good enough then I have a chance to be saved,” that’s what you will start thinking. But James wants you to understand that your salvation is by faith alone, but you prove your salvation by good works that are generated from your faith.

Let’s take a look at James 2.

James 2:14 says, What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. ¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” ¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? ²¹ Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. ²³ And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. ²⁴ So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. ²⁵ Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. ²⁶ Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. (NLT)

In this series we have taken a hard look at two imitations of faith from James. I called them intellectual faith and emotional faith.

• Intellectual faith says they have faith and gives the right answers but there is no evidence that their faith has changed them or produced any good works.
• Emotional faith says the right things about God and has an emotional reaction to it, but brings no transformation. We looked at both of them in detail in the first two sessions of this series.

Today we are going to look at what James calls complete faith or whole faith. It involves the mind, the will, and the emotions. Whole faith is real faith. This is the faith that knows the truth, feels the truth, and behaves and makes decision based on God’s truth. This faith produces good works. This faith responds in obedience to God. This is what we are looking at today.

Originally this series had three parts. Two sessions on the imitations of faith and one session on real faith. I’ve decided to extend this series and you will see why as we go along.

If you casually read this you will think that it takes faith and good works to get to heaven, but with a closer examination you will discover that’s not what this is saying. What this is saying is that when a person places their faith in Christ they will show it by various good deeds. Their faith brings about a change in how they see and treat people.

To help us understand real faith, the kind of faith that saves and transforms we are given three illustrations: Abraham, Rahab, and a dead body.

Let me be real clear here. Abraham, Rahab and the dead body are not examples of how to get saved, but are illustrations of how real faith is revealed through our actions. All three are examples of the main point.

Real faith produces actions of faith

Here is the main point: real faith produces actions of faith. James gives us three illustrations of what real faith looks like to help us understand what real faith is. Let me repeat myself, James is not trying to teach us what salvation looks like, but what faith looks like. Even though it takes faith to be saved, these examples are about real faith producing actions of faith.  We only have time to look at Abraham this week, we will look at Rahab next week.

James says in verse 21, Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. ²³ And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. ²⁴ So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. Some of you “remember” the story of Abraham and Isaac real well, but some of you may not know what this is talking about at all. That’s okay I’m going to tell you the story. You can read Abraham’s story in Genesis 12-22.

Here is what James is referring to.

• God promises Abraham a child: God tells Abraham that he and his wife, Sarah, are going to have a child. That child, who will be named Isaac, will be the person that Abraham’s descendant will be turned into a mighty nation and all nations will be blessed through him. With Isaac, Abraham’s descendants will experience God’s blessings and without Isaac there will be no descendants and no blessings. So this promise of a child is very significant to Abraham.
• But there is a problem. The Bible says that both Abraham and Sarah were already very old. They could not have children. The Bible says Sarah was barren. The Bible says Abraham’s body was as good as dead when it came to making children. For them to have a child at their age would be a miracle, because those days were over. After God told Abraham this we are told in Genesis 15:6 that “[Abraham] believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (NLT). Abraham just went to another level of faith.
• Isaac, son of promise. Sometime later they have a baby and they call him Isaac. This is the child that God said that He would work through in order to bless and multiply Abraham’s descendants and all the nations would be blessed through Isaac. Isaac is a big deal to Abraham and the whole world. And it didn’t matter how many children Abraham had, because God had promised to do this through Isaac only.
• Back and forth faith. Some years pass and Isaac is a young teenager or an older boy. Not sure of his age, but he is still young. Through the years Abraham obeys God and doesn’t obey God. He is back and forth. He trust God and then he doesn’t trust God. But he is growing.
• Test begins. Then we come to Genesis 22:1 which says, “Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith” (NLT). Abraham’s faith had grown, but it needed to grow some more. So God comes to Abraham and tells him to take Isaac up to the mountain to the place of worship and sacrifice young Isaac on the altar.
• We are told that Abraham loved his son very much (v.2). We are not told what Abraham thought about this or how he felt, but as a father I can only imagine what was going through his mind. “How could a loving God ask me to do something like this? Did I really hear from God on this? Why would God want me to do such a horrible thing and put me through such pain, confusion, and grief? I don’t understand this.” Whatever he was thinking and feeling, we are told that he got up the next morning saddled his donkey, took two servants with him, and took his son, Isaac. Before they left they chopped some fire wood for the offering. They traveled for three days before they came to the place of worship. I’m sure Abraham had prayed and thought about this all along the way. Maybe he thought about turning around and going back.
• Foot of the mountain. They come to the foot of the mountain and in verse 5 Abraham turns to the servants and says, “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” Now Abraham is either lying about what he knows is about to take place or he is speaking by faith trusting God will somehow make a way where there seems to be no way. He didn’t say “I will come back” but “we will come back.” A statement of faith even when you don’t understand it all.
• Going up the mountain: So, Abraham and Isaac start walking up the mountain and Isaac says, “Father, we have the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son” (NLT).
• When they get to the place of worship Abraham builds an altar from the wood and ties his son and lays him down on the altar. At this point, if I’m Abraham I would be saying, “OK God, the joke is over. I obeyed you when I got up. I obeyed you when I gathered my servants. I obeyed you when I loaded down the donkey. I obeyed when I gathered the fire wood and packed the knife. I obeyed you when I traveled these last three days to get here. I obeyed you when I left the servants and Isaac and I walked up the mountain to this place. I obeyed you when I tied my own son’s hands and feet together. I obeyed you when I laid him on this alter, isn’t that enough?” But God’s command was not any of that. God’s command was for Abraham to sacrifice his son on the altar.
• Listen carefully. At the beginning of this we were told in verse 1 that God was about to test Abraham’s faith. That word “test” means to prove genuine. To prove genuine to who, God already knew that His faith was the real deal. This was a test so that Abraham, Isaac, the servants and all those who would hear about this would know what real faith looks like and acts like.
• So here we go. In verse 10 we are told “Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice” (NLT). This is one continuous action. He picks up the knife and is in the act of sacrificing his son when an angel of the Lord stops him. AND at the same time Abraham looks up and there is a ram whose horns got caught in a nearby thicket. God had provided a sacrifice.
• God had that ram there all the time. That was the quietest ram in the history of Israel that didn’t budge until Abraham had obeyed all the way. Abraham did not obey 75%, 85%, 95% or 99%. He obeyed and trusted God 100% on this. His faith was seen when he got up that morning, went to get his donkey, loaded that donkey up, gather his two servants, chopped some wood for the altar, packed the sacrificial knife, and had his only son, Isaac, come with him. His faith was seen when he traveled those three days to the mountain. His faith was seen when he told the servants to stay here and he and the boy would return. His faith was seen when they walked up that mountain. His faith was seen when he built that altar. His faith was seen when he placed Isaac on the altar. His faith was seen when he picked up that knife and that’s when God intervene when Abraham’s faith went all the way to where God wanted to take him.
• Sometimes I think we don’t see God intervene, we don’t see God provide, we don’t see what God can do and we don’t experience God at deeper levels because we don’t walk by faith all the way. We stop somewhere before we get to the sacrifice. Abraham went all the way with his faith.

Now, this brings us back to James. Verse 21 says, Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.

Again the main point is real faith produces actions of faith.

There are two sides to being “right with God” in the Bible. Not one, but two. Not three, but two. There is no such thing as being “right with God” by faith AND works. That doesn’t exist. But there are two “right with God” perspectives you need to know about.

On your outline there is a chart that says “Two Sides of the Same Coin”. It’s the two perspectives of being right with God. People get this confused without knowing they have them confused, so let’s clean up the confusion. Paul and James seem to contradict each other, but they don’t because they are talking about two different things.

• When Paul is talking about getting right with God through faith alone and not by good works, he is talking about salvation… he is talking about getting saved. He is talking about going to heaven. This is where you place your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and God declares you forgiven and you are now “right with God” because of your faith in what Christ did for you. This is God’s perspective of you. You are right with Him. Faith alone, no works involved.
• When James is talking about getting right with God by what we do he is talking about sanctification… growing spiritually. When your faith produces actions of faith that take you all the way the people around you will see that faith and acknowledge you are “right with God.” This is man’s perspective of you. You are a “friend of God” like Abraham because people can see your faith and trust in Him.

This is why James says, You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. In Genesis 15, Abraham placed his faith in God and God declared him righteous in His sight, but it was not until Genesis 22 that his faith produced actions of faith that others declared him right with God and a friend of God. His faith that saved him and his faith that sanctified him came together and now his faith is “complete.” It’s mature. It’s solid.

So James ends this section on Abraham by saying, So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

• This statement begins with a phrase that most people overlook. James says, “So you see.” Most people read that little phrase simply as a transition statement like the word therefore. Therefore we are show to be right with God. That’s not how the phrase “so you see” is being used. It’s being used literally, referring to something you can see. For example, I was opening a bottle of ketchup and it splattered on my shirt and “so you see” this is why I have this ketchup stain on my shirt. James is saying that you can eventually see faith in action. When someone claims to have faith in God (salvation) they will eventually be given the opportunity to demonstrate that faith to others through their actions of faith.
• So James says, “So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.” Who are you showing this faith too? Who is it being shown too? If you have real faith, God already knows that… but the people in your life can’t see you have real faith until your real faith produces actions of faith. So you see, you are shown and proven to be right with God in the eyes of others by what you do, not simply saying you faith alone.

One of the reasons why God will test your faith is so others can see what real faith looks like.

Conclusion

Again the main point is real faith produces actions of faith.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. (NLT)

• Do I have a hunger for God’s word? (1 Peter 2:2)
• Do I apply God’s word? (1 John 2:3-6)
• Do I love other followers of Jesus? (1 John 3:14-15)
• Do I have affirmation from the Holy Spirit? (Romans 8:16)

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