JAMES: What is Real Faith?
JAMES
What is Real Faith?
August 14, 2022
Matthew 7:16-19 – “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
James 2:14 - What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Galatians 2:15-16 – “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”
KEY VERSE: James 2:17 - In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
I. Who is right James or Paul?
Paul (Galatians 2:16) & James (James 2:24)
Problem: “Legalism” “Works” / “Laxity” Jewish laws Christian lifestyle
Focus: “Root of salvation” (internal/unseen) / “Fruit of salvation” (external/seen)
Purpose: How to know I’m a Christian / How to show I’m a Christian
Ephesians 2:8, 10 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
II. What is real faith?
A. Real faith is not just empty
James 2:14 - What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
B. Real faith is not just false
James 2:15-16 - Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
1 John 3:17 - If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
C. Real faith is not just something you
James 2:18, 20 - But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do…20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
Useless: denoting idle, barren, yielding no return, because of inactivity
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
D. Real faith is not just something you
James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.
Deuteronomy 6:4 - Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Believe: to trust in, to cling to, to rely on, to commit yourself completely.
E. Real faith is something you
Two illustrations of living faith:
1. Abraham:
James 2:20-24 - You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
2. Rahab:
James 2:25 - In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
2 Corinthians 13:5 - Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test?