Show Me Your Faith - James 2:14-26

At eighty-five and still teaching a group of men with great faith, I feel so fortunate. There are no proclaimed teachers in the Faith Builders Class. They don’t preach from a pulpit. Only a few down through the years have served as a deacon, and none write professionally about their faith. But no week goes by that some are not out there showing others their faith. They build churches or repair old ones. They bend nails for Christ. One of our members has no feet. He lives next door to me and seldom has a day gone by that one of our faithful members is not at his door to cheer him on through his many troubles and trials.

Not one of these men has ever bragged about their faith; and if we had to listen to hear them tell of their faith we would never know. Our community only has to watch what is happening to see their faith at work. We simply have to watch for visitors delivering the fruit or vegetables that are in season to someone in need. We see new wheel chair ramps that show up at houses where there is a need for one; and all kinds of repairs being made in the homes of many widows who are members of our church, and there are countless repairs made at our church [some major] and there are no charges ever made for their labors of love.

SHOW ME YOUR FAITH, the title of our lesson today is based on the last twelve verses of chapter two. It is short and easy to read, and this is a good place for you to stop and read it slowly. James starts this lesson with a relevant question to all Christians. “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”

I may be in error, but I think not when I tell you that I believe Paul had his mind on a contrast between faith and works of the Jewish Law. The Law required circumcision and Paul taught that circumcision would not save; and therefore should not be required of anyone in order to be saved. The law taught that we should not commit adultery but Paul taught that living a morally clean life would not save you. The law says that we must have no other god except Jehovah God. However, Paul would say that having no other god will not save you. Paul would continue and say that living a morally clean life or having only one God are both necessary to prove to others that you are saved. They would be necessary to obey God. You can read the scripture in Romans 3: 28 that I have based my opinion upon. “A man is not justified by works of the law” but through faith in Jesus Christ.

The most of us in our class do not feel that Paul and James have a difference of opinion. Many of those who are looking for an argument think they have one here. Let me first remind you that this argument is not just between Paul and James…but the difference is found throughout the New Testament. John the Baptist taught that men should prove the reality of their repentance by the excellence of their deeds [Mat. 3:8, and Luke 3; 8.]. It is odd and interesting for me to find these two verses are word for word the same. Jesus taught that men should so live in this world so men can see their good works and God be glorified.

I do not believe that Paul ever intended to say that faith was all important and that works are any less important. He did feel that each came to a man for a different reason. The first and most important expression of man’s faith is the act of fully accepting God’s grace and being saved by so doing. He did not deny that works would come next because one has faith and is willing to prove it by his good works. Jesus insisted that it is by man’s fruits that we know him. When you gather a peach from a tree, you know the name of the tree. The thorn tree will never produce a peach. One writer asked the question. “Would a good father give his son a snake?’

Paul did not remove his emphasis on the importance of good works. However doctrinal and theological his letters may be, they never fail to end with a section in which the expression of Christianity in deeds is insisted upon. Paul repeatedly makes it clear the importance he attaches to deeds as part of the Christian life. In Romans 2: 6 he tells us that God will render to every man according to his works. In Romans 14: 12, he insists that every one of us shall give an account of ourselves to God. I first Corinthians he says that we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that every one may receive good or evil, according to what we have done in the body. Paul teaches that the judgment of the lost man will be to determine what he has done WITH CHRIST, and that the judgment of the saved man will be to determine what he has DONE FOR CHRIST.

The narrow minded may hold that James was at variance with Paul; for in spite of all we have said, Paul’s main emphasis is upon grace and faith as the only way to salvation—and James’ main emphasis is upon action and works. Neither is wrong. Neither denies the other. In fact, in more than one place in the Bible both agree that both are right. James is simply confirming that we can not accept salvation without allowing it to have any influence upon our lives. The Devil believes [he is intellectually convinced that God exists] and he even trembles because of his knowledge; but his belief has never altered his wicked ways.

There is no contradiction here but there is still a difference between James and Paul. The difference is that they start their proclamations at two different times. Paul bases his writing upon the beginning of salvation. He insists, and is right to do so, that no man can earn the free grace of God: a man can only accept the forgiveness that God offers through Christ. He can only be saved by believing.

James starts later when the professing Christian claims that he already been forgiven and is now in a new relationship with Christ. James says that this man must live a new life because he is now a new creature. He has already been justified by grace through his faith in Christ—in order to prove this to God, himself and others, he must show by his actions that he is being sanctified daily by his good works, that is—by keeping God’s commandments…and Paul fully agrees with this. We are not saved by our deeds; but we are saved for our deeds.

This thesis continues with a strong and emphatic question that each of us must answer. Were we saved as we thought, guessed or proclaimed if we have no good works to prove that we are saved? It is obvious that James can not accept a claimed profession in Christ without practice of words and deeds that prove it. We must remember that both of these men are writing during the time when to a Jew almsgiving was of paramount importance. In fact the giving of alms was considered as a man’s only defense when he was being judged by God.

I will see you here again next week. Am already wondering why I became a teacher. If you teach or have taught, you may find the lesson to be interesting. As a member only, you are not without responsibility.