We teach that faith in Jesus Christ puts you in a place of complete forgiveness, complete acceptance, complete security as sons and daughters of God. As a child of God, the grace of God has been lavished upon you. You are greatly beloved, NOT based on your performance, but in Christ. God loves you immensely, right now, not just some future version of you, when you are finally a better person, but God loves you, and likes you, and sings over you, and enjoys you, right now, this morning. The salvation and love and grace that comes to you through faith alone is amazing and astounding.

But James says that there is a kind of faith that does NOT save, that does not place us on this ground of security and intimacy and grace and love. He will tell us that faith that has no works with it is no real faith. He will tell us there is dead faith and living faith.

I'm not sure where I heard it but there is a story about a group of demons having a discussion about how to keep people from having a genuine relationship with God. One demon suggested they tell people Jesus Christ never existed. Another said tell people that there is no heaven or hell. Finally a very clever demon said, “No, Tell everyone there is a God, and that Jesus saves, and you must pray to receive him. But tell them all you have to do is say the words, then you can go back to living for yourself, just like you always have.”

It is this kind of deception that James addresses in these verses. James asks, “If someone SAYS he has faith, but he has no works, Can that faith save him?” The answer is “It will not”. WE ARE SAVED BY FAITH, yet there is a kind of faith that will not save you from spiritual death and darkness. You cannot come to Christ by faith and remain the same person you were! If there is no outward change of life and actions, then that is a kind of faith that James says will not save.

The works that James is talking about here could be summed up as loving God and loving others. He is not talking about perfection but progress. Living faith connects you with the living Christ and will result in substantial movement in your life in this direction. Just like coming in contact with an electric wire has an effect on you, coming to Jesus through faith changes everything! If that is not there, then there is no assurance of all the blessings of grace.

I don't wish to cause any true child of God to question their salvation, but the Bible is clear that many fool themselves into thinking that they are saved when they are not. I do not think it is a widespread problem at RLC but in the church today it is a huge problem.

Many of our cultural idols, movie stars, famous singers, athletes, will state somewhere that they are a Christian, (or have had some kind of spiritual experience), yet they live in sexual immorality, continual abuse of drugs and alcohol, dress grossly immodestly, and indulge in worldly living. And many Christians will talk about how wonderful it is that this star actress or singer is a Christian. James would not see it that way! He would say, “Singing one gospel song does not mean a person has a living faith!”. He would say “Can that faith save you?”.

This kind of faith that does not cause you to change your lifestyle is very popular today. People want the comfort of having faith in God, but they do not want a God who transforms them into new people. At the annual White House Easter Prayer Breakfast, the role of scripture reading was given to Reverend Jasmine Beach Ferrara who is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender activist. Something in her wants the comfort of religion but she does not want a God who makes any moral demands on her.

Paul said in Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. John said, “If we say that we have fellowship with God and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth”.

Jesus said, “At the day of judgment, many will say Lord, Lord...” IE they say Lord, I know you, I know your name, I know who you are, I've said your name, I've talked to you”. Jesus said, “Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; Depart from me you who practice lawlessness”. You may have called me Lord but you habitually lived in unrestrained sin. Your life was no different from the unbeliever. And the most shocking part of this story is that Jesus said, “MANY” will say this.

Many have been brought up in the church, done the Sunday School thing, said the prayer, made a profession of faith at baptism, but they have never had a faith that saves. They know the language, the answers to the questions, how to sound like a Christian but it may not go deeper than that. Genuine salvation changes our heart and changes the way we live. If that has never happened to you, come to Jesus Christ today, right during this message and trust him to save you, call upon him to save you.

I do not believe this passage of scripture is to primarily lead to an academic discussion of Paul vs James. To make that our focus would cause us to miss what the Holy Spirit has to say to us through James. But I will say this, James and Paul are not in conflict. Paul was battling one enemy of the gospel; James is battling another. Paul was fighting the error of trusting in something in addition to Jesus Christ alone for salvation. James is fighting the error of a lifeless faith, a counterfeit faith, a faith that does not make one whit of difference in our lives.

All through Church history we see cycles of great revival where great numbers of people turn to Christ and are taught the great truths of the Bible. Then that generation has children, and they have children and they still know the correct doctrines but there is NO SPIRITUAL LIFE. It is mere words to them.

We know we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for our sins. Romans 3:28 says, “We maintain that a man is JUSTIFIED BY FAITH...apart from the works of the law”. There is no question about that at all! We are saved by faith, not works; but that faith must be a faith that works. So James is very interested in this question: Is your faith alive or dead?

What are the characteristics of a dead faith?

One: Dead faith has no good works or godly living with it. It doesn't change anything about a person; It doesn't change how they talk, how they live, how they treat people, how they deal with people in business, how they respond to people in need.

Vs 15,16 “If a brother or sister is without clothes and in need of daily food. And 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? IN THE SAME WAY faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” (Or NASV “faith if it has no works, is dead, being by itself)

In the face of real hunger and nakedness, to just say be blessed and be filled means nothing. It is useless. Can you have real love without acts of love in the face of need? Of course not! The point is: Just as WORDS of love and compassion are worthless without ACTS of love and compassion, so faith without ACTS OF FAITH is worthless. A mere profession of faith is like mere profession of love – absolutely useless. Real faith cannot be separated from doing good and godly things.

In Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan has a character, “Mr. Talkative”. “He talks of prayer, of repentance, of the new birth, and of faith; but he knows only talk of them. I have been in his family and his house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg yolk is of flavor”. Christian says, “He is best away from home, near home he is ugly enough. The common people that know him, say, “A saint abroad, and a devil at home”. His poor family finds it so.”

Revelation 12: 11 says, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” Notice the combination of faith and deed! By their words they make a confession of faith but ALSO they do not flinch when faced with death for their faith. It is that combination of the word of your testimony and the willingness to lay down your life, that is true Christian faith. There is consistency, connection between talk and action.

Second Characteristic of dead faith: A compartmentalized life. I grew up in a church that had several men who owned businesses. When I graduated from college the first job I took was at a business owned by one of these men. I knew him, I had seen him sing in the choir, he was a long time member of the church. The first time I interviewed for a job with him, he said, “I just want you to know that I am not the same man at work that you knew at church. I lead kind of a Jekyl and Hyde life.” I could not really imagine what he meant by that but it did not take me very many days on the job to find out. He had a violent temper and a mouth that spewed cursing and foul words and was emotionally abusive to people.

Luke and his friends were out in my office playing computer games on a Saturday and he came in and got me and said come listen to this man and woman screaming at each other. A couple I was building a home for, had called me, then apparently thought they had hung up their phone but proceeded to have a vicious fight with their phone off the hook and my answering machine still running. And what was so sad, this was a couple who always talked about going to Bible studies, and their heart for missions. Yet what I heard on my answering machine was two people asking God to damn each other, calling each other vulgar names and speaking to each other in violent rage.

Many professing Christians think that living a compartmentalized life is the normal Christian life. It is not! Surely we all say and do things we would not be anxious for others to hear (we are not perfect) BUT our private lives, our business lives, our married lives all should bear the mark of genuine faith. A consistently compartmentalized life is evidence of a dead faith.

Third characteristic of a dead faith: It is not verifiable. There is nothing to verify it. Vs 18 “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”. It is impossible to show someone your faith without deeds. Faith is an invisible transaction that takes place in your heart. The new birth is invisible. The Holy Spirit's presence in you, is invisible. The only way anyone can ever know if you have these things, is by the outward changes they produce. If these inward invisible things are real, they will bring forth good works, godly living, godly speaking, loving actions.

Jesus always taught that faith was verifiable! He said by your fruits you shall know them. Your life should give verification that you are a Christian. Can others see it in the things you are interested in? Can they see it in how you love your wife or respect your husband? Can they see it in the things that excite you?...in the things you give your life to? Can they see it in the grace and compassion you show?

Fourth characteristic of a dead faith: It is merely a mental belief. Vs 19 “You believe that God is One. You do well; the demons also believe and shudder”. When we talk about putting faith in Christ, that does not just mean that you believe he existed. It is to trust him as Lord and Savior. It is to place all your hope in him to save you. Real faith involves your whole being, all of you. Dead faith only touches the mind.

I have read surveys of Americans, asking if they believe in God, in Jesus, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ or in heaven and hell.. The percentage of those who say they believe these things always surprises me. But for many, it is a belief in the existence of these. James says that is the same kind of faith as the demons.

Here is what living faith looks like: Faith that saves is like Abraham and Rahab's. They showed they had saving faith by their actions. Saving faith leads to obedience, not just once but as a pattern of living. And that's what we see in these two examples. It is not faith or works, not faith and works, but faith that works!

Vs 21,22, “Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the alter? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”

Abraham's faith was real enough that it made him willing to give up the most precious possession in the world. Abraham was justified by faith when he first believed God's promise to give him a son. Genesis 15:6 “Then he believed in the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.” But Abraham's courage and willingness to sacrifice that son, in obedience to God, many years later, confirmed or proved that faith. It showed it to be genuine, and it that sense justified Abraham.

James says in vs 22 “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” That act of faith completes your inner invisible faith.

 Vs 25, “In the same was was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way.” When the spies from Israel came to Jericho, a single sinful woman named Rahab said, “I know that the Lord your God is God in heaven above and in the earth beneath”. She was saved by her faith! But she did not just say, I believe. Her profession of faith affected her actions. She risked her own safety by hiding the Israelite spies and smuggling them out of the city. Her faith was living – not dead.

You will act on what you truly believe! All the examples of faith in Hebrews 11 are men and women who did something! By faith Noah built an ark for the salvation of his household.

Vs 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. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (or by faith that is alone) In this verse it says Abraham was justified, declared right with God – declared to be the friend of God! - simply by believing God's promise. Yet the fulfillment of that, or the completion of that came when he demonstrated that faith by offering Isaac. He was justified by a faith that works. The same is true for you and me. You are saved from the moment you believe but that initial germ of faith must prove out to be the kind of faith that changes your actions and course of life.

When James says that a man is not justified by faith alone, he means, a man is not justified by that kind of faith that is completely severed from action. Vs 26 “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” This is James conclusion of the matter. Most all of us have seen a body at a funeral service. When the breath and spirit of a person is not there, the body is dead. You cannot have a living human being without a body AND a spirit. And you can't be spiritually alive, without faith and good works.

This message from James is not only a statement that real faith will produce works. It is a powerful exhortation to us who do possess a genuine faith to put our faith to work. Let us heed this message from James: faith without works is dead! Act out your faith in your real life situations today.

If you believe that there is a reward for serving the Lord, then serve him! If you believe that God is good, then praise him and thank him. If you believe that there is a reward for those who love righteousness, then seek to live in righteousness with all your heart.

If you believe that God is pleased by doing good to others, then make it your aim in life to do good to others. Go serve and give and work, and do things for others. Let your faith show in going to meet real needs in peoples lives.

When worries and fears press in upon you show your faith by trusting God

If you believe that God is to be loved and worshiped above all else in your life, then put the Lord above every other person or activity or habit in your life. Show your faith in God by pursuing the things of God. Show it by your passion to meet with other believers to pray with others, to listen to God as he speaks by his Spirit and in his Word.

Show your faith in your attitudes! Let your attitudes show that you believe God is good and that all things are working for you good. Express your faith in your countenance. Let your faith show on your face. Express your faith in your words and even tone of voice. Show that you have faith in God by how you respond to others today.

Let us seek to remove all discrepancy between what we say we believe and how we live. Let us be eager to show that we have a living faith.

As Peter tells us:

“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

Putting your faith into action leads to assurance, certainty of your calling, encouragement at joy!