James 2:14-17: Works That Evidences Saving Faith

Let us now read James 14-26 which says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 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? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 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. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 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? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

Have you ever experienced a ‘crisis of faith’ when your heart was confronted with questions like those that James brings up in this text?

In our text, James confronts believers with the fact that no one should confidently confess that they have a true saving faith if there is not some evidence of their faith that can be seen by the works that they do.

Questions like the ones that James asks are good for all of us to be asked from time to time because it is easy for every believer to shift their faith away from Christ. This shift of faith is not good and it does not allow a believer to walk increasingly in ways that please God.

The questions that James asks are particularly good because they highlight the importance of true, sincere, sincere saving faith. Only saving faith in Jesus Christ can liberate us from sin and bring forth a new nature that can produce the type of fruitful works that please God. (Galatians 2:20)

Faith is not only important in our justification but it is also what brings sanctification. In fact, without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”

It is good to be asked questions like these because even the most mature saint in this room must walk by faith and dependence upon God to produce the sanctification and holiness that pleases God.

• Colossians 1:21-23 says, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

• Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:1, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the LORD Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”

James has already addressed the ‘sin of partiality’ that was being committed in this congregation in James 2:2-13. In this congregation the wealthy were being honored and the poor were being dishonored. (2:2-7) This is a terrible sin. Not only because it makes such distinctions but because it leads to more sinning against the poor as we see in our text today. When sin is not confessed and addressed it will always progress and eventually lead to death. (1:13-15)

In our text we see this progression taking place. James admits that the sin of partiality is just one sin that is being done against the poor. The poor are also being sinned against when they are told, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”, as they leave the church service but nothing is done to help them.

We all agree that it would be a good thing if a church got rid of the VIP section but they must also address the sin that keeps them from seeing and responding to the need of these poor saints in their congregations. Isn’t that what James confronts when he says, “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?”

Sins like this may look differently in other congregations. For example, something similar to this was also happening to the poor in the Corinthian church when they celebrated communion. Paul addressed this in 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 when he says, “But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.”

I think that James is using James 2:14-26 in two ways. First, he continues to address the sin against the poor. Secondly, he is giving instruction in this section that applies to all of life. As we consider the rest of the Letter of James we should not forget this section of scripture!

This text is meant to teach and instruct the reader as they confront any other sin in the life of an individual or a sin in the congregation. All individual sins will eventually be expressed in the life of the church if they are not addressed.

All of the sins that James addresses in this letter will ultimately come back to a person's faith in Jesus Christ and it's application of that faith in every area of life.

• A living and vibrant faith in Jesus Christ will produce fruitfulness in every area of our life.

• The fruit of a living faith will also produce fruitfulness in a congregation. (Colossians 1:3-8)

• The exhortation found in Revelation 3:1-2 should be considered by every congregation, “I know your works. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.” (Is. 1:12-17) Return to the Gospel, respond in faith, and be fruitful!

I asked you a moment ago if the questions that James asked at the beginning of our text ever made you experience a crisis of faith. The questions I am speaking of are in v. 14, “What good is it, my brother's, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”

• If your faith is in Christ and the Spirit is producing fruitfulness you won’t have a crisis when these questions are asked.

• However, if your faith has shifted from the LORD these words should make you have a crisis of faith so that you will be saved from that error. (James 5:19-20)

May I tell you about an experience that I had regarding questions like these?  When I was a senior in high school I was experiencing headaches. One day in class I began to quietly pray for myself but nothing happened.

I had been taught that if I had faith, even the faith that was as small as a mustard seed, that I should be able to move mountains. (Matthew 17:20) In the religious circles that I grew up in this meant that if someone prayed in faith that person would experience profound miracles and signs and wonders, or anything else in between.

I did not need anything really big from God because this was just a little headache. When the headache continued I began to have a crisis of faith. I sat there thinking about how I often confessed to others that I was a Christian, that I was a believer in Jesus Christ, and that I had faith for salvation and the forgiveness of my sins.

However, on this day I began to doubt that I had the faith to be saved. If I do not have the faith to heal this little headache then do I really have the faith to be saved? I remember thinking to myself, “Chris, if you do not have the faith to overcome this headache then how do you know that you have the faith to be saved and have eternal life. If your faith won’t remove a little headache then how do you know that God has removed your many sins, your countless iniquities, or your frequent transgressions?”

I was so burdened by these questions that I probably blamed the devil for them. However, these are good questions, important and necessary questions for every Christian to consider. I now believe that the LORD was confronting me with this crisis because my faith had shifted away from Christ. (2:1)

This crisis of faith would not be resolved for many more years even though I tried to comfort my conscience with many other things. During this time I did not do what Paul did in Philippians 3:8-11. Mainly, I did not look to Christ and His righteousness alone.

My crisis of faith was not resolved because one day my faith was able to heal a headache or change my undesirable circumstances. No, my crisis of faith only ended after the Lord opened my heart to hear the gospel and understand it so that I could respond to it by faith in Christ alone. After he did this I wanted to know Christ more than any other thing and He became the focus of my faith. (Philippians 3:8)  

My testimony was similar to Lydia in Acts 16:13-14 where we read these words, “And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One of the women who heard us was a woman named Lydia...who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” This is what God did for me that day.

As you continue to read this story of Lydia she says to Paul, “If you have judged me faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” Then we read these words, “She prevailed upon us.”

After Lydia was saved, placed her faith in the LORD alone, she began to express her faith with brotherly love and hospitality that ‘prevailed’ itself upon Paul and his companions. Lydia was so transformed by the Gospel of Grace that she not only made a sincere offer of hospitality to Paul and his companions but she constrained the apostle and his companions to stay at her home. Lydia compelled them and forced them in some way to come to her house so she could be hospitable and gracious to them. (This is not the same sort of hospitality shown to the poor in the congregation James is writing to.)

I can imagine Paul hesitating to accept her offer to come with Lydia but she would not take no for an answer. She compelled them to come and prevailed. She persuaded them even to the point of forcing them to not refuse her request. This type of loving hospitality displayed evidence of her faith in the LORD and gratitude for what the LORD had done for her. This is an example of the brotherly love that James is speaking of in our text this morning.

Let us consider one more thing about this story. We might ask, “What type of impression did Lydia’s kindness and hospitality make upon Paul?” Well, when Paul was released from prison the first place that he went to was to Lydia’s house. Some might say, “Perhaps Paul just needed to get his belongings?” The text, however, contradicts this when it says, “So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them (to remain faithful to the gospel) and departed.” (40; Acts 15:30-32)

This visit to Lydia’s was more than Paul going to get his luggage. This was more than Paul returning a favor to Lydia. Paul’s expressing his faith in Christ by loving all the brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul’s faith expressed a profound love for all of God’s people throughout his ministry. Consider Colossians 1:24 which says, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

At one time, the recipients of the letter of James probably displayed these same types of evidence of faith through their hospitality, brotherly kindness, and sacrificial love. Look at how far they have fallen! Now they were showing partiality and they were not being caring for the most distressed members in their congregation.

Lydia displayed these graces quickly after she was born again. (1:18) Similarly, if these believers would read James’ letter and respond with faith they would be able to see the immediate evidence of that faith in their love, concern and hospitality for others. At the end of this letter in James 5:19-20 these believer's lives are to be defined by their love and concern for their brothers and sisters.

When James asks these questions in James 2:14 he does not intend to create a ‘crisis of faith’ that would lead to hopelessness and despair. No, James asks these questions so that these believers will see that their faith has shifted from looking to Jesus and obeying Him. They need to repent and learn to do good. (Isaiah 1:16-17says, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.”)

Before James ever asks these questions he labored carefully to give them a gospel foundation in James 1. Because he did this, when they are confronted with these questions they should have a gospel context with which to understand these questions and respond appropriately in faith and obedience.

Throughout this letter James has affirmed their faith in Jesus Christ.

• This is abundantly clear in James 2:1, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.”

• He also affirmed their faith from the opening words of this letter in verses 2-4, “Count it all joy (the opposite of a crisis of faith), my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing.”

At the beginning of this letter James affirmed that any imperfection, incompleteness, or lack in their faith can be overcome strengthened, and matured.

• The scriptures do not teach that our faith will always bring an immediate end to our undesirable circumstances.

• No, our faith in Jesus Christ often invites trouble, challenges, and sufferings. (Acts 14:2)

• However, our faith in Jesus Christ will take us through hardships, difficulties, trials, and sufferings with joy. (James 1:2)

When we have a crisis of faith we are to look to God in prayer, look to His Word, and obey the Lord in faith. (James 1) James opened this letter in James 1:5-8 by saying, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God (the focus of our faith), who gives (wisdom) generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith (in God and this promise to give you wisdom), with no doubting (in God and His promises), for the one who doubts (God and this promises) is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the LORD; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

There is an answer to our crisis of faith (the shifting of our faith away from God and obedience to His Word) which is evidenced in sin, double-mindedness, and instability. These things are resolved when we turn to God in prayer, the study of His Word, and the application of His Word.  If James’ readers will respond in faith to God and His Word they will not show partiality and they will once again experience the fruit of the Spirit which will be evidenced in how they love their brothers and sisters as Lydia did.

Earlier I testified to my crisis of faith when I had a headache that was not taken away when I prayed. My faith was not healthy because my faith was not focused upon Christ alone for healing or for my salvation. Consider how James will close his letter when he says, “And the prayer of faith (in Jesus Christ alone) will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” Then notice these important words, “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power in its working.” (5:15-17)

Our faith is to always be in Christ who both heals our bodies and saves our souls.  If our faith shifts from Christ we will not be healthy Christians. We look to Christ for every blessing both visible and invisible. Amen.