Two examples of the true connection between faith and works...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter that was written by the half brother of Jesus and the is recorded for us in the New Testament of the bible called the book of James. Yesterday, we looked on as James basically asked the question “what use is faith if that faith does not do anything? Does a faith that does not do anything really rescue anyone from an eternity separated from God? How can you say that you trust Jesus, when you do not do anything that demonstrates that you are trusting and following the message and teachings of Jesus?” 


 And it was in the answer to this question that we discovered that faith without fruit is a dead faith that cannot save. To say that we trust in Jesus but do not live a life that produces attitudes and actions that look like Jesus may mean that we have not really been rescued by Jesus. If the fruit, or what is produced in our lives, looks nothing like Jesus, then a natural question that must be asked is “Do we really know Jesus and have a relationship with Jesus?” 

We then began to address the potential question and objection that James was saying that we are saved by works. James anticipated the person who would say “Well you think you are saved by trusting in Jesus. Well look at everything that I do for Jesus so that I can be right with God. You go ahead and trust in Jesus; I trust in what I do for Jesus."

We talked about the reality that the motivation behind this statement, however, is the idea that faith and works are not necessarily related to each other. In other words, it is possible to be right with God as a result of our performance for God without trusting in God. And it is possible to trust in God without doing anything for God.

 But is that true? Can you have either one without the other? And specifically, can you really trust in Jesus without living a life that looks like Jesus? Today we will see James begin to answer this question in the rest of James 2:18-20: 

show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 

James responds to those who would say that faith and works are not necessarily related to each other by stating "show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." But what does that mean? James point here is that a person’s faith in God cannot be demonstrated apart from works. A persons trust in God is revealed by their attitudes and actions. Think about that for a second. 

I mean, regardless of whether or not you buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing, doesn’t that make sense? We are unable to know what each other believes and trusts in apart from what we do. What we believe and trust in is reflected by how we live out our day to day lives. What we talk about, what we think about, how we handle our time and our treasure, and where we run to in times of trouble reveals what we truly trust in. 

James begins to unpack this reality with three different examples. First, in verse 19, James uses the example of demons. James states that the demons believe in God and shudder. But why would James use demons as an example of dead faith? I mean, obviously demons are not rescued by Jesus. 

James uses demons because demons have a full awareness of who God is. The demons have all the facts about the nature and character of God. Demons have better theology than anyone in this room. But the demons shudder and this shudder is a shudder of fear. The reality is that the demons shudder in fear because their destiny is eternal separation from God in hell. 

The demons are destined for hell because having all the facts is not enough to have the faith that works and that rescues us from our selfishness and rebellion. The difference between dead faith and the faith that works and that rescues us from our selfishness and rebellion is not having the facts; it is what we do with the facts. 

Think about Rachel at the side of the pool. She had the facts. She knew that the floaties were able to support her as she had been in the pool earlier with them. She knew from watching her dad that he was a good swimmer. She knew that her daddy was able to catch and support her because he had been doing that all morning. 

Yet Rachel had not acted on the facts to jump into her daddy’s arms. But, this morning why didn’t she act? James then continues by giving us a second example from the life of Abraham in verses 21-24. Let’s look at these verses together;

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.


Here we see James point followers of Jesus back to a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Genesis.. But to understand why James is talking about Abraham, we need to go back and look at Abraham’s life. James begins by referring to a passage in Genesis 22, starting in verse 1-10:

 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you." Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 


Now, I don’t know about you, but this conversation provokes several questions doesn’t it? I mean what is going on here? The first question that naturally comes to mind here is “well why is God testing Abraham anyways?” The word test here literally means to test so as to prove and provide evidence that demonstrates the truth of what someone or something is really like. So, God is providing a test to Abraham to see if there was any evidence to prove that Abraham was in possession of something. 

On the one hand that makes total sense doesn’t it? I mean, that is why we take tests, isn’t it? It isn’t enough to say that we know how to drive a car; we have to take a driving test to prove that we know how to drive a car. It is not enough to say we are patient. It is only when we have our patience tested that we prove, or demonstrate whether or not we are actually patient. But, this morning, what does Abraham need to prove and provide evidence about? What does he need to demonstrate that he possesses that requires God to test him? And doesn’t God already know the answer?

A second question that comes to mind here is “why would God command Abraham to kill and offer his son Isaac as an act of worship? I mean that command seems extreme.” By commanding Abraham with the words please take, we see the Lord acknowledging to Abraham that he is fully aware of the gravity of what He is commanding him to do. God knows how much Abraham cares for Isaac and how much this will cost Abraham. 

Now this leads to a third question, which is “why would Abraham even consider following this command?” The reason that Abraham would not object to God’s command as being strange can be explained by understanding two aspects of the context that this conversation takes place in. First, at this point in God’s story, the Ten Commandments had not been given. And God had not given any instructions regarding the worship of Him, as we will see later in the Bible. 

Second, the cultures that surrounded Abraham and his family frequently killed their children and offered them up as an act of worship. While we look at this as morally reprehensible today in light of what God has revealed to us through His word and character, Abraham had not been exposed to that yet. 

You see, the test for Abraham was not the unusual and potentially morally objectionable nature of the command. The test was for Abraham that God was asking Abraham to kill and sacrifice as an act of worship to God the one person who could fulfill God’s promise that had been made to him. God commands Abraham to give up to death what was closest to himself, which would put to death God’s promises to Abraham. A promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:1-6; 

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.


You see, Isaac was to be the beginning of a great nation, a nation so large that it would compare to the stars in Heaven. It had been around 30 years since God made that promise to Abraham and Isaac is now a young man, at least in his late teenage years. Imagine being in Abraham’s shoes. You had seen God give you a child in your old age, when you were 100, when it seemed beyond possibility. You had seen Isaac grow up and developed a close bond with him. 

As you head up the mountain Isaac is carrying the wood and questioning you about where you are going to get the lamb for the offering. When and how did Abraham tell his son that he was the offering? What was he feeling as he bound his son on the altar; what was he feeling as he raised the knife? Can you imagine? Just at the point of striking with the knife, we read the following in verse 11-12:

But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." 

We know from the rest of the story that God provided a lamb to take Isaacs place, a dramatic foreshadowing of what Jesus would do by taking our place, when God gave His one and only son to provide us the opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God when we trust in Him. But what is the point of the test and why is James using it as an example of what the faith that works looks like? 

God tested Abraham to prove his faith in God and His promise to him. The only way that Abraham could prove his faith, however, was to trust. Abraham had to act on his faith and trust that God would keep His promises. The idea of Abraham being justified, or declared not guilty of having a problem with God, in verse 21, is the idea that Abraham’s faith was demonstrated and validated. Abraham's faith was perfected, as it says in verse 22 by his works, his actions. What Abraham did in Genesis 22 was the outworking of the faith that was described in chapter 15. And those actions were based on trust. 

In the same way, for Rachel to jump into the pool she needed to not only have the facts; she needed to act on the facts by faith. But to act on that faith she needed to trust. If we do not trust, we will not act. 

Tomorrow, we will see this concept of the interconnection between trust and faith in the third example that James provides...