FALSE HOPE
Part 2 - False Hope in Works
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
James 2:14-25, 26
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If 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? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But 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.
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone...
26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
I. Faith without deeds
a. What good is faith without deeds?
i. Can such faith save a man?
EXAMPLE
15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If 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?
b. In the same way...
i. Faith by itself is DEAD
ii. faith without ACTION is DEAD
iii. WHY?
1. Action = love
a. We are to live out God’s love for others
b. Love is an action
c. If God is in us, we must be loving
i. Love brothers
ii. Love neighbors
iii. Love enemies
EXAMPLE
1 John 4:7, 8
“7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
If you claim to have faith, you MUST put your faith in action, otherwise your faith is DEAD.
c. Faith and Actions
i. True faith in God ALWAYS produces Loving Actions
ii. Loving Actions do not produce true faith in God
1. You can “give” and have loving actions towards others without even believing there is a God, or doing it in the name of a false God.
2. It is NOT the actions which makes one righteous, but the fact that the actions came as a natural result of having the love of God in them.
II. False Hope in Works
a. Some will say, “You have faith and I have deeds”
i. James answers this by saying,
1. “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
a. It is impossible to show faith without works
b. But we show our faith by what we do, not do our works to obtain faith.
b. Say what?
i. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
1. James is showing here that you can have faith and believe something, but if you do not act in love on that faith or belief, that it is worthless.
a. Demons have faith that God is real.
i. To the point it scares them, they shudder.
b. BUT, they do not act in love on their faith.
2. This shows that faith alone in something is meaningless without you acting in love (works).
III. Evidence in scripture that faith without works is useless.
a. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God (FAITH), and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
i. Confusion about verse 24
1. When read alone it appears you can be justified by what you do, but the context of this scripture is clearly stating that these deeds were motivated BY faith...
b. 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
IV. Balloon like Righteousness
a. Say you want to fly in the sky
i. You start your works (deeds/actions)
1. You flap your arms (You can’t do it on your own!)
a. your actions result in nothing
b. You can work as long and hard as you want
i. nothing will ever come of it
ii. You discover God’s GRACE
1. That He died for you, and paid the price for your sin on the cross
a. So you ask forgiveness
b. You confess and repent
c. You receive the FREE gift
iii. You also receive Christ’s Righteousness!
1. Not ours...
a. my righteousness is as filthy rags
2. Christ’s righteousness WILL produce WORKS of righteousness naturally!
a. ONE PROBLEM THOUGH...
i. Righteous acts of Christ produce works naturally, BUT YOU MUST HAVE FAITH
3. By grace (basket) we have faith (ropes) which connect us to Christ’s Righteousness (the balloon), which will naturally produce works of righteousness (acts of love, deeds), and because of God’s grace and our faith, we will go for a ride on Christ’s righteousness, producing good works in our life.
a. BUT...we can prevent ourselves from good works...
i. James 2:24 “24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
1. Our faith connects us to Christ’s righteousness, but if we don’t act on that faith in love, we are allowing ourselves to get in the way of the naturally occurring actions of love the righteousness of Christ wants to produce in our lives.
2. Our self (sandbags) holds us down and keeps us from rising.
