The Beauty of Faith that Works

If you have a Bible—and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with—let me invite you to open with me to James 2. It’s good to be together around God’s Word, and I can’t wait for what is about to happen. We’re about to tackle one of the most challenging passages about salvation in all of the Bible, and at the same time, we’re going to change what I hope is hundreds, if not thousands, of people’s lives in the next few minutes. So here we go. Let’s just dive right into this next passage in James, as we consider the beauty of faith according to the Bible. James 2:14–26. This is the Word of God.

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 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. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 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? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

All right, I want to take James 2:24, which we just read as a part of this passage and compare it with another verse in the Bible—Romans 3:28. So here’s James 2:24:“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” But then turn back in the Bible to Romans 3:28 and it says, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” 

Now, this word ‘justified’ is really significant. It means to be declared right with God. These verses are talking about the most important thing in every single one of our lives: our standing before God himself. So for those who are visiting today—maybe you’re exploring Christianity—this is in a sense what the entire Bible is about. The Bible is a story about how all of us are created by God for relationship with God. We’re loved by God. But we’ve all sinned against God. We’ve all turned aside from God and his ways to ourselves and our own ways. We’ve rebelled against God. Yet God in his love for us has not left us in this state. 

God has come to us in the person of Jesus. He’s lived a life we could not live with no sin, then, even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to die to pay the price for our sin. He died the death we deserve to die. Then he didn’t stay dead for long. Three days later he rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, so that anyone, anywhere, who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life will be forgiven of all their sin and restored to right relationship with God. This is the greatest news in all the world. 

Now justified is a word that summarizes what that means. It’s interesting in these verses because one of them says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, then the other verse says a person is justified by faith apart from works. So which is it? Are we justified by works plus faith, or are we justified by faith apart from works? That’s a really important question, not just because we’re trying to understand the Bible; it’s really important because we want to know we have a right standing with God. 

I should add that these verses are not isolated, obscure verses in the Bible. There’s a sense in which James 2:24 summarizes the whole book of James, and there’s a sense in which Romans 2:28 summarizes the whole book of Romans. So is the Bible contradicting itself at this point? The answer is absolutely not. So James and Paul, who is the author of Romans, are both writing about the exact same gospel about how we can be made right before God. But they’re writing from two very different perspectives. They address two very different problems in the churches they’re writing to. 

Here’s how I picture it. I don’t picture James and Paul standing toe to toe with one another with different gospels. Instead, James and Paul are standing back to back with one another, fighting two different enemies of the same gospel they’re both defending. Paul is fighting against the false idea that we can earn a right standing before God by our works. James is fighting against an easy believism that says, “All you have to do is believe a couple things about God or Jesus in your head and that will make you right before God.” 

What’s interesting is I think we actually need to fight both today, even in this gathering right now. Some of you think that your works in some way earn you status before God, or right relationship with God. You do certain things, like even coming to church, under the impression that these things will increase your status before God or help you get to right relationship with God. 

Others of you think, “Salvation’s not by works,” so you’re not working. You believe in Jesus, you come to church, but your life looks pretty much like everybody else’s in the world. Which means we all need to hear what both Paul and James are saying. In order to do that, we have to understand how they’re using words like ‘works’ and ‘faith’ because the meaning of words matters.

We know this in everyday life. I was in an Uber this last week with a driver who was born in West Africa, then lived for a while in London. I found out he’s a follower of Jesus and we were having a delightful conversation. Somehow we got on the topic of sports and he told me that right after he moved here to Metro DC, people invited him to watch the Super Bowl football game. When he showed up, he was so confused, because nobody on TV was kicking the ball with their foot. Well, a couple guys did every once in a while. They were playing a totally different sport than what he thought of when they said football. That’s because, as you know, the rest of the world calls football what we call soccer. He just kept laughing. It was like, “This makes no sense whatsoever.”

So the same word can have different meanings to different people, which is why it’s important to be clear about what words mean. That’s all the more true with God’s Word. So I want to show you what James and Paul mean when they say ‘works’ and ‘faith’ in these verses. Not just so that we can understand it, but once we see what these words mean, it’s life changing. So if you’re taking notes, or if you’re not taking notes, I would encourage you to write down the pictures that Paul and James have in mind when they use certain words.

Two pictures of faith

First, in both passages, we see two pictures of faith. This word ‘faith’ is interesting. James uses the noun for faith 16 times in this letter that we’re walking through. Eleven of those times are in this passage that I just read. The five times it’s used outside this passage, faith is always used positively. We’ve seen this over recent weeks. James 1:3 talked about the testing of genuine faith. James 1:6 talked about praying with faith. 

In this passage today, James is having this imaginary dialog with someone who claims to have faith but doesn’t actually have it. So he’s not contrasting immature and mature faith. No, the majority of times he uses faith in this passage, he’s actually talking about somebody who doesn’t have faith at all. They think they have faith, but their faith is dead. So here’s one kind of faith: dead faith, which does not save. 

That’s the whole way James starts in verse 14. He says, “Someone says he has faith but does not have works. Can that faith save him?” The answer is no. It doesn’t save because it’s not actually faith. Verse 17, “So also faith, by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” It’s not actual faith. James is saying—this is so important, so please listen closely—just because someone says they have faith doesn’t mean they actually have it, so it doesn’t mean they’re right before God.

Which leads to the question, “Well, how do you know if someone, or if you, have faith that does save, that makes you right before God?” James says, “Look for fruit, because dead faith does not bear fruit.” James is saying the exact same thing that Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:16-20. People will show their faith by the fruit of their lives. If you look at a tree with apples hanging from its limbs, you say, “That’s an apple tree.” How do you know? It has apples on it. What’s on the outside is evidence of what’s on the inside. 

Dead faith doesn’t have fruit. Specifically, dead faith does not care for the poor. And that’s the primary point James is making here. Much like we saw last week in the beginning of James 2, people in the church were ignoring the poor, so James is making it clear that if someone claims to have faith in Jesus but ignores the poor, they don’t actually have faith in Jesus. Their faith is dead.

What I’m about to say may sound overly strong, but it is the clear and undeniable message from this passage we’re looking at. People who claim to be Christians, but do not help impoverished brothers and sisters, are not actually Christians—no matter what they say they believe. Look at James 2:19. Every Jewish man or woman believed the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4. We looked at this a couple weeks ago: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” James points out, yeah, even demons believe that. The question is not, “Do you believe in God?” Or even, “Do you believe in Jesus who died on a cross and rose from the grave?” Demons believe that too. That’s dead faith, which means it’s not really faith at all. 

When James says in James 2:20, “…you foolish person…” the word for foolish there means empty. He’s saying, “You claim to have faith, but there’s not actually anything there.” Dead faith is no faith. Then James says there’s another picture of faith, what we’ll call living faith, which does save. That’s the contrast there in verse 18: “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.’” Do you see it? There are two kinds of faith here. One faith that has no works—that’s dead faith. It doesn’t save and doesn’t bear fruit and doesn’t care for the poor. 

There’s another kind of faith though that does save. This kind of faith does bear fruit and does care for the poor. This faith sees a brother or sister in need and does something to provide for them. Actual living faith cares for the poor. Quite literally, this faith works. 

Two pictures of works

Which then leads right into the second word: works. The Bible gives us two pictures of works. Sometimes the Bible talks about works in positive ways; other times the Bible talks about works in negative ways. We need to know the difference. So let’s start with the negative. 

Sometimes the Bible talks about works we do in order to earn favor before God. This is how Paul often talks about works—things we do to try to earn a right standing with God. Throughout books like Romans and Galatians in the Bible, Paul is speaking against people’s attempts to attain God’s favor by what they do. Over and over again, Paul is saying, “No, no, no. You cannot earn right standing before God with your works. You can’t earn salvation through what you do.” 

Now to be clear, James is also not saying that we can earn salvation through our works. We looked at this a couple weeks ago. James 1:18 says God is the one who brings us forth, gives us new life, “by the word of truth.” James 1:21 states, “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” It’s God’s word that is able to save your soul. Then last week, we looked at James 2:5 that says the kingdom of God is for those who love God.

So follow this; it’s so important. James is nowhere saying that if we do enough work—specifically if we care enough for the poor—then we will be saved. No, James is pointing to a totally different kind of works. James is not talking about works we do in order to earn favor before God;  James is talking about works we do as the fruit of faith in God. 

This is interesting. Before I even show you this in James, I want to point out how Paul, who wrote Romans, talks about works like this too. First Thessalonians 1:2-3 says, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Do you see that language? The work of faith that leads to labors of love. He uses the same language in 2 Thessalonians 1:11: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power.” So works of faith.

Let’s look at one more. In Galatians 5:6, in a book that’s all about how we are saved by God’s grace and not our works, Paul writes, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” Faith working. So how does faith work? I want to show you this in James, but the same applies to Paul. This is how faith works according to the Bible. How does faith work? Faith creates works. It’s exactly what James is saying in James 2:22-23: 

You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 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.

This is so interesting, because Paul and James both refer to Abraham as an example of what they’re saying. So let’s think about Abraham. 

James quotes here from Genesis 15:6.Back in the Old Testament, God said to Abraham, “I’m going to give you a child, a son, in your old age, and from him will come descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.” And Abraham believed what God told him, so when he believed God, God “counted it to him as righteousness.” His standing before God was right by faith in God. Then what happened after that? Well, fast forward to Genesis 22, and this is what James refers to about when Abraham was told by God to go and offer his son Isaac on the altar. What did Abraham do? He obeyed. He did what God told him to do. He took Isaac, laid him on an altar, then God in that moment provided ram in the thicket that was offered instead of his son. So the whole picture is Abraham’s faith in Genesis 15 being at work in Genesis 22. Faith creates works. That’s the point. 

To go back to the illustration of fruit, when you plant an apple seed in the ground, one day you see an apple tree. In the same way, when faith is planted in someone’s heart (Genesis 15:6), it yields fruit (Genesis 22). Faith creates works and in turn, follow this, works complete faith. So James says Abaham’s faith “was completed by his works.” Did you hear that language? The word ‘complete’ here means to bring to perfection or maturity. So it’s full circle. Faith creates works; works complete faith.

 Works like this are really, really good. Just think about how this looks in our lives practically in some of the most basic works in the Christian life, like coming to a worship gathering like this today. If you have come today to earn favor before God—to check off a box because it’s something you’re supposed to do—then your worship today is not a good work. You’re missing the point by trying to earn favor with God. But if you come today as the fruit of faith in God—if you love God and want to gather together with the people of God to express love for God, to hear his Word, to adjust your life accordingly—then your faith is not only a good work, it will grow in a great way as you worship and hear from God. Faith creating work; work completing faith. 

The same thing applies tomorrow morning when you wake up and spend time alone in prayer and in the Bible. If you pray or read the Bible tomorrow as a matter of religious routine—because it’s what you’re supposed to do because it helps your standing with God, or so you can check off a box or to earn favor with God—that’s not a good work. But if you believe that God is good, you desire time with him, you know you need it, you know this Word is your daily bread, you delight to be with him, then as you do, this will be a really good work. Then your faith in him, your delight in him, your understanding of him and his Word will grow. The faith that creates these works will complete your faith, day in and day out. 

Then think about caring for the poor. If we do this or that for the poor because we feel guilty, or we feel like we should, or this will earn favor before God, or this will make me a better person before God, then we’ll miss the whole point. Even our care for the poor will not be pleasing to God. But if we love who God is, we love how God loves the poor, we want to reflect his love for the poor as the overflow of our faith in Jesus—not because we feel guilty, but because we have been transformed by grace—then this is really, really a good work. And it’s not just for the poor, not just for the glory of God, but also good for our own hearts. 

So now let’s come back to these two verses we saw earlier:

• Romans 3:28: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” 
• James 2:24, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” 

In Romans, Paul is saying we are justified by living faith apart from works that we do in order to earn favor before God. James is saying that if we don’t have works that are the fruit of living faith, we don’t actually have faith. This kind of faith, if it doesn’t have works as the fruit of that faith, is dead. It’s not actually real.

Two takeaways from God’s Word

So here’s how I would summarize all this and apply God’s Word to our lives. One, by faith in Jesus, we have the indescribable privilege of friendship with God himself. Paul and James are both saying ever since Abraham, people have been justified before God by living faith in God. When people truly believe God, they’re brought into friendship with God, not based on what they do, but based on the love and promises of God. This is the greatest news in all the world and it is what separates Christianity apart from every other world religion. 

God has not given us a list of things that we have to do in order to earn our way to him. No, God has made the way to us. God has come to us in love for us. Jesus has died on the cross for our sins, so we could be forgiven and restored to relationship with God by faith in him.

If you’ve never put your faith in Jesus, believed in God’s love for you in Jesus, be free today. Maybe you’ve spent your entire life in church thinking, “By doing these things, I’m going to be okay before God.” It is not based on your works to earn status before God. God loves you so much that he has made a way for you to be righteous by faith in his love for you, through Jesus as your Savior and Lord of your life. Trust in him today. Be free from works, trying to earn favor before God.

When you place your faith in Jesus, and for all who already have, you are a friend of God. The God who spoke and this world came into being. The God who brought the sun up this morning. The God who puts out the stars at night and calls them each by name. This God is your friend to know, love, enjoy, and walk with. You can live out of the overflow of friendship with God. 

So yes, get alone in prayer, in his Word, tomorrow and all throughout this week. Why? Because you’re friends with God. Pursue holiness in your life because you’re friends with God. Love your neighbor as yourself because you’re friends with God. 

And the second takeaway, specifically here in James, is that because of faith in Jesus, we passionately work on behalf of people in need because this is what living faith in Jesus does. Living faith in Jesus doesn’t look at people in need and say, “I wish you well.” It doesn’t keep scrolling on to something else, turning the channel, moving on with life as normal. No. Living faith in Jesus works on behalf of the poor, not in order to earn favor before God but as the fruit of faith in God. This is the beauty of faith. 

So here’s the deal. The book of James has made clear to us that we cannot just hear this word and walk away. We are to do what it says. 

Observation: What does the passage say?

1) Read James 2:14–26 aloud as a group. Let group members share observations. Try not to move into interpretation of the passage or application of what you read quite yet. Simply share what you observe.

• What do you observe about faith without works in James 2:14–17?
• What do you observe about faith with works in James 2:18–20?
• How do Abraham and Rahab demonstrate complete faith? (James 2:21–26)
• How would you summarize James 2:14–26 in your own words?

Interpretation: What does the passage mean?

1) Read Matthew 7:16–20.

• How can true faith equate to living faith? 
• How is a healthy tree bearing good fruit a model of living faith? How is a diseased tree bearing bad fruit a model of dead faith?
• How is intellectual faith alone (I believe), not quite enough evidence of living faith?
• Why should those with living faith care for the poor? (see Matthew 25:40)

2) Read 1 Thessalonians 1:2–3, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, Galatians 5:6.

• What is a poor motive for doing good works? What is the right motive for doing good works?
• How does ‘faith working through love’ guide us in doing good works?
• How did Abraham and Rahab’s faith create the works they did?
• Like a seed planted in the ground brings forth a fruit tree, how does the seed of salvation, planted in our hearts, yield works that complete faith?

Application: How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1) By faith in Jesus, we have the indescribable privilege of friendship with God.

• What is your personal motivation for coming to a worship gathering? How are you glorifying God rather than worshiping self?
• What is the quality of your prayer life? How are you engaging in prayer to talk with and to listen to God? What is the quality of your time spent meditating on God’s Word? How can you please God more in your study, which will also enable you to gain more joy from your time with God?
• How can your Church Group encourage you about prayer and time in the Word?

2) Because of faith in Jesus, we passionately work on behalf of people in need.

• How can caring for others less fortunate than you spill forth from your prayer and meditation time?
• How is living faith enabling you to complete your faith through right works?

• Beyond just thinking or feeling, in what concrete way can you help someone in need this week?
• How can your Church Group come alongside you to serve others who are in need, out of the overflow of your love for God?

James 2:14-26 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 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. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 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? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Two Pictures of Faith

Dead Faith

• Does not save.
• Does not bear fruit.
• Does not care for the poor.

Living Faith

• Does save.
• Does bear fruit.
• Does care for the poor.

Two Pictures of Works

Two Takeaways from God’s Word

• By faith in Jesus, we have the indescribable privilege of friendship with God.
• Because of faith in Jesus, we passionately work on behalf of people in need.