Word of Salvation – Vol. 29 No. 48 – December 1984

 

Saved By Faith, Or By Works?

 

Sermon by Rev. S. Voorwinde, v.d.m. on James 2: 24

(Belgic Confession Art.24)

Scriptures: Romans 4:1-8; James 2:14-26

Suggested Hymns: 110; 170; 95; 379; 450

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus,

To the average reader, the Bible seems to contain some stunning contradictions:

(i)  On one occasion Jesus said to His disciples: “He who is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40): On another occasion He said: “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters” (Mat.12:30).

(ii)  Likewise in writing to the Galatians Paul seems to contradict himself rather obviously.  In verse 2 of chapter 6 he says: “Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfil the law of Christ.”  Then in verse 5 he says: “For each one shall bear his own load.”

(iii)  And yet, an apparent contradiction that is even more weighty than these is the one between Paul and James; between Romans 4 and James 2.
Throughout the first few chapters of Romans Paul is labouring to make the point that justification is by faith alone; and so at the beginning of chapter 5 he can confidently state: “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”; (5:1).
But what does it say in our text, in James 2:24?  “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.”  So then how are we justified?  By faith or by works?  Who is right?  Paul or James?

In this sermon I would like to answer these questions under three headings.

I.  A comparison between Paul and James.

II.  A look at spurious (false, counterfeit) faith.

III.  A look at genuine faith.

First of all then, do Paul and James really disagree with one another?  Both quote the same verse from Genesis: “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.  From this one verse Paul seems to conclude salvation by faith, whereas James concludes salvation by works.  They seem to come to quite different conclusions.

But do they?  Paul is talking about the beginning of Abraham’s faith; James is talking about the climax of Abraham’s faith.  “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”  Paul argues, that it was faith and not mere circumcision that made Abraham righteous.  James says that this verse was fulfilled when Abraham offered his son on the altar.  This was the crowning point of his faith.  This was evidence.  This was proof.

By its very nature faith is invisible.  And yet it must be made visible.  It must be demonstrated; and it is made visible, it is demonstrated when it blossoms into works.  Someone has said: “Faith is like calories.  You can’t see them, but you can see their results.”

So it is with faith.  If it is there, it must result in works.  In the Christian life faith is the root and works are the fruit.  You cannot have one without the other.  Faith and works are the Siamese twins of Christianity.  If you try to separate them, both will die.

Faith and works are inseparable.  Yet in a very real way faith comes first.  The fruit grows out of the root; not vice versa.  This is what the apostle Paul makes plain in those well-known verses about faith and works in Ephesians 2: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that no one should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So what is the answer to the question in the title of the sermon: “Saved by faith or by works?”  Strictly speaking it is by neither.  We are saved by grace, through faith and for good works.  Through faith salvation is appropriated, in good works salvation is demonstrated.  How does a tree grow?  By being watered.

Through its root the water is appropriated and in its fruits its growth is demonstrated.  And so it is in every healthy living Christian.  He not only has the deep, hidden roots of faith, but he also has the obvious and glorious fruit of good works.  And it’s these good works that make all the difference between faith that is spurious and faith that is genuine.

So let’s have a look at this matter of spurious faith:  James gives us two examples of spurious faith, just as a little later on he will give us two examples of genuine faith.  He first introduces us to a man who says he has faith.  This man boasts of his orthodoxy.  He is most probably a church member and he has learned to speak the language of heaven.  But as soon as his faith is tested this man fails miserably.  He turns out to be no more than an armchair philanthropist.  He doesn’t even have any concern for the needs of those within the Christian fellowship.  A brother or sister is shivering with cold and suffering pangs of hunger.  Yet the only remedy this man has is some good advice: “Please don’t worry so!  All you need is some warm clothes and a meal and then you will feel ever so much better.”

This armchair philanthropist is an imaginary character that James thought up to illustrate his point, but this imaginary character is all too real today.  He is a professing Christian, but there is a tremendous credibility gap between his Christian profession and his daily life.  He has deceived himself.  He has confused good wishes with goodness, sentiment with fact, and orthodoxy with living faith.  As I say, this armchair philanthropist is an all too real and all too common figure in the church today.  One American Baptist preacher made the point rather bluntly: “This cheap and contemptible attitude describes so much of our modern society.  Our men are fluent in the language of generosity.  Our women can weep over a scene of wretchedness touchingly portrayed on television.  Yet we shun personal involvement in meeting the needs of the unfortunate”; (Kelly, p.130).

The second example that James gives of a spurious faith are the trembling demons.  The demons are surprisingly orthodox in their theology.  We see this very clearly during the earthly ministry of our Lord.  Jesus highly commended Peter for his noble confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Yet well before that occasion a demon in the synagogue of Capernaum had stated the same truth but in quite a different tone of voice: “What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24).

Yes, the demons believe all right; and they tremble.  The Greek word which is translated ‘tremble’ literally means that they break out with goose pimples or that their hair stands on end.  They know God exists and they fear Him, but their belief inspires no obedience.

James uses this illustration to speak to the man who says: “God is one.”  This was the pride of Jewish orthodoxy.  This was what every Jew was expected to recite morning and evening from Deut.6: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.”  This set the Jew apart from the Gentiles, he believed in one God.  Here he stood apart from the rampant polytheism of the ancient world: there is but one God, and He is Yahweh the God of Israel.  “Very good”, says James, “Full marks for theology.  But remember, the demons believe that too and they tremble.  If your faith does not lead to works it is useless.”

Now, let’s apply this principle to ourselves.  You can apply this principle in any number of ways, but James gives the example of care and concern for other people, so let’s limit ourselves to this area:

1.  Children, boys and girls, how do you show care and concern for other people?  You say you’re a Christian, that you love the Lord Jesus.  When you’re travelling on a bus or a train do you care enough to give your seat to an older person?  At home do you care enough to be helpful around the house and maybe even do some jobs that won’t earn you pocket money?  At school and at Sunday school do you have enough care and concern for your teachers to co-operate and do as you are told?  In the classroom does your behaviour show that you are a Christian, that you believe in Jesus?

2.  Young people, how much care and concern do you show for those who are closest to you?  How much courtesy do you show around the house?  How respectful are you to your parents, and especially how patient are you with parents who seem a bit slow in giving you the freedom you feel entitled to?  How does your Christianity or faith show itself in the home situation?  Does it show its genuineness by the way you relate to your parents and to younger brothers and sisters?

And young people, living away from home, what are you like to live with?  Do you pull your weight when it comes to doing chores and keeping your flat or house clean? And what are relationships like in your new living situation?

3.  And what about the adult members of the congregation?  How does your faith express itself in action?  And surely James 2 is a challenging passage for anyone who embraces the Reformed faith.  We have such a rich doctrinal heritage.  We put so much emphasis on truth, teaching and doctrine; and rightly so.  But the danger is that we leave it at that; that we stop there.  If someone believes the Bible, our confession and doctrinal standards, then surely all must be well.  But just because someone is a lover of correct theology can he therefore say: “It is well, it is well with my soul!”  Can he?  Not necessarily!  As Reformed a man as Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones was a great teacher and a lover of doctrine, but he issued this warning:

“Faith is not just intellectual assent.  A man can give intellectual assent to the teaching of the whole Bible and go straight to hell.  Faith means, first of all, that you are aware of the truth.  It means secondly that you believe it and accept it.  And thirdly, it means that you commit yourself to it and abandon yourself to it.  What James is saying is that if you separate these things, what you call faith, is worthless.”

You see, faith is not just a mental thing, it does something.  If nothing happens, if nothing changes, there is no faith.  If faith isn’t active, it is dead.  Listen to the Belgic Confession in Article 24:

“Faith makes the believer a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin…  Therefore it is impossible that this holy faith can be unfruitful in man.”  Rather, “…it excites man (or stirs man) to the practice of those works which God has commanded in His Word.”

It is the very nature of faith to bear fruit.  So are you fruitful?  If not, then yours is a spurious faith whatever your belief may be.

James then moves from the two examples of spurious faith, to two examples of genuine faith.  He wisely chooses two characters from the Old Testament to make his point; and those two characters could hardly have been more different.  It seems that the only thing they had in common was what James is talking about: genuine faith.  Abraham was a Jew; Rahab was a Gentile.  Abraham was a man; Rahab was a woman.  Abraham was a patriarch; Rahab was a prostitute.  So how was genuine faith expressed in the lives of these two very different people?

Abraham offered up his son Isaac on the altar.  First Abraham had the faith to leave his homeland.  He had the faith to believe that God could give him and Sarah a son in their old age.  Abraham had faith, yet time and again God tested that faith so that it would be demonstrated.  Towards the end of his life there came the severest test of all: “Abraham, take 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” (Gen.  22:2).

We all know the story of how Abraham obeyed that devastating command.  Why did Abraham obey?  We are told in Hebrews 11, where Abraham takes a prominent place among the heroes of faith.

This was the reason for his obedience: “He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type”; (vs.19).

Isaac was a type of Christ.  As God offered up his only son on Calvary, so Abraham was to offer up his only son on Mt. Moriah.  But where Abraham was told to stop, there God went on.  Isaac was tied to the altar.  Christ died on the altar.  Isaac was restored to life figuratively.  Jesus rose from the dead in reality.

In the story of Abraham’s obedience we catch a glimpse of the greatness of our salvation, even way back in about 2000 B.C.  The greatness of Abraham’s obedience to God is a picture of the greatness of God’s love for us.  In the test of Abraham’s faith we see the wonder of God’s love.  In Isaac we see Christ.  Beyond Mt. Moriah we see Calvary.

The second example of genuine faith is Rahab.  Her portrait also hangs in the hall of fame of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.  When the two Israelites came to spy out Jericho where she lived, it was obvious from the outset that she had faith.  These were her words: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath”; (Josh.2:9 & 11).  But her faith was not just words.  It was expressed in action.  She immediately identified herself with the cause of the God of Israel.  As we read again in Hebrews 11:31: “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.”  In her life also we see the Siamese twins of faith and works.

Again let us take this opportunity to take stock of ourselves.  Do our lives evidence both faith and works?  First of all, do you believe the Bible?  You say: “Oh yes, I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t believe the Bible.”  Alright, then let me ask some further questions:

            Do you read the Bible?

            Do you know the Bible?

            Do you live by the Bible?

You have heard again of Abraham’s obedience in offering up Isaac.  It’s a moving story.  Even more moving is the story of God’s love for us at Calvary.  But if we believe that story of God’s love for us, then that belief must profoundly affect the way we live.  John the apostle in his first letter spells out the implications so clearly: “We know love by this: that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, (think about it!).  But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth”; (1John 3:16-18).  What could be clearer, what could be simpler to understand than this?

In his teaching, Jesus too made it so plain.  He made this point in perhaps the simplest story He ever told.  Some people think it’s a parable, but it could have been something that actually happened.  It’s the story of the Good Samaritan.  Is your faith crowned by works?  Do you love in deed and in truth?  Then read the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.  Who are you in that story?  Are you the priest, or the Levite or the Samaritan?  May God spare us from dead orthodoxy.  From Phariaeeism of any kind, may God deliver us.  May we never be like those men whose words were so pious, whose theology was so right and whose lives were so ugly.  Jesus rebuked Jewish Pharisees.  James here rebukes Christian Pharisees.  But whatever kind of Pharisee a person may be, we can be sure of one thing, he is a delight to the devil.  C.S.  Lewis makes this point very cleverly in his essay “Screwtape Proposes a Toast”.

Screwtape is a senior devil and the honoured guest at a banquet of the school of tempters.  As he proposes his toast his lengthy speech comes to a climax with remarks about different types of Pharisees.  Nothing seems to give him greater pleasure.  These are his words:

“Both kinds of Pharisees had in common their self-righteousness and the almost infinite distance between their actual outlook and anything that God really is or commands.  All said and done, my friends, it will be an ill day for us if what most humans mean by ‘religion’ ever vanishes from the Earth.  It can still send us the truly delicious sins.  The fine flower of unholiness can only grow in close neighbourhood of the Holy.  Nowhere do we tempt so successfully as on the very steps of the altar.”

If our faith is stripped of good works, if it’s just theory, just talk, then all that we can be called is Pharisees.

James puts it even more bluntly: “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead”; (verse 26).

Mere pious talk may sound beautiful.  Yet, if it has no works it’s really like a corpse.  It stinks, because the faith of which it speaks is dead.  Faith and works must go hand in hand.  Your talk must be matched by your walk.  As a friend of mine used to say: “If you don’t walk the walk, don’t talk the talk.  And surely it is our heart’s desire as God’s people that we not only talk but also walk.

            “O Master, let me walk with Thee.
             In lowly paths of service free;
             Tell me Thy secret, help me bear
             The strain of toil, the fret of care.”

Amen.