James 2:14-24

James 2:14-34

Living Faith

More than the right words

Evidence by Obedience

Faith vs. Works?

14 “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him?” 15 “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.” 16 “If 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?” Not about having the right answer, it is not a quiz. People who say things but do not follow the things even they say. Are we just telling God what he wants to hear? It’s not just enough to SAY the right thing. We need to DO the right thing. If you think your faith is KNOWING what to do, then you are wrong, faith is ACTING upon what to do. If someone were to look at the things you SAY… would they be able to see your faith? 17 “In the same way, faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action is dead.” 18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith, I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my ____” 19 “You believe that there is one God, good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder” Mental assent alone is not enough. You can say you believe in God, but that only puts you on the same level as Satan. Receiving a personal relationship with God is necessary to follow God in the right way. 20 “You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” 21 “Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son on the altar?” 22 “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” 23 “And the scripture was fulfilled that says ‘Abraham Believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’ and he was called God’s friend.” God asked for Abraham to offer Isaac to Him as a sacrifice and Abraham went to do so, then God told him that he didn’t need to sacrifice his son anymore because God then saw that Abraham had all faith in Him. 24 “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” James was writing to the Jews using dikaioo differently. Meaning to RENDER righteousness, which means to SHOW that you have been made righteous. Verse 24 means to SHOW that you have faith and to SHOW that you have been justified. We only see what people do in their lives, this is OUR way to discern their faith. God can see into hearts… we cannot.

It is possible to know ABOUT God without KNOWING God. It is called Nominalism. It’s not just about BELIEVING.

Justified in greek is dikaioo which means “made right”.

What kind of faith do you have?

-Dead faith

-Merely words and beliefs

-Living faith

-Evidence by Obedience

Matt 5: 14-16

Luke 13: 24-27

Matthew 21: 28-31

Romans 3:28

Ephesians 2, 8, 9

Galatians 3: 8-9-11