THE LETTER OF ST. JAMES

True NT Faith Produces Works

James 2:14-26

INTRODUCTION

Locus Classicus

When you come to this passage, you come to what is technically called in theological circles a locus classicus (a classical location or passage). The reason this passage qualifies for this description is that it has aroused so much passion and received so much attention on the part of NT scholars because of the controversy swirling around it.

The person who brought this passage to the forefront was Luther in the early 16th century. Luther, who championed Paul and what he believed was Paul's view of faith, felt that James 2:14ff. contradicted what Paul was saying in Romans and Galatians. He claimed that James taught salvation by works, whereas Paul was teaching salvation by faith. If he had had his way, he would have thrown James plus a few other books of the NT into the river, never to be heard of from again.

Luther's response to James 2:14ff. is disturbing for the following reasons:

1. if you throw out James, you are undermining the very foundation of the NT. Why do we include some books in the NT and not others? We include these books because we believe that all the books in the NT were written either by an apostle or by an associate of an apostle. As the church testifies weekly (all the churches except for those from the Baptist and Pentecostal traditions): "I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church" (Nicene Creed). Paul himself claimed that the church was built upon the foundation of the apostles (Eph. 2:20). He also asserts James as being significant for Christianity when he lists him as one of the primary witnesses of the resurrected Christ (1 Cor. 15:7). Now you may have written a good book; however, since you are not an apostle, then your book does not qualify as an authoritative NT entry. James was an apostle; therefore, his work is authoritative for us.
2. James and Paul actually agree as we shall see in this letter. James may not agree with Luther; however, he agrees with Paul. Agreeing with Paul is what is important, not agreeing with Luther.
3. if you throw out the teachings of James, then you had might as well throw out the teachings of Jesus. These 2 step-brothers who grew up in the same house and same village, raised for the most part by the same woman and man, are on the same page. Ever since I studied Jesus' teachings in depth, I realized that when I hear James, I really do hear his step-Brother. You can't dump James without dumping his step-Brother, Jesus.

THE MAIN ISSUE THE PASSAGE ADDRESSES

The primary issue this passage addresses is not the issue Martin Luther led us to believe it was. We get so stuck on the controversy between Luther and the Catholics of his day that we miss out on what the passage is really about. The first thirteen verses in chapter 2 deal with the issue of treatment of the poor. According to James we are not to prefer the rich over the poor. He listed the reasons in the first 13 verses of this chapter. Instead of showing preference to the rich at the expense of the poor, according to James we are to show mercy to the poor. The issue now becomes how to show mercy. Is showing mercy just a kind word spoke to someone who is suffering? Is showing mercy just having a heart which hurts for the down-and-out? James' answer will be a resounding, "No!" Mercy has feet. It is active. Christ who cares for the down-and-out (including you and me) did not simply feel sorry for us; He actively showed us mercy. In the same way, if we are truly going to be merciful, then we will act merciful in meaningful ways which addresses the hurts of the down-and-out. Anything less is bogus. Active mercy is the issue in these verses.

The secondary issue in this passage is the relationship between faith and works in general. Why would this even be an issue at all? The first reason is that the Jews had so much emphasized works as necessary for salvation that Paul (with James) had to argue that works, instead of saving a person, actually can keep a person from being saved—if that person is relying on works for his or her salvation, if those works are not proceeding from faith.

Why do works keep us from being saved if we are relying on them for salvation? Because they are not sufficient or powerful enough or good enough to save us. Mankind has fallen into a huge spiritual hole it can't get out of by itself. It needs a strong Man, a God who becomes Man, to get us out of this pit. Your death will never save you. Only the death of God the Son can save you or me. Works can't save us.

Some though go further and say then that works are not necessary. They are not necessary for salvation; however, they are necessary if we are going to be transformed into the kind of person God wants you go be—His son or daughter, the very purpose of salvation. Without us being transformed into the image of Christ which requires a faith which produces works, then our salvation is null and void. One person put it like this: "Faith alone saves, but faith is never alone." Legitimate New Testament faith, as we shall see, always produces works. Faith is not the same as works; however, genuine, live faith produces works, resulting in a Christ-like life. We shall see what James says about the faith which does NOT produce a Christ-like life, which does NOT result in good works.

How do works which flow from faith save us, that is transform us into sons and daughters of God? Think about this for a moment. Why do we put men and women into jail after they have murdered someone? Just to punish them? Why throw them into jail if they have a committed a crime? Is it all just about punishing somebody? I hope not. Don't we rather feel that if they've murdered, then they will murder again? Somehow or other we know that when people do certain acts, they cross a line--a line of change. The action changes them to such an extent that we will never ever trust them. That is a normal and also appropriate result when you hear the stories about murderers who have been released from jail only to murder again. The first kill is the hardest; it gets easier after that because the person has changed into a murderer. That's the kind of impact an action can have on a person.

The reverse is also true. Good actions which flow from faith can also change us--change us into literal sons and daughters of God.

PIERCING QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS (2:14, 17, 20, 26)

James asks (2:14): "What use it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but no works? Can that faith save him?" This is a rhetorical question. The answer is "No, that kind of faith will not save you!" Faith without works may exist; however, it is not a NT kind of faith, and it is not the kind of faith that will save you. James will expand upon this in verse 19.

Note very carefully that James did not say, "Can faith save him?" No, he asked, "Can that faith save him?" By "that faith" James is not referring to legitimate faith which necessarily produces works; he is referring to an inactive faith, one which does not produce works. Again, works are not standing alone; they are flowing from the fountain of faith.

James expands upon this last verse in v. 26: "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, even so faith without works is dead." A person can have a body without having a spirit. I've seen many many cases of just this very thing. Those bodies without spirits are corpses. A lot of people's faith is like this according to James; their faith is a corpse, not living at all. That faith won't save a single person.

"Oh, but what about the person who expressed faith in Jesus and yet doesn't produce good works?" James gives no comfort at all to such persons.

By no means do I want to get into the question of whether or not I've done enough for my salvation. That question has nothing to do with the issue of salvation. The goal of the works is not to perform enough works to tip the scales in our favor on judgment day. Rather, their goal is to transform us completely into the image of Christ. We must bear this in mind.

ILLUSTRATIONS (2:15-16, 18-19, 21-25)

Throughout this passage James lists several illustrations to demonstrate the practical nature of faith.

1. 2:15-16: If a fellow Christian is without food and clothing, blessing them merely with words is useless. In fact James asks: "What use is that?"
   Very quickly notice that the first illustration James uses deals with the poor, the theme of 2:1-13. James has not left this theme. He has just expanded and reinforced it.
   

2. 2:18: The existence of faith can only be proved by works. When James writes: "Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you faith by my works," he means that you can't show faith without works! It is impossible.
   

3. 2:19: In case you think that God only looks at the heart, James writes that demons have faith without works; they truly believe that Jesus is God the Son and that He died for the salvation of the world. Yet look at what their destiny is going to be—an eternity in hell, simply because their faith was not saving faith, it didn't produce the works of Christ. In fact, the demons prove 2 things:
   • you can have faith and yet be a rebel
   • you can have faith and go to hell.

On the other hand, a sin unfortunately others are guilty of, works which do not proceed from faith is the sin of the Pharisees. They will spend eternity with Satan.

1. 2:21-23: Abraham's faith was completed by his works. His faith had to produce works; otherwise, it would have been like a woman birthing a still-born child.
   

2. 2:25: Finally, Rahab the prostitute demonstrated her faith that the Israelites were God's people by hiding the Israelite spies. To claim she believed they were God's people and yet refuse to shield them would have been contradictory.
   

   Note the contrast between the last 2 illustrations. Abraham, the father of faith, a truly righteous man showed by his works that he truly had faith. On the other hand, Rahab, a prostitute, had saving faith because she demonstrated it by her works. Not only do the unrighteous like Rahab the prostitute have to have a faith which works in order to be saved, righteous people like Abraham likewise have to have a living, work-producing faith in order to be saved. The "righteous" and the unrighteous all must have faith which produces works if they are going to be saved.

THE PURPOSE OF WORKS

I know this is like beating a dead horse, but it is one dead horse which needs constant beating. Why won't works alone save you? The problem with that question is that it misunderstands the idea of "salvation." For most Protestant Christians, salvation means nothing more than going to heaven; salvation consists primarily of a change of location. First, going to heaven is a part of salvation; however, it is NOT the only part of salvation and I don't even think it is the major part of salvation. A change of location doesn't really matter because even though you change locations, you still take yourself to that new location. For example, if living in the most beautiful place makes you happy, then the people living in Zurich, Switzerland should be the happiest people in the world; yet Zurich until recently was a haven for the drug addicts of Europe (see how well that worked out: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/13/opinion/l-case-for-decriminalizing-drugs-dies-in-zurich-509292.html). Remember Pogo claimed that he had seen the enemy and the enemy is us, and he was right. We have to be changed for heaven to be heaven.

Second, Christ saved us because we were in sin. He has saved us from sin so that we might live lives of righteousness, that we might truly be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, that we might truly become the kinds of sons and daughters of God that Jesus is. That involves transformation and it will affect the works we produce. A good tree WILL produce good fruit, and a bad tree WILL produce bad fruit. It is that simple. Not to be transformed (which leads to a transformed life and transformed actions) contradicts the very reason Christ died for you and me. Not being changed into the image of Christ contradicts the whole purpose of salvation.

Let me show you how works operate in developing us. For the past 61 years, I have been the son of Carey Ford, Jr. I always knew I was his son, but that sonship became so much more real to me at the beginning of the 2014 fall semester when I was asked to give the story of his life to multiple groups at Navarro College. The more I told the story, the more I felt that I was honoring my dad, something good sons should always do (good sons brag about their dads, normally that their dads can beat up all the dads of the other kids on the block.) My talking (doing something) about my dad made me more of his son than before. My sonship became more real to me than ever before even though I had been his son for 61 years.

CONCLUSION

Let's now tie up this passage by relating it to its context—the treatment of the poor. The law of Christianity is the law of mercy: if I have any chance of being saved, I must receive God's mercy. Moreover, if I am to expect to receive mercy from the Lord on that day of judgment, then I should have shown mercy and pity during my lifetime. His merciful action toward me should have changed me to such an extent that I now show mercy to the down-and-out. I will be judged by the same standard I treated others (Matt. 7:1-5). Whatever else mercy and pity entail, they entail showing mercy and pity to the Christian poor! James is saying that you can claim that you have mercy all day long; however, if you do not take practical, actual steps in helping the poor, your claim is empty words. God will then NOT judge you on the basis of mercy and pity but on the basis of the law of Moses. That is not a situation you will want to face.

P.S. Good news. We are going to have even better opportunities to help the down-and-out because Catholic charities is about to open up an office in Corsicana.