James

Faith and Works

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Faith and Works

Genre: Sermon

Lesson: 7 of 16

Track: #25

Year:

Dictation Name: RR328N25

[Rushdoony] Let us worship God. Not unto us oh Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake help us oh God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name, and deliver us and purge away our sins for Thy name’s sake. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God we give thanks unto Thee that we are Thy people, that we have a place in Thy providence and in Thy plan for all time and for all eternity, and so we come to thank Thee our Father, to rejoice in Thy providential care and we know that whatsoever things we endure are a part of our preparation, our testing, for Thine eternal purposes for us. Teach us therefore so to walk that in faith and in confidence we take all things as coming from Thine hands. We understand Thy grace and love is manifest even in the most grievous events and we rejoice that Thy perfect wisdom governs all things. Our God how great Thou art, and we thank Thee, we praise Thee, in Jesus name amen.

Our scripture is the second chapter of James verses 14-26, our subject Faith and Works. James 2:14-26.

“14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

This may well be the most controversial text in all the Bible. Many avoid James because they will not face up to this text. We need to recognize that much can be separated in analysis that cannot be separated in life. We can and of necessity do analyze the human respiratory system, and the circulatory system separately, but neither can exist without the other. Faith in theology is tied to the doctrine of salvation; works to sanctification. But just as breathing is necessary for the life of the heart, so too are works to a living faith. This is why James can say “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?” Those who would separate faith and works can only do so theologically, and it must be done, but in life the two are inseparable. To take a theological distinction and assume that in life what is otherwise valid and necessary is a radical separation of one from the other and it confuses deception with life. James confronts us with this fact, “14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” Can a man live without lungs and with a heart only? James then uses a very practical illustration of the interconnectedness of faith and works. Given the need for charity in the Jerusalem Christian synagogue, and like churches elsewhere, his example is both blunt, and real. If a fellow believer is naked and devoid of food, and we simply say to him “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled” or “we will pray for you brother” and you do nothing, what good is all this? Such a professed faith, having no works, James says, is dead. It is dead because faith cannot stand alone, it manifests itself in works. A living faith manifests itself in works. James is not anti-theology, what he is against is a separation of theology from life, the reduction of faith to easy believism and the negation of action as the expression of faith.

Neither valid faith nor valid works can be separated the one from the other. How can any man demonstrate a valid faith without works? Faith, he says, is show by works. Simple belief saves no man, James tells us “thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” A more blunt and telling of the case cannot be imagined. Those in hell, beginning with the very devils, believe that God is, the knowledge makes them tremble but it does not save them.

“ 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Such a man is called vain by James. The word in the Greek is kenos, meaning empty, foolish, senseless, purposeless, it is highly uncomplimentary. James does not dignify the position as one of valid dissent, it is a fool’s opinion, how much worse those who are not up the level of the devils in hell, they say they don’t believe in God. Always remember the statement of the Freudian psychoanalyst, Theodore Reik, a pupil of Freud no less, who said bar none he had never known a psychoanalyst or psychiatrist who did not deny believing in God, nor had he ever known one who was not afraid of God.

Then in verses 21-24 James turns to Abraham, the covenant father revered alike by Jews and Christians. He says, without qualification, that Abraham was justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar. The reality of Abrahams faith was manifested in his readiness to obey God, even to binding Isaac to the altar. God waited until Abraham’s faith was shown by his works before he delivered Isaac. James continues verse twenty-two: “22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” Literally, James says, faith worked with his works, faith became a works, a realization of itself. Faith expressed itself, or revealed itself in works, there’s an essential connection between the two. This, James says, is what the scripture means when it says “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”

It is in II Chronicles 20 verse 7 that Abraham is called God’s friend forever. In Genesis 15 verse 16 we are told that Abraham believed in the Lord and He counted it to Him for righteousness. Paul cites this verse in Romans 4 verse 3 and Galatians 3 verse 6, Paul uses the text to criticize works salvation, James to call attention to the emptiness of faith without works. It was Paul when Romans 3:31 said “Do we then make void the law through faith?” God forbid, we establish the law.” Above all our Lord in Matthew 7:16-23 makes totally clear that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” that is, by their works. It is plain, James insists, that a man is justified by his works, not by faith only. Works manifest the reality of a man’s faith. Works are faith in action so that his justification is shown to be real by his works, not by his faith only.

James then gives another illustration, Rahab. The account in Joshua makes obvious the terror of the people of Jericho. They knew what God had done to other peoples so that they believed that the God of the Hebrews was working to destroy their enemies. In other words, they all believed in God, they were terrified of them, but only Rahab acted on that faith. Her works alone showed the reality of her faith. Hence James says, she was justified by her works, that is her justification was manifested in her works. Very clear in all that James has to say is that both faith and works have reference to God and to His law. The council of Trent related faith to assent to the church, they stated it very flatly, faith is to assent to the church. But too many protestant groups have in practice tended to do the same thing. A man of faith is the man who says “yes” to the church. Both faith and works must be seen as essentially a trust in and an obedience to God and His inscriptured word.

James concludes with another blunt statement “26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James does not say it is weak, but rather that it is dead. Here again, as in the Sermon on the Mount and all the gospels and epistles, we are told how to judge righteous judgment. There are many who follow ancient Greek thinking to say that we cannot know a man’s heart and therefore cannot judge him, whereas our Lord says plainly “by their fruits ye shall know them.” Works are faith in action, faith made manifest. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee that Thy word speaks plainly, give us hearing ears that we may believe and obey. WE thank Thee our Father that Thou hast summoned us to a living faith, to believe and to obey, to believe and to act, to do that which Thou hast commanded. Give us obedient hearts we beseech Thee, in Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? As you can see from this text how hard-hitting James is, it’s a very interesting thing that while our Lord is clearly very God of very God he’s also very many of very man, and He was a very plain and blunt person, and so too are James and Jude, His brothers. They have that same unwillingness to beat around the bush or to waste words, they speak out very bluntly and plainly. Perhaps it was a bit easier for them to do it because after all James was a highly regarded leader of the early church, the first generation or half a generation, no-one had a greater reputation then James, and even the non-Christian Jews are said to have regarded James with great respect. Well if there are no questions let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we thank Thee for this Thy word, we thank Thee that Thou hast spoken so plainly through Thy servants, we are in need of plain speaking for too often we try to evade Thy plain and uncompromising word. Give us hearing ears that we may hear and obey, give us faith that acts, that works, so that we may serve Thee with all our heart, mind, and being. And now go in peace God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.