James - James 2:14-26

Self-deception is dangerous. It can kill you. There are people today, they have pains in their chest, but oh well, it's just gas pains, nothing to worry about, and then there's going to be a heart attack. Or they hear a noise in the motor of the automobile and say, well, it's nothing too bad, then there's going to be an accident. Self-deception, it can kill us, and that's why James deals with it in his letter. 

For example, in James 1:6, he talks about people who are deluded in their praying. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. Here's a man who's praying, praying earnestly that God will do something about some situation or some person or some need, but he's not going to get anything. He's just deluding himself. Why? He's not a wise Christian; he's a wavering Christian. He's up and down. Unbelief says no, and faith says yes, and doubt says yes and no, and just lives on a roller coaster, up and down. Here's a man who's deluded in his praying. He is self-deceived; he thinks his prayers are going to be answered. 

In James 1:13-16, James talks about people who are deceived in times of temptation. He says, do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. By what? By the fact that you say that God is the tempter. I'm tempted by God. You're going through times of difficulty and you blame God. Well, that's self-deception. 

Some people are self-deceived when they're studying their Bible. In James 1:22, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Can you imagine that? Studying the Word of God, and all the while we're doing it, we're deceiving ourselves? How are we deceiving ourselves? Well, he tells us. We see ourselves in the mirror of the Word and don't do anything about it. We read the Word and say, yes, that's the Word of God, and go away and forget all about it. We think that we get the blessing by reading the Word, or outlining the Word, or understanding the Word, or reading the footnotes in the study Bible, and we say, oh my, I have grown spiritually. James says you're just deceiving yourself. You grow by doing the Word of God. Verse 25, this one will be blessed in what he does. Literally, this man will be blessed in the doing of it, not in the reading of it, or the studying of it, or even the understanding of it. But a lot of people mark their Bibles, and their Bible never marks them. It never changes their lives. 

In James 1:26-27, he's talking about people who are deceived about their reputation. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Oh, there are a lot of people who have a good reputation. These are godly people. But they gossip, they backbite, they criticize. But if you ask them, oh yes, yes, I have a good testimony for the Lord. James says they're fooling themselves. 

Well, it's a terrible thing to fool yourself in your praying, or in times of temptation, or when you're studying your Bible, or when you're out trying to give your testimony. But the most dangerous kind of self-deception is talked about in James 2:14-26. We are deceived about our faith. Now, faith is the key thing. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. By grace are you saved through faith. The just shall live by faith. Faith is the key thing. Now, faith is not believing in spite of evidence. Faith means taking God at His Word and obeying. I think it was Dr. Studdert Kennedy who used to say, faith is not believing in spite of evidence; it is obeying in spite of consequence. And that's true. Faith involves the whole person, and this is what James has to say about faith. 

James 2:14: What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect, brought to maturity? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. 

What's he talking about here? Well, it's a warning. He's warning us against counterfeit faith. Notice the emphasis on talking. If someone says, verse 14. And one of you says, verse 16. But someone will say, verse 18. It's the contrast between saying and doing. Oh, our religious life can be so wrapped up in words. Saying the right words in prayer, saying the right words in quoting Scripture, singing the right words in the worship service. So many words, words, words. But James is saying, fine, it's good to have a confession of faith. But oh, if your words are not backed up by works. If conversation is not backed up by a committed life, it's all empty and vain and dead. 

Now, this is not a new warning. You find this warning throughout Scripture. When John the Baptist was preaching, he saw the multitudes coming out to him, especially the Pharisees and the scribes. And in Luke 3:7, John the Baptist said this: Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say—there it is again, saying—we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. In other words, John the Baptist, when he was preaching, was saying, produce fruits in your life that prove you've been born from above. Don't depend on saying. 

The Lord Jesus said the same thing. Matthew 7:21, at the conclusion of what we call the Sermon on the Mount: Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day—notice that word many—Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? That's preaching. Cast out demons in Your name? That's miracles. And done many wonders in Your name? Healing and so forth. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. Then He closes with the parable of the builders. He says you better build your house on the rock, not on the sand. What's it mean to build on the rock? To do the will of God. Not to just talk about it, say this or say that, but to do it. 

The Apostle Paul had the same emphasis. In fact, the little letter he wrote to Titus emphasizes good works, not just sound doctrine, but good works. Titus 1:16: They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Now there are people in our churches who profess to know God. You watch their lives, you'd never know it. You'd never believe it. You'd never believe that they really knew the Lord. It's all a matter of saying, saying. 

The Apostle John has the same warning. 1 John 1:6: If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Verse 8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Verse 10: If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 1 John 2:4: He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Verse 6 of chapter 2: He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. In other words, the whole emphasis is not on saying, saying, but on living, living, doing the will of God. 

Now, we're not saved by faith plus works. There are some of you listening who may say, well yes, I've trusted Jesus and I'm trying to do this and do that. No, no. We're saved by faith alone, but as Martin Luther said, we are not saved by a faith that is alone. What is the accompaniment of that faith? Works. A life that is changed. A life that has been transformed by the grace and power of God. We're not saved by faith plus works; we're saved by a faith that produces works, a living faith that shows up in our daily lives. 

Now, James is encouraging us here in James 2:14-26, he's encouraging us to test our faith to see if it's genuine or counterfeit, living or dead. Well, how are you going to do this? Well, James tests our faith by asking us to respond to four different witnesses. That's interesting. We have four different witnesses in this paragraph, and you and I are going to respond to these witnesses. 

James 2:15-17, a needy believer, a brother or sister who needs food and clothing. How do you respond? 

James 2:18-20, the demons. Do you mean the demons test our faith? They certainly do. 

James 2:21-24, Abraham. 

And then James 2:25-26, Rahab the harlot. 

Now here are four witnesses that James parades before us, and he says how do you respond to them? Let's start with the first: a needy brother or sister. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that kind of faith save him? And the answer is no. Anybody who professes to be a Christian who does not produce good works is not born again. If the life is not transformed, if there's not that obedience to the Word of God that is a blessing to other people, then life is not present; it is dead faith. 

Now he describes the test. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food. Here we have another poor person coming in. At the beginning of this chapter, the poor person came into the church and the usher said, here, sit on the floor, or get out of the way. Now here is a brother or a sister who needs food and clothing. And so what do we say? Oh, depart in peace, be warmed and filled. But we don't give them the things that are needed. What kind of faith is that? 

Now here are needy people in the church. As you read through the book of James, you discover that this assembly, or the assemblies he was writing to, was made up of people who were some rich, some poor, some businessmen, some farmers, some had a lot of money, some were waiting for their wages to be paid. James has a lot to say about poor people. Now when we meet a brother or sister who is in need, we have an obligation to love them. 1 John 3:16: By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. 1 John 3:16 sounds like John 3:16, doesn't it? That God so loved the world He gave His Son. But notice how it ends. We all know John 3:16; how about 1 John 3:16? And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 

Well, God doesn't ask many of us to do that. We ought to be willing, but we aren't even willing sometimes to share the necessities of life. John goes on to say, but whoever has this world's goods—now you can have this world's goods and not have the next world's goods—and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word—now there it is again, if we say, if we say—or in tongue—that means words that are lies—but in deed and in truth. The opposite of loving in word is loving in deed. The opposite of loving in tongue is loving in truth. Sometimes we speak words that are lies. Oh yes, we'll be glad to help you. Let me know if I can do anything. We have no intention of doing a thing. You see, when you and I see someone who is in need, we have an obligation to show love and an opportunity to prove our faith. You see, when you help somebody else, you don't know what's going to happen. That person may misuse what you do. That person may abuse you. We don't know what's going to happen. We're doing it by faith. We're showing we have faith in the Lord, and His love is operating in our lives. 

By the way, faith and love go together. Galatians 5:6: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Did you get that? Galatians 5:6: faith working through love. Now God wants a faith that controls the whole person. Faith must get ahold of the mind. Faith is not based on ignorance; it's based on intelligence. We know the truth of the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. So faith gets ahold of the mind. We know the truth. Faith moves the heart. Faith works by love. And faith operates on the will. Faith helps us to obey. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. By the way, you find the same balance in Hebrews 11:7 talking about Noah. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not seen—now there's the mind, he had the truth—moved with godly fear—now there's the emotions, his heart was stirred—prepared an ark—now there's the will. He proved his faith by his works. 

Now too many people have a dead faith. It's up in their mind only. They've got a good creed, oh, they can confess what's in the catechism, but they don't practice compassion. It's all words. There's no love. If I have true faith in my inner being, if my life is where it ought to be with the Lord, then it's going to fill my mind with truth, and it's going to fill my heart with love, and it's going to fill my will with discipline and service. It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. 

Here's test number one: a needy believer. You know, all of us get letters in the mail, we're told about hungry children, and we're told about prisoners who need help. There are a lot of things that can be done today with our praying and our serving and our giving. Sometimes we get hard hearts. We just close up our heart of compassion and say, oh boy, one more letter, and you throw it away without opening it. Well, let's be careful. It's easy to develop a hard heart. If we really have faith, when we are confronted by a need in somebody else's life, faith is going to work by love, and we'll try to do something about it. Now maybe we can't, and we have to use discernment. I know that. I've pastored three churches. I know what it's like for people to come to the door and say, oh, we're going through town and our car broke down, or somebody stole our clothes. And then you phone two or three other churches and find out the same people showed up at those churches as well. I know, there are people out there who are panhandlers. I know, there are people out there who live by lying and begging. But there are also in our assemblies people who are hurting and people who need help, and we don't know about it. We're just not conscious of it. And of course, we leave it with the preacher and let him do it. Well, may the Lord help us to be faithful to serve Him and do the job He's called us to do.

[Interview:]

Arnie Cole: Warren, it says in James 1:5, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Do you think most people, Christians included, understand the wisdom of God?

Warren Wiersbe: The book of James focuses on maturity. And the book of James wants us to have spiritual wisdom and not just spiritual knowledge. I recall one of the churches I pastored, there was a man in the church who had a very big thick study Bible, and you'd think he knew all about the Bible. He was one of the hardest men to get along with I ever knew. He never translated it into flesh and blood. James wants us to have wisdom, which simply is the proper use of knowledge. And as I read my Bible, there's a lot of knowledge in there, wonderful, but God wants to turn that knowledge into wisdom, which means I know how to use this. So James is simply saying to us: move out from knowledge to wisdom. Knowledge says I know it; wisdom says I live it. And there's a big difference.