442: Faith Without Works is Dead | Tim Henderson

Alright, you guys. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I want to invite you guys to come to my Sunday school class. We are doing a massive three-year long comprehensive study of Christian doctrine. We're covering all 10 of the main doctrines of Christianity, but we're doing it one bite at a time. I cannot think of a more efficient way for you to achieve the knowledge of basically a seminary education.

If you're coming to the second service and getting here at eleven, come at ten. Come an hour early. If you come an hour early, you don't have to drive anywhere else. You're already making the trip. Just get up a little bit earlier. And if you come and join us right here in this room, I just promise you it is super engaging, it's accessible. And when the whole thing is over, you're gonna have such a superior understanding of so many aspects of your faith.

We just today started a new mini series on the atonement of Christ. Next week's gonna be about Christus Victor. And if you don't know what that means, come and find out. If you don't like it, we'll give you your money back. It's gonna be great.

Whether you come or not, we're gonna continue right here our series on the book of James. I don't even know how many weeks in—five, six weeks into it. And we come today to easily the most controversial passage in James. This is the thing that gives everybody fits. It is also the central thing that he says. It's the most important passage in James. It's the heart of the book. And it really shouldn't be the source of consternation that it is.

James' words here are consistent with what Jesus taught in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. It's entirely lined up with what Paul teaches in his many letters and what John says in his and what Peter says in his. This is just orthodox, basic, reasonable Christianity. But it has caused people a lot of fits.

So I'm gonna read you the big question that James kicks us off with, then we're gonna talk about it.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he does not have works? Can that faith save him? — James 2:14

That's the question. His answer to that question is the thing that causes controversy. But before we look at his answer, I want to help you consider why he's even asking it in the first place. And I think the best way that we can do that is to review or recall the central claim of Christianity itself. This is simply what we call the gospel.

Now, the word gospel means good news. Euangelion is a Greek word. It means the good news. Good news implies news. Something is new. Something has happened. What has happened has implications. And if we're really gonna understand the gospel, we need to be able to ask and answer three questions.

Number one: what happened?

Number two: how did it happen?

Number three: so what?

We need the what, the how, and the so what of this thing. My experience is that most Christians really could not fill in this chart. But let me begin with the most obvious thing.

If we talk about what is the essence of the Christian message, what is the gospel, what does it contain, certainly we'd have to include the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus went to a cross, drank the wrath of God for sinners, and was so great that God raised him from the dead. That absolutely is central to our story, but it fits in the how. A lot of people would put it in the what category. We're not gonna do that because I don't think that's really where it belongs. It's really a how. It is not the headline.

The death of Christ and his resurrection—the things that happened that weekend—it is absolutely the moment that the world changed. But believe it or not, that's not the headline. It's the how. What brought it about, the great news, is not quite as obvious to most Christians. So I'm gonna save it for a minute. We'll get to that in just a few seconds.

Now move on to the so what. That category—this furthest right category—really breaks down into two subcategories: what do we get and how do we get it? What are the implications of this? What is the benefit that was purchased for us when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead?

And the benefits that we get because of this great news are innumerable. Right? We get forgiveness. We get peace with God. That enmity has been brought to a close. We get to live forever. That's massive.

That shows up over and over and over again. Eternal life that you're gonna live for a hundred billion trillion years and then a hundred billion trillion more is massive. We get to live forever. We're given his spirit. God places his own spirit. This third person of the trinity comes to live in us so that we can live obedient lives. He moves us to follow his decrees and laws. All these things are just enormous and immense. But none of them are as great as the central promise of the gospel, which is that we get him. He is the prize. He is the treasure. He is the chief benefit. He is what makes the good news good. And by the way, we get him forever. Intimacy with God, that we are invited into this dance of the father, son, and holy spirit, and we get to be in that dance forever in a renewed world, that is what we get.

And how do we get it? If Jesus died on the cross, he rose from the dead, we get all these things, how do we get it? You guys, by faith. We believe. Now this also gives people fits because it's completely insane. All of this, all of it is yours simply for the asking? If you would just trust him and believe that it would all be yours. That's exactly right. The thing that gives us access to all of this, that allows us to have it, is that we get to the point that we trust that this offer is real. It's all true, and it's all for us. And by simply believing that, it becomes ours.

Now that might feel actually relatively comprehensive to you. And like a lot of Christians, you might wonder, well, what's missing? What's the what? Have we got the death and the resurrection, and we got all these benefits, and it's all by faith. Blue Ridge fellows, what is missing from this? Jesus became king. I beat this into their heads every year. Jesus became king. You guys, that is the good news. The goodest news of the goodest news is that the previous prince of this world has been overthrown. Satan's reign of terror has ended. The wicked usurper has been cast down. And Jesus, who has always been God, but who became a man, became a human being, lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death in our place, absorbing the wrath of God against sin, and then rose from the dead victorious. And as a result, he was crowned king of the cosmos. By means of his substitutionary death and his death defeating resurrection, Jesus has been made lord, kurios, king. And as king, he has the authority to invite you out of this old domain of darkness and into a new kingdom of light. And when he does, it's astonishing, but he grants full amnesty. All the shady stuff you pulled living as members of this old wretched kingdom will be forgiven. You will be given full access to the father. His spirit will be placed in you to move you so that you can obey him. And he promises that when he comes back as king of the cosmos, he will raise us from the dead to live forever with him in a renewed creation and that forever. It is absolutely extraordinary and all of it, all of it is a gift given as a grace and received by faith. And that is exceptionally good news.

But it leaves some people puzzled. Some would hear that, and even know you've been alive any length of time. If it's too good to be true, it ain't. And we're like, you're like, come on. Really? Yes. Really. This is the one thing in the world that is not too good to be true. It is as true as you think. It is as good as it could possibly be. But others will look at it and they're not puzzled by the extreme goodness of it, but they think they see a loophole that leaves them thinking, you know what? If all you have to do is say, I believe, and you get all this, then what a deal that would be. What a scam that you could run. I could—are you telling me that I could just live a riotous life, just live with absolute impunity, and be like, I believe, and have a get out of jail free card? And that easy believism is what James is writing about. And he's not the only one. It shows up over and over again. The New Testament constantly rebukes the idea that you could say you believe without actually believing and then cash in on all these benefits.

You guys, of course, you can't say you believe unless you actually believe. And, of course, if you actually believe, it's gonna completely change your life necessarily. And that is what James is talking about.

Jesus on Belief and Action

Now we're gonna come back. We're gonna go to verse 14 again, and we're gonna unpack what he says. But before we do, I just wanna give you James' context. He loves his brother, Jesus, and he likes to cite Jesus. Paul loves his brother, Jesus. He's gonna cite Jesus. They're all gonna be talking about the same thing. Here's how Jesus puts it. It's the passage that I think was it Barbara? Did you read this one to us? This is the passage from Luke six. Just listen to this.

Why do you call me lord, lord and not do what I say? — Luke 6

Isn't that stupid?

I will show you what he's like who comes to me and hears my word and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood came and the torrent struck that house, it could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice—that's the guy that says, "Lord, Lord," but doesn't do what he says. He is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. And the moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. — Luke 6

Jesus is saying, listen: you can't say that you believe that I'm your king and then not follow my instructions. That's just silly, right?

If I were to tell you right now in this building that the roof is on fire—I get something in my earpiece saying they're reporting a fire—I'd say, "Hey, the roof is on fire. Evacuate the building. I'm like, you guys, the building's on fire, but it's okay because I know a way out. Follow me and you won't be destroyed when this thing collapses down on you." And you sit in your pew and you're like, "Yeah, you know what? I think it is on fire." But you don't follow me out of the building. Then I don't believe that you believe. Because if you believed, you would necessarily take action. That's what Jesus is saying. You can't say that I'm lord, lord and not do what I say.

Paul says the same thing in Romans 6. He's just explained that we can't possibly out sin the grace of God. We can't go beyond it. And what this is supposed to do is flood our hearts with love and admiration and worship that produces obedience. But Paul says:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin so that grace may abound? Do we say, "Oh, I get it. No matter what I do you'll constantly forgive me? Then I'm just gonna live a wicked life and just cash in"? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? — Romans 6

Paul, just like Jesus, just like James, is not saying that we're saved by our obedience. He's not saying that we're saved from our obedience. We're saved to obedience. We are loved and we are changed so that we can worship him with integrity. We are given kingdom transfer so that we can live as new members, new citizens of this kingdom.

Faith Must Produce Works

So back to James. Here's his question:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but doesn't have works? Can that faith save him? — James 2:14

And James' answer is, of course not. The fact that you claim to have faith doesn't mean that you actually have faith. If the evidence is that your life hasn't changed and it hasn't changed for the better, well, that pretty loudly suggests that you don't have faith. You don't think that any of this is true.

And the whole thing hangs on actually trusting him, not just saying that you trust him. Which is why James is gonna say three times—in verse 17, 20, and 26:

Faith by itself, if it doesn't have works, is dead. — James 2:26

Faith apart from works is useless. — James 2:20

Faith apart from works is dead. — James 2:26

What James is saying is the very basic notion that the behavior of our lives is the evidence of our faith. It demonstrates the hidden reality of what we really think.

James gives some examples. He's gonna talk about a prostitute named Rahab, and he's gonna talk about Abraham, the father of Judaism. And he's intentionally picking polar opposites here.

What Rahab the prostitute and Abraham the father of our faith had in common is number one: they both believed. They both saw something. They both did the math and they both realized, "Oh, I see what's going to happen. I see what you are like. I believe it." And then they both, within their own faith paradigm, took meaningful action. Rahab believed and she acted. Abraham believed and he acted.

I think what James is doing is he's intentionally giving us a spectrum. It is probably the case that everyone in this room falls somewhere on a spectrum between a prostitute and Abraham, great father of Judaism. We're somewhere in that range. And what he's saying is: some of you, God bless you, you're over here on one side of that spectrum. All you need to do is believe. Just trust him. And if you do, not only will that manifest itself in meaningful ways in your life, but all these benefits are yours.

And if you're over here and you're Abraham and you think that your own righteousness is gonna save the day, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Wherever you're at on this spectrum, nobody is so bad that they don't get to believe. Nobody is so good that they don't need this gift. Anywhere you exist on the spectrum, it's for you. And there is nothing outside of it.

Now, let me try to make this super clear. One of Christianity's very favorite passages to summarize the gospel is Ephesians 2:8-9. Right? And it is a great passage. How many of you—I won't make you do it—how many of you know Ephesians 2:8-9? Does this hop off the page to you? Is this familiar? I mean, you should.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not a result of works that no one should boast. — Ephesians 2:8-9

We know this passage. Now, it's not really a summary of the full gospel message. It's really a summary of that third column. It's telling us a little bit more about what do we get and how do we get it. And that's great. Paul is trying to do in that brief statement is cover the rest of it at other times. This is what we get. This is how we get it. Right?

But the problem with that passage when we pull it out and isolate it is that you could look at it and you could reasonably conclude: Okay. The whole gospel message is this—that if I believe, then I go to heaven. Or if I believe, I get eternal life. If I believe, then he'll forgive me. If I believe, then I got these things. Right? And we create this very simple equation. I want to summarize it as faith equals heaven. Right? And you guys, that's true, actually. It's true-ish.

But some people would look at that and they'd be like, yeah, but hang on a second. Doesn't that allow for this kind of easy believism—just live a wicked life and then just cash in your get-out-of-jail-free card? Doesn't it do that? And they're uncomfortable with it, and so they want to correct it. And I get that impulse because, of course, our lives will be changed. But here's how it tends to get changed. We replace that equation with this equation, and we'll say faith plus obedience equals heaven. I believe in Jesus and then I'd be a really good little boy and then I'll get all the benefits. And you guys, that's a huge problem. That's not the gospel message.

If we embrace that and if you were to hear us teaching that this morning, then at the end of the day, you would end up congratulating yourself for your own righteousness. It does not depend on you. It depends on the finished work of Christ.

And so here is, I think, a better equation. It would go like this: faith equals heaven plus obedience. That when we trust Christ, not only do we get this giant bucket of all of his gifts, but also necessarily our lives are changed. The proponents of that second equation are right that our obedience is missing from the first. But they've placed the obedience on the wrong side. They made salvation depend not on the finished work of Christ, but on our obedience and that will never do.

This yellow one is the right answer. The obedient life that James is saying must be present. But obedience is always the result, not the requirement. It is always the consequence, not the condition. Does this make sense? This is so important. I want you to understand it. It is absolutely true that the equation doesn't balance without it. It must be added in. But it is just as crucial that you put it on the right side of the equation.

Obedient lives are the necessary evidence that our faith is real. And if you claim to believe in Jesus, but you don't do what he says, I don't believe you when you say that you believe. And neither does James.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. — Jesus

And we do love him. We love him because he first loved us and we joyfully live out that love by choosing to do the things that please him. He loves it when we trust him and we subordinate our lives to his wisdom, his brilliance, his goodness, and his love. We obey him because he's a good king and a gracious savior. And we obey him because we love him who first loved us.

Now, super important. So you may feel like I'm done. I'm not even close to being done. So come back to me. If we leave it right there, there would be the risk—the very real risk—that you think, that I think, to become a Christian and you're just holy to the end of the days.

Couple of options here. If that's what I'm saying, if that's what you think I'm saying, you will be tempted to do one of two things. Number one, leave because I'm a liar and you won't like me anymore.

Or number two, you will think I'm telling the truth and that maybe others have that and that we all have our lives put together and we're just so holy and so good and that you better pretend that you're good too or you won't fit in in this crowd.

Your life as a follower of Christ must be marked by obedience, but that obedience will be intermittent. I wish it wasn't, but it is intermittent. In and out. In and out. Here's what your life is gonna look like necessarily. The Christian life is a life of sin and repentance. Sin and repentance. Sin and repentance. Sin and repentance. It just is. That's who we are. That's how we're built.

When the day will come when this death suit that we are forced to wear will be replaced by a glorified body. When our redemption will be complete, we will be glorified, and the world will be different. We will be different. But this isn't that day.

Here's the thing. Though your life will be a trading in between sin and repentance, you got a couple of options. It could look like this. Sin, repentance. Sin, repentance. Sin, or or or or or it could look like this. It could be sin and repentance. Sin and repentance. Sin and repentance. You feel the difference?

We are assigned curvy people. It's just the deal. Until our redemption is fully accomplished, that's going to be the deal. But we have the power. We have the opportunity to cooperate with the spirit that when we blow it again, to repent quickly, and to avail ourself of his grace once again and reclaim our birthright as obedient followers of the king. You with me?

We are not a perfected people, but nor are we to just slack off and just ride this thing all our way out. He's the king. We want to be what he wants us to be. We want to repent quickly. Shorten the interval from sin to repentance, and lengthen the interval from repentance to sin. You with me?

Application

So where does this land for you? Here's some possibilities. Let's talk about alcohol. I spent thirteen years working at a big 10 university, and those kids can drink. Beer flows like wine, and the women flock instinctively like the salmon of Capistrano. It is a mess up there. And then I come to Roanoke, where you're on a bunch of riotous college drunks. But did you know there's an awful lot of adult Christians who no longer find themselves in the riotous days of college, who give themselves a great deal of freedom with alcohol. And the funny thing about that is that freedom with alcohol often ends with slavery to alcohol. And that might be something that you need to repent of.

If it's not alcohol, who knows what it is? Maybe it's your anger. Maybe it's your lack of generosity. Maybe it is your disregard of the poor, your unconcern about the lost, passivity regarding your children's discipleship. Maybe it is the unwarranted sexual freedom that you grant yourself. Maybe it's gossip. And maybe I didn't hit yours. But your life too is marked, almost certainly, by sin and repentance, sin and repentance, sin and repentance.

Is there something at this moment that you need to repent of? You say, I've just granted myself permission that was not mine to grant. If you find yourself in the sin part of the sin and repentance cycle, repent. Turn to him in obedience. Cling to him for his grace to live his life through you. Appropriate his grace. Apologize to whomever you've wronged and obey him again. Because we're Christians. That's what we do. We love the king and we follow him. And our faith matters.

Trust him. Obey him. Jesus is the king. He is good and he loves you. And we should be a people. Let us be a people who put our faith into action in meaningful ways to bring about his good purposes. And let's demonstrate for all the world to see that we believe that he is wise, and he is good, and he is worthy of submitting to.

Lord Jesus, we love you. You are worth obeying. Would you give us the grace to subordinate our preferences and our desires and our sense of what will be good to do in this moment to you, that we would live obedient lives that demonstrate the genuineness of our faith, that we trust you and we love you for we really do. And we thank you for loving us. Amen.