In this message, Pastor Vance continues our study of the book of James and teaches that it is faith alone that saves…but that the faith that saves is never alone!
Sermon Notes
FAITH AND WORKS
James 2:14-26
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” —James 2:14-26
I. FAITH ALONE SAVES
“The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls. The article that is so important Luther said, that if we lose it, we lose Christianity. If you don’t have the doctrine of justification by faith alone, you don’t have the gospel, and if you don’t have the gospel, the church has no reason to exist.”—R.C. Sproul
DO
DONE
“God loved us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live the life we could not live and die the death we deserved to die. Christ took the wrath we rightly deserve and gave us the righteousness we cannot merit.”—David Platt
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”—Ephesians 2:8-9
“And Abraham believed God; and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”—James 2:23b
Reckoning: the act of God whereby He credits Christ’s perfect righteousness to the sinner’s account and declares the debt fully forgiven
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”—2 Corinthians 5:21
II. THE FAITH THAT SAVES IS NEVER ALONE
“It is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.”
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (v.14)
“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (v.17)
“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (v.26)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:8-10
What are “works”?The life of Jesus in me being lived through me
It is through faith alone that I have been saved
Being saved by faith means God is now changing me
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”—2 Cor.3:18
Works are the change in me spilling out of me that allows others to know my faith is real
“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” James 2:15-17
“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”—1 John 3:17
III. DO YOU HAVE SAVING FAITH?
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe…”—James 2:19a
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”—James 2:19
