DAY NINETY-FOUR:
Faith and Works
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings." James identified himself as a servant of Jesus Christ, and he certainly is. But there's something he didn't say: he's Jesus' brother (half brother, really). The people of Nazareth knew Jesus' family. Mark 6:3 says, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" John 7:5 says, "For not even his brothers believed in him." They came with Mary to take Jesus back home because they thought there must be something wrong with Jesus (a Messiah complex?). But we read in Acts 1:14, "All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers." Apparently James and his brothers trusted in Jesus after His resurrection and they were part of the very earliest church. The thing to notice is James wasn't a name-dropper. He was a servant of Jesus by the grace of God, not by nepotism. We share the same status when we trust in Christ and serve Him.
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (1:2-4) Count it all joy when I have problems and trials and persecutions? You've got to be kidding! But James isn't kidding. These trials test us and strengthen us. Through them we learn that we must depend upon God alone, because the things we depended on, like our health or wealth, are stripped away in times of trial. James tells the exiles to whom he writes to hang in there! Yes it's tough but you have Jesus with you, who promised to be with you always and never forsake you. You can make it! "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." (1:12)
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." Flip Wilson used to say "The devil made me do it." We know that's not true, and it's also not true that God made me do it. The devil does tempt us, but God doesn't. He may allow us to face temptation as part of our trials. But He doesn't intend for us to fail. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (1:20-21) Wow! Think about how much trouble we'd avoid if we listened more, spoke less and controlled our anger! Our anger is just about always expressed in a sinful manner, even though we may think it is justified.
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (1:22) "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." (1:26) Here's where we begin to see the tension between faith and works. It's not enough, James said, to talk the talk. You have to walk the walk, too. After James dinged them for showing partiality to the rich over the poor (2:1-7) he dug into the matter at hand.
"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." Faith shows itself in works. Faith MUST produce fruit or it's not genuine faith. Our faith impels us to do certain things, like care for the poor. If we don't do them, there's a serious problem.
"But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe- and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?" It's not, and never has been, enough to believe in God. Even Satan and his demons believe, but that belief hasn't made them any less devilish. Nearly 90% of Americans say that they believe in God, but look at what goes on. I remember hearing a preacher say once that going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger. Belief in God is more than an intellectual proposition. Real faith touches every area of our lives.
"Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?" (2:21) This is the verse that had Martin Luther seeing red! Now James is saying that Abraham was justified by what he did. If we read this verse out of context, which I'm surprised that Luther did, that's what we have to conclude. But read on: "You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'- and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." (2:22-24) Where's the conflict between faith and works? I just don't see it. Yes, Abraham believed. But Abraham also acted on what he believed. That belief compelled him to trust God even in the matter of sacrificing his son. Likewise we must act on what we believe, or else we don't have real faith.
"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." (2:26) Works flow from our faith, and as we work our faith grows. Each feeds the other, all to the glory of God. Our biggest problem in the church today is that we haven't been making disciples. We've only received members, and we've let far too many people walk away with the impression that this makes them right with God. This is why I'm not fond of altar calls. Not because I don't believe in calling you to trust in Christ- I most definitely do. I've seen far too many emotional decisions that never produced fruit. I believe that if the Holy Spirit is convicting a person of sin that He will bring them all the way to salvation. He might use me or someone else as His tool, but He does the work. Then we help to disciple one another and support one another as we serve Christ.
Here's a fun song from the late Rich Mullins with lots of rhythm and action that says that faith without works is "as useless as a screen door on a submarine."
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