John Wooden was one of the greatest coaches of all time. His UCLA Bruins dominated college basketball back in the 1960s-70s like no other team ever has. He won 10 national championships in 12 years, including seven in a row! The Sporting News gave him the label of the greatest coach of all time! But as successful as he was, basketball was not the most important thing for John Wooden. In his book, They Call Me Coach, he wrote: “I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior.” And then he said: “If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.”

That last statement he made is something that every one of us should consider: “If you were arrested for being a Christian, how much evidence would there be to convict you?”

This is the basically the message we find in the second part of James 2 this morning, and it’s one of the most needed messages for the church in the United States today. Because the gospel of salvation by grace through faith has been preached in our land so extensively, and for so long, many people take it for granted. And way too many trust that a very casual, unfruitful faith, will save them and take them to heaven. 

James writes to correct that here — and he does it in such a way that some people take him wrong. Martin Luther, for example, who so powerfully proclaimed salvation by faith alone, called the Book of James “an epistle of straw,” because he though it over-emphasized the role of works in salvation. But James does believes in salvation by grace through faith — but he also makes it very clear here that a “dead, non-working” faith will not save anyone. Rather, he emphasizes that “Real Faith Works.” You will see evidences of it in the life of the person who genuinely has it.

Because we all live in this same American culture today, every one of us should evaluate ourselves in light of this passage. Is YOUR faith real? Does YOUR faith work? Like John Wooden said: “Is there enough evidence to convict YOU of being a Christian?” Let’s look at what James says about that: 

I. The PRINCIPLE:  Faith without works is dead.

:14 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

What is James talking about here? He’s talking about the most basic element of Christianity: how does a person get “saved” from their sins, have a right relationship with God, and know that they’re going to heaven? 

The answer to that question from virtually every world religion is: Do good works. If you do enough of their prescribed works and deeds, then you will be saved.

I’ve mentioned before Nabeel Qureshi’s book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, which a young Muslim tells the story of how he came to faith in Christ. In it, he describes what his Muslim father taught him about the judgment to come: 

“Everything we do is recorded by angels: one on our right shoulder recording our good deeds, and one on our left shoulder recording our bad deeds. When we stand before Allah, our deeds will be read aloud. … Allah will weigh our good deeds and our bad, and if our good deeds are greater than our bad deeds, Allah will give us paradise.’”

This summarizes almost all world religion right there: “if our good deeds are greater than our bad deeds, we will get paradise.” All the religions of the world are very much the same in that regard: “Do x-y-z, and you will be saved.”

But Christianity stands out in contrast to that. Christianity says, NO! It is NOT our good works that saves us; it is JESUS’ good work that He did for us on the cross. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross” as I Peter 2:24 says. Jesus paid for our sins; He did the work that we didn’t do. All we have to do, is BELIEVE in what He did for us; put our trust in Him as our Lord & Savior, and we will be saved. Never let anyone tell you that all the religions are the same; they are NOT! Christianity alone teaches that we are not saved by our works, but through faith in what Jesus did. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith – and that not of yourselves, it the gift of God – not of works, lest any man should boast.” We are not saved by our own works, but by FAITH in JESUS’ work on the cross. So let’s be very clear about that.

BUT at the same time, we also need to understand that if a person really does have saving faith, that faith will produce some works in them. Real, saving faith will not just leave you like you were. It will change you. It will bear some “fruit,” as it’s called throughout scripture. 

Jesus used that picture in Matthew 13, in the Parable of the Sower, where He said that when the gospel “seed” in sown, some of it lands on the road, where it just dies. Then other seeds fall on hard or thorny places, and grow for a bit but bear no fruit. But some seeds will find good soil, and grow up and bear fruit. THAT is the picture of salvation: when the gospel “seed” really takes root in someone’s heart and they are saved, they will bear fruit. You’ll see some evidence in their lives of what Jesus has done.

For example, look at the people who met Jesus in the New Testament:

— When Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew were saved, they all left their jobs and started following Jesus. Their whole lives were changed.

— When Peter’s mother in law was healed, it says she got up and began to serve them.

— When Zaccheus was saved in Luke 19, he gave half of his possessions to the poor, and repaid 4 times everyone he had defrauded.

— We just saw in Sunday School that when Saul was saved in Acts 9, he went from persecuting Christians and throwing them in prison, to preaching Jesus!

When these people put their faith in Jesus, THINGS IN THEIR LIVES CHANGED. This is “fruit.” This is “works.” So this teaches us today:  if Jesus comes into your life, there WILL BE FRUIT. There WILL be works. These works don’t SAVE you — but they do reveal that your faith is real; they show that you really did meet Jesus.  

When I was pastoring in North Carolina, we had a family join our church; it was a husband and wife, and 6 kids; they were the sweetest family. I asked him one time, What led you to visit our church in the first place? He said he had despaired at finding a good church, so he said, I’m going to look around at work, and see who has a good testimony there, and ask him where he goes to church. So he saw a deacon from our church, Dewie; and he said, Dewie lives out his faith here at the plant, I’m going to ask him where HE goes. He did, and Dewie said he that went to our church, and that’s how they ended up coming for the first time! 

To me that is a such a strong testimony, and also a very convicting. SO many people, especially in the “Bible Belt,” SAY that they are Christians. But how many of them SHOW the fruit of it with their life? How many have a good testimony at work? That ought to convict all us: is my faith in Jesus so real, that it makes a difference in the way that I act at WORK, when I’m not at church, that would make someone want to go to the church I attend? Or would they look at you say, Nah, they’re just like everyone else. I don’t need any more of that!   

This is what James is saying here. If your faith in Jesus is real, it will bear fruit in your life. It will make a difference in the way you live. There will be works that show your faith is real. And he doesn’t just say this once; he says it repeatedly throughout this text, in slightly different ways:

— Here in :14 he says “If someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (of course the implied answer is “NO!”) Then:

— :17 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

— :20 “faith, without works, is useless”

— :24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone”

— :26b states it again one more time: “faith without works is dead”

So James really “hammers this home.” It’s like, “Now that I’ve said it FIVE TIMES, do you get it?” You aren’t saved by some so-called “faith” that doesn’t make any difference in your life! That is NOT saving faith! 

This calls for every one of us to evaluate our own lives. As II Corinthians 13:5 says, “Test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; examine yourselves.” If you claim that you have faith in Jesus, is it making any difference in the way you live your life?” If not, James says, you need to be warned: that so-called “faith” you think you have, will NOT save you! You need to truly give your life to Jesus, and then SHOW it by the way you live!

II. The PRACTICE: FIVE Illustrations (of how faith without works is dead)

After making his opening point, that a so-called “faith” that doesn’t have works won’t save you, James then illustrates that point, to show us what he means.

He did this earlier in Chapter 2, with the teaching on favoritism. He began the chapter with the statement of the principle in :1, “Do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.”

THEN he gave a specific example/illustration of what he was talking about, in :2-4: “For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes …” etc.  So first he gave us the principle, then he backed it up with a specific, concrete example of what he was talking about to help us understand it.

So NOW, as he moves on to this next topic, of faith & works, he does the same thing. He starts off by stating the principle in :14, that faith without works won’t save us; then he gives — this time not just ONE, but a whole SERIES of FIVE illustrations/examples of what he is talking about, in :15-26. So let’s look briefly at the five examples he gives us.

A. THE EXAMPLE OF THE BROTHER IN NEED  (:15-16)

:15-16 “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? Then he says: “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

(See what I’m talking about: he gave the principle of how faith without works is dead, now he gives the “illustration”: the story about the brother or sister in need. This is the first of 5 illustrations that he gives here.)

And it’s a very practical illustration. He says, if you meet someone from church who is cold and hungry, what will help them: SAYING “be warm and be filled,” or DOING something to help them? Well we all know the answer to that, right? Just saying “be warm and be filled” may be a nice thought; but it’s not going to help them; you have to DO something to help them. His point is: words alone are nothing. You’ve got to have deeds. 

During the American Revolution, John Adams, was writing back & forth to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia, where he and the other Continental delegates were trying to sort out the direction of our new nation. Abigail wrote to him about many of the delegates:  “We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.”

That was a good word for 1775, when she wrote that, and it is a good word for TODAY, too! Not just in national politics, but also in churches all across our country today, “We have too many high sounding words, and too few ACTIONS that correspond with them.” We SAY all these things — but as James says here, words alone are nothing; you have to have deeds. 

It’s like a person can say, “Oh, I love the Port Ministry; I support that!” But if someone were to ask them, Oh, what do you do? Do you go out there? No. Do you bring toothpaste? No. Do you make cookies? No. Are you making canvas crosses? No. Then in what sense can you really say that you “support” it? See, at some point, words are worthless, aren’t they? You have to have deeds. You have to put into practice what you say you believe, or it is absolutely worthless. Words are nothing; deeds are everything. James says it’s the same way with salvation.  If you want people to believe that you’re a Christian, don’t TELL them; SHOW them! Don’t just “tell” them with your words; SHOW them by your deeds! 

B. THE PRACTICAL LIFE EXAMPLE:  (:18)

— :18 “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.”

Like I said, this is just a practical life example. James says, how is someone going to see your faith? What will you show them? 

How can anyone you know that you have faith, if you don’t show them by what you do? He says “Show me your faith without the works!” You can’t!

But he says, I will show you my faith BY my works. 

Which person are you going to believe is really a Christian?

— The person who says “I have faith,” but doesn’t do anything,

— Or the person who doesn’t say anything, but lives a Christian life?

Who are you going to pick? I mean, we’re all going to pick the one who is living it out, right? 

I mentioned that question that John Wooden asked, if there would be enough evidence for him to be convicted of being a Christian. Jimmy Carter’s pastor shared that in a sermon one Sunday, and it impacted him greatly. He said he kept thinking about that question: “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” 

He said, I don’t know if there would be. He said, “Who have I really helped in Christ’s name? How many poor people in town do I really know?”  It really bothered him. He said that he was afraid if he were charged with being a Christian, he could probably talk his way out of it — and “it was a sobering thought” to him.

It OUGHT to be a “sobering thought” for all of us. What practical things in our life are there, to SHOW other people that we really have faith in Jesus? 

(Or as someone said the other day: if a person spent all day with me, what works would they see? Would they have any idea that I was a follower of Jesus?) James says, you should be showing your faith, by your works. Somebody who spent all day with you, ought to see something that shows that you’re a follower of Jesus. If they don’t, something’s wrong!

C. THE EXAMPLE OF THE DEMONS   (:19-20)

— :19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe and shudder. (:20) But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”

James says, listen you person who claims to be a Christian. You say, “Oh, I know I’m saved because I believe in Jesus.” I’ve had people tell me, “Oh don’t worry about me; I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” That’s just great — that means you agree 100% with the demons! The DEMONS know that Jesus is the Son of God! Do you remember in Mark 5, when Jesus is casting the demons out of the Gerasene Demoniac, the demon-possessed man bowed down before Jesus and said, “What business do we have with each other, JESUS, SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD?” See, that DEMON knew who Jesus was — he knew better than most of Jesus’ DISCIPLES did at that point (still early in the Book of Mark)! 

So your so-called “faith” that Jesus is the Son of God is the same thing the demons have! But they’re not saved. You’ve got to have something more than that to save you. What’s the difference in the “faith” of a demon, and the faith of a genuine follower of Christ? Both affirm that Jesus is the Son of God! The difference is that the demons have never let their “faith” bring them to life-changing repentance. They never repented of their ways. They have not changed direction and started obeying Jesus.

So the question is: HAVE YOU? Have YOU changed direction? Is YOUR life different because of your faith in Jesus? Do you have works that show that your faith in Jesus is real — or do you have no more faith in Jesus than a demon does?  Salvation means more than just saying that you know who Jesus is. James says you’re foolish if you think that kind of faith will save you.

Then in :21-26 he closes the chapter with examples of 2 people from the Old Testament:

D. THE EXAMPLE OF ABRAHAM  (:21-24)

—  :21 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? (:22) You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected (:23) 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.

(:24) You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

James specifically mentions Abraham here, because Abraham was considered by the Jews to be THE “forefather of the faith.” It was Abraham that God called to go by faith to the Promised Land. And Abraham is repeatedly pointed to in scriptures as THE example of faith. When Paul is teaching on “salvation by faith” in Romans, he points to Abraham. He opens Romans 4 saying, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? (:2) For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. (:3) For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” So the Bible points to Abraham as THE example of a person who is saved by faith.

But James points out here that though Abraham was saved by faith, it was not an “empty faith.” His faith was full of works, that showed that his faith was real. Think of all the ways Abraham showed his faith by his works:

— First of all, when God commanded him to go, he left his home country and went to this land he’d never seen, just because God said to. His faith went into action; he moved when God said move. Abraham’s faith worked!

— As James points out in :21 here, when God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac on the altar, he took him out there and stretched out his hand to get the knife! Again he didn’t just SAY he believed God; he put the most precious thing he had on the altar before God! He SHOWED his faith by his works! 

And he did this over & over. YES Abraham is the great example of salvation by faith: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” just like the scripture says. But Abraham’s faith also WORKED! Over and over we see how it worked. We can see that his faith is real, by his works.

What about YOU? You say that you “believed God, and that Jesus’ death on the cross has been credited to you as righteousness.” That’s great. But do you show that your faith is real, by your works, like Abraham did? 

— When God tells you to move, do you move? 

— When God calls you to lay down something that is precious to you, on the altar of obedience to Him, do you do it? 

Does your faith have works that show that it’s real? 

E. THE EXAMPLE OF RAHAB  (:25-26)

:25 “In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Now James goes from one of the best-known Old Testament figures, to one much less known: Rahab the harlot from the Book of Joshua. Rahab lived in Jericho, which was the first city that Joshua and the people of Israel conquered when they came to the Promised Land. You know how they walked around the city all those times, and the walls fell down. Well before all that happened, Rahab lived a house on the wall of the city. Before Israel invaded, Joshua had sent two men to spy out Jericho and they stayed with Rahab. The King of Jericho found out about it, and questioned her. But she hid the men in some stalks of flax on her roof, and she told the king that they had gone out another way.  

So what’s the point of James sharing THIS story? There may have been a lot of people in Jericho, who, when Israel was coming to invade, might have said, “Oh, save us, we’ll believe in your God! We’ll believe in Yahweh!” You know people will say anything to save themselves, right? But Rahab didn’t just SAY she was going to believe in Yahweh; she DID something that showed that she did; she put her life on the line, and hid God’s men from harm. Somehow, she’d come to truly believe in God, and her faith led her to ACT and really help God’s men. 

So again James’ point is: it’s not just what you say; it’s what you DO. 

— Real faith doesn’t just “believe.”

— Real faith isn’t just “feelings.” 

— Real faith isn’t just words that you say.

— Real faith does something.

— Real faith works.

And of course James is applying this to US; to our salvation. Surveys tells us that 9 out of 10 Americans believe they are going to heaven. 

Nine of out Ten people here in a place like Angleton, Texas, will tell you, “Oh, yes, I believe that Jesus is my Savior.” But James 2 says, talk is cheap. Over and over James tells us here: it’s not just what you SAY that shows whether you are really a Christian; it’s what you DO. Yes we’re “saved by faith.” But real faith WORKS. If you say that you’re saved today, do you have works today, that back it up? 

CONCLUSION:

Remember coach John Wooden’s statement: “If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.”

In light of what the scripture says here in James 2, that’s something we should all ask ourselves: “Is there enough evidence to convict me of being a Christian?” If I SAY that my faith is in Jesus as my Lord & Savior; what is the evidence in my life, to back that up?  

And as we’ve seen, NO, you are NOT saved by your works. But if you really have faith, you WILL have some works. James puts it very clearly there when he ended Chapter 2: “Faith without works is dead.” 

James left it right there, so we will too. Hear these words today: “Faith without works is dead.” 

INVITATION

“Faith without works is dead.” Every one of us who considers ourselves to be a Christian should evaluate our own lives by James 2 this morning:
You say you have faith; that’s good — but do you have works that show it?

Can anyone tell by watching you live, that you are really a Christian? 

— Some of us may be comforted, and say, “YES I believe they can!”

— But others of us might ought to be bothered by it … is there any real evidence in your life that you belong to the Lord? 

— Maybe this affects the way you’ve been thinking about a family member or friend: are they saved? We’ve seen here, it’s not just about what they say; What does their LIFE show? Maybe you need to be praying for their salvation!

— But the most important person you need to consider today is not a family member or loved one, but yourself. After listening to this message, are you sure that YOU are saved; has your life been showing it? If not, then you need to repent of your sins and truly trust Jesus as your Savior today …