About

Call to worship: John 15:1-8

Text: James 2:14-26

Summary:

Building upon the Christian's vindication, James addresses the mere profession of faith. Faith without works, by which he implies that mere profession, is a no-good, useless, demonic, dead faith. It's no faith at all. It's not true, justifying, saving. A justifying faith is a living faith. From experience in the local church, stifling spiritual logic, and the testimony of Scripture, James warns against lip-service Christianity. As seen in the examples of Abraham and Rahab, works are the spirit of faith. They prove that one's faith is living. The visibility of faith proves the validity of faith as saving. Doing the Word of God justifies (or vindicates) that a person's faith is justifying. It's truly united them to the Vine, Jesus Christ. James and Paul agree: the faith in Jesus that suffices for justification is, without exception, a living faith, a faith living to the glory of God.

Sermon Outline:

1. Make no mistake---saving faith lives to do good in the local church. (2:14-17)
2. Make no mistake---saving faith lives to make orthodoxy visible. (2:18-19)
3. Make no mistake---saving faith lives to work out the Word, as Scripture shows. (2:20-26)

Prepare

Discussion Questions:

1. Read James 2:14-26.
2. See if you can find and follow the train of thought from 2:12 into 2:14-26. What is it? Do you see any connection in theme? Is there a judgment for Christians? Why is it important to examine the nature of saving faith, and even test our own?
3. What's the first proof that a person's faith is saving faith (the faith in Jesus that justifies)? If a faith majors in insubstantial gestures of good will instead of doing actual good to Christ's people, what does James call it? Why is the local church the primary testing ground for the vindication of saving faith?
4. What's the second proof and/or exhortation for saving faith? Is it possible to separate faith and works? How does James' insistence on the visibility of saving faith challenge notions of private faith, or mere professions of faith? Why won't a mere intellectual assent to the truth suffice for saving faith?
5. What's the third support or show of saving faith? From where does it come? How do the lives of Abraham and Rahab speak to the subject of justification? How does 2:20 and 2:26 (with what's preceded in 2:14-19) help interpret what James means by 'justified by works . . . and not by faith alone'? How do we know that James' teaching here doesn't contradict Paul's teaching on justification? See Galatians 2:6-10.