Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (7:00 PM LHF time, Wed., Jan. 3, 2001)

Text: James 2:14-26

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

"But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.'

"Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-- and shudder.

"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

'Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.' The whole book of James (in fact, the whole Bible) is about faith. 'Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.' How can you possibly think that trials are a good thing unless you really believe that God is letting you be tested so that you will become 'mature and complete, not lacking anything.' You have to believe that God is testing you for your good.

The point of this passage is that if you have faith, you will have deeds ('works' in most translations). If a man claims to have faith but has no deeds, can such a faith save him? It's a rhetorical question. The assumed answer is, "No! Such a faith certainly can't save him." Faith means that you do things because you trust God. Real faith and the resulting deeds can't be separated. James gives several examples.

The first example is that of wishing a brother who is need well and then taking no action to help him. If you say you want him to be warm and to be fed and are able to help him and yet do nothing, you only prove that your words are meaningless. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The second example James gives is the example of the demons. The demons really do believe that there is one God. They believe it and are in total rebellion against him. But their 'faith' does result in an action of sorts; they shudder. Their faith cannot save them because they will not repent. Knowing that God exists and being afraid of his judgment will not save anyone. Saying, "I believe in God," means nothing if that's all the farther it goes. (Do you realize that to "believe in" means to trust?)

The next example James gives is the example of Abraham's faith. Abraham was considered righteous when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. The scripture, given by God through Moses, says that God tested Abraham by telling him to take Isaac and sacrifice him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22). Abraham took Isaac to the place God had designated and prepared to sacrifice him. But God stopped him and declared, "Now I know you fear God, because you have not withheld your son from me, your only son whom you love. Abraham was old and childless when God told him that his offspring would be as uncountable as the stars in the heavens. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Later, God told Abraham that it was through Isaac that his offspring would be reckoned. We are told through the writer of Hebrews that this is the reason Abraham, when he was tested, offered Isaac. Abraham knew that, if necessary, God could raise the dead. He believed that God would make his offspring through Isaac like the stars of heaven.

The last example James gives is that of Rahab the prostitute. When Joshua sent the spies into Jericho to check it out, the whole town was afraid (Joshua 2). They had heard how the LORD had dried up the Red Sea when the Israelites came out of Egypt and how they had completely destroyed two Amorite kings. Rahab knew that the LORD, the God of the Israelites, was God of heaven and earth, the God of everything and of everyone. So she hid the spies and asked that her and her family be spared when the Israelite army came to destroy the city. The rest of the city did nothing except shake with fear. As a result, they all were destroyed while Rahab and her family were saved. They all knew the power of God, but Rahab acted on what she believed and was saved.

Faith and works cannot be separated. Even the criminal on the cross, though he could not move from the cross and knew that he was dying, did more than just saying, "I have faith. I believe in God." He acknowledged that he was a sinner who deserved to die. He rebuked the other criminal, who also knew he was dying, because he didn't fear God. (That man was like the demons -- in rebellion to the end.) Finally he (the first man) asked Jesus to save him. This man's words are alive and are a testimony to his faith to this day and will be forever.

Now, there's the question of whether it's OK to 'accept Jesus' -- to say, "I believe," and then go and sin freely. I presume that all of us would say, "Not a chance!" to that question. Some may argue about it, but it's a nonsense question -- or at best academic or maybe theoretical. Have faith and sin freely? Nonsense. You can't have faith and sin freely. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

(It may sound like I'm oversimplifying some, because Christians do sin. The point of the testing is that we may become mature and complete. We expect to be mature and complete -- like Jesus. That is the point of God's salvation. Some may turn out to be very great, others may be like one being saved as through the fire, but none will appear before Christ as sinning freely! Praise the Lord!)

Now I have another matter which I want to bring up: The book of James is largely about our relationship to other people. He talks about keeping the royal law found in scripture: "Love your neighbor as yourself." In today's passage he uses the example of helping someone in need. If you have faith, you will actually help the person in need. But if someone says he has faith and does nothing to help the one who is in need, James asks this question, "Can such faith save him?" So the ultimate issue is salvation.

So here's my question: How concerned are we about our neighbor's salvation? Do we treat it as a matter of 'life and death?' Recently we heard the news that someone whom we had known was found dead. Some of us had talked to him and spent time with him and, yes, even tried to explain the gospel to him. But as far as I know, he never believed and he died in his sins. What was our reaction to the news of his death? What was your reaction? I won't go any further, but it's something to think about and pray about.

Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Love them.

Love in Christ,
Dean

PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer requests back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for them.