Sermon Transcript

0:00:14.0

Well, good morning.  I want to invite you to take your Bibles, if you brought them, or grab a pew Bible in front of you and turn to the book of James 2.  And as you’re reaching for your Bible, I also want to encourage you to reach for your theological thinking cap.  Did you bring it today?  How long has it been since you’ve worn it?  Well, this morning our text under consideration requires us to think clearly, to think biblically, even to think historically and theologically. And it demands that we take all competing thoughts- thoughts about what we’re gonna eat for lunch today, thoughts about where we’re gonna travel on business next week- and push those thoughts aside so that we can look at what the text says and what it means and how it applies to our life; and, even more importantly, what the text does not say, what it does not mean, how it does not apply to our lives.  

0:01:15.9

Every generation must contend for the purity of the gospel.  And that’s what’s at stake this morning as we look at James 2:14-26.  Nothing less than the purity of the gospel and the integrity of God’s Word is at stake as we attempt to rightly divide the word of truth.  Every generation must contend for the purity the gospel.  Every generation of people who have a high view of scripture must learn to rightly divide the word of truth so as not to allow another gospel, as it were, to slither its way into the church to the body of Christ and distort the truth or deceive some.  This was the Apostle Paul’s concern, even as he was writing to the Galatians.  You don’t need to turn there, but listen to his words in Galatians 1:6-7.  Paul says, “I’m amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” So 2000 years ago this was a problem.  And it’s been a problem throughout church history, and it’s even a challenge today to maintain the purity of gospel as it’s revealed to us in scripture.  And this was a problem and a concern even for Martin Luther back during the Reformation period.  You may remember that Luther was the one who led the charge protesting against what he came to believe as a spurious form of the gospel, the false religion of the Catholic Church.  Luther was a Catholic priest.  He was a zealous individual, a fiery man.  And he led the charge of the Protestant reformation, and the rally cry of the Reformation was “Faith Alone”.  It is salvation by grace and through faith alone, sola fide, he said.

0:03:19.9

Luther one day opened up the book of Romans, and he read in particular Romans 1:17.  And he came across seven words that changed him and changed the course of church history forever.  Those words were these quoted from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, which says, “The righteous man shall live by faith. “  By faith.  Not faith plus works.  Not faith with a little mixture of works, but by faith and by faith alone.  And that changed Luther.  He led the rally cry.  And, in the process, he collided with the book of James.  He came to the book of James 2:24 where it says, “You see that man is justified by works, not by faith alone.”  And you can imagine, if you have any historical perspective on the Reformation, you can imagine how steam blew out of Luther’s ears when he read James.  And rather than trying to reconcile James and Paul and seeing how they beautifully complement one another, Luther…and in fairness to him, we have three or four hundred years of dialogue and perspective on this…but Luther overzealously dismissed James.  He discarded James.  He debunked the book of James to make his case for faith alone, because James contradicts Paul, doesn’t he?  And Luther called the book of James an epistle “full of straw” and said it doesn’t even belong in the canon of scripture.  Would not allow it to be listed among the New Testament books, the canon.  That was Luther.

0:05:02.6

And so the question for us in 2008 is simply this.  Was Luther justified in dismissing James?  The text that we’re looking at this morning is the one where the debate really, really heated up.  Was he justified in doing so, or was he a bit overzealous?  Is there a way to actually show how Paul and James complement each other?  Well, naturally, I believe Paul and James complement each other.  And we need to take some time before we dive into this text beginning in verse 14 to really understand the two perspectives.  If you don’t have a clear understanding of James’s unique perspective on the faith and works thing, then you tend to veer off in a theological direction that was not James’s intention.

0:05:49.6

So let’s play with a little chart here, a Paul and James chart, where certainly Paul uses the phrase “justification by faith”.  James uses the phrase “justification by works”.  The debate would probably be over if we could go into the original language and find that they used two different kinds of Greek words, but, unfortunately, they used the same word.  And the word justification means “to be declared righteous or to have a right standing before God”.  The text in consideration, Romans 3:28, Paul says, “For we maintain that man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”  It’s by faith alone, Paul would say.  But then again, James in 2:24, “You see that man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”  Okay?  How, how do you reconcile something like that?  Well, by understanding that James and Paul are looking at salvation at different points in a continuum.  Paul was looking at salvation from the starting point.  He looks at when a sinner is declared righteous before a holy God.  And he says that moment of justification, that moment in the gospel where a holy God declares a sinner to have a right standing before a holy God, happens on the basis of grace and by faith alone period.  End of statement.  It’s not by works.  The works that were done were the works of Jesus Christ on the cross.  And that was all the work that needed to be done to purchase your redemption and my redemption.  In fact, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it is finished.  There’s no more work to be done.  In fact, if you and I tried to add works to our salvation, they wouldn’t be accepted.  But there’s no need to add works to them, because the work has already been completed.  Okay.  That’s Paul’s particular view on justification, the starting point in our faith.

0:07:45.5

But James has a different point of view here.  He’s looking somewhere after the starting point, somewhere down the line in faith and in salvation.  He’s looking at justification as when a saved person- somebody who’s converted, somebody who’s already received Christ as his Savior- a saved person proves his faith before others, before the watching the world, before even the watching eyes among members of the body of Christ.  So James is looking at justification before others; Paul looking at justification before men.  James is focusing on our behavior in Christ; Paul focusing on believing in Christ.  Paul talking about the eternal position we have in Christ, declared righteous before God.  James is looking at the earthly proof.  He’s looking for the proof in the pudding, so to speak.  And what helps me clear up this debate a little bit more is really Paul’s unique understanding in the interplay between faith and works.  You say, where does Paul come up with that?  Well, some familiar verses.  Book of Ephesians 2:8-10.  You probably remember verses 8 and 9.  Verse 10 is one of the most forgotten verses in evangelical churches today, Protestant ones.  But Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Couldn’t be more clear.  We’re saved by grace and by faith alone.  Period.  End of statement.  How many of you have those verses memorized?  All right.  But read on.  That’s not the end of the story. Verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God ordained before the beginning of time.”  All right.  So Paul is the “not by works”, justification, starting point in our faith.  But James has the understanding.  James is really expanded commentary on Ephesians 2:10.  The “yes, we’re saved, not by works, but we’re saved for good works”.  James is gonna challenge us at this point where he says, “But we were created in Christ.  We were created as His workmanship for good works.”  You see the difference there between the two?

0:10:23.8

Think of it this way.  Salvation is sort of like a beautiful tree that is planted and grows into the vast, blue sky above.  And you see this tree from above the surface, and you see foliage, and you see fruit on the tree.  But if you were to look beneath the surface, you’d see this well-developed root system.  No tree is gonna have foliage and fruit without a well-developed root system.  But you and I can’t see the root system any more than we can see the mysterious work of God in declaring a person righteous before Him; of saying to a sinner, “You have a right standing before Me.”  That’s the mysterious, even invisible, work of God.  That’s part of the root system.  And that’s what Paul is primarily viewing here, not by works, the root.  James, though, is a fruit guy.  James wants to see the foliage.  James wants to see the fruit as proof that the root exists.  Do you follow me there?  All right.  With that mind, let’s go to James 2:14-26.  James would make a wonderful attorney.  He’s very logical and very rational and very thoughtful in his approach.  He begins with a couple of rhetorical questions.  He then moves quickly to an everyday illustration.  He then restates his thesis.  Then he anticipates an objection, and he gives a rebuttal to that.  And he then he finishes up with a couple of case studies.  So you get the flow of the text here? 

0:11:56.2

Let’s read, beginning in chapter 2 and verse 14.  James says, “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but he has no works?  Can that faith save him?  15If a brother or sister is without clothing…”  Here comes the everyday illustration.  “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and 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? 17Even so faith, if it has no works,” he says, “is dead, being by itself.”

0:12:38.3

Now, back in verse 14, James begins with a couple of rhetorical questions, the second of which assumes a “no” answer.  But the first he says, “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but he has no works?”  James here is talking about the guy who is all talk about his faith, and no walk.  Do you remember the Pilgrim’s Progress written by Bunyan.  It was one of the great works on the Christian faith, an allegory of the Christian faith that came out of the Puritan era.  And Christian, the main character of the story is traveling along the road to the celestial city, a picture of his Christian faith.  And he comes across a number of characters, one of which is Mr. Talkative.  And Mr. Talkative can talk a good talk.  Oh, he can talk all over.  He can wax eloquently about the Christian life.  He’s Mr. Talkative.  But there’s no walk in Mr. Talkative.  And that’s really what James is talking about here.  “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but he has no works?  Can that faith…” Here’s the second rhetorical question.  “Can that faith save him?”

0:13:54.6

Now, a lot of the debate over Paul and James and Luther’s view on all this centers around this word translated “save”.  “Can that faith save him?”  The construction in the original language assumes a “no” answer, but the question itself raises another interpretive question.  Saved from what?  Is it saved from eternal damnation?  Is he talking about that kind of salvation?  Or does he have a different saving in view here?  And certainly the word “save” here is a general term that could mean referring to eternal salvation.  It could also refer to saving or delivering from the consequences of sin, even in a believer’s life, or, furthermore, saving from the negative consequences a believer might experience at the judgment seat of Christ.  James uses this particular word five times in his short letter.  And some scholars suggest that his use of it really does not have in view eternal salvation as we would understand it- deliverance from the penalty of our sins- but as believers being delivered from the consequences of sin in our everyday life, or certainly consequences at the judgment seat of Christ; which would leave us to certainly say that a faith that doesn’t work will not be rewarded in the life to come.  And furthermore, it is also useless in this present life.  You do know that we’re gonna face a judgment one day, don’t you, as believers in Christ?  Oh, it’s not a judgment to say whether we are in or out of heaven, saved or not saved.  That’s already been determined.  And there will be another judgment called the Great White Throne judgment for unbelievers.  But for believers, we will appear before what’s called the Bema Seat, the judgment seat of Christ.  And our works in Christ…not that we’re saved by works.  We’re not saying that.  But “not by works”, after we’re saved, we’re saved for good works.  What we do with our faith from that point forward, from the starting point forward.  Once the root is in place, the fruit will one day be judged at the judgment seat of Christ, and it will be determined whether our lives in Christ are wood, hay, and stubble, or gold, silver and precious stone.  In other words, something that will last for eternity or something that will just get burnt up as the earth itself is burnt up.  Perhaps that’s what James has in view here.

0:16:31.5

And he quickly moves on to this everyday illustration which we can all identify with.  “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one 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?”  See, James isn’t arguing against faith or no faith, believer or unbeliever.  He’s saying, here’s a believer.  I’m speaking to believers.  I want to talk to you about a faith, a genuine faith, a genuine person who has been justified before God, whether that person’s faith is useless or useful.  Whether it has no profit or it’s profitable in this world.  And imagine the person who comes to you and he doesn’t have food.  He doesn’t have clothing.  He doesn’t have shelter.  And you say, “Oh, God bless you.  God loves you and so do I.  Be warm and be filled.”  And you walk away.  He says, what use is that to the person who has a need?  We might summarize it this way.  Warm, faith-filled words alone never helped a person who needs food and clothing.

0:17:39.0

By the way, this particular text of scripture is the favorite of politicians.  Have you noticed that?  You could do a little bit of research and find out that there are numbers of politicians on both sides of the aisle, including independents, that love to quote from James 2.  Faith without works is dead.  Usually, it means your rhetoric, your political rhetoric, without some kind of action is dead.  It’s meaningless.  It’s useless.  But those who want to promote social programs and things like that, they love to quote from this, and rightly so.  As the watching world looks at the church, are they looking at a church that is sort of like, as one guy called it, “spiritual streakers”?  Put on the helmet of salvation, and that’s all you ever put on.  Come on now.  That’s an image, isn’t it?  And the world says, “Listen, folks.  You call yourselves believers in Jesus, and all you have is this intellectual kind of faith?  Where is the shoe leather?  Where are you putting it into action?”  James is just on that side of the discussion saying, I want to see the fruit.  I want to see the foliage.  And if you’ve got a guy who comes along and he needs food and shelter and clothing and, you know, you just say, “warm and be filled,” what kind of faith is that?  (0:19:00.0) That’s a reasonable question to ask.  And it’s one that James asks.

0:19:05.3

Now, he anticipates an objection here.  And this is an interesting use of a literary tool, where you can imagine a speaker who anticipates what is audience is thinking and asks the question for the audience before they have an opportunity to stand up and say, “Excuse me, James, I have an objection here.”  And that objection is recorded beginning in verse 18.  He says, “18But 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.”  He says somebody might say that.  Summarized like this, I think this is what the objection says.  James, you and I just do this faith thing, kind of, from a different point of view.  I know you’re a shoe-leather kind of guy and you want to see faith in action and all of that.  But I’m more the intellectual type.  (0:20:00.0) I’ll show you my faith without my works.  I love to wrestle with theological ideas and get into theological debates.  I love to go deep.  I love to parse those Greek and Hebrew words.  I love to think deeply about God.  You can go out there and do that shoe-leather stuff, but we just kind of come at it from different angles here, James.  The way you do it is okay for you.  The way I do it is okay for me over here.  I’m more comfortable having an intellectual faith.  Okay?  

0:20:33.5

That’s the objection he anticipates.  Here’s his rebuttal.  Verse 19, “You believe that God is one.  You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”  What’s he saying here?  He’s saying, you want to have an intellection faith?  That’s fine.  He says, the demons, well, I want to tell you something.  Their theology, they go it down.  You believe that God is one?  And he’s writing to Jewish Christians here.  The Shema.  Hear, O Israel, God is one.  Our Lord is one.  Okay.  That resonated with them.  Guess what?  The demons understand that, too.  The demons have great theology.  They understand it sometimes better than we do.  In fact, when they think about God, when they imagine God and they think about Him intellectually, they tremble.  They tremble.  But nobody would say that theirs is a genuine faith or a faith that they’re putting into action here.  A demon’s faith, James is saying, is mere intellectualism.  And it’s one of the dangers of us even in the 21^st century, who love to think deeply about the scriptures, but it’s all…it’s the helmet of salvation.  But where are those feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, putting it into practice?

0:21:58.4

Let me illustrate it this way.  How many of you remember from high school geometry class the Pythagorean Theorem.  Remember that?  The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the two sides of a right triangle.  That’s the Pythagorean Theorem.  I had to work on that this week.  Did a little bit of review myself.  Had to say that over and over and over again so I got it right.  Algebraically speaking, it’s A²+B²=C².  You remember that?  Okay. Now, here are two kinds of faith.  One says, I believe in the Pythagorean Theorem.  In fact, I am absolutely convinced that Pythagoras, that ancient guy from Greece, was correct.  He developed this theorem.  He was right about it.  In fact, mathematicians have discovered 256 ways to prove the Pythagorean Theorem.  And if you ask me prove it, I’ll choose one of those ways and I’ll prove it to you.  I’m absolutely convinced it is true.  But if you were to ask me whether the Pythagorean Theorem has changed my life, whether there is any evidence, any alteration in my behavior, I’d have to say no.  I just learned it was intellectually true in high school geometry class.  But beyond that, I mean, why would I want to put that into practice?  And how would I, even if I did?  That’s one kind of faith.  There’s another kind of faith that goes like this.  I believe in the Pythagorean Theorem.  I know it’s absolutely true.  And just this week I tore out a staircase, and I put in a wheelchair ramp.  And because I had to figure out the exact length of that wheelchair ramp and the amount of materials I had to buy, I used the Pythagorean Theorem that applies to triangles with a right angle it.  And I used A²+B²=C².  That told me exactly the length that I needed and how many materials I needed to buy when I went down to Home Depot.  You see the difference between the two?  One is mere intellectualism.  The other builds the wheelchair ramp.  And James is just saying, friends, where is the wheelchair ramp in your faith?  You’ve got to build it, ‘cause it’s not enough to just say, “I believe in the Pythagorean Theorem.”  It’s meant to be put into practice, no matter how many ways intellectually you prove to somebody that it’s true.

0:24:31.7

Now, James goes on to give us a couple of case studies, and this is where it really gets interesting, friends.  And I got to tell you, I had a lot of fun in my study this week, because, as much as I’ve read the book of James over the years and even studied this passage, God gave me some insights to something I had never seen before.  And it has to do with the first of his two case studies based upon Abraham from the Old Testament.  Let’s read on in verse 21.  “Was not Abraham our father,” he says, “justified by works?”  Now, you can just imagine Luther, the steam coming out of his ears at this point.  Even the apostle Paul is getting a little bit nervous here.  But read on.  Was he not justified by works “when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?  22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23and 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.”

0:25:38.2

Now, let’s be very careful with this.  And I think this just opens up a whole understanding of what James is doing here.  He says, was not Abraham justified by works?  And Paul and Luther are saying, wait a minute, James, don’t mess with my boy Abraham.  He’s the poster child for justification by faith and by faith alone.  You can’t mess with that foundation there.  But he says Abraham was justified when he offered up his son Isaac; Genesis 22.  Now, for those of you who are students of the scripture, is that when the Bible says, even that Paul says, Abraham was justified before God?  Your head should go this way, class, okay?  No.  It’s genesis 15:6.  That was the starting point in Abraham’s faith.  That’s when the roots began to grow beneath the surface of his heart.  That’s when God declared him righteous, when the Lord told him that his seed would be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea.  And Abraham looked up to the stars of the sky, and the scripture says in Genesis 15:6 he believed.  First time that word was used in the Bible.  Paul picks up on that and says he was declared- he was justified- he was declared righteous before God.  James says, no, he was justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac.  What’s James doing here?

0:27:13.7

Remember the root and the fruit, okay?  Genesis 15:6 is when the roots began to grow.  A point in time.  Justified. Declared righteous.  Twenty, maybe thirty plus years later, we fast forward to Genesis 22.  And James says, now the foliage begins to appear on the tree.  And the fruit appears on the tree.  Now I see that his faith was real, that the root was actually real.  Now I see that his faith was perfected.  It was matured.  With my human eyes I can look into Abraham’s life and say, “Okay, what was declared all the way back here was real because he offered up his son Isaac.”  And, in fact, he goes on to say, the scripture was fulfilled, which says that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.  In other words, Genesis 15 was fulfilled.  The root was proven by the fruit, and there was, let’s just say, 30 years, 7 chapters in the book of Abraham.  The offering up of Isaac, his son, was the wheelchair ramp in Abraham’s life. And James is just saying, listen, friends, where is the fruit?  Where is the foliage?  Where is the wheelchair ramp?  Where is the event in your life, or events, that prove this was true back here, okay?

0:28:53.7

If that was the only case study that James gave to us, we might be a little bit nervous about that because, you know, Abraham is kind of in a category all to himself, isn’t he, being the poster child for justification by faith and faith alone.  But James goes on to give us another case study.  This time not a revered prophet, but this time a redeemed prostitute at the other end of life.  He says the same is true with Rahab.  Verse 24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And 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?”  He’s referring to the story in the book of Joshua when the Israelites were getting ready to cross over the Jordan River and they sent some spies across.  And those spies were received by a prostitute named Rahab.  She hid the spies.  And the scripture records that as the recognition of faith, faith in the one true God of Israel, okay.  Interestingly enough, you know, you would expect Abraham, this revered patriarch, to end up in the Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith.  You would expect him to be the poster child for the apostle Paul.  But Rahab ends up in the Hall of Faith as well.  And Rahab even ends up in the genealogical record of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 1.  So don’t be too intimidated by Abraham, if you are.  You can go all the way to the other spectrum, end of the spectrum of life, to Rahab and everywhere in between.  And James says faith without works is a useless faith.  It’s a dead faith.  It’s not a live, vibrant kind of faith.  It’s not that you’ve lost your salvation.  Don’t go there.  It’s not that maybe it was no faith at all.  No, it’s not that at all.  It’s possible to possess this thing called faith in Jesus Christ, but to possess it in a way that it’s dead, useless, and one day will be unrewarded.  Oh, you’ll have your entryway into heaven, your ticket into heaven.  But all those rewards that are handed out to believers in Jesus Christ for the works they have done- we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus- you might be at the short end of stick if you don’t  get this point.  James summarizes.  Verse 26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works,” he says, “is dead.”  It’s of no use.

0:31:45.5

So what do we do with a message like this?  Well, it would be very tempting for some of us to become fruit inspectors.  You know, the root and the fruit?  And every once in a while I hear this, you know, among Christians.  “I’m not sure that so-and-so is really a Christian.”  That’s always a dangerous thing to do, because you can never see the mysterious work of God in declaring a sinner righteous before Him.  That’s below the surface of the heart.  I can’t look into your heart, and you can’t look into my heart.  And to take a point in time in somebody’s life and say, “Well, boy, they aren’t living like any Christian that I know,” and say, “They must not be a believer.”  We could perhaps do that in multiple ways in people’s lives.  But I’m glad the scripture really looks at the totality of somebody’s life.  The Puritans during that era, they loved this notion called “the perseverance of the saints”.  You know what that was all about?  James would look at Genesis 22 and say Abraham persevered.  In other words, I finally saw the fruit which validates the root back here.  Now, you have to leave room for the fact that over the course of a believer’s life, fruit ultimately is determined by God.  And there’s a condition in the scripture known as the carnal Christian.  This is a person who has faith, who is a citizen of heaven, but lives like hell.  There is no fruit.  There’s no foliage.  Let’s be careful not to call that person an unbeliever.  Oh, I guess it’s fair for that person to examine himself and say, “Was it ever real to begin with?”  Some in other theological camps want to say you can lose it, you can get it, you can lose it, you can get it, you can lose it…no, don’t go there.  Once saved, always saved.  But there is this condition in the Christian life.  Paul speaks about it in his letter to the Corinthians.  Spiritual man, person knows Christ.  Natural man, person without Christ.  Carnal, fleshy man, that’s the person with Christ but who is living by the flesh and not by the Spirit and who is showing no fruit.  Okay?

0:34:05.5

So the first application here is to become a fruit inspector, but don’t inspect your neighbor.  Don’t inspect your spouse.  Don’t inspect your kids.  That’s between them and God.  But examine yourself.  Inspect your own life.  Inspect your own fruit.  And I’m not here to question whether this was real back here.  I’m just saying, hey, from this point forward, let’s hear what James is saying.  Where is the wheelchair ramp in your life?  Do you believe the Pythagorean Theorem but it was only an intellectual exercise years ago?  Or are you taking that truth and saying, “How can I take A²+B²=C² and do something with it tomorrow?”

0:34:47.7

One of the things I love about this series in the book of James is we’re talking about putting our faith into action.  We’re giving shoe leather to all of this.  And we’re doing simple things like collecting shoes, just as a little graphic reminder of this whole idea that we’ve got to do something with our faith, too.  Not just have intellectual debates about it, as important as those are.  And praise the Lord and thank You for donating 600 shoes, pairs of shoes, to the Central Union Mission and to Immanuel’s Hope.  And now we’re on to the next exciting venture as we put our faith in action.  And we’re collecting these sports balls for Camp Bennett.  Friends, these are just simple exercises meant to stimulate your thinking about this, our thinking about this.  Go beyond tennis shoes and sports balls and ask God the question, “Lord, you’ve given me this wonderful gift of faith and salvation.  I get to attend this wonderful church in Washington, D.C., called Immanuel Bible Church where we teach the Word of God.”  And some of you have been here for years just absorbing the truth.  Now the time comes when you say, “Lord, what do I do with all of this?  Where is the wheelchair ramp that You want me to build in my life?  How can I love my neighbor tomorrow as I love You with all of my heart and my soul and my strength?”  That’s the question we’re asking today.  A faith that really works.  And if you’re somebody who doesn’t have a starting point- you can’t look back to a starting point in your faith where you genuinely received Christ as your Savior, that’s a whole other discussion.  We’d love to talk to you about that.  But from this point forward, where is the sports ball?  Where is the shoe leather?  Where is the wheelchair ramp?  Where is our faith getting put into action?  That’s the question that we’re asking.

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Let’s pray together.  Father, thank You so much for James, and thank You for this book.  Thank You for good, scholarly work over hundreds of years that helps us understand the beautiful complement in theology.  Theology that appears to be at odds and intention, but that, as we dig deeper into the scriptures and understand what Your Word says and means and how it applies, we come out with a fresh understanding.  Oh, Father, help us to not just realize, but put into practice this idea that we are Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.  And as a watching world peers in on this place called Immanuel, I pray that they would not only see a people who believe things passionately and can argue graciously for the truth, but also a body of believers who are serious about loving God and loving our neighbor and putting our faith into action in real and practical ways.  Father, I pray for the person here today- the man, the woman, the husband, the wife, the young person- who says, “You know, I don’t remember, really, a starting point in my faith.  I can’t think back to a Genesis 15:6 or even a John 3:16 moment where I realized that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’  I thought that salvation was all about Ephesians 2:10, go do the works.  And I never heard, ‘For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.  It’s the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast.’”  Father, I pray for that person today, for starting points in faith where You do Your mysterious work of declaring the sinner right before You by faith and as a gift of Your grace.  And if that describes you this morning, maybe you might want to pray this way.  Not to put words in your mouth or in your heart, but maybe this describes the condition of your heart and your desire this morning to just say, “God, maybe for the first time I understand it this morning, and I want to receive Christ as my Savior.  Thank You for the finished work He did on the cross for me in purchasing my redemption, in paying the penalty for my sin.  And I’m placing my trust in Him, right now, right today.”  Father, thank You for the work that You are doing right here in our midst.  And we give you this time of commitment in Christ name, amen.

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