True Faith
James 2:20–26 (ESV)
20 “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
23 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.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
1. The Principle
James 2:20 (ESV)
“Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”
Faith apart from works is useless
Useless:
dead, unproductive, worthless
Foolish (κενός): defective, empty, void, amounting to zero
The reason there is no fruit in your life is there is no root in your life.
2. The Patriarch
James 2:21–22 (ESV)
21 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
Genesis 15:5–6 (NIV)
5 “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars — if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
James 2:22 (ESV)
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Test 1: True Faith Obeys Right Away
Genesis 22:1–3 (NIV)
1 “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love — Isaac — and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey.”
The speed of your obedience is a measurement of the depth of your faith.
Test 2: True Faith Obeys Even When We Don’t Understand
If the expression of your faith is limited to what you understand then you have limited God to your logic... and that’s not faith.
Test 3: True Faith is confident God will do the impossible!
Genesis 22:4–8 (NIV)
4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
Genesis 22:10–18 (NIV)
10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
3. The Prostitute
True faith believes God can save anyone, use anyone, bless anyone, change anyone.
James 2:25 (ESV)
“And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”
Joshua 2:8–11 (NIV)
8 “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.
9 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt...
10 and 11 our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”
Progression of True Faith:
Believes God
↓
Takes Action on That Belief
↓
Experiences His Blessing
Matthew 10:32 (NIV)
Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
No One Is Disqualified
True faith says: I don’t know how He can do it, but I know He’s God — and therefore, He can.
James 2:26 (ESV)
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
