Lesson 13: Faith & Works (part 1)
Read James 2:14-26 - www.bible.com/bible/59/jas.2.esv

 Faith is a key doctrine in the Christian life. That is the major theme resonating from James’ letter – results. Genuine faith produces works.

*What do these verses tell you about faith? Ephesians 2:8-10 _____, 2 Corinthians 5:7 _____, Hebrews 11:6 _____, Romans 14:23 _____

Is there a contradiction between what Paul wrote in Romans 3:28 – “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” And what James wrote in James 2:24 – “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

There are no contradictions between Paul and James, but there are 3 differences:
1. The emphasis – Paul emphasizes the root of salvation while James emphasizes the fruit after salvation.
2. The perspective – Paul looks at it from God’s perspective while James looks at it from a human perspective. Paul sees the fire in the fireplace while James sees the smoke in the chimney. To James, the world should be able to tell that a faith burns in our hearts by the smoke (works) they see coming out of our lives.
3. The difference in the meaning of ‘justified.’ When Paul mentions justified he means the act of God at salvation whereby he declares the believing sinner righteous while still in a sinning state. James on the other hand uses the term to mean validate or evidence. James says we justify (prove) or validate our faith by our works.

What good does it do to say you have faith if you have no works to justify that claim? – no change in your life, no evidence you are saved. It’s like asking what good is a driver’s license if you don’t drive. Answer – none. So what good is a faith that produces no works? You are right if you said, “none.” After pointing out the worthlessness of a workless faith James then asks a deeper question, can that faith save him? (James 2:14)


James 2:15-17 – The person with the dead faith noticed the visitor but did nothing to meet the needs. All he did was say a few pious words. James 2:16 -but the visitor went away just as hungry and naked as before.(Galatians 6:10, Matthew 25:40, 1 John 3:17-18) James’ question in James 2:14 is, can that kind of save him? Any declaration of faith that does not result in a changed life is a false declaration, a dead faith. True, saving faith cannot be by itself, it always brings life (Ephesians 2:1) and life produces good works. Three times James warns us that faith without works is dead - James 2:17, 20, 26.

James 2:18-19 – In this passage James uses a shocking illustration. It comes as a shock to people that demons have faith. Demons believe in the existence of God, they are neither atheist nor agnostic. They believe in the deity of Christ, place of eternal punishment and they shudder. They have their religious facts straight but they are still demons. This person’s defense against not having any works is to hide behind an impressive knowledge of God’s word (Deuteronomy 6:4). ‘Wonderful’ says James, join hands with the demons. The dead faith of the intellectual (James 2:18) does not even produce that.

James has introduced us to dead faith and demonic faith, now he’ll show us dynamic faith or genuine faith.