3. JAMES 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers and
sisters, if someone claims to have
faith but has no deeds? Can such
faith save them?
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is
without clothes and daily food.
4. JAMES 2:14-26
16 If one of you says to them, “Go in
peace; keep warm and well fed,” but
does nothing about their physical
needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it
is not accompanied by action, is
dead.
5. JAMES 2:14-26
18 But someone will say, “You have
faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without
deeds, and I will show you my
faith by my deeds.
19 You believe that there is one
God. Good! Even the demons believe
that—and shudder.
6. JAMES 2:14-26
20 You foolish person, do you want
evidence that faith without deeds is
useless?
21 Was not our father Abraham
considered righteous for what he did
when he offered his son Isaac on the
altar?
7. JAMES 2:14-26
22 You see that his faith and his
actions were working together, and
his faith was made complete by what
he did. 23 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.
8. JAMES 2:14-26
24 You see that a person is considered
righteous by what they do and not by
faith alone.
25 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?
9. JAMES 2:14-26
26 As the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
11. Friends, everything Jesus did is
everything that needs to be done.
”It is finished!” The work of salvation
was completed.
12. It’s all Jesus, it’s only Jesus, it’s always
Jesus, and Jesus alone saves.
We are not to do anything; we are to
trust the one who has done everything.
And the Bible calls that faith.
14. As we trust Jesus and have faith in him,
we are plugging in to the life of Jesus.
15. We no longer love what we used to love,
we no longer do what we used to do,
because we are no longer who we
were.
16. Jesus’ work for us then continues with
Jesus’ work in us, and it culminates with
Jesus’ work through us to love, and to
serve, and to give.
Not so that God would love us, but
because in Christ he already has. Not so
that God would accept us, but because
in Christ he already does.
17. It’s the life of Jesus for us, in us, and
through us so that all of that—all of
that is the work of Jesus.
23. JAMES 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers and
sisters, if someone claims to have
faith but has no deeds? Can such
faith save them?
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is
without clothes and daily food.
24. JAMES 2:14-26
16 If one of you says to them, “Go in
peace; keep warm and well fed,” but
does nothing about their physical
needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it
is not accompanied by action, is
dead.
25. We’re saved from Satan, sin, death, hell,
torment, and the wrath of God.
Being saved is incredibly important.
27. Dead faith is all lip service and no
lifestyle. Dead faith is a profession of
faith that you do not practice because
you do not possess. Dead faith is lip
service, not lifestyle.
29. You don’t give, you don’t serve, you
don’t care, but you believe in God. This
is classic lazy, lukewarm, lifeless
religion. And some of you have gotten
theological about it and you’ve got
arguments for why you are fruitless.
30. Because church doesn’t save; Christ
saves. Tradition doesn’t save; Christ
saves. Religion doesn’t save; Christ
saves. It’s not what you do, it’s not what
the church does, it’s what Jesus does
and whether or not you trust him.
31. A good tree bears what kind of fruit?
Good fruit. A bad tree bears what kind
of fruit? Bad fruit. It’s not rooted and as
a result of not being rooted, it’s not
fruitful.
32. Some of you are like that. You’re rooted
in morality, you’re rooted in religion,
you’re rooted in spirituality, you’re
rooted in tradition, but you’re not
rooted in Christ, so there’s no life in you,
there’s no life through you.
The result is, it’s fruitless.
34. JAMES 2:14-26
18 But someone will say, “You have
faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without
deeds, and I will show you my
faith by my deeds.
19 You believe that there is one
God. Good! Even the demons
believe that—and shudder.
35. This functions oftentimes formally in
religion. And depending upon what
religion you go to, they’re going to hand
you another job description. Do these
things, and then God will love you, and
God will save you, and God will forgive
you.
36. Religion and Christianity are different,
and all religions are works. You work
hard and save yourself. In Christianity,
Jesus does all the work, you just trust
him.
38. These people are having this argument
with the faith people. So, the works
people are having an argument with the
faith people. And the faith people are
faith minus works.
40. There are versions of this in Christianity.
There are whole churches and
denominations that basically take one of
these options: the faith option or the
works option, and both are demonic.
42. MARK 1:34
34 and Jesus healed many who had
various diseases. He also drove out
many demons, but he would not let
the demons speak because they
knew who he was.
43. LUKE 4:33–34
33 In the synagogue there was a man
possessed by a demon, an impure
spirit. He cried out at the top of his
voice,
34 “Go away! What do you want with
us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
come to destroy us? I know who you
are—the Holy One of God!”
44. Some of you have dead faith, and some
of you have demonic faith. You know
who Jesus is, but you don’t love him.
You’re not responding to him.
His life has not overtaken your life.
53. Some of you know who Jesus is and you
disobey and you rebel.
54. These are two kinds of counterfeit faith.
Dead faith, demonic faith. Dead faith
does not produce fruitful living.
Demonic faith is entirely, exclusively,
continually theological and theoretical.
It’s not practical; it’s not actual.
56. It’s dynamic faith. It’s not dead faith, it’s
not demonic faith; it’s dynamic faith.
57. JAMES 2:14-26
20 You foolish person, do you want
evidence that faith without deeds is
useless?
21 Was not our father Abraham
considered righteous for what he did
when he offered his son Isaac on the
altar?
58. JAMES 2:14-26
22 You see that his faith and his
actions were working together, and
his faith was made complete by
what he did. 23 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.
59. JAMES 2:14-26
24 You see that a person is
considered righteous by what they
do and not by faith alone.
25 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?
60. JAMES 2:14-26
26 As the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without deeds is
dead.
61. Two case studies—Abraham, Rahab, a
man and a woman. “Was not Abraham
our father justified by works when he
offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that faith was active along with
his works, and faith was completed.”
“Completed by his works; and the
Scripture was fulfilled that says—”
63. If you’re here and you’ve done some
things you’re ashamed of, the Bible talks
about God loving people like you. This is
the real problem with religion. The real
problem with religion is, “Be a good
person and save yourself.”
64. Rahab was a prostitute. She was a
sinner. Everybody knew it. She wasn’t
one of God’s people. And then God’s
people showed up in town, and God’s
people were in danger.
65. What he’s saying is as soon as Rahab
converted, you could see it. Her life
started changing. She wasn’t perfect,
but she was different.
66. Friends, Christians aren’t perfect, but
they’re different, and they’re on the
path to perfection that ends with the
resurrection, which is where they see
their perfection.
68. He says, “What about Abraham?” And
Abraham’s this great, towering figure of
faith. Faith is not just what we believe
internally, it’s how we behave
externally.
70. What he’s saying here is, Rahab trusted
the Lord in here and you could see it out
there; that Abraham trusted the Lord in
here and you could see it out there; that
when the Father asked them to jump,
they jumped, and he caught them, and
he cared for them, and everything was
OK. That’s dynamic faith.
72. The first thing you’ve got to ask is,
“Where’s the contradiction?” And then
go study it and see if it’s a contradiction.
The accusation is made that herein lies a
contradiction.
73. JAMES 2:14-26
24 You see that a person is
considered righteous by what they
do and not by faith alone.
25 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?
74. ROMANS 3:28
28 For we maintain that a person is
justified by faith apart from the
works of the law.
75. Paul’s writing primarily to Gentiles. He’s
out dealing with all these non-Christians
and newly converted Pagans, and
they’re all terrified. Paul is primarily
focused on how we become Christians,
and James is primarily focused on what
it means to live as a Christian,
76. that once Jesus’ life invades your life, it
changes your life. So, you’re not saved
by your works, you’re saved to your
works by Jesus, and it’s ultimately his
works through you.
80. James is like Paul’s pastor. These guys
get along fine. Throughout Acts, Paul
keeps making long journeys to go back to
Jerusalem to meet with James. They’re
friends; they get along fine. And Paul’s
not afraid to have a conflict with
somebody. He does with Peter.
81. It never says that about Paul and James.
They get along fine. We need to look at
the relationship that they have.
83. James emphasizes horizontal faith; Paul,
vertical faith. Paul’s is, “How do you get
in right relationship with God?” And then
James’ focus is, “And once you’re in right
relationship with God, how does that
affect community, relationships, loving
people, serving people, and helping
people.”
84. Once you’re connected to God, God
wants to connect you with people so you
can love and serve them the way that
he’s loved and served you, and that his
love and service for you and in you
would flow through you.
90. James emphasizes works that complete
faith;
Paul emphasizes works that compete
with faith.
There’s a big difference.
91. Works that compete with faith are
religious routines, and traditions, and
rituals, or just morality, or spirituality that
compete with faith in the finished work of
Jesus. There’s a difference between
works that compete with faith and
works that complete faith.
92. EPHESIANS 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this is not
from yourselves, it is the gift of
God— 9 not by works, so that no one
can boast. 10 For we are God’s
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to
do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do.
94. Jesus’ work for you on the cross through
the empty tomb. Workmanship. Jesus is
working on you, changing your desires,
changing your nature, changing your
proclivities, changing your budget,
changing your mouth, changing your
lifestyle, changing your orientation.
95. It’s Jesus’ work for you.
It’s Jesus’ work in you.
It’s Jesus’ work through you.
It’s all Jesus’ work.
96. You’re saved by grace through faith in
Christ alone to good works that God has
prepared in advance for you to do. That
results in great joy, the greatest joy of
all.
97. Internal devotion to God, which is faith,
produces external devotion to God, which
is works, because a good tree bears good
fruit.
99. Our loving father loves to have his kids go to
work with him. We get to see what he’s like,
and what he’s doing, and where he’s working,
and what he’s building, and who he’s
changing. And we learn more about our
Father, and we get to see the family grow,
and we get to share in his joy, and we
become more like him as we work alongside
him.
100. And he doesn’t force us to work with him
because he’s using us. In fact, we make
his work much harder. But he invites us
to walk alongside him and to work with
him because he loves us, and he wants
us to love what he loves, see who he is,
and does what he does.
101. FAITHWORKS CHRISTIAN CHURCH GLOBAL
Presented By:
Ptr. Vetty Gutierrez
FCC Main, San Mateo Rizal, PH
10:00AM Morning Service
April 24, 2016
Website: faithworkschristianchurch.com
Facebook: Faithworks Christian Church Global
Twitter: @fccphilippines
Instagram: fccphilippines