28 Jun James #7 – Jesus’ Love, Your Love (James 2:8-13)
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– In eternity past, God, the father and God, the son, they knew that we would sin. They knew that we would rebel. They knew that we would walk away and they devised a plan to pursue us. And the plan was that a sinless savior would come as the sinner’s savior. And in the fullness of time, the Lord Jesus Christ, he exited his throne in heaven and he entered into human history, humbly and he knew exactly what he was sent to do. And the work that he was commissioned to accomplish. Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and favor with men and God. He preached the truth. He helped the hurting. He healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. He raised the dead. He rebuked the demons. He contended with the religious and he emerged victorious. And on the precipice of the most important event in the history of the world, the crucifixion of the son of God, the atonement for our sin, Jesus paused in John 17. And he paused to have yet another meeting with God, the father. And it’s the longest recorded prayer in the entire Bible. And Jesus says this in John 17:4, he says, father while on the earth, I have completed the works that you have sent me to do. Jesus knew exactly what he was to be doing. And that is exactly what he was doing. Jesus completed the works that he and the father had agreed to. Then Jesus proceeded, forward boldly. And he went to the cross where he substituted himself for us. The God man put himself in our place and suffered and died. The punishment we deserve, that we might receive, the salvation that he alone secures. And friends, everything Jesus did is everything that need be done. He said this on the cross, breathing out his last, in triumphant victory cry. It is finished! The work of salvation was completed. We don’t add to it. It’s not Jesus, plus baptism. Jesus, plus a good life. Jesus, plus speaking in tongues. Jesus, plus tithing. Jesus, plus doing better and trying harder because Jesus plus anything ruins everything. It’s all Jesus. It’s only Jesus. It’s always Jesus and Jesus alone saves. That’s Jesus’ saving work. We are not to do anything. We are to trust the one who has done everything. The Bible calls that faith. And as we trust Jesus, as we have faith in Jesus, we are plugging in to the life of Jesus. Just as you would take dead technology and plug it into its power source that it would come to life, so we who are spiritually dead by faith, we have access to the power of the living Jesus. We are made spiritually alive. Jesus work for us, begins a work in us. Jesus work begins to transform and changes our appetites, our desires, our longings change. 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. And Jesus worked for us, then continues with Jesus work in us and it culminates with Jesus worked 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. It’s the life of Jesus for us, in us and through us, so that all of that, hear me on this, all of that is the work of Jesus! All of that is the work of Jesus! And there is often confusion regarding this. So then preachers and teachers need to clarify this. One of them is a man named James, who’s Jesus’ little brother. And he’s working as a pastor in the great city of Jerusalem. And he’s dealing primarily with religious people who have been going to meetings like this and hearing sermons like this for a really long time. And he’s going to clarify them. Jesus works and your works, if you’ve got a Bible, find this place, James chapter two verses 14 through 26. And he’s going to speak of faith in three categories. The first two are counterfeits and the last is authentic. The first counterfeit faith is a dead faith. James two, 14 through 17. What good is it, my brothers? He’s writing to religious people. Some are Christians, some are not, but most are Jewish. He is Jewish. They are Jewish by descent and there are his Jewish brothers and sisters. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says… He has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him? Very significant, important question. We’re saved from Satan, sin, death, hell, torment and the wrath of God. Being saved is incredibly important. Can this kind of dead faith save you from that fate? And then he uses a case study, an example. If a brother or sister, a fellow Christian is poorly clothed… There’s somebody in your community group, there’s somebody in your church service, there’s somebody in your neighborhood. As all the kids walk to the bus stop in the morning, you notice every day, one kid doesn’t have a coat. It’s cold and it’s raining. And the child is shivering and shaking. Where you see one lacking in daily food, the single mom in your community group, the single mom in your service, the single mom in your neighborhood, she’s trying to make ends meet, but she’s fallen short again this month. As a result, she’s distressed because she can’t buy groceries. And you say, you don’t do anything. This is the problem with religion. Religion says a lot of things. It doesn’t do anything! You say to them, go in peace. Oh, it’s religious hyperbole. Quote a little verse, give them a little truism, little hmm. When God closes a door, he opens a window. Sure he has great things for you. Just trust the Lord. I’ll be praying. Be praying he gives you a coat. He already did, it’s in your house! I pray he gives you a san– He does, the sandwich is in your fridge, go get it! If you’re gonna pray, answer the prayer. You say, go in peace, be warm and filled. Religious people are smarmy. They’re annoying when they talk. It makes you want to hit them. Oh, go in peace, beloved. Be warm, be filled. Without giving them the things needed for the body. Here’s a good question. What good is that? What good is that? See also faith by itself, if it does not have works, it’s dead. You know what dead people do? Do you know a dead people do? Nothing, it’s not a trick question. They do nothing. You know what dead faith does? Do you know what that faith does? Nothing. 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. This is like a guy who says, I love my wife. Do you talk to her? No. Do you serve her? No. Do you live with her? No. You don’t love her. Yes I do, don’t judge my heart. Well, the problem is your heart has overflowed into your life and we see it. Dead faith is lip service, not lifestyle. Some of you have dead faith. Some of you have inherited dead faith. You don’t give, you don’t serve, you don’t care, but you believe in God. This is classic lazy, lukewarm, lifeless religion. Some of you have gotten theological about it. And you’ve got arguments for why you are fruitless. You know what? You can be baptized in the church and grew up in the church. You can sit in the church every week. You can have your wedding in the church. You can have your funeral in the church. Close your eyes and wake up in hell. 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. Jesus said this, a good tree bears what kind of fruit? Good fruit. A bad tree bears what kind of fruit? Bad fruit. In our yard, we planted two trees. One rooted and is fruitful. The other did not and is dead, but they’re both still standing there. I haven’t taken them out yet. Some of you are like that. It’s only a matter of time before Jesus comes back, chops you down and burns you up because you’re a bad tree and you don’t bear good fruit. You have dead faith. It’s not rooted and as a result of not being rooted, it’s not fruitful. 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, it’s fruitless. How many of you are discouraged and a little scared? It’s gonna get worse, next section. Okay, that’s dead faith. How about this one? How about demonic faith? James chapter two, verses 18 and 19. But some will say, you know why? Cause theologians and nerds, they always like to argue about what they’re not doing. I’m not doing it because I read the Bible. It said not to do anything. Using the Bible to excuse your disobedience to the Bible is not rightly using the Bible. But someone will say hypothetically in their community group because they’re a nerd and they love footnotes and they don’t do anything, hypothetically, but someone will say, you have faith, I have works. We believe in pluralism, tolerance and diversity. That’s your path, this is mine. Let’s not judge each other, we’re both right. He says, show me your faith, apart from your works and I’ll show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well, even the demons believe that and shutter. So there are two groups having a little argument in the church. 2,000 years later, these groups still having an argument. We have the works people and we have the faith people. And the works are works minus faith. And the faith is minus works. So the works minus faith people, they’re saying basically, you can earn your salvation. It’s not what Jesus does, it’s what you do. Be a good person, try harder, reincarnate, pay off your karmic debt, go to Mecca, tithe 10%, speak in tongues, get baptized, do something. This functions oftentimes formally in religion. Depending about what religion you go to, they’re gonna hand you another job description. Do these things and then God will love you and God will save you and God will forgive you and you can go off to Never Neverland. It’s gonna be awesome for you forever. Just do these things on the list. Every, every, every single religion is about works except for Christianity. So I get frustrated. People are like, oh, Christianity is just like other religions. No, it’s not. Like babysitting is not like terrorism, they’re different. They treat people differently. Religion and Christianity are different and all religions are works. You work hard and save yourself. Christianity, Jesus does all the work. You just trust him. I was talking to Ravi Zacharias. I was interviewing him for a book project. If you’ve not read Ravi, read him. But if you can, listen to him. He’s Canadian, we still love him. He’s east Indian with a British accent. The guy could read the phone book and make it sound amazing. And he’s one of the foremost Christian experts on world religions and I was interviewing Ravi and here’s what he said. Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, Islam, all of them have one common assumption in one way or the other, whether they be pantheistic or theistic that the mains to your destination is good works, after keeping of a certain moral framework or certain laws or certain rules. Every religion, except for Christianity says, there is a savior and you meet them every morning in the mirror. This leads to pride. I saved myself or despair. I failed and lost my salvation. There’s great uncertainty and anxiety if salvation is accomplished by me. And 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. They’re saying, you know what? We just need to calm down. There’s no need to get so serious, like these devoutly religious people. We don’t need the pray. God’s sovereign, he already takes care of everything. We don’t need to give. God will provide. We don’t need to serve, that would be legalism in works and we should sit down. We should just trust the Lord and maybe argue theology and publish some books and wait for Jesus to come back. You don’t wanna do anything. You’re not religious, are you? You don’t wanna do anything. You’re not legalistic, are you? Why are you trying? Don’t you trust Jesus? Why are you helping? Why are you praying? Why are you caring? Why are you serving? That’s not very godly. You look like the Pharisees. Remember, those religious guys. So the faith people over here are saying, don’t do anything like those religious people. And the works people are over here saying, you don’t need Jesus like a virgin had a baby who rose from the dead. How about something more practical like, you figure it out yourself and you fix it yourself? And James says, they’re both wrong. They’re both wrong. Now, 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. Now, there’s an informal third way that exists in our culture and that is, now, I’m not going to do nothing. And I’m not going to do a lot of things. I’ll just assume that what I’m already doing is good enough. These are people that are like, if you died, do you know where you’re going? I’m going to heaven, why? I believe in God, I’m a pretty good person. Which means I’m not going to try any harder. I feel like he grades on a curve and I think I’m okay. I’m one of those C students, but you know, grades on a curve. Oh, I could do more, but I could do less. I’m pretty good person. How many of you thought or think or know someone who thinks they’re a pretty good person, they believe in God, I’m sure it’ll be fine when I die, if there’s a happy place, I’ll go there? Most people are in that category. What’s the answer? James says… You… Are… Like… A… Demon. He talks about demonic faith. Demonic faith, I’ll put in quotes, it’s not saving faith. Demonic faith approaches God the way demons approach God. He says, oh, you believe in one God. Congratulations, you’re a monotheist. Even the demons are monotheists. You can have an understanding of Jesus without an affection for Jesus. You know what’s curious? I’ll give you a couple of examples. As you read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and they talk about the life of Jesus, there are a lot of people that don’t know who Jesus is. Like his family. They don’t know who he is. His disciples, he calls them dull. I’m sure it didn’t bother them. When you’re that dull, it just flies right by. But anyways, because they didn’t know who he was. The religious people didn’t know who he was. The demons knew who he was. As a read the gospels, the demons know who Jesus is. I’ll give you some examples. Mark 1:34, he, Jesus would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him. Luke 4:33 and 34, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon and he cried out with a loud voice, “I who you are! “The holy one of God!” Luke 4:41, demons also came out of many saying, “You are the son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. There’s dead faith, friends! I had dead faith until I was 19 and met Jesus! I would have said, well, I was baptized as a baby. I believe in God and I’m a good person. Better than most, I’m sure I’m fine, dead faith. I didn’t know Jesus. I didn’t love Jesus. I didn’t enjoy the life of Jesus. I wasn’t growing in Christ’s likeness. The life of Jesus was not flowing through my life. 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. There’s three aspects of demonic faith. And again, I use these in quotes. Demonic faith has information, but not transformation. Do demons become Christians, yes or no? No. Do Jesus, excuse me, let me ask a different way. Do demons know who Jesus is, yes or no? Yes. So they know who Jesus is and they go to hell. You can know who Jesus is and go to hell. Because you need more than just information, you need that information to result in your transformation. Some of you could pass a test. Jesus is the son of God. You are the holy one. And you could score a hundred percent along with the demon and be with them forever. Because the test is not just, fill in the blank, it’s fill in the life. It’s not just what you know, it’s what that knowledge does to transform you. The idea is this. You can’t say I met Jesus and nothing changed. You can’t. You can’t meet the creator of the universe and not change. Number two, demonic faith knows about Jesus, but does not love Jesus. You are the holy one. You are the son of God. We know who you are. They don’t say, and we love you. And we’re so glad to meet you. And we wanna become more like you. And we wanna follow you. And we wanna listen to you and we wanna submit to you. And we want others to see you through us. They don’t love him. Do you love Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Has he changed you? Is he changing you? Thirdly, demonic faith is rebellious and not repented. You are the holy one, the son of God. And we’re not gonna do what you say. We’re not gonna submit to you. We’re not gonna obey you. We’re not gonna yield to you. We’re not gonna bend our knee and bow our head in honor of you, no way. Some of you, you know who Jesus is and you disobeyed and you rebel. And if somebody confronts you, they’re like, what you’re doing is wrong. Look, don’t talk to me. I know who Jesus is. He’s the holy one, the son of God. You are like a demon. You’re like a demon. 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. The demons in the New Testament have a theology of Jesus that is better than a great multitude of Bible college and seminary professors. If the demons were to write a book on Jesus, it would be clearer than some of the junk at the Christian bookstore for sale right now. Because when they talk about Jesus, they actually get it right. Some of you, you live in a world of theoretical and theological and you are using the scriptures to explain a way and defend your fruitless, faithless life. And there’s the third way. It’s dynamic faith. It’s not dead faith. It’s not demonic faith. It’s dynamic faith. James continues, chapter two, verses 20 through 26. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person? How many of you think you’re pretty smart? Like, I don’t know. He’s yelling, I’m pretty smart. I don’t feel like you should yell at someone as smart as me. Oh yeah, there is a dumb guy sitting next to me. All right, it’s okay. He needs to yell at that guy. We think we’re pretty smart, don’t we? I’m pretty smart. I’m pretty smart. This is know your foolish person. Here, he’s echoing the wisdom literature, a lot of the Bible’s about sin and holiness, but the wisdom literature is about folly and wisdom. He says, you know what, this is foolish. I want you to be wise. So he says, I’m a Christian, maybe a foolish Christian. You could be a foolish Christian. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless. So he’s going to do 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. I want you to pay careful attention to that word. We’re gonna come back to it, super important. Completed by his works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says because it goes back quotes, Genesis, massive verse of the Bible. It echoes through the whole Bible. It’s a massive, massive concept and theme. And Abraham becomes for us, this towering figure of faith. Abraham believed God. There is faith. And it was counted to him as righteousness. And he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, second case study was not also Rahab the prostitute. 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. You’re like, I’ve been a bad person, what now? Rahab was a prostitute. Do you know what it’s like to be a prostitute thousands of years ago? No more socially acceptable than today. You think Rahab’s going to die, stand before the holy and righteous God of the universe? God’s like, all right, tell me what you did to earn your salvation. I was a good prostitute. No. If God saves, that’s the most loving and it’s the most hopeful. And it welcomes the worst sinner, like me. Rahab, the prostitute was justified by works when received the messengers and sent them out by another way, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. So as you know, Rahab, 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. They were going to lose their life. So what Rahab did is she had a conversion and she identified with God’s people and she realized that her life was wrong. And she immediately started making some changes. 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. Friends, Christians aren’t perfect, but they’re different. And they’re on the path to perfection that ends with their resurrection, which is where they see their perfection. So what Rahab did is she endangered herself by helping God’s people escape. She identified with God’s people. She changed and she served God’s people and God’s purposes. She didn’t just say, I trust the Lord. Good luck getting out of town. Good luck. She said, I’m here to help. Because God loves me, I love you. Because God served me, I serve you. Because God was there for me, God is there for you. Because God got me out of the mess I was in, I wanna help get you out of the mess you’re in. It’s God’s work for me and in me and through me to your benefit. He says, what about Abraham? And Abraham is this great towering figure of faith. When the story of Abraham is that that he was to be a father, but he didn’t have a son. And so the promise was given that the son was coming and the son would come through a miracle. A woman who couldn’t have a baby, she was barren and elderly would give birth, not just to a child, but to a son, a first born son, a beloved son, a son of a promise through whom would come a savior named Jesus. They waited a long time and the promise was fulfilled and the son was born and he was loved. And as he grew to be a young man, God told Abraham, I want you to take your son, your only son, your firstborn son, the son of the promise, the son that you waited for, the son that was born by a miracle and I want you to offer him as a sacrifice to me. That a father would kill his son. All of this is foreshadowing, the forthcoming of Jesus that the father would send his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That we would wait a long time for him. That he would be born through a miracle, to a woman who was a virgin and not otherwise, able to conceive apart from the intervention of God. That when born, he would be greatly loved. And he would be the son of the promise from the line of Abraham. So all of this points to Jesus. And what the Bible says in Genesis is that they went and Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to the Lord. And that Isaac literally carried the wood on his own back. Just like Jesus carried the cross to his place of crucifixion and execution. And in faith, Abraham was going to sacrifice his only son. And God intervened through the angel of the Lord, perhaps even Jesus and said, don’t sacrifice your son. There’s an animal as a substitute, but on the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided. Meaning there would be another day when the father would send another son who would carry different wood and he instead would substitute himself for the salvation of sinners. And what James is saying, particularly to these Jewish Christians who are in the city of Jerusalem attending this large church is, what if Abraham would have said, I have faith, but not works. I trust the Lord, I just don’t do anything. Faith is not just what we believe internally, it’s how we behave externally. I’ll give you a simple analogy with every one of my kids, this happened. Summer comes, I’m in the pool. They don’t know how to swim, they need to learn. They’re terrified of jumping in the pool. Some of you didn’t have that kid. They jumped in the pool and you had to be their rescuer. My kids are more scared to jump in the pool. So I would be in the pool, having this conversation with every one of my children at some point when they’re very, very little, jump. And they would say, no. Jump, I’ll die! No, no, no, you could trust me. I wouldn’t lie to you. And I wouldn’t tell you something wrong. Trust me, jump in the pool. And variably because I raised five small attorneys in negotiation will go something like this. I would ask, do you trust your dad? They would say, I trust you, dad. Then jump! No! Okay, so here we are, edge of the pool, right? I trust you, dad! No you don’t. I trust you in here. Okay, that’s a good start, jump. If they never jumped, did they trust me? No because trust in here results in action out there. Once they jump, they really have faith in their father. Until then, they have faith in their footing. What he’s saying here is Rahab, she trusted the Lord in here and he 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 okay. That’s dynamic faith. Now, here’s what happens. How many of you are armchair theologians? You’ve been looking forward to this week. You’ve been reading ahead. You’re all loaded for community group. Woo-hoo, you’re ready to go! And you know, oh boy, this is a big text. This is a theological text. A lot of books have been written. A lot of debates had, a lot of nerds blogging, can’t wait. And your question is this, does James contradict Paul? How many of you, okay, be honest, you know that this is a debate? The denominations have split over it. Churches have split over it. Books have been written over it. Debates have been had regarding it. Here it is. We go through books of the Bible. It forces us to deal with things that sometimes we wouldn’t get into. Praise be the God, here it is. Here’s the question. Do James and Paul contradict how many of you have heard this from somebody? Like, I don’t believe the Bible. The Bible has a lot of contradictions. Okay, here’s what you do. First thing you’re like, such as? And then usually here’s what you get. I don’t know. I’ve asked this for 20 years. Every time somebody goes up. It has a lot of contradictions. Whoa, big claim. Woo, big claim. Where, where? Give me one. Oh, I don’t know. Okay, you are a contradiction. So first thing you got to ask is, where’s the contradiction? And then go study it and see if it’s a contradiction. The accusation has made that here in lies the contradiction, James 2:24, you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. We just read that, that’s James, here’s Paul. Romans 3:20, one is justified by faith apart from, without works with the law. Which is it? Which is it? Let me give you an important analogy. I hope it’s a helpful analogy. You’re in a doctor’s office. The doctor’s got two rooms where they meet with patients. And you’re, let’s say, out on the waiting room and it’s going to be your turn. And you hear the doctor walk into one room and say, you need to start jogging. You need to get up and start running. You need to be active. Doctor walks into the other room. You need to sit down. You need to stop running. You shouldn’t be active. Contradiction, no, different patients. This guy’s really heavy and this guy broke his leg. So this guy needs to run. And this guy needs to sit down. It’s not a contradiction when you consider the patient, then the diagnosis makes sense. James is writing primarily to highly religious people who don’t do anything. Been going to church for a while. Yawn, fill in the blanks, blah, blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Paul’s writing primarily to gentiles. He’s out dealing with all these non-Christians and newly converted pagans and they’re all terrified. Am I going to hell, am I going to hell, am I going to hell? What am I going to do? How much money do I need to give to? Do I need to reincarnate? Do I need to slaughter a bull? Do I need to get baptized? Do I need to speak in tongues? What do I need to do? Paul’s was like, Jesus did everything. Are you sure? Yeah, I’m very sure, Jesus did everything. Well, what about if I just try some other stuff, just in case he didn’t cover it? No, don’t do that. What about if I get circumcised, will that help? No, no, probably not. I don’t think that God dying on a cross and you going to the rabbi, I don’t think that’s really going to help. Different patients, different problems, different treatments. If you’re writing to religious people who know everything and do nothing, you’re like, do something. You’re writing to people who are doing a lot, but don’t know that Jesus has done everything. They need to trust in what he has done before they worry about what they do. Paul is primarily focused on how we become Christians. And James is primarily focused on what it means to live as a Christian. 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. So here’s how we can reconcile Paul and James. First of all, Paul and James are friends. And friends don’t need to be reconciled. You can read the Bible for yourself, but in Galatians one, Paul says, yeah I took a long trip to go see James in Jerusalem. You only travel a long way to go meet with somebody you get along with and you’re friends with. Galatians two, Paul says, when I became a Christian, I felt like I supposed to be a pastor. I needed somebody to examine me and approve me and lay hands over me and commissioned me and ordained me. So he says in Galatians two, so I went to Jerusalem to meet with James. 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. He says, I put my finger in Peter’s chest cause I told him he was a racist and he wasn’t acting in accordance with the gospel and we had a good conflict. Never says that about Paul and James. They get along fine. They meet all the time. Not to figure out their arguments, but so that Paul can report to James what God is doing. And also James could give some counsel and wisdom to Paul cause if you want to learn something, who better to meet with and Jesus’ brother, who’s a pastor. So we can’t just look at the words they say, we need to look at the relationship that they have. Number two, 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 and relationships, loving people and serving people and helping people? 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. Number three, James emphasizes the end of salvation and Paul the beginning. So Paul is saying, you start your relationship solely by trusting in all that Jesus has done. And James is saying, and 40 years later, when you’re looking back on it, you see that your life changed. You could see it. I met Jesus and my desires changed, my mind changed, my life changed. The way I spent my money. The way I invest in my time. Man, there was a lot of change there. If you come to me and you ask me, Pastor Mark, how do I know if I’m a Christian? I’m going to ask you two questions. Do you know Jesus? And the second question will be, what has he done in your life? And if you say, I don’t know Jesus. Then you’re not a Christian. You say, I do know Jesus. Okay, then look at your life. So I made a decision for Christ at a youth camp where I felt guilty 27 years ago. What has he done in your life? Nothing, I didn’t meet him. You can’t meet Jesus and not change. You can’t meet Jesus and not change. Number four, James emphasizes religious, lazy people. And Paul lost people. Religious lazy people are like, yeah, I was in a Bible study years ago. I think I got all my questions answered. Put the book down, whatever. Yeah, I go twice a month. I try to park my chariot in the same place, but every once in a while a visitor takes my spot and I don’t know about that. And then, I came in and I don’t know, we had coffee, but the coffee was not that great. And I sat in the seat I usually sit in and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Mark yelled at me, but you know, the kids, they enjoyed it. And then we went home and they pass the plate and I thought that was funny. We’ll go again next year. They’re just indifferent. They don’t care. Ritual has become for them routine. And Paul is talking to lost people. And sometimes if you’ve been a Christian for a while and you know that Jesus loves you and your salvation secure and you’re not going to hell and everything to take care of, you can forget what it’s like to live in the terror of you’re going to hell. There’s some people that are terrified. Like, am I going to? We had a gal like this in college. Every week at our college ministry, she would come forward, crying, freaking out, shaking, asking to become a Christian for months. You know, imagine men every day you come home from work and your wife is like, will you marry me? And we’re like, we have been married 37 times. But I feel like we got unmarried today. No, look, we’re married. We don’t need to put the dress on again. Like we did that 37 times, like we’re good. There are people who they meet Jesus and then they feel like I did something wrong this week, now he hates me and I’m going to hell. I need to come back and get saved again and get saved again and get married again and get married. And Paul’s like, no you don’t. Jesus is a groom who loves his bride. He’s not filing for divorce and he’s not setting the house on fire. Take a deep breath and move on with your relationship. Number five, James emphasizes works that complete faith. Paul emphasizes works that compete with faith. There’s a big difference. Works to 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. I didn’t just marry Grace, I live with her. That completes our covenant. I read it to you, but it’s in Galatians or excuse me, it’s in James 2:22. Speaking about Abraham, hear it again, you see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works. So they’re talking about different kinds of faith. Paul says there’s a bad kind of work and a different kind of works. Paul is saying there’s a bad kind of works that competes with faith, ee don’t believe in that. And James is saying, but there’s a good kind of works that completes faith, we really need that. I’ll show it to you. So let’s just put the two texts up there where everybody freaks out. James 2:26, of course written by James and then Ephesians 2:8, 9 and 10, written by Paul and almost all the Christians I ever met quote Ephesians two, eight and nine, skip verse 10. Okay, so read it with me, James 2:26. What word, what’s the first word, big word? Say it a little better. What’s the first word? Faith apart from works is dead. What comes first? Faith, then works. You don’t work your way into faith. Your faith works itself out in your life. And what does Paul say? This is one of the most dynamic summaries of Paul’s teaching for by grace. You didn’t earn it, didn’t deserve it. Here’s the good news, means you can’t lose it. God gives you something you don’t deserve, you can’t do something to disearn it. I think I made up a word. But you can’t. If you didn’t deserve it and you have it, you can’t do anything to lose it because you didn’t earn it in the first place, it was a gift. By grace, you have been saved. Past, present, future. Conquered Satan, sin, death, hell, the wrath of God. It’s all taken care of. Take a deep breath, yay Jesus, thanks a lot! For by grace, you’ve been saved through, big word, what’s a big word? Faith, trusting in Jesus and this is not your own doing. It’s not your works. It is the gift of God. Jesus works, not a result of works. Your bad religious works that compete with faith. So the no one may boast, I’m a good person, I saved myself. I reincarnated, I used to be a cow. I got baptized, I went to Mecca. Blah-blah-blah, I speak in tongues. I’ll give you more money. I’m a holy man. No, no one may boast. You didn’t do anything to save yourself. Jesus saved you and trust him. He says, is that it? Is that it? In Ephesians 2:8 and 9, Jesus did it all. I’m saved, there’s nothing, nothing that he asks of me yet. I just sit down and read books and wait for the rapture. Whew, is that it? Another verse, for we are his workmanship. Point number one, Jesus, work for you on the cross through the empty tomb. Workmanship, Jesus is working on you, changing your desires, change in your nature changing your proclivities, changing your budget, changing your mouth, changing your lifestyle, changing your orientation. Created in Christ, Jesus for good, not bad works that compete with faith, good works that complete faith. Not works that you’re trying to make yourself a Christian, but works that show that you belong to Christ. It’s Jesus work for you, it’s Jesus work in you. It’s Jesus work through you. It’s all Jesus’ work. Somebody comes along and say, well, you’ve really changed. Well, I still got a lot of work to do, but thankfully, Jesus is working on me. Hey, you really were loving, you were gracious. You were kind, you were generous. You responded differently. Yep, Jesus is working on me. And he’s working through me. And I’m not changing because I have to, but because I want to. I’m not changing so that they’ll love me, but because his love is changing me. Do see the difference? You’re saved by grace through faith, in Christ alone to good works that God has prepared in advance for you to do. And we don’t do those works, giving, loving, praying, serving, growing, helping, trying, caring. Out of legalism, you need to do this. But out of love, Jesus has done that for me. Jesus is doing that in me. Jesus wants to do that through me. He loves me, I love him. That’s what I want to do. I want to be like him. That results in great joy. The greatest joy of all. Let me summarize it for you. Internal devotion to God, which is faith, produces external devotion to God, which is works because a good tree bears good fruit. Non-Christian, religious person, moral person. You’re not a good person. You’re a sinful person. There’s nothing you can do to fix yourself and please God. You need to stop whatever you are doing and start trusting in what Jesus has done. Christian… God has prepared good works for you to do. There are people for you to love. There are people for you to talk to about Jesus. There are things for you to learn. There are ways for you to grow. There are desires that need to be changed. There are mindsets that have yet to be altered. There is generosity for you to share. There is a kingdom for you to serve. There is a mission for you to be a part of. And Jesus invites you to join him in this wonderful, glorious, good works of the gospel, moving through the nations of the earth. Starting in the lives of his people. We’ve got so much work to do. We’ve got churches to plan, buildings to buy, people to disciple, herding people to help, poor people to feed, church planners to fund. We’ve got new services to kick off. We need community group leaders and redemption group leaders and elders and deacons and don’t sit back in your seat and be like, sounds like he’s preaching works. No, he’s preaching love! Love for Jesus and love for his people and love for the world. Compels us to action. It’s the same love that got Jesus off his throne and got Jesus into history and got Jesus caring and loving and seeking and saving and serving. And it’s not us, it’s Christ in us. The hope of glory. It’s Christ in us, the hope of glory. So don’t have two categories, Jesus and me, no way. It’s Jesus through me, Jesus through me. All glory to him all joined me, amen. Now you know why you’re here. Now you know why you were born. Now you know why you have the experiences you do and the gifts that you do and the opportunities that God has set before you because he has good works prepared in advance for you to do. Here’s the good news, he doesn’t need you, but he loves you. Just like a good dad. Allows the children he loves to participate with him in the things that he does. 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 of him. 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 of him and to work with him because he loves us and he wants us to love what he loves and see who he is and does what he does, amen.
