LDS "Faith without works is dead"- James 2:17-26 examined

Hi, welcome to Reformed Ex-Mormon. I am Brayden Patterson. I hope you're having a blessed day today. Today, what I was wanting to do is just do a little live video discussing and looking at and examining James chapter 2 specifically, verses 17 through 26.

Russell M. Nelson and the LDS Case for Salvation by Works

And the reason I want to do this is that recently the LDS prophet Russell M. Nelson just said, while giving a speech, he said that, this is just a short quote from him that I think is very, very important and we'll talk a little bit about this.

It says, in its fullness of its context here, it says, Instead, it further clarifies, he's speaking of the Book of Mormon, Instead, it further clarifies many Bible teachings while revealing new concepts and refuting many falsehoods, including the notion that Revelation ended with the Bible and that one can be saved by grace alone.

The reason that we're in James chapter 2, verses 17 through 26 today is because the LDS and any works based salvation or a works plus faith salvation, what I mean by that is somebody that says you must do X, Y and Z in order to be saved plus faith.

Any religion that does that will look at James chapter 2 and they'll hyper focus into verses 17 through 26 and they will quote it. They will read it and they believe that this gives them a validation for saying what they have said previously, that it is through X, Y and Z that one is saved.

It is through works that one is saved, works plus faith. Some more church doctrine from the LDS religion that would promote such an idea actually comes from Articles of Faith 3 and 4. It says in there in verses 3 and 4, it says, We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and the ordinances of the gospel.

I'll pause there real quickly and let us see this in its context. It says, we believe that through the atonement of Christ, so it is through Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

It's clear in there that Jesus Christ is enabling someone to be able to obey the law and through their obedience they are saved. It then goes on to say in verse 4 of that to Articles of Faith 3 and 4, it says in there, We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second, repentance, third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

So they would say that those things are a required necessary ordinances, necessary works for an individual to do in order to be saved, in order to gain exaltation. They would continue to say that you would need to go to the temple and you would need to do more and more and more in order to have this type of salvation that is talked about in Articles of Faith 3 and 4.

There's another quote that I just want to read to us as we as we think about these things. Spencer W. Kimball in The Miracle of Forgiveness is quoted as saying this,. One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by men or by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God.

That belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation. And as a Christian, as a born again Christian, that is absolutely what I believe is that I am saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

And that is according to the scripture of God alone. And so let us read in James chapter two, verse 17 through 26, this often quoted verse by the LDS. Let's let's see what it says in there. It says, starting in verse 17, just going all the way down to 26, it says,.

Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But some one 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.

You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac, his son, on the altar?

When you see that faith was working with his works as a result of the works, faith was perfected or was fulfilled. In verse 22, it says, in verse 23, it says,. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and Abraham believed God and was reckoned to him as righteousness.

And he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, not as not Rahab, the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. And so that is the commonly quoted verse there in verse 26. And also verse 17 that for the just the body without the spirit is dead.

So also faith without works is dead. And then in verse 17, it says, even so faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. And at the superficial level, these verses paired with articles of faith three and four in those previous quotes that I already mentioned seem to merit some sort of of.

It seems to merit the reality of what James chapter two is saying in there. But this is the important thing that we need to remember. A text taken out of context is a pretext. And we know that according to 1st Timothy or 2nd Timothy 316, that it says that for all the word of God inspired.

And so therefore it cannot contradict one another. And James chapter two, if that is the meaning that we are going to derive from verses 17 through 26 is in clear contradiction with the rest of the word of God.

Romans 3 and Justification Apart from the Works of the Law

And I want to read for us before we look into the context of James chapter two. Let us go to that which is clear in scripture. Let us go to Romans chapter three to start off with. Romans chapter three.

And once again, I do not want to quote something out of context. We will start in verse 10. And I will just make mention of things. And I would encourage you to read along with these. And once the video is done, to go back and read through the entirety of this context that we see here in Romans chapter three.

It starts off in verse nine. What then are we better than they? Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. So we are all under sin. Verse 10 says, as it is written, there are none righteous, not even one.

Verses 11 through 18 go on to tell us all the world is sin against God. And in verses 19 through 20, I will read these ones. It is important. It says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.

So the law has been given to hold the whole world accountable before God. And it says in verse 20, because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

And so we see in verse 20 something that is important that is said, by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified. And then it goes on to tell us in verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and being justified as a gift from God.

It tells us in verse 28, and this is very important. I would encourage you to read all the way through these texts that I'm quoting from in here. But specifically in verse 28, it says, for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Abraham, Circumcision, and Genesis 15:6

Let's now look into Romans chapter 4. Now that we understand the context from the chapter before, Romans chapter 4 says this. We'll start in verse 1 actually. It says in Romans 4 verse 1. Blessed are those who lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.

Let's go down a little bit further into verses 10 and 11 just to see more about this figure of Abraham. It says in verse 9, is this blessing then upon the circumcised or upon the uncircumcised? So speaking of those that are following this works or those that have not followed with works.

For we say faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it reckoned while he was circumcised or uncircumcised? When did this happen is what this text is asking. And it says not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised. That righteousness might be reckoned to them.

I love that text because it very clearly in there shows that Abraham was reckoned righteousness. Genesis 15 6 prior to receiving the sign of circumcision, that changing of the heart, the removal of the flesh.

James 2 in Context: Faith That Produces Fruit

Let's now go back to James chapter 2 and we'll now look into the context of James chapter 2 because these two verses from Romans chapter 4 to James chapter 2 seem to contradict each other. And like I said, they cannot.

Whenever we have a supposed contradiction in the word of God, it is not that the word of God contradicts, but we have a misunderstanding of what the text is presenting to us. So James chapter 2, and in order to understand this text, once again, we need to look at the context to help us understand what the meaning, the interpretation is supposed to be.

And I would encourage you, the listener of this video, to read the entire chapter of James chapter 2. You can even start at the beginning of the book if you would like. But James chapter 2 starts out with saying that are we supposed to have a favoritism as Christians?

Are we supposed to look at a rich man better than a poor man or a poor man better than a rich man? And it says that the poor man has great faith. It says that he will be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who loved him.

And so there's no distinction between the rich and the poor, that we are all made equal in faith to God. And it says that we should not have favoritism towards one or another. It goes on to say, and this is important, I'm going to mention James chapter 2 .10 here.

It says, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. And I encourage the LDS listener to read that and realize that regardless of whatever sins that you think that you have committed, you have no doubt broken at least one law of God and therefore are guilty of them all.

You are a sinner in need of a savior. Just as much as I and anyone else that is listening to this, anybody else that has been born ultimately, we're all under the same sin. We all fall short of that glory of God.

The direct context of verses 17 through 26 starts in verse 14. And so I'm going to start there and read, and I would encourage you to please follow along. We'll stop after verses 14 through 16. It says in here, What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works?

Can that faith save him? If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and 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?

So this is the direct context from verses 17 through 26. This is speaking in a church context that what use is it, my brethren, a person that is supposedly professing faith in the same Jesus Christ as what James is, what use is it, my brethren?

And then it goes on to say in verse 15, if a brother or a sister, it's speaking of a church context. Verse 14, once again, to get this context in here, it says, If a man says that he has faith, but he has no works, can that faith save him?

What is being spoken of in here in James chapter 2 would be the equivalent of a person that says, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian, I have faith in Jesus Christ of the Bible. Yet when you see that individual, that same one that just said, I have faith in Jesus Christ of the Bible, he walks by the homeless and he does not offer him his goat.

He does not offer him his food. He fails to give him the needs for his own body. You see, this is a Christian, a self-professing Christian, one that is not saved. This is one that does not have works that are being produced from the salvation that he has.

In essence, this would be like the person that's kicking the homeless person and saying, You see, I'm a Christian. That doesn't work. You are not a Christian. This is about speaking about justification between man to man, not justification between God and man.

This is looking at the fruits of what somebody has and being able to judge correctly, judge righteously and say, Is this person a Christian or not? And so that is why James chapter 2, James the author of this book says,.

Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. The faith that is being spoken of is the type of faith that we see in verses 14 through 16. A faith that does not produce works, a faith that is dead, that is not alive, that is not working within the Christian.

Now, let us continue on in here. It goes on to say in verse 18,. But 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.

You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder. It now is a liking the faith of those Christians that are not having fruit to that of the faith of a demon, of the devils.

It is something that will not save them. It is a faith that is dead. It is not a real faith. It is not one that is actually trusting in Yahweh of the Bible. It goes on to then say in verse 20,. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son on the altar, Isaac his son upon the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.

Now, it is going to quote here the same exact quote that we find in Romans chapter 4, and it comes from Genesis 15 verse 6, and it says,. And the scripture was fulfilled, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

And he was called the friend of God. Now, my question for anybody that is listening to this, to both the Christian audience and to the LDS audience, does Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 come prior to Abraham being circumcised as Romans chapter 4 described?

And does it come prior to Genesis chapter 22 where we see Abraham offering up his son, Isaac, upon the altar? Does this verse, Genesis 15 verse 6, come before that? Yes, yes it does, and that is because Abraham had faith in God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

But how can we as fellow believers in the same exact God that Abraham believed in, how can we look at Abraham and know that he was justified? It's because his works showed that he had faith in Yahweh.

See, it's easy for anyone to say that they have faith. It's another thing for them to actually come out and profess that faith in action and in deeds. This is not a legalistic thing that says you have to do X, Y, and Z.

This is saying if you are a Christian, you will have fruits. You will produce that which is of God. There is no such thing as a branch that is not able to produce fruits because it is of the root, Jesus being that great vine found in John chapter 15.

If you do not produce fruits, you are never of the vine. It goes on to then say here in verse 24, You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messenger and sent them out by another way?

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. As we can clearly see when we look at the context of James chapter 2, it's clear in here that this is speaking about a person that is a self-professing Christian that does not have fruit, does not have works.

And we are to judge them righteously from not having those works and say that you do not have faith in God. You have a faith that is dead, alone. It's not accompanied by works. The LDS person would say, well, it says in here that it's not faith alone that saves and they would try to twist this text out of something that is not being done in here.

They would try to change what is taking place in this text. The context is clear. The scriptures cannot contradict. Abraham was justified before any works were ever performed by his hands, but he justified himself before men, before me, and before you, and anybody else that is listening.

In the following text, Genesis chapter 16, all the way on, he justified himself as a believer of Yahweh in showing and demonstrating he had this faith in God. This is what is known in the Christian life as sanctification.

A Christian will continue on. They will be baptized. They will continue on. They will evangelize. They will continue on. They will proclaim the good news to everyone that they know. They will seek God's word.

They will do these type of things in order to be able to glorify God. As a result of that, a fellow Christian can look at them and say, you have been justified because your works show you have. Now, there's another important thing that the LDS person needs to listen to in here.

If we are to read this as a way of works-based salvation, that works are required for salvation, I would then ask the LDS person then to take more out of context in this kind of a text. What is the type of works that then we should have according to James 2?

Well, let's just look at one of the examples in here. It says that Abraham offered up his son Isaac. I would never encourage any LDS person to offer up their son. I would not do that. But that is what James 2 is saying that we should have as works.

If that is the way that we are trying to take this out of context, that is the type of work that then we should be performing according to James 2. It is clear from the context that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

And this was prior to any works being performed, thus fulfilling and being in concert with the rest of Scripture. Total Scripture is it is perfect in its harmony together in here. It has no contradiction whatsoever.

But it does have a contradiction to that of the Book of Mormon, to that of the Doctrine and Covenants, to that of the LDS mainstream church of the day. It has direct contradiction and therefore it is to be anathema, it is to be a curse because it is a false gospel.

2 Nephi 25 and Moroni 10 Against Grace Alone

2 Nephi 25 verse 23 says this, For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children and also our brethren to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God. For we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do.

Moroni chapter 10, Moroni chapter 10 verse 32 goes on to say something, says this here in this text. Let me open up here. Moroni chapter 10 verse 32.

It says,.

Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him and deny yourself of all ungodliness. And if ye shall deny yourself of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you that by his grace you may be perfect in Christ.

And if by grace of God you are perfect in him, ye can in no wise deny the power of God. It says in there that you must first deny yourself of all ungodliness. This is a works-based salvation. The LDS church is denying and contradicting what the word of God has made clear, that a man is justified by faith in Christ Jesus apart from good works.

And if any man, any woman ever believes that they are justified by obedience to the law, a works-based salvation as just described in 2nd Nephi chapter 25 verse 23 and Moroni chapter 10 verse 32 and articles of faith 3 and 4 amongst many, many other quotes and doctrine from the LDS.

It is then in direct violation of Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 through 21. And I'm going to read just verse 21 for us in here. It says in here, I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly or Christ died in vain.

Christ died so that he might justify those that have faith in him alone for their salvation. And this faith is a faith that produces works. It is not the works that save, but the faith in Christ Jesus, the grace that is imputed to the believer that is what saves.

It's being declared legally righteous before our holy and just God. And so if this is the first time that you're, if an LDS viewer is watching something like this, I would encourage you to please go and compare what I've just read to scripture, compare it to the rest of the word of God, the 66 books of the Bible, and see if it is in harmony because it has to be.

The word of God cannot contradict itself. And if you are a Christian watching this, I would pray that this would bless you and your ministry and your efforts at sharing the gospel with your neighbors, including the LDS.

So I hope once again, you're having a blessed day and God bless. Go in peace, tell people the good news, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to scriptures found in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 4.

God bless.