Arguing with a Merit-Monger

James 2 and the Text of Scripture

I want to invite you to take out your Bible and turn to James chapter 2. If you haven't received one, we have worksheets. Did everyone get a worksheet for tonight? I tried to provide those to you. They have the Greek along with the English as well as two additional English translations.

I've been doing some, in my external study, I always try to be studying something outside of what I'm just studying for my sermons. I try to also have something that I'm, to just sort of be building my own understanding of whatever the subject is.

And I've been really, the last few days, been focusing on the transmission of the text of the Bible and how we have the Bible the way it is now. And the Greek manuscripts and things like that. So it's been interesting.

And just reminded of the value of the work that has gone into translations like the New American Standard Bible or the English Standard Version. Or even the NIV, which I know we give the NIV a hard time because there are areas where it's not as literal.

It's an essentially, or a dynamic equivalent is what it's called, not a literal translation. But even the NIV, you know, has places where it really renders things well, you know. And it's just, you know, a lot of work has gone into these things.

And we can appreciate the scholarly work. And that's why I provide for you guys the King James Version, which I know a lot of people don't use anymore. But I'd like to at least be able to see what it says in the New American Standard Bible along with the ESV that we use.

Well, tonight we're going to be looking at James Chapter 2. And we're going to begin at verse 18 because that's where we stopped last week. But before we read verses 18 to 26, taking us to the end of the chapter, I want to just give a few remarks by way of introduction.

There are moments in our lives that tend to stick out as memorable occasions. And a lot of times they're so memorable you can remember just where you were standing and just what you were thinking at the moment that they happened.

Sometimes they're important life lessons. Sometimes they're positive emotional experiences. Sometimes they're times where we experience great fear, great doubt. Sometimes just being really upset or really mad can trigger in our mind and remind us of something.

Well, I have one of those moments in regard to today's text. Early in my preaching ministry when this church was Forrest Christian Church, before we changed the name to Sovereign Grace, I was not yet fully convinced in the doctrines known as Reformed Theology, Doctrines of Grace, or whatever.

I was very young, very early in my ministry here. And yet, even though I was not fully convinced of what we would call the Doctrines of Grace, I was convinced very early, even before seminary, in the Doctrine of Sola Fide.

That we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That one was never really, for me, an object of doubt. I understand that our weak flesh could never produce the righteousness that God requires.

As a result, we are absolutely dependent upon His gracious justification that we receive, not by our works, but through faith alone. Well, as a result of being fully convinced of this, I've always preached that very clearly.

And early in my ministry, one Sunday morning, I was expounding on the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Jesus said that there was two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, one was a Publican, or a tax collector.

The Pharisee went into the temple, and he was proud, and he said, I'm thankful, God, that I do all of these things. I give a tenth of all my income, and I never do anything wrong, and I'm a good man, and I'm not like that tax collector over there.

And he literally pointed out the person. I'm thankful that I'm not like him. And it says the tax collector, the Publican, would not enter in, but instead he stood a distance away. He beat his breast, and he said, Lord God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

And Jesus said that it was that man who went away justified. Jesus uses the word justified in regard to the fact that he went away forgiven of his sins, and declared righteous before God. And I use that story, that parable of Christ, to expound on the concept of justification by faith.

Because there was nothing that Publican could bring to the table. He was a tax collector, he was the worst of the worst, he was a turncoat to his own people, and everyone hated him. And yet he was justified by faith.

Well, as I was closing the service, I walked down from the chancel as I normally do, walked down the center of the aisle, came over to where I normally stand, I've been doing that ever since I can remember, I will stand at the back door, and I give the hugs and kisses as people go out.

Usually guys get hugs, nobody gets kisses. But I give the handshakes or whatever as people are going out the door. Well this man came to me, who I did not recognize, had never met him before, but I could tell during the sermon that he was very distressed by what I was saying, very frustrated by what I was saying.

And as he got to the back door, he walked up to me and looked me dead in the eye, and he said, you forgot, and he did his little finger, you forgot James 2 .24. Now, I must admit, I was at a loss for words.

Those who have never preached a sermon, as soon as you're done preaching, you almost immediately begin to think about, did I say what was correct? You're thinking about what you just did. And to have someone come up and immediately challenge you, especially with that crooked finger stuck poking you in the chest, can be rather intimidating because your mind is having to consider, what did I say or what did I not say?

And I said, I'm sorry, you know, in response, I didn't understand what he said. And he said, man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And my mind quickly readjusted to what he was saying, because honestly, he just said, James 2 .24, didn't automatically click what he was quoting.

But then he said that, and I knew where he was quoting. And I said, sir, you didn't quote the text. It says, you see that man is justified by works and not by faith alone. You've intentionally left out the part that addresses part of your misunderstanding.

To which he quickly turned up his nose and walked out, and I haven't seen him since. But that was just a reminder to me that this is an issue that is divisive, and can cause people to become very angry and distressed.

It is without a doubt, I want to say this from the get-go tonight. It is without a doubt that James tells us that we are justified by works. Yet, as Reformed Christians, one of the tenets of Reformed teaching is sola fide.

Justification is by faith alone. And thus, that has stood as a wall of division within the church, especially between Protestants and Roman Catholics, and even several denominations within Protestantism.

That wall of division has stood for 500 years. Pastor Dean Olive, a fellow member of FIRE, we're part of FIRE, the Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals, and Pastor Olive is out in Alabama, and he tells a story about he was going through his town.

And you know how you see those church signs in town? And you'll see, you know, it'll say, you know, it'll have a CH, space, space, CH, what's missing, you are, ha ha, you know. All these cheesy church signs, we've seen them.

Well, he said he was going through his town one day, and there was a church sign that said, By grace, by faith, by works, by all. By grace, by faith, by works, by all. And he went on to say, Pastor Olive said this, he said, Now I don't know for certain, but I would wager a guess that had they had one more place on that sign to add another line, they would have said James 2, 24.

This verse in James, and with it the entire section, has been a point of theological controversy for many people, and while I would never pretend to solve everyone's theological issues with this text, I do think that there is a right way to understand this text that people are just denying.

In their attempt to deny Sola Fide, they misuse this text, and they teach something that I do not believe James ever intended for it to mean. So this evening, I want us to try to find the right understanding.

Because if we're going to keep saying Sola Fide, and yet James says we are justified by works, we need to understand what he means and what we mean. Yes, but in this context, that's not what he's talking about, just so we know.

So we're going to understand what he means when he says we are justified by works and not by faith alone. Alright? So let's go to the text and read verse 18. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works.

Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

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 by his works, and the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God, and it was accounted 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, 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?

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. Yep, sure, and that's where we're going. Let's pray real quick. Father, please keep me from errors I preach tonight.

Please help me to understand and teach properly. Please speak by your Holy Spirit through what is going to be said tonight, and I pray that you'd open all of our hearts to understand better, and if there is one Lord here tonight, or many who do not know the Lord, that they would understand the gospel through this teaching.

In Jesus' name, amen. It is obvious that Paul teaches, and I want to say something real quick. Eli, you're right when you say we're saved by the work of Christ and not by our works. Paul teaches us over and over and over again in his epistles that justification before God is by faith apart from works.

Why then do so many people want to add works to salvation? Well, many people who do so appeal to James, but as I asked last week, and I don't know if for those of you who weren't here, last week we dealt with the fact that there have been people who believe that James and Paul are irreconcilable.

Remember, Martin Luther even said, I'll give my beret, my doctor's hat, to any person who can rectify or resolve the tension between Paul and James. Of course, he later would himself be able to rectify that, so he didn't have to give his hat away.

But the question is, are Paul and James at odds at this point? And I know we discussed this last week, but I want to go deeper tonight. I want to ask that you put on your theological hats for a moment, and we're going to dig a little deeper, because here is what I have heard as an argument, and I want to address this argument specifically.

Some people argue that Paul is not denying that works justify, but that he is denying that works of the law justify. You see what I've done? I've created a distinction. Paul is not denying the efficacy of works specifically.

He's denying the efficacy of works of the law specifically. So, let's just look at a few passages. Romans 3 .20. I'll read it to you, but if you'd like to write it down. Romans 3 .20 says this, For by works of the law no human being will be justified.

Notice that Paul adds the qualifier, works of the law. Galatians 2 .16,. Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith. Right? So, again, he adds the qualifier, works of the law.

Philippians 3 .9 Paul says, I want to be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Jesus Christ. So, in those three passages, he references works of the law.

He's referencing a certain type of work, and you see the pattern there. As a result, some believe that Paul is creating a category of works which can't save. Thus, they would teach that there are works that don't save, and that's the works of the law.

But there are other works that do save, and they're not works of the law. You understand? At least, do you get what the argument is? I'm not saying I agree with it. I'm saying that this is the argument that's being made.

And I've heard people say that. I've heard people say, Paul doesn't deny that works save. Paul denies that works of the law save. Okay. The problem with that argument, and if you ever have anybody bring you that argument, here is my response, and maybe it might become yours if you think it's good enough to go into your repertoire of responses.

I don't know how many of you are having in-depth theological conversations with your coffee mates at work, but you may be. And somebody may say, well, Paul's not saying that we're not saved by works.

He's saying we're not saved by works of the law. But there are works that save. Here is the response that I would give. First, I believe that is an artificial distinction because Paul, in other passages, tells us we are not saved by works, and that's it, and doesn't add the qualifier.

I'll give you a few. 2 Timothy 1 .9 says he saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

Notice he doesn't say not by works of the law, but he just says works, period. Any and all works would fall into that category. Titus 3, verses 4 and 5. But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Again, doesn't say works of the law there. Doesn't invoke the law at all there. One might say, well, he does say works done in righteousness. But now again, is that a third category? I wouldn't say so.

But the one that I think is most powerful, Ephesians 2, 8, well, for our intents and purposes tonight, just 8 and 9, because he says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, he doesn't mention works of the law or works of righteousness, but works of any kind, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

In those instances, but in those instances, he doesn't mention the law. In those instances, he only mentions works. And he says it's not by works that we are saved. If a person wants to argue that Paul addresses certain types of works which save, and certain types of works which don't, then they have to introduce an artificial distinction in the scripture, which does not exist outside of their superimposition of that artificial distinction.

The law, oh, and the second reason why I would tell them that they're making an artificial distinction that's inappropriate is the law tells us what is good. The law tells us what is right. It's summed up in two great commandments.

What are they? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. If I were to say, good works save, but not works of the law, and I was to say that the law is summed up in two things, love the Lord your God, love your neighbor, are those not works of the law if I'm making a distinction?

They would have to be. They're the two greatest laws. So does it make sense? Yes. Okay. Yeah, well, works are always motivated by something, and sometimes works are motivated by people because they believe that the works are accomplishing their salvation.

And we shouldn't be motivated by that. We should be motivated by our love for God and our love for our neighbor, not for our trying to win God's favor because that favor has already been won for us by Christ.

So yeah, there is a motivational issue. That's why I call tonight, the lesson tonight is arguing with a merit-monger. That's a clever title, which isn't mine. That's A .W. Pink's title, the merit-monger.

But that's what we're doing. We're addressed because somebody may come to us and say, you have to have certain works. In fact, I'm not preaching this Sunday. We have the missionaries going to be here, but two weeks from now, I'm starting a mini-series inside of the larger series.

We're doing the Beyond Our Borders series, and we're in Acts 15. And we've been dealing with what? We've been dealing with the Judaizers. Well, I'm going to do three or four weeks, depending on how long the sermons last, because it may last a little longer.

I'm going to do three or four weeks on modern-day Judaizers. Who are the modern-day Judaizers? Who are the ones who have damaged the gospel, or have added to the gospel, or hurt the gospel by false additions?

What about those who say, unless you worship on Saturday, you can't be saved? What about those who say, unless you speak in tongues, you can't be saved? What about those who say, unless you use the King James Bible, you can't be saved?

What about people who say, unless you've been immersed, you can't be saved? That's four examples of Judaizers that I'm going to deal with. Because that's four examples of people who have added to the gospel.

So, did that get you way so wet for the sermons, maybe? Yes, sir.

Yes. Well, I... I cannot separate works from faith.

Sure, and that's true, and that's what we're going to get to. The faith works itself out in acts of love for God and neighbor. And that's where I would say, really, the Christian ethic boils down to those two things.

And while we can't say exactly how that's going to look in every instance, and maybe that's what you're saying, is we don't always know how that's going to look, it does boil down to God's working the faith in our life out in love for Him first, love for our neighbor second.

And while that may... I may get up today not knowing exactly how that's going to work out exactly, I know what the call is. And the call is to love God first and love my neighbor as myself.

Would you agree with that? Yeah, which is enabled by the Spirit.

Absolutely. Yeah, my ability to love the fruit of the Spirit is love. Right? And then, of course, there are others, but it begins with that word love, and we know. Yeah. Sure. Yeah, they understand. Yeah.

Yeah. Not enough. Their good works are woefully inadequate. For sure. Yeah. That's kind of what he was saying. What is works? Yeah. Yeah, and that's what we're saved for. And that's why I didn't get to verse 10 earlier, but that is...

People ask sometimes, you know, what if somebody asked you to preach right now? As a pastor, somebody says, you know, what would you do if somebody said, start preaching? Well, I am preaching. But, you know, if I walked into, you know, Jerkwater Baptist Church, I just happen to be visiting there on a weekend, and I don't know, there's got to be...

There's a Toad Suck Arkansas. There's got to be a Jerkwater Baptist Church. That exists. Look up Toad Suck Arkansas. It does exist. Yes. Two egg? Yeah. So, if I walked into the church and someone said, hey, our preacher's sick, and we just need you to preach, and I wasn't prepared to preach, I think that Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and 10 gives such an expressive outline of the gospel.

We are saved by grace, through faith, for works. Really, that's what it says, and it can be outlined and expressed in so many different ways, but that's the outline. We are saved by grace, through faith, not by works, but for good works.

And that really is it. But, again, how do we deal with James? Because all this can be confusing if when we come to James, he says, you're justified by works. Man, now we've got to deal with him. And, like I said, Martin Luther, there was a point in his ministry where he said, well, just take that book out.

It doesn't agree. And while I would disagree with Luther on that, I at least understand his concern. He didn't want to see contradiction in the Scriptures, and he wondered, is this truly a part of Scripture if it contradicts other Scriptures?

But it doesn't contradict. James does say that we're justified by works and not by faith alone, but we know that God does not speak out of both sides of His mouth. God is not a liar. So He wouldn't say one thing through Paul and something else through James.

But what we have to do is we have to harmonize the two. Roman Catholics say you start with James and then you harmonize everything with him. Protestants tend to say, start with Paul and harmonize James to him.

It sort of becomes, who do you start with? And I want to give you an example. I am a Protestant. I want to give you an example why I tend to prefer the Protestant way, because I want to show you what happens when you take the other side.

When a Roman Catholic interprets the Bible, starting with James, they immediately run into contradiction. Not out of harmony, but straight contradiction with Paul. And I'll give you an example. There is a man by the name of Robert St. Genes.

He wrote a book entitled Not by Faith Alone. He is a Roman Catholic apologist. He's debated Roman Catholic theology with Protestants, one being Dr. White, who we all know, who was here last year. And this is what he wrote in his book.

The entire context of the book of James concerns what one must do to be saved. He concentrates on obedience to the law as the means of salvation and judgment for those who disobey the law. End quote. That is what Robert St. Genes says.

So what does Robert St. Genes tell us James is saying? You are saved by keeping the law. And you're judged guilty if you disobey the law. What have we already said, Paul tells us? You are not saved by works of the law.

What has Robert St. Genes done? He's created a contradiction and demanded the contradiction. There's no way for him not to contradict Paul, in my opinion. Because he clearly says, again, he concentrates on obedience to the law as the means of salvation.

That's serious error, folks. That's why I call Roman Catholic teaching heresy. Because that is serious error. That is damnable, gospel, disaffirming error. Alright? So, just to want to make that clear.

It must be understood. You can start with James or you can start with Paul. But at the end of the day, no matter who you start with, if you make one contradict the other, and they're both speaking from God, then you're making God a liar.

I don't care who you start with. But I will say this. If Paul says numerous times that we're not saved by works, and James one time said that we're justified by works, and when we see it in context, we'll see exactly what he means.

Huh? Well, yeah. But what I'm saying is, when you see the fact that it said one time in a very specific context, Paul says it in multiple contexts that we're not, that does tend to weigh on the conscience.

Well, we must make sure that we're getting James right. Because if we're getting Paul in all these instances, what are we learning from James? So, let's go to the text. Let's give our exposition. We're going to walk through verses 18 to 26 in 10 minutes.

He laughs. We may be able to get it. We never end at 730, so... Yeah. Verse 18, But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Something quick to consider, and I think that this is often lost, James is not dealing with sola fide. James is dealing with something that I think is bad, and you should think is bad. I'm not telling you what to think, but think this.

James is dealing with something called easy believism, or another phrase is antinomianism, or, if you want to go a step further, anti-lordship theology. This is what James is dealing with. He's not dealing with sola fide.

Because any man who will say that you come to Christ, regeneration does not change you, you believe, but it doesn't change how you live, think, or act, that's called easy believism, and that's wrong. Any man who says you come to Jesus, and the law of God, the law of love, the law of liberty, the law of loving God first and neighbor second doesn't apply to you, that's antinomianism, and that's false.

Any man who comes to you and says Jesus is your Savior, but not as your Lord, and He's not called you to obedience, He's not called you to take up His cross and follow Him, take up your cross and follow Him, that's false.

And these are the things James is addressing, because go back to verse 18, you will say you have faith and I have works. Think of the conversation that he's creating, a scenario. I'm having a conversation with Jack Bunning.

Jack Bunning and I are talking, and Jack says to me, well, you have your works, but I have faith. What's my immediate question? How do I know you have faith if I don't see it in your life? How do I know you have faith?

And that's why he goes on to say, show me your faith apart from your works. You can't. I'll show you my faith by my works. Yes. But regeneration... Regeneration changes you, brother. Do you believe that?

Okay, that's all I'm saying. Regeneration does change you and makes you desire obedience. Would you agree with that? Now, you're saying we can't be perfect, and we can't do the works perfectly. I agree.

We are still dealing with the flesh. But what James is saying is if a man were to tell you, I believe in Jesus, but that hasn't changed my life, what would you say? You ain't believed in Jesus that I believed in.

Right? That's exactly what... Yeah, yeah. So you guys get... James is creating a scenario here. And the scenario is simple. You say one thing, but you don't have any evidence for what you said. I don't even have to say it.

My life testifies to it. My life is testimony of my faith. You say you have faith, but don't have the testimony of the life. You don't really have the faith. That's really the crux of the matter here is what we say doesn't line up with who we are.

Verse 19. This is a good one because he talks about theology here. And I could stop and deal with this for a whole week. And maybe next time we come together, I might deal with just this one. But in context, I don't want to stop and spend 30 minutes on it.

But he says, you believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe in shudder. What's he saying? You got good theology. Because really the heart of biblical theology is this. Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one.

The Shema, the prayer of Israel. Deuteronomy 6. That is the heart of Jewish theology that there is only one God. You believe the most precious theological truth that there is. And guess what? So does the devil.

Good for you that you believe what the devil believes. It don't mean you're saved. Now again, I don't want to spend a lot of time on it. I know a lot of guys who can spit out theological truth. They can just, like a, just a, just throw out theology.

But they're lost as a goose. Because it hasn't changed their life. They know the Bible. At least they know what an unsaved person can know. They know the Bible and they know the author. That's good. That's true.

So that's, James is dealing with right here is a person that has good theology but no faith. No true faith. And he goes on in verse 20. And like I said, I need to get through this just to complete everything tonight.

We may go back and deal with it some more later. I just want to show you how he makes his argument here. He says, Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? And he gives two examples.

He gives the example of Abraham and he gives the example of Rahab. He says, When is not our Father justified by works when He offered up His son Isaac on the altar? Now, he uses the phrase justified by works.

And again, that can be confusing. He says in verse 22, Do you see that faith was active along with His works? Faith was completed by His works and the Scripture was fulfilled. This says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God.

Now, I want you to consider a couple of things here very quickly. He mentions two events in the life of Abraham. The first thing he mentions, he says, Was not Abraham justified by works when he offered Isaac up on the altar?

That happened in Genesis 22. And he says, later, The Scripture in Genesis 22 was fulfilled. Which says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. When did that happen? Genesis 15.

Genesis 15 verse 6 is one to count in memory. Put that in your memory banks because that's where it says Abraham believed the Lord and it was accounted to him as righteousness. That is quoted several times in the New Testament to prove justification by faith by the Apostle Paul.

So here's my question. When was Abraham justified? It says he was justified in 15, right? It says he believed the Lord and it was accounted to him as righteousness. He was justified in 15, right? How many years span between 15 and 22?

Huh? Approximately 30. Okay? You go from right before Isaac is born to him being offered on the altar. So, somewhere around 30 years. Somebody says, His works saved him. What if Abraham would have died in those 30 years?

Would he have died unjustified? So is James teaching that this work causes his salvation? No. I mean, it's proof, right? Just that question. Had Abraham died, I would say there. Would this mean that he wasn't justified because this happened?

No. So what is this? This is testimony of the truth of that. Genesis 22 bears testimony that Abraham did believe God because no man would lay his son on an altar and raise a knife if he didn't believe that the God who called him to do it was God.

Would any of you take a knife to your child? What if God revealed Himself to you and you knew that it was God and He told you to? You might say, well, even then I wouldn't have enough faith. Abraham did.

You know what Abraham believed? He believed that God could raise him from the dead. That's why he was willing to take that knife. Huh? That's right. He believed that even if I take this knife to him, he will live because he's the promised child.

There was faith in Abraham that caused that. Yes, ma 'am. Absolutely, that's true. That's part of Genesis 22. It's a great part. He says, we will return. That's right. He knew. He had confidence in God here.

He is justified, but yet it is not demonstrated fully until here. Does that mean he's not saved until there? No. But it does give testimony. It bears testimony. Now, what you've been talking about, and I agree with you because now we're going to look at verse 24, and I beg your attention for just a few more minutes because in verse 24, he says, you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

There are two points that you need to understand about this passage. Number one, it says, you see. That is part of the Greek text. It also uses what could be considered to be a variation of the word justification as far as a variation in meaning.

Let me explain. When the context says, you see, people do not see faith. People see works. If I tell you I believe in something, you might believe me, you might not. But if I show you my faith by what I do, isn't this his argument?

I'm not out of context, am I? I'm in the context of the argument. James has already said the same thing that I'm saying. So who is the you in this context? It is others who are seeing faith that justifies by works.

Now the word justified here could be taken two ways. And what I said earlier, it could have a variation of meaning. And I want to give you this. I want you to understand something. Even if James, and I'm going to divide from a few of my Protestant forefathers and some of my good buddies.

There are two ways to understand the word justification. There's forensic justification, which means to be declared righteous. And then there is what we call vindication, or to be determined to be righteous, or demonstrated to be righteous.

There's declaration of righteousness. There's demonstration of righteousness. The Bible uses both terms. When it talks about us being justified by faith, that's a declaration of God. He declares us righteous.