Adult Bible Study

Faith Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

03:22

Well, good morning, I promised to have you out on a more timely basis today

03:27

We ran a little bit or I ran a little bit long last time And it looks like you have a lot of notes

03:33

But we really don't because the first half of the first page is essentially a review

03:38

And I thought we would go back and look at that very very briefly Because we kind of scurried through the last few minutes.

03:46

I Also have it on authority from Kim that at least two or three times.

03:51

He's gonna challenge you to say amen So even if it doesn't apply to make him happy just do that I mean he got up early and they came all the way up here just for that.

04:00

So Okay, so with your handout we can go ahead and look at this. We have been following in the book of James a series of tests using

04:12

Roughly John MacArthur's outline and you can see points 1 2 3 and 4 at the very top of page 1 we want to finish out the test of impartial love and So if you would join me in chapter 2 verses 12 and 13

04:30

Chapter 2 of James Verses 12 and 13

04:36

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty

04:42

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy mercy triumphs over judgment

04:50

So with the test of impartial love, that's the fourth test There's kind of five sub parts to that and they're listed in your notes the principle the example

05:04

The inconsistency the violation and then the appeal which those two verses

05:11

Notice again, we tend to think of James as being just a really nice loving concerned pastor and he was

05:19

But he had no problems in his love to do to do firm rebukes

05:26

Remember that we said there were over 50 admonitions And as we're looking at verses 12 and 13 we have two strong admonitions strong language here where he says

05:39

So speak and so act so this is language as we look at the way it's structured for continuous action

05:47

He's imploring his dear people to be about speaking and acting

05:56

This Follows one of his major themes which of course says that a person if they have real faith it will be evident in their works

06:05

So he brings together two things which a lot of people consider to be kind of opposites law and liberty and We'll say more about that in a few minutes when we get into the next section in verses 14 through 26

06:24

But notice what it says in your notes the law is the nature of God expressed in commandments

06:32

Get your head around that the law is the nature of God expressed in in the commandments

06:38

Do you remember the royal law? Love the Lord your God with Yes, and the second is love your neighbor as your

06:49

Self and we can go through the rest of the commandments and we can look at thou shalt not covet thou shalt not murder

06:56

Etc. If you think about each of those commandments don't they reflect the nature of God and That's what

07:05

James is saying So are the commandments good? Yes, because they reflect the nature of God So point

07:14

B when we obey his commands then we are living like him

07:19

We are living the way that God wants us to live and then thirdly point

07:25

C obedience liberates obedience liberates we are called to obey and Because the law corresponds to the wishes and the capacities of the new heart we can

07:40

Can we really follow the law if we're not a

07:47

Christian On the outside we can can't we to a degree

07:55

We can Not murder physically, but are there times that inside we want to murder

08:04

If you read the news Yes Did you follow me so we can do the external manifestation reminds me of some folks called the

08:14

Pharisees On the outside we can look pretty good, but internally we can't so obedience liberates if we go back and look at verse 18 of chapter 1 it says of His own will he brought us forth by the word of truth

08:33

That we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures So as we become

08:40

Christians were a type of firstfruits. In other words, we are being more and more Christlike because obedience liberates

08:51

If we're not obedient does it kind of crank up our conscience? How many of you enjoy a conscience in turmoil?

08:59

I Don't but if we're obedient, we don't have to worry about that There's a sense of freedom so verse 13 again back in chapter 2

09:11

This is a further word of warning Possibly to unbelievers because certainly this is written to the believers that are scattered in the area in various churches after they left

09:22

Jerusalem But some commentators say that this specifically here in verse 13.

09:27

It's talking about James is specifically addressing unbelievers that are in those different congregation mercy triumphs over judgment our

09:38

Mercy testifies to our saving faith, doesn't it after all in the

09:44

Sermon on the Mount and remember several times? We've talked about the correlation between James and the

09:49

Sermon on the Mount In Matthew 5 7 you don't need to look at it. It says blessed are the

09:57

Merciful Blessed are the merciful So it go back and look at verses 2 through 4 of chapter 2

10:09

Where it's talking about the man wearing the this and you know, the good and the bad So what was happening there is a merciful spirit was replaced by a spirit of partiality

10:21

If you go back to the Sermon on the Mount which would have been about 15 years earlier

10:27

Christ is saying Be merciful don't show partiality

10:32

Creeping into the church now 15 years later. Is this spirit of partiality?

10:39

So in verse 13 Which we read let me read it again quickly for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy mercy triumphs over judgment in verse 13

10:51

The mercy that we need is conditional upon Showing mercy in the plan of salvation and this is what we concluded with last week in the plan of salvation justice demands right to take care of our sins mercy pleads

11:10

Christ pleads in our behalf and mercy prevails and then MacArthur's concluding comment

11:16

Partiality is inconsistent with the Christian faith Because the Christian faith is consistent with the nature of God and God is wholly impartial

11:28

Partiality is inconsistent with the purpose and the plan of God in choosing the plural of this world to be spiritually rich Partiality is inconsistent with loving your neighbor as yourself

11:41

That brings us in Finally 2 .5 the test of righteous works and our key word for this section would be thing

11:49

So we're gonna break this into a couple of different sections. There's two main things that we want to cover today what we want to talk about is the dead faith in verses 14 through 20 and then the living faith in verses 21 through 26 and It's marvelous how?

12:07

James has packaged this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit So I'd like to read if you have your

12:13

Bibles handy read verses 14 through 20 as an overview In catch what

12:20

James is is trying to share with these folks his heart again What good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith, but does not have works can that faith save him?

12:33

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food And one of you says to them go in peace be warmed and filled without giving them the things needed for the body

12:44

What good is that? So also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead

12:51

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

13:01

You believe that God is one you do well even the demons believe and shudder

13:07

Do you want to be shown you foolish person that faith apart from works is useless?

13:15

That's some pretty strong language, so let's tear that apart and pack it and see what we say see what we see so in the introduction in verses 19 through 27

13:29

And I won't go back and read it. You can check that out on your own Paul even back, then is arguing that hearing must be accompanied by doing

13:39

In this section he says that faith must be attended by doing

13:46

So hearing must be accompanied by doing and faith must be accompanied by doing in other words what we do reveals who we are

13:59

Evidently Some Jews had gone from an extreme legalistic

14:04

Judaism to a Christianity quote -unquote with no laws or rules, so let's look at that What were the

14:14

Pharisees basically saying? All you needed was works

14:20

Legalism it was a works righteousness and as The Jews were initially being exposed to the gospel they found that it was liberating

14:33

Because they realized that they didn't have to be saved by works But what some of them did is they took that little g -word grace

14:43

And they took it too far, and they said well If grace is really there, then we don't have to do any works at all

14:55

So do you see the two extremes? One is saved by works the other one is you have faith you don't need works

15:09

Now the $12 word that theologians have been invented for that last thing is called

15:16

Antinomianism have some of you heard of it and that was I mean that was just they weren't kicking that word around back then the theologians have

15:24

Introduced it since then But it reminds me now some of you might remember this back in the 80s

15:31

There was one seminary in particular that began to say You are totally saved by faith period and Initially we'd want to sign on to that, but what they meant in that package deal was that you can at some point in time

15:49

Commit your life to Christ And then go on in life for the rest of your life and have no change in your lifestyle

16:01

That was attacked and It came to be known as the Lordship controversy

16:07

Where others were saying no if you're truly saved

16:13

Christ has to be not only Savior, but also Lord and coming out of that Will be works.

16:21

You're not saved by the works, but the works have to accompany a true faith

16:28

And so this battle raged on for about a decade and then it kind of calmed down But you know every few years there's this guy called

16:38

Satan and what does he do? He repackages the truth

16:44

Far enough away from the truth to cause dissension and distortion within the church

16:49

So this isn't something that James was just dealing with we saw it 30 40 years ago

16:55

And if you're old enough you see new Heresies coming out all the time which says we need to be on our toes

17:06

So they misunderstood the gospel of salvation through grace alone and faith alone

17:13

The book of James is about faith now catch this you might think okay throw him off the pulpit here

17:19

He's gonna. He's gonna go heretical on us the book of James is about faith, but it is not about Saving faith it is about the faith is it is about the role that faith plays in the life of a person

17:35

Who is already a believer? Do you see the distinction there? So James as he's addressing this is not talking about saving faith, which we have to have he's talking about the role that your faith will play as A believer and that faith has to be accompanied by Works, that's his thrust so in verses 14 through 20

18:01

We see the three characteristics of such a false dead and worthless face faith

18:07

Verse 14 again. What is what good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith, but not have works

18:14

Can that faith save him? Let's unpack that Faith is not in question here

18:21

But the lack of works and again in the form that the Greek is written here

18:27

It's talking about a continual lack of evidence Now you can go along as a

18:33

Christian for an hour or a day or even a week or whatever period of time I'm not going to put parameters on it, and we're not manifesting the works that we really need to James is saying if there's no evidence of works at all in our lives then

18:48

Rightly, so our faith can be called into question And James has already talked about many of the works

18:57

That need to be evident he's talked about things like endurance and perseverance and purity and obedience and Compassion and impartiality he's already covered those

19:08

Now he puts it in a nice perspective If you have faith show me your works, and then he asked this rhetorical question

19:18

Can that faith save him? Literally we could read it like this this faith can't save him can yet So just so many challenges that he puts in the laps of the believers

19:37

So that is offered to oppose the idea that just any kind of faith can save Let's look at a couple of quick passages.

19:45

We'll go back to Matthew 7 16 through 18 Matthew 7 16 to 18

20:01

So verses 16 through 18 you will recognize them by their fruits.

20:07

He's talking about the false prophets Our grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles so every healthy tree bears good fruit

20:16

But the diseased tree bears bad fruit a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit

20:24

There's not a lot of wiggle room there, then we'll jump over to Romans Romans of course was written by Paul Did Martin Luther love

20:36

Paul? Oh? He was right up his alley And that's kind of a teaser.

20:42

We'll come back to that in a second, but in Romans chapter 2 verses 13 through 16 This is what we read

20:51

From the pen of the Apostle Paul For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God But the doers of the law who will be justified

21:02

For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires they are a law to themselves

21:09

Even though they do not Have the law They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts

21:16

Well their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse on that day when?

21:24

according to my gospel God judges the secrets hearts of men by Christ Jesus and Then probably the most powerful passage

21:33

Go back, please to Ephesians Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10

21:42

Ephesians 2 8 through 10 a very very very familiar passage

21:50

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God Not as a result of works so that no one may boast one more verse

22:07

For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works

22:15

Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them So this little quote that we have now from Larry Richards And he's talking about the verse that we read in verse 14.

22:30

What kind of faith is this? He says this kind of faith does exist as intellectual

22:37

Acknowledgement of God God exists, but does not exist as a trust in God that generates response

22:45

This kind of faith is seen in human beings who despite their claims to believe in God are

22:53

Unresponsive to the needs of their brothers and sisters It is not linked with response either to God or to God's children

23:02

Does that sound like that group called the Pharisees? exactly, so So and this is critical

23:10

Paul opposes works righteousness Legalism right as we kind of summarize this section

23:16

James opposes easy believism Salvation does not produce immediate perfection, but a new direction so again

23:28

If you look at this works righteous legalism that Paul talked about in the easy believism that James talked about Aren't they the opposite?

23:41

evil twin extremes of a distorted faith The opposite evil twins one says just believe you don't have to have any works

23:51

The other one says you're saved by works They just kept keep getting repackaged and thrown into the churches of today

24:05

So let's go on to false compassion. I want to read verses 15 through 17 again, please of chapter 2 the false compassion of worthless face faith

24:19

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed in lacking in daily food and one says to him go in peace be warmed and filled

24:26

Without giving them the things needed for the body. What good is that? So also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead

24:36

So what James is doing here is he come if he is comparing faith without works? To words of compassion without corresponding acts of compassion the

24:49

Observation poorly clothed and lacking in daily food is a hyperbolic statement

24:56

He is saying this. I'm gonna give you a ludicrous example people not me talking to you

25:04

But James talking to them I'm gonna go so over the top on this that this is gonna stick in your brain

25:11

The word for Clothed here is the word gymnoid

25:17

The error and pastor alluded to this not too long ago in one of his sermons. I believe do you know what the gym?

25:24

Nazeum was in the day of the Greeks Yeah, so these the athletes competed naked

25:34

You know pastor pointed out that they competed naked because they would not be encumbered by any clothing

25:42

I Would take a different tack on that. I would say if I had to run the half -mile in a stadium

25:49

I could break a world record because I wouldn't want to be in there too long. Did you get the idea?

25:54

So Poorly clothed really means naked. It is a hyperbolic statement stating that these people are

26:04

Deprived of necessities I Can go back to Africa and give you a couple of quick stories

26:11

Story number one towards the end of our time. We lived in a really small concrete block house and Typically what you would do with most of your garbage that you would accumulate

26:23

They would have these little dumps out at the edge of your property And so we would go and we

26:29

I mean that's what they did. They didn't have a Republic to pick up the the Out in the middle of the jungle to pick up your garbage

26:36

So we noticed about the last two weeks that we were there this little itty bitty African He would go and he would rummage in our garbage

26:46

Taking cans and things of that and my wife noticed that all he had was a pair of shorts

26:54

And these things were absolutely Obscene they were 2 % away from being totally naked and So she went out which scared him off and then he finally came back and she gave him a pair of shorts that our

27:12

Eight -year -old son had they were way too big and he just got this big smile on his face

27:19

Disappeared in the jungle came back out about a minute later, and he has these things they were too big

27:27

So he'd pulled him around and he was clenching him with his hand But he was no longer

27:33

Naked and we continued to see him almost every day Clenching. I mean he had to do that, but at least his

27:42

Nakedness was taken care of Didn't cost us anything, but it meant the world to him

27:48

It meant the world to him So what is James saying here?

27:55

He's saying these people Poorly clothed this hyperbolic

28:02

Situation and lacking in daily food and what was the response of some of the

28:08

Christians of the day? Oh Go in peace be warmed and be filled literally warm and feed yourself

28:17

What a preposterous statement Do you see how much this is in our face

28:24

So it reminds me of occasion where You know, maybe there's a plea from a pastor's, you know, we need to raise money for this

28:35

And so well -meaning pious people might say Oh God will provide

28:41

Well, who does he provide through? Who does he provide through so these are sobering thoughts and challenges though not verbalized

28:52

Do we imply that sentiment by a selfish disinterest that does not supply things needed

29:00

In our day, that would be equivalent to saying Oh God bless you God will take care of you, but we say that without being the channel of Provision so as much as it was a challenge then it's a challenge for us today

29:17

MacArthur says this in response to that phrase. What good is that? worthless

29:23

Just as they professed compassion without kindness and care is phony So was that faith which is nothing but an empty claim?

29:32

This is a well -chosen analogy because compassion is one of the evidences of true regeneration

29:42

Sadly and This might be an indictment on many of us. We can become emotional with TV programs incensed with injustices

29:52

Yet show no or little concern and compassion for the plights of neighbors with real needs in our artificial self -centered world

30:03

Fantasy often becomes more meaningful than reality Hmm, let's look at Matthew 25 place

30:14

Matthew 25 Again a very familiar passage, but it sits in the context here with what

30:24

James has written In Matthew 25 starting with verse 35 we read this

30:32

For I was hungry and you gave me food. It was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

30:38

I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me then the righteous will answer him saying

30:46

Lord When did we see you hungry and feed you were thirsty or give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you were naked and clothe you and when did we see you sicker in prison and visit?

30:58

You and the king will answer them Truly I say to you as you did it one to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me

31:07

So the summary of verse 17

31:12

Let me read verse 17 again. So also faith by itself it if it does not have works is dead

31:21

Calvin summarizes it this way it is faith alone that justifies

31:26

But faith that justifies can never be alone Well well stated

31:33

So now we move to shallow conviction I want to read verses 18 through 20 back in James chapter 2

31:40

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

31:49

You believe that God is one you do well, even the demons believe and shudder

31:54

Do you want to be shown you foolish person that faith apart from works is youth useless?

32:02

So that someone in verse 18 is probably James He says you claim to have faith and that it is by itself is sufficient for salvation

32:14

The truth is you cannot show me your faith without works

32:19

You can't because faith always gives practical evidence living faith produces good fruit

32:29

Lots of passages again back in Matthew 7 21 through 3 we won't go back and look at that again but then in verse 19 were that little phrase you do well, that is not a

32:44

Commendation that is a Condemnation this is a touch of sarcasm

32:50

Again, James that loving pastor so concerned for the souls of these folks scattered

32:58

He just kind of jumps on their backs back in Deuteronomy 6 4 let's go ahead and look there again

33:14

Again a real familiar passage In Deuteronomy 6 4 hero is real the

33:21

Lord our God the Lord is one of course from the Jewish perspective that is called

33:27

Shema right and any Jew worth half his sense

33:35

They would accept this but now we get to verse 5 and in verse 5 it says this

33:41

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind so Jewish Orthodoxy embraced the

33:50

Shema. Oh, yeah, we've got one God. We're monotheists and boy. Oh boy But then by the time they got to verse 5

33:59

They might not want to love that God that they so Adhere to in verse 4 in fact what

34:09

James is saying that kind of distorted belief The demons also believe they believe there's one

34:18

God Do you think by and large and I have to word this carefully? Do you think by and large?

34:26

The demons are kind of theologians Yeah, they know a lot of Scripture They know all about God They know about the

34:39

Trinity, but when they contemplate the Shema verse 4 that there is one

34:45

God Rather than embracing it and loving it and being humbled and accepted by it

34:50

They shudder so even the demons believe the Shema But their response is also evidence that their faith is not a saving faith, but a faith of fear

35:03

Do you think Satan believes that yeah, well, why doesn't he just say uncle and give up?

35:12

It's this little five -letter word begins with the letter pride, right? Does pride distort us?

35:19

you know ah Pride what a nasty thing and the king of pride is of course

35:26

Satan so Their response is evidence that their faith is not a saving faith

35:33

But a faith of fear for they are terrified at the thought of God Belief has not brought them peace with God which it has to us verse 20 back in James chapter 2 verse 20

35:50

Do you want to be shown you foolish person Now one of these days, you know

35:56

My wife and I are gonna be gone for a few weeks and that's the time that I've given pastor permission to Reference this congregation as being foolish

36:06

How would that sit with you guys? No, it wouldn't sit well

36:12

This is really in -your -face stuff that James again out of his love is in his concern

36:18

He refers to them as being foolish, which means morally and spiritually empty and deficient and Useless, which means that they have no fruit and they're lacking in productivity

36:33

Strong words folks as he's talking about dead faith But as we conclude the chapter verses 21 through 6 we move on to living faith.

36:43

So let me read that for you, please Was not Abraham our father Justified by works when he offered up his son

36:50

Isaac on the altar you see that faith with that was active along with his works in faith was

36:57

Completed by his works and the scripture was full full fulfilled that says Abraham believed

37:03

God 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 and in the same way was not also

37:19

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.

37:29

So also faith apart from works is dead Well, let's look at this The big stumbling block to Martin Luther was verse 21

37:45

Abraham justified by works Again, we need to understand where Martin Luther was coming from.

37:53

He was doing battle with the Roman Catholic Church What was their salvation all about?

38:01

It was all about works So he had a bit is good of a theologian was he had a little bit of a

38:11

Misperception and so he was so anti works that when he saw the word he just disregarded

38:18

James uses that several times in Martin Luther wasn't quite getting it initially

38:25

Okay, in fact, he referred to James the book of James as an epistle of straw again,

38:34

James is not dealing with the means of salvation, but with its outcome the

38:40

Evidence that it had genuinely occurred. So do we need to give Martin Luther a little bit of slack?

38:47

Yeah, he wasn't perfect. He was good, but he wasn't perfect Justified by works justification by faith pertains to a person's standing before God Whereas here the justification by works pertains to a person standing before other men

39:09

God knows our heart You don't know my heart

39:15

So the litmus test as you observe me is to look at my works

39:20

And if my works match what I say, then you're thinking

39:27

Probably he's okay God doesn't need my external works. He knows my heart.

39:33

Do you see the difference there? so The word justification we're gonna get a little a little technical here, but don't let it scare you

39:44

Justification has two major definitions used in the Bible and it depends on the context so we know how to use it

39:51

First and most common is it pertains to acquittal? Declaring and treating a person as righteousness.

39:59

So we are justified by Faith Okay, we are acquitted of our sins because our sins have been covered by the blood of Christ From God's perspective.

40:13

He knows that From our perspective. I don't know for sure about where any of your hearts are

40:21

Because can't we be good little hypocrites once in a while? Okay, so the second definition of justified pertains to vindication or proof of righteousness

40:35

Do you follow what is being said here? So as I observe you folks not that I look for this

40:45

But as I observe you folks or you observe me Your little telltale indicators of if I'm walking with the

40:52

Lord are not my heart Which you can't see but it's my works which you can see

41:00

So those are the indicators or proof of righteousness. That's the second definition of justified

41:07

Okay, follow me here So you got one finger in James chapter 2 and then

41:13

I want you to go back to Genesis 22 let's go back to Genesis 22 that still leaves you eight fingers

41:30

So we're gonna look at 2 23 in verse 23 of James It says in the scripture was fulfilled that says

41:37

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God Now as it says in your handout, he quotes

41:47

Genesis 15 6 which you don't have to look up because he's quoting it. He's declaring that God imputed or transferred righteousness to Abraham Solely on the basis of his faith, but now let's go back and look at verse 21 of James 2 21 of James Was not

42:11

Abraham our father justified by works? When he offered up his son on the altar you're saying

42:18

I'm getting confused. I have that effect in people So he was declared righteous because of his faith, but he was justified by his works

42:34

Let's go look at Genesis 22 9 through 12 In 22 9 through 12 we read this

42:42

When they came to the place God told him Abraham built the altar there laid the wood in order and bound his son

42:48

Isaac Laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand took the knife to slaughter his son.

42:57

I Don't know folks. How many times have you struggled with this? Could you do that to a child?

43:04

Or in my wife's case, could she do that to a grandchild? That's rhetorical don't answer it, but the angel the

43:12

Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham Abraham And he said here am

43:18

I he said do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him For now,

43:24

I know that you fear God for you have not withheld your son your only son from me

43:29

Do you follow this? He was saved by faith he was justified by his works

43:38

Did God need to see that? No did Abraham need to see that.

43:44

Yes. Do we need to see this in the biblical account for all generations?

43:51

Absolutely so in 21 an event that occurred many years after he was declared righteous by God.

44:01

Do you follow this? so in order He was declared

44:07

Righteous by God Years before this incident occurred.

44:13

He was already saved. He was already declared righteous But what a faith this guy had

44:21

So was he saved by faith or was he saved by works? Answer according to Kim.

44:28

Yes The works for our benefit this set for God's from God's perspective

44:36

Did you see it just it's they're so nice What faith he had now

44:43

I have this listed in your notes We won't read it in Genesis 22 5 as Abraham is leaving.

44:52

What does he say to his servants? We will return in Hebrews 11 19, which we won't read

45:04

What does it basically say? Abraham knew that if he slew his son that God was going to raise him from the

45:16

What a faith what a faith verses 22 and 23 are key

45:23

Despite Abraham's limited theological knowledge his trust in the

45:28

Lord was sufficient in Tantamount to belief in Christ the coming Messiah.

45:34

It was a faith of friendship the summaries in verse 24 a

45:42

Person is justified by works and not by faith alone In Zondervan the

45:48

Expository Dictionary, they do this helpful thing to talk about justification What is particularly significant to us here is that James joins

45:58

Paul in? Suggesting that justification is something more than a judicial declaration

46:04

True in response to faith God does declare sinners acquitted and righteous before him

46:11

But he does more than that He acts within the believer to make righteousness a reality thus

46:18

The gospel offer of salvation by faith includes more than a pardon. It also includes a transformation

46:26

God will declare the sinner righteous and then God will act to make the sinner what

46:31

God has declared him to be Okay, let me summarize the last couple of verses the familiar thing in Joshua chapter 2 talking about Rahab So we've already talked about this is our second example of live faith or living faith

46:50

The first example was Abraham How do we get from Abraham to Rahab what a contrast we'll think about Abraham was a major Bible figure

47:03

Rahab was a minor He was the father of the faithful.

47:10

She was a foreigner He was respected. She was disreputable.

47:15

He was a man. She was a woman That's a big deal back in that culture, right?

47:21

So why the contrast why these two examples of faith because it shows us the broad scope of God's mercy

47:30

Rahab Acknowledged that the God of Israel was the true Lord and from God's perspective

47:36

She had a heart that was right and he graciously accepted her faith for righteousness

47:43

Again concluding briefly with this from MacArthur Abraham's and Rahab's justification by works

47:51

Was not demonstrated by their profession of faith their worship or ritual or any other religious activity?

47:59

In both cases it was distraught Demonstrated by putting everything that was dear to them on the line for the

48:07

Lord entrusting it to him without qualification or reservation

48:14

Let's pray Father we thank you for these marvelous words penned under the inspiration of the

48:21

Holy Spirit by James May we take these truths to heart? Understanding that we are saved by faith, but Lord that you continue to empower us for Works which

48:37

Are visible to other people which speak of the faith that we hold so dear so help us to be true believers

48:47

Unabashedly worshipping and praising you and giving glory to you in all things. We pray in your son's name.