Faith & Works

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

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Apostle Paul said, But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

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King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry.

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My name is Mike Abendroth. And there, now that shows me live here on Facebook. I'm just going to click on that here on my computer.

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Ben Mercedes is here, helping with the Facebook Live, three shows today.

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And where are these pages here? Let's click on it and see what happens. You can always write me, info at nocompromiseradio .com

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or mike at nocompromiseradio .com. We have a slogan around here, and the slogan is,

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Always Biblical, Always Provocative, Always in That Order. I don't know if we always do that.

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I try to be biblical, but you ought not to trust me without reading your Bible. And I try to provoke people, and really, that's easy for me to do.

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I think probably because I just try to speak my mind clearly. There's something about a preacher that speaks plainly and clearly, and I'm talking about ideas.

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When I hear a preacher, I don't want to ever have to say, what does he really believe on that topic? I want him to speak, as JC Ryle says, plainly and clearly.

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Yes, this is what he's saying, and this is what he means by what he's saying. So I just try to talk directly.

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I try to talk, I don't know. I was born in Nebraska, did a lot of time in California, like I was in jail, did a lot of time in San Quentin, and then

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I've lived out here in New England for 23 years. I think I'm kind of a New Englander, but anyway, Ben, thanks for having all this equipment in here, and if you want to see more of Ben's handiwork, you can see the snippet on the

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American Gospel, or you can go to the YouTube channel, No Compromise. Just scroll down to the early videos, and you can tell those aren't

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Ben's work. That's not Ben's work. It was me and my MacBook Pro, but now this is deluxe.

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So we're talking a little bit about James, the book of James, the last two shows, and we're talking about partiality, critical race theory, that kind of stuff, but I want to move a little bit farther past that and talk about the second section of James chapter two.

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James is a book that's basically law and not a lot of gospel, but it's in the

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Christian canon, and it was written probably, let's just say 45

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AD, the first book of the New Testament that was written, but as you know, the events of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they happened.

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They weren't recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but Jesus, for sake of argument, was born 0

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AD, 30, he became inaugurated into his public ministry by the power of the

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Holy Spirit and died three years later. So let's just say 33

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AD is when Jesus died and was raised and ascended and is seated at the right hand.

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So 12 years later, what do we tell the church? How do we instruct them?

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And if you think of James this way, you'll understand James. Here's how you live in light of the cross. How does a

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Christian live in light of the cross? One who's suffering, one who's getting persecuted, dispersed tribes in chapter one, verse one, how do

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Christians live? And James, the half -brother of Jesus, gives, by the power of the

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Holy Spirit, Christians a way to live, and that is they count it all joy when they're in trials.

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That's how Christians live. Not perfectly, not every single time without exception, but this is just what they do.

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Why? Because in light of the cross, can God take sin and turn it into something good? Well, obviously, so we should take him at his word and count it all joy, my brethren, chapter one, verse two.

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We receive Jesus, the word incarnate, and what he said we believe as true about his instruction everywhere from heaven to hell to how to be right with God to what he's done.

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And we received his word, so how should Christians now, 12 years later, when Jesus is ascended, how should they deal with the written word?

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Well, receive it the same way you would the Lord Jesus. That's in chapter one, verse 19 through 26, and then chapter two comes along.

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You've got a bunch of people who are dispersed, and they're running around, they're getting persecuted, and so what do we do?

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Living in light of the cross, how do we treat other people? And Jesus came to die for people, all kinds of people, right?

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Not all people like each individual person that's ever been born. He didn't die for Goliath, and he didn't die for Judas, but he died for all kinds of people, and Jew or Gentile kind of people, right?

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He died for all those that the Father had given him, and therefore, if Jesus died for those kind of people, they're image bearers, they're no longer in the first Adam, but the second

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Adam, we ought not to be judging people based on the way they look, right? That would just be awful when it comes to, we're getting persecuted, and we're gonna judge people like that.

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And now we move into chapter two, verse 14 and following, where James, the good preacher, understands this issue.

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What issue is that? I'm glad you asked. Are there kinds of faith that don't save?

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Are all faiths the same? I don't mean Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, but people can say they are a

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Christian, but maybe they're not. So James wants everybody to know that there's a faith that saves, a faith that trusts in the risen

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Savior and His work. They know about Jesus. They give agreement and assent, and then they heartily are trusting in Jesus.

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But then there's a faith that doesn't really work. It's a false faith. It's a spurious faith.

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It's a faith that sends people to hell. And this is a big issue because many, many people say they believe.

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And if you talk to your friends and neighbors and maybe parents or kids, yes, I believe, but their life shows no evidence, shows no fruit.

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Can that faith save? So here in this particular section, maybe I could just call it fool's gold faith.

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I remember my grandmother would give me some fool's gold because she couldn't afford real gold.

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And I also remember those little sacks, tiny sacks of the gum. Remember the gum when you're a kid and you had like nuggets of gold, but it was really just gum?

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Remember that? Kind of tastes like double mint gum or, I don't know, juicy fruit maybe. But anyway, we have a fool's gold faith.

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And if you're going to be persecuted and if you're going to be on the run, there's something worse than the persecution you receive.

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And that is, what if you weren't really a believer? What if you're getting persecuted and it's a fake faith? This writer,

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James, he wants to make sure there are people, he wants to make sure that people come face to face with the reality of, you know what?

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Even demons, they believe, but of course they're not going to heaven. God's, false gods, prophets, false prophets,

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Christ's, false Christs, Jesus, another Jesus, gospel, another gospel, brethren, false brethren, teachers, false teachers, apostles, false apostles.

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Those all have verses. There are categories for all those because you can imagine Satan, the great counterfeiter, wants to make sure people are duped into thinking that they're going to go to heaven.

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And then as John Bunyan said, can you imagine the porthole to hell at the gates of heaven?

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That would be awful. It's one thing to say, you know what? I'm going to party on earth and I'm going to go to hell when

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I die. Those people are fools, but it'd be even worse, would it not, to think,

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I'm going to go to heaven when I die. And then when you die, you don't go. So these matters are important.

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These matters are eternal. And in a world of fake, we have to make sure we don't have a fake faith.

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I live here close to a town called Leominster, Leo Minster. And you know what?

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Do you know what Leominster is home of, Ben, do you know? Two things.

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Johnny Appleseed is from Leominster, and it's the home of plastics. So they make all kinds of plastic stuff.

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And you know what plastoi is in Greek? It means fake. It's not a bowl. It's a fake bowl.

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I get the plastic bowl. So if I were to tell you there's a bunch of fake faiths out there, what would you say?

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And you say, you know what? I don't have a fake faith. I was baptized. I was confirmed. I took communion.

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I've been a member of the church. I helped build the church. I'm a charter member. My parents are Christians. Okay. Are you trusting in Jesus?

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That's my question, not what you've done. Of course, I'm happy that all those things happen.

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But there are a lot of people today that say they're a Christian, but maybe they're modern -day

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Judases. So what do we need to do when we think of James chapter two?

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Let's think theologically before we dive into the text. There are categories that need to be held onto.

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Category of justification, right? You're vindicated by God because of the work of Jesus, and you get credit for his righteousness.

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He, Jesus, got credit for your sin. Jesus was then raised from the dead.

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The transaction was accepted by the Father. Justification. Just as if I've never sinned because Jesus paid for it.

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Just as if I perfectly obeyed because Jesus obeyed the law in my place. And I know that on judgment day, that is going to be the verdict.

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So the verdict on judgment day has been pushed forward into time. And I know the opposite of justification is true.

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That is, there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. That's the category of justification. But when you're justified, you'll also be sanctified.

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They're not the same. They don't go together in the sense that one bleeds into the other.

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But they are inseparable. Sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, happens.

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Right? And you will begin to grow in grace, and you will begin to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.

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But if you blend justification and sanctification, you're essentially making a Roman Catholic error. And if you're not careful, that's what happens here in James chapter 2.

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And you want to make sure that, yes, in fact, sanctification always follows justification because you don't want to be an antinomian.

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So it's very tricky here. Anti, against, gnome, law, against, law. You think, you know what?

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I can say I'm justified, but I'm never sanctified. That's the kind of person he's talking about here. But we want to be careful as we're dealing with that error that we don't take all the growth of sanctification and jam it into justification.

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And here's how people do that. They'll talk about, have you surrendered enough to Jesus? And they'll make that a justification category.

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Have you treasured Jesus enough? They put that in the justification category. Do you desire

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Jesus enough? Have you denied yourself enough? Have you submitted your life and all its categories enough to who

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Jesus is? I don't mind any of those questions until you put them in the justification category.

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Those are sanctification category questions. Because the justification category, how do

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I receive the benefits of Jesus' law -keeping? His death for my law -breaking? How do

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I receive those benefits? Answer? I hope you know. I think you do. Sola fide.

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Faith alone. It is a non -meritorious instrument. It contributes nothing.

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It receives, it rests. So, when you come to James 2, if you're not careful, you could say, well, okay, antinomian.

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But the running from antinomianism, the running from a spurious faith, the running from an empty faith, the running from a faith that's dead can be filled with a void of something that's not the real gospel.

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It's a gospel plus works. It's the Roman Catholic, small g, gospel. It's a justification and sanctification blend together.

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So when we come to James 2, if you say to yourself, I have categories, then good for you.

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Category of justification, category of sanctification. And we believe in both.

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And we believe they are distinct, yet inseparable. Does that make sense?

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Ben, does that make sense? It makes sense. Okay. Good. You know what, I almost feel like Todd Freel or somebody who has a sidekick.

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You just come in and I just ask questions and, because I do feel like you're listening.

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So that's why I have to try to bring you into the conversation a little bit. What good is it, my brothers,

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James 2, 14, if someone says he has faith, by the way, that's saying it over and over. I believe,

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I believe, I believe, I believe, but doesn't have works. Can that faith that says, I believe that doesn't have works, save him?

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And the answer in the Greek is no, it can't save him. So already you have to be careful.

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I've got categories of justification, sanctification, the faith that saves.

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You're saved by faith alone, but that faith is never alone. I think that's the way Calvin would put it.

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Matter of fact, I've got that quote here. It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.

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I guess I could put it this way. Can you come face to face with the almighty

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God and in a saving way and then not be different? I used to surf in a place called

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San Onofre. I surfed there when I was in my twenties. They call it old man's because the waves are slow and it's easy to surf there.

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And so old men can surf there. And there's two nuclear power plants right there. So when you're out swimming, it always seemed like it was a little warmer.

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And I was wondering what those gills were behind my ears that started growing. But that's a different story.

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What if that thing cracked open? Then I would be affected, right? I would be dead. And so now we have the

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God of the universe who regenerates us, makes us alive, new creatures in Christ Jesus, and we're not different.

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Now I didn't say we have to be mature. I didn't say we have to be super holy.

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I'm just saying you're going to be different. If there's no change, then there's no change, my friend used to say.

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If there's no change, then there's no change. What did he mean by that? If there's no change in your life, then you have every reason to ask yourself the question, is there a change in my status before God?

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If there's no sanctifying effect of the Holy Spirit in my life, then how could I be justified? When you are saved, you are different.

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I'll give you the biggest difference. You're trusting in Jesus. You're trusting in who God is.

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You're taking God at His word. That's exactly what happened with the thief on the cross. You say, well, he didn't do a lot of stuff.

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Well, he sure thought differently. So I'm not only thinking about actions here. I'm also thinking about attitudes.

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What are my new attitudes? What are my new beliefs? Matter of fact, if you want to make sure you understand this properly, what's the root of all sin?

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You say, idolatry. No. Covetous. No. Pride.

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No. Self -righteousness. No. It's actually unbelief. That's the root of all sin is unbelief, which then leads to lawlessness, which then manifests itself in immorality and other things and idolatry and covetousness.

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But at the root, it's belief. Did God really say? So when God saves you, that's all changed, because while your life might not be showing all kinds of maturity, you begin to think differently right from the very beginning.

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He says, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but he does not have works?

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Can that faith profit him? Is it going to be any good on judgment day?

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And he, the writer James, anticipates no. The answer is no. That's not going to help anyone.

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Listen to what Westminster Shorter Catechism says faith is. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.

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J. Gresham Machen. The true reason why faith is given such an exclusive place by the

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New Testament so far as the attainment of salvation is concerned, over against love and over against everything else in man, is that faith means receiving something, not doing something or even being something.

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Machen said to say, therefore, that our faith saves us means that we do not save ourselves even in the slightest measure, but that God saves us.

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So we take God at his word. We're resting and receiving the person and work of Jesus, his promises and everything that he's done.

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And that faith is going to show forth, okay, this is important, evidence or fruit.

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You say, well, I like slogans. Okay. The root is Jesus. The fruit are your good works.

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The way you need to think about it is evidences. Are there evidences in my life that confirm my belief?

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That's the key, evidences. Don't confuse ground and evidence.

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The condition of your salvation is the work of Christ because it needs to be perfect. But the evidence or fruit is something that we could look at.

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My name is Mike Havenroth. This is No Compromise Radio. It goes on to say in verse 15, if I can find my notes someplace, yes, if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm, be filled without giving them the things needed for the body.

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What good is that? He's talking about a faith that assists people. Remember early in chapter one, why is

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James saying this? Because earlier in chapter one, at the end of the chapter, he talks about faith.

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It controls the tongue. Real religion takes care of the poor and the orphans.

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Real religion says no to try to be stained by the world. I don't want that. And so real religion, a religion that believes in Jesus, makes people different.

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Their status first is different, and then they show evidences are fruit of that.

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And you say, you know what? I don't do as much as I want to. Here's what I would ask you. Who gave you that desire that you want to do more for the

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Lord Jesus? Did Satan give you that desire? Did the world give you that desire?

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Did Fox News give you that desire? Did the Drudge Report give you that desire?

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No, the Lord gave you that desire. And so what I'm looking for is not some kind of perfection.

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I'm not looking for king of the mountain stuff. I'm looking for some fruit and for some evidence.

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And even if it's a little bit of fruit, I want to know where that fruit come from. I think the opposite is often true, where people are going around, that's not enough fruit, that's not enough fruit, that's not enough fruit.

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Those are the kind of people I sometimes think to myself, I'd like to be married to that kind of a person.

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But that's a different story. I'm going to get myself in big trouble. So, what about James 2, 19?

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The demons believe in Trimble. What James is after is people who say they're

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Christians, but they don't show any evidence of it. And it's fair for us to say, based on your testimony, lack of evidence, are you sure you're a

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Christian? I never say to somebody, you're not a Christian. I say, based on your own testimony,

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I don't know how you can call yourself a Christian. It's like the guy that's lived with his girlfriend for 10 years, and he's got a bunch of problems, and he comes into this very room, and he asks me a bunch of questions, and he's got anxiety problems and everything.

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How long have you been in love with your girlfriend? 10 years. You're sleeping with her, right? And I didn't want to make any assumptions.

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What if they just were, I don't know, sharing the rent? Oh yeah, of course we're sleeping together. So I said, in light of 1

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Corinthians 6, where it says, fornicators will not inherit the kingdom of God. Your own testimony of you've been fornicating for 10 years, that sounds like a pattern.

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That sounds like a habit. That sounds like you're not repentant in any way, shape, or form, or even sorrowful. Then don't call yourself a

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Christian. Matter of fact, based on your own testimony, if you die tonight, you're going to go straight to hell.

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And he was upset, not visibly at me, but later, very, very upset. I didn't say he was going to hell based on my judgment.

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You don't have enough fruit. You don't have enough evidence. You don't know. No, but you keep saying you believe in Jesus and the fruit of your life is blatant, unrepentant, annual, daily sin, well, then you ought not to be deceived.

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This is the same language, essentially, as 1 Corinthians 6. Well, don't be deceived. Don't be deceived because when

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God changes your status and changes your nature, there'll be some fruit.

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There'll be some evidence. You say, well, I believe though, and that's why he says in James 2, even the demons believe and what?

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Tremble. There's an emotional component to them. Some people say,

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I believe. They're not even emotional about who God is or what he's done, but demons, they not only say they believe and they do, they could affirm the

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Westminster standards. They could affirm the three forms of unity. They could affirm your doctrinal statement at your church.

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I hope it's something more than just 10 points, but they're not saved and they even shudder.

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There's an emotional response. That's not saving faith. Saving faith is knowledge, assent, and trust, right?

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That's the way you need to look at it. Faith is receiving. It's arresting. It's a reliance upon the promises of God and the person of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. We have, okay, thank you.

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We've got, something's going on here. Oh, maybe

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I thought there was a question. Time for the show to wrap up. These 24 and a half minutes go by fast. I still am only doing 24 and a half minutes because we do have a station up in Alaska that's playing no compromise radio.

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Most of the time I get these things, oh, please be on the radio. Please be on the radio. You have a radio show. Please be on.

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But I have to pay to be on. No, I'm not going to pay to be on.

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We'll do the podcast and then they can just play it if they want. So I think I should start charging that Alaska station to have no compromise radio.

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If you want to write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. Don't forget if you like this stuff that you see,

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Ben did not tell me to do this, but I'm going to say it anyway. You need filming. You need a wedding filmed.

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You need, what else do people film these days? I don't know. Baptisms. Just business stuff.

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What? Just business stuff. Corporate stuff. Corporate stuff. Portraits. Any of that kind of stuff.

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Ben Mercedes. You can contact me and I'll get you in touch with Ben. Info at nocompromiseradio .com.

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God bless you. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.