So we reach the final verge of the section. Let's read together. Chapter 1 that's not chapter 2 verse 14 What good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith? But does not have works can that faith save him? The answer is no if a brother or sister poorly clothed and lacking in daily food is And one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled 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. But someone will say, you have faith, that is to James, and I have works, that is the opponent. 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 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 Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the angels 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. In our day there is a rise in the acceptance and belief of the theological concept of easy believism. This concept promotes faith without necessary works. Evangelicalism is finding new ways, novel ways I should say, to soften the gospel. There is a weakening of the offense of the gospel by removing the demand of obedience. Some say it doesn't matter as long as they believe. The modern church refuses to call people to repentance. They refuse to call sin for what it is in the pulpit of God. They refuse to demand obedience to Christ as Lord. They refuse to call sinners to repentance and practice church discipline. Why? Because churches have gone soft on the gospel. More than 31% of the world is claiming to be Christian. That is huge. 2.5 billion Christians. My questions, where are they? I'm seeing some of them here. Yet with the increase in so-called faith professions, there's also a decrease in faith expressions. For most, it is enough to say, I believe in Jesus. For most, it is enough to say, I believe that he died and arose again. For most, it is enough to say, I have my church. This is what is called nominal Christianity. They want the title of Christian, but not the commitment of Christianity. They want the blessing of Christianity, but not the suffering of a Christian. They want relief from the circumstances. They want answers to life, but not the obedience that comes with faith. There is no real spiritual life that is seen in some of these people. No devotion, no personal commitment to church, no sacrifice. When I use the word devotion, I'm speaking about living a life in consistence with the word. Today, devotion has been changed to mean having personal time with the Lord. Anyone can do that. Sit at home and have their personal devotion with Jesus. Show me that in scripture. There is no such thing. Devotion is seen in how you live. It requires obedience. It requires commitment. Sadly Christianity today has come to nothing other than a loveless pursuit of self-contentment. No demonstration of love for God's people or love for the truth. No demonstration of the pursuit of righteousness. Yet in easy believism we say, that's okay. You can believe that Jesus died and rose again. That's all you need to believe. James chapter 2 verse 26 begs to differ. James gives us two truths that is often overlooked in modern Christianity. Number one is unresponsive faith is dead. It is that simple. James minces no words. This is the harshest criticism that he has given in the text thus far. Secondly, this is deducible, not primarily in the text. Responsive faith is active. So let's give attention to the first point. Dead faith is unresponsive. The entire section leads up to this logical conclusion. James reiterates the central point with a little bit more oomph at this stage. Thus far he has repeatedly claimed that faith without works is not worth anything. Look at verse 17. So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. There's a nuance in the way that he explains it in our text. Also verse 20. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is worthless or useless? This final statement in verse 26 points back as a summary or logical conclusion of all that James has said up to this point. So therefore, it incorporates all that he has said up to this point. Now, it is incorrect to see the analogy that James uses of body and spirit in verse 26 to be analogous with life. St. Augustus, for instance, says that good works is like the spirit invigorating the body. No, that's not what James is after. We should avoid such a strong comparison. The structure here is equalitative in nature. So what James is showing is just like the body needs the spirit, so faith needs what? works not to be saved but to show that you are what? Saved. What he's pointing out is that you cannot have the one without the other. You cannot be a person who is alive if you do not have a spirit. The body is made for the spirit and the spirit is made for the body. Now, obviously, there are those who are going to ask, well, what about those who have died? It's a good question. That is why God will give you a resurrected body to join your soul, which is in heaven now, if you are dead, with your body, which is in the ground. I don't know what happens to people who burnt their bodies. I'm just saying, I don't know. That's a different discussion. I'm just joking by the way. So then the body cannot exist without the spirit alive. It's impossible. For a human to be alive, both are essential. And that's the point. He draws on the parallel to show that one cannot exist without the other. Look at the beginning of verse 26. For as the body, this little conjunction means similar to the previous, similarly to what I have just illustrated. So By using this little conjunction, James draws both Abraham and Rahab in. So as they have illustrated what saving faith looks like, so also this is what it means when you don't have what they display. You're showing yourself to be dead. The structure of this verse is very simple. The second element in the verse qualifies the first. So without the second, you don't really have the first. So without the spirit, you don't really have a living body. Without works, you don't really have saving faith. So the second element in the text gives sense to the first element. It's very simple. But notice what James says, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also literally the faith apart from works is dead. The word here, the faith, it's not in your translations, but it's literally this faith. is what scholars call anaphoric, and so he's pointing back to what is already described. What faith has he described? Well, verse 14, what good is it, my brothers, if some says that he has faith, but does not have works? Can this or that faith? From this point on, he always points back to verse 14 as that faith. So when James speaks about that faith, or the faith in verse 26, or elsewhere in the section, he's always pointing back to the claim of having faith and not needing works. So he says that faith, the faith that is void of works. is a dead faith. So James wraps up this portion leading them to the most logical conclusion. This is one of the most important statements in the entirety of the section. It shows that there is only one outcome to a person who claims to have faith but refuses to demonstrate that faith. There's only one outcome. The sure reality and the weight of this argument is that a workless faith is therefore not a living and saving faith. Now, I took some time to look up this word dead, because it appears twice, so it's only obvious that I'm gonna look it up, right? And I was surprised. It means dead. Unresponsive in and to life. Not having life. I'm like, duh, I thought it was going to be a little bit more than that. Yes, dead means dead. I think it's pretty clear. You don't need to be a Greek scholar to understand what that means. And you'll see the significance in a moment. This is why I said last week, perpetual disobedience or a perpetual unwillingness to show love to a Christian community, to demonstrate that you have saving faith, perpetual disobedience in that act is dangerous. Why? Because the opposite, the logical conclusion of that means that there is something wrong with the faith that you are claiming. Yet today many say all you need is faith. All you need is to believe. They suggest that faith alone implies that there is no need of a corresponding life of obedience of any kind. I'm not talking about packing away chairs. I'm not talking about showing up on a Sunday morning. I'm not talking about helping with dismantling a Sunday morning service. I'm not talking about works which are pretty obvious that anyone can do. James has something very specific in mind. Unfortunately, Today what this world promotes is works that make us feel better about ourselves. The fact that we are seen in doing stuff, playing in the music band, putting up a mic, packing away the chair. So we think that by doing stuff, we are demonstrating saving faith. Unbelievers can pack away chairs. By nature, some people are just good. They just want to help. So James does not mention that kind of works. Now you may find services and helps in Romans chapter 12 and 1 Corinthians 10 through to 12 and those aspects are needed in church life. But that is not what he's talking about. James is advocating a specific response that must be in believers. Must be. It is how believers respond to God's people. When we do not care about God's people, when there is no movement on any front, when there is a need, there is cause for concern. The problem with easy believism is that the scripture just does not advocate it. Wherever you see the mention of saving faith, there is also a requirement of obedience. Faith must lead to external works. Now let's give attention to the text. James says, for as the body apart from the works is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. So these two things work together. You cannot have a body without the spirit. Is there any time in the history of humanity where you had a body without a spirit? I'm not talking about people who died. Yeah. Adam, right? Adam was a body made of clay lying on the ground. What did he need to become a living soul? A spirit. The spirit of life that energized his body and made him a living soul. I'm not saying that there's a correlation between the two. I'm just pointing out that there is an illustration in scripture that points out that a body with no spirit is not alive. makes absolute sense. But what is interesting, what James does here, is that he takes the unseen part of man, which is the spirit, and relates it to the seen part of man, which is works. He takes faith, which is the unseen part of the spirit, and relates it to to the seen part of man, which is works. So faith corresponds with body, I said works, but I mean body, and works corresponds to spirit. And it seems strange and it is awkward in the way that he writes this, but he's not saying that works does the same thing that the spirit does for the body. Works does not give life to the body. When the spirit is present, what do you presume that the person will be? Alive. So when works are present, what do you presume about the faith? Faith is alive. So he wants you to come to that conclusion. He wants you to walk away knowing that if you claim to have faith, but you have no works, the logical conclusion is what? You are dead. It sounds harsh. James absolutely crushes any idea of easy believism. He makes works a necessary outcome of salvation. You cannot claim salvation and not have works. A person that is comfortable with inactive, unresponsive faith is someone who is in danger of having an unregenerate heart. Dead faith is unresponsive. It cannot quicken itself. It cannot cause itself to do the things that God desires. So then, if the spirit is in the body, then what do you expect? Signs of life. Therefore, if faith is present, what can you deduce? Signs of life. When the boys were young, when they came home out of the hospital, They were born prematurely and one of the things that the doctors required was breathing monitors, apnea monitor. And so the interesting thing about these monitors is when they stop breathing, what happens? moving so it will detect movement or motion and so when there's no movement the presumption is they're gone, right? They're dead. Fortunately the monitors were faulty so we were in their room quite a lot. If a dog doesn't move anymore what do you do? You put it on the couch and wait for a better day? You don't do that, because naturally we know when there's a lack of movement, there's a problem. You get concerned. Natural life teaches us that life must be seen. If it's alive, it's going to move. Even plants move, for goodness sake. So then, If faith is present, the logical outcome that James says is that faith must result in works. So if you claim that you have faith and there is no works, then you are dead, my friend. Dead. When faith is unresponsive, it tells us something about the state of that person. Now I hope throughout this section that those of you who have been courting church life, that have been giving verbal declarations of faith and not demonstrating, I hope you were uncomfortable because this is the reality. When faith is unresponsive, then that person is dead. Secondly, not only is unresponsive faith a dead faith, but also living faith is a responsive faith. Now, this is deduced from the greater context. It is not stated clearly by James, but it is deducible. Listen carefully to what James is saying, and I want you to think theologically about this. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, take note of the state of verb is and the consequenting object is dead. So also faith apart from works is dead. What's the emphasis? It's two repeating words. Is dead. Is dead. The importance of this word is dead is that this person is in a continuous, unchanging state of deadness. Ever smelled a dead rat? Okay, maybe not a dead rat, but a dead animal? They stink, right? And they continue to stink until you put it six feet under the ground so that the smell doesn't permeate anymore. There's a continuous, ongoing state of deadness. It's putrefaction at its worst. That is the picture that he gives. There's a continual degrading state of deadness. It's like a man who sits in church with his face rotting off or body parts falling off. He's a mummy sitting in the church. Stinking out the very presence of God. That is the picture that James gives. So you claim to have faith, but you don't have words. Guess what? You're a stinking mummy in the presence of God. What is he saying? So James is describing in its incipient form what biblical writers will portray later. He's describing spiritual death. Notice the absolute statement, is dead, is dead, an ongoing reality that is unchangeable unless something else causes life to come to that person. Imagine sitting in the synagogue, having the temple still standing and going to the temple every day to sacrifice your offerings. Imagine claiming that you have a link to Abraham as our father. Imagine all of that. And James says, you know what kind of sacrifice God will accept? Look at verse 27 of chapter 1. Religion. The worshipful act that God accepts, that is the word religion, that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. When I preach this, I mention that James uses sacrificial language. And he says, do you know what kind of worship God will accept? It is the kind of worship that demonstrates itself in how it relates to God's people and how it keeps itself from the influence of the world. Imagine hearing that. What are you thinking? There's a problem. I'm not that kind of person because I have the temple. And I have my father, Abraham, and here James says, guess what? If that's all that you know as a claimed believer, then you are dead. You are a worshiper that is carrying a dead sacrifice to a dead God because you're a dead person. Your worship is dead. This state that they are in, the state of verb is, in both cases, expresses an ever existing unchangeable condition or reality. This is what we are all in before Christ. A dead state, unchangeable in and of ourselves. Something needs to happen in order for this dead thing to become alive. Listen to the weight of his argument. If you are not engaged in caring for God's people, if you are not engaged in the kind of worship that God accepts, then you are dead. greater contextual argument that James is making and I mentioned this in the first section of James 14 sorry verse 15 and 16 is the reason they could not respond the reason they did not engage in caring for God's people the reason why they discriminated the reason why they take bribes the reason why they condemn the righteous is because there is no spiritual life they cannot do anything else Dead faith equals a dead spiritual person. That is what James is talking about. There is no capacity to respond. There is no capacity to do any kind of works that God will accept. James gives us a theology of spiritual death. Throughout this chapter, he has been drawing a line of separation. Those who can produce good works, those who he expects to do good works, and those who can't. Those who have been changed, who have a changed speech, who have a changed heart, who have a changed response, and those who can't. So why does this sound so familiar? Well, firstly, because wherever you go in the New Testament, wherever the gospel is mentioned, whenever salvation is mentioned, works are always present. There's always the net result of works. Now, technically, verse 26 is the bad news of the gospel. This is your unchanged state as a unbeliever, dead before God. So where's the good news? Turn back to chapter one, verse 18. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now, some of you may remember the section James here speaks about what gives birth to what? If you look up at verse 13, let no one say when he is tempted, I'm being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted with evil or by evil. And he himself tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. So temptations come from within because that is natural to who we are. Then, desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown gives birth to death. He's mentioned this before. So when you are a sinner, what has happened? What happens? Naturally, death results from that. But in verse 18, James turns his things on his head. He says, of God's own will, he brings us forth. So who gives life? It is God. God by his own will brings us forth by the word of truth. Life comes to us, external to us. This is not something you do in and of yourself. This is the good news of the good news that God is the one by means of the truth. What truth is he talking about? Well, obviously the truth concerning the Lord. God is the one that provides life to dead people. Now look down at verse 19. Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness And receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to keep your souls, or save your souls, be doers of the word. If God gives life, what is the implication? God expects signs of life. That is what verse 19 speaks about. To have a changed heart, a changed speech, and a changed response. God expects change in the life of His children. James lays out the theology of new birth in this book before Paul ever mentions it. He reveals the theological concept of spiritual death, of spiritual life, and the consequent effects of that. Now secondly, there are external proofs, external to James, that speaks of evidences of salvation. Go to Acts chapter 2. Take note. in verse 41. So those who received the word were baptized. What is that? Salvation and obedience. And they were added that day about 3,000 souls. And they devoted themselves, these 3,000 souls who just came to saving faith, demonstrated their saving faith by means of obedience. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers. What is that? Immediate display of obedience. To get saved, and immediately there's an effect. Look down at verse 44. And all who believed, literally all who had believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as had any need. Consider the context historically of the book of James. A couple of chapters later, in chapter 8 of Acts, this community gets broken up. Why? Because of persecution. It is those people, those people that James is writing to, He's writing to those who were here experiencing the dynamic of church life and they fled and because they are away from James the pastor, the shepherd of their souls, he now cares for them and writes to them in their various synagogues and he says to them, remember, faith demonstrates itself in caring works. Why would he say that? Because they've seen it. In Acts chapter 2, when there was a need, what happened? They met that need. In fact, there's a language carry over here. And they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God. Sorry, another verse in verse 45. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. Not meeting the need in James. James points out the reality that saving faith demonstrates itself in devotion to God's people, devotion to the truth, devotion to the fellowship, devotion to the breaking of bread, devotion to prayers, and devotion to people in meeting their need. I dislike the use of the word devotion today because it has become so personalized. personal devotion, or what they mean by, oh, I'm looking for a devotional Bible study. Just give me some practical things to do. Well, there's a practical thing to do. Devote yourself to the apostles' teaching. Devote yourselves to the fellowships, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. The Bible in and of itself is practical enough. James demonstrates that. The author of Acts demonstrates that. Devotion is seen. Again, you have salvation, immediately obedience is seen, and then there's a practical outworking in church life. Go to Titus chapter 2. Actually, go to Ephesians. That passage is probably better. Ephesians 2. Notice in verse 1 he says, and you were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked. That is the state of being that we are in before salvation. You are in an unchangeable state until verse 5, verse 4. But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead. in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. What does he attribute the life to? Not of what, who? To God, not to us. For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before and that we should walk in them. Wow. Salvation? God brings life. What's the net result of that? Being a workman of God. In other words, God created us to do the works that please Him. Again, you see the subject of salvation and the net result of good works back to back just like we find in James chapter 1 verse 18 and 19. The same argument you find in Titus 2, 11 and 13. We were first dead and unresponsive, but due to the fact that God gives life, that means If God gives life, there has to be an expectation and responsibility of walking in a new life. If you are saved, there must be visible demonstration of good works. The dead cannot respond to God and God's people. This doesn't mean that unbelievers cannot do good works. They can. A lot of them outdo us in doing good in society. But they can never do works that God is pleased with. They can do works that pleases themselves. They can do works that pleases other people, but they can never bring a sacrifice of worship that God will receive. See, God must awaken the dead in order for the dead to be able to live and do the works that demonstrate that life. Apart from this divine work, the dead will remain incapable and what? Dead. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I know I don't always do this, going outside the passage, but I think James makes his point pretty clearly. But with the rise of so many misconceptions of what saving faith should look like in easy believism, I think it's important to make sure that we understand that wherever scripture speaks of salvation, works are always implied. But look at chapter 2 verse 14. The natural person, that is the unbeliever, does not accept the things of the Spirit. Does not obey what God desires. For they are folly to him. So he doesn't accept it. Then it says this, and he's not able to understand because they are spiritually discerned. So who are the ones that understand what God requires and does what God requires? Those who are spiritual. In other words, who have the Spirit of God in them. But those who are natural, the unbeliever, they refuse to accept the truth because they cannot accept the truth. There is a connection between one's inability and powerlessness to care for God's people, love the saints, meet the needs, serve in the body. There's a connection between the inability and an unwillingness to do that and dead faith. The unregenerate cannot perform works that please God. This is no different to what James is saying in James chapter two. Living faith must be a visible faith. It must be a visible faith. The implication is that the unbeliever is unresponsive to the life of the Christian community. Here's the thing. You may sit here thinking yourself to be a believer. And you may engage in acts of worship with us, singing together, praying together, agreeing, saying amen to all that is being said. Yet your acts of worship is nothing more than a dead sacrifice before a living God. God will not accept your worship until life is present. What I'm saying is that if you're not regenerate, changed by God, then all your acts of worship are equal to the offer of repugnant rubble in the very nostrils of God. You offend Him by worshiping. What you need is living faith in Jesus Christ. The point that James is making in James 2.26 is not so much the constituent parts of the body and the spirit, but the connection between the two. So he's not saying that you need faith and then sometime down the line works. No. The minute you have a body and a spirit together, what do you have? Life. So the minute you have saving faith, what will you have? Works. It is necessary, necessary for those who are God's people to put on display their faith in God. That's the point. A body void of a spirit is dead, therefore, Anyone who claims to have faith and does not put on display this faith is spiritually dead. Some commentators have said that this is a harsh criticism of his people. No. This is the most loving thing James could do to these people. If you don't show that you have saving faith, Guess what? You are not saved. Something which the modern Christian world has become accustomed to is that you can make a profession of faith in Christ and be happy with that. Live as if it has no bearing upon your life. Many sitting in churches around the world today, many sitting in this church have very little desire to put on display the fact that they know Jesus Christ the Savior, and that should be concerning. I like what J.C. Ryle says in the most straightforward way as J.C. Ryle could say it. Quote, If we would know whether our faith is genuine, we do well to ask ourselves, how are we living? If we would know whether our faith is genuine, we do well to ask ourselves, how are we living? Spurgeon once said to his students, don't tell me, You're a Christian. Show me in how you live. So, let me answer this question. What kind of works are in view in James? I'm going to give you the list of the verses instead of going through it all. So, living faith, number one, counts it all joy. If you remember, I started by saying that living faith, or I should say faith, is the subject, the main theme of this book, which is supported by wisdom, So faith is tested in chapter 1 verse 2, no 3. And what James says is faith is qualified by how it responds to trials. It never throws in the towel and walks away. In fact in verse 12 he says, Blessed is the man that endures. He remains steadfast. That is the mark of what saving faith is. It is a man or woman that perseveres. Living faith endures trials. They don't walk away. They don't say, this is not for me, I had enough. In fact, if a person refuses to submit to Christ in trials, they should be concerned about their faith. Living faith submits to God in trials and asks for wisdom. Living faith is not double-minded, does not waver, verse 8 and 9. Living faith stands the test, verse 12. Living faith never blames God, verse 13. Living faith accepts both trials and goodness from the hand of God, in verse 17. You get the point. Living faith is obedient, verse 22 through to 27. Contrastingly, dead faith discriminates, chapter 2, verse 1 through to 5. Dead faith does not love the saints. Dead faith does not care about the needs of the saints, chapter 2, verse 14 through to 19. Dead faith cannot meet the needs of the saints. There's a clear line of separation between what James expects in the life of the believer and what would be natural in the life of an unbeliever. As a whole, the book of James gives us the hallmarks, not so much the tests, but the hallmarks of what saving faith looks like. Ironically, if you read anything on the book of James, most commentators will mention that Luther did not consider this book to be That much inspired. It is a strawy epistle. There's no Christ in it. There's no gospel really in it. There's very little theology in it. But Luther, interestingly, on the book of Romans says this, quote, Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. Well, Luther, that is found in James chapter two. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done this and is constantly doing them. Speaking about the natural life of works in the life of a believer. Whoever does not do such works, whoever does not do these things, however, is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is or what good works are. Yet he talks and talks and many with many words about faith and good works." I think you get this point. There are those who talk and talk and talk and talk about faith and good works, but do not jump in. See, biblical Christianity is by nature practical. It does not wait for a list from the pastor because scripture is absolutely clear. I'm not giving you any application this morning because it should be pretty clear to you what God requires of you. Biblical Christianity takes the truth and puts feet and hands on it. Biblical Christianity is not satisfied with merely knowing the truth of our Lord, but applying the faith of our Lord. Why? Why does James give this scathing claim concerning the deadness of these people? Because the conclusion is obvious. If you have saving faith, what do you expect to see? Works. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your great kindness toward us in Christ. We know that there are some of us who have been disobedient, unwilling to commit to you, unwilling to serve your people, unwilling to live a life that honors you. We pray for them. Pray that you would bring conviction. Pray that you would soften their heart. We pray for those who are not believers and who have been concerned about their state for many weeks now. We pray that you would work in their hearts so that they may see themselves in the light of your offer of grace, that they may come to know you as Lord and Savior. Pray for those who are living a life of sin and who are concerned about their salvation, but are believers. Pray that you would not only sanctify them and work in their lives, but Lord, pray that you would convict them of their life before you. Lord, we all need work. We all need your hand. So by grace we pray that you would be gracious and merciful to us. Do the work that only you can do. Give life where you can give life and sanctify those who are yours. So we pray these things for your name's sake we ask. Amen.