Faith & Works
Readings: James 2. 1-17
In our reading from the letter of James this morning he rather provocatively asks ‘can faith save you?’ Seemingly implying that it cannot. And of course that contradicts everything I was talking about last week about it being our faith which renews and restores us from the inside out, that discipleship isn’t just behaviour modification from the outside in. So, have I messed up? Am I about to recant, to take back what I said? Or does last weeks Gospel and this week’s Epistle complement rather than contradict one another?
The letter of James, written by the brother of Jesus, strikes a very different tone to the other letters in the New Testament, it’s clear that this isn’t a letter of Paul or of Peter. He’s very practical, quite grounded, and makes a lot of pronouncements in a fairly short letter. It’s also fair to say it’s a slightly controversial letter. The reformer Martin Luther called it an ‘epistle of straw’ and didn’t think it should be in the Bible, thankfully it was not in his gift to remove it. It’s controversial because it strikes a slightly discordant note to the other letters, but in doing so provides a vital counterbalance to the excesses we could otherwise indulge in.
In this section James is addressing how our actions should reflect our faith. He points out for instance that these people are playing favourites, giving the good seats to those who are wealthy whilst neglecting or overlooking those who are poorer amongst them. And on a very practical level James points out that this is a bizarre way to behave when the rich are the ones oppressing them, dragging them into courts, why would you cozy up to them? And then he reaches for Scripture and points out that by contrast the poor are promised God’s kingdom, that God has made them to be rich in faith. It’s like he’s saying if you’re playing favourites at least look with the eyes of faith.
But they shouldn’t be playing favourites at all, as he again points out from Scripture, they are commanded to love their neighbour as themselves. They’re not to show partiality of any sort, they are not to make distinctions in how they treat one another, but rather bear with one another, showing mercy.
And from this very practical example he makes the point that our actions should reflect our faith. Not merely that we should do as we say we believe, and therefore not be hypocrites, but that we should live out the reality of our changed lives. Our faith should change us. If it’s genuine faith in Jesus Christ, if we have put of faith and trust in him and his death on the cross for our sins and his rising to life to bring us with him to everlasting life, if we have repented from our old lives and turned to him, that will change us.
Take this common analogy. Back in 2017 Katy & I got married. There was a day and a time when we made vows to one another, promised to love one another, to build one another up through good and bad. And from that moment I was married Samuel. Now if I went on living as single Samuel, doing as I pleased, not including her in decisions about my life, dating other people, basically doing whatever I wanted with no care for her, in what meaningful sense are we married? We have the piece of paper that says we are, but it’s not a lived reality. No, when Katy & I got married, single Samuel died, and I rejoiced to let him die, to put him to death. And now I live as married Samuel, loving her above all others, putting her first, working in partnership to build one another up in good times and bad.
In the same way our faith isn’t just about a moment where we believe and then carry on as though nothing had happened, it should change us, we should live as those who are now in Christ. If all your faith is is some sort of mental assent that Jesus is Saviour and Lord, but it doesn’t change anything about you, you haven’t truly got what that means. As James goes on to say beyond the portion we have today ‘You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.’ True faith changes us, transforms us from the inside out. So how does that happen? What does that look like? Let me use a different analogy.
Imagine our faith is a boat, the sea is our journey of discipleship and the far shore eternal life. Those who believe we can be saved solely by our works would arrive at the beach, drag the boat down the beach and into the water with much grunting and groaning, push it out, hop in and start rowing. It’s all about our own efforts, our works. You’ll never make it. We cannot be saved by our works alone.
James himself counters this idea doesn’t he, that some might be saved by faith but others by works. Immediately after this passage he says ‘But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”’ What’s his response? ‘Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds’. His faith is revealed by his deeds. It’s not the works alone which he thinks save him, rather his works witness to the faith which is at work within him, the outworking of his faith in Jesus.
But those of us who believe that we are saved by faith can fall into one of two other traps, one similar to this, the other opposite.
We may believe that it’s Jesus who pushes the boat onto the sea for us. As we put our faith in him he pushes our boat onto the ocean, and we then pull out the oars and start rowing. Faith kickstarts our journey and now we need to prove ourselves worthy, we need to prove to God that he made the right choice in picking us. Faith kickstarts things but it’s our works which will save us in the end. Also not true, we’ve fallen into that similar trap because deep down we still think it’s all about works, our efforts. No, it’s our faith in Jesus which saves us, Jesus has done everything necessary for our salvation to the point that he can say to the thief on the cross, ‘today you will be with me in paradise’, even though the man has no chance to earn it. There’s nothing for us to top up, Jesus has done it all.
No, rather a truer picture of our faith and our works is this: we get into the boat and Jesus pushes us out to sea, and we put the sail up, catch the wind and it carries us to the other shore. The wind here being the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God to renew us and restore us in God’s image.
Now, here is where we can fall into that opposite trap, sail up, sit back, wait to arrive. All down to the Spirit, no effort required on our part, all about faith, no works. As anyone who has been sailing will tell you, if that’s your approach to sailing, you’ll capsize fairly quickly. No, in sailing you’re adjusting course, adjusting the sail, doing all sorts of things to keep the boat headed safely in the right direction. Are you powering the boat? No! The wind is doing the heavy lifting, but there’s work for us too.
It’s the same with our faith, we don’t just put our faith in Jesus and sit back and wait for eternal life. No, as the Spirit renews and transforms us, we’re to work with the Spirit to renew and transform our lives. We do it in the power of the Spirit but we still need to do things, to get our lives in order. We need to grow in obedience.
If we have a problem with anger for instance, we should pray about it, that God would soften our rage, we should lean on the Spirit’s strength when we start to get riled up, but we also need to choose to get a handle on it. It’s no good flying off the handle every time and then thinking that God has more work to do on us.
God will prompt us with what needs sorting out in our lives, either through his word or through the gentle encouragement of a fellow Christian, he will give us the power to slowly bring it under control, but we need to work with him, to choose in small ways and big to be obedient to his call. We’ll continue to mess up, but as the Spirit transforms us, as we choose to grow in obedience to God’s commands and will, we will slowly grow in holiness, grow in obedience, grow the fruit of our faith.
James is right. Faith without works is dead. Because faith should produce fruit, the fruit of a changed life. It’s no good saying Jesus is Lord and then not obeying his commands, because we are witnessing by our lives that he is not. Just as much as me declaring Katy is my wife and then cutting her out of every decision and sleeping with someone else makes clear that in the real sense she is not that in my mind. Our faith should produce fruit, good works are those fruit. Slowly our lives should reflect more and more the goodness, the love, and the grace of God. Slowly our lives should conform little by little to his commands.
But it’s not about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps to get on with the real work of earning our salvation. That way leads to the death of discipleship, to fear, both of God and of losing our salvation, and discouragement as we fail to get a grip on things.
If you’re believing in Jesus, truly trusting in him for your salvation, your faith has fully saved you. Now in the power of the Spirit who sanctifies and changes you, grow in the fruit of that faith.
Amen.