Faith Demonstrated | Sermon 05/01/2022

James 2:20-26

James continues his discourse on faith and works. He moves from contrasting living faith to dead faith and now says inward and true faith is demonstrated outwardly in good works. His imaginary opponent from verse 18 is shown to be a fool; empty in head and without understanding.

He introduces the patriarch Abraham, a central figure in Israelite history. Here the context defines what “justified” means. It is not in the legal sense that Paul uses it when God puts men and women in right standing before Him but “justified” here is “considered or proven righteous”. Abraham’s work in offering Isaac wasn’t when he was saved or legally justified it was where his faith was shown to be authentic. In that sense, Genesis 22 was the fulfillment of Genesis 15. What God did in justifying him in His covenant promise was seen lived out decades later in the offering of Isaac. James essentially says a man is not shown to be righteous by merely saying he has an alone-faith but a faith that is living and active.

He goes on to show whether one is the friend of God and a patriarch or a prostitute named Rahab; true faith that works is what God creates in a variety of types of peoples. James caps his discourse with a very similar statement to his introductory announcement along with an analogy. Faith without works is just as dead an unnatural as a body without a spirit. In all this, James never once articulated a belief that true living faith cannot justify a person before God. As he harmonizes faith and works so is he in harmony with the rest of Scripture.