Living Faith Is Faith Lived Out

Resurrection Wisdom in a Perishing World – Part 4
The Faith that Works
(James 2:14-26, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, March 30, 2014)

[2:14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] 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?  [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  [18] 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.  [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!  [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?  [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?  [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] 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.  [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  [25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?  [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Genuine faith in Christ is demonstrated by obedience to God.  This is James’ point.  James uses words in ways that might make us cringe.  We love the gospel as proclaimed by St. Paul.  Paul tells us that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law.  We are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by our own works.  We are in fact saved by the righteous work of Jesus Christ himself.  What freedom to know that our relationship with God is not dependent on our works but on God’s work!  Then along comes James writing that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  Is James contradicting Paul?  No!  He is in complete agreement with Paul who also taught that true faith works itself out in love (Galatians 5:6).  Paul even taught that the final judgment will be based on works (Romans 2:6-11), meaning that the life we have lived now will be the evidence God produces to show that we belong to Christ.  Jesus taught the same thing (Matthew 7:21-23; 12:36-37; 25:31-46).  The apparent contradiction comes from the different ways Paul and James use the word “justified.”  When Paul says we are justified by faith alone, he is saying that God accepts us as righteous in his sight strictly on the basis of faith in Jesus and his saving work on our behalf.  When James says we are justified by works, he is saying that the genuineness of our faith and the reality of our right relationship with God are demonstrated in a life of obedience to God.  He is using the word “justified” in the sense of “vindicated.”  Don’t just say you have faith.  Show it in your life.  Real faith is trust and surrender to Jesus.  This leads to obedience.  Otherwise our faith is nothing more than a lifeless belief in certain true facts about God.  The demons themselves know these facts.  But they don’t trust God.  They shudder before him.  Look at Abraham.  He was called a friend of God.  His trust was vindicated as being real when he was willing to offer up Isaac.  Costly obedience showed his faith.  Look even at Rahab.  She was a foreigner to Israel, a prostitute, and living in a city of sin destined for destruction.  Yet she came to trust in Israel’s God.  This faith was shown when she helped the Israelite spies who came to her house.  Thus she was saved from destruction because she had real faith, faith that led to action.  Likewise we are saved from God’s coming wrath when we truly trust in him and in his Son.  And such faith leads to obedience, often costly obedience.  Where does such obedience come from?  James is on the same page with Paul, for he tells us in 4:6, “But [God] gives more grace.”  Our good works are the fruit of God’s grace as we trust in him and his promises.

Put the Word to Work:  Do not settle for good theology.  Live out what you know.  Put your faith into action.  Trust in the Lord and show that you trust him by obeying his commands.

By Mercy Found

Resurrection Wisdom in a Perishing World – Part 3

Mercy Triumphs

(James 2:1-13, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 23, 2014)

[2:1] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, [3] and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” [4] have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? [7] Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

In the church, preference for the rich, the famous, the popular, the strong, and the beautiful stinks to high heaven. Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ who was despised and rejected by men. Our joy is in the fact that we are acceptable through His merit and mercy rather through our own self-recommendation. How can we treat people in the church based on their own merits? We sit at the feet of others. We don't ask people to sit at our feet as if we are better than them.

The Lord is the Judge. If He has chosen the poor, who are we to despise them? If a poor man is an heir of God through the blood of Jesus, why would we treat him as wretched based on how he is dressed or the way that he speaks? Anyway, is it not the rich, the powerful, the educated, and the beautiful that have been persecuting us and who speak ill of the Name above every name?

[8] If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. [9] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. [12] So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

God has given us a perfectly good law that prohibits this behavior. It is a law for someone who was once in bondage but is now free: Love your neighbor as yourself. If we have received mercy, we must be merciful. When we violate that law we break the whole Law of God. How will we stand before Jesus if we are worldly-minded judges of those despised by the world?

How easily we make judgments about people with nothing more than a first glance. For recipients of the Lord's mercy to treat others that way is dangerous. Would we boldly kill the innocent? Would we shamelessly make a plan to seduce someone's spouse? Of course not! That would be murder. That would be adultery. But partiality and lack of mercy is also a breech of God's commandments. Have we failed in this? Our only hope is God's mercy for us in Christ.

Put the Word to Work: James writes, “So speak and so act.” Our conviction that mercy triumphs over judgment must restrain and inform our speech and our lives. Our faith demands that we care for those that we might have once scorned as beneath us. But where are they?

By mercy found, now I will find the poor.

The Pure and Undefiled Religion of Jesus

Resurrection Wisdom in a Perishing World – Part 2

Worthless Religion and Good Religion

(James 1:19-27, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 16, 2014)

[19] Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; [20] for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. [21] Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
[26] If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. [27] 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.

What does the word “religion” mean to you. Some see it as a necessarily good thing to be religious, others as necessarily evil, or at least worthless. James tells us there is a religion that is “pure and undefiled before God the Father.” That is the religion we want. There is another kind that is worthless. Worthless things need to be thrown away. People who keep worthless things as if they are treasures have a problem. If they do not address that defect with wisdom, they will soon find themselves swimming in junk. That is not a desirable condition for body or soul.

What are some of the symptoms of worthless religion? 1. “The anger of man” that is slow to listen and quick to speak. 2. Hardheartedness regarding the Word of God that leads to moral mess. 3. Self-deception, big in spiritual pretensions and pronouncements of righteousness and small in spiritual actions and accomplishments.

What are the hallmarks of pure and undefiled religion? 1. True and sincere friendship that is quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry or to accuse. 2. Tenderheartedness that receives the Word of God with meekness and eagerly turns away from filthiness and wickedness. 3. Honesty before God that is small in spiritual pretensions and big in secret attainments.

Jesus is the Captain of those who have good religion. He has been a true friend to those in trouble. He looked into the Law with integrity and quietly accomplished all of its precepts for our sake. He visited the lonely and abandoned in their distress and has become a Husband and a Father to us. He was more than a hearer. He was a doer. He calls us to follow Him.

Finally, James tells us to keep ourselves unstained from the world. What does that mean? It cannot go against everything that we have learned plainly from the verses above. Many who practice worthless religion believe that they have achieved a life of holy separation. Judas and Caiaphas surely thought of themselves as godly. So did the priest and the Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan. We sometimes find examples of striking kindness among those like that Samaritan whom all the Jews of his day would have rejected as unclean. Being unstained from the world is only tested when you live in the world. To be unstained from the world is to receive and do the wisdom of Jesus even when the self-righteous are ready to kill you for it.

Put the Word to Work: Receive the wisdom of Jesus with meekness. Throw out worthless stuff.

Teach me to do all that Your Word demands.

Grace for the Weary

Normal Christianity in Extreme Times – 2 Thessalonians Series – Part 10
Perseverance, Tough Love, and Empowering Grace
(2 Thessalonians 3:13-18, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, March 2, 2014)

[13] As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. [14] If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. [15] Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

There were some in the Thessalonian church who were idle, relying on the help of the church when they could have been working to provide for themselves, and spending their idle time gossiping (3:6-12).  Paul reminds the church that such people should not receive any assistance (3:10), and he commands these idlers to be busy at work, not busybodies (3:10-11).  Paul also knows that when we have been helping people who are taking advantage of us, we might become so frustrated and discouraged that we stop helping anybody, even those with legitimate needs.  Thus he urges the church not to grow weary in doing good (cf. Galatians 6:9-10).  Then Paul gives instructions to the church to discipline those who refuse to repent of their idle lifestyle.  The church is to take note of these people and cut them off from Christian fellowship.  The goal is that they would be ashamed over their behavior and truly repent.  They are not to be considered enemies, but brothers.  Thus love must be the motive and goal.  Sometimes a person needs tough love, or else we are in danger of simply enabling behavior which is destructive to themselves and others.

[16] Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. [17] I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. [18] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Paul concludes his letter pronouncing blessing upon the church in Thessalonica.  He says “you all” twice.  That includes both those who were responding well to his letter, and those who were refusing to give up their idle life.  Thus Paul reflects Christ’s own love for the whole church and prays for the grace we all need to move forward in faith and obedience.  Note also that this benediction concludes the entire letter.  As we have seen, the church was facing persecution from without, and false teaching and discipline issues within.  Those who were stubborn in their laziness faced the challenge of overcoming their sin.  Whatever the challenge we face, there is only one way forward, and that is through the grace of our Lord Jesus, his presence, and his peace.

Put the Word to Work:  We cannot let the fact that some have taken advantage of our generosity discourage us from continuing to do good to one another.  Sometimes we need to show tough love rather than enabling someone in a destructive lifestyle.  Whatever our situation, the Lord has all the grace we need to serve him.

Singing Psalm 27:13-14 from Trinity Psalter (Tune: St. John, 66.66.88)
O had I not believed / That I would surely see / The goodness of the LORD / With those that living be! / Wait for the LORD! / With strength restored, / Be brave in heart. / Wait for the LORD.

A Second Thessalonians Hymn – Verse 10 (Louisville, S.M.)

Stand firm in Jesus’ name
In every time and place.
Now may the Lord of heav’nly peace
Be with you by His grace – Be with you by His grace