March 26th, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
What are you doing?
Based on James 2:14-26
How is your faith? How do you know how your faith is? James tells us!
In James 2:17 we find the words…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by works, is dead.”
When you go to the doctor, the doctor wants to know how you are doing. You will be asked a number of questions and have your vitals checked. But the truth is your health is best examined by how you function on a daily basis. If you aren’t able to accomplish your daily activities because of weakness or pain, your health probably isn’t up to par. If your body doesn’t do anything at all a doctor may pronounce your body as dead.
So, Dr. James asks you, “How’s your faith?” Actually, he asks you, “What are you doing?”
James gives an excellent illustration concerning acts of love. How could he do better? He tells about someone who comes to you in need of food and clothing. What do you do? Do you help them? James says that if you simply say, “Go in peace! Be warm and be filled, what good have you done?” Words of encouragement are great, but they are of little good if you don’t back them up with action.
In Matthew 25 he gave the illustration of the sheep and goats. It is a snapshot of the Day of Judgment. The sheep are placed on the right and the goats on the left. Sheep represent those who will go into heaven. Goats are representative of those who will go to eternal punishment, commonly known as hell. He explains that the difference is how they treated him, the King, Jesus Christ.
Did they feed him when he was hungry? Did they give him a drink when he was thirsty? Did they show hospitality to him when he was a stranger? Did they clothe him when he was naked? Did they help him when he was sick? Did they visit him when he was in prison? Then he explains that the ones who do these things for people who society considers the least important are doing them for him. Those who fail to help the needy have failed to help him.
What does he say to the sheep on his right? “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34
What does he say to the goats on his left? “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
He doesn’t say, “because of your faith or because of your lacking faith.” He says it is because of what you did or didn’t do. Notice something else about the sin of the goats. They did not go into eternal punishment because of sins they committed. They didn’t do something terrible. Their sin was a sin of omission. They failed to do the right thing.
We tend to think, “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew! I don’t go with girls that do!” That attitude doesn’t cut it with Jesus! He asks, “What are you doing?”
Sometimes our problem is laziness or self-centeredness. The goats could argue, “It wasn’t my fault you were hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick or in prison! I didn’t make you that way! So I’m off the hook!”
Now, don’t misunderstand, neither Jesus nor James is saying that you are saved by your works. It’s simply that your faith, if it is real, if it is living, will be demonstrated, not by what you don’t do, but by what you do.
Some have argued, including the great reformer Martin Luther, that James may not belong in Scripture because of this text. They say that James argues against Paul’s words about being saved by grace through faith and not by any works we have done. Yet Paul also quotes the Old Testament in two different letters when he says, “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11
In so doing, Paul was telling us that faith is more than just saying you believe. It is more than saying, “I’m a Christian.” It’s more than having your name on a church membership roll. It is living every day by the faith you claim. James comes at us with logic. He’s good at that, you know. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless. –James 2:18-20
In most cases, when Jesus confronted someone who was possessed by a demon the demon would confess Jesus as the Son of God and beg for his mercy. Was the demon saved by his belief? Of course not! He was still in rebellion. Jesus cast him out!
James used the same illustration for faith with works that Paul used in the 4th chapter of Romans to illustrate salvation by faith . He used the example of Abraham, father of the Hebrew nation and Father of the faithful.
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.” –James 2:21-23
Abraham was credited as righteous when he believed God in Genesis 15:6, but Genesis 22:1 tells us that God tested Abraham when he called him to take his only son, Isaac, the one God had promised to be the beginning of a great nation, and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. We know that Abraham obeyed God up to the point that he was prepared to thrust the knife into his son when God stopped him, providing a ram as a substituted. But Abraham demonstrated his faith through obedience to God’s command. James sums up Abraham’s faith in verse 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
–James 2:24
James also illustrates his point with the life of Rahab. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? -James 2:25
Rahab would not have taken the risk of hiding the two Israelite spies inside the walls of the evil city of Jericho had it not been for her faith. She was ultimately saved when she obeyed the order of the spies to leave a scarlet cord hanging from her window when Israel attacked the city. Because of her obedience she and her household were the only surviving residents when Jericho was destroyed. Not only was Rahab saved in the attack, but she was also one of the few gentiles to be listed as an ancestor to Jesus the Messiah. Her faith was powerful because of her actions.
Sometimes church members are like the farmer who was sitting under a shade tree resting. A neighbor came along and asked, “Why are you just sitting there and not working the land.”
The farmer said, “I’m just waiting.”
The friend asked, “Waiting for what?"
The farmer replied, “You see it’s like this. Two days ago I cut some brush. Lightning struck the brush pile and burned it up for me. Then yesterday I decided to cut down a huge oak tree but a strong wind did it for me. Now I’m sitting here waiting for an earthquake to shake the potatoes out of the ground.”
Some of us are sitting in a pew waiting on God to shake sinners to life instead of seeking them out and witnessing to them. Our faith should motivate us to serve God every day and be actively pursuing obedience to Christ’s Great Commission. James sums up his discussion with a powerful statement. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. -James 2:26
James is not saying that works saves us. What he is saying is that real faith saves us and that real, living faith will result in real living works for God.
What are you doing that demonstrates that your faith is alive?
This Sunday we will continue our series of messages, Holy Stories with a message titled Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner based on Luke 14:12-24. We will examine the call of Christ to discipleship and the great feast he has waiting for all who accept that call. I look forward to seeing you there.
Living by Faith,
Jon
What are you doing?
Based on James 2:14-26
How is your faith? How do you know how your faith is? James tells us!
In James 2:17 we find the words…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by works, is dead.”
When you go to the doctor, the doctor wants to know how you are doing. You will be asked a number of questions and have your vitals checked. But the truth is your health is best examined by how you function on a daily basis. If you aren’t able to accomplish your daily activities because of weakness or pain, your health probably isn’t up to par. If your body doesn’t do anything at all a doctor may pronounce your body as dead.
So, Dr. James asks you, “How’s your faith?” Actually, he asks you, “What are you doing?”
James gives an excellent illustration concerning acts of love. How could he do better? He tells about someone who comes to you in need of food and clothing. What do you do? Do you help them? James says that if you simply say, “Go in peace! Be warm and be filled, what good have you done?” Words of encouragement are great, but they are of little good if you don’t back them up with action.
In Matthew 25 he gave the illustration of the sheep and goats. It is a snapshot of the Day of Judgment. The sheep are placed on the right and the goats on the left. Sheep represent those who will go into heaven. Goats are representative of those who will go to eternal punishment, commonly known as hell. He explains that the difference is how they treated him, the King, Jesus Christ.
Did they feed him when he was hungry? Did they give him a drink when he was thirsty? Did they show hospitality to him when he was a stranger? Did they clothe him when he was naked? Did they help him when he was sick? Did they visit him when he was in prison? Then he explains that the ones who do these things for people who society considers the least important are doing them for him. Those who fail to help the needy have failed to help him.
What does he say to the sheep on his right? “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34
What does he say to the goats on his left? “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
He doesn’t say, “because of your faith or because of your lacking faith.” He says it is because of what you did or didn’t do. Notice something else about the sin of the goats. They did not go into eternal punishment because of sins they committed. They didn’t do something terrible. Their sin was a sin of omission. They failed to do the right thing.
We tend to think, “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew! I don’t go with girls that do!” That attitude doesn’t cut it with Jesus! He asks, “What are you doing?”
Sometimes our problem is laziness or self-centeredness. The goats could argue, “It wasn’t my fault you were hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick or in prison! I didn’t make you that way! So I’m off the hook!”
Now, don’t misunderstand, neither Jesus nor James is saying that you are saved by your works. It’s simply that your faith, if it is real, if it is living, will be demonstrated, not by what you don’t do, but by what you do.
Some have argued, including the great reformer Martin Luther, that James may not belong in Scripture because of this text. They say that James argues against Paul’s words about being saved by grace through faith and not by any works we have done. Yet Paul also quotes the Old Testament in two different letters when he says, “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11
In so doing, Paul was telling us that faith is more than just saying you believe. It is more than saying, “I’m a Christian.” It’s more than having your name on a church membership roll. It is living every day by the faith you claim. James comes at us with logic. He’s good at that, you know. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless. –James 2:18-20
In most cases, when Jesus confronted someone who was possessed by a demon the demon would confess Jesus as the Son of God and beg for his mercy. Was the demon saved by his belief? Of course not! He was still in rebellion. Jesus cast him out!
James used the same illustration for faith with works that Paul used in the 4th chapter of Romans to illustrate salvation by faith . He used the example of Abraham, father of the Hebrew nation and Father of the faithful.
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.” –James 2:21-23
Abraham was credited as righteous when he believed God in Genesis 15:6, but Genesis 22:1 tells us that God tested Abraham when he called him to take his only son, Isaac, the one God had promised to be the beginning of a great nation, and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. We know that Abraham obeyed God up to the point that he was prepared to thrust the knife into his son when God stopped him, providing a ram as a substituted. But Abraham demonstrated his faith through obedience to God’s command. James sums up Abraham’s faith in verse 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
–James 2:24
James also illustrates his point with the life of Rahab. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? -James 2:25
Rahab would not have taken the risk of hiding the two Israelite spies inside the walls of the evil city of Jericho had it not been for her faith. She was ultimately saved when she obeyed the order of the spies to leave a scarlet cord hanging from her window when Israel attacked the city. Because of her obedience she and her household were the only surviving residents when Jericho was destroyed. Not only was Rahab saved in the attack, but she was also one of the few gentiles to be listed as an ancestor to Jesus the Messiah. Her faith was powerful because of her actions.
Sometimes church members are like the farmer who was sitting under a shade tree resting. A neighbor came along and asked, “Why are you just sitting there and not working the land.”
The farmer said, “I’m just waiting.”
The friend asked, “Waiting for what?"
The farmer replied, “You see it’s like this. Two days ago I cut some brush. Lightning struck the brush pile and burned it up for me. Then yesterday I decided to cut down a huge oak tree but a strong wind did it for me. Now I’m sitting here waiting for an earthquake to shake the potatoes out of the ground.”
Some of us are sitting in a pew waiting on God to shake sinners to life instead of seeking them out and witnessing to them. Our faith should motivate us to serve God every day and be actively pursuing obedience to Christ’s Great Commission. James sums up his discussion with a powerful statement. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. -James 2:26
James is not saying that works saves us. What he is saying is that real faith saves us and that real, living faith will result in real living works for God.
What are you doing that demonstrates that your faith is alive?
This Sunday we will continue our series of messages, Holy Stories with a message titled Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner based on Luke 14:12-24. We will examine the call of Christ to discipleship and the great feast he has waiting for all who accept that call. I look forward to seeing you there.
Living by Faith,
Jon
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