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James | Chapter 2

James 2:1-13

“Faith without favoritism”

 

  • Introduction
  • 1 Favoritism is the opposite of Jesus
  • 2-3 Favoritism is the barometer of the health of the church
  • 4-5 Favoritism disregards God’s heart
  • 6-7 Favoritism ignores reality
  • 8-11 Favoritism distorts God’s word
  • 12-13 Favoritism is nearsighted to God’s judgment

 

Introduction

The remainder of this letter is where James explains practically how we can see “mature faith” demonstrated in the life of the believer. This is the mature faith that he explained in the first chapter that came about by three things in the life of the follower of Jesus; the first two, happen two the believer and the last is something that we positively engage in:

  1. Enduring through trials
  2. Escaping through temptations
  3. Educating through teaching

What we immediately learn is that the “believer’s maturity” is NOT visible apart from personal transformation. It cannot be seen in a persons stated views doctrinally, neither is it detectable upon faithful attendance or busy religious activity. Instead, it is to be noticed in simple everyday practice some of which is negative (what we no longer do) and some of which is positive (things that we now do) but all of which is contrary to what we and the world apart from Jesus currently practices. The first place that James says that “mature faith” is visible is in how different maturity will be seen in how we treat those in the seats next to us. Maturity in Christ. “true faith” is absent of favoritism or prejudice! James in verses 1-13 will present this in a six-fold argument. There are several general observations that are noteworthy before we begin our examination:

  1. With 13 verses dedicated to “true faith” is without favoritism and the fact that James places it first in his list of what “mature faith” looks like suggests that favoritism and prejudice was a problem the early churched faced.
  2. With the illustration given by James of a person entering the church both wealthy as well as poor suggests that the early church of this letter was “middle class” and had personal experience of being excluded by the very people they were giving preferential treatment towards. This sheds light upon the context and that such “favoritism” is not corrected by mere experience as it goes to our fallen unrepented nature.

The six-fold argument is:

  1. 1 Favoritism is the opposite of Jesus
  2. 2-3 Favoritism is the barometer of the health of the church
  3. 4-5 Favoritism disregards God’s heart
  4. 6-7 Favoritism ignores reality
  5. 8-11 Favoritism distorts God’s word
  6. 12-13 Favoritism is nearsighted to God’s judgment

Also, indirectly James words reveal that for doctrinal truths that are against favoritism:

  1. 1-4 It is against the deity of Christ
  2. 5-7 It is against the grace of God
  3. 8-11 It is against the Word of God
  4. 12-13 It is against the judgment of God

Vs. 1 Favoritism is the opposite of Jesus

Vs. 1 What isn’t immediately clear in the English is does James express surprise that such favoritism in the Jewish believer’s church service. The word “assembly” in verse 2 is the word for synagogue which indicates that the church had not changed its format or structure of meetings. In the phrase “do not hold the faith OF our Lord Jesus” the correct interpretation ought to be IN instead of which would make the interpretation about the faith of the readers IN Jesus and the evidence of this being without favoritism. The use of the words “My brothers” indicates James is surprised that these believers hadn’t “matured in their faith” beyond that which is clearly contradictory of a true follower of Jesus and the reason why he now offers 6 arguments as of why that is so.

  1. It is opposite of Jesus and his nature: There is no way to separate the way we behave towards people from what we say we believe about God and specifically Jesus. Human relationships cannot be separated from divine fellowship! That is the exact point of the apostle John in 1 John 4:20 where he writes, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” This was a constant argument made even by those who question Jesus’ deity as they said that “We know that You are true and teach the way about God in truth; nor do you care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.” In saying this to trap Jesus they inadvertently both acknowledge the truth of God’s word, and that Jesus followed it while they didn’t. Jesus was able to always maintain the heart that was both the friend of sinners while not approving of their sin, He never “compromised truth” at the altar of “compassion”! Thus, the Christian and the church is called to practice the deity of Jesus in our earthly relationships by looking at everyone through the lenses of Jesus.The contrast couldn’t be any greater than the Lord of Glory in Jesus and the temporary worldly glory of wealth. Jesus’ wealth was on display not by a gold ring or fancy clothing but rather that according to Philippians 2:5-8 what He willing gave up to those who have nothing.

Vs. 2-3 Favoritism is the barometer of the health of the church

Vs. 2-3 Because of the above truth:

  1. Favoritism is the barometer of the health of the church: This is the only time in the New Testament where the word “assembly” is the translation of the synagogue and as stated above indicates the surprise from James that the conduct of the Pharisees who according to Matthew 23:6 “loved the best places at feasts and best seats in the synagogue” had continued into the church that was following Jesus not religion. As such the illustration given by James whereby serves as a type of barometer of the hearts of those who profess to follow Jesus and not religion. If they were to be more concerned about the wealth of the visitor instead of representing the glory of Christ, they would indicate a lack of maturity and carnality. They needed accept people on the basis of their faith in Jesus and not the dollars in their wallets.

There is a  story told of a poor woman who visited a wealthy church and after the service was visited by wealthy leadership. When told that she would like to join the church they replied that she ought to pray about that every day for a week and come back. She showed up the next week and said that she did, and the leadership said that she now needs to read her bible every day for a week and come back. When she didn’t show up, they thought nothing of it for a year until the leadership ran into her and asked her if she ever heard from the Lord on the matter of making their church her home church. She replied she had, and the Lord said to her, “That this wasn’t the place for her or Him as He had been trying to get into that Church for years and that they wouldn’t let Him in either.”

Vs. 4-5 Favoritism disregards God’s heart

Vs. 4-5 The third argument James uses is:

  1. Favoritism disregards God’s heart: James makes a point to say that their favoritism of the wealthy above the poor dishonors God’s grace. It is these that Jesus in quoting Isaiah 61:1 that God had sent him to preach the gospel to the poor. James is not saying that God ONLY saves the poor, nor is he saying that the poor are automatically to be saved apart from faith. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that there wasn’t MANY noble, not that weren’t ANY! Jesus doesn’t love the poor more than He loves the wealthy but often the poor respond quicker to the offer of the riches of His grace than do those who have earthly wealth. God’s grace makes “The rich man poor and the poor man rich.” A church that has cliques and favoritism is one that is ignorant of the grace of God.

Vs. 6-7 Favoritism ignores reality

Vs. 6-7 The fourth argument James makes against favoritism is one based upon their own experiences.

  1. Favoritism ignores reality: James wades into this by asking three hypothetical questions that these believers already knew the answer to. They were showing favoritism to people who had abused them.
  2. 6a Do not the rich oppress you? James must remind his readers that it was the wealthy that were oppressing them and now they were giving these very people preferential treatment. Favoritism is blind to the reality that such treatment changes no hearts, yours, or the person you are showing favoritism towards.
  3. 6b Who drag you into the courts? These wealthy people were oppressing believers by litigation to rob them some by false witness. Jesus warned that “they will deliver you up to councils.” These believers were actually pandering to the very people who were causing them harm. This indicates that the recipients of this letter were middle class and were now engaged in oppressing the poorer while they were being oppressed by the wealthy.
  4. 7 Do they blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? Worst of all these wealthy folks of whom James writes about spoke against Jesus whom they served. James was not denouncing the wealthy as evil, he wasn’t advocating reverse discrimination, favoring the poor above the wealthy. Instead, James is arguing against all favoritism. The mention of the wealthy is not on what they have but what they trust in!

Vs. 8-11 Favoritism distorts God’s word

Vs. 8-11 The fifth argument James makes against favoritism is:

  1. Favoritism distorts God’s word: It is clear from both the First Testament as well as the New testament that favoritism violated God’s Word. James minces no words in verse 9 where he declares, “if you show partiality, you commit sin”. James refers to the word as the Royal Law which he defines as “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the law of love that Jesus stressed and when asked by the Pharisee which was the greatest commandment answered by quoting this. Jesus took this from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 where the first four commandments deal with a person’s love of God then the next 6 deal with their love towards their fellow man. The person who loves God with all their heart will love the children of God without partiality. We would have no need for most of our civil laws if we all just practiced “loving your neighbor as yourself.” Obeying this reveals that you are a child of the King and hatred proves you are still a slave of the liar. Love always liberates us from favoritism. The truth is we “Only believe as much of the Bible as we practice”! James is not saying all sins are of the same magnitude or have the same result in effects towards others but that breaking one sin puts all in too the same class, transgressors.

Vs. 12-13 Favoritism is nearsighted to God’s judgment

Vs. 12-13 The sixth and final argument James makes against favoritism is:

  1. Favoritism is nearsighted to God’s judgment: Literally James writes “Keep speaking and keep on acting as those who will be judged by the perfect law of liberty.” James mentions three parts of the believer’s life that will be judged, not for salvation but for reward:
    1. So, speak: Our words will be judged in what we say to others. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36 that“every idle word men may speak; they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” The words we speak reveal where our heart is really at.
    2. So, do: Our actions will be judged, even though Jeremiah tells us that God remembers our sins no more the consequences of this actions carry on. We cannot sin lightly and still serve faithfully.
    3. One who shows no mercy: Our attitudes will be judged as James contrasts those who show no mercy with those who show mercy towards others.

New birth must change our attitudes; our beliefs must change our behavior. One of the truths of the reality of our faith is how we treat others.

James 2:14-17

“Dead Faith”

 

  • Introduction
  • 14 What profit?
  • 15-16 Talk is cheep
  • 17 Dead Faith

 

Introduction

We come now to an infamous passage that is supposed by some scholars to be an attack upon the Apostle Paul’s doctrine of salvation by faith instead of works. Martin Luther disliked this letter so much he referred to James as a “epistle of straw”. Such an assumption is ignorant in multiple accounts. First, neither Paul nor James sat down to write doctrinal positions; both wrote letters that presented truth. Furthermore, it is inconsistent to think that James wrote an attack on Paul’s position when James wrote first prior to Paul’s writing and possibly before Paul’s conversion. James’ letter has a practical purpose not a theological one and wants only for the reader to understand the purpose and practice of maturity in the believer. James’ position is that works is the proof of faith not the means of faith!

            Years ago, a cartoon poking fun at the modern western church appeared in the New Yorker: The fake advertisement was for the “LITE CHURCH” that boasted of 24% fewer commitments, home of the 7.5 tithe, 15-minute sermon, 45-minute worship service. They had only 8 commandments instead of the 10 and you got to choose which ones. They only had 3 spiritual laws instead of the 4; they were everything you wanted in a church….and less! That is the stained-glass experience so many professing believers want in the modern church, no quickening of the conscience, no feeding of the mind, no opening of the heart, no real commitment—–no real faith! Half of professing Christians haven’t been to a church in the last three months, a third haven’t attended in the last year. What’s going on? Chuck Colson called this the Mc Church mentality where Christians are in search of what suits their appetites for the moment and hopefully can be consumed sometime after we have our order and before we have been on the road five minutes. These consumers, as Chuck Colson called them, are not interested in what the Bible says but only in what it can deliver to their felt needs! What’s amazing is that this was what concerned James thousands of years ago at the beginning of Jesus’ church. In James’ letter he wants the reader to examine what type of faith they truly possess. Are they merely “pretenders” or are they true “possessors” of faith? Faith isn’t a feeling any more than the Holy Spirit is a force! Faith is: Absolute confidence in God and His word seen in our acting upon that Word. It reminds me of the story of Jean-François Gravelet the most spectacular tightrope-walker, of his day. Born in 1824, he was nicknamed ‘Blondin’ for his blond hair and in 1859 he became the first person to cross Niagara Falls over 1000 feet with a 60 feet dip in the middle. Having accomplished these feat multiple times, the press became a bit disinterested so Blondin asked, “Do you believe I can cross theses falls?” The reply from the press was a unanimous “Yes!”  To which he replied, “Which one of you will climb on my back and go with me?” And with no takers his manager became the first person to cross the falls on the back of another. This illustration to faith has two realities:

  1. First, life can and does place you on the back of Jesus.
  2. Second, it’s a lot easier to watch Jesus from the bank cross the great divides in life and a whole other thing when you are on His back even though you know He can cross them without any problem.

Saints, faith doesn’t come into play in our lives until it is personal, until we are moved from the banks of the challenges of life to Jesus’ back as He carries us across. Whether you have no choice to get on His back or you have made a conscience choice to do so know this, the joy is not in the crossing, it’s in Who’s carrying you! In the remainder of this chapter James will write about what true faith is and isn’t as he will describe three kinds of faith and only one of which is true!

A simple outline of this section using James’ own description’s reveals to us:

  1. 14-17 Dead Faith
  2. 18-19 Demonic Faith
  3. 20-26 Dynamic Faith

 Vs. 14 What profit?

Vs. 14 Faith and works are mentioned together 10 times in 13 verses in this section. James is about to set forth a clear distinction of faith: “Faith without works is dead.” James states that, “works” are not an added extra to faith but rather an essential part faith. Part of the confusion of this statement “Can faith save him” in verse 14 is the result of an inadequate translation in the King James Version when the scholars choose to translate this phrase by ignoring the Greek article in front of the word “faith”. The right translation is “Can THAT faith save him”?  “What does it profit” is literally “What is the use?” The claim of faith should be accepted but A life must give expression to what the heart felt! Jesus was equally concerned about this as He said in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” James’ words indicate that some of those that he wrote too substituted words for deeds. Their problem was NOT knowledge or ignorance, it appears that the problem lay in action as they believed that words were the same as works to which James says they were wrong! Simply put, their walk didn’t match their words! To get to the point James asks three questions that he will answer in these verses before us which both will clarify true faith as well as give the pretenders an opportunity to be possessor of true faith:

  1. What kind of faith saves a person?
  2. Is it necessary to preform works in order to be saved?
  3. Can a person determine if they are exercising true faith?

And the context of those questions is described in the parable of verses 15-16!

Vs. 15-16 Talk is cheep

Vs. 15-16 James illustration shows that he has no tolerance for dead faith and the story assumes that the needs of the brother or sister is legitimate and should produce in the true believer’s sympathy that moves a person to action. The illustration reveals to his readers that real faith is much more than “verbal affirmation”. The context reveals that James rejects mere “verbal affirmation faith” that lacks any demonstration. James says that a faith that cannot demonstrate its authenticity is NOT a genuine faith. Not all faith is redemptive; a faith that cannot authenticate its profession cannot save! Like a person who professes they are a good swimmer but has never swum, nor gone into the water should not be too confident on their profession especially if they are in over their head in water. Any person can concede certain facts and truth but that is no different than the demons of verse 19. True faith displays itself in action not in intellectual agreement! Jesus said the same in Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who SAYS to Me, LORD, LORD, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father in heaven.” The issue of hypocrisy in the church is compounded when it is often the person who least lives what they say they believe all the while being the loudest about saying it. Apparently, the paralysis that effects their actions doesn’t interfere with their tongue!

            Another point that James’s illustrations brings is that such a verbal faith doesn’t serve, as it is incapable of doing so. In Matt 9:36 Jesus had compassion for the hungry multitude, His heart was not hardened to their need, He did not give them only His words but also His works. There was no truthful advice without a mouthful of food! A satirical look at Jesus words in Matt 25:35-40 would sound very different if it was dead faith Jesus was talking about: I was hungry, and you formed a committee to discuss my need. I was imprisoned, and you felt sorry about it. I was naked, and you discussed the morality of my appearance. I was sick, and you thanked God for your health. I was homeless, and you proclaimed that we have a mansion waiting for us in heaven. I was lonely and hurting, and you said you didn’t want to bother me. You seemed so holy and close to God, but I’m still hungry, lonely, and cold! There is no greater way to visibly defend our faith to a doubting world than to demonstrate it to the lost and hurting! This is what John said in 3:17-18 “Whoever has this worlds goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth.” In Jesus’ parable of the “Good Samaritan” both the priest and the Levite had religious training each of them would have defended their faith but neither of them took the time to demonstrate their faith in loving works. It ought to be clear to all who read this first New Testament book that any personal declaration of faith that doesn’t result in a transformed life seen in a demonstration of good works is only as lasting as the sound of their voice. James’s point is that any declaration of faith must have a demonstration of its validity!

Vs. 17 Dead Faith

Vs. 17 The faith that is illustrated in this story is a “dead faith” as James so aptly states in verse 17 “Thus faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.” John Calvin described it this way, “It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.” Saving faith is a living faith and as such brings to life everything it touches and has to produce good living works! Dead faith has only intellectual comprehension but has never transformed the life. Knowing what is right, must produce what is right, if we are to be right! No person regardless of their profession of faith can remain the same it is an impossibility. John put it this way in 1st John 5:12 “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Dead faith is a counterfeit faith that causes a person to have false confidence of eternal life. James concludes this section with a summarized statement that faith that is not accompanied by works is dead. It was not that it died, it was that it was never alive to begin with and was only a mere profession this type of faith only has FORM but doesn’t possess any FORCE!

 

 

James 2:18-26

“Working faith”

 

  • Introduction
  • 18-20 Demonic faith
  • 21-24 Abraham’s example
  • 25-26 Rahab’s example

 

Introduction

The maintenance of authentic faith has been in challenge from the foundation of the church onward. There can be a glaring gulf between professing faith and the passionate practice of it. I find it fascinating that such a challenge isn’t unique to our time as James clearly address it in this letter. Reading his letter reveals that he took considerable literary devices to try to get his point across. Having used an illustration that the proof of faith is personal and continual transformation, James continues to illustrate this with examples that were designed to arrest the attention of his readers. There are far too many churches that are at best a service club, where personal commitment and transformation is lacking. Such Christians that attend these churches are undistinguishable between non-believers. Such professed faith is lacking any distinctive transformation. The problem was an early one we find based upon James words in his letter. These followers of Christ were all Jewish and upon their allegiance to Jesus as their Messiah, learned that they were no longer obligated to many of the legalistic works that had been required by the Rabbis as Jesus had satisfied the Laws demands, He had paid the penalty and had offered new life to all who trusted Him. Now the problem was that some of these followers believed that such “freedom in Christ” removed any responsibility to life righteously.

Vs. 18-20 Demonic faith

 Vs. 18 It is clear that James wanted to shock his readers into the reality that “true faith works” but before he does so he proposes a hypothetical conversation with a person who is objecting to his above statement in verse 17 where James emphatically stated that “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” This hypothetical person claims that James only has works while he is in possession of faith. James’s answer is to pit the two positions against each other where James rests his proof of faith on his works and challenges his objector to prove their faith apart from works. James isn’t arguing for the lack of faith in the Christian life he is rather describing what that saving faith looks like as to distinguish it from mere intellectual profession. His point is that “professed faith” that doesn’t produce outward transformation isn’t saving faith.

Vs.19 Ready to drive home his point James shows that such intellectual profession of truth if it does not bring with it a response in action is not saving faith. To do so James takes the great “Shema” which is the first Hebrew word found in Deuteronomy 6:4, 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41. The word is “Hear” followed by “O Israel: The LORD your God, the LORD is one!”  It describes the unity of God and is the Jewish confession of faith. The reciting of this phrase was far more than an orthodox creed as many believed that it had saving power simple by repeating it. They would repeat it morning and night and it was seen as the duty of every pious Jew. The rabbis taught that, “Whoever reads the Shema upon his couch is as one that defends himself with a two-edged sword.” “They cool the flames of hell for him who reads the Shema.” While these statements help the reader understand why James uses this illustration it is also interesting that James does not ridicule this practice as he says, “You believe that there is one God. YOU DO WELL.” Clearly intellectual agreement with truth is far better than believing and trusting in a lie. But as fundamental and essential as “monotheism” (the belief in only one God) is when compared to “polytheism” (the belief in many gods) it is still not enough to save a sole who has that belief alone. James’s criticism isn’t with what a person believes but that such belief is only intellectual assent with no transforming union with God. To drive this home James says that “Even the demons believe–-” and James adds that they have an emotional response to their intellectual assent as they “tremble”. It must have shocked the readers to learn that demons have faith! The bible goes further in many verses to tell us what they believe and again it may surprise you that their faith is quite orthodox:

  1. First, as noted here they believe in the existence of God. The demonic world is neither atheists nor agnostics.
  2. Second, according to Mark 3:11-12 whenever they ran into Jesus, they acknowledged His deity as well as His relationship with the Father.
  3. Third, according to Luke 8:31 and Mark 5:1-13 they believed in hell and knew that Jesus was their judge and even submitted to the power of His word and authority.

Furthermore, James says they trembled which is a word that means to “bristle” like the hair standing up on the back of your neck which tells us that they had an emotional response to the truth they hear. But such belief even in orthodox truth that has an emotional response doesn’t necessarily indicate “saving faith”. In Acts 8:13 Luke tells the story of Simon the sorcerer who Luke says not only “believed” but was even “baptized” but several years later his actions indicated that his profession of faith wasn’t true as he attempted to buy spiritual power. Peter rebuked him saying, “You neither have part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” The tragic truth is that hell will have many people who were orthodox and monotheistic who will forever reside there. Faith is far more than intellectual assent to orthodox truths even when such faith is accompanied with an emotional response. It must be as Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-10 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Paul answered the Philippian jailers’ question of “What must I do to be saved” in Acts 16:31 with “Believe IN the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The word “IN” here is (epi) in the Greek and means to move towards and rest everything upon Jesus! The first work we can do is completely trust Jesus and after this true faith will continue to keep on working! Like these demons, is a persons professed faith even in biblical truth doesn’t transform their character and conduct than it cannot change their prospects for their eternal future. It is a sad reality that a person’s belief may be founded on biblical truth all the while their character remains untransformed by this truth and remain evil. We must guard our hearts that can possess the acceptance of truth without allowing it to have any influence upon our life! There is a good many pastors who seek to define “faith” as nothing more than a “positive mental attitude” but faith is much more than attitude as it requires action.

Vs. 20 James now picks his hypothetical discussion by asking, “Do you need more proof that saving faith needs personal transformation?” This question was aimed at the person who was convinced that intellectual assent to truth was all that was required by God for salvation. The word “dead” here in the Greek is a word that means barren, idle or useless. It is a play on words as it can read, “Faith without works doesn’t work!” “O, foolish man” is “O empty man” and is used to describe a person who has settled in the fallacy that faith without works can work!

            To prove his point James offers two examples from the first testament scriptures: Abraham and Rahab. Using these two as an example couldn’t have been more diverse as case studies; the patriarch and the prostitute.

  

Vs. 21-24 Abraham’s example

  Vs. 21-24 Abrahams example is powerful as he had received the promise from God as having descendants as numerous as the stars and 30 years later after Issacs birth Abraham was being told by God to take his only son up on mount Moriah and sacrifice him. The promise of God was colliding with the obedience to God. Most I know would simply disregard the works of obedience while claiming the promise, but you cannot enjoy the promises apart from the obedience and Abraham knew this. No compromise to God’s word was made, no alternative interpretation was offered. Abraham’s faith was being put to the test to see if it would cooperate with faith or seek to avoid it. This is easily the second most shocking command ever given by God only proceeded by His own to His Son Jesus. It was contrary to common sense, natural affection and all his dreams and hopes and finally it ran contrary to the word of God that through Isaac and he alone the promise he made was to Abraham was to be fulfilled. How could he do this? His faith is clearly seen in Genesis when after the third day he says to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Amazing trust in God in spite of the fact that obedience to the word of God went contrary to the promise of God Abraham still could say from his heart, “we will come back to you”. It is here that Hebrews 11:19 offers an explanation such faith and obedience where we read that Abraham “concluded that God was able to raise him (Isaac) up even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” James summarizes Abraham’s testimony by saying, “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” The point he is making by using Abraham and Isaac is that Abraham’s faith and obedience were inseparable. We are justified by faith alone that is never alone as true faith always works!

 

Vs. 25-26 Rahab’s example

Vs. 25-26 It is believed by many that the addition of a second example so opposite of Abraham was brought forth because Abraham was the “the father of faith” and such a towering figure that the common person could claim that they could never be expected to embrace such faith that works. So, Abraham the patriarch, the moral, the righteous Jew is compared with Rahab the prostitute, the immoral, the Gentile woman. Rahab had limited knowledge about God, but had become disillusioned with the culture around her, she was treated just as an object. Yet she risked her life to save those Jewish spies and heeded their words to save herself and her house from destruction. So, if a woman like Rahab could exercise faith that works then so could anyone. Had she trusted and acted upon God word as just the mental accumulation of facts it would not have produced the saving results. The concluding statement by James is that “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Faith without the action of obedience is like a body apart from its spirit, dead! It is like a person perfectly embalmed in a sealed box to prevent decay; it may look a live but is just as dead as any other corpse. Comprehension of truth must lead to commitment to that truth for it to be true saving faith!