Just By Faith, Period

1. Free Grace Destroys human pride and merit— Rom 3:27
a. Boasting excluded—there were, in Paul’s day, the Judiazers, who were telling Christians they had to obey the law in addition to faith in Christ—Gal 6:13

(1) Works does not exclude boasting: Rom 4:1-3
(2) In works, God owes you salvation—Rom 4:4
(3) Salvation by Grace through Faith excludes boasting. Rom 4:5
(4) Why? 1 Cor 1:29, 1 Cor 3:21, 1 Cor 4:7, Gal 6:14, Eph 2:9

2. The Bottom Line—3:28
a. This is the conclusion, the bottom line of all Paul has been saying since Rom 1:16-17
b. Justified by faith—by faith in Christ, we are declared justified, we are declared righteous, we are pronounced Holy, we become adopted into the family of God.
c. Without the deeds of the Law—added for emphasis, and to insure Sola Fide—it is apart from works! Titus 3:5, Gal 2:15-16

3. Only One Salvation, no matter who you are—3:29

a. The Christian Faith is the universal faith, the only true Faith-John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Is 45:22

(a) He is God of the Jews, He is God of the Gentiles whether they acknowledge it or not.
(b) He is the God of the Buddhists,
(c) He is the God of the Muslims, no matter what their teachers say.

b. This faith is centered only on the actions of God, not the Actions of man. 3:30

4. God is Just and Holy, the Law is upheld, and we are saved—3:31
a. The accusation of antinomianism — 31
b. The Law established—God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
(5) Every Sin is dealt with judiciously
(6) Every crime is adjudicated
(7) Every sentence is served
(8) Every injustice is righted.
(9) The Holiness of God is respected, God’s sense of justice is satisfied,

5. But What about James? Only three alternatives:
a. Option 1—James and Romans/Galatians/John, etc., disagree, and the Bible is therefore not inerrant and infallible—there is an open contradiction (and a very large one) in the Bible.
b. Option 2—James is not a canonical writing, and the Bible is therefore suspect—if one book has been included in the canon of scripture which should not be there, others might also have been included wrongly.
c. Option 3—We must interpret James so that it agrees with the rest of the Bible.

6. First, some principles of interpretation:
a. The Bible is all true, and it agrees with itself. The Bible does not contradict itself—scripture, as Jesus said, “cannot be broken…”
b. You must compare scripture with scripture—1 Cor 2:10-13, 2 Pet 1:20-21
c. The plain statements of didactic (teaching) scriptures explain other scriptures.
d. Parables don’t explain truth—in fact, they usually obscure it and conceal it—by design.
e. Historical passages tell us what happened, but they often are misunderstood unless there is a clear explanation in the context.
f. The Context, The Subject, The Audience (who is being addressed), must be taken into account
g. The time of writing and the time perspective (future, past, present, to the writer) must be taken into account.
h. What covenant is in force at the time of the writing must be taken into account.
i. The interpretation must agree with the Analogy of the Faith (the teaching of the Bible as a whole), in simple terms, the tail does not wag the dog.
j. You don’t overthrow a hundred verses because of one or even a few obscure passages.

7. So, in approaching James, we must briefly examine the question: “How are we saved?”
a. We must compare the contexts
b. What is the subject of Romans? Salvation (Rom 1:16-17). That is why the Romans road is so convenient and true a tool for witnessing.
c. The subject of Galatians? The proper teaching on Salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone.
d. The subject of John? Salvation—John 20:30-31
e. What then, is the subject of James? Practical Christianity
(10) Trials, 1:3-12, Temptations—1:13-18
(11) Obedience and practical religion in action—1:19-27
(12) Discrimination against the poor in favor of the rich—Chapter 2
(13) Controlling the tongue—3:1-12
(14) Practical Wisdom—3:13-18
(15) Humility—4:1-12
(16) Dependence on God—4:13-17
(17) Employers being just with workers—5:1-6
(18) Endurance—5:7-12
(19) Prayer—5:13-18
(20) Reaching out to straying brothers—5:19-20
(21) James is about practical Christianity

8. Analysis of James 2:14-26

a. Context—the issue of ignoring poor Christians in favor of the rich. James 2:1 James also makes the point that a failure in this area may reveal serious sin problems in our lives…James 2:8-9
b. Remember, contrary to what some teach, the New Covenant presents a moral compass for believers in Christ, and James is challenging the believers to look at the compass.
c. Then he addresses a much larger and more vital issue—if they are living in such a way as to be considered lawbreakers, are they saved? James 2:14
(22) Let’s define this issue Biblically —if a man or woman claims to have faith, but there is no evidence, is that true faith?
(23) NO! True faith results in a changed life. John 10:27 ""My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Eph 2:10
(24) So Biblically, taking the definition of Faith that the Bible teaches us, what is James saying? He is saying, “can that kind of Faith save him?”
(25) James is talking about false faith, as the next few verses plainly show—James 2:15-17
(26) For an example, James uses the case of a cruel and sarcastic rich man, who wishes a brother or sister well, but does nothing to help—those wishes are revealed to be false thereby. Faith which has no works is not real faith!

d. Show me—James 2:18-19 James is asking for proof—is there proof of salvation in your life?
e. And then he confirms that he is talking about real faith, with the example of the demons—2:19
f. What kind of faith do demons have? Have demons trusted in Christ? Do demons cling to Christ? NO! The demons have an intellectual faith, they know (without any doubt) that Christ is who He says He is, and they tremble because they know their end, but their faith is NOT saving faith.
g. The payoff line—James 2:20 è i.e., if you have the kind of faith that demons have, you are not saved!

9. Two Examples—the ones given by James

a. Abraham on Mount Moriah—James 2:21-24
(27) When did the incident on Mount Moriah take place? Gen 22:1-2 – The answer is—several years after Issac’s birth!
(28) When was Abraham pronounced righteous in God’s sight? Gen 15:1-6. Abraham was pronounced righteous before God many years before Issac was even born
(29) Abraham believed the promise of God, which included, though hidden, the promise of Christ, and God accounted it to him for righteousness.
(30) Abraham was, at that point, righteous in God’s sight, and God will not impute sin once a man has been declared righteous—Rom 4:6-8
(31) Therefore the test James mentions was not a justification for salvation, and could not have been so, since Abraham had been declared righteous by God many years before Issac was born, and more years still before Gen 22. Instead, this must be speaking of a visible justification—a proof to Abraham and to anyone watching that Abraham was FOR REAL—2:22-24
(32) The word “perfect” in 2:22 is teleioo = “complete, the goal fulfilled, fully matured.”
(33) Abraham’s consistent witness of his faith showed the reality of his faith—On God’s record books, we are justified by faith alone, and saved by Grace alone—what follows is evidence and proof of our salvation.
(34) Did God know the outcome of the test? YES! God knew Abraham would prove faithful.
(35) What was God doing in the test? He was teaching Abraham about sacrifice, about atonement, about faithfulness, etc.

b. Example 2—Rahab—James 2:25
(1) Rahab had heard of God, and had believed in Him because of His mighty works. Josh 2:9-13
(2) So Rahab gave testimony to her faith in Jehovah, and then she proved it by her actions! By her actions, she rejected her people, her king, her pagan “gods”, and she accepted Jehovah as Lord.

10. Biblical Doctrine Paralleling James.
a. The Salvation Order--Eph 2:8-10 By Grace, Through Faith, Unto Good Works
b. The Phillipian Jailer—Acts 16:32-33 –After he was saved, his whole family was saved, and they followed their Lord in Baptism
c. John 10:26-28
d. The absolute bottom line—James is referring to works which prove the reality of salvation, not works which maintain or earn salvation.