Let's go to the ultimate out-of-context scripture, James chapter 2.
James chapter 2, right?
Because here we have the Bible teaching us over and over again
that salvation is by grace through faith, that it's not of works lest any man should boast.
And there's just scripture after scripture after scripture that teaches that.
And what you'll find is that the scriptures that teach that are actually in context.
And then you'll have James chapter 2 being brought out to try to contradict all that
and say that salvation is by works.
But what you'll notice is that the scriptures that they use in James 2
are being taken out of context.
Let me show you what I mean by that.
In James chapter 2, they'll take verse 24, for example,
and they'll say,
you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
They'll take that scripture right there and say,
see right there, look, it's not faith only that justifies, it's also works.
Now, if you just took that verse by itself, that looks like it's what it's saying.
And you could easily use that verse to back up works-based salvation.
But if you actually read the whole passage,
and if you actually read the context, you'll notice that's not the case.
Now, here's what I mean by out of context.
The first thing we need to ask ourselves when we're looking at context is
what point is God trying to make here?
What's the point?
What's the purpose?
Okay, that's the big question we need to ask ourselves
whenever we're looking at any passages context.
Now, if we look at the book of James in general, you're going to notice a pattern.
Look at James chapter 1 verse 2.
What's it say?
My brethren.
See that in James 1, 2.
Now look at James 2, 1.
What's it say?
My brethren.
Now look at James 2, 14.
What does it profit my brethren?
Now look at James chapter 3 verse 1.
My brethren.
Now look at James chapter number.
Well, I think that's it.
But anyway, the point is, he says over and over again,
my brethren, my brethren, my brethren, my brethren.
He's writing to people that are already saved, number one.
And when we actually read James chapter 2,
it's pretty easy to tell what the purpose of this passage is.
You know what he's telling people?
He's telling people they need to get to work.
So if we were to just ask ourselves,
what's the purpose of this passage in James chapter 2?
He's telling people, don't just have faith, get works also.
So he's trying to get Christians, his brethren in Christ,
to get out there and get to work.
That's the purpose.
Now let me ask you this.
Is the purpose of James 2 to teach an unsaved person
how to get saved?
I mean, that's ridiculous.
That's nowhere near this context.
This is not, hey, let me tell you guys how you can get to heaven.
Let me tell you how you can receive eternal life.
Let me tell you how you can be saved.
But that's what people will try to twist this and use it to teach.
When in reality, if we actually read the scripture
and take some time to understand it,
he is talking about not being justified in the eyes of God,
not being justified in the sense of being saved and going to heaven,
but being justified in the sight of our fellow man.
That people will look at us and they will look at our works
and they will judge us by our works.
They will determine in their minds whether or not we have faith based upon our works.
That's why in Romans 4 it said,
if Abraham were justified by works, he hath where of the glory,
but not before God.
Because Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
So this is just a classic example of scripture being taken out of context.
Now when we go to the book of John,
the context in the book of John, it says,
these things are written that you might believe on the son of God,
that you'd believe on Jesus Christ,
and that believing you'd have life through his name.
So the book of John says that it's written so that you'd be saved.
And then 90 times it uses the word believe.
So over and over again it's telling you to believe on Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
John 3 16, John 3 18, John 3 36, John 5 24.
And the context of those verses is Jesus actually talking about
who has eternal life and who doesn't.
Who's going to be saved and who's going to be damned.
And those verses are in context and they're crystal clear that salvation is by faith.