(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you is excellent news. is excellent news. with that being said I'm going to turn the service back over to brother Peter who will lead us in our next song. So on the verse we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we James chapter two which reads My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hark then, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or destitute be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. But with thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for allowing us to come together, to get to worship you, and sing praises to you, and to get to hear your word preached, Lord. Bless pastor and fill him with your spirit, and give him clarity of mind, give him the words to say. Give us ears to hear, and that we can listen to the word preached, and go out this week, and apply it to our lives, and serve you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. All right, James chapter two. So this morning I wanna just, I wanna address the false doctrine, and the false understanding that is often promoted by this passage, and by this chapter, and you know, any time we come across things that's just, where people are teaching damnable heresies, and people are teaching another gospel, a different way of salvation, I wanna hammer home from the correct view of what this passage is saying, because one, I don't want believers to be shaken in their faith a little bit. I don't want people to not know what this passage means at all, and to be misled by people who are trying to teach a works-based salvation, and trying to say that the Bible teaches that our salvation is works-based, and every single time people who hold that view are gonna turn to James chapter two. This is the place they're gonna turn to, and as long as I continue to hear people talk about this, when we go out soul winning, and this is like the big challenge, I'm going to be thundering against that view, because it is so bad and so dangerous for people to say that no, faith isn't enough to save you, you also must have works, or you definitely will have works, or all these other things that kind of go along with that thought, so I'm gonna just tackle this head on, we're gonna look at James two, we're gonna look at it in context, we're gonna see what is the Bible actually saying here, and hopefully you'll see this here, and you should never hear someone say, well, let's see what it really says, and then just tell you something completely different than what the text actually says. Okay, that's not what we're gonna do here, we're gonna look at the text, and see what does the text actually say, because people often will put their spin on it, and make it say something it doesn't, but it is very important to be careful that we read the text carefully, and make sure we understand that it's saying, that we think it's saying what it's actually saying, that we believe it's saying what the text is actually saying and not being misled, sometimes there's funny word order, or maybe some words that aren't used all the time, there's the way that things can be written isn't always the most easily understood as modern day English readers when we're reading the Bible, so again, we just wanna be careful that we don't get misconceptions, or especially get caught off guard by people who are heretics that are trying to teach a works-based salvation. I would take the time, but I decided not to this morning to literally go through the mountain of evidence in the Bible that just says that salvation is by grace through faith alone. You know, like Ephesians 2, 8, 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, and we could go on and on and on and on, but that verse clearly says it's not of works, and there's always a distinction in the separation all throughout the Bible between faith and works, and that salvation completely resides within faith and faith alone, okay, and does not rely on any works whatsoever, but then people wanna add in that works, and what do they do? They turn to James chapter two. So first of all, when you're reading the Bible anywhere or any doctrine, if you just see like tons and tons and tons and tons of evidence with very clear scriptures stating one thing, and then you come across one verse somewhere else in the Bible that looks like it might be contradictory or it looks like it might be saying something a little bit different or you don't understand what this means, you're misunderstanding that one verse when you have the clear evidence showing the other way, because here's the thing, otherwise then you could just say, well, this isn't the word of God. There's contradictions in the Bible. It's not God's word, because God doesn't make errors. He doesn't make mistakes. We don't need to correct the word of God. God has preserved his word for us. We have it in the King James Bible. If you're an English speaker today in 2024, and we hold these things to be true. We believe that the Bible is inerrant. It is perfect. And it's what we believe what it says. So with that in mind, let's look at James chapter two, verse number 14 else, call your attention because it does matter the context. What doth it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? So right off the bat, verse 14 is questions. It's actually a couple of questions in one verse. And I'm not discounting the questions because a lot of times, I mean, there's a reason the question's there. It's oftentimes rhetorical. It's trying to make and prove a point. But when we're coming up with sound doctrine, you need to make sure that you're understanding the purpose of the question correctly before you just start saying, see, look, it just says, can faith save him? So that must mean that faith can't save him. Well, you've got a couple of problems. First of all, with that is that all throughout the scripture, if we're talking about your soul being saved, of course, faith can save him. But number two is like I just said in my first point, if this is talking about your soul being saved, then yes, it's just faith that saves you. Now, please keep in mind when you're reading the Bible and it says saved or salvation or anything like that, it may or may not be talking about eternal salvation. We read through the book of Psalms. We've just got done doing a Bible study through 50 chapters in the book of Psalms, not that long ago. How many times is David in the Psalmist and calling out, Lord, save me, Lord, deliver me? And how many of those times is it really even talking about his soul being delivered from hell? It is talking about that in the context a few times, right? And there's prophetic scriptures talking about that, even talking about Jesus. But the majority of the times when the salvation is being referenced in the Psalms, it's being saved from people who are oppressing him, people who are coming after him and hate him and wanna kill him. And that's the salvation being referred to. So again, you need to make sure that when you're gonna found a doctrine, especially one that is gonna be contrary to the rest of scripture, you better make sure you got it right. And I'll even say this, this wasn't in my notes, but it's clear even from this passage that look at verse number 10 in James chapter two. It says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. So any sin that you commit just makes you a transgressor. And that's a clear statement in this passage, right? So it's kind of like if just logically thinking, hey, if any sin is just automatically, now I'm just categorized as a transgressor, whether I did this sin or that sin or whatever, I'm guilty before God. How is my work gonna do anything to add to that or to have any part of my salvation if any one sin just all of a sudden now makes me a transgressor? Just doesn't even make any sense. But besides that, let's look at this verse specifically, this passage here, starting with verse 14. What doth it profit? And that's key right there. What is the benefit? What is the profit? And prior to this, well, no, let me just, let me keep reading here before I even get into that. What does it profit, my brother, though a man say he hath faith? Now, first of all, does it say that the person has faith or does it say the person says he has faith? Look, let's read the Bible carefully. Let's read it clearly. This question says if a man says he has faith, now, if a man says he has faith, does that automatically mean he has faith? No, and here's the thing. They may have faith in something, but it also doesn't mean they have saving faith. So what are you talking about saving faith? Look, it's not complicated at all. Saving faith, if you believe on Jesus Christ with all of your heart, that's what, with Philip in Ethiopian eunuch, when he wanted to get baptized, the eunuch wanted to get baptized, Philip preached from the gospel, he says, hey, here's water, what doth enter me be baptized? Why can't I be baptized? And he said, if thou believest with all thine heart, right? If thou believest on the Son of God with all thine heart. Well, what does that mean with all your heart? Does that mean like you have to try really hard and muster up a lot of emotion and say, oh, I'm gonna believe with all of my heart. And then, because when you say things like that, people do have this concept and they're thinking like, well, maybe I didn't believe hard enough, maybe I didn't believe enough. But that when it says to believe with all your heart, it's not talking about like a quantity, like you're filling up a glass and it has to be like, like it has to get up to this point. And you're like, what if I can't even get to that point? No, that's not what it's about. What it is is that you're only trusting in Jesus. Like the same way that he says, look, I am the door, right? And you need to walk through him. And there's, you know, broad is the way which leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. Why is it straight? Why is it narrow? Because it's only through Jesus. So it's not Jesus plus anything else. It's not Jesus plus your good life. It's not Jesus plus obedience to the law. It's not Jesus plus your church attendance. It's not Jesus plus your prayer. It's not Jesus plus anything. It's Jesus alone. So wherever your faith is, whatever you're trusting in to get you to heaven, it has to all be on Jesus. That's all it means. That's what it means to believe in him with all your heart. You're trusting everything is on Jesus. And you know, when I go out and preach the gospel to people, I'll ask the question, or I kind of posit it this way. I say, hey, look, here's what I mean by believing in Jesus or what you're trusting in to be saved. Because we usually open up one of our first few statements is going to ask the question, if you were to die today, do you know for sure that you'd go to heaven? And I like to present it to people this way. If I just drop dead today, and I'm face to face with God, and God asks me the question, why should I let you into heaven? That's ultimately what we're asking people. What do you believe? What does a person have to do? What does it take to make sure that you're saved and you're going to heaven when you die? Drop dead right here, and God says, why should I let you in? Whatever my response is to that question is going to illustrate. It's going to show where my faith is. What is it that I am really believing? I mean, when the rubber meets the road, what is it that I'm really believing in? Where is my heart? So if I start to tell God, I say, well, God, I mean, come on, look at my life. I did my best to serve you. I was a pastor, for crying out loud. I mean, I ministered to people. I helped people as much as I could. Look at what I did for you. Well, where is my faith? It's in me. It's on me. That's where my faith is. In order, the right answer, what you have to be able to express to God, and it has to be legit. It can't just be you're faking it because now you died and you didn't expect that to happen. But Jesus paid for my sins when he died on the cross and rose again from the dead. I'm not going to present anything else to you, God, because I know my righteousness is like filthy rags to you. So all of my faith, everything that I'm trusting in for my soul to be saved is just completely resting in Jesus. He was good enough. His payment was sufficient. His blood that he shed covers my sin. I'm trusting that. That's what it means to believe on Jesus with all of your heart. It doesn't mean you have to overnight turn into some super hyper spiritual person that's always saying, amen, and God bless, brother, and hallelujah, and using all the spiritual lingo. Now, whether you do it or not, that's your business. But that's not what the Bible is talking about when you have to believe with all your heart for saving faith. Saving faith is you're trusting Jesus alone. This is why this teaching gets me so angry, because what people will tell you is they'll turn to this verse and say, well, it says, can faith save him? Implying that, OK, you can have faith, but you also need to do something else. And what people will always do, and we'll skip ahead to this verse, because this happens almost every single time. And I'm sick of hearing this, which is one of the reasons why I'm preaching a sermon, because I just hope that more people can hear how stupid, how literally stupid the argument is that says, well, the Bible says that the devils also believe. So are they saved? And that's like the big argument. Well, let's look at what that says here. And don't worry. We'll get this back in context again. But look at what it says in verse number 19. Thou believeth that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. So in order to be saved, your soul saved from hell, is it only required that you have to believe that there's one God? I mean, hey, that's what the devils believe too, right? So aren't they saved? Well, no, that's what the Muslims believe too, that there's one God. And that's what tons of religions will tell you, that there's just one God. So are they saved then too? They just believe what? The devils believe that there's one God. So what? That's not saying that they're trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to save them. Not to mention, devils are just fallen angels. And Jesus Christ came to save mankind when he died. He didn't come to save cows or chickens or angels. He came in the flesh and blood of a man, in the likeness of Adam. Adam introduced sin. Jesus is taking care of that sin. Look, whatever God does with the angels, at the end of the day, really isn't even our business. We don't know all the ins and outs of how that all works. And if he doesn't provide a redeemer for them, then that's really not good for the devils. But that's God's prerogative to not do that. So introducing and trying to compare us to angels or devils or anything like that, look, now is the Bible saying this for a reason? Absolutely it is. But is it saying it to prove that faith in Jesus Christ alone isn't going to save you? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. So I kind of want to just handle that right off the bat. Because you just hear this over and over and over and over again. And I really want you equipped to be able to just, when you hear that, to squash it really, really quickly. Because look, the people we run into, they're not all bad people that believe us. A lot of them have just been brainwashed. And they keep hearing these things. And they hear these arguments repeated to them. They hear it from the pulpit. And it makes sense to them, which is why we needed to show them. And look, obviously, the way that I preach here isn't the way that I always interact with people when I'm trying to get them saved. It is Christianity 101 or Baptist Fundamentalist 101. We entreat people with humility and tact and trying to humbly show them the error of their ways not saying, that's so dumb, just railing on them or something. I'm going to rail on the argument because it deserves to be railed on. Because argument is really that dumb. And I want to make sure that there's no doubt about that at all, especially within our church here. Not that I think that there necessarily is. But this is one of those things that just needs to be covered from time to time, especially since it's still kind of popular out there, the people that want to turn to this passage. So let's get back now into the context here. So verse 14 again, what is a prophet? And keep that word in mind. What's the benefit? What is a prophet, my brother? And though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? Now it's going to bring up this example. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, so someone's in a really bad state and they can't feed themselves. Daily food, right? They're not able to sustain themselves. And one of you say unto them, depart in peace. Be ye warmed and filled. Well, it sounds like a really nice thing to say, doesn't it? Hey, God bless you. Be warm. Be filled. See ya. But I'm still hungry. Your words didn't translate into food in my belly. You just said something that sounds nice. You didn't really do anything about it, right? Now that's kind of ridiculous. You didn't really profit that person or help that person at all, did you? And look, this is the illustration that the Bible is bringing up to help us to understand what's being taught. Someone else comes to someone who's in need, and that person doesn't help them at all. Notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Which is why it brings up that word again. What does it benefit? What's the profit? You can say those things, but you didn't really do anything. So what does it profit? That's why he's saying if a man says he has faith, but he's not really doing anything, what does it profit? And look, who is the benefit to? Who is the benefit to? If a man says he has faith, but he doesn't do anything, he has no works, who's going to be the recipient of the profit, of the benefit? The other person, somebody else, right? Not the individual saying they have faith. Just like here, if someone comes to you and says, hey, I'm hungry, I need clothing and food, can you help me out? And you just say, yep, I really want you to be clothed and fed. But then you don't do anything about it. The benefit would be to the other person, not to the individual himself, right? First of all, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone. Now, yeah, we'll get into this in just a second. But verse 17 is an absolutely true statement also, by the way. If faith doesn't have works, it's dead. And as I told you, my sermon is dead faith, dead faith. So what some people teach would have this verse really be nonsense, because there are people that teach that, well, if you have faith, you always have works. Did you catch that? People will say that, well, look, if you really have faith, then you'll have works. If you have faith, you'll have works. OK, if everyone that has faith has works, then how could you have faith without works? How is that possible? Just explain that to me. How is that possible? Then the Bible must be wrong or in error when they said faith without works is dead. Well, I guess faith is never dead. It's never alone, because it always has works. That's ridiculous, because the Bible clearly says here that when faith doesn't have works, it's dead. And I believe that to be true. And this is what I'm talking about. Look, we believe what the Bible actually says. Not coming up with something else to teach something that the Bible doesn't actually say, like every time there's faith, there's works. No, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible actually says the opposite. When there's faith and not works, then that faith is dead. But here's what this doesn't say. Does it say the faith is dead? Yes. Does it say that your eternal life has ended at all? Does it say God now, when your faith dies, takes away your eternal life that he gave you as a free gift? Does it say that? No, but that's what people teach. They'll just say it as if, well, I mean, it's dead. Well, if it's dead, then you can't be saved anymore, right? No, because now you're completely contradicting the definition of eternal. Eternal life. You're completely contradicting all the rest of the scripture that teaches our eternal security in Jesus Christ. You're contradicting, hey, once you're in God's hand, no man can pluck you out of his hand. You're contradicting that once you're saved, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise until the day of redemption. You're completely disregarding that he which has begun a good work, and you will perform it until the day of redemption. Like, look, these things are all clear statements that the Bible says is going to happen. In my favorite verse, John 5.24, verily, verily, I say to you, that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. So is it possible to believe and not do any works? Yes, it is. If that's the case, your faith is dead. But does that mean you don't have faith? No, it doesn't. It just means your faith is dead. It's in a state of deadness because you're not doing anything, because it's just motionless and lifeless. Right? That's what it means to be dead. It's just laying there. Like, imagine your faith is embodied as a body. Well, when you see a body laying on the ground, and there's no breathing, and there's no movement, you're going to say, it's dead. Right? But here's the thing about faith. It's not a literal body. It's not a biological thing. Right? So faith can be active by inserting works, and then it's a lively faith. And it could be dead, and it could go back and forth from being lively or being dead. But here's the thing. It's still faith. And what is it that's required for salvation, for your soul being saved? Faith. Faith. You could have that. Look. And I'll stand here today as someone. This is another reason. It just really strikes a nerve with me, is the people who want to tell you, oh, yeah, if you don't have the works, then that means you're not really saved. No, that's not true. I got saved when I was 20 years old. I got saved quite a while ago now, decades ago. And I got saved by calling on the name of the Lord in faith. The same way that everyone gets saved, right? Everyone who's saved, they call on the name of the Lord in faith. They believe on Jesus Christ, and that's exactly what I did. I put all my trust in Jesus. Now, I was a spiritual babe. I was a baby. I was an infant. And you know what? Didn't happen. I didn't get plugged into a good church. I didn't really grow in my faith. I didn't get rooted down. I was kind of like a seed that was sown into stony places for a while. It was not that good for me in the choices that I made. And I ended up still going out, ultimately, and just living like the world. But was I saved? You better believe I was. Hey, Jesus saved me as much as he saved you if you're saved today. And it wasn't because I was good. It's because I finally had to humble myself and recognize that I needed a Savior. And once I got to that point in my life, I called on the Lord, and he saved me. Praise God for that. And was I always thankful for my salvation? Well, if you were to ask me if I'm thankful, of course I would say yes. But did I really demonstrate that in my deeds and my actions? No, I didn't. So I had a faith, and I was saved, and I had eternal life, like Jesus promised. You shall not come into condemnation, but you passed from death unto life. I had that, but I didn't walk the walk. So if anyone were to look at me, an outsider, to just be like, OK, and I'm in a crowd, and I'm in the pool hall where I worked, and I'm hanging out with people, and playing the bar games, and drinking the beer, and having the filthy conversations, and you look at me and say, pick out the Christian in this crowd. They're not going to pick me. Well, that just means you weren't saved. No, it doesn't. It means my faith was dead, because I was doing nothing. I had no good works to show for my faith. But we're going to get this more in context in just a minute. The Bible says in Romans 4.5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So is it possible to not work and have faith? According to the Bible, it is. Because if you don't work and you have faith, your faith is dead. But also, if you don't work and you have faith, your faith is counted for righteousness. So you're covered. Your eternal life doesn't end. It doesn't get taken away. It's still there. That's still your righteousness. Why? Because it's Jesus' righteousness that's imputed unto you. It's not yours. So let's keep reading here. A man may say, verse 18. And again, we're coming up with a situation being presented here, that a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. And look, that's a great point, isn't it? Oh, you're going to try to tell me that you're a Christian? You're going to tell me you have faith? How come I don't see it? Right? Like, oh, wow, what a great testimony. You believe in something and you don't even live by it at all. Like, yeah, I'm really going to take you seriously. And you know, this is honestly, when I was living just completely out of the world, even though I was saved, I didn't want to say anything about the Bible. Because I already was convicted with my own hypocrisy. And I would even end up questioning myself. Be like, look, I mean, I put my trust in Jesus, and that was true. But I'm saying, why am I not? I mean, some of these things I know, even though I was a spiritual baby, like, I still knew the things that were wrong. That was just kind of like, I know I shouldn't be doing this. Why am I even doing this stuff? And then if the topic came up, I would just avoid it. Why? Because why am I going to share with someone when you can clearly see I'm not living like the book says? You know what? That was a shame and embarrassment for me to even say that I'm a Christian when I'm not living the way that the Bible says. But that doesn't make me unsaved, ever. And you know why all of this can even happen? It's because of this flesh. Because when you get saved, you have a new spirit that's created inside of you that's called the new man. It's a new creature. Old things are passed away. All things have become new because there's a new creature there. Amen. The spirit is born again. You've become alive in Christ. So the spirit's alive, but the flesh hasn't changed one bit. The flesh that drives us to sin, the carnal desires of our flesh, the lusts and what the flesh wants to do in gratifying your flesh still is there, which the only difference after salvation now is that, well, now at least you have a spirit to fight that battle. Now you have a spirit that's going to wage war against the flesh. Now you've got a chance. You've got a good opportunity just to actually walk in the spirit and please God and to mortify your flesh. And you could do so with the power of the Holy Ghost. Verse 18, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Amen. And then we get into verse 19. Thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well. And it is a good thing to believe there's one God, because there are some people who believe in multiple gods saying, hey, you do well. But you know what? Just like he says, the devils also believe and tremble, that's still not good enough, is it? But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. Now we're going to get into this passage that's going to bring up a couple examples. And it's going to show how people are justified by their works. And that is important to understand that how matters. Because there's a justification that is your sins being forgiven and your soul being saved. That's one justification. But that's not the only justification. In fact, I have been focusing on the salvation part while I've been preaching through this passage because of the false doctrine of people that are trying to make this about salvation, about your soul being saved salvation. Obviously, salvation is part of this. But the soul being saved, eternal salvation. But eternal is not even mentioned here one time. And what I believe this is saying, what I think this is actually really clearly saying, is it's showing how your works that's mixed with your faith is actually going to be a benefit to other people. And that's how you're going to be justified because you're going to be justified in the eyes of other people. Not in the eyes of God, in the eyes of man. That's how you're justified. Because God can see your heart, right? God can look down. Now, when I was younger and I was living like the world and I was committing all those sins, but I still trusted in Jesus as my Savior, the people around me could not see my heart and be like, oh, yeah, he's a Christian. But God in heaven knows my name and knows every hair on my head and knows my heart and knows that I put my trust in Jesus Christ. And he knows I'm born again. And he knows I'm saved. I'm justified before God without any works. But when you're in the eyes of man, man needs to see something. Come on, you're saying you believe something, but you're not doing it. Everybody talks about this. It's in politics. It's everywhere in our world. If someone says they believe in something, then why don't you do it? These arguments are used all the time. So if people want to say politically, and look, I don't even care that much, but just in general, a political example, I've seen this argument used. Oh, you don't want to have a wall for our borders. Well, how about you take down the wall and the doors of your house and just let people come and go freely? It's those types of analogies that people will use to try to point out hypocrisy. They'll say, oh, you want to have protection here but not here or whatever. It's good for you, but it's not good for everyone else. Those types of arguments are what's going to expose hypocrisy in general, and you're not going to get very much traction or get people to believe you if you're not consistent and if you're just a big hypocrite. The preachers that just tell you to do something that they don't do at all, everyone's just going to think it's a big joke. They're like, oh, it's just something that you say. It's not something you actually do. And then it's going to do no one any good. In fact, it's just going to do more damage because people are just going to walk away thinking like, oh, well, I guess I don't really have to do that, whatever. So let's look at how Abraham was justified. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Now, the next question I would just say is, OK, if this is talking about our salvation, like eternal salvation, our soul being saved, is this one Abraham got saved was after Isaac was born? Like, did he go his whole life? He followed the Lord by faith into an unknown land. He believed the Lord when he said he was going to have a son, even after he had Ishmael, and he believed that. And Sarah had the faith to conceive and bring forth a child. And now, finally, he's going to offer up his son as a sacrifice. And now, all of a sudden, Abraham's soul is saved because he was willing to offer up his son as a sacrifice? No. That makes no sense whatsoever. None. So clearly, clearly, this is not talking about the soul salvation. But there is a different type of salvation. OK, so let's keep reading. Was not Abraham our father justified by works we had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? So his faith is complete in that, one, he's doing what he believed. Because we know, especially in Hebrews, it says that he knew and believed that God was able to raise him from the dead because he had trust in the promises of God. And he knew that since Isaac, his son, was chosen and was going to be the one to ultimately bring forth Jesus Christ. He knew these things so that if God's telling him to even offer up his son and to kill his son as a sacrifice, he knew that God would be able to bring him back from the dead. He trusted that, and he fully believed that and was willing to go through with whatever God told him to do because he knew that his son would not remain dead at all. And the Bible says that the gospel was preached unto Abraham before. So we don't know the knowledge and what other people knew and understood way back in the Old Testament. All we could do is look at what the Bible says. But we also see that he knew that God was able to raise him from the dead, and he knew he believed in the promises. And he's up there literally going through all the symbolism and all the pictures of Jesus Christ, burying the cross by bringing the wood up and being bound and about to be killed as a sacrifice on an altar. All of that picture of Jesus Christ, did he believe that there was going to be a Savior one day that was going to rise again from the dead? I do believe so. Even Job believed that there was going to be a Resurrection. OK? So but how is his faith made complete? It's complete because he's actually acting on the faith that he has. He's actually doing something. He's literally acting it out. So that's why it says, see as thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was made for it. How did that happen? Yeah, how it happened, we can see how that happened. And the scripture was fulfilled, which said Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. So that scripture was fulfilled. But again, by whose perspective? Who's the one to see that, oh, he really did have that faith? Man does. Man does. We do. We see that and we could read the Bible and be like, oh, this is why God chose Abraham. Because he had the faith, but he also had the works to back up his faith. This is why he was special. Because not everyone lives their life on their faith, like based on their faith. Abraham did. So we get to see that and be like, wow, wow. This is the son of his way old age. This is the miracle baby. This is the one that was promised. How special is that? And then while he's still a youth to be told, OK, now you've got to kill him. That's pretty heavy. I mean, that's a pretty big ask. I would say, amen. It's a big ask. But Abraham was willing to do it. He was willing to do it. He had the faith. So we can see that. But God already knew. God already knew he had that faith. God already knew what kind of man he was. We even get that from God. When he was debating and reading the Bible, should I tell Abraham about this with Lot and Sodom and everything else? He's like, because I know what kind of man Abraham is going to be. I know that he's going to lead his family after me. And he's going to train them up to follow me and all this other stuff. And he's just kind of sitting. We get this perspective from God about Abraham. He knew this about him. He knew all of that. How was Abraham justified? Because we got to see his works in action of him actually doing something based on what he already believed and what God already knew. And that he was already justified as far as his soul being saved from hell. And now it's just perfected and completed because he's acting on that now. He's actually doing something to show that this truly is the faith that he holds. But then does this say that anyone who doesn't act out their faith isn't saved? No. That's not what it says. And second of all, and when I say saved, I'm talking about saved from hell. But there's other salvations. And Moses is not brought up here, but it's a good example of one. There is a passage, I forget exactly what chapter it's in, but if you remember the circumcision of Moses' son and his wife, there was apparently a disagreement going on. And she cast down the foreskin at Moses' feet and called him a bloody husband because of the circumcision, the Bible says. But the Bible also says that there was an angel of death that was about to go in and kill Moses and then didn't because the circumcision happened. So does that mean that Moses' soul wasn't saved? No. But you know what? There's consequences, and there could be judgment for you not doing what you're supposed to do, and it could even lead to death if you're not going to obey God the way that he wants you to. And especially if you're someone here, like Abraham is being used of God to show all these great spiritual truths, and he's this man that God's invested in. And if he just chose to just completely disregard and disobey God, well, then Abraham might have lost his life because God is bringing forth this example of the sacrifice being made and all this picture of Jesus dying for him. And it's like, OK, well, if you're not going to act this out, then you'll just die. And God can still get a point across. So that could be a salvation. I think that's a lot more reasonable than talking about your soul being saved because that clearly doesn't fit in the context. Verse 24, you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. That word, how that can be, is really important because it's not just this broad brush statement of, so you see clearly that you just always have to have works with your faith or else you're not going to heaven. It's not what it says. We see through this whole story and through the context how a man is justified. Well, they're justified by showing their deeds in front of everybody to see. Verse 25, likewise also gives this example of Rahab. Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way? And we're not going to get too in depth in that passage, but basically she was justified. And here's the thing, what happened with her, I believe it, she already believed in the Lord. She believed that God was going to come. She believed everything she heard about the Lord. So when the messengers came, she protected them. She acted on her faith that the Bible was true, ultimately. And then because of that, her and her family physically were saved from being destroyed when they came and destroyed the city and overtook the city. So she was physically spared because of her works mixed with her faith that all of this was going to happen. Make sense? Then verse 26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Again, a very true statement. But now let's turn to Romans 4 and get Romans 4 in context. Romans 4, verse number 1, the Bible reads, what shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory. So anyone that receives a justification through their works, that's a glory to them. They could brag about that. They can be exalted over that, over their works, right? If you're being justified and made just and made right because of what you did, hey, that's a glorious thing. Well, I'm justified because I'm so good, because I did this and I did that. But look what the Bible says. So if he were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. God knows. God knows he's a sinner. God knows he doesn't have what it takes to be righteous because of his deeds, because there's only ever been one righteous one, and that's Jesus. For what sayeth the scripture? Hey, that's a good idea. Let's look at the word of God. Abraham believed God, and it, his faith, his belief, was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. When you work for something, then whatever you're going to receive is owed to you. The person that's paying you owes that to you. When I go to work at my job, my secular job, I am putting forth work. I am doing a job for someone else. And because I am putting forth my labor and my work and benefiting the company, I deserve to be paid. So in fact, if I don't get paid, I can go and sue them and be like, no, you owe me that money. I gave you my work. Now you give me my payment. I deserve that. And I would be justified in requiring that payment. But is that how our eternal salvation works? No. We have nothing to glory of because our salvation is not dependent at all on what we do. And I say at all, that is extremely important. That goes with believing on Jesus with all your heart because if you say, well, I mean, yeah, Jesus is the most important thing, and he'd had to do everything he had to do for me to be saved. But I still need to, and then fill in the blank. What you've done is you've split your faith by going, OK, even if it's 99.9% Jesus, right? Like, I mean, yeah, he did all this stuff. But I mean, come on, I still have to not kill someone, or I still have to whatever. People have all different kinds of answers for that. Now what you've done is you've split your faith. Now you're still going to trust yourself, trust some adherence to the law, trust some level of being a good person, and you're not fully, completely trusting Jesus with all of your heart. You've split it up. And that is not where you want to be because that's not saving faith. Abraham does not have any word of glory because salvation is a free gift. Because if someone else buys for something, pays for it, and then gives it to you for free, how can you brag about that? Someone just came to you and was like, here you go, brother. I love you. Here's a brand new Ferrari or whatever. Like, there's some super expensive gift, and you don't have to pay anything. I mean, come on, don't you want something for this? This is super expensive. Don't you want something for it? No, I love you. I want you to have it. Oh, man, look at my awesome. It's like, well, how much can you really brag about that? I mean, someone just gave that to you. So if you're going to brag on anything, you're going to brag on, hey, you know this guy? I mean, he gave this to me. Isn't that awesome? Like, that would be where the glory goes, is on the person that gave you that thing, not like, oh, look how awesome I am because I have this thing. Well, you didn't do anything for that, you know what I mean? And that's how our salvation is. Jesus did all the work. He paid the full price. He gets all the glory. He gets all the credit. All glory and honor goes to Him. He lived the righteous life. He didn't sin. He did everything He was supposed to do. He ministered. He helped people. He suffered and bled and died on the cross. He rose again from the dead. He did it all. So when you get saved, it's not like, well, I'm saved because I'm more righteous, and I'm better than these people over here and these wicked sinners over here. And look, I'm going to church, and I cleaned up my life. And these pieces of trash, they're not going to heaven, but I'm going to heaven. No, you have nowhere to glory at all, because if you think that's why you're going to heaven, then you're going to go to hell. I would say maybe just like them, but maybe not. They might be saved. They might have humbled themselves and just accepted the free gift of Jesus and are willing to say, yeah, I know I'm a sinner, and I know I'm not perfect, and I still need to clean up my ways, but I'm saved because Jesus saved me. So that leads up to verse number five. Verse four, to him that worketh is reward not reckon of grace, but of debt. It's owed to you if you work. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Verse six, even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works. And again, some more words about this. I'm going to talk about this in a minute, but I'm going to talk about this in a minute. Without works. And again, some older words, but what that verse is just saying is that David, in the Psalms, he's describing how blessed it is for God to make them righteous, even though they didn't do anything righteous. That it's righteous being imputed, being imparted unto you. It's given to you, like, hey, here's righteousness. But I didn't do anything to deserve this. Yeah, I know, but I'm still giving it to you. That's what's being described here. And then he's going to quote the Psalm, verse seven, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. Isn't that blessed? When you didn't do anything to get your sins forgiven, like you didn't say, OK, well, I'm going to do this, this, this, this, this. Here's my penance, now forgive me my sins. No, blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. You're blessed when God's not going to hold you responsible for the sins that you've committed. He's not going to put that judgment on you. The sin that you did deserves this punishment of death and hell. And you are not going to receive that punishment. Why? Because someone else received that punishment for you. Someone else paid it all for you. That's why. It's not because of you. It's because of him. It's because of Jesus. He's the one who gets the glory. He gets the credit. And just a quick note, that's the Old Testament, David. So this dispensational theology telling you that people were saved by following the law in the Old Testament is nonsense. It's garbage. No one's ever been saved by following the law because it's always been impossible. From the time that the Ten Commandments were delivered to Moses, he couldn't even get down the mountain before people were already in sin and broke it, which is why he cast it out and they got broken immediately. That's how long they were able to keep the commandments. It's never been that way. Jump down to verse number 13. The Bible says, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. So if you could be saved by the law, by your works, because that's what the good works are being obedient to God's law, that's ultimately what it is, because God commands us to do good. God commands you to love your neighbor. God commands you to do all the good things and not do any of the evil things. The law encapsulates everything that would include good works. That's in the law. Well, if you are made an heir and receive the inheritance by following the law, then what do you need faith for? Faith is made void. It's made meaningless. It means nothing. And the promise, what do you need a promise for if you could just earn it, if you could just do it? You don't need a promise. A promise is made of none effect, because the law worketh wrath. At the end of the day, look, the law works wrath. It's not going to work your righteousness. It's going to work wrath, because you're going to slip and fall and not obey the law, and now you've got wrath. For where no law is, there is no transgression. Verse 16, therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace. It has to be this way. It has to be by faith. It has to be by grace, because works don't work. To the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God who quickened at the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Turn back real quick to Romans chapter 3. We're almost done. Man, I had a whole, I don't even know what I was thinking. I might just have to preach this. I might even just do this tonight. I don't know. Maybe I'll do this next week. Maybe I'll do it tonight. I have another sermon prepared, but I was going to mix this in on James 2 with the passage on working out your own salvation, because that's another common place that people will try to turn to to say, oh, see, look, it has to be with works. But clearly, there's not enough time to get into that. I'm still struggling to get through the teaching on James 2. They are related, but that's OK. Romans 3, look at verse number 19. The Bible says, and look, this is all in context, just continuing in context. I know I started with chapter 4. It was just a little bit more particularly relevant with James 2 as a good lead in. But even Romans, when you just read it all in context, it's going to teach you the same thing. That's what I'm saying here. You're going to see the same thought going all throughout the book of Romans. That's why there's a plan of salvation. Oftentimes, people use what's called the Romans road, just because of how clear this book is, and explaining our salvation, and how it's not of works, and things like that. It's just really clearly written in this passage. But look at verse number 19 in Romans chapter 3. The Bible says, now we know that what things soever the law sayeth, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. So that's why there's even the laws, because everyone is guilty. And God needs to demonstrate and show us that we're all guilty, and that we're not as good as we think we are. Because without that, you might think you don't need a Savior. But the law shows us, yeah, no, you need a Savior. You're not that good. Verse 20, therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. By the good works, by obeying God's law, nobody is justified. No flesh. That's what it says. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Because the law, if it wasn't there, we could say that, hey, there's no sin, because there's no law. But no, the law is there saying, OK, now you're guilty. Verse 21, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Isn't that great? The righteousness of God without the law, so being righteous without the law, it says, is manifested? And one of the witnesses to that is the law. The law itself says that the law can't save you. Like I said, that's one of the witnesses that you need to be justified without the law. Verse 22, even the righteousness of God, which is by what? Faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe and do good works. Oh, wait, no, it doesn't say that, does it? Upon all that believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely, not by debts, not because you worked for it, freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus. Jesus is the justifier. Jesus is going to be the one that makes you just. Not your works, not your deeds, not your obedience to law. Jesus makes you just because He was just, because of His righteousness. So verse 27, where is boasting then? So what do you got to brag about if Jesus is the one making you just and has nothing to do with how well you follow the law? Where is boasting then? It's excluded. There is no boasting. By what law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Verse 28, I love this passage, and I'll use this sometimes on Solonang, because people who are really stuck on works. What's the conclusion? So all this, what are you saying? Three chapters already in Romans, what are you saying? Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Justification 100% has nothing to do with the law, no deeds of the law. And that's of necessity. It can't have any deeds of the law, because Jesus is the justifier. He did all the works, not you. That's the conclusion. Galatians 2 is the last place I want you to turn, and I'm closing on Galatians chapter 2. Oh, I never turned that on. How about that? Galatians chapter 2, we're looking at verse number 15. And it's essentially reiterating what we already saw in Romans, but I just like getting another witness here and just to illustrate how clear the Bible is. It couldn't be more clear. And for all of these reasons, when we read passage after passage, you read the New Testament, you read the Old Testament, the law even testified that the justification comes outside of the law, comes from God. It comes from faith, not by your obedience. When you see all of that, you compare that to James chapter 2 and you go, well, this isn't adding up. If you're looking at it through the lens of, well, see, you have to have works or else you're not saved, or, you know, like, no, no. Galatians 2 15, we who are Jews by nature are not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. How many times can you kind of repeat the same thing in one sentence? Right? He starts off saying, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, and then ending with, for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Like, it's like, how many ways? Let's just see. Let me try to reword this and rephrase this just so you can get it through your thick skull. Works not included in salvation. Verse 17, but now this answers, well, I mean, what if you're still in sin? But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore the minister of sin? God forbid. Well, Christ didn't make you do that. Look, we're justified by faith, but then if we're still found a sinner, what does that say about Jesus? Well, it doesn't say anything about him. He still justified you through what he did. All it says is just something about you. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, look at this, for I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. I'm dead to the law. I mean, no matter how many times I sin, I'm still dead to the law, but I'm dead to the law that might live unto God. Verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God like those that try to twist James chapter two do. They frustrate grace. Grace is something you receive that you don't deserve. Grace is unmerited. Grace is what people give you because they care about you or they want to do something nice for you, but it has nothing to do with your behavior, your actions or what you do. They're just extending grace. Usually people get grace when they need something, right? I scratch up someone's vehicle out there and I go, oh man, you know, I'm sorry I did that. And look, I really don't have, I'm really going through a hard time right now. And if someone chooses to say, you know what? Don't worry about that. That's extending grace where I don't deserve it, right? I would rightfully need to make them whole because I damaged their property or whatever. Grace is also found in our regular bills that we contract with people to provide services for us. And oftentimes they'll say, okay, look, it's due on this day. It's due on the first of the month, but you know, we have late fees, but we won't really charge those to you. Just make sure that that payment gets here by X day, by the seventh day, by the 14th day, whatever. They don't have to do that. No one, look, just make sure you understand that. No one has to do that for you. Before you start to have this entitlement attitude, they don't have to do that for you. The deal is you get them the money by the time that you agree to get them their money by. But a lot of companies, they want to show that they're nice and they're going to work with you and they extend grace, right? I do not frustrate the grace of God. God bought and paid for this. God wants you to have eternal life. God wants you to be saved. That's not complicated. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If you need to follow and do works to be saved, why did Jesus even come and die? If you could add anything to what Jesus did, one, who do you think you are? And two, then why did he even have to come at all? That doesn't make any sense. No, James is not talking about our eternal salvation. It's not talking about being justified to avoid hell. None of those things are mentioned. Look, when you come to a passage, you want to start teaching about it as if it's eternal life and you find no hell, no heaven, no eternal life. None of those things referenced there. The only thing you have is the word saved or salvation. Be really careful how you're understanding that. And here, all you have to do is you can go to all the verses that talk about eternal life, everlasting life, that talk about these things, and clearly see what the picture is. So when someone comes at you with James Chapter 2 trying to tell you that, oh, no, no, see, look, but if you don't have the word, I mean, if you just believe, that's not enough. Not true. Believing is enough to save your soul. But look, if we believe, how about we be, the Christians, though, that aren't going to be the ones that say when someone comes to you in need, just says, oh, yeah, be warm, be filled. But then you don't do anything. Act on your faith. Be careful, the Bible says, to maintain good works. I think it's in maybe 1 Timothy. I forget exactly where that reference is. But if you believe something, let your actions show what you believe. That is important. And that's really at the heart of James Chapter 2. It's trying to get you to see that. Look, if you believe these things, and through all of this trying to refute the bad doctrine, we often, like I did today, I just kind of overlook what it's really even about, is like, look, stop being someone who just says things, but you don't act on it. If you actually believe something, then do it. Be justified in the eyes of other people. Have that good testimony. Show them that you believe these things. When things might be difficult or hard, you still do it anyways, like Abraham did, like Rahab did. I mean, Rahab had to go against all of her people, in a sense, right? And kind of turn on them in order to help God's people. But she chose a side, and she stood on the side of the Lord. All right? We know the sacrifice that Abraham made. That was what he was willing to make. It's a big deal. But he did it. That's who we ought to be looking to, is how do I act out my faith? What works should I have? Absolutely, you should have these works. And if you don't, your faith is dead. Don't have a dead faith. You can have a dead faith and still go to heaven. But don't have a dead faith, right? That's not a good representation of Christ. All right, let's bow our heads. Have a word of prayer to Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for your word. We thank you for the clear teaching in Scripture. And God, I pray that you please help us to teach others, especially when we're reaching the lost and reaching people with the gospel, dear Lord, that we could help them to see the error of their ways if they're stuck on James chapter two, if they've been deceived by false prophets that are trying to tell them that they need works for their eternal salvation. Lord, I pray that you please help us to be able to explain that to them clearly. I pray that you would please work in their hearts and help them to understand and to see the passage for what it's really saying, Lord, and that we could combat against the false doctrine so that people aren't automatically going to passages of the Bible and corrupting what the truth is and what the meaning is behind them. Lord, help us to right those wrongs. And we love you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, we're going to sing one last song before we're dismissed. Brother Peter, could you please lead us? All right, church, if you can open up your hymnal song number 149. Jesus, that is all. Trusting him, what e'er befall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Singing if my way is clear. Praying if the path be clear. If the danger for him come. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him, what e'er befall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. On the last. Trusting him, what life shall last. Trusting him till the earth be past. Will within the jasper fall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him, what e'er befall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Amen church, great singing. Thank you so much for coming you guys. Amen church, great singing.