Show Me Your FaithJames 2:14–26

Opening prayer 23:03

God, you are awesome. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that you are holy. Thank you that there is a reason for us to be here, that we are not just gathering to fill an hour of our time, but that you are truly who you say you are. You are holy. You are perfect. You are almighty. You are the great I Am. And Lord, we want to worship you today.

God, I pray that as we study from the book of James this morning, it would become alive and new in our minds. Even if we have read this Scripture a thousand times, I pray that the Holy Spirit would poke and prod and teach this morning. And if it is the first time we have heard this Scripture, God, I thank you for your Word, that it is alive and new, and that it can do everything it says it can do, which is teach and correct and pierce, even down to the marrow in our bones. So God, today I pray that you would just push me aside. I am so unworthy to even mention your name. Today, God, I ask that your Holy Spirit be our teacher. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Why James today 24:15

Awesome. As you may have figured out from that prayer, we are going to be in the book of James today. I am going to be real transparent with you. I was excited. I had all of 2026 planned out for the rest of the year, and everything was going to go great. We were supposed to finish Ruth last week, so that this week we could do something specifically for the Ministry Fair, and then we could plan a short series leading up to Thanksgiving. And God had different plans.

So I am not quite sure when I am going to finish Ruth, to be honest with you. I have one more sermon in Ruth, and it is the sermon I have been waiting to preach the entire time through Ruth, but the Holy Spirit has not quite told me how we are going to get that across. So we are going to pause in Ruth for now, at least. Today we are going to be in James chapter 2, starting in verse 14, reading verses 14 through 26. I am going to read from the New King James Version, which might sound a little different from your version, but just do your best to follow along. Otherwise, the words are on the screen behind me.

Reading the passage 25:49

[Pastor Tim reads James 2:14–26 from the New King James Version.]

Pointing, pointing, pointing, right? Let’s go back and break it down.

Verse 14: the word “says” 27:44

[Reads James 2:14.]

The word “says” in this verse is the hinge of the entire passage. Everything we read today hinges on this word. We need to understand it right up front, before we go anywhere else.

It is so important to understand that James is not, and I will say it one more time with all capital letters, NOT contrasting faith and works. That is not what is happening in this Scripture. It sounds like it, because he says faith without works is dead. Can you really be saved by faith? You have faith, so show me your faith, and I will show you my faith by my works. It sounds like he is contrasting faith and works, as if they work separately and not together. But that is not what he is doing. He is contrasting real faith with claimed faith.

Notice what it says: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” The person says that they have faith. If you understand that, it will help you understand the entire passage.

“Can faith save him?” 29:48

He says he has faith, and then James asks an interesting question: can faith save him? The simple answer is yes. Faith can save him. We are saved by faith. But remember, he is not contrasting faith and works. He is contrasting genuine faith with make-believe, claimed faith.

In the Greek there is an article here, and it literally means “the faith.” Can the faith save him, if he says he has faith? Most commentators actually read it as “that faith.” If a man says he has faith but does not have works, can that faith save him? In fact, the ESV, NIV, and NASB all reflect this and say, “Can that faith save him?” or “Can such faith save him?” So it is not just “Can faith save him?” Can that faith, without action, really save him?

The question is introduced with a Greek particle, mē, which signals that the expected answer is no. So when he asks the question, he is asking it with the reader already expecting to say no. The best way I can describe this is with French. When you ask a question in French, you can start it with the phrase est-ce que, and having that preface in front tells the reader that whatever is coming next is a question. The same thing is happening here, except it is not signaling that it is a question. It is signaling that the answer is no. That was a weird way to explain it. I hope it made sense.

So, does it profit my brother when someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? No, it cannot. That is what James is saying in verse 14. And the word “save” here refers to final salvation, when we stand before God in judgment. He is saying your faith without evidence is not going to save you.

Verses 15 and 16: the brother or sister in need 33:12

[Reads James 2:15–16.]

If your brother or sister is in need, if they are “naked,” that usually means poorly clothed, not fully nude. They are lacking an outer garment, like a winter coat in the cold. If someone is outside, shaking, without a coat or the proper clothing, and you say to them, “Good luck. Go find a jacket. Go be warm,” what good is that?

Or “destitute of daily food.” That is not just skipping lunch. It is not, “Oh man, I’m hungry, I worked through lunch today.” He is saying they do not have any food for today, and they probably will not have any tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. That also echoes the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” If they have no food and you just say, “Good luck, go get food, I hope McDonald’s has a couple of scraps for you,” is that good? No. These are supposed to be our brothers. And notice James calls them sisters, too. He means fellow believers, and he is including women explicitly, which is notable and does not happen all the time in Scripture.

Just like with Ruth and Naomi, who needed help. If people had not helped Ruth and Naomi, what kind of faith would that have been? Do not just tell them, “Depart in peace.” If you do not know, “depart in peace” is the standard Jewish farewell. It means “go in shalom.” It is a religious-sounding, polite blessing. It sounds good: “God bless you. Go in peace.” The words are kind, but the hands are empty. It is not enough to use kind words. When our hands are empty, we also need to be moving forward.

This also echoes 1 John 3:17–18.

[Reads 1 John 3:17–18.]

James’s point is that words without action do nothing for the cold, hungry person. In the same way, faith without works does nothing for the soul. It is not helpful at all. If we do not put our faith into action, our spiritual life is dead.

Verse 17: faith that is dead 37:19

[Reads James 2:17.]

Faith alone, isolated, by itself, is dead. Dead. It is not weak faith. It is not an immature Christian. Like I said, it is not an immature faith. It is dead. Just as a corpse looks like a person but has no life, faith without works is a spiritual corpse. It looks like a spiritual being because it says it has faith, but it does not have the Spirit behind it. Therefore, it is dead. Not immature, not weak. Dead. This faith looks like faith. They say the right things, but it has no life.

Verse 18: the objector 38:10

[Reads James 2:18.]

Just so you know, this is widely considered the hardest verse in the letter to interpret, mostly because the original Greek had no quotation marks, so it is unclear where the objector’s words end. The most likely reading is this: the objector is proposing that faith and works are separate gifts. Different people have different strengths. You are a faith person, I am a works person, and both are fine. James rejects that thought. He says you cannot show faith apart from works, but works reveal faith. This is not an either-or deal.

James’s response is, “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Faith is invisible. The only way anyone can see it is through what we do. You have to do it in order to make faith visible.

Verse 19: even the demons believe 39:48

[Reads James 2:19.]

“There is one God.” This is the heart of the Shema, a daily prayer that Jews recite twice a day. So James is calling out their own language. You say there is one God. You recite the Shema twice a day. Congratulations. I love this part: James is being sarcastic. Good for you, you can recite something twice a day. That is not what matters. “You do well.” Good for you. Even the demons believe, and they tremble. They shudder. The hair stands up on the back of their necks at the name of Jesus.

The point James is making is quite simple. This is going to sound crazy coming from a pastor, but demons have perfect theology about God. Their doctrine is correct. Compare Mark 1:24, where the demon says, “I know who You are, the Holy One of God!” Yet they are still lost.

You do not think Satan was there when Jesus was being nailed to the cross? Guys, he is not in hell. Read your Scriptures. Isaiah says that when he was cast out of heaven, he was thrown down to the earth. He does not go to the lake of fire until Revelation 20. Don’t you think he would have been there? He tempted Jesus on top of the mountain. He is not going to miss the crucifixion. The demons were there for creation. They know who God is. Their doctrine is correct. The point is that correct belief is not saving faith.

The demons believe and tremble, but at least the demons tremble. The person in verse 14 does not even do that. They are not scared. They do not have the fear, the reverence, of God. At least the demons have that. My friends, saving faith includes knowledge and agreement, but it also includes a third thing the demons do not have, which is personal trust. Demons have the first two, knowledge and agreement, but they do not have personal trust.

Verses 20 to 22: Abraham 43:44

[Reads James 2:20.]

“Foolish” here literally means “empty.” Do you want to know, O empty man, one who does not really have faith, that faith without works is dead?

Then in verses 21 through 24 we jump into Abraham.

[Reads James 2:21–24.]

Look at verse 22 again: faith was working together with his works. Working together. Faith and works cooperated. They are not two separate things. Faith was the engine, and the works were the motion. When you have faith, that is the engine. Faith is what starts you in the right place and puts you in the right direction. The works are the motion. They are the proof that your faith is working, your faith actually being lived out in your daily life. You cannot have one without the other.

James calls up the story of Abraham very specifically. Abraham was the supreme hero of the Jewish faith. He is the father of the faith. When Jews talk about it, it is usually Moses and Abraham and Elijah, but Abraham is the start: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jewish tradition counted ten tests of Abraham, with Genesis 22 as the greatest. If you do not know Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to take his son, his promised son, the son he had waited so long for, born when Abraham was 100 years old. The son is old enough to carry his own wood for the altar. Abraham takes him up the mountain and tells his servants, “Stay here. The boy and I are going further.” He starts building the altar, sets his son up, and begins to bind him, because God told him, “I want you to sacrifice the most important thing in the world to me.” And as Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, God stops him.

James is saying, don’t you see? It was his most beloved son, his most prized possession, and Abraham was willing to do whatever it took. His actions, the walking, the binding, all of that is what makes him great. Faith and works work together.

Verses 23 and 24: counted righteous 47:47

[Reads James 2:23–24.]

He is quoting Genesis 15:6 here, and this is crucial. Abraham was declared righteous in Genesis 15, by believing the promise of a son, long before Genesis 22 ever happened. The faith made him righteous. The works proved his faith.

“Faith only” in verse 24 means the faith James has been describing: claimed, verbal, demon-level faith, not trusting faith. “Justified” here means shown to be righteous, or vindicated. Abraham’s works demonstrated, before God and people, that he truly was righteous. So he gives Abraham as an example, the Jewish father.

Verse 25: Rahab 49:19

Then he uses a different example, the opposite example, if you will.

[Reads James 2:25.]

This happens in Joshua 2 and Joshua 6. Rahab hid two of Israel’s spies when they came into Jericho. When the king’s men came to find them, she sent the spies out a completely different way. Then she tied a scarlet rope to her window, and she and her household were spared when Israel took over Jericho.

The contrast with Abraham, I believe, is deliberate. He was the father of the Jewish people. She was a Canaanite, an enemy. He was a man. She was a woman. He was an honored patriarch. She was a prostitute. He was in the covenant. She was living outside of it. James is saying that from the most respected person in Israel’s history to the least likely, living faith looks the same. It has action.

Verse 26: a body without breath 50:53

He finishes with verse 26.

[Reads James 2:26.]

In Genesis 2:7, Scripture says that God breathed into man the breath of life. A body without breath is a corpse. And my friends, your faith without works is a rotten, stinky, decaying corpse.

Let’s not paint it any other way. Let’s not make ourselves feel better by saying, “I’m just having an immature faith right now.” No. We have to show our faith by our works. My friends, it is not enough to come on Sunday, sit here, sing five songs, listen to me speak, and then go home and live your life as you see fit, and come back next Sunday to sit in the same pew, hear five different songs and a slightly different sermon from me, and go home and do the same thing over and over again. If that is your life, can I be honest? It stinks like a rotten corpse. That is not the life we are called to. What did Jesus say? “I came that you might have life, and have it to the fullest.” A rotten corpse is not a life to the fullest.

What is the point? 52:34

So what is the point today? One of them is pretty obvious, but let’s start with the first. You need to examine your faith. Every single one of you, we all need to examine our faith and see: is it living? Are you putting your money where your mouth is? You know how you can know it is living? When you see the fruit. That is what Jesus said. It is living when you see fruit.

Put your faith out there with your actions, with your works. Be willing to say something. Be willing to do something. Be willing to step up and fill a role that needs to be filled. Be willing to get out of your comfort zone. Be willing to use the gifts and talents God has already given you to share the good news, to help make somebody’s life better, to help point them to Jesus.

You all do not have to be cage fighters. That was my calling. Some of you, it is quilting, and the quilts that get made are incredible. I hear stories from the foster care organization about how much of a blessing it is to these young families, these babies who now have a nice warm quilt that Harriet and Sandy and others have been praying over as they quilt these incredibly beautiful quilts. My friends, that is an alive faith. I do not know what your gifts and talents specifically are, but I am here to tell you that God gave them to you for a reason, so that you can use them to expand his kingdom. You are a steward of the gift and talent God gave you.

The Ministry Fair 54:59

My second point today is that we will be having a Ministry Fair, where you can see some real ways to put your faith into action. My request for you this morning is twofold. As you walk, or before, pray that God would reveal what he wants from you, not what you want, but what he wants from you. And second, pray for the boldness to step up.

Scripture says we are one body. One body has one mouth, two eyes, two ears, ten fingers, ten toes, two legs, two arms. Not everybody is supposed to be the mouth. Some people need to be a pinky finger. Some people need to be a leg. Some people need to be a hand. Pray for the boldness, and as you walk through those tables, ask where God can use you.

Closing prayer 56:10

God, thank you for your Word. Thank you for James, and for the explicit way he gets his message across. There is no question about what he is trying to say. I pray that we would be a church of action, not a church that just says, “Oh, you’re cold and you don’t have food. Go be warm and find some food.” Instead, God, we want to say, “Oh, you have a need. Let us help you. Let us walk beside you. Let us get the Word of God out.” God, we do not want to be a church that says we have faith. We want to be a church that demonstrates our faith with our works. Give us the boldness. Show us where you want us to be, and help us to examine our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.