Embracing a Faith that Works // James 2

JAMES 2 // Embracing Faith

In the same way that a flashlight needs batteries to provide light, our faith needs something to power it. Just as the batteries serve as the energy source for the flashlight, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ serves as the power source for our faith.

The batteries in a flashlight are specifically designed to fit and function properly within the flashlight. Similarly, our faith needs the right kind of "batteries" to be effective. It is important to note that using the right kind of batteries is crucial. Using counterfeit or incompatible or dead batteries in a flashlight can result in malfunction or no light at all.

James in chapter 2 says you need to remove the dead batteries of your faith and replace them with the right batteries.

 

#1.  True Faith REMOVES PARTIALITY (2:1-4):  Partiality does not reflect the Glory of God and grieves the Grace of God.

 

God listens to a life of mercy over a life of empty religious duty.

 

JESUS WAS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS:

• He was the most merciful human being who ever lived.
• He reached out to the sick and healed them.
• He reached out to the crippled and gave them legs to walk.
• He healed the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the mouths of the dumb.
• He found prostitutes and tax collectors and those that were debauched and drunken, and He drew them into the circle of His love and redeemed them and set them on their feet.
• He took the lonely and made them feel loved.
• He took little children and gathered them into His arms and loved them.
• Never was there a person on the face of the earth with the mercy of this One.
• Once a funeral procession came by and He saw a mother weeping because her son was dead. She was already a widow, and now she had no child to care for her. Who would care? Jesus stopped the funeral procession, put His hand on the casket, and raised the child from the dead. He cared.
• In John 8 he forgave a woman taken in adultery. What mercy!

 

Partiality is another way of saying “favoritism” or “prejudice”… it produces what James calls “evil thoughts” towards other people…which means we reason and come to conclusions based on what we “think” about the person…rather than what God thinks of that person.

 

#2.  True Faith REFRAINS FROM RICHES (2:5-7)

 

THE WORLD SAYS…THE BIBLE SAYS…

• Money brings freedom…Money takes away your freedom by making you its slave
• Money brings security…It will quickly pass away and it doesn’t last
• Money is what matters…kingdom of God is what really matters
• Money is power…power comes from being filled with the Holy Spirit
• Money establishes your net worth…is based on God’s statement not your bank statement.
• Money makes you successful…Success is found in obedience to God’s word
• Money gives you options…God is who opens doors.
• Money brings happiness…this happiness is short lived and produces many times sorrows
• Money is your reward. Save it, and spend it on yourself….Give it away
• Money is your possession. Spend it on whatever you want….you are a manager of God’s resources

 

James implies that riches is when wealth is being used or resourced for personal gain at the expense of others.  // Riches is what drives human trafficking and child labor.  /// Riches is what drives Casinos and lottery tickets.  //Its what fuels credit cards and interest rates.//  Riches is what drives unethical and immoral practices to gain advantage over others without accountability.  // Riches undermine your integrity and your character.  //Riches is the outlet of manipulative marketing tactics, deceptive advertising and  false claims about the profit of products that in the end will harm you. 

 

#3. True Faith REFLECTS MERCY (2:8-13):  The Law reveals to us that no one is perfect and there is freedom in mercy.

 

• James would say that you do well if you love your neighbor as yourself.    
• James would say that you do well if you show the same kind of mercy to others that you have been shown.
• James would say in Chapter 1 that true faith is forged in the trial of personal adversity and affliction, but now in Chapter 2 he would say that true faith is also forged in our response to the adversity and affliction that is found in the life of our neighbor.
• James would say that society that eager to take people to the JUDGMENT SEAT so they get what they deserve…. we call this JUSTICE…BUT GOD wants us to bring people to the MERCY SEAT so they will find mercy and freedom!

 

THE WORLD IS FULL OF A DARK NOISE.  Listening to the world around us, we couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that the volume is rising day by day, and we’ve noticed that most of what gets amplified—most of the stuff loud enough to be heard—is hate, anger, and prejudice. And when hate gets amplified, too often we try to drown it out with even louder hate from a different perspective. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s one Jesus dealt with 2000 years ago. But Jesus didn’t add to the noise, he responded to it with quiet and deliberate acts of love, and we’re still talking about it 2000 years later.

 

Scripture: Col. 3:13 New Living Translation (NLT)

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

 

Sometimes people need a second chance - over and over again!!

James is saying that equal rights without mercy means this = we would all get what we deserve…

for all have sinned and have earned the wages of sin which is death - eternal death.

 

#4. True Faith REPRESENTS COMPASSION (2:14-26)

 

• • • Faith is meant to be PROFITABLE— are we offering a “cheap” version of faith that does not reflect the “glorious riches of our inheritance”? James is clear here, that the profit of our faith is meant to be used for the needs of others.  (Matthew 25) — Our faith is meant to please Jesus…without faith it is impossible to please God…but if your faith is dead it can bring deep displeasure to God…even positioning you for eternal judgment…

 

• • • Faith moves beyond INTELLECT and EMOTION. — (Example of the Demons). They know God, they are even moved in fear of God, but they disobeyed the purpose that God created them for. Faith is not the lightbulb that goes off in our head, oh yeah that makes sense, faith is not a lightbulb, its a flashlight…and faith is not butterflies in our stomach or goosebumps on arms…it moves beyond this…

 

• • • Faith COOPERATES with God’s Plan for salvation. — When we cooperate in Faith and Works with God’s plan; God will take us places and move us forward into the purposes and plans He has for us…otherwise we just keep moving in circles…

 

In the Gospel of John chapter one, we find that Grace and Truth came through Christ and brought light into the world….Grace that was filled with mercy…and truth that was taught with action …In Matthew 5, Jesus tells us our Faith is meant to shine and bear witness to the Light of Christ….that every human being would have the right to this light…James would say replace the dead batteries of prejudice and pride and riches and wealth, with fresh new batteries of Grace and truth, mercy and compassion…for a faith that WORKS will produce a faith that LIVES!.