Fake Faith vs. Real Faith (James 2:14-26)

I want you to take your Bibles with me and turn to the book of James, chapter 2. We are going to cover a big section of scripture tonight, and we are really going to start moving through this book.

The topic of the message tonight is “fake faith.”

The town we we lived in in Tennessee, Athens, is a little smaller than Mattoon. The county down there is smaller than Coles County by a lot. Yet when we were there, there were 86 Baptist churches in our county. 86!

Here is the crazy thing: There were also huge groups of Pentecostal and Methodist churches in the area. We had a Methodist college in town, and the headquarters for one branch of the Church of God was right down the road, so I mean there were churches everywhere! Sometimes it seemed like there were more churches than people!

And that meant that it was almost impossible to find people in the area who didn’t have a church background. Almost everyone had a baptism story, was related to some pastor, or was a deacon at some church at some time.

But here is the thing that really bothered me: So much of it was obviously fake. You would think in such a Christian town that drugs wouldn’t be a problem; you’d think there would be no bars; you would think that teen pregnancy rates would be very low; you would think that the golf courses would be empty on Sunday, but you would think wrong.

Almost everyone could give a “profession of faith,” but so much of it seemed fake.

That’s what this second half of the chapter is about. It’s about fake faith—useless, unfinished, dead faith; faith that is all talk and no substance; faith that makes no difference in your own life and in the life of the community.

Before I get into the text, I want to make three very important points about this passage because it’s easy to get confused in this passage:

1. This passage is talking about the nature of faith, not about the way of salvation.

This passage almost seems to contradict what other books, like Galatians and Romans, say about salvation. It seems to be saying that you are saved by works.

But that isn’t what it is saying at all. It’s not really talking about salvation. We are saved by grace through faith. Our salvation is God’s work, not ours.

What it’s talking about—and only what it is talking about—is the nature of faith. What faith is real and what faith is fake.

It’s really, really important that you understand that this ISN’T A SALVATION PASSAGE.

A second thing that is important to remember is...

2. There is a difference between what James calls deeds of faith and what Paul calls works of the law.

The Bible is very, very, clear that you aren’t saved by the works of the law. There are literally two whole books in the New Testament that make that point (Romans and Galatians), as well as lots of scripture in other books in the New Testament. Even the book of James makes that point (that’s what we talked about last week).

But as you are going to see, this passage talks about “being justified by works.” That’s confusing.

Remember: This is talking about proving that your faith is real, not about being saved. This is talking about being justified to others as much as it is talking about being justified to God. It’s about showing to others that your faith isn’t fake faith.

So there is a difference between works of faith and works of the law. Works of faith are things we do because we believe the Gospel and because God has changed our life. They are NOT things we do in order to get saved and to earn God’s favor.

Works of the law, on the other hand, are things we do to try to earn God’s favor in Salvation.

So works of faith are for after salvation, while works of the law are works to earn salvation.

One more thing...

3. This passage isn’t promoting salvation by works, but salvation that works.

That’s really the important distinction here. What this is saying is that talk is cheap. Anyone can say they are saved. Anyone can say they have believed the gospel. Anyone can say they have faith.

And there are no works required for salvation. It’s all about God’s work. It’s all about what Jesus did on the cross.

”For by grace are ye saved through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

So let’s be clear. Let me say this for the fifteenth time already, and I haven’t even read the text yet: You are not saved by works. There are no works required for salvation.

But there is another thing we also have to recognize, and that is when a person does get saved—again, not by works—God changes them. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. The Holy Spirit moves in. They are born again. They are regenerated.

And if you are regenerated (born again), then you are going to have some fruit show up in your life.

So we don’t believe in salvation by works, but the Bible (and this passage) clearly teaches salvation that works.

That’s enough introductory stuff. That’s enough about what this text ISN’T saying. Let’s read the text and talk about what it IS saying.

James 2:14-26:

”14 What [doth it] profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 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? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

”18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 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. 24 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 and ask God’s blessing on the sermon tonight.

I believe what this passage is about is how to spot fake faith; how to spot religious posers; how to spot those who are only talking but who are not walking.

That’s fake faith. I think James contrasts fake faith with real faith here and lets us know about three differences.

So three points tonight and all of them are a contrast between fake faith and real faith:

The first difference is...

1. Fake faith is useless, but real faith makes a difference.

Notice the question at the beginning of verse 14 and the end of verse 16:

”What doth it profit?”

In other words: What’s the point? What’s the use?

In this section, it talks about someone who says to a poor person in the church—someone who cannot even eat because he’s starving—be warmed and fillled and depart in peace, but you don’t DO anything to help that person, what’s the point? What’s the use? It’s just talk. It makes no difference whatsoever.

That’s the first difference between fake faith and real faith. Fake faith is just vain words. Fake faith is just posturing. Real faith makes a difference. Real faith makes a dent.

There is a furniture store we really like to go to in St. Louis called IKEA. They are these huge stores with a restaurant and giant displays you can walk through, and my favorite section is always the desk and office section.

So I’ll be walking through the desk and office section at IKEA, and I’ll be sitting in all these cool chairs at all these cool fancy display desks. Then my hands will move to the computer on the desk, and it’s nothing. It’s literally a cardboard cutout of a computer. How useless!

Fake faith is like a costume weapon. It might look convincing at a glance, but it doesn’t do anything and makes no difference.

Fake faith is like a hologram. It looks convincing, but it can’t move anything.

Real faith, by contrast, does make a difference. It makes a difference in your life, and it makes a difference in the lives of people you meet. Real faith might not be flashy, but it’s real. It’s not all talk; it’s action.

Fake faith will say, “I’m a Christian.” Real faith will actually go to church. Fake faith will say, “I want to serve God and help people.” Real faith will actually teach a Sunday school lesson or help in Vacation Bible School.

Talk is cheap. Look at verses 19-20. Anyone can say they believe the basic doctrines of the Bible. Even the demons believe the basic doctrines of the Bible, but how are those doctrines making a difference in you and through you?

Real faith makes a difference.

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A second thing we see in this passage about the difference between real faith and fake faith is...

2. Fake faith is unfinished, but real faith follows through.

In verses 21-24, it talks about Abraham and Isaac—that famous story where God told Abraham to offer his son, his only son Isaac. It stands as one of the most amazing acts of faith in the whole Bible.

And notice what verse 22 says:

”Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.”

The word “perfect” in the Bible rarely means “perfect” as we use it today. Most of the time, it means “complete,” “finished,” or “mature.”

Anybody can say they believe anything. It’s the easiest thing in the world to profess faith in some thing, but faith is unfinished until it is acted on.

Read the great “Hall of Faith” passage in Hebrews 11 sometime. Not one of those people are commended because they believed the right things. They did believe the right things, but it wasn’t until their faith turned into faith-driven action did they become commendable.

Think about it this way: I could say something like, “The building is on fire!” And you could say, “Amen, preacher! Yes, we believe it! The building is on fire!” But if you stay in your seats, do you really believe it? Is your faith in that statement real? If you really believed it, you would live it. You would rush downstairs and get the kids out of the nursery, and you would rush outside and call 911.

Faith, when it is real, doesn’t get aborted before it’s complete. It follows through with action.

James has already told us ”Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (1:22).

You can say you believe, but if it doesn’t actually affect your life—if it doesn’t actually turn into action at some point—isn’t that kind of self-deception?

Fake faith is useless, fake faith is unfinished, and one more thing...

3. Fake faith is unanimated (dead), but real faith is alive.

Twice in this passage it talks about dead faith. Verse 17 says:

”Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

And verse 26 says:

”For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

All of us, no doubt, have been to funerals, and we’ve had to look at someone we knew in a casket. It’s a weird and morbid thing because we know they aren’t really there. It’s just their shell. It’s just their body. Their soul and their spirit are elsewhere.

That’s the picture here. Someone whose faith is all talk and no action has unanimated faith. The shell might be there, but there is no life in it.

Tying it all together

The point of all of these pictures is the same: Real faith is going to act. Real faith isn’t just talk. It follows through to action. There is life in it. It is visible. It makes a difference.

James is teaching us in this book that if we really believe that we’ve been saved by grace by the free gift of God, we really ought to be giving to others.

If we really believe that we’ve been saved by grace, our language is going to be different. We are going to let God control our hearts, and that’s going to show in our tongues.

If we really have faith in what the Bible teaches, it’s going to change our relationship to this wicked world.

There are going to be visible displays of our faith.

Now listen, I don’t think this passage was intended for us to use as a measuring stick for other people. This is not for judging the fakeness of other people’s faith. I think this was intended for measuring our own faith.

And it’s a good passage for that. It’s a good passage for showing us when our own faith is kind of fake. But what is the solution? Is it to try harder? Is it to put more effort into it?

I don’t think so. I don’t think that helps at all.

Turn back a few pages to Hebrews 12. This is a continuation of the passage I mentioned earlier. The great “Hall of Faith” passage tells us about how faith moved Abraham, Moses, and so many others to do great things for God.

And you would think that Hebrews 11 would end with a command such as, “Go and do likewise,” or “You go and be great like Moses and Abraham,” but it doesn’t. Look at how this passage ends in Hebrews 12:1.

”Wherefore seeing we also are compasses about with so great a cloud of witnesses”

So it’s using a racing metaphor here. We are in a race—a marathon—and these people in Hebrews 11 are cheering us on. They’ve already run their race. They are cheering us on in our faith.

Let’s keep reading:

”Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

So we have to run our race. We have our own faith race to run, and we can’t be beset with sin and weights. We aren’t going to make it through this marathon if we are carrying a backpack full of rocks.

But I want you to notice the next phrase:

”Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Do you know how we make our faith real? How we make it alive? We keep looking to Jesus.

 
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace