Sermon Tone Analysis

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2:14

Faith/Works

continues the theme of testing of faith… proving it genuine.

[ question answered is this: What is Genuine Faith??]

Point 1: God tests us though trials in life.

seek the Wisdom of God to respond to trials.

[IN FAITH] else doubleminded, unstable.

seek the Wisdom of God [IN FAITH] else doubleminded, unstable.

produces steadfastness… perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

testing from God does not include temptations that come from within (our own desires)

receive with meekness (humility) the implanted word [ABLE to save your souls] 1:21

Hearing word and Doing word [else deceiving yourself] 1:22

idea is: change your heart; transform your mind… SPIRIT of God/Christ… we are different… a new creation in/under/about Christ… not under law.

Example - Using Partiality to make very explicit that no one can keep perfect the royal law “love neighbor as yourself”… Who can keep that perfectly all the time?

Theology.

POINT is LIVE as one united with Christ.

One who has been given Grace and Mercy.

Christ is your righteousness… God showed you mercy; YOU show mercy.

Obey Christ’s commands.

This, James says, shows a heart made right by God.

James, in a sense, proposes for us a “test” by which we can see the genuineness of faith: deeds of obedience to the will of God.

James, in a sense, proposes for us in these verses a “test” by which we determine the genuineness of faith: deeds of obedience to the will of God.

Returns to idea of tests to perfect/make faith complete.

this is an explicit test of faith...

our merciful attitude and actions will count as evidence of the presence of Christ within us.

And it is on the basis of this union with the One who perfectly fulfilled the law for us that we can have confidence of vindication at the judgment.

topic:

James 2:14

“Says he has faith” [James not buying what the guy is selling] James is not arguing that works must be added to faith.

His point, rather, is that genuine biblical faith [belief/trust] will inevitably be characterized by works.

Ephesians

Good tree / Bad tree.

illustration:

illustration:

Who has that benefitted?

The brother or sister?

You? God?

What profit is it to anyone?

Where is compassion?

loving-kindness?

mercy?

Empty words.

Inanimate.

Without life.

Useless.

Fruitless Tree.

(destructive in nature: consider ‘thoughts and prayers’)

[Maybe all-too-typical example]

conclusion [moral of the story]:

Not admonishing us that works must accompany our faith.

Contrasting 2 faiths.

One faith is inherently defective and thus produces no works.

The other Genuine faith, does produce action.

diatribe… the “imaginary” objector / represents at least a known (if not prominent) argument:

“I disagree!”

argument (in 18a) is that faith and works are separate… the crux of James trouble.

James answers in 18b-19:

2:18

James 2:18

19 identifies as an intellectual “belief” ; someone able/willing to recite schema.

( Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.)

sSimilar to someone today saying “Jesus is Lord!” Good… you do well.

“It is a good thing to possess an accurate theology, but it is unsatisfactory unless that good theology also possesses us.”

2 Illustrations:

“scripture was fulfilled” (/22) “Abraham justified by faith” NOT works.

Works OF faith were prepared beforehand for us by God.

[] Obedience to God/Christ

Heb 11:8

Paul&James looking at justification from different vantage points.

So “justify” in Paul refers to how a person gets into relationship with God, while in James it connotes what that relationship must ultimately look like to receive God’s final approval.

Vindicate/Demonstrate to be right.

While not nearly as well attested as the former meaning, this sense of “justify” is often attributed to the verb in James.

On this reading, James would be claiming that Abraham was “shown to be right” by his actions: his prior acceptance by God (), the “righteousness” that he had already attained by faith, was demonstrated in his deeds of obedience.

James 2:21-2

emphasis is on whole faith / complete faith / fulfilled-complete faith

James 2:

core argument in v24.

she made her confession of faith; gave up loyalty to Jericho (I do not know…) and sided with Israel and God ( - I know LORD has given you the land.)

She had shown kindness.

James would say (in fact he did say “in the same way” v25): her faith was made complete in her “going all in” with the Israelites.

• faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (v.

17)

• faith without deeds is useless (v.

20)

• faith without deeds is dead (v.

26)

Luther, preface to Romans

O it is a living, busy active mighty thing, this faith.

It is impossible for it not to be doing good things incessantly.

It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done this, and is constantly doing them.

Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever.

He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are.

Yet he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works.