James 2:14-26

Bringing the sermon home:

James concluded the prior section on the sin of showing partiality with a very challenging word about the absolute necessity of our lives being marked by merciful concern for others, for the final judgment that awaits us all will be “without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.” James is laboring to show that the biggest danger facing the soul of every professing Christian is not some external threat, but rather internal self-deception. This letter has been written and preserved by God for millennia for our instruction, and thus we must take these matters to heart.

Nothing that James writes contradicts the message of the gospel that we find elsewhere in Scripture about the righteousness of Christ being received through faith and not by works (e.g., Romans 3:28). While it’s true that we are saved by faith alone, the faith that saves is never alone: it is a living faith that breathes out works (i.e., loving acts of obedience). May none among our ranks persist in self-deception, but instead may we all fully entrust ourselves to the saving grasp of our Savior (like putting on a parachute and jumping) and may this living faith increasingly bear the signs of life.

Sermon Outline:

1. The faith that saves does good to others. (vv. 14-18)
2. The faith that saves is more than mere belief in the truth. (v. 19)
3. The faith that saves is made evident in obedient action. (vv. 20-26)