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Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotion, this is Day 5 of our look together through
James Chapter 2. We talked yesterday, began a talk about what James says in
verse 26, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is
dead. " And I told you yesterday, I wanted to look at the answers yesterday and
today to look at the questions about this.

Because I know many of you have questions about what James is talking about
here. Here and also up in verse 24 where he talked about Abraham being, well the
phrase he uses is justified by his faith but also by his works. What is he
talking about?

Aren't we only justified by grace? Is there any way that we can be justified by
anything that we have done? Well of course not, not before God because we're all
imperfect, we've all sinned.

It's by Jesus that we're justified. So what is James talking about here when he
says, "Faith without deeds is dead. " Let's just walk through this little by
little.

First of all, as people look at what James has to say in James Chapter 2, they
often compare it to Paul and say it looks like maybe James and Paul disagree. In
fact Martin Luther was so disturbed by this, what Paul had said about salvation
by grace alone was so important in his life, they had a very hard time with the
book of James. He actually called it the Epistle of Straw.

He couldn't come to grips with what James was talking about here. Do Paul and
James really disagree? Well if you want to do a deeper study of this, read
Romans 3.

28 and then read James Chapter 2, verses 14 and 24. And you'll see that although
they may seem to disagree at the beginning, the truth of the matter is they're
just talking about the same thing from two different perspectives because of two
different needs. It's very clear that James believes in grace.

You can look at Chapter 1, verse 21, Chapter 4, verse 6, he believes that we're
saved by grace. And it's also very clear that Paul believed in works. Not the
kind of works that save you, but the works that result from our salvation.

In Ephesians Chapter 2, verse 10, Paul talks about the fact that, well verses 8
and 9 he said that it's by grace that we're saved through faith, it's not by our
works, not by anything that we have done. But then in verse 10 he says, "For we
are his workmanship, created to do good works which God prepared beforehand. "
So Paul believed in working out what God has worked into us by grace.

Jesus believed in grace resulting in works. He talks about it all through the
scriptures, all through his teaching, that we need to have God's grace in our
lives, it's only by grace that we're saved, but that results in us living out a
new and different kind of life. What's the difference between James and Paul?

Well Paul dwells on the source of faith which is grace, and James is dwelling on
the, he's focusing on the fruit of our faith, the results of our faith, which is
good works. But they both believed in both. It's interesting that Paul uses the
expression "rich in good works" in 1 Timothy 6, 18, and James uses the
expression "rich in faith" in Chapter 2, verse 5.

They both believed in faith and works, and both believed in how they work
together. It's just a different emphasis. Paul emphasized that faith resulted in
works, and James emphasizes the works that result from faith.

Now why a different emphasis? Because they were battling different battles.
Paul, as he wrote, was battling a false teaching, and James as he wrote was
battling a false teaching.

Paul was battling legalistic believers, people who believed that if you just do
enough good things that somehow through that you would attain salvation. And
he's saying there is no way that is true. It's by grace alone that you attain
salvation.

James was battling a group of what I would call philosophical believers. They
had come to the understanding that if you just thought good thoughts about God,
just thought thoughts about faith, then somehow that would bring you to a place
of trust in God. The truth of the matter is, if I have a kind of faith that
doesn't make any difference in my life, then something is deeply wrong in my
life, and James has taken on that battle.

Because they had different battles, they used words in ways that meant different
things. When Paul talks about works, you can't be saved by work, he's talking
about the Jewish laws, the laws of the Old Testament. When James talks about
works, he's talking about a Christian lifestyle, that which results from our
faith.

Different focus, one on the root of our salvation, grace, that's Paul, the other
on the fruit of our salvation, the works that work out in our lives because
we're saved, that's James. That's why they're looking at this from different
perspectives, so there's no argument. James is not talking about a faith plus
works.

He's talking about faith that produces works. He's not saying you have to have
faith and then also do good things, and if you don't do enough good things, God
won't save you. He's saying you have to have faith, and that faith is going to
result in changes in your life, and if you don't see any changes in your life,
then you should question whether that faith is real.

Chuck Swindoll talks about this and repeats some of what we've been saying
already. He focuses on the fact that Paul is focusing on the root of faith and
James on the fruit of faith, that Paul focuses on God's part, James is focusing
on man's response. For all of us, as we talk through this, faith, genuine faith,
and what that means in my life, what that works out in my life, there's some
personal challenges here.

If I claim to be saved, on what am I basing my salvation? Is it on some emotion
I had a long time ago? Is it on some feeling that I had?

Is it on some intellectual belief in God, and it's never made one bit of
difference in my life? I've never done one thing different because I say I have
faith, never changed one thing, chosen not to do one thing. James writes to say,
"If that's where you are, you should question whether your faith is genuine.

Just attending church is not enough. Just knowing some verses in the Bible is
not enough. Faith is about trusting God, and trust changes what you do.

If I claim to be saved, on what am I basing my salvation? What evidence is there
that salvation by faith is real in my life? " Now, none of us are perfect.

All of us are still growing to become more and more like Jesus Christ. We're not
talking about perfection here, we're talking about growth. If you haven't yet
been saved, if you haven't yet crossed the line and said to Jesus Christ, "I
want to begin a relationship with you, a new relationship with you," the
question is, what are you going to base your salvation on?

Are you hoping somehow to stand before God someday and have enough good work to
balance out the bad works in your life, and you'll be saved based on that?
That's not salvation. Are you hoping to have some good thoughts about faith to
get you to a place where you think, "Well, maybe God's going to honor me now.

" Even though you've not trusted Him in your life, at least you've gone to
church and you've thought some about Jesus. James is writing to say, "That won't
save you either. Genuine faith is trust in God, and genuine trust in God changes
your life.

" As I talk through this, I think to most of us this makes sense, the way that
Paul talks about it and James talks about it. For most people that I talk to in
this understanding of it, James, too, is talking about when he talks about faith
and works. The most difficult verse to understand is verse 24.

Verse 24, as James is talking about Abraham, he says, "So you see that Abraham
was justified by his faith and also justified by his works. " We read that and
we think, "What in the world is he talking about? " We try to come to grips with
that.

Some people in trying to understand what that means say, "Well, what James is
talking about here is being justified before men. He was justified before God by
his faith in God. He was justified before men.

Men saw his faith by what he did. " That's a possibility, but that's a stretch.
Is that really what James is talking about here?

I more lean towards the idea that this phrase justified by works, you have to
understand what it means in its context. Different words, even theological
words, can mean different things in different contexts. If I take the words hot
dog and a ball game and I go to a vendor and I say, "I want a hot dog," that
vendor knows what I mean.

If I look at it on the field and I see someone who's showing off their abilities
and I say, "He is a hot dog," everybody around me knows what that means. It's
the same words. They just mean different things.

Now, I know hot dog is not a theological term, but I think you know where I'm
going here. Justified by works, what does that mean? When Paul says justified by
works, he's talking about believing that what you do will save you and he says,
"We are not ever justified by our works.

You can never believe that what you do will save you. " How could that happen?
We're all imperfect and God is holy.

God is perfect. What I do cannot bring me to salvation. What Jesus has done for
me, that's what brings me salvation.

When Paul says justified by works, he's talking about believing that what you do
will save you. When Paul says justified by works, he's talking about believing
you can be saved without it impacting what you do. Some belief that there is
some kind of salvation out there that's not going to make one bit of difference
in my life and he's saying, "No.

You're going to see it somehow. You're going to see it in a person's life. "
Same phrase used in a different context.

This teaching of the fact that what we believe is going to change who we are,
this isn't unique to James. Jesus talked about it. Jesus talked about both sides
of this, the grace side and the work side.

Jesus, when he talked about works, the fruit in our life that results from our
faith, says in the Sermon on the Mount, "By their fruit you shall know them. "
You're going to see it in a person's life, but he also said to those who relied
only on their good works for salvation, the people they fed, the good things
they've done, he said, "If that's all you've got, at the end I'm going to say,
'Depart from me, for I never knew you. I wanted a relationship with you.

'" You see, genuine faith is a faith that makes a difference in my life. Let me
come to one final question and then we'll pray together. As a believer in Jesus
Christ, if you're already a believer and you're listening to this, one of the
things I'm sure you're thinking is, "Is there enough evidence in my life?

I see the imperfections. I see the sins. I see the fact that sometimes I take
three steps forward and two steps back and I wonder if I'm really growing some
days.

Do I have genuine faith in Jesus Christ? " Well, here's the question. Do you
trust him and is that trust in him changing your life?

Do you have a love for God's Word that wasn't there before? Do you have a
dependence on prayer that wasn't there before? Do you relate to people
differently?

I know you're not perfect yet. We're never going to get there on this planet,
but are you changing? Are different things happening in your life?

If you find yourself not being able to see evidence for the faith that you put
in Jesus Christ in your life, one of two things is happening. Either that faith
wasn't genuine in the first place. It was just an intellectual idea or you're
saying no to the promptings of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis, on a constant
basis.

Whatever the reason, the answer is the same. Trust Jesus Christ. Trust him in a
new and fresh way right now.

In fact, as we pray, I want to pray that we do just that. Would you pray with
me? And if you're thinking, I'm not sure I have a genuine faith, settle it right
now.

Say to Jesus Christ, Jesus, I want to have genuine faith in you, the kind of
faith that changes who I am. I'd like to become perfect overnight. I know that
won't happen, but I do want to be growing.

Different relationships, different passions, different interests, different
priorities. Jesus Christ changed me, forgive me, and then grow me to be the
person you want me to be. And if you are seeing fruit, if you are seeing
difference in your life because of Jesus, thank him.

Take a minute to say thank you, Jesus, for what you're doing that I could never
do. Thank you for the difference that faith makes in my life on a daily basis.
In your name I pray, amen.

Join us next week. We're going to take a look together at James chapter three.