James 2:14-26
I am continuing the sermon from this morning. Faith without works is dead. If you haven’t seen that sermon, please watch that one. As this is a continuation. We’re looking closely at the Bible. We’re looking closely at James Chapter 2.
James 2:14
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Look closely at the verse and don’t skip any words. “What doth it profit, my brethren?” We’re talking about profit. Profit means gain, advantage, improve, or benefit. Keep that in mind as we continue. The Bible says, “What doth it PROFIT, my brethren?”
A Man “Says” That He Has Faith
The next part says, “Though a man say he hath faith.” This man says that he has faith. Does he have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? The man says that he has faith. Does he? I don’t know. The man is saying he has faith.
The next part of the verse says, “and have not works?” This man says that he has faith but he doesn’t have works. And remember, we’re talking about profit here. “What doth it profit?” A man says he has faith but he doesn’t have works. Can faith save him?
We know, from the Bible, all throughout the Bible, that faith in Jesus Christ saves a man’s soul for eternity. A man is saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ or putting faith in Jesus alone and not in his works. The Bible is very, very clear with hundreds of Scriptures and entire chapters and books of the Bible written explaining this.
Remember, this is part 2 of faith without works is dead. We went over many of those Scriptures in Part 1. We are only saved by God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not of works. There are scores of Bible verses teaching we are saved by believing “IN” Jesus Christ.
Clearest Scripture in the Bible on How to Be Saved
To me, here’s the clearest Scripture in the Bible on how to be saved. It’s easy. It’s simple.
John 6:47
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Jesus says, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Every word of God is true. That right there can’t be changed around. It can’t be interpreted differently. The moment you put all your trust in Jesus or on Jesus alone, you receive everlasting life. Hath is present tense.
Acts 16:30-31
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
There are no works required to be saved. It’s simply believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that verse is not alone. This speaks of spiritual salvation of the soul.
John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Another very clear statement. It is believing only. At the moment you believe, you are passed from death unto life. You are saved forever in that moment. It’s done.
Believing in Jesus = Salvation = Basic Doctrine
This is a very basic doctrine taught throughout the entire Bible.
Psalm 116:13
I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Romans 10:13-14
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Believing saves your soul forever. If you call upon the name of the Lord through belief, you shall be saved.
We could go over hundreds of Scriptures that say the same thing. You can search the Scriptures yourself.
Search the Scriptures and See What You Find
You can search for the following words: faith, faithful, faithfully, faithfulness, faithless, believe, believed, believers, believest, believeth, believing, trust, trusted, trustedst, trustest, trusteth, trusting.
When you search the Scriptures for those words, you will find 872 matches in 791 verses. It’s huge. The word “faith” is seen in the King James Version of the Bible 247 times. Believe is in there 143 times. Trust is in there 134 times. Believed is in there 116 times. Faithful is there 82 times.
Here’s what you do. You study through all of those Scriptures and see what you find. If that’s not enough to convince you that you are saved by faith, believing, and trusting in the Lord, then I can’t do anything else to convince you. If God’s words won’t do it, I can’t do it.
Genesis 15:6
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
There’s the first verse in the Bible with believe, faith, or trust. That’s how you start studying the Bible. There’s a quote of that one in the New Testament. Remember, the New Testament quotes the Old Testament over and over again, hundreds of times.
Back in Genesis, The People Were Saved by Faith
Where is that verse quoted in the New Testament?
Romans 4:3-5
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. What is counted for righteousness? Faith only. Faith alone. Believing only. Believing alone. Faith stands alone for salvation. Not of works.
Now, let’s say you continued that study through the entire Bible. I have many different times. And I’ve preached them all before too in church. There are others who haven’t completed that study through the entire Bible that will argue that we are saved by our works.
There is not one Scripture in the Bible that teaches our souls are saved from hell by doing good works. Not one. James Chapter 2 doesn’t say that. James Chapter doesn’t teach that.
The Promise is to Anyone Who Believes on the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 4:20-22
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Jesus Christ promises to save you right now, in a moment, if you would only believe that he can. He is telling you over and over again that he doesn’t need your help to save you. He can do it. He is the Son of God and God himself. He can do it.
Do not stagger at that promise. Instead, be strong in faith. Give glory to God and not yourself. Giving glory to God is believing in him. Giving glory to yourself is believing in your own good works. Be fully persuaded that God will make good on his promise to save you. Know that he is able to save your soul from hell.
If you believe, the righteousness of God is GIVEN to you. Not earned. Given. Not by works. By faith. By believing. By trusting in the Lord. Not by your works.
James Isn’t Teaching Salvation Through Good Works
So, would James be teaching that the salvation of our souls is through our good works? Is he teaching that if we have faith that we will have good works? No, he’s not teaching those things. He isn’t adding works to salvation before, during, or after that fact.
James 2:14
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
What doth it PROFIT? A man says he has faith but he doesn’t have works. Can faith save him? The answer isn’t there. But we know that faith in Christ can save a man’s soul. But sometimes the Bible speaks of a physical salvation and a spiritual salvation. What is this talking about?
If you have faith, but you don’t have works, will this profit someone else? Can faith save him? Save who? The man or someone else? The questions aren’t answered in this verse. So, we keep moving along. Next verse.
The Physical Salvation of a Person in Need of Clothing and Food
James 2:15-17
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.
Now we know the context of this. And it makes sense. What doth it profit, my brethren? We’re talking about profiting someone else or helping someone else. James is already writing to saved people. Unsaved people try to read the book of James and can’t understand it because they believe good works save their soul.
We know, 100% for sure, that good works don’t save your soul. We know, 100% for sure, that James isn’t teaching that good works save your soul. If he were, the entire Bible would be in error. And we wouldn’t exist. God’s words don’t have errors. James Chapter 2 is the perfect word of God.
A brother is sister is naked, no clothing, and destitute of daily food, no food. That brother or sister won’t live long. Food and clothing is needed. A naked person won’t live long out there. And they especially won’t live long without food.
James says, “And one of you.” He’s talking about the people who say they have faith. If I asked you if you have faith, what would you tell me? You would say, “Yes, I have faith.” If I needed help, would you help me? If I needed you to go soul winning with me, would you go? If you won’t go, why not? You said you have faith. Jesus told us to go. It’s a good thing. Why not? Do you have faith? You said you do. But where are the works?
“And one of you say unto them.” You say to the one who has no clothing and no food: “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled.” And you don’t give them clothing and food. You don’t give them those things that are needful to the body. We’re talking about the needs of the flesh or the body.
This Isn’t Talking About the Spiritual Salvation of That Brother or Sister
We aren’t talking about the spiritual salvation of this brother or sister. The Bible says, “Needful to the body.” You say that you have faith, but you won’t do what the Bible tells you to do? Good works are following the commandments in the Bible.
If you say you have faith but won’t give them what their body needs, what good are you doing? Your faith in Jesus Christ isn’t helping anyone. It’s not profiting anyone physically.
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James is telling these people that they have been doing this. Ye have despised the poor. You have respect of persons. You aren’t helping the poor. You’ll help the rich, but you won’t help the poor.
Faith is alone. If your faith doesn’t have works, it is alone. You can have faith. And not works. Faith is alone. Or, you can have faith and works, and then others will profit.
A Table Showing the Three Options
| Category | Salvation of the Soul | Profits Others |
| Faith | Yes | No |
| Faith and Works | Yes | Yes |
| Works | No | Yes |
Faith in Christ, on its own, as the entire Bible teaches will save your soul from hell. But it won’t profit anyone else on its own. You’re going to heaven, but you won’t follow the commandments of God to help others.
If you have faith in Christ and good works to go with it, you are saved and profiting others. That’s where you want to be. You don’t want to be anywhere else.
If you have good works but you haven’t put your faith in Jesus alone, you aren’t saved. You aren’t going to heaven. But you are helping the physical needs of others. You are profiting others. For example, Catholics will give out food and clothing. But they will take you to hell with them because they won’t put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Unsaved People Without Faith Can Feed and Clothe
They can help save your physical body for a while, but they won’t help save your soul by teaching a works based salvation. It’s very easy to see this is what the Book of James is teaching.
Faith without works is dead is not equal to you are going to hell if you don’t do good works. We cannot add to the word of God and just imply that the Bible says you must do good works to get to heaven. And the Bible goes on to explain more.
James 2:18
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.
A man says, you have faith and I have works. You have faith. I have works. Who here has faith? Please raise your hand if you have faith. Now, you have faith. Right? You’re telling me you have faith.
How Would You Show Me Your Faith?
Now, show me your faith. I’m asking any of you right now to show me your faith. How would you do it? How would you show me your faith? You can’t show it to me because I can’t see your faith. Can God see your faith, though? Yes he can. The Bible says, “And Jesus saw their faith.” God knows if you have faith in him.
For example, Nathan tells me he has faith in Jesus Christ. Well, I can’t see his faith unless he does something. What would he do? He would go out soul winning with me. And he does. He shows his faith.
“Shew me thy faith without thy works.” You can’t do it because faith is invisible. Faith alone is invisible. Faith the size of a mustard seed, just a tiny amount of faith, saves your soul forever. But I can’t see that. God can see it. So obviously this is talking about showing a man your faith by doing good works.
“And I will shew thee my faith by my works.” If you say you have faith but won’t do any good works, you can’t show anyone your faith. It’s invisible to a man, but not invisible to God.
James 2:19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
It’s good to believe there is one God. Believing there is one God doesn’t save your soul. But it’s good to believe there is a God. The devils also believe, and tremble. The devils believe. We did an entire sermon on this. Devils aren’t flesh and blood. Jesus isn’t their Savior. Jesus came in flesh and blood to save us. Not devils.
Devils Don’t Do Good Works So Don’t Look Like One of Them
Devils don’t do good works. They do deceiving works. They lie. They deceive. But they do believe Jesus is the Son of God. They aren’t saved, though. Their end is torment and they know that. “Jesus, thou Son of God? Are thou come hither to torment us before the time?” They know Jesus isn’t saving them. They don’t believe Jesus is going to save them.
They believe Jesus is the Son of God. But they don’t do any good works. You don’t want to resemble devils who do nothing good. They fear Jesus. They tremble. They believe. Don’t resemble them. Don’t simply have faith and not do anything with your faith.
James is teaching how important it is to have faith and good works so others are profited.
James 2:20
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
If you say you have faith, but you won’t do any good works, the Bible says you are a vain man. What does that mean? Not having worth. Why would you not do anything with the faith you have? Vain equals empty, worthless, having no substance, fruitless.
Bear Fruit by Doing Good Works
Don’t be fruitless. As a Christian, you need to produce other Christians. Just as an apple tree produces fruit. An apple tree produces apples. A Christian should produce other Christians. A saved person should bear fruit by preaching the Gospel and getting others saved.
The best work you can do is preaching the Gospel and getting people saved, then get them baptized, then teach them the Bible. That is our mission here. Are we doing that? Yes we are. And we will continue to do that.
And we have faith here. Are all of us always doing good works? No, we don’t do good works 24 hours per day every day. At times, our faith is dead. But we’re saved. We have everlasting life because we know that only Jesus saves. We know it’s not our good works.
We don’t do good works to get to heaven. We know that we can’t earn heaven with our good works. We do good works to profit others. We do good works because we love Jesus. We do good works because we love others. Not to save our soul. If we believe in our works to earn salvation or to keep salvation, we aren’t believing “IN” Jesus Christ.
Justification for Salvation from Hell is Not of Works
We are not justified for the salvation of our soul by our good works. Many people will use the rest of James Chapter 2 to teach justification by faith and good works. We are not justified for heaven by our good works.
We are justified when we do good works, but it’s a different justification.
Every justification in the Bible isn’t speaking of the salvation of our souls. We will continue faith without works is dead part 3 another time. And that should end the faith without works is dead short series.
And for anyone out there in internet land, you can listen to these sermons instead of me saying the same thing over and over again for
Let’s pray.
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