False Faith (Part 2 of 2)

Sitting in a pew and singing worship songs doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a flower bed makes you a rose. So how can each of us be sure we have genuine saving faith? We'll look at the answer to that question today on Truth for Life as Alistair Begg teaches from chapter 2 in the book of James.

We're looking at verses 14 through 17. Do you see why it's so dangerous to be in the place where the Bible is taught? Why it's so dangerous to be in a church where the pastors make an honest endeavor to teach the gospel, to explain that who Jesus is and what he has done is the basis of forgiveness and our only hope of heaven, and to press upon men and women the need to trust in that Jesus? Do you realize that there is less significance in the opposition of a pagan than there is in the lostness of a false professor, who has just a little something resembling the real thing?

This is not a unique and pressing contemporary problem. It's been true in every generation—the presence of people within the framework of the external church who profess to be believers but who are not genuine believers. And here in the United States, we have vast numbers of individuals in inflated church memberships claiming that because they at some point in their life raised their hand or walked an aisle or trusted Christ, they are genuinely in Christ. They have no interest in the Bible, no zeal for their unsaved friends and neighbors, no call to a holy life.

In fact, they are indiscriminately the same as their non-Christian friends. What does the Bible say about that? Well, for example, the writer of the Hebrews is very clear. He says that God disciplines his children. And he says, if you are not disciplined, then you're illegitimate children, and not true children.

Who's he writing to? He's writing to the framework of the church, and he's saying to them, You'd better make sure where you stand in relationship to these things. And James, having listened so clearly to his brother Jesus on so many occasions—initially without being a believer—comes to the same issue himself. But I think our contemporary circumstances add a little touch of lime to this one. When you think about what we are confronted with on a daily basis in the media—for example, the need, we're told, for everybody to have equal respect for every, quote, faith community and a preparedness to listen, often without reservation, to each person tell us about their faith journey.

Okay? Now, in one sense, there is no reason for alarm in relationship to the phraseology. But in every realistic sense, if you listen carefully to what underlies it, it is the notion that somehow or another even the use of the word faith—whatever that faith might be—faith in whom, faith in what, faith in faith itself—in other words, everything is validated on the basis of the notion of faith per se. That is not what the Bible is talking about concerning faith here. What James is talking about is saving faith. It is faith in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the faith which brings a man or a woman into the confidence that although I have no basis upon which to stand before God, that because of what God has done in Jesus and because I have come by his grace to entrust myself to Jesus, that it is this, then, which forms the basis of my acceptance with God, and it is in my lifestyle that I give evidence of the basis for my faith. When we studied the end of Acts, and we looked at Paul constantly defending the faith and finally going up before Agrippa in the presence of Festus—and it does your heart good just to reread Paul defending the faith in all of these things before Festus and Agrippa and Felix and so on, and it's in Acts 26, in case you want to read it for homework, Paul is right in the midst of his expression of faith in Jesus, and at this point Luke says Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "'You're out of your mind, Paul,' he shouted.

Your great learning is driving you insane.' "'I'm not insane, most excellent Festus,' Paul replied. "'What I'm saying is true and reasonable.'" And then he draws the king in. He says, "'The king,' probably pointing to him, to Agrippa, "'the king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him.'" In other words, Festus, you don't want to listen to this, that's okay. But I'm sure the king wants to listen to this. I can speak freely to him. I'm convinced that none of this has escaped his notice. You know, you may not be getting it, Festus, but I'm sure Agrippa is coming right along with me.

Because none of it has been done in a corner. And then he addresses the king directly, and he says, "'King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.'" And the king says, "'Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to become a Christian?'"

See, Agrippa understood exactly what Paul was saying. Paul was not saying, "'Do you believe the prophets? Do you have some kind of faith?'" That's terrific!

That's terrific! Maybe you could take some faith-based initiatives in your kingdom. You know, maybe you could describe your faith journey to a few people at a garden party or something. Maybe you could establish a little faith community.

No, no, Agrippa gets it clear. "'I know what you're trying to do, Paul. You're trying to get me to believe in this Jesus of Nazareth.'"

And Paul says, "'That's exactly what I'm trying to do.'" Why? Because there is no saving faith outside of Jesus of Nazareth. See? It is entirely logical, given the thesis. And that's why James recognizes, if I write to these people and they believe that simply because they're saying the same words, singing the same songs, doing the same things, that somehow or another they're in the faith and they're not, I will answer to God on the day of judgment, and their blood will be on my hands, ala the prophets in the Old Testament. Or you say, This is… When are we getting to the conclusion the introduction's going on forever?

Well, soon. But we have to address, we have to make very, very clear the nature of faith itself, don't we? Because what is the primary act of faith? What does it mean to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Let me tell you what it isn't. It is not the acceptance, intellectually, of certain propositions about Jesus. It includes the acceptance of those propositions about Jesus. But the propositions about Jesus in and of themselves responded to intellectually do not equal saving faith. Saving faith is essentially the entrustment—the entrustment—of our lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is not the belief that we have been saved, nor is it even the belief that Christ died for us. But it is the commitment of ourselves to Christ as unsaved, lost, helpless, and undone in order that we may be saved. See, all that we bring to our salvation is the sin from which we need to be forgiven.

We bring nothing in our hands. We come and we say, lost, helpless, undone, and in need of a Savior. In the sixties, they had those big beanbag chairs. They're probably being resurrected by now.

You get the small ones, depending on your size, or whether you had a girlfriend or not, and then you get the larger ones. And they were very inviting. You can entrust yourself to them.

You just fall back into them. I didn't ever see anybody make peculiar examinations of the physical properties of them, but they just entrusted themselves to them. And what James is referencing here is this—that when a man or a woman entrusts themselves to the Lord Jesus, when a man or a woman offloads their sin and discovers the forgiveness that Jesus brings, not only does Jesus forgive their sin, but he provides the Holy Spirit to live in our lives, so that the grace of God—Titus 2—that brings salvation, teaches us to say no to all ungodliness and teaches us how to live life in a way that is pleasing to him. And so what James is saying is, since there are these two dimensions to it, what good is it if somebody just walks around saying, I have faith, I have faith, and there is no evidence in their life? Can that faith save? That's why it's very difficult, you know, for people in this kind of area to become Christians. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man or a rich woman to enter the kingdom of God.

Because those of us who are rich have a hard time admitting that we're lost, that we're undone, that we're helpless, and we have no way of providing for ourselves. Well, let me say it and say it as clearly as I can. Do not mistake some general acknowledgment of God's existence, or even the uniqueness of Jesus, as being evidence of saving faith. Because if you look down at verse 19, to which will come another day, even the demons believe there is one God.

They do that, and it makes them shudder. No, what you need to be doing is not simply assenting to the truth about Jesus, but it is also consenting to take Christ. Remember, in Sunday school we learned it? Forsaking all, I take him. Or, forsaking all, I trust him. F-a-i-t-h. Forsaking all, I trust him. That's it.

That's it. Forsaking all. All my good deeds, all my best attempts, all my everything, forsaking all of that.

I trust him. And when it happens, we look back on our lives, and we realize that verse 18 of chapter 1 summarizes it wonderfully for us. He chose to give us birth. That's God's initiative. Through the Word of truth, that's his instrument. That we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. That's his intention. And where this faith is real, there will be evidence.

There will be evidence. We're not talking here about faultlessness. We're not talking here about perfection. We're not talking here necessarily about all of the plants in full bloom. But we are talking here about the indication that there is life, and the life reveals itself. Watch out, said Jesus, for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're ferocious wolves. It's by their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles likewise? Every good tree bears good fruit. A bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree can't bear bad fruit. A bad tree can't bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus by their fruit you will recognize them.

And it is then that he says the verse with which we began, and not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. This came from Colorado, and it's a very nice piece of wood. And this is actually my wife's. I haven't given it to her yet, but I have a larger one for myself. It came, Mark 6-8, where Jesus says, Don't take your purse with you. Just take only a staff when you go out. And so you can look for Sue at the mall. She'll just be walking around with this.

Don't ask to borrow a credit card. She'll simply have this with her. You'll see me, because I have one that's about this size. It was made for Goliath, I think, and it's gonna have to be cut down. But the reason—when I saw it, I said, this is a perfect illustration.

It actually had a rubber band around it with something attached to it. But to look for any fruit on this is a profitless exercise, right? This is dead. This is no good. There are cherries on my kitchen counter. I could have brought some of them and found a way to tie them on and said, you know, this is wonderful.

These cherries grew on this, and you would say, Probably your medication has not been working as well as you hoped. But if our lives look like this, no matter what we say, Jesus says, you just throw it in the fire. That's the Jesus who died on the cross for people whose lives were so messed up that they needed a Savior. You can't have it one way or the other. You have to have it both ways. The judgment of God is executed upon sin. It will be punished. That the mercy of God is revealed in Jesus, and he has borne the punishment of sin. And James comes and says, If your life looks like this, I don't care what you say. If a man or a woman claims to have faith, and yet their life looks like this, can such faith save?

No. That's why I say this is the great danger in the world. The danger in the world is not terrorism. The danger in the world is that you and I would die and go to hell. That is the only thing you really need to fear. And let that fear drive you to Jesus, and Jesus will fill you with his Spirit and enable you to become the person he wants you to be. You see, James is not saying, If you will have a compassionate heart, if you will have a controlled tongue, if you will have a clean life, then on the basis of that you can make yourself acceptable to God.

What he's saying is that when God comes to live within you, he'll clean up your life, he'll control your tongue, he will produce compassion within you. These will be the evidences. What is the basis of our acceptance? What Jesus has done. The evidence of our acceptance in these things. You see, the problem that James addresses is not the problem of open opposition. It's the problem of false profession.

In many ways, open opposition is a lot easier to handle, isn't it? You go out and somebody says, Church? I couldn't stand church. The Bible? I don't want to read the Bible. Jesus?

I don't want to hear a thing about Jesus. Well, at least we've got clarity, don't we? We've got good. Well, let's have a conversation about this.

But what's most dangerous is the person who's sitting in there saying, Oh yes, church for me, absolutely. Yes. Well, look at the questions he asks.

Two questions. What good is it if a man claims to have faith and has no deeds? Answer, No good.

Can such faith save? Answer, No. Illustration? What's his illustration? Well, he says, Imagine that somebody is cold and hungry, and one of you says, I hope you have a great day. Keep warm and stay well fed. But does nothing about his physical needs. What good is that?

No good at all. That's patiently obvious, isn't it? Words, in and of themselves, cannot address hunger or the cold. And so the logical conclusion in verse 17—a conclusion to which he's about to return, but here we end—he says, In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Professions of faith, unaccompanied by the life that God produces in our lives, is absolutely useless. It's very blunt, isn't it?

Shocking. It's an unavoidable challenge. Is my profession of faith real? For it is, says Paul, by grace that we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, for which God prepared in advance for us to do. We're not saved by them.

We're saved for them. Or, as Luther's put it, it is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. I urge you today, if you are in any doubt about these things, throw yourself back on Jesus. Cast yourself on his mercy, and ask him to produce fruit in your life. He'll do it. He promised.

But mere knowledge of this fact will not bring about the change. Take your medicine has become, or have you taken your medicine, has become a routine phrase around my house. And Susan has invented various ways for me to know whether I have or I haven't, so that I can turn the bottles upside down when I've taken it, so that when I come back in to the bathroom, I'll know that I've taken it, except that when I come back in the bathroom, I can't remember whether it was upside down because I was supposed to take it or whatever it was. And so I suppose I could just sit in the bathroom and look at it and believe it.

I believe that this will do this. Otherwise, I trust the physician. He told me that there would be a lasting benefit if I would take this. But until I take it, all of my intellectual assent, unmatched by the entrustment of myself to the prescription, will not bring about any change.

I don't bring this word to you this morning because I believe that Parkside is full of false professors. I bring it to you because it's the next four verses of James chapter 2. Where faith is real, there will be evidence. We're not saved by our works, but our works are proof of God's Spirit at work in us. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.

Alistair will be back in just a minute. Alistair explained today that false faith is so dangerous because the consequences are eternal. That's why it's so important for us to correctly understand the Bible. And it's why our mission at Truth for Life is to teach only the Bible verse by verse. We strive to teach the Bible with clarity in a way that's relevant to daily life.

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Go to truthforlife.org slash donate to find out more, or give us a call at 888-588-7884. Now here's Alistair with a closing prayer. Father, we thank you for the Bible, and we pray that we might become people of the Bible, that we might search the Scriptures to see if these things are so, that we might become a congregation that is as grateful as we are for those who teach us, that we might listen to their words very carefully and pour them through the sieve of Holy Scripture so that we become those who are obedient to your Word, and not just because someone said so. I pray for those who are uncertain about faith in Jesus, that they might come to trust in him as a Savior and Lord and King. For those of us who are rattled by these things, because our light is dimming and our attitudes are fading, that these might be a spur and a goad to follow hard after Christ, to ask him to forgive us and to enable us to let our light so shine before men that they might see our good deeds and glorify you, our Father in heaven. We thank you that all of our acceptance with you is an account of what Christ has accomplished. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest upon and remain with each of us now and forevermore. Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening. I hope you can join us tomorrow. Alistair will take a deeper look at the distinctions between deeds done for salvation and deeds done as a result of salvation. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.