SERMON: “The Fruit of Justifying Faith” (James 2:21–26)

“The Fruit of Justifying Faith” (James 2:21–26)

Series:               “James: True Faith Works” #13      Text:                 James 2:21–26

By:                    Shaun Marksbury                         Date:                January 19, 2025

Venue:             Living Water Baptist Church            Occasion:          PM Service

 

I.              Introduction

In the book of James, the apostle lays out a foundational truth about the nature of faith that should not only challenge but also reassure the believer: Justification before God is by faith alone, but justification before others is through faith evidenced by works. This is a truth often misunderstood and misapplied, yet it is central to our walk as Christians. As we dive into James 2:21–26, we will see that a justifying faith is not passive but active.

Justification before God is by faith alone, but justification before others is through faith evidenced by works.  We’ll note a justifying faith is a witness, it is a help, and it is never present without fruit.  Let’s consider the first of these.

II.           First, a Justifying Faith is a Witness (vv. 21–24)

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.  You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

James begins with a question meant to draw us back to an important truth about the nature of justification.  His reference to Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish faith, is not accidental.  James’s Jewish audience would have known him well (though “Father Abraham” applies to Gentile Christians by faith, too [Rom. 4:11, 16–17] ).  James uses the patriarch, posing a question with framing to expect a positive answer.

Abraham’s life is the embodiment of how faith and works intersect, especially in the events of Genesis 22.  James says that Abraham was “justified by works” or “proven to be righteous by works.”  Justification can have a forensic definition either unto salvation or toward evidencing a fact.  One translation says, “Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions” (NLT).  The question is what James might mean by this.

Some see a contradiction here between James and the Apostle Paul, who clearly states that we are justified by faith alone (Rom. 3:28), but that’s a misunderstanding.  James is not saying that Abraham worked to make himself righteous before God, which would contradict Paul.  He is saying that Abraham’s faith was demonstrated or vindicated by his works.  He is saying Abraham’s faith was proven to be genuine.  

In other words, James is emphasizing the visible aspect of faith.  Faith can be seen or witnessed in its actions. The term “justified” here (δικαιοῦται, dikaioutai) can be understood in two senses: either as “to be declared righteous” (before God) or “to be proven righteous” (before others).  In the case of Abraham, his works did not earn him justification before God, but they proved his justification before others.  In other words, his faith was validated through his obedience.

To see this better, let’s back up to Genesis 15:6.  There, Scripture says, “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”  This is the moment when Abraham is declared righteous before God.  It’s then in Genesis 22, many years later, that Abraham offers his son Isaac on the altar as an evidence of that faith.  We know that because places like Hebrews 11:19 explains Abraham’s mindset — “He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead.”  Abraham had no doubt that God would fulfill His promise through Isaac, meaning that Isaac would either not be harmed, or that God would raise Isaac from the dead.  His works were the outward sign of an inner, living faith.

Incidentally, some skeptics see a dangerous precedent in Abraham’s offering of Isaac.  They wonder if Christians will one day start sacrificing their children because they think God tells them to do so.  However, we must remember that the birth and life of Isaac fulfilled key aspects of promises for offspring that God had been revealing to the childless Abraham for decades.  It is only at Genesis 15:6 that we read Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

As such, when God commands the offering of Isaac in Genesis 22, Abraham’s faith was strong enough to know that no harm would come to Isaac; he knew that the Lord clearly stated that Isaac would father a nation.  None of us has such a long history of prophecies concerning our children, and we know that God calls parents to protect our children.  Still, this offering gives us a chance to see just how different Abraham’s faith was than many years prior — God had changed him.

So, as James 1:22 says, “You see that faith was working with his works.”  Abraham’s faith was working in all events between Genesis 15 and 22, such as in circumcision in Genesis 17.  Abraham previously thought he had to help God out by lying about his wife and engaging in an extramarital sexual relationship.  At this point in his life, though, he was willing to believe completely.  These works are a testament to the genuineness of Abraham’s faith.

As James goes on to say, there is a perfecting of his faith; faith is not complete until it is demonstrated through works.  The word “perfected” indicates that faith reaches its telios, its intended goal when it is put into action.  To think of faith as a plant, its meant to grow, to mature, and bear fruit.  Faith moves at that point from being passive belief into an active force.  As John Calvin once wrote, “It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.”  Genuine faith comes to maturity and bears fruit.

James then continues with interesting words in v. 23.  He states that Abraham’s works fulfilled Scripture.  He quotes Genesis 15:6, which isn’t a prophecy, so we might not immediately think about a need to “fulfill” it.  It’s a statement reaffirming that Abraham’s righteousness was credited to him on the basis of his faith.  So, how might it be “fulfilled?”

Abraham’s works, including the offering Isaac on the altar, was a testimony.  They were the outward proof that Abraham’s faith was not mere intellectual assent — it was a living, transformative belief that shaped his actions.  He had been transformed, and his life now reflected it.

In fact, James goes on to note that these works indicated another designation.  To be called “a friend of God” (James 2:23) is the highest commendation a person can receive.  In the Old Testament, God calls Abraham His friend (cf. 2 Chr. 20:7; Isa. 41:8), indicating that Abraham’s faith was of the sort that brought him into a close, intimate relationship with God.  Obedience of the sort that Abraham demonstrated is the fruit of a true, saving faith, and it is in this obedience that Abraham is called “the friend of God.”

Thus, we have some important distinctions.  James affirms that God reckoned righteousness to Abraham on the basis of his faith alone.  Yet, that act of justification was further justified before a watching world by Abraham’s works.  God didn’t merely say Abraham had a righteous faith; He allowed Abraham to demonstrate it.  Abraham’s faith was a gift, one that transformed him from being an idolator in Ur of the Chaldees to being someone called “the friend of God.”

This is what James has been saying, and what he says in v. 24.  The faith that justifies before God is the same faith that is demonstrated through works before others.  We are justified by faith alone, but that faith is never alone — it is always accompanied by works.  The works do not contribute to our justification before God, but they demonstrate it before men.  Just as Abraham’s faith was vindicated by his works, so too should our faith be witnessed by our actions.

Hopefully, you know that putting two authors of Scripture  at odds (like James and Paul) is neither helpful nor wise.  This is God’s Word, meaning that any apparent contradictions are there to show us different aspects of a truth.  In this case, James is instructing believers to engage in good works, much as the Apostle Paul does in places like 1 Corinthians 15:58; “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  Paul also warns, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12), and we see here in James the caution to engage in good works.  Yet, what James demonstrates specifically in this verse is that good works flow out of a faith that God provides, a faith that proves its righteousness by having work from God.

Believers should see this faith, and it should encourage them.  Even unbelievers will see the difference, like the Canaanites who saw God working through Abraham.  In fact, this faith should be a present help to others, bringing us to the next point.

III.        Second, a Justifying Faith is a Help (v. 25)

In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

After speaking about Abraham, we might expect James to turn to Isaac, or Jacob, or the judges, or the prophets.  Yet, he goes to an unexpected place.  He doesn’t talk about a man, but a woman, and a Gentile one, at that.  This Canaanite woman is known as a harlot or a prostitute (ESV), from the term porne, from which we have “porn.”  This is quite the shift!

Yet, her justification before God and people was just as real.  If there is cause to doubt the conversion of anyone, it’s a prostitute.  That she performed deeds of righteousness means that she was changed by God.  Her actions also earned her a place in the chapter of faith (Heb. 11:31).

Her actions protected the Israelite spies as Joshua 2 records, evidencing her faith.  She didn’t merely say she believed in the God of Israel; she acted on that belief.  Her faith was evidenced when she took risks for God’s people, showing that she trusted in the God of Israel and His promises to His people.  As a result, her faith was vindicated before the people of Israel and the spies, just as Abraham’s faith was demonstrated by his obedience.

If she had not helped the spies, she would have been included in the slaughter.  Indeed, she confessed that many in the city feared the Hebrews, knowing what God had wrought in the Egypt decades before.  That fear and confession was not made into something until she decided to turn her back on her pagan ancestry and current lifestyle to protect the people of God.  That is a picture of repentance, and her faith was a real and present help.

Both Abraham and Rahab share a common thread: their faith led them to act.  This brings us to an important point—genuine faith, the faith that justifies, does not leave one unchanged.  True faith produces a transformation that affects both the heart and the hands.  It leads to action, and that action serves as a testimony of the believer’s righteousness in Christ.  Rahab’s works did not save her, but they confirmed the faith that saved her (James 2:25).

This is vital in the context of the passage.   James is saying that Christians should love and serve one another, being impartial and demonstrating love for the brethren.  If they consistently fail in this area, then there is a serious problem, as we see next.

IV.        Third, a Justifying Faith is Never Present without Fruit (v. 26)

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James has been giving us illustrations to demonstrate the important link between a true faith and the works it produces.  We’ve seen in both Abraham and Rahab a faith that has moved them to action.  James now concludes with a powerful simile.

He talks about the body for a moment.  The term “spirit” here could refer either to the inner man or to simply the breath of man.  Either way, the absence indicates death — the scientific means of determining death today is the cessation of brain activity, and theologically, we expect that to be the point at which the spirit no long occupies the body.  When the body no longer has a spirit, it is dead.

Just as the body, when separated from the spirit, is lifeless and useless, James says, so too is faith that does not result in works.  We noted last time that James is identifying two kinds of works in this chapter, one living and one dead.  If genuine faith produces fruit, then an empty or useless faith proves itself by lacking fruit and life.

Dead faith, like a body without a spirit, cannot do anything — it is inert, powerless.  This is why James warns against a superficial faith, a faith that makes claims without the evidence of transformation.  This summarizes what James has said in this chapter, especially in vv. 17 and 20.  Faith should be “working through love” (Gal. 5:6).  Someone with a profession of faith that lacks any practical outworking is a person who has a questionable faith. 

If there are no works, there is no evidence of a living faith, and that faith, James says, is as good as dead.  True, saving faith is always alive, on the other hand, is always at work, always producing fruit.  Faith should be your new normal, the thing that drives the way you think or eat or operate, like your spirit does in your body.  If there is no spirit, then the body is a corpse; if there is no genuine faith, then your life will lack the works of God.

V.           Conclusion

As we close, let’s ask ourselves some questions: Is my faith alive?  Does my faith manifest itself in the works that glorify God and serve others?  Does my faith have any fruit?  Justifying faith is not just an intellectual assent; it is a faith that is active and living.

If you have fruit in your lives, see that as justification of your justification before God!   These works arise as fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23), acts of mercy, kindness, and love that flow out of a heart that has been transformed by the grace of God.  The are evidence for yourself and the world that this is a real faith.

A justifying faith is one that is proven to be genuine through works.  As we consider the examples of Abraham and Rahab, we see that true faith does not remain dormant but is actively demonstrated in the way we live our lives. Our works do not save us, but they validate the faith that saves us.  Let us therefore live out our faith with zeal, bearing witness to the living faith that justifies us before God and before men, and may we continually seek to honor Him in all that we do.