Salvation - Faith, Works Or Both; What's That You Say?

Good evening and welcome to the Panhandle. Well what a study tonight. We finish up Chapter 2 and James observance on faith and works. Remember it is not faith vs. works, but that faith should produce good works. We are also going to look at one of the most dangerous things in the natural world. This thing can get you into soooo much trouble. It can build up or destroy your Christian witness in an instant. 

Last week I posted a study on James 2:14-20 I should have gone on through vs. 26. So tonight I am posting verses 21-26, these verses give examples of what James was writing about. Look at verse 24, “a man is saved by what he does, as well as by what he believes.” The example of Abraham's faith was not merely believing that there is a God; it also led him to act on God's promises in relation to the his future. Abraham didn't know what was going to happen, he only knew that God would keep His promises.

Obedience to God is essentially requisite to maintain faith. Faith lives, under God, by works; and works have their being and excellence from faith. Neither can subsist without the other, and this is the point which James labors to prove, (from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft)

Rahab had the approval due to genuine faith, which she actually possessed, and gave the fullest proof that she did so by her conduct. (from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft)

James 2:21-26

21 Don't you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the altar? 22 You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to; his faith was made complete by what he did-by his actions, his good deeds. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, that Abraham trusted God, and the Lord declared him good in God's sight, and he was even called "the friend of God." 24 So you see, a man is saved by what he does, as well as by what he believes.

25 Rahab, the prostitute, is another example of this. She was saved because of what she did when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead when there is no spirit in it, so faith is dead if it is not the kind that results in good deeds.

A man working in the produce department was asked by a lady if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, "Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that's how we sell them!" 

"You mean," she persisted, "that after all the years I've shopped here, you won't sell me half-a-head of lettuce?"
"Look," he said, "If you like I'll ask the manager." 
She indicated that would be appreciated, so the young man marched to the front of the store. "You won't believe this, but there's a lame-braided idiot of a lady back there who wants to know if she can buy half-a-head of lettuce." 
He noticed the manager gesturing, and turned around to see the lady standing behind him, obviously having followed him to the front of the store. "And this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half" he concluded. 
Later in the day the manager cornered the young man and said, "That was the finest example of thinking on your feet I've ever seen! Where did you learn that?" "I grew up in Grand Rapids, and if you know anything about Grand Rapids, you know that it's known for its great hockey teams and its ugly women."

The manager's face flushed, and he interrupted, "My wife is from Grand Rapids!" "And which hockey team did she play for?" - Source Unknown.

Our tongues can get us into all kinds of trouble. I work a good number of years in retail and I can't count the times my tongue got me into trouble with a customer. I was known for being a bit sarcastic back in my younger days. Okay, so maybe I still am, but I like to think I have mellowed with age or maybe I have learned to control my tongue better. 

James tells us in verse 6 that the tongue is a fire—set on fire by hell. After establishing the significance and power of the tongue, James proceeds to address its great potential for destruction. A little fire can burns great forests. So the world of iniquity is represented as inflamed by the wicked tongues of men; the world being fuel, and the tongue a fire. Look here at Chapter 3 and see what an uncontrolled tongue can do.

On a windswept hill in an English country churchyard stands a drab, gray slate tombstone. The quaint stone bears an epitaph not easily seen unless you stoop over and look closely. The faint etchings read:

Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, / lies Arabella Young, / Who on the twenty-fourth of May, / began to hold her tongue. -Source Unknown.

James 3

3:1 Dear brothers, don't be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers of religion, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others.

If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way. 3 We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth. 4 And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong.

5 So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. 6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster.

7 Men have trained, or can train, every kind of animal or bird that lives and every kind of reptile and fish, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is always ready to pour out its deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our heavenly Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against men who are made like God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Dear brothers, surely this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out first with fresh water and then with bitter water? 12 Can you pick olives from a fig tree, or figs from a grape vine? No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty pool.

13 If you are wise, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about them, then you will be truly wise! 14 And by all means don't brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil. 16 For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil.

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.

1^st - Like a fire, the tongue is “a world of iniquity” (v. 6).

The word “iniquity” is adikı́a (ad-ee-kee'-ah) in Greek, a very strong word denoting moral unrighteousness. It is the same word used by Paul when he states, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19).

This is a very expressive phrase, and is similar to one which we often use, when we speak of a town as being a world in miniature. That is, it is an embodiment of the world; that all that there is in the world is represented there on a small scale. So when the tongue is spoken of as being "a world of iniquity," James meant that all the kinds of evil that are in the world are exhibited there in miniature. He seems to concentrate all sorts of iniquity that exist on the earth.

2^nd - “The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body” (vs. 3-4).

As a world of iniquity, the tongue cannot be held in isolation. It corrupts the entire body. Just as a rudder affects a ship and a bit affects a horse, so the tongue affects the body and brings corruption. It stains or pollutes the whole body.

The tongue occupies a position and relation so important in respect to every part of our moral frame, that there is no portion which is not affected by it. There is nothing else pertaining to us as moral and intellectual beings, which exerts such an influence over ourselves as the tongue.

A person who controls their tongue is considered to be pure in every respect. However a person who is a blasphemer, or the person who uses obscenities, or is a slanderer? This person we always regard such a person who is corrupt to the core.

3^rd - The tongue not only corrupts the body, it sets on fire the entire course of one’s life.

In other words, the tongue does not merely affect the physical body of a person, it brings corruption to our total life. It affects not only what we do but what we are. And the source of this fire is hell itself.

Once again James advances his basic contention that all evil comes from the devil. Satan is the source of the evil which plagues our tongues. No wonder we cannot control the tongue. In our own strength, we are incapable of overcoming evil. Such a person would have to be perfect.

The tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison (vs. 8) - 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is always ready to pour out its deadly poison. James now levels his strongest attack of all on the evilness of the tongue. It is not only evil, it is an unruly or restless evil. It is the kind of evil which is not merely passive but is actively on the attack. And it is a deadly poison. It is poison, like the poison of a deadly snake (Rom. 3:13).

The conclusion of James is clear. The significance and influence of the tongue is great. It is a little member, but it has great power. It is a destructive fire which comes from hell. It corrupts one’s entire life. It is an unruly evil, full of poison that is just as deadly as the venom of a snake! This can lead us to but one conclusion, according to James—no one can control the tongue! And yet there is One who is willing to save you and me of this evil and the destruction it brings.

1. The example of Abraham's faith was not merely believing that there is a God. What else was involved?
   
   
2. Who else from the Old Testament did James use to show faith in action? 
    
3. What does the word “iniquity” in the Greek mean? How is that related to the tongue?
   
   
4. How much of the body is corrupted by a tongue out of control?
   
   
5. James leveled his strongest attack of all on the evilness of the tongue in verse 8. What was it he said?