So again a good morning to all of you. I’ve seen I think some new faces as well as some old faces coming back alright. Alright, today we are going to look at James’ epistle chapter 2 alright- chapter 2. We have looked at the first half of this chapter last week. So this morning we’re going to look at chapter 2 verses 14 through 26. Alright, let me first read our text. James 2, beginning in verse 14.

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe— and tremble!

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Now, this morning we come to this text, and we look at another subject dealt with by James. It is an important subject. I hope you can see that through our reading. It is a subject of faith. And here I’ll like to entitle this passage as “Two Kinds of Faith”. Now let me begin by pointing this out that one of the most important biblical truths is this. One of the most important biblical truths is that we are all saved by faith alone. If you haven’t got that alright, it’s important this morning that you get that. It’s important this morning that you understand this important biblical message that salvation is by faith alone.

You remember when the Philippian jailer asked Paul that question: “What must I do to be saved?”, and Paul simply answered believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. So if you want to be saved, that is the way to be saved. Remember that all famous passage in Scriptures (John 3:16), he says that “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”. So the Bible is amply clear about this truth that if you were to be saved, you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now Paul spoke of this also alright in his letter to the Romans, and this is what he wrote alright in chapter 10 and verse 9. Now listen. He says: “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”. Now I read these many passages from the Scripture basically to show you that this is a fundamental teaching of the Bible. And this is the most important message that you must hear that you can only be saved by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, believing in Him alone for your salvation, and yet one of the most frightening truths of the Bible.

So on the one hand we have this most important message or truth of the Bible. And on the other hand, one of the most frightening truths of the Bible is this, that there is a belief in Jesus, there is a faith that does not save. Now, this is what James is talking about here as he comes to this passage of Scripture and as he deals with this subject of faith. Yes, he understands that faith is crucial. Faith is important because there is no way that you can be saved without faith. And yet he is saying here that there is a faith that does not save.

Now you just look with me in the book of Hebrews and chapter 10 (just the letter before the letter of James). In the letter to the Hebrews 10:38-39 which says: “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But (verse 39) we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”. Verse 38 says that just shall live by faith, and then verse 39 says that we are not those who believe but not leading to salvation but we are those who believe “to the saving of the soul.”.

Now that is what James is talking about here that there is a believing that is not leading or to the saving of the soul, and then there is a believing that is to the saving of the soul. Now it is important for us to grasp this because we live in an age where this is very foreign to many people, that many Christians have not come to see this great and important truth in the Bible. I say it is important because if you miss this, you probably have been deceived into thinking that just simply because you have faith that you are saved because there is a kind of faith that saves and there is a kind of faith that does not save.

Now you see, once you understand this biblical truth, you understand why James is so exercised here as it were. He’s so anxious to make a point that there is a message, there is a truth that he tries to help his reader to see. And he wants us to see that also. Now it is such a frightening truth in the sense that now you might wonder perhaps those people who believe that not leading to salvation are probably the minority. And yet we hear the Lord Jesus saying that many will say to Me on that day, and Jesus says many. Many will say to Me on that day: Lord, Lord. But Jesus will say to them: “I never knew you”. Now that is the frightening truth, and I say that again James has the mind and he wants to warn us.

He wants to warn us. That is his great concern. And so we come back to James chapter 2, we see that that is his great concern. He says that in verse 14 when he begins in this section by saying: “what does it profit” (or in the ESV “what good is it”). It’s almost like he is shouting, he is exclaiming. He is saying to the people who profess to be Christians, people who call themselves Christians. Doesn’t matter a Baptist or Presbyterian or Anglican or Methodist, but he’s saying what good it is? What good is it to call yourself a Baptist or a Presbyterian or a Methodist or an Anglican or to simply call yourself a Christian? What good is it?

Now I prefer the ESV translation here. So what good is it? He says, “my brothers if someone says he has faith but does not have work, can faith (now again here I think the ESV makes it clearer and say “can that faith”)?” There is a certain kind of faith, that is what he means here. Can that kind of faith save him? Can your kind of faith save you? I think that is something that James wants to think about here in this passage and ask ourselves that question: Yes, we are like all these other people that James is talking about here. We call ourselves Christians. We call ourselves Reformed Baptists perhaps or whatever, but can that kind of a faith, James says, save you?

That is his question. That is his point. Verse 17: “Thus (or therefore) also faith by itself, James says, if it does not have works, is dead.”. And then he says in verse 20: “But do you want to know, O foolish man?”. I don’t know how strong could he have put it. Oh, you silly people. Oh, you’re so stupid. That’s what he’s trying to say. I mean of course, we have to pause and listen to the words that he’s using here and the charge that he’s making here. Oh, you foolish people, he says in verse 20, don’t you know that faith without work is dead? And then he ends this section in verse 26: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead”. Can you see the repetition so as to make his point, so as to emphasise?

So James as you see here, he is anxious. He is trying very hard as it were to help us grasp a very important truth that not all who call themselves Christians are going to heaven. You see, this is not the kind of thing that people want to tell us or that we want perhaps to tell other people, but it is important because it is true. It is important because it is a biblical truth. It is not something that the church has invented. It’s not like some people are more judgmental and start questioning people’s salvation. It’s not like that, James says. James says it is a biblical truth. It’s the truth taught by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

And so, so what James does here? So he says this is his point. This is the truth that he wants us to see that not all kinds of faith save. Not everyone who calls himself a Christian is going to heaven because there are two kinds of faith. So what he does here in this passage it’s very simple alright. So he puts these two faiths side by side. He says there is this faith and there is this faith. They are both called faith, but they are not the same. They are not the same. And so they put them side by side so that we can see them clearly. We say see the distinction clearly. And so let us follow James’ argument here.

So first, he talks about dead faith alright- he talks about dead faith. And then he talks about living faith alright. So there are two kinds of faith. You may call them dead faith or non-saving faith. That is the first kind of faith that James wants to see in verses 14 through 20. So what are the characteristics alright of this kind of faith? We better be sure because this kind of faith, the first kind of faith does not save, does not get you to heaven alright. So you better be sure and be clear as to what it looks like. And so James helps us. So what are the characteristics of non-saving faith, of false faith, of dead faith?

Now there are two things James helps us to see here, now as the main characteristic of this kind of faith, dead faith. First is that this kind of faith is what we might call the “word only faith” alright- the word only faith. Verses 14 through 18, James makes that point. It is word only. In other words, James says that this kind of faith, the whole thing hinges on the word claim or say in verse 14: “What good is it my brother if someone says (or someone claims)”. That’s what now you see, you ought to circle the word says. This person says he’s a Christian. That’s what James is talking about here in verse 14. He said what good is it if you call yourself a Christian?

Now that’s the way to put it. Or another way to put it, what good is it, James says, if you call yourself? So you see, the first kind of faith hinges on this word ‘say’ or ‘claim’. Now the problem is that this person who claims to be a Christian or who says that he has faith or who says that he believes in Jesus Christ, so what is the problem with that? Now very often people don’t find a problem with that. You go to your office, you meet a colleague, and say I’m a Christian. It’s good alright- it’s good enough for most people. He’s a Christian. We say oh, our brother or our sister. Really? That’s what James is talking about alright. He only says he’s a Christian. He claims to be a Christian.

So the problem with this person is that although he claims or he says that he is a Christian, but he has no supporting evidence. He has no proof, nothing to prove his case. Now that is what James is talking about here in verse 15. He said if a brother or sister is naked (naked here simply there is not much clothing) alright (not simply totally naked but he’s poorly clothed). “He’s naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and be filled,” but you do not give them anything which are needed for the body”. So what good is it?

So in other words, you see your claim and your action, they don’t match alright- they don’t match. So you have nothing to support your claim. That is what James is saying. And so what we see is the problem about these people is all about talking. It’s all about saying. It’s all about making claims. It’s all talking and no action. Now how does it help? You see, true living faith as far as the Bible is concerned will always be seen in works alright. A true living faith, a person who professes to be a Christian can always, it will be visible. His faith will be visible in some form in the person’s life. So no one is saved alright by works. And that we are very clear alright no one is saved by works.

Turn with me to what Paul writes to the Ephesians alright in chapter 2 and verse 8: “For by grace (he says) you have been saved through faith”. Now that you see is not what James is disputing here. Now do not think that when James emphasises work here he is contradicting Paul. Now listen to Paul again: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, (so that or) lest anyone should boast.”. But then he continues, verse 10. What does Paul says here? Yes, you are saved by faith not by works. Then he says in verse 10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”.

Now you see, the two things mentioned, the contrast here in verses 9 and 10. Verse 9 says “not by works (or not of works)”. And then verse 10 says “for good works”. Now that is what James is talking about. So Paul is not contradicting James, and James is not contradicting Paul. But what they are saying that although we are saved by faith alone, but our faith in Jesus Christ must issue, must produce good works. They must be alive to show that we are truly saved- that we are truly saved. Now Paul makes the same point when he writes to Titus; when he writes to Titus in Titus chapter 1. Titus 1:16, now listen to what Paul writes here.

Titus 1:16, Paul says here: “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”. So there is such a thing as people who profess to know God. They profess to be believers, but in their life or in their work they deny Him. So there is this inconsistency. Now you see, Paul agrees with James. See, Paul also demands works. A work to prove that you have faith. So that is what James is talking about here. He says that yes, I agree with the apostle Paul that we are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves will always- will always show itself by works or in works.

And so James warns- if you do not have, then your faith is dead. Then your faith is what we call the words only kind of faith. Only claims, only a profession without a life to show. That is the first mark of dead faith. And there are plenty in the days of James and plenty alright throughout the history of the church and plenty today, people who call themselves Christians but do not live like a Christian. Now there is a second mark or characteristic of dead faith, and James tells us here. The first is that dead faith is the word only faith. And then he says dead faith is the knowledge only faith. The knowledge only faith.

Verses 19 through 20, James says: “You believe that there is one God”. So there is this knowledge. You know that there is one God alright. And James called that orthodoxy, but this is dead orthodoxy alright- dead orthodoxy. Now you see that before here in verse 18, now James imagines someone throwing a challenge as he tells them that if they only have faith but not works then their faith is dead. Now verse 18 you know someone throws to them. But someone will say, James imagined. You have faith and I have works.

Now there are some people who think that we are not all alike you know. Now some Christians you know they have faith, but you know don’t expect them to live like a Christian because they are so-called carnal Christians. You know there are people who profess to be Christian but they live like the world. But they are still Christians and they are still going to heaven. But there are the other kind who are the most zealous that they have a lot of act you know, they are very active in the church, They have works. Now James says no. James says you show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. I will show you my faith. I will bring out.

If you say you have faith, you’ve got to bring out proof alright to show that you have faith. There must be proof, and that’s James’ point. Now you see in verse 19 of course he imagined someone taking up a challenge again. Now you see in James’ mind he’s thinking maybe sum all these counter-arguments. Now imagine someone perhaps saying that well, I believe in one God. I believe that there is one God. You see for the Jews, this is the most fundamental doctrine truth called the Shema. Hear, O Israel, there is one God alright.

So to them that is the most basic, fundamental orthodox truth in their belief system. It’s like someone perhaps today saying that I believe. Maybe he said I believe in the 1689 Confession of Faith or I believe in the Nicene Creed. Now you could imagine this person saying that you know I believe that Jesus is God. Remember the Nicene Creed: “Jesus is God of God alright and Light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made”. Now some so-called Christians can actually quote Nicene Creed and show other people how orthodox believers they are.

Now you see, what James is pointing out that you say that you are a Bible-believing orthodox Christian, that you believe in the Trinity. You believe there is only one God. You believe in all the right things. And James is saying that the demons also believe. Now sometimes we think that the demons, they are the unbelievers. Satan is an unbeliever, we are the believers. Actually, that’s not true. And what James tells us is actually that’s not true. In fact, James seems to be saying actually the demons, they are the most orthodox believers. They are the most orthodox believers. You might remember in the gospel of Matthew and chapter 8. Matthew 8:28-29, now listen to what the demon says.

Matthew 8:28-29. In verse 28: “When Jesus had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they (the demons) cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?”. Now you see, the demons know, and they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. There are many people in this world who do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but the demons believed. In fact, the demon knows that there is only one God. They know that Jesus is the One whom God has sent to this world to save sinners.

The demons, they are orthodox believers. That’s what James is saying. You say you believed, but don’t you also know that the demons also believed? In fact, there are no atheist demons. There are no demons who do not believe in God. They all believe in God. They all believe in the Trinity. They all believe in the second coming. They all believe in hell. They all believe in the resurrection. They all believe. In fact, James is probably pointing out that you professing Christians, you don’t even come close. Many of us, perhaps we don’t even come close as far orthodoxy is concerned compared with the demons. They are clearer, and they have a greater conviction in this doctrine.

The point James is saying is this. He says the demons believe and they tremble because they know that Jesus is the Son of God, because they know that God is the true and the living God, because they believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ, because they believe in the Day of Judgement, because they believe in hell and they tremble or shudder, James says. But here’s a problem with Christians that we believe but we don’t shudder. We don’t tremble. We know that there’s a Day of Judgement coming, but we live as if it is not coming. We know that there’s a hell and that it’s real, but we live as if it is not real. You see many Christians, they don’t behave like even the devils. They believe that James says and they shudder. They shudder.

And so James says in verse 20: “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”. But if you have only faith, a faith that is words only, a faith that is knowledge only. You have all the biblical truth. You read through all the perhaps you’ve even read through the Bible. You read through all the sixteen volumes of John Owen, all the Puritans, say so what? You only have head knowledge, and you only claim, but there’s nothing in your life to show. James says oh you foolish man, don’t you see that faith without work is dead?

And then he says that there is a faith that saves. So that is the dead faith and there is the other faith and faith that’s saved. We call it the living faith. So in verses 21 through 26, he now comes to the other one alright. He says that if you want the faith that saves, now this is what it looks like. This is what it looks like. Verses 21 to 26, this is true faith. This is saving faith. Now how do we describe it? How can we know or can we tell whether our faith is like this? Now James is very helpful here. So what he does here in this section is to bring out two examples alright.

He says let me try to explain to you by simply point you to two examples, and you look at them and say oh, this is what true faith is like. How we wish actually in our midst we can actually look and point to some as example and say look at this person. That is true faith. And look at that person, that is dubious. That is questionable faith. So what is true faith? Two examples. The first is the example of Abraham. The example of Abraham in verse 21. James says: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?”. Can you see what James is doing? He brings up their trump card as it were. He brings up the greatest of example, the greatest of the Jews.

Abraham their father, they say look at our father Abraham. How was he saved? Is his faith real? How do we know that Abraham is a true believer? If someone were to ask you how do you know that Abraham is a true believer, how will you answer? Now James tries to answer that. How do we know that Abraham is a true believer, is one who believes unto salvation? Well, he says that he believed he was saved by believing in God. Verse 23: “the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.”. So he must believe alright. If he were to be saved (as I pointed out again), one of the most important and fundamental truths of the Bible is that you must believe. And that’s what Abraham does.

But that is not what James is coming to. He says we know that Abraham believes, but how do we know that his belief is real or saving? How do we know? You see, there are many proofs that James could have brought up to show that Abraham’s faith is real and his saving is living. There are many things. Of course for those of you who know Abraham’s life, I’m sure you can think of many things in Abraham’s life that proves that he is a friend of God, that he is a true believer, one who believes unto salvation. There are proofs for example that was brought up in Hebrews chapter 11 by the author to the Hebrews.

We look at Hebrews 11:8-9. What does he tells us? Verse 8: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”. You see, this proves his faith that he was obedient, that he went out and followed God to a place he didn’t know where he was going. But God told him he acted upon the Word of God. Now if James could have thought of this as an example. He said look at Abraham. What did he do when God called him to go to the Promised Land?

But that was not the one that James thought of. The one that James chose was the most striking of the examples and all the examples. All the things that we see in Abraham’s life, now James thought of the most striking example of Abraham’s saving faith and that is in verse 21 alright of James 2. He says: “Was not Abraham our father justified when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?”. That’s been pointed out alright in Hebrews 11:17-19. The writer of Hebrews mentioned this: “By faith Abraham (in verse 17), when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son”.

Now you see, Abraham was tested by God to see if he really loved God, to see if his faith was genuine. He was greatly tested when God asked him or told him in Genesis 22 to give up his son, his only son whom he loved, and sacrifice him on the altar. Now that was a great test for Abraham. Now we actually need to let that sink in. And as we think of that great test of Abraham and think how unbelievable, what an unbelievable test that was, how that was an extreme test. But that is what James is telling us. What is it in your life? Is there something about your life as a believer that you can point to and say that that is the proof that I truly love God, that I am a believer?

So let me ask you: Do you really believe in God? Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Do you believe in heaven and hell? How would people know that you believe? How would people know that you truly love this God? How do people know that you love God more than anything else? See, that was the question that Jesus asked Simon Peter. “Simon Peter, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”. Now how do people know that you truly love God more than anything else? Is it just mere profession? Is it just mere claim that you love Jesus? Is it mere claim that you believe in heaven but you do not live like you long for heaven?

Is it mere claim that you believe in hell but you do not live in light of death? Is it mere claim that you believe in eternity but you do not live life in light of eternity but you grow roots in the temporal? Now you see, that is what James is saying. Now for Abraham you see, there was this proof. And the greatness of the proof in Abraham’s life was that he was prepared to give up his best, his one and only son for God. And God says now that I know that you fear Me. Now then the second example alright in James- in James 2.

Now then James draws our attention to the next example in verse 25 alright- in verse 25. He says likewise. So in the same way, now he said let me point you to another person who has evidence alright to prove that she is a true believer. She has saving faith. And that person was Rahab. Now you can see that James was not kind of simply bring out some examples to show, but he is very intentional. First, he brings out their greatest hero, Abraham their father. And second, he brings up another character as it were to show the contrast, say let me show you another example.

You might be thinking oh, Abraham, he’s always been a Christian. He’s born into a Christian home alright. He’s brought up by a Christian family, has always been going to church. He attended Sunday school from as a baby. It was no wonder why he’s a Christian, his faith is real. He said let me point you to another example. Rahab. Now Rahab is chosen as it were to provide a contrast. Remember Rahab is a contrast in so many ways. First, we see that Rahab was a Canaanite, not a Jew. She’s a Gentile.

Second, we see here that Rahab here is a woman, not a man. And we see that Rahab is a sinful person, a harlot, a prostitute not righteous as it were like Abraham. And we see that Rahab is a pagan. Rahab does not belong to the people of God. Rahab is a nobody. So James intentionally or deliberately brings up Rahab and said look at this person. This drunkard as it were, this rapist, this robber, this murderer, this terrorist. Look at this person and he says or she says that she is now a believer. How do we know? See, that is always the question. How do we know that this immoral woman and atheist perhaps, a pagan who is morally in the pit alright of filth, how do we know that this person is a Christian?

James tells us. And he says in verse 25: “Likewise they say in the same way”. It’s always the same alright- it’s always the same way, in the same way. We know that Rahab is a true Christian. She has saving faith because although she is an immoral person and nobody, but she has works to show. She has something. She has proof. She has evidence to show that her faith is real. So again that is what James is thinking about. We must always ask: What are the evidence? What are the proofs that you are a Christian? So what are the proofs that Rahab is a true Christian that she has saving faith? Well, the proof is this.

For Rahab, the proof is in her transformation. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:17 and says therefore if anyone is a Christian “he is a new creation (or he is a new creature)”. You must be a new person. You cannot say you are a Christian but you are still the same old person. Now that is Rahab, said look at her. What is the proof? The proof is that she is a changed person. She is a changed person, a new creature in Christ as it were. So what is new about her? What’s new about her? What’s new about you and me? Well, what’s new about her is this. Look at Hebrews again chapter 11 and verse 31.

Hebrews 11:31. She appears in the so-called the hall of faith alright- the hall of faith in this chapter. Hebrews 11:31 says: “By faith the harlot (or the prostitute) Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”. That act. Now that act is the proof that she is now a changed person, that her faith is real, that her belief is true, that now she is a true Christian. That act. So how does that act shows that she is a true believer? Because that act means that she is staking everything, her life alright. She’s staking everything in trying to save these two spies. That act tells us something about her belief system. Now that we see the reason why she did that is because she has come to the realisation.

Now we do not know how she got that realisation or how that revelation came to her. Perhaps it was through the discussion with the spies or perhaps it’s through just listening to you know what the news out there, about what is happening to those people of God. But in some way, somehow this information came to her. She thought about this information. She thought about this so-called news that she had heard and she believed them. She believed that those are the true people of God. She believed in the coming judgement because she was being told that if she does not take their side (the side of the spy), she would perish together with her people. She believed those information being told to her that their people were a condemned people.

Do you believe in those truths? Do you believe in the truth of the Scripture that tells us that we are a condemned humanity in this world? That judgement is coming unless we change sides and join God’s people and join the church of Jesus Christ. Unless we belong to Christ, we will be doomed together with the rest of humanity. That was the message she heard that if I remained with the Canaanites we are doomed. That’s what Hebrews 11 is saying here like that she (we are told) did that. She hid the spies, and therefore she did not perish with those who did not believe.

In other words, this truth were also being disseminated throughout this whole land. The Canaanites, all of them heard that you are a condemned people unless you come over this side and be God’s people. And she chose to be part of God’s people. She chose to believe in the Jewish God. And because she repented, changed sides, changed her life, she did not perish. Now that proved alright that her faith was genuine, was saving, and was real. She believed that her hope lies with identifying with the spies that is God’s people. She believed that her hope lies in identifying with God’s people.

That is our hope that our future alright, our hope lies in identifying with the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ. That you see is the evidence that her faith is real. So James is saying in this passage that this is so important for us to grasp that we are saved by faith in Jesus alone. And yet not all kind of faith saves. There is a particular kind called true faith, saving faith, living faith. A faith that has works to prove, a faith that issues in a change in our lifestyle, a faith that shows that we truly love God with all our hearts, with all our strength, with all our soul.

So James is saying what about you? What about you? Do you have a belief without a behaviour? Do you believe but do not obey? Or are you religious but you do not long to serve God and be with God’s people? Is your faith useless or is your faith saving? You see, we should examine ourselves, James says, just as Paul tells his readers alright in Second Corinthians not by looking to the point of time where we say we have accepted Christ and then that is sufficient but by looking at our life now and see how we live our life. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we again thank You for teaching us about the way of salvation and help us see that the only way to be saved is not by our own human effort, is not by our works but by coming and trusting in Jesus alone for salvation. And yet we are warned here that there’s a faith that does not save. And we pray that You may help us indeed to examine ourselves to see that indeed our faith is saving and living by looking at our life now today and see if we truly believe and in the things that You have taught in heaven and hell, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the true and the living God, and the life that backs it up. And so we commit ourselves unto Your hands, for we pray and ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.