James 2:14-26 (CSB) - 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”   Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe — and they shudder. 20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB) 8For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —  9not from works, so that no one can boast.

James 2:24 (CSB) - You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.


POINT 1: Real faith produces action.

James 2:15-17 (CSB) - 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. 


POINT 2: Real faith produces obedience.

James 2:21-24 (CSB) - 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Justification by Faith = We have a reconciled relationship with God through faith, belief, and trust.


POINT 3: Real faith requires courage.

James 2:25-26 (CSB) - 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.


Definition of courage = the mental or moral strength to confront danger, fear, or difficulty.

Are we so convinced of our faith that we will stand courageously for it?