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LIFE Group Lessons
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Faith Without Works is Dead |
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LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
Wednesday Night, October 3, 2007
“Faith without Works Is Dead”
James 2:14-26
5 Minutes - Welcome / Prayer
5 Minutes - OPEN
Chips and salsa. Peanut butter and jelly. Hamburgers and hotdogs. Microsoft and Bill Gates. We could all add to the list, pairing up things that just go together. James has one for us - faith and works. James says there is a relationship, a fiber that connects the two. And this connectivity is something we must understand if we are going to have a mature and authentic faith.
Remember the whole theme of the Book of James is maturity. If we don't get the connection between faith and works, we won't grow to be spiritually mature.
It is sort of ironic that when you read commentaries on this best known section, you learn this is one of the most controversial sections of James' letter. Wonder why that is? How could anyone question the spiritual connection between faith and works?
15 Minutes - DIG
It was Jesus who defamed the religious people of his day who "did not practice what they preach" (Mt. 23:3). It is no surprise that James arrived at the same conclusion that a faith that does not respond in good works is dead!
He is not here contrasting faith and works. Rather he is contrasting a faith which is active and a faith which is dead! Why does belief in God call for life change?
Without really giving a definition of "faith," James had already introduced this important concept in chapter 1:26 when he stated a man's religion was worthless if he couldn't bridle his tongue. In the very next verse (v. 27) he declares that "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
When James talked about what it really meant to be a person of faith – a religious person – he concluded that a person’s faith should transform their actions. He assumed that “good” would come from our faith! Is that a proper assumption?
Now think about this before you just rattle off a resounding “yes.” What is it about our faith that enables us to bridle our tongue? Or that enables us to get outside of ourselves and look after orphans and widows?
Apart from faith, would those be your automatic human responses? So what really is this faith that enables us to respond so differently to life’s situations?
Don't see James' teaching here to be in contradiction to what the Apostle Paul taught in Romans chapters 2-4 and Ephesians 2:8 about our being saved by faith. Understand that James and Paul approached faith and works from different points of view. James saw faith and works in light of what God requires of those who have already become Christians, while Paul saw faith and works in light of what God requires for a person to become a Christian.
Why is a proper understanding that we are saved by grace release and empower us to be people “ready unto every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8; Gal. 6:9-10; Eph. 2:10; 1 Tim. 6:18; 2 Tim. 3:17; 1 Pet. 2:12)?
James says that even demons (those evil spirits under the influence of Satan) believe in the existence of God. What is James’ point in referencing that “even demons believe – and shudder” (v. 19)?
As evidence that faith alone is not enough, James brings up the stories of two people in the Old Testament who acted on their belief. One of them was the patriarch Abraham. His complete story is told in Genesis 22 and often referenced in other sections of scripture (Romans 4, Hebrews 11:8-19).
The other was Rahab, a prostitute. Her whole story is told in Joshua chapters 2 and 6. She owned some sort of hotel and when the Israelite spies came into Jericho, she put them up in her hotel, helped them escape, and kept the whole thing quiet. And for her decision, she is mentioned in the "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11 and even more important, she is part of the lineage of Jesus Christ (Mt. 1:5)!
The patriarch was a Jew. The prostitute a Gentile. The patriarch had a track record with God and the prostitute had just made a faith decision. Each of them trusted God and acted on it.
What are the lessons from Abraham’s and Rahab’s examples?
15 Minutes - REFLECT
How does this link us back to James’ instruction in 1:16, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created”? In what ways should our “first fruits” (good deeds) verify our faith? If you were arrested for being a Christian, what evidence would be used to prove the point?
5 Minutes - CLOSING PRAYER
From this discussion, what are those things you feel compelled to pray about tonight?
Pray about these matters one by one and bring them before your Heavenly Father.
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