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Please turn in your Bibles to 
James, chapter one. James, chapter one, the last 
couple of weeks, we've looked at the doctrines of justification 
and sanctification respectively, and we have tried to demonstrate 
that we need to keep these things clear in our minds, because when 
we mix them up, We can unwittingly confess that salvation is by 
grace through faith plus works. And that's simply not what the 
Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that we're 
saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Well, the book of James historically 
has been the unwitting victim of those who would mingle faith 
plus works. in order for salvation. The Roman 
Catholics obviously enjoy what they believe is James insistence 
on faith plus works in order to be saved. But we'll see this 
morning that James does no such thing. I want to focus on the 
salvation of God, the particular focus of James and the consistency 
of James with the Apostle Paul. That there are not two schemes 
of justification taught in the Bible, but rather there is one 
scheme, and it is upheld throughout the scriptures, and we need to 
believe it. Well, I'll just pick up reading 
in James chapter one at verse twelve. Blessed is the man who 
endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will 
receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those 
who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, 
I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor 
does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when 
he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire 
has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin, when it is full 
grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved 
brethren. Every good gift and every perfect 
gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights 
with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning of his own 
will. He brought us forth by the word 
of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, 
slow to speak, slow to For the wrath of man does not produce 
the righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness 
and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted 
word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word 
and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. For, if anyone is 
a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing 
his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes 
away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But 
he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues 
in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, 
this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you 
thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives 
his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled 
religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and 
widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the 
world. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the Holy Scriptures. We thank you for the unity of 
the Bible, for the plan of salvation, for the glory of God manifested, 
Father, Son and Holy Spirit working to save a people from their sins. 
We ask now that your spirit would be upon us, that you would give 
us clarity in our thinking, that you would give us understanding 
and cause us to think your thoughts after you. Forgive us now, Lord 
God, for all of our sins. Wash us afresh in the blood of 
Jesus Christ and cause this to be a profitable study. And may 
we leave from this place as those who have been justified freely 
by your grace to be doers of your word. And for those, Lord 
God, who have come here that do not know Jesus Christ savingly, 
we appeal to you, the God of absolute sovereignty and power. 
We ask that you would convict, that you would bring forth by 
your word of truth and that you would do that glorious work of 
salvation that is impossible with man, but is possible for 
you, our great God. And we ask through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. Now, there is an important 
word in Christian theology that I hope that we'll all appreciate, 
and that word is alone. If you think about it, the Bible 
alone is the word of God. We are to worship the true and 
living God alone, and justification is by grace alone. Alone is a very important word 
in the scripture. Even when the word is absent, 
the concept is present. You can turn to Romans chapter 
three by way of introduction to see this, that the word may 
be absent, but the concept is there. Romans three, verse twenty 
eight. Paul says, therefore, we conclude 
that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. We might say he's justified by 
faith alone. The same concept is true in Ephesians 
chapter two, where Paul tells us that it is by grace we have 
been saved and not by words. So we would say grace alone. Well, then, lo and behold, we 
get to the book of James, and it seems as if he is saying something 
opposite to what Paul, the apostle, is saying. In James 2, at verse 
24, he says, You see, then, that a man is justified by works and 
not by faith only or not by faith alone. So some in the history 
of interpretation have believed that perhaps there was an inconsistency 
between what Paul and what James taught. As I said, the Roman 
Catholics like to take this and like to teach or emphasize that 
we need to believe the gospel, but we also need to add our words 
or add our performance in order to be saved. No less a Bible 
scholar and theologian than Martin Luther said this of the epistle 
of James. He said it is flatly against 
Saint Paul and all the rest of Scripture in ascribing justification 
to words. I want to pick on Luther. I just 
want to highlight him as a specimen in history of someone who saw 
or believe that there was a contradiction between Paul and between James. I think this evidence is to us 
that the best of men are men at best. Well, as we look at 
this, we need to appreciate Paul's or James's emphasis in James 
1 18. In other words, James 2 24 does 
not exist in a vacuum. It does not exist all by itself. We need to appreciate what James 
says concerning salvation as a whole. And as we pick up on 
the salvation of God, we notice, first of all, the context in 
which James says James 118 in verses two to twelve, we are 
called upon to persevere through God ordained trials. Notice in 
verse two, my brethren counted all joy when you fall into various 
trials. That's something we don't do. 
That's something we ought to do. Generally speaking, when 
trials hit us, we either run the other way, we cry and complain, 
or we bemoan. Why would a good God ever do 
such a bad thing to me? James says when you encounter 
various trials, you ought to rejoice. You ought to realize 
that in God's purposes, trials play a vital role. If you were 
never tried, you would never persevere. If you were never 
tried, you wouldn't have patience. If you were never tried, the 
Christ likeness that God is doing in you wouldn't come through. So there is a God-ordained reason 
for the trials that we have. Notice in verses 13 to 15, he 
seems to indicate or he seems to teach that when these trials 
come, the inward temptation to sin is there. When trials come, 
the inward temptation to sin is there. Now, maybe this isn't 
your experience. Maybe you're one of the few that 
this is an exception for. But for the great host of Christian 
people, when difficulties come, there is often temptation to 
sin. We might turn our backs on God. We might grumble and complain 
instead of be joyful. We might reckon, since everything 
is going wrong here, it really doesn't matter if I go and sin 
over there. There's a whole bunch of things 
that Christians do when they're faced with trials. There's a 
whole lot of temptation to sin. So James says that when these 
trials come, you need to realize that there are these genuine 
temptations. He says that in verse thirteen, 
the character of God argues that he is not tempting us to sin. 
God is good. God, according to James 113, 
says, Let no one say what he is tempted. This isn't the outward 
trial. This is the inward solicitation 
to engage in evil. He says, Let no one say what 
he is tempted. I am tempted by God for God cannot 
be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. So you 
can't say I sin because God made me. I can't. You can't use that 
as an argument or as a reason. The very character of God does 
not allow it. He's a holy God. He's a righteous 
God. He is not giving you this to sin. He goes on to say that 
the description of sin and the temptation that we find in our 
hearts are the problem. It's not God. It's our own soul. 
It's our own heart. Notice in verses 14 and 15. But each one is tempted when 
he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire 
has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, 
brings forth death. He sort of presents this as an 
anatomy so that you can be on guard against these things. You 
need to realize that you're in a spiritual battle, that when 
these outward temptations come, you don't succumb or give in 
to this inward desire to sin. And then he says, finally, in 
verses sixteen to eighteen, God's good gifts to us argue that he 
is not tempting us to sin. Notice verse sixteen. Do not 
be deceived. My beloved brethren, every good 
gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from 
the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow 
of turning. God only gives you good things. Even in the midst of these God 
ordained trials, he is doing it for your good. We know that 
from Romans chapter eight, verse twenty eight. Paul says that 
we know that we should know that we should live as if we know 
that. But again, sometimes we falter. We know that God causes 
all things to work together for good. It is his character. It 
is his essence. It is his nature. It is God who 
is for us. And then God does not, or because 
God is the giver of every good gift, you don't sin because of 
God. So you see, the whole emphasis 
here is how you're to deal in times of outer trial so that 
you don't commit inner sin. And then he highlights this greatest 
gift of God in verse 18 of his own will. He brought us forth 
by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits 
of his preachers. That's James's doctrine of salvation. The chief gift that is given 
by the one who gives every good and perfect gift is salvation. 
So, when you are engaged in outward trial and you have temptation 
to inner sin, remember that God is good. Remember that God has 
saved you. Remember the doctrine of regeneration 
or the new birth God brought us for. I suggest that we don't 
immediately jump to James 224 and begin to pit him against 
the apostle Paul. We need to back up. We need to 
realize that James, like Paul, highlights the sovereignty of 
God and his gracious gift of salvation to his people. So that whatever 224 does mean, 
it does not mean that there is any animosity between Paul and 
James. OK, so the doctrine of salvation 
that James sets forth, he says it is of God's will. Don't you 
love that of his own will? If you don't love that, you should 
repent because our will is bound in sin. It was not of our own 
will that we chose God. It was not of our own doing that 
we decided we did not wake up one day and say, you know, I 
think I want to follow after Jesus. No, the primacy of God's 
will is overarching in the scriptures. The Prophet Jonah testified of 
this back in Jonah 2.9. He said salvation is of the Lord. Brethren, the saints of the angels 
in heaven praise God and the Lamb who sits upon the throne. 
And do you know what their praise is? Salvation belongs to our 
God. James here is consistent with 
the entirety of Holy Scripture when he highlights the primacy 
of God's will in the regeneration of sinners. He is not at odds 
with the Apostle Paul. He is speaking the very same 
truth. Back in John 1, verses 12 and 
13, we see this emphasis on the sovereignty of God in salvation. John 1, verse 12. Having said 
that Jesus came to his own and his own received him not, he 
says, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right 
to become children of God. To those who believe in his name, 
who were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor 
of the will of man, but of God. If you are here this morning 
in Christ, you are here because of the will of God. Please, let's 
not forget that. We didn't choose God, God chose 
us. We didn't decide for Jesus, there's 
an old country pop song about Jesus, I have decided to follow 
Jesus. Yeah, after he ripped out your 
old stony heart. threw it in the trash and put 
in a new fleshly heart. That's when you decided to follow 
Jesus. Romans 9 16, the Apostle Paul 
couldn't make it clearer of whose will reign supreme in the matter 
of salvation. He says it does not depend upon 
him who runs or upon him who wills, but of God who shows mercy. In first Corinthians chapter 
one, when Paul is telling the Corinthians how they were saved, 
it says that of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us 
the wisdom from God. James is consistent with the 
entirety of Holy Scripture in highlighting this fact that salvation 
is of the will of God, of his own will. He brought us forth 
and he did so freely, wasn't dependent upon what we did. It 
wasn't dependent upon anything constraining God, but he acts 
according to his own good pleasure to love that about God. He is. Independent, he is solitary in 
terms of not needing counsel from us. He doesn't get his arm 
twisted behind his back. He operates in accordance with 
his own pleasure, and it's a good and glorious will that he displays. James goes on to say that salvation 
is effectually right of his own will. He brought us forth. He 
doesn't help us to bring ourselves forth. He brought us forth. Remember when Jesus is at the 
gravesite of Lazarus and Jesus issues the command, Lazarus, 
come forth. Lazarus is dead. In fact, one 
of the sisters says, Behold, Lord, he stinketh. Don't ask 
for that stone to be rolled away from the tomb. You're going to 
smell the body of this rotting corpse. Well, Jesus has the ability. He has the power that as he issues 
the command, he has the ability to enable obedience to the command. God doesn't bring us forth by 
asking our opinion. God changes our hearts in Psalm 
110 verse three. It says your people shall be 
volunteers in the day of your power. Salvation is a factual. Salvation is real. God doesn't 
make us savable, he actually saves us from our sins. This is what the apostle, this 
is what James is highlighting of his own will. He brought us 
forth and then salvation is likened to a birth. He brought us forth. Is that great? He brought us 
forth. What's this picture of regeneration? You must be born again. He uses 
a bit of a different word than John uses in this bringing us 
forth. But I think the context helps 
us understand why. Look at chapter one, verse fifteen. Then, when desire has conceived, 
it gives birth to sin. Desire conceives and it gives 
birth to sin. God gives birth to sinners. God brings us forth by the word 
of his power. One commentator said the choice 
of the word in chapter 118, rather than what we find in John, for 
instance, was dictated by a need to parallel 115. Sin produces 
death, but God produces life. And the way or the means by which 
the Lord does this is indicated in the verse by the word of truth. Again, a Pauline emphasis throughout. He is not teaching a different 
way of salvation. Jesus said, I am the way, the 
truth and the life. No one comes to the father except 
through me. We get to the book of Acts. What 
do they do? They go on, preach doctrine. They go on, preach 
truth. They tell sinners to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
they will be saved. Faith comes by hearing the apostle 
Paul says in Romans 10, 17. And hearing by what? By the word 
of God. In Ephesians chapter one, in 
whom you believed after hearing the word of truth, the emphasis 
of the means is the same. He brought us forth by the word 
of truth so that we might be a kind of first fruits of his 
creature. That brings us to the practical 
implications of this birth. You've been born again. What 
are you supposed to do? You're supposed to live like 
it. That's James's emphasis in his 
epistle. I mean, just a reading of it 
hopefully will cause you not to fall into a Roman Catholic 
idea. James is not talking about how 
we are justified by God. He is talking about how that 
justification is fleshed out in our lives. We've quoted over 
the last couple of weeks by a quote by Gordon Clark when he says 
that If a claimed justification does not inevitably produce good 
works, it simply was not justification. That's what James is dealing 
with. That's James's context. That's James's idea of his will. He brought us forth by the word 
of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 
So what does that mean for us, James? Listen to God's word. 
Verses 19 and 20. Put God's word into practice. 
Verses 21 to 27. You say you're justified and 
you don't care about widows and orphans. You're a fake. You say 
you're justified and you don't bridle your own tongue. You're 
a fake. You say you're justified and 
you show partiality in the church. When a man dressed in rags comes 
in, you have him sit in the very back. And when a man dressed 
in finery comes, you sit him right up front. Thankfully, in 
our church, because of the volume, everybody already sits in the 
back. The only open pew would be up front for any that would 
wander in. Do you see what James's thrust 
is? You say you've been justified. You must live like it. Not you 
need to believe and work in order to be saved. His emphasis is 
the same as Paul's. His emphasis on the grace of 
God, the sovereignty of God, faith in the Lord Jesus. He says 
in chapter two, verse one, My brethren do not hold the faith 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality. 
He's not teaching some opposite way to be saved. He is not adding 
words to faith in order to be saved. He is saying to a people 
that claim to be justified, you need to live like it. You need 
to function like it. You need to conduct yourself 
in the fear of God. You need to close your mouth 
once in a while and open up both ears. You need to be slow to 
speak, is what James says. You need to be quick to hear. 
You see, that's one of the marks of the unregenerate. They're 
not slow to speak. It's one of those dying things 
in the life of the regenerate. We always want to talk. In fact, 
we can't wait till someone we're talking to shuts up so we can 
talk, because we're far more important. And what we have to 
say makes so much more sense than what they do. So you see, 
James is saying, don't be like that. You've got two ears. You've 
got one mouth. Let's live consistently with 
that function. God made you to listen twice 
as much as you speak. We talked about this briefly 
on Wednesday evening in Titus chapter three. He says to speak 
evil of no man. Have you noticed how in our in 
our world, and I'm not as old as some of the people in here, 
my dear and esteemed older brothers and sisters, but things that 
were commonplace even when I was a kid are gone. Things like Don't 
say anything if you don't have something nice to say. In other 
words, if you can't say something nice, keep it shot. We really 
don't want to hear you speak evil of someone. Bridges says, 
and I quote it on Wednesday night, We need to think twice before 
we speak once. That's James's point. That's 
what he's saying, as justified believers, as those who have 
been brought forth by the grace of God, as those who have heard 
the word of God and by his grace believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
as those who profess to be the saved of God, listen more than 
you talk. And when it comes to widows and 
orphans, visit them, love them, care for them. This is pure and 
undefiled religion in the sight of God and the Father. Not to 
live as if there is no widow, not to live as if there is no 
orphan. You're to love them, you're to 
respect them, you're to seek to alleviate the needs. And not 
just widows and orphans, but the ill, the sick, those among 
you. Be charitable, be kind, be hospitable, keep oneself unspotted 
from this world. James brings it to a head when 
he says you need to be doers of the word. You've not just 
been brought forth by the word of truth. You ought to function 
as those who have been brought forth by the word of truth. You 
ought to live by the word of truth. You ought to desire the 
word of truth. You don't even begin to enter 
into the idea that you're not going to avail yourself of the 
Bible. You're not going to read. You're 
not going to study. You're not going to. That's not even the 
issue with James, which is the issue so much in our own generation, 
just getting people to read the Bible or come to hear it preached 
as a chore. James treats the doing of it. 
You'd be doers of that word. What good is it if you're like 
a man who looks in the mirror and he shaves and he sees what 
he looks like and then he walks away and somebody says, what 
do you look like? I don't know. Couldn't tell you haven't got a clue. 
That's the audience in the context of whom James is dealing. What 
is this justification mean in your life? You say that justification 
is an act of God's free grace, wherein he has pardoned all your 
sins and he has accepted you as righteous in his sight. Only 
for the righteousness of Christ imputed to you and received by 
faith alone. What's that mean? Why are you 
different than the Muslim? How are you different than the 
Buddhist? How are you different than the Hindu? What distinguishes 
one who's been justified by God's grace? Well, at a minimum, you're 
going to love widows and orphans. You're going to bridle your tongue. 
You're going to you're going to be doers of the word. That's 
James's point. That's James's context. James 
White, Doctor White, says this exhortation of Christians is 
not addressing how the ungodly are declared righteous before 
God, but how that declaration is showed outwardly or shown 
outwardly in the Christian life. Let me just read that again and 
then we'll move to consider the focus of James. This exhortation 
of Christians where he's talking specifically about chapter two. 
is not addressing how the ungodly are declared righteous before 
God. But how that declaration is shown outwardly in the Christian 
life. We might say he's not dealing 
with actual justification, the pardon of sin and the accepting 
of us as righteous in his sight because of the imputed righteousness 
of Christ. That's actual. But the declarative 
or the worked out or the or the fleshing out of what God has 
done actually, that's James's focus. And we see that in chapter 
two. Notice he's already said salvation 
is given freely by our gracious God and is likened to a new birth. You cannot skip one eighteen 
in the proper handling of chapter two. Salvation is by the means 
of God's word and through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation always 
results in the same being a doer of the word. That's just the 
way it is. When a baby is born, what do 
they do? They breathe. When a Christian is born again, 
what does he do? He breathes. He does what God 
calls him to do. Now, it may not be as he ought. It may not be as he wishes. But 
it is, to some degree or other, that a true Christian will always 
be a doer of God's Word. That is the inevitable link between 
justification and sanctification. Notice, James is dealing with 
this whole idea of demonstration, not actual justification. But 
what we can see, what we can feel, what we can touch, what 
is played out in the arena of human life, that's James' focus. You need to get this. James is 
not talking to a bunch of people and saying, here's how you're 
actually justified by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 
He's talking to a bunch of people who claim to be justified by 
the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And he's saying 
that as claimants to this justification here, then, is what you should 
look like. Notice in 214, what does it profit 
my brethren if someone notice says he has faith? What's he 
dealing with? He's dealing with someone's claim 
to being a Christian, not actual justification by the power of 
the triune God, but a statement. Someone says they have faith. You might be twenty five in this 
room. You might be ten in this room. 
You might be fifty five or one hundred and five or five. And 
you might say that you're a Christian. You might say that you have given 
your heart to Jesus, or you might say that you have believed the 
gospel. Now, notice what does it profit my brethren if someone 
says he has faith, but does not have words? And literally, he 
says, can that faith save him? Can that kind of a faith save 
him? One that says, yes, I believe, 
but there's no substance, no evidence, nothing concrete. Nothing fleshed out, no different 
than the devil or as James uses the demons who believe that God 
is one. They at least tremble. There's 
some who profess faith in Jesus Christ. We don't even travel. 
Least the demons, and I'm here to applaud demon faith, but at 
least demons tremble at their profession that there is one 
God. We have Christians or professors 
today who profess to believe Jesus, who profess to follow 
the Lamb, who live in open adultery, who live in open fornication, 
who engage in all manner of wickedness and ungodliness. The demons out 
faith them because at least the demons tremble when they consider 
that God is one. It's actually become bad to fear 
God in our generation. It's all about happiness and 
about happiness and about joy and about my satisfaction and 
about myself needs. No, it's about the glory of the 
triune God and his majesty and his honor and his excellence 
and his holiness. Ask Nadab and Abihu when they 
offered up strange fire to the Lord and God killed them. What did he testify to Moses? 
By those who come to me, I must be regarded as holy. Doesn't 
matter about your felt needs. It doesn't matter in the big 
scheme of things about your happiness. It matters about God. You see what James is saying? 
You say you have faith. You don't have works. Can that 
faith save you? Is that the real deal? Is that 
the genuine article? The issue isn't faith against 
works. The issue isn't faith plus works. The issue is biblical faith versus 
false faith. That's what James is dealing 
with. See, biblical faith, whenever we believe the truth of God's 
Word, whenever we believe the propositions of the gospel, whenever 
we believe what the Bible says concerning about Jesus, when 
we believe it the way the Bible says, we will follow the lamb 
wherever he calls us to go. That's James's point, and that 
is evidence throughout the context. Notice verse 18. But someone 
will say you have faith and I have words. Show me your faith. You see, demonstrate it. James 
is a pastor. For the sake of brevity, I didn't 
get into the introduction. James is the half brother of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, who was not converted until the resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then James became a leader 
in the church in Jerusalem. He probably wrote this letter 
in about 46 or 47. It's one of the earliest epistles 
that was written in the New Testament canon. So what I suspect happened 
is that there were a lot of people who said, oh, this is great. 
We can believe on Jesus and live like the devil. James says, no, 
you can't. True biblical faith always produces 
worse. True biblical faith always issues 
forth in holiness. True biblical faith always produces 
doers of the Word of God. And so Pastor James is pastorally 
charging the congregation and saying, show me, put up or shut 
up. Don't claim to be a follower 
of Jesus and not follow him. Don't claim to be justified freely 
by his grace. Don't say that of his own will, 
he brought us forth by the word of truth so that you can live 
an open act of rebellion against the word of truth. Don't do it. 
Notice in James two, twenty two. Do you see again what we see? Do you see that faith was working 
together with his words and by works faith was made perfect? 
We'll look at Abraham in just a moment. But again, the emphasis 
here is on the demonstration of this. Not the invisible actual 
justification by God, but the outward declaration of that truth 
fleshed out in life. And then verse twenty four, even 
you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith. Only the Puritan Manton said 
in this whole discourse, the apostles intent is to show not 
what justifies, but who is justified, not what faith does, But what 
faith is in Paul, since a sinner is absolved in James, since a 
believer is approved. Amen. If the Catholics would 
have read that under the power of the spirit as they search 
James to perhaps they would no longer be an operation. James 
is not teaching faith plus words. Notice his illustrations, Abraham. and Rahab the harlot. Abraham 
and Rahab the harlot. Could you get to further opposites. Really. Could you from the rubric 
of the whole scheme of men to that were more opposite. Abraham and Rahab. Here's James point. Whether you're 
a patriarch or you're a prostitute. Whether you are the father of 
the faithful or you are in the language of Ralph Davis, the 
shady lady from Jericho, God's way is the same. You're justified 
by grace through faith in Jesus. When you've been justified by 
grace through faith in Jesus, you will act like it. and the 
very order of James's treatment of the life of Abraham evidence 
is that notice verse twenty one was not Abraham our father justified 
by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar that happened 
in Genesis twenty two. James is saying, when he went 
up on Mount Moriah to take his son, his only son, and to bury 
a knife in that son of his love, don't you see the declaration 
or the working out of the justification that God had already given him? 
That's the order of the text. Notice. Verse twenty one was 
not Abraham, our father justified by words when he offered Isaac 
his son on the altar. Do you see that faith was working 
together with his words and by words faith was made perfect 
or complete notice and the Scripture was fulfilled The Scripture that 
was fulfilled had already been spoken in Genesis 15. Abraham 
believed God and it was declared or accounted unto him as righteous. There's actual justification. There's God's pardon of iniquity 
and the imputation of Christ's righteousness in Genesis 15. For James's purpose, he says 
that Genesis 22 is the demonstration of that justification. When Abraham 
goes up to drive that knife into the son of his love, you know, 
he's the real deal. And you all can't even give somebody 
something to eat or put a cloak on them when it's cold out. That's 
his point. You say, be warm and be filled. you say you're justified justified 
people don't do that. Look at Abraham when he was bid 
to go up on the Mount Moriah and sacrifice the son of his 
love. He obeyed God. Why? Because he had been justified 
by God in Genesis 15 when he believed the gospel. And that statement brethren when 
he believed the gospel. Sometimes it gives us a bit of 
difficulty. It shouldn't The first statement 
of the gospel is Genesis 315. Genesis 315. Paul in Galatians 
3 highlights Genesis 17 and says the gospel was preached beforehand 
to Abraham, that God would justify the Gentiles. The gospel is from 
beginning to end. There's not two ways. There's 
not three ways. There's not a myriad of ways. 
There is one way of salvation by grace alone, through faith 
alone in Jesus Christ alone. And when one is justified, they'll 
live like Abraham or they'll live like Rahab. Rahab, the harlot. She's like Smokey the Bear. We 
don't ever just refer to Smokey. We say Smokey the Bear. Rahab's 
the same way. Her middle and last names are 
the harlot. Do you ever think about that? 
That's tough to shake. Rahab the harlot. What happened 
in the life and the ministry or in the life of Rahab the harlot? 
She knew of God's power, according to Joshua 2.10. She knew of the 
God of Israel. She knew or confessed his majesty 
in Joshua 2.11. And she cast herself on his mercy, 
according to Joshua 2.12 and 13. But for James's purpose, he is 
highlighting her works, her activity, her hiding the spies as a demonstration 
that she, in fact, believe in the God of Israel. That's what 
he says here. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot 
also justified by works when she received the messengers and 
sent them out another way? The capstone on all of this is 
simple, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith 
without works is dead. Also, you claim to believe on 
Jesus. You will work not for your salvation. You will work because you have 
been saved. Whether you are a patriarch or 
a prostitute, the father of the faithful or the shady lady from 
Jericho, justification again is an act of God's free grace. 
Justification inevitably produces good words like volunteering 
to sacrifice your son out at Mount Moriah or engaging in treason 
against a particular law order for the God of Israel. That's 
what we have did. We undervalue her work. What 
was she doing? She was risking her life. Why, 
because you've been justified freely by God's grace. That's 
James's point. This is consistent with the apostle 
Paul. We will go to each of these specific 
passages. You want to jot it down. There 
is in Galatians 2, 7 to 10, the public approval of Paul by James. Seems odd. James and Paul are 
teaching a different means of salvation, a different way of 
salvation. That Paul was saying when he visited Jerusalem, James 
extended to him the right hand of fellowship. So go preach, 
go preach the uncircumcised. Just don't forget the poor. Galatians 
2, 7 to 10. There was no animosity. There 
was no difference. James didn't say, wait a minute, 
you've been teaching something that is contrary to what I'm 
teaching. That's not what happened. As well, the use of Abraham is 
an illustration. James and Paul both use him as 
an illustration, strange if they're teaching different ways of salvation. 
And then the necessity of good works and Paul. I think James 
is simply an amplification or another way of doing what Paul 
does in Ephesians 2 10. In Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, he declares 
the actual way by which we are justified, for by grace you have 
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is 
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For, 
he says in verse 10, we are his workmanship, created in Christ 
Jesus for good works. which God prepared beforehand 
that we should walk in that our studies on Wednesday night. We 
see in Titus 2 verse 14, who gave himself for us that he might 
redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his 
own special people. should be careful to maintain 
good words. That's all James is saying. That's it. There's no animosity. There's no difference. There's 
no, you know, unfortunately, in the language of Martin Luther, 
a flat contradiction. James is not teaching that you 
have to work plus believe in order to be saved. Simply not 
the case. It's not true to the scripture. 
So there's our look at the salvation, at the focus, and at the consistency 
with Paul. And I believe we see in this, 
first of all, the unity of the Bible. The unity of the Bible. From beginning to end, brethren, 
you search the scriptures and you will see that all the parts 
consent to one particular hope. The glory of God in the salvation 
of sinners by Jesus Christ. The unity of the Bible is something 
that we ought to appreciate, that we ought to marvel at, that 
we ought to love. If you don't see how the Bible 
works as a unified whole, you need to read more. You need to 
study more. You need to appreciate that the 
New Testament isn't sort of an afterthought with God, but it 
is simply the fulfillment, the realization of all that the Old 
Testament anticipated previously. That that promise given in Genesis 
315, which is a promise of grace, a promise of kindness. We sometimes 
look at what happened after the fall as if God was some sort 
of a vicious taskmaster when he is driving the man out of 
out of the Garden of Eden. He did that in his grace. Man 
had sinned, man was fallen, lest he reach out and take the tree 
of life and feel himself in that place of sin. God drives him 
from the garden. That tree of life is opened again 
in the new Jerusalem because of the redemptive work of Jesus 
Christ. It's that foundational promise 
in Genesis 315, which is believed on by the Old Testament saints. 
which is filled in as redemptive history traces on as Abraham 
is given up a promise of the covenant of promise. As David 
is given a covenant of kingship, what's all this doing? It's fleshing 
out more and more of this promise of Genesis 315. So much so that 
when we turn to the New Testament, we see the New Testament or the 
New Covenant, which Paul says in the fullness of the times, 
God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. 
He is the yea and amen. He is the fulfillment of all 
that was written previously. You need to understand this and 
appreciate this. Not so that you can argue against 
dispensationalists. Not so that you can win some 
debate, but so that you can see that from eternity past, your 
triune God has orchestrated a salvation that no man could have ever conceived 
of. That the father would elect, 
that the father would choose, that he would predestine, that 
the son would come into this world, that he would live as 
our coveted head, that he would fulfill the law of God, that 
he would die as our sacrifice and as our substitute, that he 
would raise again, and that he would send the spirit to take 
that finished work and apply it to us. If that doesn't promote 
from you a hallelujah, what a savior, you've got problems. The unity 
of the Bible testifies that God is in Christ, reconciling the 
world to himself. If you have been included in 
that plan, praise him, worship him, adore him. On a Sunday morning 
when you're dragging and you're tired and you don't want to go, 
thank Father, Son, Holy Spirit, working in glorious triunity 
to save me from my sins. Hopefully, that'll get you out 
of bed and put a spring in your step and a praise on your lips 
so that you will have the privilege of coming amongst other New Covenant 
believers and praising this God. The unity of the Bible is glorious. 
It's not just thrown together. It's not just piecemeal. There's 
no afterthought in the mind of God. The 66 books all ascribe, 
all subscribe, all teach us of one God with one plan for his 
own glory and for our well-being. And if you have come here this 
morning and you don't know Jesus Christ. Look at the blessing 
of James 118, of his own will, he brought us forth. There's 
hope for you. There's not hope in you. There's 
not hope in your merits, there's not hope in your excellence, 
there's not hope even in your will. But there is hope in the 
God of heaven and earth because he wills, because he has purpose, 
because when we get to the book of Revelation, we see that there 
is a countless multitude, men from every tribe and tongue and 
people and nation. Do you realize that when we finally 
get to heaven, we're going to be praising God with our black 
brothers, with Indian brothers? We're going to be praising God 
with those who have been purchased out of the wickedness of men 
and brought before the Lamb who sits upon the throne. If you 
don't know Jesus Christ today, believe on Him. That's what the 
Bible says to you. Sometimes people say, what does 
it mean to believe? It means to take the Bible and believe 
what God says. You say, the demons believe and 
they're not saying they didn't believe the right truth. They 
may believe in monotheism. You need to believe that Jesus 
Christ is God, that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again. Yes, believe all of the Bible, 
but peculiarly for your salvation, believe those truths that focus 
on Jesus. That he was born, that he lived, 
that he died, that he rose again. First Corinthians chapter 15. 
Moreover, brethren, we declare to you the gospel. And what does 
Paul say is the gospel that Christ died for our sins according to 
the scripture. The Christ rose again for according 
to the scripture. You believe that the Bible says 
and you will be saved. Isn't that beautiful? You believe 
that and you'll be saved. You can go to a Mormon tabernacle, 
you can go to a Kingdom Hall, you can go to a Hindu complex, 
you can go to a Sikh land and they're going to have you say, 
go out and do better. The Bible's message is you can't do better. 
You need to believe the gospel and you will be saved. And then 
finally, for those who are justified, those who believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, we need to align our conduct with God's word. 
It simply does not bode well for us when we claim to be justified 
freely by his grace and then we live like the devil. When 
we say we're justified freely by his grace and we live like 
nothing ever happened to us. Again, you may be old, you may 
be young, but if you claim, if you profess to be justified by 
God's grace and you don't have works, James question is pertinent. Can that faith save you? Because 
it ain't the real deal. Biblical faith always inevitably 
produces good works. So I suspect that most of us 
are going to have to go home or at least right here after 
and repent. God, our lives. Our conduct, 
our actions have not been consistent with your word. We have been 
like that man who looks in the mirror, walks away and then can't 
tell you what he looks like. We have been like that man. Father, 
please forgive us. Please cleanse us afresh and 
please fill us with your Holy Spirit that we may live in a 
manner consistent with our profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the 
scriptures. We thank you for their unity and we thank you 
for your glory and your majesty displayed so clearly in the written 
word. We just pray, Father, that you 
would be pleased to bless the word as it goes forth today all 
throughout the earth. We pray that your word would 
run swiftly and be glorified, that your word would go forth 
conquering and to conquer and that a great multitude would 
believe. We pray for Pastor Crawford that you would bless our brother. 
See labors in Baltimore. We pray that you'd bless this 
initial meeting of the church. And we pray that many would come 
and hear the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Jesus 
Christ saves. And we pray God most high that 
you would establish a faithful biblical doctrinal work there 
in Baltimore. and that you would bring glory 
to your name and the salvation of the peoples. And we ask now 
that you would go with us. We pray that you would help us 
to reflect upon these things. And we ask through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen.