Against All Odds Week 5

AGAINST ALL ODDS – Part 5

Faith Works

James 2:14-26 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.

2

 BELIEF is not enough: If you have faith and Jesus knows it,
then your WORKS will surely show it.

James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone
claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save
him?
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by
works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus
to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

HOW FAITH WORKS

1. Faith works in response to EVERYDAY opportunities.
James 2:15-19 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.
2. Faith works in sacrificial OBEDIENCE to God.

3
James 2:20-24 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.
Hebrews 11:19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead,
and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

3. Faith works courageously in response to SPIRITUAL
TRUTH.
James 2:25-26 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.

Final Thought: If we have faith, we will live FAITHFULLY.