Lesson for July 28, 2024
Hermeneutics 101
Lesson 8
The Distinction Principle
Faith and Human Works
James 2:14-17, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says they have faith, but they have no works? Can that faith save them? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace and be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
People have a tendency to put the “cart before the horse” when it comes to Christianity. They want to put service (human good works) before the Word of God, thinking that doing human good works is spirituality. The Word of God is more important than any service we will ever do. This verse looks at a believer’s life from the unbeliever’s point of view.
The thing that confuses people in verse 14 is the word “save” — “can that faith save him.” The Greek word for save is “sozo,” which means to be delivered. So, we ask, “Delivered from what?” James’ entire epistle was written to believers, encouraging them to be doers (appliers) of the Word of God (Bible doctrine) and not merely hearers.
It is by the application of Bible doctrine by believers that unbelievers see the outward demonstration of the inward faith of believers. Therefore, the deliverance that James speaks of in this verse is from being hearers only. Faith without application (divine good works) does not demonstrate to an unbeliever the faith of a believer.
So, the correct answer to the question that James poses is “no,” faith alone cannot deliver a believer from being a hearer only. Faith plus application of Bible doctrine (divine production) delivers (saves) a believer from merely being a hearer. This is how we demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ to others. An unbeliever cannot see a believer’s faith. They can see only what is produced in the life of a believer. This verse is giving the viewpoint of an unbeliever regarding those who say they are believers in Christ.
What is the benefit if a believer does not demonstrate their faith to an unbeliever? If you are an advancing believer applying doctrine consistently, the outward production of your inner faith will get the attention of an unbeliever.
Your inner faith may be strong, but an unbeliever cannot see your inner faith, they can’t see your relationship with Christ that has changed your life, except for overt divine production. You must remember that in your periphery there are going to be unbelievers observing you. For some people, you are the best Christian they know. Though you do not have to totally separate yourself from all unbelievers, there are spiritual laws regarding our relationships with them. For example, you are never to marry an unbeliever, you are never to get involved with an unbeliever to the point that they are influencing you in some negative way that is detrimental to learning Bible doctrine and distracting you from the execution of the Christian Way of Life. But you are to be a spiritual example to them.
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace and be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Now we have the application of doctrine from the illustration in verse 14. “Go in peace and be warmed and filled” means these believers have faith but no works to demonstrate their faith to the unbelieving world. If a person is starving, or if a person is cold because of insufficient clothing, they will most likely not be receptive to a believer telling them about how God can change their life or listening to a Gospel message.
Hungry people cannot be filled and satisfied with words, they need food. A believer who sends them away and has plenty of food to give has demonstrated faith without works, which is an expression of reversionism. The idea of James is not just to be a hearer but to be a doer; and that depends upon doctrine in the soul. Bible doctrine in the soul is the energy and the fuel by which we become producers of divine good.
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself refers to the illustration of the previous verse in which one person gives “words” instead of the necessities of life. Therefore, we have a picture of a believer who has faith but fails to properly demonstrate it. “Being by itself” means that without the proper application of Bible doctrine, by following God’s instructions for the Christian Way of Life, our faith in Christ is not being demonstrated to others.
Spirituality and Spiritual Growth
Ephesians 5:18, “And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Spirituality is the term used for the filling of God the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit, which is also received at salvation, is temporary and is lost when a believer commits personal sin. The filling of the Holy Spirit is an absolute. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are either being controlled 100% by your sin nature (carnality) or 100% by the Holy Spirit (spirituality). You cannot be partially filled with the Holy Spirit and partially controlled by the sin nature at the same time, according to I John 1:6-7, 2:10-11, 3:4-9. Every time a believer sins, they step outside of God’s power system and lose the filling of the Holy Spirit and they are grieving and/or quenching the Holy Spirit.
Grieving the Holy Spirit refers to being out of fellowship with God for a short period of time. Believers grieve God the Holy Spirit every time they sin. Using
I John 1:9 restores the filling of the Holy Spirit and stops the grieving process. The Greek word forgrieve is “lupeo,” meaning to make sorrowful or sad. When applied to God, it is an anthropopathism which assigns to God an emotion He does not have but gives us in human terms a method to understand what His policy is regarding a subject. However, it does describe a personal affront to the Holy Spirit Who is our mentor and guide in life. It is the desire of God the Holy Spirit for every believer to stay in fellowship and be filled with His power. (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:30; I John 1:5-7)
Quenching the Holy Spirit suggests that a believer has ignored or rejected the Rebound Technique over a prolonged period of time. The Greek word for quenching is “sbennumi,” meaning to extinguish a fire. Quenching the Holy Spirit occurs when a believer moves so far from God that the power of the Holy Spirit in their life is extinguished. This occurs when a believer chooses to ignore Bible doctrine and the utilization of the Rebound Technique. Relying on false doctrine or human viewpoint quenches the Holy Spirit. When false doctrine or human viewpoint is controlling the soul, a vacuum opens and “sucks in” all kind of satanic doctrine. (Ephesians 4:17) The vacuum of the mind not only attracts every system of false doctrine and human viewpoint but results in seeking human solutions instead of divine solutions.
II Peter 3:17-18, “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment (to accurate doctrine),but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
Spiritual growth is a process of studying, learning, believing, and applying accurate Bible doctrine. Any believer, in any stage of spiritual growth, can be spiritual. There are no degrees of spirituality. There are, however, degrees of spiritual maturity based on the knowledge and the consistent application of Bible doctrine.
Knowing this beforehand refers to the Second Coming of Christ and should cause a believer to evaluate the path they are currently on spiritually. Guard is a military word for guarding something or having custody of something. Peter was saying to take accurate Bible doctrine into “custody.” You can take control of your own spiritual life only through consistent spiritual growth. God has given all believers a command to grow spiritually, and He never gives us a command without giving us the means necessary to obey it. God, therefore, has provided His written instruction book (the Bible) and the filling (guidance) of the Holy Spirit. Both are grace functions for every believer in this age, regardless of education or I.Q. Any believer with a positive attitude towards Bible doctrine can learn, believe and apply it accurately.
At salvation, all believers are placed into union with Jesus Christ and become complete in Him (positionally). (Colossians 2:10) However, experientially, we are not complete because we still have a sin nature. For this reason, all believers are commanded to grow spiritually and to advance toward spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity, which results in a stabilized mind, should be the goal of every person who has trusted Christ as Savior. Spiritual maturity does not happen overnight. It takes a life of persistent and consistent study to gain and maintain spiritual maturity. (Ephesians 4:14-15; II Peter 3:18)