For the first three hundred years of the Christian faith, followers of Christ had little alternative but to stay close to Jesus, live in a vital love relationship with Him, and cling to each other for mutual encouragement and support. They were persecuted by local and national governments and fearful every day for their lives.

Church leaders from that period, like Tertullian of Carthage (160 AD), are an example of the emphasis on true discipleship. He constantly wrote to the churches of his day calling for Christians to live holy lives, separating themselves from the practices and values of their pagan culture. Ignatius of Antioch (117 AD) wrote, “I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground up by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ…then shall I be a true disciple of Christ.”

Then, around 322 AD, the worst thing that could happen, happened to the Church of Jesus Christ. Christianity became a popular movement in the Roman Empire. Constantine the Great, the emperor, officially recognized Christianity as the state-sponsored religion of the empire. And when once Christianity became part of main-stream culture it had to do everything in its power to maintain that place of popularity, even if it meant compromising the truth of the Gospel.

Rodney Clapp, in his book, A Peculiar People, writes of this period of history that, “the ethical requirements of the Church were adapted to the level of what might be called ‘respectable unbelief.’” This author captures an accurate assessment of the condition of most of the churches in America today in this quote from his book, “The question was no longer ‘How can we survive and remain faithful Christians under Caesar?’, but now becomes, ‘How can we adjust the church’s expectations so that Caesar can consider himself a faithful Christian?’”

Eddie Gibbs, author of a book entitled, In Name Only, says that the Christian Church today is “full of people who want to be known as Christians, but who no longer accept the basic beliefs of  Christianity, are living lifestyles incompatible with the values of the kingdom, and are not maintaining an ongoing relationship with the Lord.”

Faith without works is going to be the demise of Christianity in our generation unless we have a spiritual awakening in this nation. We have people who say they have saving faith but are being unfaithful to their marriage vows without much conviction or concern. We have churches full of people who think the Ten Commandments are outdated and more like ten guidelines. We have churches in America that have no concern at all about those who are without Christ and are so afraid of offending that they have hidden the true demands of the Gospel.

The Apostle James saw the tell tale signs of this malady in the early church, and wrote, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” Then a few verses later, he writes, “You see that a man is justified by works…” On the surface this looks like a direct contradiction to Paul’s teaching on faith. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

In reality there is no contradiction between Paul and James. The problem is that in common Christian usage the word faith has come to mean an intellectual assent to a set of doctrinal propositions about Jesus, the cross, and salvation. No expectations of a transformed life. No expectations that sinful behaviors will be crucified and fall away. No expectations of holy attitudes, holy character or holy conduct. Just faith and poof, your sins  are forgiven, you are going to go to heaven, and nothing can alter your eternal destiny.

In reality, no such faith existed in Paul’s theology and James certainly leaves no room for this kind of faith in the verses we are going to examine today. When Paul uses the word, faith, he fully intends that it is a faith that has immediate and life-long ramifications concerning the Christian living a life of practical holiness. When James uses the word, works, he fully intends that it is a works that is birthed in and inseparable from the faith that saves.

We have made the distinction between faith and works to our own peril and the peril of the Gospel in our day. James and Paul did not make that distinction! James holds up the mirror of God’s Word to show you and me a faith that works!

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