Faith That Produces Obedience and Action

- All right, well good morning once again church family. They let me come back this week, so that's cool. I wasn't looking for all of that, I just thought it was... Thought it was cool. We are gonna be continuing in the Book of James today, we're gonna be in James chapter 2:14-26, James chapter 2:14-26, go ahead and turn in your Bible there with me, or on your device, or whatever you may have, as we continue in this Book of James. I don't know if you've ever had one of those moments in your life, that just comes as kind of a real wake up call to you? I have. I had one somewhat recently actually, just a couple of months ago. We went to kind of this big party that my kids wanted to go to, out at a park in Lockport, and there were a bunch of families there, and there was a football game that came about between the teenagers, and the dads. And so, of course, naturally, being myself, I decided, "Hey, I'm gonna go show these kids what's up." "I'm gonna go and prove that I am still young. I am still faster than all of them, and I am better at football than every single one of these teenagers." And I set out to prove it, and I wanna tell you something, I went out there, in the very first play of the game, I did it. I blew past every single one of those kids, caught a touchdown, I went yard, I went all the way down the field. Caught a touchdown, blew past all of 'em, and it was great. Until the wake up call came, when I was sucking wind like it was no one's business, and I felt like I was going to die. I got one play in, guys. One play. And I just told the rest of the dads, I was like, "Look, I put y'all up, the rest is up to you, okay? I am done." It came as a real wake up call that despite being able to run fast still, I am immensely out of shape, I am immensely just unable to run more than once, apparently. And I think... I think sometimes in life, you need a wake up call like that, right? For all sorts of things, maybe it's for your health, maybe it's for your in-shape-ness, maybe it's for whatever it may be. We need a wake up call in life sometimes, and I think there are many in the church, who need a wake up call in their spiritual life as well, and that's what the Book of James does so well. The Book of James, all throughout the Book of James, he's giving us a wake up call, he's giving us a wake up call as he calls us back to true, biblical faith. From being just hearers of the Word, to being doers of the Word, as we saw in chapter one. And he gives us a wake up call today, as he asked a question, and the question is essentially this, "Is your faith saving faith?" "Is your faith saving faith?" In other words, "What kind of faith do you have?" "What kind of faith do you have?" Do you have the kind of faith that is all lip-service, but no substance? Or do you have a real faith that is active in your life? Are you just claiming to have faith? Are you just saying the right words, but there's nothing actually in the heart? There's nothing deep down that is coming out of you like a true faith will do? Or are you just... Or are you just calling what you have, 'faith'? And he asks it in the very first verse. Take a look at verse 14 with me. It says, "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?" We get a lot of hints from this letter of James, that he has seen plenty enough in the church, he has seen plenty enough people who say that they trust in Jesus, but there's nothing in their life that shows it. They say that they trust Jesus, but they don't live like someone who actually trusts Jesus. They say that they trust Jesus, but they don't show mercy to others. They say that they trust Jesus, but they don't love their neighbor. They say that they trust Jesus, but they don't care to live in any kind of obedience to Him. They say they trust Jesus, but that's all they do, is they say it. They just say it. And the issue at hand, is not just a life and death issue, it's an eternal life and death issue. And the question that he is asking, should serve as a wake up call to those who claim faith in Jesus. Now, throughout the passage that we're gonna read, all these verses, he mentions the relationship between faith and words, and that's an issue that is dealt with all throughout the New Testament. And the Apostle Paul, and all of his letters in the New Testament, often deals with the place of faith in works, and how the two relate together. Especially in the Book of Galatians, and in the Book of Romans, but it's all throughout all of the letters that he wrote. And many have thought, that what James says today is actually opposing Paul, but James is not opposing Paul. In fact, when we see in other places in the New Testament that the two agree. In Acts chapter 15, at the Jerusalem council, the two are in agreement, that we are saved by faith, true faith, true saving faith, but we are not saved by works of the law. In Galatians 2:1-10, Paul says, "I went to Jerusalem, I met with Peter, and James, and John, and I laid out my gospel before them, and they were in full agreement with me." The two are agreeing. James isn't opposing Paul, or what he says in any kind of way. What he's doing, is he's approaching it from a different angle. Paul says, "We are saved by faith." James is simply asking, "But what kind of faith is it that saves?" "What is true faith?" And the answer we're gonna find today is that, true faith is a living faith, that produces obedience in action. "True faith is a living faith that produces obedience and action." Now, throughout the passage, James kind of contrasts the two different kinds of faith. A false faith, and a true faith. Saving faith, against a fake faith that we can be in danger of having. And so, I wanna show you kind of three different contrasts that we find throughout this passage that will help us better to grasp what true faith is. The first contrast that we find is, professed faith versus possessed faith. Professed faith versus possessed faith. When I say 'possessed faith', I don't mean like 'The Exorcist' kind of possessed, right? I mean like you have it, you truly have it. Look closely at what he says here in verse 14 again. "What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims..." Oh, that's nice, they already underlined it for me. "Claims to have faith, but has no deeds?" "What good is it, if they claim to have faith, but have no deeds?" People can make all sorts of claims about all sorts of things, right? But if you don't have the substance behind it, then it's meaningless. A claim is meaningless, unless it actually have substance behind it. You can claim to be rich, but if there's no money in the bank, then it's not real. You can claim to be the greatest athlete of all time, but if you don't have the stats, and the wins, and the highlights, and you're sucking wind at the end of every play, right? Then, you don't have anything to really base that claim on. And James is essentially saying, "You can say that you have faith, but not really have it." "You can claim it..." That's the key word in that verse, "Without actually having it." You can claim it, but faith has a substance that proves it, and that substance is the result in actions that come out of a true faith. I had a friend back in high school, who, one night he went to some kind of evangelistic event at a church, I don't remember what it was. And that night, they asked if anyone wanted to put their faith in Jesus, and he raised his hand, and he prayed the prayer, and that was it. That was it. He was done, he felt secure enough to go on with his life as he has always lived it, and just claimed that he put his faith in Jesus. And I remember a couple weeks later, he was telling me about it, and he was telling me about another friend who kinda confronted him on like, "Hey, there's some things in your life that if you're trusting in Jesus, it's time to turn from them." And he told me, he's like, "But I put my faith in Jesus, I believe him. So, why do I need to do anything about it? Why do I have to actually change? Why do I have to actually do anything? I prayed the prayer." And it's an example of a faith that you merely profess, but you don't actually possess. Now, if you possess faith, of course you're gonna profess it, but just because you claim it, doesn't mean that you have an actual faith in Jesus Christ. That you actually possess it, because faith works in our lives. Faith in Jesus, it does something in our life. And James is trying to say, "You should not feel secure, just to say the words, but you must actually have the faith. After all, what is faith? What is faith?" That's the question that James wants us to think about here, "What is faith?" It's not just saying that the chair is gonna hold me up if I sit in it. Faith is actually sitting in the chair, right? Faith is actually sitting in the chair, it's not saying that whoever's driving the car, you believe that they will actually get you there safely. Faith is actually sitting in the passenger seat, and letting them drive. Faith is not saying that when my eight year old makes brownies, I believe that they're gonna taste good, right? It's actually taking a bite without making the face, right? Like you're expecting it to be bad. Faith actually does something in our lives. When we have a true faith, when we possess faith, we live by it. We live by it. It changes the way that we live. And real faith in Jesus, is believing that He is the Son of God, who became man, and it's believing that He's the Son of God who became man who has died for our sins, and risen from the dead. And it's believing that having died for our sins and risen from the dead, He is Lord over everything, and He is the Lord who gives life and He is the Lord who is good, and it's believing it to the point where you actually entrust yourself to Him. You actually entrust yourself to Him. Believing that His death on the cross has forgiven your sin, in order to break the power of sin in your life, so that you can now say 'no' to sin. Believing that He is Lord, and so you follow Him, and obey Him, believing that He is good, so that you want to follow Him, and obey Him. If you believe He is the Lord of all, you will live like it. You will live like it. And you'll live like it, because true faith in Jesus, it changes people. It changes people. We heard a few stories today, of people whose lives have been changed by Jesus, and I love that we hear people's stories when they get baptized, and we hear of the life change that when we put somebody into the water, we are symbolizing the old life has died, and we raised them up, that new life has come about in their life. That is what they are professing, that is what has happened in their lives, because they are not only professing their faith, they possess faith in Jesus. They possess faith in Jesus. And all throughout this passage, when James is speaking in sort of a negative way about faith alone, he's talking about a mere professed faith, a faith that is only claimed, that isn't a possessed faith. Look at one more clue in verse 14 again, it says, "What good is it my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?" He's not just talking about any kind of faith, he's talking about the kind of faith that only claims it, but doesn't live by it. That only claims it, but doesn't actually possess it. And the answer is no. The answer is no. And unfortunately, there are many who think it can, they profess faith in Jesus, they say the right things, but they've never actually put their faith in Jesus, it's just lip-service. But friends, we are called to do more than just say words, we are called to do more than just say words and give lip-service. We are called to put whole-hearted faith in Jesus Christ, and in Him alone. And the difference between a professed faith, and a possessed faith, is also the difference that we see in number two, it's the difference in the dead faith vs a living faith. A dead faith versus a living faith. You know, many of us can tell the difference between something that is dead, and something that is alive. A lot of times, it's pretty obvious, right? But not quite always. We've had a couple of times where our girls will go out to feed their bunnies, and they'll come back in, and be like, "I think one of 'em is dead." Tears in their... You know, a little tear going down their cheeks and everything. "I think one of 'em is dead." And so, I go out there and I check on the bunny, and it sure doesn't look like he's moving, and it sure doesn't look like he's breathing, and so, I poke him, you know? And I see what happens, I just give him a little poke, and then he hops away, and everything is fine, right? What do you know? He's still alive. A couple of weeks ago, Christa calls me, and she says, I'm at work, and she says, "Clover's dead. House is in emotional chaos. Come home now." Click. I said, "Okay." I called her back, I said, "Are you sure? Like you know we have these time sometimes where we go out... You've just gotta kind of poke the rabbit." And she said, "No, he's dead. Get home now." So, I go home, and I'm like, "I'm gonna go check on the bunny." And I go, and check on the bunny, and low, and behold, what do you know? Yeah, Clover's dead. He's dead, man. It's not good. It's not good. He was dead. We can usually tell the difference between something that is dead, and something that is alive, right? But sometimes, somebody needs to poke it and see, and that's exactly what James is doing here with our faith, he's poking us in our faith, to see if our faith is dead, or if our faith is alive. And he differentiates between a dead faith, and a living faith, by showing how a living faith actually produces fruit. A living faith produces fruit. And he gives an illustration here in verse 15 and 16, to kinda show his point, he says, "Suppose a brother or sister without clothes... And is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm and well fed', but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?" In other words, you may say that you hope a person is warm and well fed, you might think in your mind that someone should do something about them getting warm and well-fed, but if you don't do something about it, it's a dead belief. It's a dead belief. It's a cold belief, it does not produce the fruit of action within you. It does not produce the fruit that you actually believe that something should be done. And so he says in verse 17, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Faith not accompanied by action is dead. And this really gets to the point of what James is getting at. More than being about faith in works, he is getting at living faith, versus dead faith. Living faith versus dead faith. You can think of it like the difference between dirt and soil, okay? A couple years back now, I graduated seminary, all right? I took a nice, quick path of eight years to get my masters degree, okay? Nice, and quick, and over that time, I just kinda didn't really have time to do some of the things around the house, the things that my wife wanted me to build and everything, that I... That she hoped that I could do, right? And so, as soon as I graduated, she said, "I'm proud of you, I want my raised garden beds now. I want my raised garden beds." So, I went out, and I built the raised garden beds, so that we could... We could you know, have a few little garden things in the backyard. And I didn't know anything about gardening, I'm thinking, "Well, just throw some dirt in it." Right? "And we'll plant some seeds in there, and it'll grow stuff." What I came to learn is that, when you plant a garden, you don't wanna just plant your seeds, or your plants in some dirt, you don't wanna just do some dirt. Somebody's laughing, because you think I'm just an idiot, right? But apparently, I just didn't know this. Dirt is a mix of things like sand, and clay, and rock, and pebble, and just like all sorts of stuff, but it's void of the nutrients, and the microbes, and the living organic stuff that makes it a living kind of environment, a living ecosystem that plants need to be healthy and grow. What you want, is not just dirt, you want soil. Soil. Soil is rich, rich in nutrients and microbes. It has all that organic matter that actually makes it a living ecosystem, a living environment that is going to help plants grow. Dirt is kind of dead. Soil is alive, and it will actually produce fruit when you plant seeds in it. And in the same way, in a living faith, the gospel planted in a living faith, that faith grows fruit out from it. It grows fruit. The kind of faith that is saving faith, is a living faith, it's alive, it's organic, in a way that produces a crop. It's fruitful, something grows out of it. Now sometimes, it's just a little bit of fruit, other times, it's a whole lot of fruit at one time, and it kinda comes in different people's lives, at different people's times and it looks different for everyone, but in a true faith, it's like soil that you plant the seed of the gospel, and fruit grows out of it, a crop grows out of it. And it's what he's talking about here, what he's talking about here is not that we believe in Jesus, and then we just tack on some good works on top of it, that's not what he's talking about, he's not saying, "I just claim faith in Christ, and then I go, and I make sure you know, I put some money in the offering, you know? I make sure I show up to church on Sundays, I'm just tacking it on top of there." He is talking about an obedience that springs out of our faith, that it's by our faith that we say, "Yes, I wanna walk with Christ." That it's by our faith we say, "Yes, I want to do all that Christ has called me to do." He's talking about having works that spring forth from faith, he's talking about works that naturally come out of our faith. In his letter to the Romans, Paul talks about the same thing, he talks a lot about being justified by faith alone, but he gives these book-ins, in the Book of Romans, look at what he says, first of all in Romans chapter 1:5, "Through Him, we received grace and apostleship to call all of the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith, for His name's sake." That's what he's writing in the Book of Romans about, that's what he's telling them, that he wants to go to Spain to preach the gospel, to see the obedience of faith, that comes out of that faith. And then at the very last chapter of the book, when he's talking about the grace of God, he says, "But now revealed, and made known through the prophetic writings, by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come..." To what? "The obedience that comes from faith." Paul assumes when he's saying, "We're saved by faith alone." He's saying, "It's not tacking on works on top of it, that saves us. But if you have a true faith in Christ alone, obedience comes out of it, it's the natural outcome of a true faith." When we have a true faith in Jesus, action and obedience are the fruit of it, living faith in God's mercy, will produce mercy in us. Living faith in God's forgiveness of our sin, will produce in us a desire to be done with sin, living faith that Jesus is good, and is Lord of all, will produce seeing that his ways are good. Living faith that Jesus is enough, and that he gives eternal life, will produce a desire to no longer live for the things of the world, but to live with eternity in mind, and I'm just gonna tell you now, there are times that we come up to something that Jesus calls us to do, and in that moment, we don't wanna do it. I have those times in my life, I have plenty of those times in my life, Jesus calls us to do hard things sometimes, Jesus calls us to do things that are pretty uncomfortable sometimes, and when I come up to them sometimes, if I'm being honest, I don't want to do it, but will we submit to it anyway? Will we say, "But I want to follow Christ. I might not wanna do this thing, but I want to follow Christ." I might not wanna do this thing, but I want to follow Christ, and there are times where it takes me a long time, there are times where it takes me a long time to come around to that. There are times where I delay it, and I don't walk in obedience in the moment, and that is showing that I need to grow in my faith, I need to be setting my heart, I need to be turning it from whatever it's on in that moment, and turning it back to Christ, it doesn't mean I've lost my salvation, it doesn't mean that I don't have faith, but it means that over time, the Lord is working in me, and I have to choose to do it, but I want to choose to do it. In the overall span of my life, I want to choose in every moment, to follow after Him, anything less than fruitful faith, shows evidence that it's not true faith. Not just in each and every thing, but if there is no fruit in your life, ever, then it should be a wake up call, and James is poking you, to wake you up and see if you are alive. None of this means that when you put your faith in Jesus, you're gonna be made perfect all at once, that doesn't happen, we are saved on the basis of the perfection of Jesus Christ, in His death for our sin, and His resurrection, and we are not perfected all at once in the moment we believe. And it doesn't mean that it's not going to take any effort on your part, to choose to walk in obedience, but it does mean that you'll be changed, it does mean that you will be changed. And over the course of your life, He will continue to change you, and He will continue to mold you, and you will produce more, and more fruit that looks like Jesus. The kind of faith that is saving faith, is a living faith. And James goes on to prove his point by contrasting one more thing, "An intellectual faith vs a submissive faith." "An intellectual faith versus a submissive faith." Y'all gotta hear this one, all right? I gotta hear this one. Listen to what he says in versus 18 and 19, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, I have deeds'. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that, and they shudder." They shudder. There are many who know correct doctrine, there are many who really do agree to the historical facts of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, but they refuse to submit themselves to Him, they refuse to submit themselves to Him. And James says, "In that case, you are no closer to salvation than demons are." That's pretty strong. That's pretty strong, and it's pretty scary. Demons know beyond the shadow of a doubt, they know better than any one of us in this room, that God is the one true God, that He is real, they know it better than any of us do, and they even shudder at the truth, they have an emotional response to the truth, but they don't submit to Him. They don't submit to the truth. Jesus said something pretty similar along these lines too, in Matthew chapter seven, take a look at what He says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name, drive out demons, and in your name, perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" That's a wake up call, that's a wake up call. And it's a wake up call to anyone who claims Christ, but has never actually given themselves to Him. It's a wake up call to anyone who knows all the things, but has never actually submitted themselves, entrusted themselves to Jesus Christ. Friend, you can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't submit to Him in that knowledge, it is not true, saving faith. It's not any real faith at all. You can argue for God, day and night, against people who don't believe in Him, you can know all the sound doctrine and teach it to thousands, and thousands. You can go to seminary, and get so many degrees, they call you Dr. Fahrenheit, or Dr. Celsius for our Canadian friends who might be at the Niagara Falls campus, right? You can know all the things, but if you have all that knowledge, and you refuse to walk by faith in Jesus, you refuse to actually submit to Him, then you stand in the same place that demons stand in. That's merely an intellectual faith, not a submissive faith, not a saving faith. And what that might look like for us, is we say 'yes' to all the truths about Jesus, and yet say, "But I'm not gonna give up my lifestyle in order to live by His ways." We can say 'yes' to all the truths about Jesus, but I'm not actually going to give my life, and the way I live my life, to Him. Yes, I believe those things are true, but I'm not gonna follow Him, whenever, and wherever He calls. Yes, I believe all those things are true, but I'm still going to keep control over my own life, I'm not giving Him any of it. Yes, I believe those things are true, I love coming every Sunday, and learning all this great stuff, but I'm not gonna do anything about it, we're hearers of the Word, but not doers of the Word, we're knowers of the Word, but not submitting to the Word. For in that's an intellectual faith, not a submissive faith, not a saving faith. A submissive faith leaves our 'yes' on the table to Jesus. A submissive faith approaches the Bible, and it doesn't say, "Okay, I'm gonna read what it says, and then I'll say 'yes' if I agree with it." It's coming to the Bible saying, "Yes Lord, whatever you say in this Word, I'm saying 'yes', even before I read it. Even before I know it. I want my life to be Yours, I trust You, You have died for my sins, You are the one who gives life, and I am trusting in You." That's what faith looks like, that's what a submissive faith looks like. And these two verses shouldn't affect the way we just think about our own faith, it should affect the way we share our faith as well. It should affect the way we share our faith with others, it should affect the way we share the gospel, and call people to respond to it. We are not calling people to easy-believism, we are not calling people to just intellectually ascend, to truths, to just agree with facts, we are calling people to believe truth about Jesus in such a way, that they trust in Him. We are calling people to a true faith, that produces love, and obedience. We are calling people to be disciples of Jesus, not just to say some words, but to actually trust Him, and follow Him. The demons are an example of a merely intellectual faith. But then James gives two biblical examples of people who had a submissive faith, the first one is Abraham, he says, "You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 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. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do, and not by faith alone. Here's an interesting thing about what James does here, he starts talking about Abraham, in the story about Abraham being called to sacrifice Isaac on the altar, and you remember that God doesn't actually want him to do that, He stops him, He was just testing him, but he starts with that story, where Abraham exercises his faith, and he walks in obedience to God, no matter the cost. But that story is in Genesis chapter 22, that's when Isaac is at least a teenager, maybe a young man at the time. But the scripture he quotes about Abraham being considered righteous, is from Genesis 15, it's from years before Isaac is even born. Isaac is only promised, and Abraham believes in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. It was at that point, all those years before, that God credited Abraham's faith to him as righteousness, it was the moment of faith. And it's the same for us, the moment we trust Jesus with genuine faith, we are saved by His grace, but that genuine faith will be lived out as we walk with Him. One of the things I love about the example of Abraham, is that in all that time between Genesis 15 and 22, Abraham got it wrong a lot of times, he got it wrong a lot of times. Yet, because he had a genuine faith in Jesus, the Lord... Or in God, and the promise of Jesus, the promise of a savior who would come, God worked in him, God was continually bringing fruit about, in his life, and he was walking in Him. So, when James says, "It's faith and works." He's not saying that you have to do good works, in order, you have to tack on the good works, in order to earn the rest of your salvation. Your works do not save you, the work of Christ saves you, but when you truly trust in Him, it will produce works in you. He's saying that, "The fruit of a life of faith, is obedience." And he's saying that, "Obedience will show, it will spring forth from faith." It will spring forth from faith. So, we don't need to lose hope every time we sin, but we do, we are called to walk in repentance when we do. "The Christian life is not a perfect life, the Christian life, is a life of faith and repentance, and there is coming a day where we will stand before the Lord, and we will be like Him." John tells us in 1st John. "We will be made perfect, and sin will be no more. The death and resurrection of Christ, He has paid the penalty for our sin. He has broken the power of sin, over our lives, and one day, it will completely remove us from the very presence of sin, so that we're not even tempted by it anymore. We won't even fall to it anymore. But until then, we live in faith and repentance in the Lord." The second example quickly, is Rahab verse 25, "In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies, and sent them off in a different direction?" She had a faith in God, that produced an action. And James is quick to point out that Rahab was a prostitute, who was then considered righteous when she had her faith in God. Placing her faith in the one true God, she was saved, and she was changed, so that she followed after Him. And James ends with verse 26, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Faith that consists of words, and thoughts alone, is an empty faith. But God calls for a true unliving faith, our faith has to go beyond mere knowledge, and mere words, and you wanna know something? That's just like what God is like, He goes beyond mere knowledge, and mere words, He has not left His end of salvation to words alone, but He has fulfilled every, single word. God has not just said, "I will save you." And He has not just said, "I will forgive you." And He has not just said that, "I will bring you in as a child." He has not just given empty words, but He has fulfilled them in Christ. What He has said, He truly meant, and He has done it, not so that we can just be forgiven, and continue on with life as always, but He has done it, so that we could be reconciled with Him, so that we could have life in Him, even here and now, so that we could be changed and made new, and given new life in Him. God has not left His words empty, He has fulfilled every, single one of them, in Jesus Christ. In the faith that He has called for, is also not an empty faith, but it's a faith that truly entrusts ourselves to Jesus, and truly trust in Him, in a way that we walk in Him. Jesus came in order to save sinners, who couldn't save themselves, and friends, that's each and every one of us. That's each and every one of us, and there is no amount of good works that you can do, to make His salvation more complete, but in true faith, a true faith produces works of obedience, works of faith in Him. Our basis of salvation is in Christ alone, in His life, His death, and His resurrection. And the means by which we come into this salvation, is faith alone, true faith alone, but the evidence of our salvation is the fruit of a changed life, the fruit of a life that has been changed by Jesus. We are saved by faith alone, but true faith never remains alone. And here's the good news to hold onto in all of this, faith in Jesus Christ, it changes lives, it changes lives. Again, we heard testimonies of that this morning, there's so many of you who have testimonies of that in your life. I have a testimony of that in my life, believers all over the world, have a testimony that faith in Jesus, it changes everything. Trusting yourself to the person and work of Jesus Christ, is a faith that is alive, and it's the kind of faith that He calls us to. Let's not believe these facts, and then try to get your life together, it's trust this person, this risen savior, and He will change you. He will change you. He will bring you from death to life, He will awaken your spirit, and He will make you new. Let's go ahead and bow our heads this morning. The question is, 'Where are you at today? Where are you at today?' Maybe you're here today, and you've never trusted, or you've never even claimed to have trusted in Christ. We want you to know that faith in Jesus, real faith in Jesus, is a living faith that changes you. It's a living faith that gives new life, the truth of who Jesus is, and what He has done, is the one and only truth that can save us. He is the only one who can save us, and reconcile us to God, and give us new life. And He invites you to put your faith in Him this morning, to trust in His death, and His resurrection, and to give yourself to Him in faith, and be changed forever. Maybe you're here this morning, and you have always said that you have faith, you may even intellectually hold to write doctrine, but there's no fruit in your life from it. Your life has never been changed, you've never actually submitted yourself to Christ. You've claimed faith, but there was no true submission to Him. For in today is the day, to turn yourself over to Jesus Christ, to be done with just knowing some truths. Today is the day to actually submit to Him, and live by His truth. Maybe you're here today, and you do have a true faith, but you just haven't been walking in it lately, in some way or another. Here's what I don't want you to do, I don't want you to walk away, questioning your salvation over every sin. In this life, we are still going to sin, we are still fighting with temptation, and we are still going to fail sometimes, and James is not calling us to question our salvation every time we sin. But what I do want you to do, is I want you to turn whatever that thing is, over into submission to Jesus today, in response to Him. Finally, maybe you're here today, and you have that living faith in Jesus, my encouragement to you is that, as you continue to walk in that faith in Jesus, sacrifice in order to take others along with you. Call others to come along with you, in submissive faith to Him. Call others into that same kind of faith, bring them along and teach them what a living faith looks like, because that's what Jesus calls us to do, He calls us to make disciples. And so, this morning we're gonna pray, and I'm gonna call you to respond, in however the Lord is calling you to respond in faith this morning. And then we'll have some prayer partners up front afterwards, and we'd love for you to come, and pray with them as well, if you want prayer, or if you wanna know more about what it means to put your faith in Jesus. But let's go to the Lord in response, and prayer this morning. God, we are so thankful that You change lives, that You make us new. Lord, I pray for each and every one of us this morning, that we would have a living faith, that we have placed in You. That we would have a submissive faith, that we would possess that kind of faith, Lord. We are so thankful that You have paid the price for every sin. We are so thankful that You have called us to place our faith in You, in order that we could be saved. Lord, we give ourselves to You this morning, we give ourselves to You this morning, and we trust You. It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen.