Salvation By Faith Or Works? – 1C

SPEAKER 04 : 0:00

Today on Real Life Radio.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:02

I’ve been a Christian for 20 years. What do I need to go to church for? Well, for one thing, to find out how your brothers and sisters are doing. Because if you have true faith, you will not rest day or night until you find out how you can be used to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters in this church. This implies that you’re going to own this church yourself. This is going to be your church.

SPEAKER 04 : 0:23

This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. Looking for a proven way to cultivate trust, motivation, and growth in your team? Well, Dr. Kevin Lehman’s The Way of the Shepherd is Pastor Jack’s featured resource of the month. Now, through easy-to-apply insights and real-life examples, you’ll discover how a shepherd’s heart can transform the way you lead. Uncover the power of genuine care, clear boundaries, and consistent accountability to unlock your team’s potential. Whether you’re guiding a corporation, a church ministry, or your own household, these time-tested principles help create an environment where people flourish. If you want to build a team culture of mutual respect and genuine commitment, these seven secrets will guide you step by step. Ready to elevate your leadership? Well, The Way of the Shepherd is available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Don’t wait to explore these seven secrets and learn how to truly connect with and inspire those around you. Grab your copy today. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues in his series called The Book of James with a message titled, Salvation by Faith or Works? Part 1. Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter sent to the Jews who chose to follow Jesus Christ. And as new believers, James tells them that true faith in God produces some great works. You see, there is great controversy that surrounds this section of James, but James is not attacking salvation by faith alone. He says that faith without a change of lifestyle does nothing to promote Christianity. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that just believing in Christ is good, but even the demons believe in Christ. Real faith leads us toward true Christianity, and we need to be careful that we really trust in God. Now with his message called, Salvation by Faith or Works, Part 1, here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hughes.

SPEAKER 02 : 2:43

He says in verse 15 and 16, if a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, depart in peace and be warmed and be filled. What is it, prophets? Answer, nothing. Now, let’s tear this apart. First of all, he’s talking to brothers. in sisters within the church. He’s talking to us, watch this. We are brothers and sisters if we’re Christians this morning. If you and I see a brother and sister in need and we don’t meet their need, James says, your faith’s dead. You may call yourself a Christian and James says, you’re not. By the way you live, you’re not. Now watch this. He’s talking to the people within the church and in this body, we have brothers and sisters. And look, they’re naked and destitute. Now, I would imagine if they’re naked, that’d be kind of obvious. Let’s say they have fig leaves on them at best. And they’re hungry. By the way, you know, in 1 Timothy 6, 8, that’s the only thing that’s been promised to us on the material side. Did you know that? The Bible says to us on the material side, with food and with clothing, we are to be content. Did you know that’s all that God’s promised you on this side of the globe of eternity? Did you know that? With food and clothing, be content. Isn’t that funny? We out here in the western part of the world. Clothing? What kind of clothing? I mean, Lord… You would never have me wear Kmart labels, would you? I mean, Lord, you’re talking like state-of-the-art clothing, right? I mean, yeah, great. If we have a wardrobe, then we can be content. That’s all he said. He said he’ll make sure that we’re not naked. Christians in other parts of the world understand this much easier than we do. And then he said food. Having food there would be content. What do we ask? What kind of food? We are so funny. American or Japanese? Chinese or Italian? Fat, free, low fat, what? What, what, what? What kind of food? Lord, give me a choice. He just says food. If you went with us to Russia, it’s bread and cheese. Food and clothing. That’s what he’s promised. Sometimes there’s people in this church who do not have food or clothing. Oh, and they’re not naked. But you know what? They have a hard time. You think I’m joking. Listen, they have a hard time. They have clothes and they… No, they have three shirts, and they have to make sure they wash this shirt and hang it up so that it dries in time as they rotate their clothing because they’re that poor. You didn’t know that, did you? You and I better be careful, those of us who have something, to find out if there’s needs within the body that we can meet. Look at us. We’re sitting in a sanctuary packed together, and we probably don’t even know the name of the person sitting next to us. And we get this thing about us, I don’t want to know. You might say, well, I don’t want to, you know, I’m shy. Well, write out a sign. I’m shy, greet me. Somebody say hi. I’m not outgoing. Write it down. I’m shy, say hi to me. We ought to know one another. We need to break down the walls, get to know each other, meet somebody. Can you imagine when we say amen at the end of the service, we all walk out of here, you determine in your heart once a week or once every service, I’m going to get someone’s name I don’t know. I can’t do this. I can’t do it for you. You’ve got to do this. You can’t do it for me. I’ve got to do it. I mentioned that last service and there’s a guy after service standing at that door and he wrote down on the back of his bulletin, hi, I’m shy, say hi to me. At the end of last service and he stood back there. I cracked up on the way out and I went over there and I said, hi, my name’s Josh. A brother and sister in need. You will never know if they’re in need unless you know this body. How are we to know this body? Listen carefully. Paul warned us in Hebrews 10.25 as the end times approach, we need to be careful that we do not forsake the assembly together, the gathering together of the brothers. And that’s the general assembly, by the way. He’s not talking about little home fellowships, which are great and we should be doing. He’s talking about corporate fellowship, the same fellowship as the early church met in the buildings called synagogues on Sunday in the early church. The corporate fellowship assembly that’s what we are in here on this sunday together why to worship in singing to worship and giving i’ll come back to that in a second to worship in understanding and study the word to worship and giving a part of your giving goes to meeting the needs of those in this body and you might say well my base is covered that’s how it’s getting done because i tied you see and a little bit of money goes in there and i’m okay my base is covered You know what? Paying a light bill can’t produce or can’t show a smile. You can love them tangibly. We’ve got to reach outside our comfort zone and be truly a church to find out, are you in need of anything? Is there anything I can help you with? The world does it just fine. They’re on a barter system, the world. Hey, you know what? I’ll sell you a car for cost if you put in my lawn. You’re a landscaper, I’m a car dealer. You know, that happens all the time. It’s kind of hard for me. Hey, put it in my lawn and I’ll do your funeral. You know, I’m very limited about what I… I’ll give you a great eulogy, just put it in my lawn. Or whatever it is. But the world does that just fine. Christians ought to say, hey, you know what? How you doing? Let’s go out to lunch or something. Well, funnily enough, the knees, but be careful. In the last days, there’s going to be a temptation for people to say, I don’t need to go to church today. Hebrews 10, 25 warns us. I don’t need to. I’m going to forsake the assembling together. And as I see the day approaching, I’m going to do it all the more. I’m going to go to church once a month. I’ve been a Christian for 20 years. What do I need to go to church for? Well, for one thing, to find out how your brothers and sisters are doing. Because if you have true faith, you will not rest day or night until you find out how you can be used to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters in this church. This implies that you’re going to own this church yourself. This is going to be your church. It’s yours. If everyone tied like you do, what kind of church would it be? If everybody gave their time like you do, what kind of a church would it be? If everybody shared Jesus like you do, what kind of a church would it be? You see, that’s the questions I have to ask myself. James would ask these questions this morning and people don’t want to ask them and none of us want to answer. Are we really Christians? You can see this guy. I have faith, praise the Lord. And a brother comes by, he’s hungry and naked. Hey, how you doing? Well, I’m hungry and I’m naked. Oh, wow. Well, depart in peace, be one and be filled. And you can see this guy walk away. He’s got a drumstick in his mouth. He’s eating turkey leg. He’s got a rack of ribs in his left hand. He’s got sneaky, sneakies, snickers and twinkies. That’s the both of those plugged together, sneakies. There you go, for a marketing idea. Sneakies. He’s got Snickers and Twinkies hanging out of his pocket. And he says to the guy that’s hungry, oh, well, have a nice day. As he walks away. And the Bible says, how dwells the love of God in you, 1 John? Well, the answer is it doesn’t. You don’t have the love of God in you. You know what? I was so convicted about this. Last week I saw… Christians dying of starvation in North Africa. Dying, dead, dying. Starvation, Christians. And you know what my first thought was? Praise the Lord, there are people who minister and reach out to needs like that. That’s what my response was. Thank God there’s ministries that reach out to those people. the Lord came right back at me and said, what are you doing to reach out to those people? I was so convicted. And my next carnal thought was, I’ll give money. That’s the easiest thing to do. Just give money. It makes you feel better. Maybe God might call you or I or we together to go take money and food over there and put it in their mouth. That’s Christianity. To play some kind of cover-up game in our lives, to turn our face away from the wounded man on the road, like the priest did, is to not be a Christian at all, but to deceive ourselves. Final point, and we’ll be done. Final point is this. The third point is real faith is as a compass toward the believer. Real faith, the compass always points north. And in true Christianity, people, if we are truly believers, the works that flow forth from our life will always point back at our faith. I’m not talking about self-glorification. Well, look at my works. Notice what James is saying. He’s not boasting. He says in… Verses 17 to 20, he says, but someone will say, quote, notice the quotes. You have faith, you’re Mr. A. You have faith, Mr. B. You have works. Okay, A says, I have faith in God. B, what does he say? Nothing. The need comes into the church and Mr. A says, I have faith in God. I have faith in God. B never says a word, he just gets up and does it. James is saying… Both of them profess faith in Christ. Both of them raise their hand when they say they’re Christians. But James says, I’ll tell you who the real Christian is. The one who meets the need. Meeting the need doesn’t save us. Because we are saved, we meet the need. And that’s a far cry from what’s being peddled at your doorstep.

SPEAKER 04 : 13:29

You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

SPEAKER 02 : 13:44

The word to believe here in verse 19, you believe that there’s one God, you do well. The word simply means to have faith, to have credit in or based upon. You believe. It says, you believe that there’s one God. You see where it says, you do well? Today, our teens would tell us, they would read it this way. You believe that there’s one God? Duh. Of course there’s only one God. Judeo-Christianity, the Bible teaches there’s one God. Well, no kidding. What’s he suggesting? Paul the Apostle said it this way. There’s one God with whom we will stand in the end to give an account to. One God. There won’t be some debate of the gods. There’s one God. Paul says, if we’re saved, if we have to stand before this God, where will the unrighteous and the ungodly who are not safe ever stand, or how can they stand? It’s a terrifying moment to think about. James is saying, if you believe in one God, that’s normal, that’s doctrinal, that’s right, that’s biblical. But don’t get too excited about it. You can believe in one God and miss heaven altogether because he says in here, the devils believe that there’s one God. When Jesus was walking the earth, what did the demons say about him? We know who you are, thou son of God, the Holy One of Israel. Have you come to torment us before our time? They knew who he was. When a demon said out of a mouth of a man to Jesus in the Gospels, you are the son of God. Don’t let our culture sway what that statement means in the original language into the Hebrew mind. You are God in human flesh. Demons know this. If Satan walked in here this morning… If Satan walked in here this morning, he would have to confess, there’s only one God. Look, I lied to a few other people that are on the street, okay? I worked in the garden, peddling around town. But the truth is, there’s only one God. Yeah, he would say it like this. The truth is, there’s only one God. And he would say, and I believe that, what I just told you. I believe because it’s true. Is Satan going to heaven? No. Can demons be redeemed? No. James says, I don’t care if you believe in one God. So what? And tremble. The word tremble means to shudder. The word means goose skin. You ever seen goose skin? At Thanksgiving, you have turkeys, right? We love to have turkey. And you put the turkey in the sink. And the first thing is, you know, it’s so white. This is so white and so naked. And I put butter all over my hands and I rub that turkey with butter. Because he’s going to go in the oven soon and that’s how we just do it at home. And everyone goes, ew, yuck, it’s gross. Look at the lumps. And then, you know, it’s very therapeutic. I kind of like rubbing a naked chicken like that or turkey. It’s like, this is very comforting. And you feel all the bumps. That’s the word that’s used here. The skin of Satan and demons, when they think about standing before the one and only true God that there is, they get skin like a turkey. Isn’t that cool to know? I’d like to see Satan kind of upset like that. It’s all those bumps. Oh, glory, the day is coming. Verse 20, he says, I want to tell you something. He says, but do you want to know? Do you want to know? It’s a sarcasm. Do you want to know? He’s suggesting, do you want to just stay in your lost, blind state? Do you want to know? Look what he says. Oh, foolish man. Oh, the word is empty, man. You have no works. You’ve claimed to be a Christian all your life and you’ve never done a thing with it. He says, you want to know something? Man, this is tough stuff. James says, you want to know something? Faith without works is dead. And James packs up his little table and walks away and leaves us here until next week. Doesn’t matter what you say. Oh, praise the Lord, I’m a Christian on Sunday. And on Monday, we’re telling people that they can go to hell. Or whatever the case might be. No. You’ve deceived yourself. And the truth’s not in you. The Bible says, if we say that we know God, and we walk in darkness, that is, we continue in our sinful state, We lie and the truth is not in us. And we don’t know him and we don’t have fellowship with his son. I’m not talking about struggling. I’m talking about living. Are you in an adulterous relationship and you’re saying you’re a Christian? You’re living a lie and it’s not true. You’re not a Christian. Are you… Doing drugs and you have no problem with it. You even said, you know what, God invented drugs. I mean, hey, what’s the big deal? You’re lost, friend. Do you come here and then go home and beat your wife or actually even beat your husband? And say you’re Christian. You’ve deceived yourself and you might have deceived some of us, but God will not be deceived. See, these are tough things. It cuts to the heart. Are we for real? Let’s pray. Let’s pray earnestly. Lord, in Jesus’ name, we come before you this morning, and it’s with very careful words we even approach you now. With self-evaluation, we’re sickened almost to our stomach, Lord. We would right now ask ourselves, am I really a Christian? Some of you in this room right now, you can’t even ask yourself that in the recesses of your mind. You won’t even form the words in your head. You’re so afraid of the answer. You know it’s not true. You’ve missed. While heads are bound and eyes are closed, I told you that this could be the most serious message you’ve ever heard. Not because I’m speaking it, but because of the truth of the words that are written before us in black and white. If you this morning, while your head is bowed and your eyes are closed, are not willing, you’re not willing to trust in a prayer. You’re not willing to trust in a pastor or to trust in a priest. You’re not willing to trust in church. You’re not willing to trust in yourself. You are not willing to trust in your own good deeds. but you are willing to trust completely in what Christ did on the cross alone to save you from your sins. While heads are bowed, please, everyone praying or everybody respectful at the very least, if you this morning would like to have an honest experience with Jesus Christ, not a religious one, that you’ll say this morning, Lord, I’m receiving you as Lord and Savior of my life. And I will dedicate my life to you now. Because you have been convicted this morning that your life is not right with him. And you want to experience Christ. You know who you are. We’re going to do things a little different just to get your attention. I’d want you right now to just pray this prayer where you’re at. You can say it out loud or you can say it in your head. You would say this, Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Lord, I ask you to cleanse me from all of my hypocrisy and my sin and my playing games and my churchianity. And I want to come to you for real and divorce myself of pride and of arrogance and of self. to throw myself down naked at the foot of the cross and say, my God, my God, have mercy on me. And confess, Jesus, I trust you with my soul and nothing more. In Jesus’ name. While heads are bowed and eyes are closed, if you agree and you’ve said that to God this morning, as I stated it, will you just lift your hand up so I can see your hand this morning? Lift it up high, don’t be shy. If you agree with that, I should say you’re coming to Christ right now. You agreed with that. Maybe you’re already a Christian, so you put your hand down. Some of you are coming to Christ for the first time right now. Let me see your hand. God bless you. I’m not going to enumerate it. God bless you guys. Now follow him. Stay close in the body of Christ. Let’s know one another. Don’t be alone. Let’s follow him in word and in deed to his glory and his glory alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

SPEAKER 04 : 23:43

pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Salvation by Faith or Works, Part One. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

SPEAKER 03 : 24:05

So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you’d like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com slash know God. That’s K-N-O-W, God. And there you’ll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you’ll find in knowing God. Don’t miss out. That’s the Know God tab at jackhibbs.com.

SPEAKER 01 : 24:36

Everybody, I want to stop right now and just pray a very important prayer for the most important topic. And that is God’s creation of the family. God loves the family. In fact, he’s invited himself into his family, hasn’t he? The Bible says he’s adopted us into his family. And so I pray for your family. Listen, make your marriage work. Do everything you can to make sure that your parenting skills are educated and you get help from the word of God. And there’s a lot of great resources out there, but don’t give up on your family. Don’t give up on your parents. Don’t give up on your kids. Listen, don’t give up on your wife and don’t give up on your husband. Make it work. It’s God’s will that as much as possible, make it work. So, Lord, we pray right now that you’d heal our homes by healing our relationships with one another. In Jesus’ name, amen.

SPEAKER 04 : 25:38

This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.