Examples of Living, Saving Faith-James 2:20-26

There is a message that has gone out under the guise of THE GOSPEL that has cheapened God's saving grace. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of it this way, "Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheap jack' wares...Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness that frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church membership, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate." The "gospel" in vogue today holds forth a false hope to sinners. It promises them that they can have eternal life yet continue to live in rebellion against God. Indeed, it encourages people to claim Jesus as Savior yet defer until later the commitment to obey Him as Lord (a dangerous view popularized by Lewis Sperry Chafer and a few of the faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary). It offers a false security to people who revel in the sins of the flesh and spurn the way of holiness. By separating faith from faithfulness, it teaches that intellectual assent is as valid as wholehearted obedience to the truth. This new gospel has spawned a generation of professing Christians whose behavior is indistinguishable from the rebellion of the unregenerate. Actually, statistics tell us that 1.6 billion people worldwide are considered Christians, with 1/3 of Americans claiming to be born again. But tragically, many are deceived and hold to a damning false assurance. You may not be familiar with the significance of lordship salvation or the teachings of free grace theology. And perhaps Bonhoffer's idea of cheap grace or easy-believism is new to your thinking. And what about the significance of repentance or good works. James, the half-brother of our Lord brings great clarity to a host of these issues, especially the connection of saving faith with its demonstrable deeds that are energized by the Spirit's grace in the lives of true believers. Join us Sunday for his teaching on "Examples of Living Faith" (Jas 2:20-26).