Calvary Baptist Church

Preached by Pastor Mike Hess Sunday morning 01/17/2010.

Identity Theft (Part 1)

James 2:14-19

Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

A couple of things this passage is NOT teaching:

1.It is NOT teaching that we are saved by works – Eph. 2:8-9; John 5:24; Titus 3:5; Rom. 4:5, 5:1, 8, 2 Cor. 5:21; 2 Tim. 3:15

2.It is NOT teaching that we are kept or secured by our works – 1 Peter 1:4-5 – “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

I. False Faith (James 2:14)

John MacArthur – “The genuineness of a profession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is evidenced more by what a person does than by what he claims.”

Romans 3:28 – “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

Ephesians 2:8-10 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

2 Timothy 2:19b – “The Lord knows those who are his, and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Titus 1:16 – “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

II. Artificial Faith (James 2:15-17)

I John 3:18 – “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

John 13:35 – “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

III. Faith with Evidence (James 2:18)

Titus 2:14 – “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Romans 6:22 – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to

FRUIT

Sanctification                                                                                         Eternal Life

IV. Demonic Faith (James 2:19)

Acts 16:31 – “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”

Romans 10:9 -10 – “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Matthew 16:24 – “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”

Application:

1.No one can come to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Savior and Lord and not be changed (2 Cor. 5:17).

2.Your faith and your conduct are not mutually exclusive. 

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