Heads and Tails…Two Sides of the Same Coin 

Romans 3:28 with James 2:17-26

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason -- January 30, 2005

One Sunday evening after the traditional two songs, a prayer, and two more songs, the preacher went up to the pulpit and instead of delivering a sermon, he introduced a guest minister who was visiting that evening. In his introduction, the preacher told the church that this man was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to speak to the church and share a thought with them. With that an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

“A father, his son, and a friend of his were sailing off of the Pacific Coast,” he began, “When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.”

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in what he had to say. The aged minister continued with his story, “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: which boy to throw the other end of the life line? He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. In a moment of extreme agony the father cried out, “I love you son!” as he threw out the lifeline to his son’s friend.

By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the blackness of the night. His body was never recovered.” By this time the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. “The father,” he continued, “knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus. Therefore he sacrificed his son to save his son’s friend.”

With that the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The preacher again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.

“That was a nice story,” they politely said, “But I don’t think it was realistic for the father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man said as he looked down at his tattered and worn bible. A big smile then appeared upon his face and once again he looked up at the boys and said,

“It may not be realistic, but I’m standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his only son for me. You see . . . I was the father and your Preacher was my son’s friend.”

Martin Luther was the one person in the church who rediscovered the truth: “The just shall live by their faith.” Martin Luther’s own faith was transformed by his study of the Book of Romans. In every way part of the Roman Catholic Church, Luther was troubled by what he saw being taught about how a man gets right with God. He clearly understood that indulgences for sale and the trappings of works righteousness in the church were wrong. In his study of this portion of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he came to understand one of the key concepts taught in the Bible. That being the truth that human beings get eternal life not by the good things they do, but by their faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. “The just shall live by their faith.” That is the truth that propelled Martin Luther on his crusade to bring about change in the church of Jesus Christ.

Two Kentucky farmers, who owned racing stables, had developed a keen rivalry. One spring, each of them entered a horse in local steeplechase. Thinking that a professional rider might help him outdo his friend, one of the farmers engaged a crack jockey.
The two horses were the leading the race at the last fence, but it proved too tough for them. Both horses fell, unseating their riders.

But, this calamity did not stop the professional jockey. He quickly remounted and won the race. Returning triumphant to the paddock, the jockey found the farmer who had hired him fuming with rage. "What’s the matter," asked the jockey. "I won didn’t I?" "Oh, yes," roared the farmer. "You won all right, but you still don’t know, do you?" "Know what?" asked the jockey. "You won the race on the wrong horse!"

We must always be careful to look beyond the superficial meanings of scripture and make sure we get on the right horse. Paul writes, "We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law." (Rom. 3:28) James wrote, "Faith by itself, if it is does not have works is dead…You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone." (James 2:17, 24)

Paul and James are simply presenting two sides of the same truth about justification through Jesus Christ. We have to be sure that we are on the right horse when it comes to what we understand the Bible to say about how we are made just in God’s sight.  “The just shall live by their faith.” Paul says. It is not the good you do that brings you life. It is the faith you exercise in Jesus Christ that brings life.

Having said that, James is also right. Your faith is shown to be the real thing by the good things you do after you have come to know Jesus Christ, as your personal Savior and Lord of your life.

Paul shows the Romans how useless works are without faith. James writes to his Jewish readers the uselessness of faith without works. Both men wrote true statements under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet. 1:20, 21)

They agree that a person who is really born again will strive against sin and desire to produce good works in keeping with their faith.

These two great men of faith concur that only through Jesus Christ can a person find eternal life. Essentially, Paul and James are insisting that profession without practice is in vain. They are teaching that unless a person shows evidence of fruitful service it is likely that they are yet to exhibit saving faith.

Too many church-goers suppose that their intellectual, ritualistic or historical faith will get them into heaven, but they are wrong.

Both Paul and James are talking about a saving faith that trusts Christ to be the substitutionary payment for the forgiveness of their personal sins. Jesus said it best, "You will know a man by his fruit… Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance (Let your lives prove your change of heart." (Matt. 3:8; 7:16)

Paul wanted to show that the best of good deeds is not enough for salvation and James wanted to show that the best of good intentioned intellectual faith is not enough to enjoy eternal life.

Our own deeds are insufficient to justify anyone to God.

Our own intellectual understanding is not enough to reason our way into heaven. Only through a saving faith in the righteousness of Christ can a person receive the free gift of salvation.

In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church’s integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance."  C. Swindoll, John The Baptizer, Bible Study Guide, p. 16.

Paul reminds us that we walk by faith and not by sight.

That reminds me of something I read about a black lady who had such trust and confidence in the Lord that one of her friends once said to her, “…you have so much faith that if the Lord told you to jump through a stone wall you would start jumping.” The old lady replied, “If de Lord tole me to jump through a stone wall, it would be mah business to jump, and His business to make a hole in the wall.”

When God created the world, everything in it was perfect. It would be impossible for him to create something which was not perfect. The fall of Lucifer into sin ended that perfection in his creation. Satan thought that he was great enough, strong enough and wise enough to run the universe without God. The origin of this thought in the mind of Lucifer was the origin of sin.

And now God faces a world of sinners who are desperate in their rebellion and miserable in their sin. His problem is how he can reach down and take hold of sinners without getting his hands dirty. No man could ever accomplish this.

God did not thrust Lucifer, now called Satan, down into Hell immediately following his sin. He could have done so, but didn’t. In effect God was saying, “Here is a claim that some wisdom apart from Mine can order and reign. Here is a claim that some wisdom apart from Mine is capable of maintaining rightness that can bring peace and harmony. I will allow the claim to be tested fully. We shall see what any other will than Mine can bring to the creation.” And the test is still going on.

Satan’s logic led him to believe that God in His righteousness could not act in any other way than that of blasting judgment on sin. He himself had sinned and God had blasted His universe. He thought that if he could seduce man into sin, God would have to destroy man or at least curse him in such a way that there could never be any blessing for man again.

Of course, he is wrong. Man sins and falls from righteousness according to his plan. But what does God do? He does not blast man with judgment. No, Satan sees God coming to man with a pleading call of love, seeking out the sinful man and woman.  Instead of striking down with lightning, God comes down and walks in the garden in the cool of the day and calls to Adam, “Where are you?”

God begins the dance, if you will. He takes away the fig leaves and gives the man and woman clothing made from the skins of animals. Animals died that they might have a covering. The beginning of the idea of the blood sacrifice begins here.  He speaks to them softly and tenderly.

Satan must have wondered how God could be just and still be the justifier of those who believe His Word about the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The truth is that God refuses to look upon the iniquity of those who trust in Jesus Christ.  He will not look upon the sins of those who put their trust in Jesus, nor can he see the sin of any whom he has declared to be righteous.   Salvation is by God’s grace. It is freely given to those who do not deserve it. It comes not because we do good things. It comes to us because we believe God’s Word and trust him with our salvation.

God gave up His Son in the hope that we would accept his death, as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sin. It is that belief, that faith that causes God to justify us…that it makes us just as if we had never sinned.

That is the horse that wins the race. Once we have won the race by our faith; we will show that we truly believe by the good that we do to and for others around us. It is faith and faith alone that gets us to Heaven. We have to stop trying  to earn it. The good things we do simply shows that the faith in Jesus Christ we profess is the real thing and has truly given us new life in Him.

--Dennis Gleason