I’m continuing the series on Works, inspired by Charles Spurgeon’s sermon titled Fruitless Faith. Although I’ve never based a series on another minister’s sermon before, this topic feels especially powerful and important, so I’m diving in. While I’ll continue to write other entries about works and faith from my own perspective, this particular series is best entrusted to a seasoned voice like Spurgeon’s for now.
In our journey through James 2:17, we’ve seen that true saving faith is not a mere intellectual belief but a living, transformative trust in Jesus Christ that produces works—repentance, piety, obedience, separation, and love. These works don’t earn salvation but prove that our faith is alive, rooted in the gospel. Today, we continue this exploration with a sobering reflection from the sermon excerpt, which warns against the delusion of a faith without works. Many claim salvation yet live unchanged lives, contradicting the very nature of faith, grace, and regeneration. Let’s dig into the sermon’s insights and challenge ourselves to live as true believers whose faith is evident to all.
The sermon paints a stark picture: some “professors of faith” are so confident in their salvation that they ignore the glaring evidence of their unchanged lives. It’s “ludicrous” yet “miserable” to see individuals, like the professor who boasted of justification while drunk, convinced of their salvation while their actions scream condemnation. This is a warning for us all. As the sermon urges, “Apply the same rule to yourselves.” If we judge others’ faith as dead when their lives lack godliness, we must examine our own hearts with the same honesty.
A dead faith is one that claims Christ but bears no fruit. It’s orthodoxy without obedience, a creed without character. The sermon reminds us of Jesus’ words: “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). True faith is not just saying, “I believe Jesus died for me,” but living as Christ’s servant, surrendering what He hates. A faith that doesn’t transform daily life is no faith at all—it’s a deception that cannot save.
The sermon powerfully connects faith to the cross: “A man cannot really believe that Jesus Christ has taken away his sin by such sufferings as those of the cross, and yet trifle with sin.” To believe in Jesus’ sacrifice is to grasp the horror of sin—our sin—that nailed Him to the cross. A true believer cannot make peace with what caused such suffering. Instead, faith “craves for vengeance upon every form of sin,” driving us to pursue holiness and reject what Christ died to redeem us from.
This is a litmus test for our faith. If we claim to trust in the bleeding Savior yet “hold good fellowship” with sin—whether through selfishness, anger, or secret habits—we deceive ourselves. A living faith responds to the cross with a heart that hates sin and seeks to live for the One who died to set us free. As Romans 6:11 says, we are to consider ourselves “dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
The sermon highlights another mark of true faith: it makes us “sons of God” through trust in Christ (John 1:12). But can someone truly believe they are a child of God and still live like a “child of the devil”? The answer is no. Faith in our royal identity as God’s children compels us to live differently. Just as a person who believes they hold a high station carries themselves accordingly, a believer who trusts in their redemption, election, and inheritance in Christ cannot return to the ways of the world.
This truth challenges us to live worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1). If we believe we are “elect of God, redeemed by blood, made kings and priests in Christ Jesus” (Revelation 1:6), our lives should reflect that reality. A faith that leaves us indistinguishable from the world—chasing its pleasures or adopting its values—is a dead faith. True faith aligns our conduct with our heavenly identity, making us ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).
The sermon underscores that faith is always linked with grace, and where faith exists, God’s grace reigns. But “how can there be the gift of God reigning in the soul, and yet a love of sin and a neglect of holiness?” Grace is not a license to sin but a power that transforms us (Titus 2:11–12). A believer under grace cannot persistently indulge in sin or remain apathetic about holiness. The presence of God’s grace in our hearts produces a desire to please Him, to grow in righteousness, and to reflect His character.
This is why a life of private sin or habitual selfishness betrays a lack of true faith. Grace doesn’t coexist with a love for sin; it drives us to repentance and renewal. As 1 John 3:9 says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him.” If our faith is alive, God’s grace will work in us, producing the fruit of holiness.
Finally, the sermon ties faith to regeneration, the “new birth” that makes us a “new creation” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Regeneration is not a superficial reformation but a complete renovation of our nature. It’s a revolution that changes our desires, making us hate what we once loved and love what we once hated. A faith without repentance, prayer, charity, or holiness mocks the idea of regeneration. As the sermon warns, such a “new birth” would be “a football for scorn.”
True regeneration, received through faith, produces a life marked by godliness. The sermon contrasts this with false notions of regeneration, like those tied to ritualistic baptisms that leave no lasting change. Biblical regeneration transforms us from the inside out, aligning our hearts with God’s. If our lives show no evidence of this new nature—no hatred for sin, no love for holiness—our faith is dead, and our claim to new life is empty.
The sermon’s challenge is clear: “If you sit in judgment and pronounce the verdict on others, feel that you pronounce it upon yourself.” We’re quick to see the dead faith in others—those who profess Christ yet live in open sin—but we must turn the mirror on ourselves. Do our lives reflect the fruit of repentance, holiness, and love? Are we living as children of God, transformed by grace and regeneration? A living faith is evident to all observers, not just in our words but in our actions.
This doesn’t mean we’ll be perfect. We all stumble, but a true believer doesn’t stay down. We repent, rely on Christ’s grace, and press toward holiness. As Philippians 1:6 assures us, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Our faith, fueled by grace, will bear fruit until we see Him face to face.
The sermon reminds us that a faith without works is not just ineffective—it’s dead, unable to save. True faith, rooted in Christ’s cross, empowered by grace, and evidenced by regeneration, transforms us into new creations who live for God’s glory. Let’s reject the delusion of a dead faith and embrace a living faith that shines through repentance, holiness, and love. As we walk the narrow way, may our lives proclaim the truth of the gospel, drawing others to the Savior who makes all things new.