Throughout Church History, people have frequently tripped over what is known as the "Paul and James Controversy." For example Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9 the following:

And yet, James wrote these words in James 2:24:

Which of the above is the correct response? Of course none of these are correct. The contradiction between Paul and James is only apparent: Paul and James are looking at salvation from two different perspectives. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul is addressing the doctrine of justification, and thus asserts the truth that "Salvation is by faith alone." In James 2:24, James is addressing the doctrine of sanctification, and thus asserts the truth that "the faith that leads to salvation is not alone."

Now in spite of all the controversy between James and Paul, the teaching of James corresponds exactly with what Paul says in the book of Romans. We have studied the past eleven chapters in which he outlines the nature of salvation: that it is by grace alone, through faith alone and in Christ alone. Paul turns to the practical implications of our great salvation, specifically in Romans 12:9-21. Here he exhorts and calls the child of God to action and a living faith.

Brothers and sisters, I want you to notice where James is ambiguous as to the characteristics of a living faith, Paul is not. . In his typical thoroughness, Paul in Romans 12:9-21 uses at least twenty-six commands to describe four characteristics of a living faith.

This morning let us begin to examine these characteristics looking first at the affections of faith. A living faith is seen first of all by how it loves.

Faith as Seen in its Affections, Romans 12:9

How faith Loves

And thus we see the nature of Biblical love: it is love for the utterly unworthy! It arises from the will of the one loving, not from any attractiveness in the beloved. And so, throughout Scripture we are exhorted to love. And yet, we see in our text that the standard is even higher: the love of a living faith must be "without dissimulation." What does this mean?

Dissimulation means to hide under false appearances. The phrase without dissimulation is one word in the original and comes from the idea of "play acting." In Greek and Roman plays, actors held masks in front of their faces to assume different characters. As they did this, they were called hypocrites – i.e., play actors, pretending to be that which they weren't. And so as a description used of man, hypocrisy came to denote any activity or attitude that declared a false message or motive. From this perspective, the opposite of dissimulation is sincerity – being that which you really are.

And so notice, the first affection of a living faith is not just love, but a sincere love. When a living faith is asked, how do you love? It replies that it loves genuinely, sincerely, without false appearance or hypocrisy. Now brothers and sisters by now most of us can define love. We can identify the "loving" thing to do in certain circumstances. We can participate in the love of the brethren. Yet, if we lived in the time of Christ we would differ very little from a Scribe or Pharisee. A living faith is not determined by an ability to define love or even act loving, rather it expressed in a sincere love. Love must be genuine!

And yet, this is were we struggle most with regard to God. Hebrews 12:28-29 states that acceptable worship flows from a heart of gratitude. Let me ask you, how many are here this morning worshipping Christ out of gratitude for what God has done in your life? If your songs of praise and expressions of love arose out of an obligation or perceived duty your worship does not demonstrate a sincere love!

With regard to man, 1 John 4:7 calls us to "love one another." And so, we forgive one another when we are wronged. We help each other. We express our interest in one another’s lives. Yet if after forgiving, helping or expressing interest we walk away and grumble, complain and back-bite and gossip about our brother our expression of love is hypocritical. What good is a faith that says I am so sorry that such and such happened to you and I'll be praying for you and I wish that things would be better, yet we fail to use our resources to bear or brother or sisters burden? What good is a faith that secretly rejoices over the down-fall of another According to James 2:20, it is useless!

See, a living faith is a faith that expresses itself in a sincere love. And not just a sincere love, but a sincere love of God and a sincere love of the brethren!

And for those of us this morning who struggle here – which is all of us – recognize that as long as we live in the flesh, this will be a struggle for we are not in our final state. Be quick to repent of your sin of hypocrisy – which means we admit our poor motives, harmful thoughts and empty promises. We must take responsibility for it by saying, "Its my fault." We must continue to seek our Lord as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. We must continue praying for His transforming grace to make our love sincere! We must obey His transforming Word which the Spirit uses to grant a sincere love.

A living faith is seen by how it loves: sincerely, without hypocrisy. Yet notice further, true living faith also is revealed by what it hates.

What A Living Faith Hates.

But this raises the question, what are we to abhor? The answer is, evil! Which in our day has become somewhat of an enigma. As Luther commented:

Morris put it this way:

Brothers and sisters, how many of us become willing participants in that which is detrimental to the Kingdom of God? We hate it when our name is slurred, but we quickly participate in gossip. We are shocked and alarmed at the trash we watch on TV, and yet on account of our watching the show remains on the air. We are quick to gripe and grumble against the "heinous" sins of other people, and yet turn around and justify our "acceptable" sin. MacArthur said this about this passage:

Let us understand, a mark of a living faith is that is hates, abhors ALL EVIL! It grieves over ANYTHING that compromises the Kingdom. It abhors ALL that opposes God and works against His Kingdom. And so, how do we maintain a Biblical hatred of evil in a society and church that so readily endorses it?

David answered this in Psalm 101:4:

Alexander Pope wisely observed:

Indeed, David's answer for hating sin was fleeing from it! He did not wait to be entertained by it so that he could later forsake it. He fled from it! Jude went a little further by stating this:

This likewise is Paul's answer:

After discussing the evils of loving money, Paul exhorts:

To cultivate a healthy hatred of sin, we must first remove ourselves from its presence. Then we must unite ourselves to that which is good. Now this naturally leads to the final affection of a living faith: what a living faith delights in.

What a Living Faith Delights In

Now, the word that is used in our text is agathos. And thus, the good that we are called to cling to is anything that results in a beneficial effect in the Kingdom of God. This is the final AFFECTION of a living faith: it delights in and so supports that which is beneficial to the Kingdom of God.

Now just like with the previous phrase, this is two sided. Many of us are quick to delight in many harmless things -- its our freedom you know. We delight in television, leisure activities, hobbies, etc. Yet cleaving to that which is good implies a faith that involves itself in that which has a beneficial result in the Kingdom of God. In fact, this is what Paul used to exhort the Corinthian believers who were quick to reference their new-found freedom in Christ.

See, at Corinth, the believers were walking around claiming all kinds of freedoms: freedom to eat, drink, go here, do this and that. And yet, this claim ultimately led them to spiritual negligence – being mastered by anything. And so, Paul says, yes you have freedom in Christ to do many things. But listen if your freedom is not used for good, then your activity is worthless and potentially enslaving! Now brothers and sisters, it has become fashionable today to flaunt our freedom. Perhaps you have heard someone say " I have been saved by grace. Don't you tell me I HAVE to read my Bible." Or perhaps it is go to church, flee evil, or in the words of Paul:

While we truly have freedom in Christ – freedom from the chains of legalism which says that I have to do such and such to live the life of faith, the exhortation of our passage drives us to a higher standard: life no longer is measured by what I have or do not have to do, rather this text calls us to measure all things according to their benefit in the kingdom of God.

And so while it is not sin to miss church, we ask, "Is it beneficial?" While it is not sin to not read God's word, we ask, "Is it beneficial?" While it is not sin to not encourage your spouse, we ask, "Is beneficial?" While it is not sin to watch TV, we ask, "Is it beneficial?" And where we can answer in the affirmative, so we act! Indeed from the perspective of this verse, Biblical freedom in Christ is not doing what we want to do, rather it is doing that which is best for the kingdom of God. This is a living faith!

Conclusion

In John. 15, Christ said:

Brothers and Sisters as we love sincerely, hate evil, cleave to that which is good we reveal the fruit of our redemption. We demonstrate the transformed life. We emulate a living faith.

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