James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!"

Even the demons believe. Then what is Biblical, saving faith? James is not primarily pointing out that the content of demonic faith is fundamentally different than the content of saving faith. The demons believe in God and tremble. They know Him in His judgment. The difference is not that one impacts you and one does not.

The primary difference is that the demons do not view the eternal triune God through the beauty of the Redeemer. Redemption is not for them. They view God and they hate Him. They do not long for and desire peace with God.

Saving faith views God through the redemptive labors of Jesus Christ. This love crashes through every wall between us and our Creator.

In James chapter 2, James warns the readers of his day that even the demons believe and tremble. And this is in the context of James' discussion about the nature of legitimate or biblical faith, saving faith we might call it, and the counterfeit of that, what claims to be faith but really isn't. And when James says that, that ought to shock us, and it ought to raise a question in our mind. How is it that demonic faith is different from Christian faith? I need to understand that, so I understand what I have.

Well I think there are some things that he's not primarily pointing out. So I think James is not primarily pointing out that the content of demonic faith is fundamentally different than the content of Christian faith. In other words, James says that the demons believe in God and they tremble. So there are some aspects of demonic doctrine, demonic faith, that are held in common with Christian faith. They knew God in their in their innocency.

They know God presently in their judged condition. But they know the God that we say we know. So it's not primarily content, but I do think there is a significant difference. That really is the whole point of the passage. If you say you believe these things, what evidence do you have that you're in the grip of those truths?

Look at the demons. They certainly know certain things to be true about God. Believing those things to be true affects them. They tremble. So you, believing what you say you know to be true must also affect you.

So the difference between demonic faith and Christian faith is not that demonic faith doesn't impact Christian faith does. Well what is the difference if it's not content or degree of faith or even the impact that it has. I think the primary difference is it all surrounds the realities of Jesus Christ. The demons do not view the eternal triune God through the lens of the beauty of the Redeemer because redemption is not for them. They view God, they hate him, they view God, they reject him, they know he's sovereign and all-powerful, but this makes no difference to their desires.

They do not long for peace with God, they do not desire and pursue peace with God. When the Christian knows God, the only way to know the God of the Bible, through His Son, we view God through the redemptive labors of Jesus Christ and there is something about those labors that just, it's like a wrecking ball of love and it just crashes through every wall that I put up between me and my Creator.