Kneel Day 12 In The Gap: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) James says, “Faith without works is dead” (verse 26), but Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, “We are saved by grace through faith, not from works”. Are these passages contradicting?
2) How were Abraham and Rahab justified by their works? (verses 21 and 25) Is the same true for us?
3) Was Abraham’s belief greater or more significant than another person’s faith? If so, what made it greater? (verse 23)
James 2:21-26
Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Original Intent
1) James says, “Faith without works is dead” (verse 26), but Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, “We are saved by grace through faith, not from works”. Are these passages contradicting?
While it does seem initially that these two passages of Scripture are contradictory, they are not. They should be thought of more as building blocks of the same doctrine instead of opposing, sparring doctrines. To gain a better understanding of the point James makes in these few verses, we must understand the fuller context by reading the complete book of James, or at least the second chapter. It’s important to keep in mind that, for the original readers or hearers of these verses, James wasn’t a book in the Bible broken down by chapter and verse. Rather, they would read his writing, beginning to end, as a complete letter sent from the apostle, James. Additionally, this letter was written to Jewish Christians, meaning while they grew up under the Law and Jewish traditions, and had then converted to Christianity. This contextual understanding is critically important for a couple of reasons. James 1:1 tells us his letter was written, “To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad”. For the first time, these Jewish believers were not living and worshiping together, but scattered abroad as both the gospel and persecution of believers spread. James is attempting to share some “helpful hints”, if you will, for how to live practically as true Christ-followers. James’ purpose in writing is to emphasize there is much more to walking with Jesus than simply believing or having faith that God exists. (James 2:19) True saving faith evidences itself by spurring us on to obediently following, and living, like Jesus in everyday life. These are “works”, which are the building block that follows genuine, saving faith by naturally connecting on top of the “saving faith” block.
2) How were Abraham and Rahab justified by their works? (verses 21 and 25) Is the same true for us?
The word ‘justified’ can be confusing as it carries different meanings in different contexts. In explaining the theology of our salvation and life in Christ as believers, Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith…”. (Romans 5:1, emphasis mine) Faith is the key to being justified; it’s the bottom building block. Here, justification is a one-time instance meaning we have been made right with God. Our sin has been paid for through Jesus and, in His grace, we have been justified. “We have been set free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2); we are now declared righteous in Christ. In the context of James’ intention, he includes Abraham and Rahab because, to Jewish Christians, they both represented pivotal points in Jewish history. James’ audience had grown up hearing the narratives of these two heroes of their faith countless times. While their stories are vastly different, both Abraham and Rahab were faced with a difficult decision and chose to act in obedience to the God they knew because of their faith. In this way, their belief in God, their faith, was “shown to be authentic” because of their works. Their works justified, or were the proof of, their faith. Think of that stack of bricks again. Faith comes first, then our works, which, in James’ context, justifies, or proves, the genuineness of the first block, which is faith. Faith, works, justification, obedience, all of these blocks fit together and build on one another.
3) Was Abraham’s belief greater or more significant than another person’s faith? If so, what made it greater? (verse 23)
James is quoting Genesis 15:6, which reads “Abram believed the LORD and He credited to him as righteousness”. Notice it says “Abram” not “Abraham”. This small, but important difference is because Abram’s saving faith in God and His promises came at the very beginning of not only his faith journey, but even prior to the existence of the Jewish nation. We know this because Abraham’s name was Abram first, but God changed it later. God visited this normal guy named Abram in a vision saying, “Guess what? You are going to have offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and be the father to a great nation.” (Genesis 12:1-3, my paraphrase) Abram, childless at the time, questions God and says, “Umm, did you forget that I don’t have any kids, how is that going to happen?” (Genesis 15:2, my paraphrase) God confirms his promise and Abram believes God! Was Abraham’s belief greater than any others in history? I don’t know that we can answer that question, but we can conclude his belief was great not necessarily because of its quality but because of the Qualifier in whom he placed his faith. Abram didn’t demand proof or argue with God, he simply believed and took Him at His Word. This total trust in God, not self or false idols of the day, is what God looked upon and credited as righteousness.
Everyday Application
1) James says, “Faith without works is dead” (verse 26), but Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, “We are saved by grace through faith, not from works”. Are these passages contradicting?
It is dangerous to pick and choose verses and take them out of context; we will end up with an erroneous application and understanding of God and His Word. Honestly, it’s a common tactic of those who oppose Scripture as they will twist it and attempt to use it against the Christian faith. When it comes to reading and studying Scripture, good students must read enough to understand the whole context of what we are reading. Only in so doing, can we walk away with proper understanding of Scripture’s original intention. These two verses provide a classic case of this type of common misunderstanding. In carefully reading Ephesians 2:10 it says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Yes, we are saved by genuine, trusting faith. Faith alone in Christ Jesus alone is the ONLY way to gain eternal salvation. But it doesn’t stop with salvation. The faith that saves us opens the door for the Holy Spirit to work inside of us, creating new desire for us to “do good works” for Jesus. Works are the fruit, cultivated by true faith. Every genuine Christ-follower is called to put their faith into action, and so prove the authenticity of their trusting faith.
2) How were Abraham and Rahab justified by their works? (verses 21 and 25) Is the same true for us?
Abraham and Rahab’s faith gave them confidence to obey. Simply believing God exists and that Jesus can save isn’t really the point. Yes, God wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4), but He also pre-determines specific good works for us to do as we daily live out our genuine salvation (Philippians 2:12-13). Saving faith is proven true by our willingness to live out the proof of our faith by doing God’s good works, which looks like obeying Christ. This is impossible on our own, which is exactly why it’s a proof of genuine saving faith. When we come to God with genuine faith in Christ’s work on the cross to pay for our sin-debt, He saves us, justifies us, and gives us His Holy Spirit to live within us forever. The Spirit gives us a new nature that desires to obey our new Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Saving faith produces a desire to obey Him! If we don’t have this desire, and similar desires like being with other believers, going to church, reading His Word, and growing in faith, our faith isn’t proving to be genuine. This should give us reason to self-examine whether we honestly have given ourselves to God in full surrender. According to 1 Corinthians 12, every believer is called to different “good works” as evidence of their faith through the work of the Holy Spirit in them. In balance, we must be careful we don’t spend so much attention on “doing work” that we forget about “being with Jesus” and remembering it’s His Spirit fueling us to work. Following Christ involves reflection to make sure the “stack of blocks” is in the correct order. We cannot do His work without His Spirit, and we cannot have His Spirit without genuine faith.
3) Was Abraham’s belief greater or more significant than another person’s faith? If so, what made it greater? (verse 23)
While many people claim “belief” in God, the factor that set Abraham’s faith apart to be “credited as righteousness” is total trust in God’s Word and His faithful character. Paul writes that Abraham “did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” (Romans 4:20) The apostle also said this “crediting of righteousness” occurs for all who come to God in the same way Abram did centuries ago, through true, trusting faith. “’It was credited to him’ was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:23-25) Only the faith that takes God at His Word will prove strong enough to save us for eternity; only this faith pleases God. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith like Abraham’s will always be evidenced by a growing trust and willingness to follow and obey God in real, everyday life. I was talking with a friend recently whose faith is being tested. As we chatted, I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He wasn’t really looking for sacrifice but obedience. God had already provided the sacrifice before they arrived or built the altar. God may call us to do something that makes no sense, or trust Him with something really hard. When these decisions come, we must choose whether we will live out authentic faith in God or not. Personal experience, and history of other believers, tell me to go ahead, take the risk and follow in faith because the Faithful God can be trusted. If God calls us to follow, He has already planned and arranged for our provision.
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
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3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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