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James 2-3 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is James 2:1-3:18.

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

That Wordle really makes the point, doesn’t it? Is that giving us the picture of faith and works? No, I can’t help but notice it demonstrates exactly what James says: “Faith works!”

My brother-in-law recently pointed out to me what I’ve often overlooked in this passage. James didn’t say, “I’ll show you my faith and my works,” as if these are two completely separate things. Rather, he said, “I’ll show you my faith by my works.” James is not actually saying that faith needs something added to it in order to justify us. Rather, he is telling us what kind of faith justifies us.

Mental assent, minor agreement, and mere acceptance do not justify. I can acknowledge the truth of God’s Word all day long. But that faith provides no victory at all. Even the demons do that. Justification comes from a faith that walks, a faith that works. Faith is the victory, but only when that faith changes my life, leading me to surrender to the one who I truly believe will justify.

At the same time, we do need to recognize that if I’m doing works without faith in Jesus, those works accomplish me nothing. After all, I can’t justify myself. I can get baptized, attend assemblies of the church, avoid adultery, give to charity all in the attempt to establish my own righteousness without faith in Jesus’ power to justify and I won’t be justified.

I need to see both sides of this. Faith alone (that is mere mental agreement) doesn’t justify. But then again works alone won’t justify either. Only a working faith justifies, because only a working faith surrenders to the only one who can justify.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Post a Comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

2 Thessalonians 1 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 and 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

How easy it is to get bogged down with fear that we aren’t going to make it. We mess up so much and we have been so blistered by the concept that one mistake can blast us to hell. Some of us just want to throw our hands up in the air and give up.

But Paul encourages us. We are not alone. God will sanctify us. He is setting us apart. He is growing us. He is working in us. He will keep us blameless. He is faithful. We can trust Him to do it.

We just need to hang on to Him. Don’t give up today. Hang on to God today. He is working on you. He will do it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your in put by clicking the following link: Post a comment.

Today’s reading is Revelation 7:1-8:13.

Revelation 7:10 shows a great multitude crying out: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

What a powerful statement. What a directive statement. Think about it. This says salvation does not belong to me. I can’t own salvation in the sense that somehow I get it for myself. Salvation is God’s. Salvation is the Lamb’s. If I want salvation, I have to go to God and the Lamb to get it.

So, what should be my top priority today? Trying to get salvation from me and my effort? Absolutely not. I can’t get it that way. Instead, my top priority should be striving to get close to God and the Lamb. They have salvation. If I am in them, then I’ll have salvation.

***Question: What do you do to get close to God and the Lamb?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Galatians 3:1-4:31.

The Set-up

As in Romans, Paul takes up the discourse of faith versus law. I’m beginning to pick up something as I’m reading the New Testament this time. For me, there has always been this kind of struggle in understanding. I know the New Testament continually says law won’t save. Yet, we’re clearly under a law (cf. I Corinthians 9:21; Hebrews 7:12). Certainly we are not under Moses’ law, but we are under a law. Yet, in tomorrow’s reading Paul will say, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” (Galatians 5:18). In today’s reading, he says we are not saved by law, but by faith.

This, of course, causes the great debate about the position of works and obedience in our salvation. On the one side, some suggest as long as we believe, we’ll be saved separate and apart from any works we perform. On the other side, some suggest we can believe all day long but if we don’t obey God’s law, we’ll be lost. Therefore, our obedience saves us. The two sides find passages that seem to support their position and lob them at each other.

What if the Bible answer is in the middle of those two extremes? What if the reason both sides seem to find support is because neither side is actually right and the truth is between them as we consider all those verses together?

Not Justified by Law

Here’s what I saw in today’s reading.

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Galatians 3:10-11).

In the context, some of the Galatian Christians were bringing aspects of the Old Law into their Christianity. We’re not speaking here of Jews merely following their heritage and customs. No, they were following aspects of the Law as if doing those things were the requirements for salvation. 

Paul said they could not be justified by the Law. In fact, anyone who went back to the Law and pulled parts out, obligated themselves to everything in the law. If they missed even one, they would be cursed. Of course, that was the problem. They had already disobeyed and were, therefore, cursed. Going back to the Old Law brings nothing but curses for people who have already sinned.

However, Paul did not merely say “the Old Law” doesn’t justify. The Greek does not contain the article (that is, the word “the”). He said, no one is justified by law, not just the Old Law, any law. That means, under the New Covenant, we can establish some kind of law-keeping code, but it will not justify us. We will not be justified by keeping it for the very reason the Jews were not.  We won’t be able to keep it. The fact is, if any law could have justified people, that Old Law would have done it. But it couldn’t, not because of God or weakness with His law, but because of our weakness. Why would we want to replace one law that doesn’t work with another code of law that won’t work? Will our law justify us where God’s law could not?

Thus, if we approach the New Testament as a set of laws and rules we must follow in order to be good enough to go to heaven, we’re going to be in trouble. Law has never been able to justify and it won’t be able to now either. 

Justified by Faith

We can, however, be justified by faith. When we truly believe in Jesus and truly believe Jesus, we can be justified. That is, we can be declared innocent. 

Jesus Christ became a curse for us who are cursed so our curse might be lifted and we might have life through the Spirit of God. The Scripture (in this context the writings of the Old Covenant) didn’t justify, they simply imprisoned everyone under sin. Any system of law we develop will only do the same. Any system of trying to gain God’s favor by keeping a law will only ever remind us we are sinners because we won’t keep it anymore than the Jews kept the Old Law. Law doesn’t justify. Law condemns.

Faith in Jesus justifies. 

Why Does Faith Justify?

Sadly, some folks stopped reading above. They either said, “See, I’ve always said faith justifies and we don’t need obedience” or they said, “That Edwin has gone off the deep end. He’s starting to teach justification by faith alone.” I’m glad you kept reading.

The question we need to ask is why and how does this faith justify? Is it simply having a mental assent to some facts about Jesus and now we are justified no matter what we do? Absolutely not. Faith justifies because as I grow in faith, I grow in submission to Jesus. Let’s face it, if I’m not doing what Jesus says, I don’t really believe Him, do I? As I grow in submission, I follow Jesus’ way. I’m not justified because I’ve obeyed a series of rules. I’m justified because Jesus’ way works. Do you see the difference? That first statement focused on me and my obedience. The second focused on Jesus and His way that works. 

Notice Galatians 3:25-27. This faith didn’t end with mental assent. It went on to do what Jesus said. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). If I have faith in Jesus and His word, I’ll be baptized for the remission of my sins in order to be saved. Did I get baptized because it was the law by which I could justify myself through obedience? No. I was baptized because I believed Jesus and I believed His way works. If I make baptism nothing more than the first law I obey in a series of laws I must follow in order to be good enough to go to heaven, I’ll never make it. However, if I submit to baptism because I believe Jesus and it is merely my first step of surrender to Him, I’ll be justified because by faith I’m surrendering my life to His. Baptism brings us into Christ, but not because we’ve done some great work to bring us into Christ by our power. We just couldn’t do that. Baptism brings us into Christ because we are beginning to live in Christ. We are beginning to live in submission to Him when we are baptized based on our faith. Until we surrender at that point, we are not in Christ, no matter how religious we are. Remember, no code of religious law can get us into Christ. Only surrendering to Him by faith will do that.

I Know It Seems Counterintuitive

This whole thing is a bit counterintuitive. If we really want to obey God’s law, we have to quit striving to obey God’s law. I can hear the screams of frustration right now. “WHAT?!” If we keep trying to make ourselves and everyone else good enough by developing a system of law, we will only succeed in doing what the Old Law accomplished. We will only succeed in condemning ourselves because we haven’t kept this law. However, if instead we build our faith in Jesus and His Word, guess what will start happening? As we believe Jesus more and more, we’ll submit to Him more and more. As we submit to Him more and more, we’ll be justified. 

Of course, if we don’t submit to Him more and more, we won’t be justified? Why? Because we didn’t obey enough? No. None of us can obey enough. Rather, because Jesus’ way works and no other way does. If we don’t have faith enough to surrender our lives to Jesus, anything else we do, no matter how religious it seems, will not justify or deliver us.

So, are we saved by faith? Absolutely. Do we have to submit? Well, if we have faith, it’s not a have to situation is it? If we have faith, we will increasingly submit. Are we justified because we did enough good stuff? No. We can’t ever do enough good stuff. Instead, God justifies us when we have faith enough to surrender to Him.

Are you surrendering to Him? Or are you holding out, thinking you can do enough religious stuff to be good enough to go to heaven?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC