I know that we looked at this
passage yesterday, but it’s so pivotal that I felt we needed to spend another
day on it. Now that we’ve (hopefully) gotten the controversy out of the way and
get the gist of what James is talking about here, let’s spend some time on the
details.
I heard a long time ago that Paul
and James aren’t fighting each other; instead, they’ve standing back-to-back
against foes coming from opposite sides. Paul was fighting legalism, while James was fighting antinomianism. There’s a lot of truth in that, but I’ve
come to the conclusion in my recent studies in Romans that that illustration
can be overstated. Read Romans
6 if you’d like, or see what I’ve written about it (like here):
Paul spent plenty of time countering the charge that the message he was
preaching was antinomian
in nature. The very thought that someone would take his teaching and use it to
promote unrighteousness was horrifying to him. And let’s not get the idea that
James neglects salvation by grace through faith: That's not his emphasis, but he says
that the new birth that we get from God is a gift that he just chose to give
us, not based on anything we’ve done.
There’s something, however, that
really caught my eye a few years ago. This is the famous “Faith Without Works
is Dead” passage, right? Well, what type of works is he talking about? Does he
mention going to church? Praying? Reading your Bible? In the context of this passage, when he’s talking about “works,” he’s
referring to helping a brother who’s in physical need. In fact, he seems to deemphasize
stuff like prayer in a situation like that. The hypothetical scenario is that
of a sibling in Christ coming to your door who doesn’t have food and clothing. In
that situation, the main need for that sibling is not prayer. It’s not a Bible
verse. The need is practical, and it must be met in a practical way. Of
course, we need to meet physical needs using the entirety of the Bible, not
just this one verse. In this day in America, often when someone’s in physical
need, there’s a spiritual need that needs addressing as well. But the point is
that when someone is in physical deprivation and Lord brings them to your door,
it’s not enough to pray for them.
We mentioned the demons’ “faith”
yesterday, so we won’t get into that today, except to say that James is
emphasizing that intellectual assent is not enough. True saving faith submits to
Christ’s authority. Part of the “package deal” is that you commit yourself—with
God’s help, using his means—to doing things his way instead of your way. Yes,
you’ll fall and fail frequently. But the general direction of your life has to
do a 180. It’s not an option.
James finishes the passage with two
examples for his point. Both are counter-intuitive, especially for
Christians familiar with Paul’s writings. Romans has almost an entire chapter
based on the premise that Abraham is the prototype of salvation by grace
through faith. He’s the “father of all who believe.” “Abraham believed God, and
it was credited to him as righteousness.” This is the pattern set for us: We
believe what God has said about Jesus, and he credits the righteousness of
Christ to our “account.”
But according to James, Abraham’s
example for us doesn’t stop there. In Gen.15:6 Abraham believed God’s promises, and was accounted as righteous
because of that. But a few years later, after the promised child was born, the
Lord told
him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham had chosen to put his trust
in the Lord several years ago, and now he had an opportunity to demonstrate that faith. And he did,
passing the test in spades.
That brings us to verse 24: “You see
that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.” Or
as the NASB puts it, “[A] man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
How does this not contradict Paul, who said over and over and over that we are “justified by faith”?
Because Paul and James are talking about
different types of “justification.” Just like in English, the word in Greek can
mean “declared righteous,” which is what Paul is usually talking about. Or it can be
used--and this is the norm outside of Paul's letters--in the sense of “vindicated,” or “proven right,” which I’m convinced is
the sense that James is using here. Using the same Greek word, Luke the Gospel writer quotes Jesus as saying
that “Wisdom is proven right by her
children.” In other words, wisdom is vindicated by its results.
If you claim to have faith, the only
way you can prove it before other people is through your actions. I don’t know
your heart, and you don’t know mine. The only way that I can “prove” that I have
faith in front of others is by my deeds.
There’s no such thing as a “faith” Christian versus a “works” Christian.
And finally we come to a really counter-intuitive example of works-producing faith. Abraham is one of the “Top
Three” heroes of the entire O.T. (along with Moses and David). He’s considered by the
Jews to be the most righteous man who ever lived. We as Christians believe that
he’s “the Father of all who believe.” So who else does James list as an example
for us to follow?
Now, granted, I’d assume that she
was a reformed prostitute either before or right after she met the spies.
But James’s description of her lifestyle is clear. So under the inspiration of the Spirit, he picked someone "on top" as far as
righteousness is concerned, and someone near the bottom.
But she’d heard about what the
Israelites had done, or rather what the Lord had been doing for and through
them. She didn’t know a lot about God, probably a lot less than Abraham, much
less a modern-day believer. But she took what she knew and ran with it.
She acted on her faith. She knew that the Canaanites were doomed, she believed in the God of the Hebrews,
and she
did something about it. She might've stayed in her little home dug
out of the wall of Jericho, “believing” all day long, and she would’ve perished
with the rest of the city. She didn’t merely intellectually assent to the truth.
She placed her life on the line by hiding the spies, and then she further
demonstrated her faith by following their instructions.
And God forgave her whatever sins
she’d committed, saved her and her family from destruction, incorporated her
completely into his redeemed people, and arranged her to be a direct
ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ. I for one am looking forward to meeting
her someday.
What does this say to you and me? I
know I don’t demonstrate my faith as much as I should. I definitely could use
an overhaul in the compassion department, for one thing. But slowly, ever so
slowly, he’s changing me. He’s remaking me. He’s conforming me to the exact
likeness of his Son Jesus. And I can look at even the small progress I’ve made,
and it shows a family resemblance.
If you're seeing some progress,
take heart. He’s not finished with you yet.
Father God, I do love you. Help me to
love you more, and help me to show more love. When someone in need comes to me,
they’re you in a clever disguise. Please help me to remember that.
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