Faith Without Works...

[Socialite]

Some relevant Tweets today to this conversation

When God calls (like he did to Adam), "Where are you?", the Spirit leads us to answer, "In Christ."

The Bible never tells us what to do before first soaking our hearts and minds in what God in Christ has already done.

"Quit making your goodness the issue! This isn’t about you and me; it’s about Jesus."

The emphasis in much preaching today is on what we're to do w/out adequate grounding in the good news of what God has done for us in Christ.

"The faith that receives Christ apart from works for justification also receives Christ for works in sanctification."

If we want the gospel to reach people we have to distinguish it from moralism because moralism is what most think Christianity is all about.

"God wants us to find our primary joy in our objectively declared justification not in our subjectively perceived sanctification."

"The church tends to drift into legalism because it isolates the gospel to salvation & not the foundation to the whole life." Paul Miller

[A.W. Bowman]

A final comment:

Without the Law of God (Commandments, including the commandments of Jesus), grace had no meaning or role to play in one's life. Unless there is a judgment to be faced, grace is necessary.

Concerning faith, justification, grace, the Law, etc, it has never been an either or situation, it has always be an 'and' requirement.

For example:

Revelation 12:17 (KJV)
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The testimony of Jesus Christ is the gospel concerning the kingdom of God and His role and function within that kingdom.

Revelation 14:12 (KJV)
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Here we have works and faith married into an integrated whole, without separation or division.

Revelation 22:14 (KJV)
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Finally, we have the 'commandment keepers' receiving their right to their promised salvation and entrance into the eternal holy city of God.

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Most Gentile thinkers (yes, that includes me also), can not grasp the difference between seeking salvation through their obedience to the laws, statutes and ordinances of God - and seeking to obey God out of love and a burning desire to live a life pleasing to Him, according to the instructions in righteousness that He placed in our lives.

Those attempting to earn one's salvation through their own effort, by attempting to keep all of the law and its righteousness, is doomed to failure. Not because the law was/is faulty, but because no one can yet keep the laws, even with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Our carnal nature, like Paul lamented, continues to raise up its ugly head in our lives and continues to produce sin in our lives. Therefore, if our righteousness does not come from, and rest in, Jesus Christ, we are all indeed lost!

Remember, there was nothing deficient in the Law (conditions and requirements) of the Mt. Sinai covenant. It was the failure of men, in their fallen state to be able to continue in and to maintain the covenant requirements.

Even today, sin is defined as a transgression of the Law.

1 John 3:4 (KJV)
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

and

Romans 5:13 (KJV)
For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

If there is no law and no required obedience (observance, compliance), then grace has no function in one's life, and if sin is not imputed to individuals for their transgressions, then what role does does Christ have to play in the lives of men today? From what does mankind now need to be 'saved'? Then in what or in whom is faith required - and why?

My friends, none of these issues are stand alone subjects, topics, questions, or arguments. Unless and until all of these discussion elements are brought together into a coherent doctrine, no mutual understanding or agreements are possible.

For persistence sake: If anyone truly wishes to defend their point of view (position, doctrine, view point, etc), then there is only one way to do it:

One must first be able to mount a 'credible challenge' to what it is they profess (hold, know, believe). Only then are they in a position to adequately defend their position (point of view, etc.) from the challenges of others.

We have already seen that presenting a few 'selected' scriptures does little to persuade anyone to change their positions. Picking and choosing verses never works. This exercise also demonstrates very clearly why the last covenant failed. When using just 'selected' scripture to support or to attack another position/opinion, one must do violence to the world of God in the process. The results: Everyone loses.

[Praxeas]

Some see a contradiction between Paul and James on the teaching of justification. Paul emphatically taught that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law while James argued that a man is justified by faith and works (James 2:14-26). Luther is such an individual who saw the two prophets' teachings to be in opposition. Insisting that Paul's view was correct, Luther belittled James's epistle, calling it an 'epistle of straw.' Such an approach to the two authors is not necessary. When the literary context of each other is examined it can be demonstrated that there is no contradiction. The key to understanding these two seemingly contradictory authors is to understand how each uses the terms justified, faith, and works. These words must be defined by their respective contexts.

PAUL	JAMES
Faith = genuine faith and reliance upon God for salvation.	Faith = mental assent that could fail to affect one’s actions.
Works = works apart from faith that one believes are able to, or help save him.	Works = works that can only be done through faith, which attest to genuine faith.
Justified = declared righteous by God because of your trust in Him for salvation.	because of your trust in Him for salvation. Justified = shown to be righteous as evidenced by your actions.14

Paul emphasized that we are saved by faith in Jesus, and not by our good works. James emphasized that the kind of faith that results in salvation will necessarily produce works that show evidence of that faith. Paul was concerned about people adding anything to faith that they believe is meritous for their salvation. James was concerned about people professing to have faith which is not really faith at all, but rather a lifeless mental-assent to Christ. It seems that James was attacking a distortion of Paul's teaching on justification, wherein faith is some dead orthodoxy with no corresponding behavioral changes. Even Paul found it necessary to fight against this distortion of his teaching on justification (Romans 3:8; 6:1, 15). James pointed out that if a person has genuine salvific faith, works will follow after him showing evidence of that faith. Abraham really did believe God, and his works evidenced that fact. If Abraham would have refused to offer Isaac upon the altar, it would have demonstrated a lack of faith in God's promises to him (James 2:21-24).