Justification by Faith or Works
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Without good works you will not be saved.
Without good works you will not be saved.
Works cannot save you; without works you cannot be saved
Salvation is by faith alone, Saving faith is never alone
(God’s Covenant with Abraham was not based on Works, Yet without Abrahams works there could be no covenant
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
Does anybody recognize a dilemma here?
What I find fascinating about this situation is that both Paul and James Seem to be saying different things And they BOTH use Abraham as their example.
Rom 4:1
But what must be noticed, is that they each focus on a different aspects of Abrahams life
Paul is pulling from
And James is focused on
And as these two narratives teaching different aspects of God’s plan of salvation
Paul and James are teaching different aspects of God’s saving work
And just as both and must be understood together to understand the full picture of what God is revealing, so James and Paul must also be understood together.
So here is what we are going to do, we are first going to look at the issue in Genesis to reconcile this issue, then we are going to briefly show that Paul also teaches the necessity of works, “without works you shall not be saved” and then we are going to spend some more time in James to show that James not only declares salvation by faith, but that he is not contradicting Paul’s teaching on Justification by faith alone.
But the Tension is real
But the Tension is real
In fact not only is there a tension betwen Paul’s writings in Romans and James epistle.
There is actually a strong Tension within the book of Genesis
And that is by design
So lets take a look
Open your bibles to
Lets Read
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Gen 15:5-
Promise -----> Faith (believing the promise) ---------> Counted righteous
What is Abraham’s involvement in attaining righteousness
Just belief in the promise, the righteousness was entirely a gift from God, It was in no way based upon a work of Abraham.
He is legally declared Righteous before God
Next, in this same dialogue God is going to enter into a covenant Abraham,
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
Gen 15:
Who is the covenant between? It is between God and Abraham
But who went through the pieces? Only God
This is roughly the equivalent of a wedding ceremony in which two people are married, but only one swears the Vows, DO you promise to such and such, I DO.
God is making a covenant with Abraham but God alone is bearing the responsibility to uphold the covenant.
This is foundational, God is not going to change his dealing with Abraham.
But things get a little confusing, lets look at where James is referencing Abraham’s obedience in sacrificing Isaac
we’ve looked at this narrative before so lets just skip on down to Verse 15
Gen 22:15-
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Wait? What!
Is God saying that he is now going to fulfill His promises because Abraham obeyed?
That is what he says after all.
I will surely bless you and multiply you and bless all nations through you
BECAUSE you OBEYED my voice
I Thought it was entirely contingent on God
why now is God saying He will bless him BECAUSE of obedience
I thought the covenant had already been established and GOD ALONE was responsible to uphold it.
Is God being inconsistent?
NEVER!!!!!
But for us to more perfectly understand His plans and purpose we must wrestle with these texts to find the truth
In fact, it is in texts like these that we can find the most clarification
Becuase there is only a small sliver of overlap
There are not “lots” of ways to reconcile the text
if there were we could assume that all but one was wrong
But there is only one way to “Rightly” understand them together and find the truth
But in this Case i think the solution is found in Chapter 17
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
Gen 17:
God has already twice promised to multiply Abraham.
God
Once in Ch 12.
and again as we read earlier in Ch. 15
And here he tells Abraham that he must walk before him and be blameless So that he might receive what had already been promised
How does Abraham respond?
His response is appropriate
HE FALLS ON HIS FACE
This encounter in Ch. 17 is the only time is says Abraham falls on His face
Does Abraham have any confidence in his ability?
Rightly not
Abraham cannot uphold this standard
God is revealing the means by which He will work out the promise
He will accomplish His promisee through Abrahams obedience
That God remains the responsible party has not changed.
Nothing revealed in chapter 15 has changed
Abraham’s declared righteousness is still counted on the basis of faith and not works
God is still the one that will accomplish his plans and uphold his promises
But he is requiring
And the certainty of the fulfillment of His promise remains unchanged.
Look in verse 4 at God’s response when Abraham falls to his face
4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
Yes, God’s covenant promises to Abraham required Abraham’s obedience
But this must be understood in light of Chapter 15.
Abraham’s Obedience in no way contributed to God’s judicial declaring him righteous
His being reckoned as Righteous was solely on the basis of faith
The burden of maintaining the covenant is exclusive on God, He alone walked through the pieces.
Then How can God require obedience?
It is because Abrahams obedience is upheld by God
It is not the means of His righteous standing before God
And God will work through Abraham to achieve what he promised
Can Abraham boast to God about His obedience
And in Chapter 22 we see Abraham’s faith lived out
Which passage best shows Abraham’s faith? Ch. 15 or 22?
Ch. 22 was the exercise of his genuine faith
His obedience was not the basis for God declaring him righteous
It was Genuine faith, But genuine faith will produce works of faith
And the Promise God made remains a true promise
When God made the unconditional promise to Abraham that He would surely multiply Abraham, Bless Abraham, and Give him the land
HE was Saying, I God will surely do everything that is required for this promise to be fulfilled
When God tells Abraham that He is to walk blameless That he may make his covenant and multiply him greatly
IS HE offloading part of the responsibility of the promise unto Abraham?
NO,
But God does say Abraham is to Walk before him blamelessly For him to Bless Abraham as promised
But that does not change that it is God who will do everything that is necessary to fullfil the promise
God will see to it that Abraham will live blameless before him and His promises are fulfilled
Paul in Romans
Paul in Romans
Paul clearly teaches that our righteousness before God is based solely on faith in God. He gives this teaching clearly in Romans ch. 4. lets turn there now.
1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
Paul is looking at Chapter 15 of Genesis
And he clearly teaches exactly what that passage reveals about how God Legally justifies us before him
We deserve Wrath and judgement
and by faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice we are cleared of our guilt and imputed with Christ’s righteousness.
But does Paul also teach the side of things
Paul Does Teach that works are essential for salvation
He does, but lets just quickly look at a couple examples in Romans
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
IF you live according to the flesh you will die
On the other hand, if you live in the spirit you will live
If we live in the evil deeds of the body we will die and if we live in the righteous deeds of the spirit we will live.
There must be obedience to have life
Without obedience there is no saving faith
It is the obedience of Faith
But those works of obedience do not by their merit earn us anything
Because they are in fact the works of the Holy Spirit
So although they are necessary,
They stem from faith, not earning the righteous requirements of law
So What about James? What does He teach
So What about James? What does He teach
receiving the implanted word.
to demonstrate to be morally right, prove to be right,
English Standard Version Chapter 3
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
תִּצְדַּ֥ק
צד
צדק
Considerations in resolving the issue
Paul and James use Justification in a different sense
to demonstrate to be morally right, prove to be right,
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
תִּצְדַּ֥ק
תִּצְדַּ֥ק
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
Rom
Rom 1:
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans
James does teach that Salvation is by Faith
James does teach that Salvation is by Faith
James 1:17-18
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
All good gifts are from him, this will frame up our understanding of works
Of His own will
Not our will
It was God’s will
It was not our determination
It was not our own will
We were brought forth (Birthed)
This is Regeneration Language
We did not bring ourselves forth
It was God’s work
This aligns completely with what we learned in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians
By the Word of Truth
Believing comes by hearing
Believing comes by hearing
The means God uses to bring us forth is the Word of Truth
It is hearing, and believing His word
Listen to Paul’s question to the Galatians
2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
How would James answer this question?
From this verse, and as we will see in Verse 21 it is by the Word of God
To be firstfruits of HIS CREATURES
As result of God’s will, not our own
By the word of Truth, not obedience to the law
We are made to be HIS Creatures
We are made new
We belong to Him
We are made His people By His Word and according to His Will
Not by our will and not by our works
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
James 1:19-21
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Lets Reread that last bit,
Which is able to save your souls
In case you were not paying attention, JAMES JUST TOLD US WHAT IS ABLE TO SAVE OUR SOULS!
What is able to save our souls?
The Word
It is implanted
It was put there, By God
We are to receive that which has been implanted
We are able to receive it because God put His word in us
It is received in meekness
humbly
knowing that it is not from ourselves
We have no reason to boast
We were not even able to receive by ourselves
As he has already said, it is by the Will of God
As Paul would say, Boasting is excluded
How can we boast when everything we have has been given
As he says “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
Recap Of What James has taught so far
Recap Of What James has taught so far
We are Saved by the Word
We are able to receive it because God put it in us
So we receive it in meekness
He Gave us life through His word according to HIS WILL
It was not our will
We are born as New creatures
IS there anything here that teaches that we earn our salvation through works?
No, and his teaching is completely in line with that of Paul, the only real difference is his choice of words, where by says Faith James Says receive the Word. Believing is implied by receiving it.
But Look with me what he says next
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:22-
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Be a doer of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself
If you hear the word, but do not DO the word, in what way are you deceived?
You are deceived in thinking that you have actually recieved the word
You cannot “Receive the word” unto Salvation and reject its message
To receive the word is not merely to Hear its message
It is a message that calls us to action
And if We have recieved it truly, we will respond by Doing
He proceeds with a few exhortations that show us what this Doing looks like
Bridling the tongue
Compassion to the orphans and Widows
Remaining unstained by the World
As we hold onto the Faith in Jesus Christ
Not show partiality
to give favoritism of one over the other
Especially when we have the opportunity to personally benefit from one and not the other
And then we get to our section of Controversy in
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
2:14-
Lets look first just at verse 14,
James introduces a hypothetical person that “Says he has faith”
This certainly is not a person that does Have faith, merely one who says he has faith
And he says that this person has no works
This person has not put away the filthiness and wickedness of the world
He does not control what he says
He has no concern for people except what He can by it
His life has not been changed by the Word
Can that kind of Faith save?
No, any kind of claim to believe without a change of life cannot save
If we truly receive the implanted word we will receive it in obedience.
Faith without an action of response is not real faith
If someone told you they believed with all their heart that a companies stock value was going to skyrocket soon and multiply in value one hundred fold and that you should invest in it. And you asked if they really truly believed it and they said absolutely, with all my heart. And then you asked how much he invested, surely he sold everything he had to invest in this company knowing how rich he’d be once the company value skyrocketed. If He responded that he actually hasn’t personally invested in the company. Is His faith in the company genuine?
But notice what else James is saying here
When he says can that Faith save him
It is implied that there IS a faith that saves.
A genuine faith in the Word that is recieved
James 2:
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
A message without substance is of no value
A message without substance is of no value
If a person is cold and hungry, a message to be warmed and filled is of no value if it is not accompanied by food and clothes.
Likewise, a form of believing is of no value if it has no substance.
A living faith, one that has been Born of the Word of truth according to the will of God will not be empty of substance.
It will effect a change
James 2:18-
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. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
God’s word
He introduces a hypothetical someone asking a hypothetical question.
The gist is that one can have works and another can have faith and the two can be independent of one another.
His response to this question is two parts
First, he replies, Show me your faith apart from your works,
How can you say you have faith without works?
Secondly, That his works are in fact the evidence of His faith
The works are not an end to themselves
Rather, they are an evidence of genuine Faith
Next, he shows us that an understanding of Theology and a belief in God is not sufficient
For even the Demons Believe, and at least for them it causes fear
This is a severe warning for the one who “Believes” in God yet willfully lives for his own pleasures
He is in the same position as the Demons who “believe” far more than he.
Every think about that, the demons no only believe everything in the Bible, but they existed and may have witnessed many of events recorded in scripture.
To believe the words of the bible are true, yet not act in obedience is of no use, for the demons likewise will not receive mercy
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
Is James in any way saying that faith is useless?
No, that is not his argument
He is not contrasting faith vs works
He is contrasting Faith with Works Vs Faith without works
Or, as He will describe it in vs 26, Living Faith vs Dead Faith
One, is a gift from God, as He has already shown
the other, is no different than the Faith or belief of demons
Has James in any way Taught that a person is saved by works? How has he described salvation?
He has already told us how one is saved and it is not through works
Receiving with meekness the implanted word
Is James going to contradict what he already said? No
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
James 2:21
This is the side of things
But we often get held up by the Phrase “Justified by works”
How is the term justified used?
How is the term justified used?
Tyndale Bible Dictionary Justification, Justified
The act of God in bringing sinners into a new covenant relationship with himself through the forgiveness of sins. It is a declarative act of God by which he establishes persons as righteous—that is, in right and true relationship to himself
The most
Most common usage, Paul’s predominant usage of the word
But there are other Usages of the word that are less technical
to demonstrate to be morally right, prove to be right,
When we read Paul, he is almost always using the the word to mean the first definition.
But even Paul does not always use the word with that connotation. There are times where he uses it more in the second meaning of “to demonstrate to be morally right”
Don’t believe Me! lets take a look
16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
The footnote in your bibles for the word “vindicated” may say that it also could be Justified.
that is because it is the same Greek word.
But in this situation it couldn’t possibly mean to Make one righteous in the same way that a sinner is made righteous
Because he is in Fact talking about Christ
Who was shown to be righteous, not made righteous
4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
תִּצְדַּ֥ק
תִּצְדַּ֥ק
It is not His words that make him just before God,
Rather it is more the sense that His words are proven true.
They were Just when he uttered them and Justified when they are confirmed true.
And so I argue this is closer to what James intends to teach us About Abraham.
Abraham was not made righteous before God by doing good works
He was shown and proven to be righteous
And that was the work of God
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
James 2:24
James 2:
If time briefly explain why this narrative is so impactful
The people of Jericho had belief but no action .