Lookahead: Perhaps I may need to shed some more light on the “works” term by way of a few empirical reference points. Reduced to its essence, I believe “works” means good, godly deeds that are meant to help others. All well and good, but I believe that the potential for probs lies in the true motive behind the works. If we are doing the good deeds for purposes of being justified (made righteous in the eyes of God and man–just as if I’d never sinned), it’s a fruitless and so unnecessary lesson in frustration.
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:15-26
Talk about an inundation of weighty verses…verses that would provoke a lot of “sticky questions!” Fortunately, we got the jump on some of the controversy, having touched on the first two verses of this passage in the last post. But this passage has historically been the source of a lively debate on the subject of “faith or works?”, that has kept the commentators busy for centuries.
In Unpacking #1, I included a quote from Martin Luther indicating that, at times, he wrestled with James’ epistle: “’In sum, St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle; St. Paul’s letters, especially the ones to the Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians; and St. Peter’s first epistle are all books that show you Christ, and they all teach which is necessary and salutary for you to know, even if you do not see or hear any other book or teaching. It is for this reason that James’s epistle is in comparison a real strawy epistle, for it has no evangelical character about it.’”1
JIC, strawy per thefreedictionary.com = made of straw, (a) Something of minimal value or importance; (b) The least valuable bit; a jot: I don’t care a straw what you think; (c) Something with too little substance to provide support in a crisis: Near the end we were grasping at straws.
These verses of James (particularly faith without works is dead) appear to be in conflict with one of Paul’s premier showpieces in his epistles: For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8,9 (underline is mine)
The James passage seems to steer us in the direction of: in addition to receiving Christ’s gift by faith, we need to do good deeds to earn our salvation (= fellowship with God now and in heaven–and all the associated blessings). Faith without works is dead sounds a little scary to me. But attempting to be justified by works can be scarier.
Perhaps I may need to shed some more light on the “works” term by way of a few empirical reference points. Reduced to its essence, I believe “works” means good, godly deeds that are meant to help others. All well and good, but I believe that the potential for probs lies in the true motive behind the works. If we are doing the good deeds for purposes of being justified (made righteous in the eyes of God and man–just as if I’d never sinned), it’s a fruitless and so unnecessary lesson in frustration.
When I was a new Christian and attending my first non-denom church, I enjoyed a season of luxurious immersion in the nurturing and teaching. But eventually, with my addictive/compulsive personality, I began to feel like I should give back to God. Within a year, I was burned out from supporting ~10 ministries…At that juncture, the LORD impressed upon me to make a list. In one column were the things that He had given me to do. In the adjacent column were the things that well-meaning people had given me to do. There were only three things in the former, and I was “runnin’ out’a room” in the latter. Eventually God helped me to gracefully withdraw from the latter commitments even to the extent of shaking me loose from my people pleasing tendencies…by moving me out of state. 🙂
I swore that I would never get into this performance trap again. But five years later, I was dragged down into the works vortex once more. This time it was at an amazing church, that one might call a start-up. I was overwhelmed with agápē for the leadership and their families. Two years later, I was serving as a board member, leading the prayer ministry, leading the outreach ministry, leading the children’s ministry, doing the overheads during Worship (remember those?), coming to church early to spritz-up sidewalks and parking lot (ix-nay on cig butts)–as well as putting the added shine on carpet, bathrooms, and chair alignment in church interior, publishing bulletin/flyers/door hangers, etc. This was in addition to leading a Bible Study at a Jewish Nursing Home, faithfully attending the church’s own Bible Study, and providing eats for church gatherings. I was also producing/shipping religious tracts for/to my old church (P.S. I had a full-time job in Industry)…This time the LORD just moved me out of state–without the benefit of a list. 🙂
Hopefully having learned my lesson (only God knows) going forward, I sought new church homes with paid staffers to help with my guilt issue. I also had long, self-imposed waiting periods and only joined a ministry when I felt that I had a solid green light from the LORD. But there was always that subterranean pressure to stop slacking and get to work. Nevertheless it could have been worse. I have multiple friends who left the church entirely due to “over-works”–and their spiritual growth was totally arrested as a result. So it’s no joke.
I need to pause here and make a very clear point: I view my leaders as blameless in my over-works seasons. In my case, for sure, “the problem wasn’t the pastor.” The problem was me. I wanted to please (impress) the pastor and the church leaders. And ultimately it was moi who thought that doing good deeds would make me more righteous and accepted. Perhaps due to my busy-ness, a lot of time elapsed before Paul’s showpiece scripture finally penetrated and took hold of my heart. In the meantime, God was so faithful and patient.
And hopefully I don’t sound like a bitter, lazy person. I sincerely believe in not “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Heb 10:25“ So even when the LORD moved me from state to state, I never avoided church. I actively church hunted and kept my $ donations up. But I now know full well about my workaholic tendencies. So, at this stage in my life, I always try to be still and listen hard for the LORD’s direction on church home/tasking. Subsequently…I’m not bitter or lazy…I’m free. Simply put, I have come to the place in my spiritual life that when I determine that someone is trying to give me an action (and that action is not actually confirmation of what God has already told me to do) I respectfully decline. And this includes TV preachers–they’re much easier to dismiss…with a click of the remote. 🙂
However, during my times of inactivity and reflection as I seek God’s will in what may appear to be a rather unproductive state…per James, is my salvation in jeopardy?
This week I heard another timely TV teaching and when it prompted my inevitable Google Deep Dive, I came up with a pearl of wisdom: This parable (of the two sons Matt. 21:28-32) continues earlier stories in Matthew about the people who actually are part of God’s kingdom. Jesus tells the religious leaders in his audience that “tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matt. 21:31). The folks who took the least religious (path) will enter God’s kingdom ahead of religious leaders, because in the end they do God’s will.2
More on this in the next post + what did Abraham and Rahab believe?
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Cross-Denominational Bible Study 