“To add anything to Christ as being necessary to salvation, say circumcision or any human work of any kind, is to deny that Christ is the complete Savior, is to put something human on a par with him, yea to make it the crowning point. That is fatal. A bridge to heaven that is built of 99/100 of Christ and even only 1/100 of anything human breaks down at the joint and ceases to be a bridge. Even if Christ be thought of as carrying us 999 miles of the way, and something merely human be required for the last mile, this would leave us hanging in the air with heaven being still far away.” R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles

[quote author="The Apostle James"]

Chapter Two

1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. 

What meaneth James here?  Would James agree with the statement from Lenski?

Glenn,

There is absolutely no contradiction between James and Paul, or what Lenski is saying.

James is absolutely right. Anyone who claims to have been truly born again, and who does not show his faith by his good works, shows that his faith is dead and is not genuine saving faith.

God does 100% of the saving work. When He is the one who does the saving and adopts us a His children, then He changes the heart so that we are saved unto good works.

The good works though cannot contribute one small iota to salvation.

The gospel of grace has been attacked from the time the apostle Paul wrote.

There are some Adentists who actually understand very well what Paul was teaching with regard to salvation, and they don’t like what Paul said, so, some Adventists have proposed that Paul was a false apostle, and that maybe Paul should be removed, and thus we could go back to works salvation.

Stan

I am not aware of any SDA’s who have proposed Paul was a false prophet. Is there someone you have in mind?

Interestingly, the book of James did concern Martin Luther, who didn’t like the book’s emphasis. 

Glenn, I’m curious how you reconcile the statements of Paul about justification by faith alone with the apparently contradictory statements of James?

Greg

[quote author="Greg"]Glenn, I’m curious how you reconcile the statements of Paul about justification by faith alone with the apparently contradictory statements of James?

Greg

I’m not totally sure, but in general I don’t think the two sources are necessarily inconsistent. Paul enumerated the fruits of the spirit, for instance, in Galations. The bridge between the two emphases I think is that faith is not just a belief. It involves action, trust, sacrifice of some kind. Hebrews 11 spells this out in that all of the “heroes” of faith all acted in faith. They took a chance on God I think you could say.  They stepped out in faith when the evidence seemed to be against it.  In the gospels Jesus also tells his would-be followers to take up their crosses and follow Him.  This would be an act of faith.  So I see faith as a broader term that encompasses our submission to God, of which the commands included in James, in Paul’s writings of the fruits of the Spirit, and Jesus’ commands in the gospels are representations.

How do you reconcile them?

To further bridge the gap between works and faith I would say that faith ultimately results in the believer needing to make a choice or many choices between some action or another, some path of life from another.

James mentions Rahab. She’s a good example. Rahab believed that the people of Israel were being led by God. What her exact conception of God was is a little unclear, but she believed that God was with Israel. Her belief, her faith in this God, led her to hide the Israelite spies, gather her family for when the city of Jericho would be taken, and ultimately choose to forsake the city and people of her blood and upbringing for a life of fellowship with a foreign people and a new, relatively unknown God.

Noah also makes an appearance in Hebrews 11. Noah didn’t just believe that God was going to bring a worldwide flood that would destroy the earth, but he did as God commanded and made preparation for the event--as ridiculous as it probably appeared to the people at that time. Noah trusted God and sacrificed himself, whatever wealth he had, whatever good will and friendship he enjoyed to do what God told him to do.

I think where Paul is considered, maybe the best illustration of what he meant was what Jesus said in Matthew 7 where He said that not everyone who said to Him, Lord, Lord, would enter into the Kingdom, but those who did the will of His Father in Heaven. Jesus then provides an example of people who in that day will attempt to present their “works” of healing, casting out demons, etc as credentials for Heaven, but Jesus will deny them because no works of this kind can merit us Heaven. This is the kind of works I think Paul is referring to in Ephesians 2 of which people like to boast.

There are many instances in which the Bible appears to say directly contradictory things. Such as where in several places that “no one is righteous, no not one” and “no one is good but God” and yet God’s people throughout the Bible are continuously identified as being righteous if they turn from their sin (Ezekiel 3:20-21; Ezekiel 18:21, 24) or are described as “blameless” (2 Peter 3:14), without “guile” (Revelation 14:5) or where those of sinful works will not be found in Heaven (Ephesians 5:1-5).  So, ultimately, the multiple and seemingly contradictory uses of these terms and dichotomies (faith/works, no one righteous/God’s people righteous) must be compatible.

I’m just a little hesitent when I see phrases that appear to suggest that any work of love or act of obedience is not necessary in the Christian life, that all that is required is an abstract belief absent any application or testing of that faith.

Glenn,

Please help me clarify what you wrote. In the final analysis, was Paul saying that faith alone is sufficient for man’s justification, or do you believe he was teaching that certain works (fruit of the Spirit) were required? For example, what did Paul specifically mean when he said the justification of Abraham was by faith, not works, so that Abraham would have nothing to boast about (Romans 4:1-3)? How do you harmonize your ideas with Paul’s conclusion, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:4-5)?

My position is essentially the same as Stan’s. James described the outcome of justification that men can see (works), while Paul wrote about the means of justification (faith) that is only visible to God.

Greg