Verses to Abide In
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 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. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” James 2:21-24 ESV
“Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]? [Gen 22:1-14] You see that [his] faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the works, his faith was completed [reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience]. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will,” and he was called the friend of God. [Gen 15:6; 2 Chr 20:7; Is 41:8] You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].”
James 2:21-24 AMP
Digging Deeper Salvation
Last week, we touched on the Greek word sozo, which is translated as “save” in James 2:14.
It can be difficult to follow when sozo—most often meaning “to save” or “salvation”—is used for something we describe with three different words: justification, sanctification, and glorification. The context of the surrounding verses is used to determine which of these three terms should be applied to a given verse.
Digging Deeper Justified
This week we have the Greek word dikaioo, which is often translated as “justified” in James 2:21 and 24.
Here is a simplified way to consider two meanings for dikaioo that I got from Bruce Hurt (again, these meanings are determined by the context of the surrounding verses for translation):
(1) To cause someone to be in a proper or right relation with someone else.
(2) To show to be right or righteous.
“In summary a brief survey of the different contextual meanings of dikaioo indicates that dikaioo does not always mean to declare righteous but can also mean to show or demonstrate that one is righteous. Clearly, James is using dikaioo in the latter sense in his illustrations of genuine faith in the lives of Abraham the friend of God and Rahab the harlot, for the premise of his entire argument is that while faith is an invisible attribute, it can (and must) be assessed as genuine or not on the basis of the works that come forth from that faith.”
“Warren Wiersbe speaks of Abraham's obedience to God's request to offer his only son, reminding us that "Faith is not believing in spite of evidence. Faith is obeying in spite of consequence."
Note God's response to Abraham's act of obedience that came out of his great faith "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis 22:12).
https://www.preceptaustin.org/james_221-23
Let's Pray
Abba, thank you for your word. Thank you for this treasure trove of illustrations and histories of men and women who follow you—who obey, disobey, fail, succeed, and grow by the testing of their faith over and over again.
Thank you for Abraham and his faith when he took Isaac to be sacrificed. Thank you for his obedience, his righteousness that sprang from his sincere faith in you.
O God, we ask that we too would have this kind of obedience from genuine faith that would reveal our rightness with you.
We ask that all of the academics and theological debates that come with these verses in James will not bog us down, but that we would have our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2).
We ask for your help to trust in the you with all of our hearts, to lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge you and trust and see that you will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
We ask in the name of Jesus and in your Spirit.
We trust in you. You are our trust (Jeremiah 17:7).
Amen.
Peace be to you, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Laura