Tag Archive for 'grace'

Faith and works

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bcg
on 10 May 2008
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I read James 2 this morning, the almost infamous passage which apparently contradicts Paul's theology that we are saved only by faith, that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.  I don't think it does say that, however.  Here is the passage in full, from the ESV:

2.14 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? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

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! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 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. 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. (ESV)

The particularly difficult verse is 24: 'You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.'  This seems to contradict Paul's assertion in Romans (which intriguingly quotes the exact same verse about Abraham from Genesis):

4.1 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. (ESV)

Even more starkly, in Romans 3.28 Paul says, 'For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.'  What is this apparent contradiction?  Are Paul and James saying the exact opposite?

Well no, actually!  One of Paul's main points throughout Romans is that salvation depends entirely on God's grace.  No-one can keep the law, no-one can be holy as God is holy, everyone messes up, except Jesus.  In and through Jesus God offers us the free gift of life, of redemption, salvation and justification, all those long words that basically mean we are given the gift of new life.  We don't earn it, we are simply given it.

Now James is making a different point.  He is saying that faith on its own means nothing - even the demons believe in God!  If you have no works - if your faith does not affect how you live your life - then your faith is not really faith.  Works demonstrate whether or not you really have faith, and so in that sense 'complete' it.  The works in v.24 are therefore the 'works of faith', rather than 'works without faith'.

In other words, James is not saying that 'works without faith' justify, but he is saying that 'faith without works' is not really faith.  He is arguing that we need 'faith that produces works'.

Looking at the context of both passages from James and Romans demonstrates that they are not contradictory after all.  In fact, much later in Romans (12.1 and onwards) Paul writes one of his great 'therefore's.  Having expounded grace and the need for it over the previous eleven chapters, he begins his section on ethics.  We have been given a great gift, therefore we must live our lives accordingly.  In other words, faith on its own is not faith: real faith produces works, produces love for our neighbours, generosity, etc.

We need to get away from the absolute contrast between faith and works.  We can sometimes make it sound like we have no responsibility to do anything except 'preach the good news'.  We must of course do that, but we must also demonstrate and 'complete' our faith by the 'good works' that God has 'prepared in advance' for us to do (Ephesians 2.10).

Gift(s) of the Spirit

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bcg
on 30 December 2007
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This topic has been mulling over in my mind for a long time.  Since the 'rediscovery' of charismatic gifts and the phenomenal growth of the Pentecostal church, I suppose it has been a hot topic for the church generally.

I am currently reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer, a chapter a night - a fantastic book, which I will review when I'm done - and last night I read chapter 12, 'The Love of God'.  Packer makes some excellent points which happen to coincide with my own feelings on this subject, so I will quote him, and then comment.

In Romans 5.5 Paul says, 'God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.'  Packer says:

Paul is not talking of faint and fitful impressions, but of deep and overwhelming ones.

...

Paul assumes that all his readers, like himself, will be living in the enjoyment of a strong and abiding sense of God's love for them.

Third, notice that the instilling of this knowledge is described as part of the regular ministry of the Spirit to those who receive him - to all , that is, who are born again, who are true believers.  One could wish that this aspect of his ministry was prized more highly than it is at the present time.  With a perversity as pathetic as it is impoverishing, we have become preoccupied today with the extraordinary, sporadic, non-universal ministries of the Spirit to the neglect of the ordinary, general ones.  Thus, we show a great deal more interest in the gifts of healing and tongues - gifts of which, as Paul pointed out, not all Christians are meant to partake anyway (1 Cor. 12:28-30) - than in the Spirit's ordinary work of giving peace, joy, hope, and love, through the shedding abroad in our hearts of knowledge of the love of God.  Yet the latter is much more important than the former.

...

It will be tragic if the concern for revival that is stirring at the present time in many places gets diverted into the cul-de-sac of a new Corinthianism.  The best thing that Paul could desire for the Ephesians in connection with the Spirit was that he might continue towards them the Romans 5:5 ministry with ever-increasing power, leading them deeper and deeper into knowledge of the love of God in Christ.

...

Revival means the work of God restoring to a moribund church, in a manner out of the ordinary, those standards of Christian life and experience which the New Testament sets forth as being entirely ordinary; and a right-minded concern for revival will express itself, not in a hankering after tongues (ultimately it is of no importance whether we speak in tongues or not), but rather a longing that the Spirit may shed God's love abroad in our hearts with greater power.  For it is with this (to which deep exercise of soul about sin is often preliminary) that personal revival begins, and by this that revival in the church, once begun, is sustained.

J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 133-134

I wholeheartedly agree with Packer.  The Spirit's work is so much more than we might sometimes be led to believe - he gives so many gifts to each and every Christian, not least the fact that they are believers!  Of course the 'sporadic gifts' are important - I have no doubt that God heals people today - but focussing too much on them leads us to forget the more important, universal gifts.

I want to sit down one day and read a proper and full exposition of the work of the Spirit - I believe Calvin in particular does this well.

Everything we do as a Christian is a gift of the Spirit!  We live entirely by grace, which God gives us in the power of the Spirit.  In talking so much about 'the gifts', in constantly asking the question 'what is my gift?', 'what is my ministry', we forget that all we have is a gift, and that we are given all we have in order that we might serve God and each other, and steward creation aright.  If we get this sorted in our Christian lives, then we will have the right perspective on the 'sporadic gifts' as well - they are not for ourselves, but to enable our service of others, to build up the church.

Given all this, I would argue that it is not just 'conservative' Christians who 'quench the Spirit' (1 Thessalonians 5.19) by refusing to allow space for his work publicly - 'charismatic' Christians do the same by focussing too much on the particular gifts the Spirit gives, and too little on the primary, universal gifts that he gives.  Both are important in the life of the church - but the universal gifts are much more so; the balance needs to be restored.

I think that the greatest miracle is not a dramatic healing but someone who dies in Christ.

Five-point Calvinism

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Published
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bcg
on 19 October 2007
in Bible and Theology
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I once got into an argument with a leader of a Christian organisation about various things, one of which was five-point Calvinism. The five points helpfully make up the word TULIP:

Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints

(T) The definition of the five can go to extremes. For example, my definition of 'T' is that every area of our lives is tainted by sin - in that sense, we are totally depraved. The cariacature of 'T' is that every area of our lives is totally tainted by sin.

(U) Unconditional election - no problem, I think the Bible is absolutely clear that we are (and can be) saved only by God's grace, so that when he chooses us it is not based on merit, but on his grace. And election is a concept that runs throughout the Bible.

(I) Irresistible grace - an interesting one, it doesn't spring to mind immediately from my own knowledge of Scripture. It is effectively another safeguard for 'grace not works', like 'U'. If we can resist God's grace, that means we have some measure of power over him, and that in some way we must be responsible for our salvation, by not resisting his grace. Besides, in my own life I'm not sure I have a choice when it comes to believing in God - there have been times when I have wanted to stop, but I haven't been able to.

(P) Perseverance of the sains - true, but a difficult one in churches, because you can never be sure who the saints really are! We should always assume that people who appear committed to Jesus and his church actually are, but of course they may not be. Those that are, have been unconditionally elected by God, the recipients of his irresistible grace, and so must persevere.

(L) As you have probably noticed I missed out 'L'. Limited atonement is, for me, the one I don't quite agree with. 'L' states that Jesus died only for the sins of the elect. However, 1 John 2.2 makes it perfectly clear that Christ died for the sins of the whole world. However, his death is only efficacious - that is, it only has salvific effect - for those who believe. Christ died for all, and welcomes all - but only those who receive him by faith receive the benefits of his passion (to use the traditional language of BCP).

That is why I am not a five-point Calvinist, but a four-and-a-half-point Calvinist.