Is Your Faith Dead or Alive? | Theocast Clips

So James is using his illustration about 30 years down the road different now.

He will revert back to Genesis 15, but Paul is dealing with faith at the moment of his believing

God's promises and it was a justified to him and you're talking about the book of Romans. Sorry. No. I'm talking about the book of Genesis.

Sorry. You're talking about Genesis 15 from Paul. Yes. Thank you. And then James is pointing down the road saying, let's, let's take care of a moment to hear it.

Several decades, Dan, that yes, Abraham makes this profession, but over time you're going to see that there is going to be a reflection of what he has said.

Not obviously at this moment, that man has lied about his wife a couple of times. He's done some horrendous things.

So if you think there's perfection in the line here, that's not what he's talking about. But even so of Rahab.

Before we get into Rahab, I'll use the illustration of Rahab, and then we'll go back to Abraham for a second. But even with Rahab, Rahab, out of concern for her brothers, you can see this affection that she does something that is dangerous to herself.

The way I would say it is that when she's called upon to care for what God has given her to care for, she does it.

This is the same thing that Abraham is in the illustration. Here's where things get tripped up, Justin, so let's spend a little bit of time here helping people walk through here.

It was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar.

You see that faith that was acting along with his works and faith was completed by his works. So before, let's not read verse 23 because that kind of gives it away.

But Justin, the first initial reaction people have there is to say, what? Hey, wait a minute, guys, it's contradicting you.

James and Paul are saying the opposite thing. This is literally theological schizophrenia. What do we do?

Right. So when we read this, I think if you keep reading in verse 23, and then we can use the whole and interpret the whole, he says, and the scripture was fulfilled that says

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteous, then he was called the friend of God. Well, right there, who is

James agreeing with? Paul. So we can't say he's contradicting himself because clearly he says that Abraham was justified by faith.

Right. So let's back up and say, well, what does it mean by justified? Well, if we say here was not

Abraham's our father justified by works when he offered of Isaac, you see that Isaac, man,

I'm struggling. You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works.

Again, remember when I said that he's firing off to the right, he's firing away from one who is justifying himself.

He's saying he is justified. And another way I would, I would say this is that his faith has come to its ultimate end and purpose.

Its faith has come to its completion, meaning let's just quote Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, right?

Say by. In 10. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. But yes, thank you. Verse 10, 8 and 9, not by works, lest any man should boast.

And what does it say? That your good works were predestined before the world began. Meaning that.

We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, prepared beforehand for us to walk. Prepared beforehand, which means the ultimate end and finish goal is these good works.

And even. Yeah, there's a lot more I could say. Keep going. I'll comment when you're done. Right. So and then this goes into Abraham.

He uses the same thing. But we'll just use this last phrase. And Justin, this is where we kind of launch off where I think the confusion happens.

He says for as the body apart from the spirit, this is verse 26, is dead. So also faith apart from works is dead.

Like I have said before, people who are alive breathe. That's that's the point.

People who are alive breathe, trees that are alive bear fruit. That's right. So here's the confusion,

Justin, and this is where I think we need to bring in some clarification. James, I believe at this point and will further on in chapters three, four and five, make it abundantly clear what these good works are.