Nathan's Pendulum

And my mother-in-law thinks she's a pendulum... ha!

Go here from now on.

Concerning James 2:24

I was always confused about James 2:24. Then I read the following. It's out of the Book of Concord, the Lutheran Confessions. I think that it is the best explanation of this verse that I have ever heard!

From James 2, 24 they cite: Ye see, then, how by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone. Nor is any other passage supposed to be more contrary to our belief. But the reply is easy and plain. If the adversaries do not attach their own opinions concerning the merits of works, the words of James have in them nothing that is of disadvantage. But wherever there is mention of works, the adversaries add falsely their own godless opinions, that by means of good works we merit the remission of sins; that good works are a propitiation and price on account of which God is reconciled to us; that good works overcome the terrors of sin and of death, that good works are accepted in God's sight on account of their goodness; and that they do not need mercy and Christ as Propitiator. None of all these things came into the mind of James, which the adversaries nevertheless, defend under the pretext of this passage of James.

In the first place, then, we must ponder, this, namely, that the passage is more against the adversaries than against us. For the adversaries teach that man is justified by love and works. Of faith, by which we apprehend Christ as Propitiator, they say nothing. Yea, they condemn this faith, nor do they condemn it only in sentences and writings, but also by the sword and capital punishments they endeavor to exterminate it in the Church. How much better does James teach, who does not omit faith, or present love in preference to faith, but retains faith, so that in justification Christ may not be excluded as Propitiator! Just as Paul also, when he treats of the sum of the Christian life, includes faith and love, 1 Tim. 1, 5: The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.

Secondly, the subject itself declares that here such works are spoken of as follow faith, and show that faith is not dead, but living and efficacious in the heart. James, therefore, did not believe that by good works we merit the remission of sins and grace. For he speaks of the works of those who have been justified, who have already been reconciled and accepted, and have obtained remission of sins. Wherefore the adversaries err when they infer that James teaches that we merit remission of sins and grace by good works, and that by our works we have access to God, without Christ as Propitiator.

Thirdly, James has spoken shortly before concerning regeneration, namely, that it occurs through the Gospel. For thus he says James 1, 18: Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures. When he says that we have been born again by the Gospel, he teaches that we have been born again and justified by faith. For the promise concerning Christ is apprehended only by faith, when we set it against the terrors of sin and of death. James does not, therefore, think that we are born again by our works.

From these things it is clear that James does not contradict us, who, when censuring idle and secure minds, that imagine that they have faith, although they do not have it, made a distinction between dead and living faith. He says that that is dead which does not bring forth good works [and fruits of the Spirit obedience, patience, chastity, love]; he says that that is living which brings forth good works. Furthermore, we have frequently already shown what we term faith. For we do not speak of idle knowledge [that merely the history concerning Christ should be known], such as devils have, but of faith which resists the terrors of conscience, and cheers and consoles terrified hearts [the new light and power which the Holy Ghost works in the heart, through which we overcome the terrors of death, of sin, etc.]. Such faith is neither an easy matter, as the adversaries dream [as they say: Believe, believe, how easy it is to believe! etc.], nor a human power [thought which I can form for myself], but a divine power, by which we are quickened, and by which we overcome the devil and death. Just as Paul says to the Colossians, 2, 12 that faith is efficacious through the power of God, and overcomes death: Wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God. Since this faith is a new life, it necessarily produces new movements and works. [Because it is a new light and life in the heart, whereby we obtain another mind and spirit, it is living, productive, and rich in good works.] Accordingly, James is right in denying that we are justified by such a faith as is without works. But when he says that we are justified by faith and works, he certainly does not say that we are born again by works. Neither does he say this, that partly Christ is our Propitiator, and partly our works are our propitiation. Nor does he describe the mode of justification, but only of what nature the just are, after they have been already justified and regenerated. [For he is speaking of works which should follow faith. There it is well said: He who has faith and good works is righteous, not indeed, on account of the works, but for Christ's sake, through faith. And as a good tree should bring forth good fruit, and yet the fruit does not make the tree good, so good works must follow the new birth, although they do not make man accepted before God; but as the tree must first be good, so also must man be first accepted before God by faith for Christ's sake. The works are too insignificant to render God gracious to us for their sake, if He were not gracious to us for Christ's sake. Therefore James does not contradict St. Paul, and does not say that by our works we merit, etc.] And here to be justified does not mean that a righteous man is made from a wicked man, but to be pronounced righteous in a forensic sense, as also in the passage Rom. 2, 13: The doers of the Law shall be justified. As, therefore, these words: The doers of the Law shall be justified, contain nothing contrary to our doctrine, so, too, we believe concerning the words of James: By works a man is justified, and not by faith alone, because men having faith and good works are certainly pronounced righteous. For, as we have said, the good works of saints are righteous, and please on account of faith. For James commends only such works as faith produces, as he testifies when he says of Abraham, 2, 22: Faith wrought with his works. In this sense it is said: The doers of the Law are justified, i.e., they are pronounced righteous who from the heart believe God, and afterwards have good fruits, which please Him on account of faith, and, accordingly, are the fulfilment of the Law. These things, simply spoken, contain nothing erroneous, but they are distorted by the adversaries, who attach to them godless opinions out of their mind. For it does not follow hence that works merit the remission of sins that works regenerate hearts; that works are a propitiation; that works please without Christ as Propitiator; that works do not need Christ as Propitiator. James says nothing of these things, which, nevertheless, the adversaries shamelessly infer from the words of James.

My Refuge and My Fortress

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
- Psalm 91:1

There are many, many heresies in the world today, but two of them I want to talk about in relation to this verse. Those are the heresies of legalism and antinomianism.

What are these?

Legalism is often defined as erring too much on the side of the law. It is binding onself to the law and trusting in what God tells us to do in the Ten Commandments, instead of trusting in Christ's redeeming sacrifice on the cross.

Antinomianism is oftne defined as erring too much on the side of the Gospel. It is binding onself to ultimate freedom. The Antinomian says, "I am saved, therefore I now can go do whatever I want to do, because God loves me unconditionally."

I don't think either of those definitions are entirely correct, though. When it comes right down to it, there is but a hair's breadth difference between legalism and antinomianism. They are both wrong and misleading and for the same reason at that - they both are a result of not trusting in the good gifts God has given us, most specifically his gift of the Gospel.

An analogy to this would be the married couple. Why does the wife love the husband? Because he has told her that she must love him? No! The wife loves the husband because he loves her and shows his love toward her. He is her refuge and fortress, and she loves him for it.

So in the same way, we do not love God because God commands us to love Him - we love Him because He has loved us and given His only Son up for us. Just as the bride of the man does not love him out of obligation, so the Bride does not love the Man out of obligation. It is a love to love relationship.

Once the wife understands this, she knows that her husband will love her no matter what. He forgives her and showers her with good gifts. But if the husband is going to forgive the wife no matter what, why would the wife not cheat on her husband? After all, if she is loved and forgiven, why doesn't she go out and sleep with as many men as she wants to and just have as much fun as she can?

Of course she doesn't do this - she does not do it because she loves her husband. She trusts that his love is sufficient for her, and that what he has to give her is good and sustaining.

This is how it is with our relationship with Christ. We do not go do whatever we want, because we love Christ. To say otherwise is to reject His love and to say, "I do not believe that you have my best intentions at heart. I do not believe my ultimate happiness will be found in you. I believe that it will be found elsewhere." Sin is, fundamentally, unbelief.

Now, this is not to say that we will never sin. The wife fails, and so does the church. In fact, the husband fails - but Christ never fails. We are going to sin. That is our lot in this life. We have betrayed God, and thus it is in our nature to betray him. But never for an instant should we entertain the idea that because God loves us, despite our betrayal, that it is okay for us to continue in that betrayal. That would be a rejection of our Father's Good Gift!

Let us fix our eyes, rather, on Jesus. He is the one who took our sins, our failings, our cross, our unbelief - and He crucified it unto death. In Him, we find what it means to love, and we learn to love in return. In Him, we find a faith that is true and trusting, and we receive that true faith.

There is a little legalist and a little antinomian in all of us. God be praised that Jesus Christ was sent for our sake, so that those little heretics may be drowned daily within us, and not overcome us, so that we might receive eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord! He is our refuge and fortress. In Him we do trust. Amen.