I mentioned in my last post that our small group (a bunch of people who get together regularly to encourage one another in our journey with Jesus) is working through James ( short letter nestled almost at the end of the New Testament). Chapter two deals with the faith-works debate. [I find it weird to refer to a letter with "chapters." If I sent my Dad a letter long enough to be broken into chapters, he'd probably think I'd overdosed on Charles Dickens!] Back to the topic at hand.
Why is this termed a "debate"? And who started it?
Our group is trying something new: we're all working through the letter a chapter at a time, but we're using whatever study aids we wish. So... My study guide, written by John MacArthur, talks about the apparent contradiction between what James writes and Paul's writings. Paul clearly teaches in his writings that there is nothing I can do to earn my way into heaven. Even my faith is a gift from God! So far, so good.
James seems to imply (according to the debate) that we must generate works to prove our faith means something to us. By itself, that makes sense too. After all, Jesus' described a holy person in this life (we will never reach perfection until we die) in His famed sermon on the Mount of Olives (called "The Beatitudes," a term I confess I find sounds silly. I mean, who came up with that term? Sounds like a British rock band or something...) Anyway, the qualities of life Jesus prescribed make no sense in isolation. They only make sense in relationships with others.
Jesus said, for example, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matthew 5:7). How can I show mercy if I stay in the isolation of my Christian subculture? I can only show mercy, thereby proving I'm merciful, if I relate to someone I need to extend mercy to! See what I mean? Jesus words about us being "salt" and "light" (Matthew 5:13-14) tell me that His expectation of me as His follower is to enter into the lives of other people who need Jesus, not as a evangelistic conquests (a la Evangelism Explosion), but as people who need to a genuine follower of Christ to come along to live with them through their mess.
So my faith, which derives from my belief, evidences itself by how I live, specifically as I relate to others. I don't see how that contradicts Paul's teaching at all.
28 February 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Interesting and thought provoking two posts. I will be coming back to read again when I have more time to think and reflect on them.
I love that even though we are in different states now, and soon to be different countries, we can still impact each others walks! Makes distance seem so much less. :-) Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment