James vs Paul, again

Today’s topic is a difficult area, but one in which there are fine lines all over the place.  We are going to discuss the classic Paul vs. James false dichotomy. 

The starting point for this discussion is a conversation in which there is a hypothetical person whose normal temperament is bitter, angry and hostile.  The question is whether this behavior is evidence, in of itself, that the person who displays this unfortunate behavior habitually is lacking in the fruit of the spirit in accordance with both Paul and James.  My response in person lacked the depth necessary to tackle such a difficult issue.  The issue is the classic Liberal Hymn that we all know from our youth, “…they will know we are Christians by our Love.” Is that a fair statement? 

I like to begin this discussion with Luke 23:39-43.  In this example from Luke’s Gospel, we have a man who has clearly NOT demonstrated the fruits of the Spirit.  While we can argue that the Holy Spirit has not yet come into the world, there is another line of argument as well.  We can clearly state, based on the fact that he fully admits that he has earned his crucifixion by his less that wonderful works, that his righteousness before God is NOT based upon his works.  His righteousness is completely based upon his faith, a faith that he articulates at his death.  How do we make sense of this episode in light of James?  James seems to say that since a faith without works is dead, then this guy should have been damned.  But he is proclaimed righteous by none other than Jesus Himself.  All that he has demonstrable in his favor is his faith.

Paul and James have a history together.  Remember the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15.  The question before the apostles concerns the gentiles.  Do you have to be Jewish first to be Christian?  Notice first what Peter says in verses 7-11.  This clearly becomes the interpretation of the whole group.  Now, notice what James says in verses 12-21, quoting Amos 9:11-12.  What we MUST assume at this point is that James passes off on the notion of justification my faith alone.

Now, in their epistles, it is very important to keep in mind to whom each apostle is writing, when, and why.  Paul is usually writing to fledgling churches who are struggling with various issues, after the Jerusalem Council.  Paul never assumes the Gospel.  He always repeats the Gospel, restates the Gospel, teaches the Gospel, refers back to the Gospel, over and over again.  James, on the other hand, is believed to have written his letter prior to the Jerusalem Council.  What is amazing, therefore, is that reformed scholars do not believe that James is either disagreeing with Paul in his letters or with himself in Acts 15.  Here is why.

James argues that faith without works is dead.  But James is assuming that these Jewish Christians to whom he is writing already know the Gospel.  The question here is about antinomianism.  Neither Paul nor James believes that antinomianism is possible, but they go about discussing it from opposite sides of the argument.  Paul in Romans 6 argues that since we are dead to sin, should we go on sinning so that Grace may abound?  By no means, he says.  If you follow his argument through to the end of chapter 8, you will see that Paul does not believe that true faith will yield a person who lacks obedience.  But at the same time, because our bodies remain IN ADAM, we continue to sin despite our desire to be obedient.  And this forces us back to Christ in repentance.  This is Christian living according to Paul.  James argues in his second chapter that faith without works is dead.  But look carefully at the grammar of that passage.

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.

The proposition is that someone says he has faith.  James is questioning, not Paul’s definition of faith that justifies, but rather the supposition that the someone in question had true saving faith in the first place.  James says that there is no such thing as an antinomian because that sort of faith is dead; in other words, it does not lead to life.  Remember that when these guys are talking about life, they are talking about eternal life, and therefore justification.  So, James is in agreement with Paul on the subject of people who do not express the fruits of the spirit.

Now, two questions remain.  First, what are the fruits of the Spirit?  Second, how do recognize the fruits of the spirit in others and in ourselves?  The first question we often forget to ask, and yet it is the important precursor to the second question.  What does the Holy Spirit do?  The Holy Spirit testifies to the truth of the Gospel and brings true and saving faith to believers as a free gift.  Therefore, it follows that the fruit of the spirit is true and saving faith in Jesus Christ and His work for His followers on the Cross.

The second question is then about recognition.  Before we talk about others, let’s consider ourselves.  Do we believe that we are fallen and sinful creatures, completely without hope for salvation?  Do we believe that we need to obtain some sort of righteousness before God or else we are going to hell, and we have no avenue to do this on our own?  Do we humbly repent and come before God as broken and defeated creatures?  Do we believe that God in His mercy sent Jesus to be our only mediator and advocate, to live the life that we could not live, to die the death that God requires on our behalf, to impute His righteousness to us, His elect, to give to us, a free gift of Grace, this belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His work for us on the Cross?  Then, yes, we have true and saving faith.  Now, relax for a second.  How does that make you feel?  Grateful?  Humbled?  In awe of His mercy and Grace?  Desperate to please Him?  Good.  Now, follow the commandments.  When you mess up, and you will, repent, turn back to Him and receive His Grace and do it again.

What about your neighbor?  How do know that he has true and saving faith?  If works have nothing to do with it, how can you tell?  The truth is that you can’t tell.  That is the point.  We are not given the job of fruit inspector.  Jesus is the fruit inspector general, not us.  We might suspect one way or another, but let me give you two examples.  The Dali Lama is a rather pious sort.  He is generally regarded as righteous before man.  But he has no righteousness before God, unless he believes in the redeeming work of Jesus on the Cross.  Some would claim that he is a better Christian than most of us because of his civic righteousness.  Now look again at the thief in Luke 23.  He had so little civic righteousness that the Romans killed him for his works.  This is the danger of fruit inspection.  We just do not know.

Therefore, keep your own efforts in front of you.  Be obedient to the Lord in Gratitude and Obedience.  Love God and Love your neighbor.  Do these things because you are one of the elect, you understand the Gospel, and now you want to spread the good News about what Jesus Christ has done for you.  What did he do for you?  For me, He lived the perfect life that I couldn’t.  He died the death that I deserved.  He has declared me righteous before God on the Last Day.  He did all of this to save me from the Wrath of God in His infinite mercy and Grace.  Through the Blood of Christ, I live.  They will know we are Christians because we declare the Gospel of Christ, not because we actually lived in a way different from them.

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Got Milk? A Parable

Martha went to the grocery store and bought some milk.  She brought it home and gave it to Mom saying, “I bought some milk.”

Mom said, “Why?” 

Martha replies, “Because milk is healthy and we should have milk in the house.” 

Mom says, “Everyone who lives in this house is lactose intolerant.”

Martha protests, “But everyone says that milk is good for you.”

Mom says, “Yes, of course it is.  But it is important not just to do a good thing, but to know why you are doing it.  If you had thought about the why, perhaps you would have gotten soy milk instead.”

Martha complains, “I tried to do something good, and you turn it into a failure.”

Mom says, “All effort is a waste of time without first identifying the problem.”

Faith without works is dead.  No one is arguing this point.  This is as clear as the nose on your face, particularly my face with my near proboscis.  James is arguing for works, this is true.  Go get the milk.  But James is not ignoring the facts that the refrigerator is empty and that milk is particularly nutritious.  James assumes that we have already identified these indicatives.  I’ve quoted from Acts 15 before, but notice verse 21.  The law has been preached everywhere since the old days.  People know that.  What was missing was the “why” from the formula.  Jesus gave the why.  Jesus provided the indicatives.  Jesus explained to us that the purpose of the law was to point out just how dire our situation is.  We are dead from sin.  We are dead people walking.  That is the problem that we have to identify.

Next, Jesus tells us what he has done to fix the problem.  Because Jesus did what He did, we now have a reason for doing good works.  Jesus provides the milk.  If you intellectually assert that we need milk to survive, but don’t go get the milk, you will still die.  That is because you have just demonstrated that you truly do not believe that you are about to die.  You do not believe the indicatives.  The object of belief is always an indicative.  Works are the necessary consequence of belief.  There is no category of antinomian believers.  Those people are dead.  They didn’t go get the milk.

The point is this: James is not preaching a revival of works.  James is not preaching that works have any value towards your salvation.  James is saying that works are a necessary byproduct of Christian faith, without which you will surely die.  Got milk?

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The Devil Made Me Do It

Thanks for the title goes to an email.  This is a follow up to the last post.  The issue to discuss is the concept of the active agent in a work.  To begin this discussion, we should start with the concept of free will.  As I developed last week, free will, when viewed as an inseparable part of man, was corrupted by the fall.  If free will is nothing more than the decision process made by the evaluation of perceived data, then the decision is based upon the ability of the body and mind to sense and collect data.  Since this aspect of the process is clearly dependent upon a flawed data gathering system, the evaluation and decision process is likewise flawed.  Garbage in, garbage out.  Therefore, the only logical conclusion of a human initiated work is sin.  While it is obviously possible to perform a work that has civic value without being a Christian, this earns no value in redemption terms as some aspect of the work will be tarnished, either by motive or secondary gain or some other less than noble facet.  This is basic first point in building the argument.

Next, we need to discuss the only two humans who have actually had the opportunity to exercise uncorrupted free will: the two Adams.  The first Adam allowed the Devil to corrupt his judgment and accordingly he and we suffered the fall.  The second Adam, Jesus, resisted the Devil and maintained His unadulterated will.  So, in a manner of speaking, through federal inheritance of the curse of the fall, when a person says that the devil made them do it, they are in a sense speaking the truth.  The only possible outcome of a work done outside of the Covenant with Jesus in terms of redemptive value is sin.  The Covenant of Works in Adam based on natural revelation condemns us to death.  The Law is a reflection of God and therefore good, but it convicts us by pointing out our sin.  The Law only leads to death as we proved incapable of following the Law.

But the second Adam offers us a different sort of Covenant.  The Covenant is based on Special Revelation, the Gospel.  While the natural revelation is imprinted in our hearts, and we do not need to be made aware of it to recognize in a general sense right and wrong, special revelation is foreign to us.  The Gospel is not intuitive.  The Gospel is scandalous and difficult to accept.  Because of the alien nature of the Gospel, we will not stumble upon the Gospel or come up with it by introspection.  The New Covenant in Jesus introduces foreign concepts and ideas.

The significance of Baptism is that we die with Christ in the water, and then we are raised with Him reborn.  The significance of this second birth is not trivial.  The Baptismal seal is made by the Holy Spirit who indwells us from that moment forward.  We are dead to sin, and we are alive through the Spirit.  The fact that we remain in these earthly bodies until our death is the paradox or tension of being dual citizens in this present evil age and the Glorious age to come.  At death, we leave this body behind and join with Christ in Heaven awaiting His second coming when we will receive our resurrected bodies.  When body and soul are reunited at that time, we will be in Christ without the stain of the curse, having been resurrected with Christ.

So, what can we say about the actions and works of the redeemed person who is still alive in the age?  This person is by definition indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  This person is now a new creation in Christ.  This person is dead to sin.  This freedom from the burden of facing Judgment on our own allows us to consider our actions in a different light.  Our will, being infused with the Holy Spirit, is now free of the bondage of sin.  We are capable of doing works out of genuine love of God and love of our neighbor.  We are able to view the needs of people and act to address these needs free of ulterior motive.  This is one of the Gifts of the Spirit. 

At this point, I want to briefly digress into a side issue that was central in the Turk/Horton discussion last week.  I believe they are saying the same thing, but it is a matter of emphasis that can lead to theological neophytes like us behaving badly.  The point made by James is that faith without works is a dead faith.  Paul goes into less detail on the issue, but clearly agrees with James on the point.  The apparent disagreement between these two Apostles pointed to by some people is likely the result of the isogesis of a works salvation theology on the text.  The point is that good doctrine will lead to good works.  Frank would say that it not only leads to good works, but good doctrine absolutely requires it.  This is Luther’s third use of the Law and it bears a complete understanding.  A regenerated person will necessarily want to do good works and obey the Law out of gratitude for his salvation, and he will act accordingly.  Good works is the mechanism by which the world will recognize a regenerated person.  This is not to say that regenerated people will be perfect.  In Romans 7, we see Paul struggling with the paradox of still being in Adam through his earthly body.  The difference is that the regenerated person recognizes the problem and the struggle, and yet he genuinely desires to do good works.

And so finally, why cannot we accept the credit for these good works?  There is much debate on this last topic.  There is clear scripture that seems to apply Law passages to regenerated people in terms of Judgment.  2 Corinthians comes to mind as well as James.  It is important to keep the issues of Justification and Sanctification clear and separate from this discussion.  These good works are not tallied in terms of Judgment because that verdict was based upon the works of another, Jesus Christ in His work on the Cross.  So, why care about them?  Because true faith recognizes the awesome richness and depth of the Resurrection.  We are grateful for this Gift and we seek to obey due to this gratitude.  The obedience to His will is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit indwelling, without Whom we would be incapable of pulling it off.  Because we are free of the bondage of sin, we are capable of true obedience to His will.  We are free to obey.  This means an action.  This means good works.

It is the desire at Judgment of all the redeemed in Christ to hear these words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” God has already done everything for us; therefore, we are free to act accordingly.

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