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NASB | Luke 17:36 ["Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left."] |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 17:36 ["Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left."] |
Subject: WHERE are they taken? |
Bible Note: Greetings Jeff! You wrote: "Even when I totally agree with what someone states I get an argument. This is not 1 Cor 1:10" I hope you are not thinking of me my friend! I thought that we have been having a very civil discussion. :-) You also wrote: "And when James states that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only, well I believe what he wrote through inspiration before I would hear some modern day commentary." I believe that you are referring to James 1:24, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." The first clue that there is something wrong here is that this appears to be a direct contradiction to what Paul says in Romans 4. There, Paul quite clearly makes the case that Abraham was not justified by works, because if he was justified by works than salvation cannot be by faith. Now, we can simply ignore one or the other, but there is a very simple solution to our problem. The word 'justified' in James 2:24 is a word that can mean either 'to declare righteous' or 'to show to be righteous'. The verse will mean two totally different things depending upon which translation one chooses. If one takes the first translation, James 2:24 is saying that one is justfied by works and faith. If one takes the second translation, James 2:24 is saying that one is 'shown' to be righteous by one's works. The latter option is best for several reasons. 1) It is in full agreement with Paul's other statements in Scripture. 2) It fits the context of James 2 better, where James is arguing that faith is demonstrated by one's works. Check out James 2:18 for instance. James is not arguing about how one gets saved, but about the evidence of one's salvation. His opponents in James 2 were trying to argue that they could be saved and have no works at all. Now, is there any evidence that Scripture ever uses the 'shown to be righteous' definition? Yes, there is! This same verb is used of God in Rom. 3:4, "Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: 'So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.'" Does God need to be justified? Can He be justifiedd? He does not need, nor can He be justified in the sense of being saved from sin, but He certainly can be 'justified' in the sense of 'showing that He is justified'. In the case of Rom. 3:4, the verb clearly means that God is demonstrated to be true when He speaks. In the same sense, the verb is used by James to speak of one being 'shown to be justified' by the works that spring from one's salvation, not being 'saved' by works. Happy New Year my friend! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |