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NASB | Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking, has found? [Has he obtained a favored standing?] |
Bible Question: But isn't the point of our faith in Jesus that we are saved through what he did on the cross? And if so, our faith must have value apart from works or else why would we be saved only through faith? I guess I don't understand what issue James was referring to. I mean was he trying to warn believers that there faith is dead if they don't quit there jobs and move to Africa to start a mission? |
Bible Answer: The best way I can describe the connection is not by demeaning faith, but rather by qualifying what kind of faith we are talking about. Take, for example, the parable of the seeds in Matt 13. All of these are examples of a "type" of faith, but only one was truly redeeming faith. What, then, was the differing characteristic of the redeeming faith, it produced fruit (i.e. work). This is James' point. Truly redeeming faith is ALWAYS a faith that produces work. Even the Eph. 2 verse you quoted is followed up by a statement of the purpose of that faith: "to do good works." |