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NASB | James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. |
Bible Question:
Joe, I agree with what you say here. You have stated that the Law itself is not means to attaining a righteousness of our own in addition to or apart from Christ's work on the cross. I agree 100 percent. So why do you and I cross ways? Confused, Bill Mc |
Bible Answer: Bill: Perhaps we can get to the core of the disagreement by looking at the answer to these two questions: What is the ultimate reason for God saving us? In other words, was God's highest motive for saving us just to get us to heaven and bless us (which is certainly a part of it), or is there a "bigger picture"? Secondly, since we agree that works are not the ground of our salvation, but rather faith in Christ's completed work on the cross, what is the purpose and place of works in the Christian's life? Is discipleship a nice "extra" that makes us more fulfilled, or is it something that is an essential trait of all whom God saves? I hold that God's highest passion is to glorify Himself, since he is the epitome of all that is holy and just and morally upright. Simply put, you can't get better than God, and He knows it. Therefore, if he honors what is most perfect, He must have the place of highest honor. Even our salvation, while it is a blessing to us, has the ultimate purpose of manifesting God's mercy and love, just as the damnation of the unregenerate demonstrates God's justice. The atonement of Christ demonstrates both. Therefore, I am not the center of God's creation; He is. As far as works go, I hold that good works ALWAYS accompany the transforming presence of Christ in those who have true faith. The Bible makes clear that there are those who claim to be Christian, but really aren't of us at all. God-honoring traits and actions are the work of God in the lives of every believer to demonstrate that we truly are his. In my view, that is the only way we can reconcile Ephesians 2 and James 2. Works are important, and God will require them and motivate and enable believers to accomplish them, not to GAIN nor to MAINTAIN salvation, but to make evident to men our salvation and again, to be an instrument for the glorification of Himself. That is why, as a believer, I delight in the moral commandments of God found in the Law. I know that these commands are what God wants His children to do, and law still serves the purpose of showing how we fall short in our daily lives and reminds us of how glorious the gospel truly is. It is not a means to salvation, but it isn't to be tossed out the window in its entirety as completely irrelevant in the life of the believer. This is the division between law and gospel we find in the entire Bible. Law (in the general sense) is the righteous requirements of a holy God upon his creation. Of course, we have and always will fall short of those requirements. Gospel is the proclamation of God's grace and mercy extended to us who fall short of fulfilling God's demand of absolute holy conduct, through the work of Christ Jesus, who did indeed fulfill the Law in his sinless life on earth. --Joe! |