#BibleStudy Expressions of Faith. James Ch2. In Case You Still Don’t “get it.” Conclusion
Opening Statement
The spiritual needs of humanity take precedence over the political concerns of culture at large.
Background
I first read that sentence last week in a post by a long-time friend. Dr. Robert Smith is a former pastor, a gifted teacher, a Bible scholar, and a lover of fountain pens and all things Spam. His ability to explain Biblical truths in layman’s terms is a gift. I got permission to use his writing in my Timeless Truth post, “Serving the Gospel,” on 7/2/2020.
My Sunday school class is studying the book of James. The sessions are open discussions of a series of questions I provide. Often, insight from my class members humbles my thoughts on a topic.
I hope by the end of this three or four week (more if needed) series, you have an enhanced appreciation of James’s letter and a desire to address the Opening Statement in a manner you might not have considered before.
To give rightful credit to Dr. Smith, all quotes from his original “Serving the Gospel” are italicized.
Scripture quotes from James are from Eugene H. Peterson’s “The Message – The Bible in Contemporary Language.” Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson and used as allowed by the author.
As I write this in August 2020, America is experiencing unprecedented upheavals in race relations, government control, personal freedoms, and hypocritical living, among others.
- Judaism is based on performing specific rituals at specific times. It’s a works-based religion.
- The target audience of James’s letter is Jewish converts to Christianity. He ends this chapter with two examples of FAITH in action, using Old Testament characters to illustrate how works and faith are both essential.
Week 1
It’s up to us, as Christians, to be “serving the Gospel,” letting those we have contact with know about the peace, hope, and love that fills you as you follow God’s plan.
My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith.
Week 2
There’s no better way to live in this time in American history than
12-13 Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.
Week 3
Back to close this post from The Message where James uses a familiar item, a glove, to summarize this section. I modified the bold print sentence to match the title of today’s post.
You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. God-talk and God-acts, God-acts and God-talk, fit together hand in glove.
Week 4
Peterson uses “trust” in place of “faith” in Romans 10:17 where Paul writes:
17 The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.
Listen to God’s Word by reading your Bible and attending services with sermons consistently.
As your faith increases by doing this, you’ll find following James’s direction of combining faith and works to be a natural outcome.
Week 5
Even though this is the promised son, and Abraham and Sarah’s only child, Abraham is willing to do the work of sacrificing Isaac if that’s what it takes to follow God.
Abraham raises his knife to sacrifice his son…
11 Just then an angel of God called to him out of Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on that boy! Don’t touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn’t hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me.”
13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis 22:11-13
Abraham modeled how faith and works work as a team.
Today we end my thought-journey through James Chapter 2
25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.
Including Rahab in this explanation of the essential connection of faith and works was surely an inspiration from God.
- The story of the Hebrews’ entry into The Promised Land, Canaan, was part of the spine of the Jewish nation’s self-image.
- The report from the spies Rahab helps escape confirm that God is with them.
However, Rahab wasn’t
- Hebrew
And, she was
- A prostitute.
I suspect she reminded most Jews of the socially inept relative you wished would never visit, part of the family, but not by choice.
James uses this least likely example as the finishing touch to his argument of the necessity for faith and works in a Christian’s life.
Joshua son of Nun secretly sent out from Shittim two men as spies: “Go. Look over the land. Check out Jericho.” They left and arrived at the house of a harlot named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, “We’ve just learned that men arrived tonight to spy out the land. They’re from the People of Israel.”
3 The king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you to stay the night in your house. They’re spies; they’ve come to spy out the whole country.”
4-7 The woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, two men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they’d come from. At dark, when the gate was about to be shut, the men left. But I have no idea where they went. Hurry up! Chase them—you can still catch them!” (She had actually taken them up on the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax that were spread out for her on the roof.) So the men set chase down the Jordan road toward the fords. As soon as they were gone, the gate was shut.
8-11 Before the spies were down for the night, the woman came up to them on the roof and said, “I know that God has given you the land. We’re all afraid. Everyone in the country feels hopeless. We heard how God dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt, and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put under a holy curse and destroyed. We heard it and our hearts sank. We all had the wind knocked out of us. And all because of you, you and God, your God, God of the heavens above and God of the earth below.
12-13 “Now promise me by God. I showed you mercy; now show my family mercy. And give me some tangible proof, a guarantee of life for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters—everyone connected with my family. Save our souls from death!”
14 “Our lives for yours!” said the men. “But don’t tell anyone our business. When God turns this land over to us, we’ll do right by you in loyal mercy.”
15-16 She lowered them down out a window with a rope because her house was on the city wall to the outside. She told them, “Run for the hills so your pursuers won’t find you. Hide out for three days and give your pursuers time to return. Then get on your way.”
17-20 The men told her, “In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it’s his own fault—we aren’t responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it’s our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we’re no longer responsible.”
21 She said, “If that’s what you say, that’s the way it is,” and sent them off. They left and she hung the red rope out the window.
Joshua 2:1-21
Notice:
the spies go right to her house.
she risks her own life by lying to the King’s soldiers.
she explains the basis of her faith to the spies.
she connects a significant work to that faith.
By themselves
- Her faith would not save the spies
- Her works would most likely have betrayed the spies to save her family
I doubt you’ll be asked to hide spies from the king.
I know you’ll be exposed to situations that test your faith.
How will you react when your faith demands you do a work that puts you in a dangerous, unwanted, or undesirable position? A work that recognizes that
The spiritual needs of humanity take precedence over the political concerns of culture at large.
Pray about that until you know your answer is based on this!
The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.
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