Sermon and Worship Resources

James 2:14-26 · Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." 19 Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

The Temptation to Talk Transformation

James 2:14-26

Sermon
by Eric Ritz

Dr. Charles Allen, the now retired United Methodist preacher from Houston, Texas, shared, tongue in cheek, a survey he once made in his church:

10% of the members cannot be found

20% -- never attend

25% -- never pray

35% -- never read the Bible

40% -- never give financially to the church

70% -- never attend Sunday Evening Service

75% -- never assume any church task

85% -- never invite anyone to church

95% -- never win a soul to Jesus

100% -- expect to go to Heaven!

It reminds me of the old black spiritual that goes, "Everybody talkin'' about ''Heaven'' ain''t necessarily goin''." Talking about being transformed by Christ and looking like a transformed person are two different realities. You know electricity when you touch it. It has power and a charge. If only that could be said for modern Christians.

Now, you can see why James included these twelve verses in his instruction manual on the relationship between faith and works. James writes to share that an authentic faith confession results in readily observable commitments.

Dr. William Barclay believes that the primary job of James'' writings in this Epistle was not to write new truths, but to awaken Christians to the truths they already knew--but had forgotten or chosen NOT to follow.

The followers of Jesus had allowed their faith expression to become idle. They were no longer an inspiration, providing illumination for others to see the Christ live in them. They had heard the great teachers and prophets of the Old Testament explain the relationship between doctrine and its application to everyday life and behavior, but they''d gotten lazy.

James knew what true faith was, but his emphasis was on what true faith does. Even Martin Luther, who struggled with the Book of James for a long time because he thought it supported a work righteousness salvation, wrote, "Good works do not make a good man--but a good man does good works." James states the same thing in verse 26--"Faith without works is dead."

Before I go much further in this sermon, there is one major side road I must go down. There is no major difference here between Paul''s teaching found in his various writings and the teaching of James found in our lesson today. We are not talking about a faith vs. works controversy. As the writers of the Bible study, Mastering the Basics, state in their study of James: "The key issue for Paul is how one gains right standing before God--while for James, the issue is how one demonstrates to others the CLAIM to have such right standing. Paul''s focus is inward. It centers on a person''s relationship with God. In contrast--James'' focus is outward. It centers on relationships with other people. Paul writes about how one begins the Christian life--while James writes about how one lives the Christian life. The issue for James is sanctification." (1) You see, James is not talking about works as a means to salvation, but as a proof of faith. Paul''s perspective is the root of our salvation, while James'' perspective is the fruit of our salvation. With that out of the way--let''s dig in.

First, James is teaching us that real faith is involved in the real world--it is not invisible.

He gives us an example of the wrong attitude in verses 15-16 when he writes, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ''Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,'' but does nothing about his physical needs--what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself--if not accompanied by action--is dead or idle."

James would agree with this statement written in the late 1970''s by an anonymous Christian:

I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger. Thank you.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar and prayed for my release.

I was naked and in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless and you left me alone to pray.

You seem so holy, so close to God.

But I''m still hungry and lonely and cold.

Yes, James urges Christians to pray, but Christians pray in order to immerse themselves in the presence of God--so they then can engage themselves in the purposes of God. Remember, in Chapter 1:26-27, James has already hinted as to what real religion is made of. Now he reminds us what it is to live it out.

Second, our faith never exists in isolation--it is incarnational.

Our faith commitment to Jesus Christ, while deeply personal, is never private. G.K. Chesterton was absolutely correct when he said, "A man can no more possess a private religion than he can possess a private sun, moon or stars."

Every time we pray the Lord''s Prayer, we declare--give us this day OUR daily bread-- not give me this day MY daily bread. We are reminded that our "bread" must never result from the deprivation of any other human being on the face of the earth. We are reminded that we are part of a larger community of faith and humanity.

You cannot pray the Lord''s Prayer

In first person "I"

You cannot say the Lord''s Prayer

And even once say "MY"

Nor can you pray the Lord''s Prayer

And not pray for another.

For as you ask for "daily bread"

You must include your brother.

Yes, others are included

In each and every plea;

From the beginning to the end of it,

It doesn''t once say, "ME."

Here at [name of church], we do our best NEVER to allow anyone in our church fellowship to go hungry! [You might offer examples of your congregation''s ministries to the hungry.]

Genuine faith is never indifferent, but always looking for a place to be involved. We put our love into action! As Dwight Moody once said, "We put the gospel message into shoe leather or boots!"

Third, belief is confirmed by behavior.

In verses 18-20, James says, "Yes, you believe--but even the Demons believe." What are the results of your beliefs? There is a BIG difference in believing there is a God--and placing faith and trust IN God. You see Demons can recite scriptures and be awestruck, but Demons are not saved. There is no partnership or relationship between their godly beliefs and their behavior. They know ABOUT being transformed, but they are not transformed.

As the evangelist, Luis Palau, writes, "Just reading the Bible doesn''t mean you are a Christian. When Karl Marx was seventeen-years-old, he wrote a fantastic explanation of part of John''s Gospel. Great theologians agree with much of what he said, but Karl Marx eventually rejected the Bible''s authority and during his adult life, called himself an atheist, a communist--anything but a Christian.

"And Nikita Khrushchev, the former premier of the USSR, read the Bible when he was a boy. Yet later, he made it his ambition to bury the church in the Soviet Union by 1965. Instead, he is buried and the Russian Church continues to grow!

"Read the Bible all you can . . . Since it is God''s Word, we can trust it completely. But remember, just reading the Bible won''t make you a Christian." (2)

It is when we put our faith into practice that we show exactly what kind of faith it is. Is it saving faith or a self-centered faith? Since we believe in God, we must watch our tongues and help the poor.

Anthony DeMello, whose inspirational stories have been read by millions, has written this incisive first-person story:

On the street, I saw a small girl, cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope for a decent meal. I became ANGRY and said to God, "Why did you PERMIT this?" For a while, God said nothing. That night, He replied quite suddenly, "I certainly DID something about it. I made YOU!"

This is exactly what James is sharing in this lesson. In verses 20-26, James demonstrates how ridiculous it would have been for Abraham and Rahab to have faith--but not act upon that faith.

A Salvation Army preacher was greeting parishioners at the door of his meeting house on Easter Sunday. He said to one man, "I want you in the army of the Lord!" "I am in the army of the Lord," came the reply. "Then why do I only see you at Christmas and Easter?" With a twinkle in his eye, the man said, "Because I am in the secret service!" (3)

James knew the Christian faith was not a call to be in the secret service but to be in the everyday world of God''s service. He had heard his half-brother, Jesus, challenging the people of faith to be salt, light and leaven. The world needs salty Christians--we already have enough faulty ones!

Bishop Arthur J. Moore tells of a young man who was converted in a revival meeting in the South. Soon thereafter, he left for a period of three months to work in a lumber camp, whose moral reputation left much to be desired. His home church offered prayers regularly for his spiritual safety in that environment. On his return, they inquired as to how he had been treated in that rough situation. The newly made Christian replied that he had gotten along fine; they treated him well. "They never found out about my conversion." (4)

What a difference from what one journalist wrote to the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, about Christians and the church: "They love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If they have something, they give freely to the man who has nothing; if they see a stranger, they take him home, and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don''t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers instead, through the Spirit, in God."

Thank God they let people know about their conversion experience. Thank God they were not part of the secret service.

Finally, faith and works are interwoven together, like two sides of a coin.

The famous Methodist Missionary, E. Stanley Jones, once wrote, "An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body, and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost and the other is a corpse."

I hold in my hand a quarter. Imagine if it were imprinted only on one side. It would be worthless--a counterfeit. James is saying the same thing about a faith that produces no works.

I close today with a clipping from one of my favorite folk theologians--Erma Bombeck. She writes about a group of people who do more than talk--they put their talk into actions. It is titled, "The Volunteer."

I had a dream the other night that every volunteer in this land had set sail for another country. I stood smiling on the pier, shouting, "good-bye, phone committees. Good-bye disease of mouth. No more getting out the vote. No more playground duty, bake sales and three-hour meetings."

As the boat got smaller, I reflected: "Serves them right, that bunch of ''yes'' people. All they had to do was to put their tongues firmly against the roofs of their mouths and make an ''O'' sound--no. It would certainly have spared them a lot of grief. O well, who needs them?"

The hospital was quiet as I passed it. The reception desk was vacant. Rooms were devoid of books, flowers and voices. The children''s wing held no clowns, no laughter.

The home for the aged was like a tomb. The blind listened for a voice that never came. The infirm were imprisoned in wheelchairs that never moved. Food grew cold on trays that would never reach the hungry.

The social agencies had closed their doors--unable to implement their programs of scouting, recreation, drug control; unable to help the retarded, crippled, lonely and abandoned. Health agencies had signs in their windows: "Cures for cancer, birth defects, multiple sclerosis, heart diseases, etc., have been canceled because of lack of interest."

The schools were strangely quiet, with no field trips and no volunteer classroom aides. Symphony Hall and the museums that had been built and stocked by volunteers were dark and would remain that way.

The flowers on church altars withered and died. Children in day nurseries lifted their arms, but there was no one to hold them in love. Alcoholics cried out in despair, but no one answered. The poor had no recourse for health care or legal aid.

I fought in my sleep to regain a glimpse of the ship of volunteers just one more time. It was to be my last glimpse of a decent civilization. (5)

Erma is right. So is James! This is an old truth--we just need to hear it many times! We can talk the talk but we also need to walk the walk. May we always be "volunteers for Jesus," and may the church always be the real glimpse of a Godly people.

Amen and Amen

Dynamic Preaching, The Ritz Collection, by Eric Ritz

Overview and Insights · Three Themes Explained (2:1–5:18)

Overview: Having twice, and briefly, covered the three subjects of trials and temptations, wisdom in our speech, and riches and poverty, Paul now expands on these subjects throughout the rest of the letter: 2:1–5:18.

2:1–26 · Riches and Poverty
3:1–4:17 · Wisdom through Actions not Words
5:1–20 · Trials and Temptations

James condemns the favoritism some believers are showing toward the rich while discriminating against the poor (2:1–4). He condemns favoritism because many who are rich in faith and who love the Lord come from the lower classes (2:5). These believers should not be despised or defrauded by the wealthy, the very ones who overpower them in court and slander the name of Christ (2:6–7). In addition, the law condemns favoritism, and those who show favoritism are actually lawbreakers (…

The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016

James 2:14-26 · Faith and Deeds

Commentary · True Christian Faith seen In Its Works

James has firmly upheld the doing of the word as absolutely essential to valid religion. He has even warned that what we do will be taken into account in the judgment (2:12–13). How, one might ask, does all this square with the crucial role given to faith throughout the New Testament (and by James himself; see 1:6–8)? Is James replacing faith with works? In this passage he answers that question with a decisive no by showing that true Christian faith necessarily and of its very nature produces those works pleasing to God.

In a teaching style James frequently uses, he broaches the issue with a question, or, to be more precise, two questions (2:14). In the Greek, it is clear that the assumed answer to these questions is no—this faith, the faith that certain people claim to have but that is without deeds, cannot save them from the judgment of God. The illustration in verses 15–16 drives home this point. What good have we done the fellow Christian who lacks the essentials of life if we simply dismiss him or her with words? Not that words are unimportant or that there will not be occasions when words are all we can offer. But the real test of our words is actions that back them up. Isaiah exhorted his contemporaries to put meaning into their religious rituals by sharing bread with the hungry and covering the naked (58:7–9), and Jesus promised the kingdom to those who feed and clothe “the least of these” (Matt. 25:31–46). Thus, James draws the conclusion (2:17): faith by itself is “dead”—not just in the sense that it is not doing what it should but that it is not even really what it claims to be.

In the ancient world, writers often used a sort of argumentative style to carry along their discussion. Paul uses it frequently in Romans, and James uses it here. He has an imaginary opponent object, “You have faith; I have deeds” (2:18a). The force of this objection has been understood in a great number of ways, but the simplest interpretation is to assume that the objector is arguing for the principle “different people, different gifts”: Why cannot one believer be especially gifted with faith while another has the ability to perform good deeds? James answers this objection with a challenge (2:18b–19, author’s translation): “Give me evidence, apart from deeds, that you have faith. You can’t do it, can you? But I can point to my deeds as the clear evidence of the reality of my faith. Why, faith without deeds is no better than the intellectual ‘faith’ of demons; they have a perfectly correct ‘theology’ but do not have the commitment to what they believe—their faith has affected their minds, but not their wills. So a faith without deeds is also a less than Christian faith, a bogus faith.”

This “foolish person” (2:20), the imaginary objector James uses to make his point, is now given evidence from the Old Testament that faith must be accompanied by works to be considered valid before God. James cites two very different people to make his point: Abraham, the honored father of the Jewish people, and Rahab, the immoral pagan. Abraham, James claims, illustrates the intimate relationship of faith and works. In going so far as to offer his son Isaac in obedience to the Lord (Genesis 22), Abraham showed that his faith was deep and strong (see also Heb. 11:17–19). His faith and his actions “were working together” in close partnership (2:22). Indeed, it was the exercise of his faith through works that brought his faith to full maturity. But James goes even further than this. It was on the basis of his works that Abraham was “considered righteous,” or “justified” (the two English words translate the same Greek root; 2:21). And although God declared Abraham righteous by faith (2:23; cf. Gen. 15:6), this pronouncement was itself brought to its fullness of meaning (“made complete”) when his works completed his faith.

These statements of James about being justified by works present a problem to the person who is aware that Paul claimed that a person “is justified by faith apart from observing the law [or “works of the law”]” (Rom. 3:28). Indeed, Paul even quotes the same passage that James has cited (Gen. 15:6) in favor of his point of view. To be sure, the problems being dealt with are quite different—Paul is attacking people who think that salvation is tied to doing the Jewish law; James addresses people who think that salvation brings no responsibility. But Paul’s “works of the law” is simply a subset of James’s “works,” and so a formal contradiction remains. To put it simply, Paul says, “justified by faith alone”; James says, “justified by faith plus works.” What is vital, then, is to see that Paul and James are using the key word “justify” with different meanings. When Paul uses the word “justify,” he designates the initial acceptance of the sinner before God—the solely gracious act whereby God, the judge of all the world, considers us “right” before him because of our identification with Christ (see Rom. 4:5). James, on the other hand, uses “justify,” as was typical in Judaism, of the ultimate verdict of acquittal rendered over our lives. Jesus used the term in this way when he said, “By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). While Paul, then, asserts that a person is initially declared righteous only through faith, James insists that our ultimate acquittal in the judgment depends on the evidence of true faith—works. And, as James makes clear, true faith will, by its very nature, produce those works that will acquit us at the judgment. A careful theological balance is therefore needed: Paul insists that faith and works are different things and must be kept separate when we think about our standing before God; but James likewise insists that faith and works are inseparable.

In verse 24, James summarizes his position for his readers. Again, it is important to see that James’s “faith alone” is far from being genuine Christian faith: this “faith alone” is mere talk without action (2:15–16) or head knowledge without heart knowledge (2:19). This is not Christian faith. And with this Paul would have had no argument; he also stressed that it is faith “expressing itself through love” that counts (Gal. 5:6).

James’s second Old Testament example is set forth in close parallelism to the first (2:25; cf. 2:21). Rahab too was “considered righteous” because of her actions. On the basis of reports about the power of the Lord, she committed the fate of herself and her family to him by helping the Israelite spies (Joshua 2). In doing this, she manifested the reality of her faith (see Heb. 11:31). The main point of the paragraph is reiterated in its concluding verse: just as a body without the invigorating spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead—barren and useless. Rather ironically, in light of his criticisms of James, Martin Luther in his preface to Romans describes this dynamic nature of Christian faith as well as anyone: “O it is a living, busy, active mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good things incessantly.”

The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Prejudice and the Poor

In chapter 2 James expands upon the theme of worldliness and the care of widows. Worldliness shows up not only as personal ambition but also in a church’s paying regard to someone’s worldly power and position rather than dealing only on the basis of that person’s spiritual position in Christ. This issue, in turn, leads to the statement of the need for generosity and to a warning against a complacent orthodoxy that stops short of gospel obedience (2:14–26).

2:1 My brothers recognizes the readers’ status as church members. Don’t show favoritism: Despite the fact that God shows no partiality (Deut. 10:17; Gal. 2:6), human beings who serve under his authority and supposedly copy his character must be continually warned against being partial (e.g., Deut. 1:17; Lev. 19:15; Ps. 82:2; Prov. 6:35; 18:5). A glance at who is elected to office in the church and who sits on denominational committees would quickly indicate that despite the very negative view Jesus took of wealth (e.g., Mark 10), James’ reproof is still relevant today. The church ought to show no partiality, no concern about the outward beauty, wealth, or power of a person.

This is demanded of us as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. The only basis of the church is faith in a single Lord. Belief and commitment save rich and poor alike, and all pledge allegiance to a Lord whose life and teaching ignored, if not despised, worldly position. Furthermore, this Lord is living, exalted, glorious; he will return to manifest his glory and judge the world. Partiality is a violation of his character and an insult to him; it is therefore a serious sin.

2:2–4 Having stated his topic, James gives an example based on realistic (even if hypothetical) events in the church. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes: The words describe a person walking in, neatly dressed in clean (lit., “shining”) clothes. The gold ring on his finger announces his wealth. One can feel the uneasy deference of the group already present. Next, a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. He owns only one set of clothes, so they are filthy rags. Used to being rejected, he slinks in the door only to feel those assembled draw back from him as he expected; the trashy state of his clothes declares him to be human trash, of no value in worldly terms.

The church responds to the economic status of the rich man: Here’s a good seat for you. He eases himself into the most comfortable chair, to the warm smiles of all present. The poor man, however, receives only a cold You stand there, or Sit on the floor by my feet. The room is crowded; let him reverence his betters by standing, or even sitting at their feet. Most of those present, of course, try not to even notice him.

What makes this treatment even worse is that the two parties pictured are at a judicial gathering, a church court assembled to try a dispute between them. The details of differing clothes and standing and sitting can be paralleled in Jewish judicial practice. First Corinthians 6:1–11 mentions that such assemblies, which would have legal authority since at this time the church was viewed as a sect of Judaism and Jewish synagogues, had authority to set up their own courts (beth-din) and impose fines or beatings. Certainly in other situations (e.g., worship), posture in church meetings would be uniform (all would sit or stand) and a person’s role would be more carefully prescribed. But these two Christians have a dispute, and one thing is clear to the church from the start: the wealthy man must not be offended.

James condemns this behavior on two grounds. First, you have discriminated among yourselves. Christ had made them all one: In him there is neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female; but all are one, one new person in Christ (Gal. 3:28). They, however, are conveniently ignoring this fact and distinguishing on the basis of wealth and status in the world, denying the practical effect of Christ’s work.

Second, they have become judges with evil thoughts. A host of Old Testament passages warns against judicial prejudice, for example: “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly” (Lev. 19:15). If, as the Old Testament claims, God is an impartial judge and if they claim to judge according to his standards, how dare they act unjustly, prejudicing their decision in favor of the rich man because they covet his wealth and power?

While looking at the specific example James gives, however, one must not ignore the wider application. Would he be any happier if the poor person were cold-shouldered in a worship meeting? Would the poor person be any less wronged if the preferential treatment were given the rich in the choice for office in the church? Or would the discrimination be any less glaring if the pastoral staff listened carefully to “prime donors” but brushed aside the suggestions of the poor? As specific as the example is, it functions as a general condemnation of discriminatory behavior.

2:5 James begins his logical attack on the practice (2:5–7) with a plea, Listen, my dear brothers, calling to their attention that he is referring to something they already know: Has not God chosen those who are poor? James uses the familiar election terminology of Israel (Deut. 4:37; 7:7) and the church (Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:9), but he applies it specifically to the poor. Most of the members of the early church were poor (“few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing” [1 Cor. 1:26]), and the Jerusalem church was especially poor (2 Cor. 8:9); but James is saying more than this. God particularly elected those who are poor in the eyes of the world (for it is only with respect to the world’s values that they are poor) to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him. On the one hand, this makes the poor virtually identical to the one who endures in 1:12, for both receive what God promised those who love him. On the other hand, James is applying the teaching of Jesus, for it was Jesus who said he came particularly “to preach good news [or the gospel] to the poor” (Luke 4:18) and who further said, “Blessed are you who are poor; for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). Jesus selected the poor as the special recipients of his kingdom; James picks up this idea adding those who love him to limit the promise to the poor who respond to the good news. If there are any favorites in God’s eyes, they are the poor, for God has a very different way of viewing them than the world has. The world sees them as poor, unimportant, but God sees them as rich (in faith) and heirs of the Kingdom, a reversal of perspective.

2:6–7 The church lacks God’s perspective: You have insulted the poor. God condemns the same crime in the Old Testament (e.g., Prov. 14:21; cf. Sirach 10:22). The church that shames the poor in any way (e.g., 1 Cor. 11:22) has stepped outside of God’s will and no longer acts on behalf of God.

The church, however, has shown preference for the rich class, who are its oppressors. First, it is the rich who are exploiting you. The idea of the wealthy and powerful exploiting the poor and weak is deeply rooted in the Old Testament (Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Ezek. 18:7; Amos 4:1; 8:4; Mal. 3:5). The poor person needed a loan and the rich gave it to him—for a price (despite the fact that taking interest, i.e., profiting from another’s need, was forbidden, e.g., Exod. 22:25–26). If there was a dispute, the rich man hired the best lawyer. They set up society so that the poor got poorer, and the rich richer.

Second, they are dragging you into court. When the poor could not repay a loan, the rich dragged them into court to foreclose. Or they may have brought charges of libel against those who complained, or perhaps they even accused the Christians of disturbing the peace and order of the community. In all these ways, Christians experienced some persecution that was simply oppression of all poor by the rich, but sometimes they were singled out because their religion made them especially vulnerable—what judge felt bad about being especially hard on the followers of the despised Galilean?

Third, the rich are … the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong. Now James adds a specifically religious charge. The name of Jesus was given to Christians, or (more literally) called over them at baptism. They now belong to him, and he was their Lord. But the rich were speaking evil of this name, either by making fun of Jesus or by insulting his followers. It is not clear whether they were doing this in court as part of their oppression or whether they were insulting Christ in the synagogues and markets. Neither action would have been righteous.

The church, however, had also chosen to insult the poor (whom God honors), and by the same action it had chosen to favor the rich and thus to identify with the oppressing class. It is often the case that an oppressed group takes on the characteristics of its oppressors; when this happens to the church, it is not just pathetically ironic but is a moral reversal, for the people who name the name of Christ are now acting like the people who blaspheme the name of Christ.

2:8–9 James now proceeds to the biblical argument: If you really keep the royal (i.e., of the kingdom) law … you are doing right. The kingdom in this context (cf. 2:5) is the kingdom of God. While the full glory of this kingdom is still future, the Christian has already entered it and stands under its authority. The law of the kingdom is the Old Testament as interpreted and edited by Jesus, as in Matthew 5–6. To say that one is doing right when he or she obeys Jesus’ law is a massive understatement: Jesus himself presents his teaching as a matter of life and death (Matt. 7:13–27).

The law is found in Scripture, for Jesus generally interpreted the Old Testament rather than speaking without any reference to previous revelation. The specific command that James cites, Love your neighbor as yourself, is a favorite of both Jesus (he cites Lev. 19:18 six times in the synoptic Gospels) and the church (Rom. 13:19; Gal. 5:14). It was frequently seen as summing up the law, but James’ reason for citing it may be in Proverbs 14:21: “He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy (poor).” The poor person is, according to scripture, the neighbor they should love. But these Christians are showing favoritism; they are discriminating against the poor, and this is to break this commandment, for it is all connected, as the apocryphal Jewish Testament of Issachar states (in 5:2), “Love the Lord and your neighbor and have compassion on the poor and feeble.”

Therefore they sin. Their actions are not unfortunate or regrettable or something they should not have done, but simply sin. James is not afraid to use a stark, piercing word to underline the situation, for beating around the bush does not lead to repentance. They are convicted by the law as lawbreakers: In this phrase one has a picture of God’s last judgment. The person in the dock sees not James, but the personified Law itself, stand up, point its accusing finger, and state, “That person is a transgressor.” Such a charge is serious, for Jewish Christians knew that to knowingly transgress the law invited God’s judgment upon them.

2:10 The reason behind this conclusion is a truism: Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. The statement does not mean that it is just as bad no matter which commandment one breaks (e.g., stealing a shoe is as bad as murder) but rather that if one breaks a law one demonstrates an underlying attitude toward the lawgiver and thus is simply a criminal. Deuteronomy 27:26 puts it this way, “Cursed is the [one] who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” The particular offense may have been more or less serious, but the person stands under a curse whichever commandment he or she has broken. James’ argument is important in that he is showing that the rebellion against God is more important than the specific act and that no deliberate transgression of God’s teachings is unimportant.

2:11 James illustrates his point using two well-known laws (Exod. 20:13–14; Deut. 5:17–18). For he, that is, God, gave both laws. Thus though a Mafia hit man, for example, may pride himself on his marital fidelity while he murders, this does not excuse him in any way before God. He is still simply a lawbreaker.

The choice of the two laws may also be significant. Although it is less likely that adultery is referring to their adultery with the world (wealth) in 4:4, the reversed order and the fact that in biblical and Jewish tradition murder was often connected to the failure to love one’s neighbor or care for the poor may be a sign that their discrimination against the poor brings them under this very charge. If you do … commit murder may not be entirely hypothetical in James’ mind.

2:12 James’ conclusion sums up his biblical argument. In all one’s actions one should keep the final judgment in mind. The word pair speak and act covers all human behavior (cf. Acts 1:1; 7:22; 1 John 3:18). And both speech and action appear in his example (2:2–4). The command to look at all behavior in the light of judgment fits the situation excellently.

The standard of judgment is the law gives freedom, or the law of liberty. The idea has already been mentioned in 1:25, where obedience to this perfect law brings blessing. It is the same as the law of the kingdom of 2:8, namely, the Old Testament as interpreted by Jesus, which will be the standard of judgment (cf. Matt. 7:15–23; Luke 6:43–45). James does not think of this as a forbidding concept, for this law is freeing in that it points away from the bondage of sin and shows the way of life.

2:13 To back up this argument from scripture (i.e., because) and to begin to shift the focus to the next section, James adds a proverbial saying: judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. God is merciful, as any reader of the Old Testament should know. Exodus 34:5–6 states that when God revealed to Moses his nature and pronounced his name he described himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (cf. Deut. 4:31; Ps. 103:8–14, which connects this to his judging “in favor of the oppressed”). If this is God’s personal standard of righteousness, then it follows that his true followers should copy him. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8, cf. Hos. 4:1; 6:6; 12:6; Prov. 14:21; Dan. 4:27). Or again, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’ ” (Zech. 7:9). Not to show mercy is to step outside of God’s covenant and to invite God in return to judge by the same strict standard.

This teaching was made even more explicit in the intertestamental and rabbinic periods. Sirach states, “Does [a person] have no mercy toward a man like himself and yet pray for his own sins?” (Sirach 28:4; cf. 27:30–28:7; Tobit 4:9–11; Testament of Zebulun 8:8), and “Rabbi Barabbi said, ‘To him who is merciful to the created, Heaven is merciful, but to him who is unmerciful to the created, Heaven is also unmerciful’ ” (b. Shabbath 151b).

Jesus taught, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7). This is underlined in his teaching on forgiveness (Matt. 6:14–15), his response to the Pharisees (Matt. 12:7, quoting Hos. 6:6), his parable on forgiveness (Matt. 18:21–35), and his parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31–46). Therefore it is the unified witness of the Gospels that Jesus followed standard Jewish teaching and taught that God would show mercy only to those obeying him and doing likewise.

James’ use of this saying shows that he had learned Jesus’ tradition carefully, for it becomes his clinching argument. Even if the logical and biblical arguments have not convinced the reader that justice and love demand that the poor be treated honorably, then the Christian must still honor the poor person out of mercy and the fear of God’s judgment.

Furthermore, mercy triumphs over judgment! This is the positive side of the proverb. It is—as the parables of Jesus cited above show—mercy, that is, a person’s faithful submission and obedience to God, that conquers judgment. This cuts two ways, for the mercy will destroy both one’s judging of others and God’s judgment of oneself.

Significant in the choice of words here is the fact that mercy in scripture is not simply charitable evaluation of others but caring for the poor, that is, charity. This not only reflects the previous section of honoring the poor but asks why the Christians were not themselves caring for the poor.

James now focuses on charity and its relevance to faith within the overall topic of the care and appreciation of the poor. The structure is parallel to 2:1–13: in each section James opens with a topic verse, then has an example, a logical argument, and a two-part biblical argument.

2:14 My brothers indicates a new departure in the argument. What good is it … if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? The question is purely rhetorical. The form of the question implies James’ expectation of a negative answer: No good at all!

The situation is that of saying one has faith but lacking deeds. In this passage, faith has a special meaning for James, that is, orthodox belief conventionally expressed (like “religion” in 1:26). This person can pass the test of orthodoxy, asserting belief in Jesus as Savior. The problem is that his or her lifestyle is identical to that of Jewish (or pagan) neighbors (except for the form of worship): there is no evident self-giving, no detachment from and sharing of wealth. James’ response is, What good is it?

Again James asks, Can such faith save him? The form of this second question also implies the negative answer. There is no salvation for the person who stops short of discipleship. If faith is only intellectual, only expressed in religious practices, it will not save. The Old Testament also condemns piety without action, as do John the Baptist (Luke 3:7–14), Jesus (Matt. 7:15–27), and Paul (Rom. 1:5; 2:6–8; 6:17–18; Gal. 6:4–6). James follows the rest of scripture: faith without actions (discipleship) will never save.

2:15 James clarifies his point with an example: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. James does not pick a hard situation. This is not a case of someone outside the Christian faith (so there can be no “Do you expect us to feed the whole world?” response), nor is this a case of a need in a distant church (like Paul’s collection for Jerusalem). This is someone in the community (a brother or sister) who clearly has a need, for the person needs clothes (either lacking the outer garment that was worn in public places and kept one warm at night or else having clothes in such a ragged condition that they could keep no one warm) and does not have daily food. The example, while hypothetical (suppose) is both demanding and realistic, for in a marginal society like that in the New Testament it was not unusual for people to lack basic necessities. In fact, in the 40s and 50s famine and starvation conditions hit Judea repeatedly.

2:16 If one of you says to him: This indicates the response of a member of the church: The member of the church who is impoverished has come to another member, and that Christian is turning the brother or sister down.

The words are very pious: I wish you well is a standard farewell in the Jewish church; keep warm and well fed shows that the material needs of the person have been recognized—the expression is probably a prayer. But if you do nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? James assumes that the Christian could do more than pray; he or she owns two garments and more than enough food for the day. Simple obedience to the gospel teaching on sharing could supply the need, but the resort to prayer salved the conscience and covered up the fact that the cupboard and closet were shut. Such prayers are useless.

2:17 In the same way, faith: The example was a specific example of orthodox language and intellectual belief without gospel obedience. The same is true for intellectual belief in general; if it remains a pious conviction (by itself) and fails to result in obedience to the commands of Christ (not accompanied by action), it is totally unprofitable (dead). For Paul it was only “faith expressing itself through love” that mattered (Gal. 5:6), rather than religious ritual works. For James it is faith that leads to action that saves. Action (obedience to Christ) is no more an “added extra” or a higher optional level of sanctification than breath is an “added extra” to a body (cf. 1:26; 2:14; 2:20; and 2:26).

2:18 Having given the example, James proceeds to argue his case, employing the lively style of imaginative dialogue, which was as popular with preachers of all types then as it is today.

But someone will say means that just as Paul anticipates an objection in 1 Corinthians 15:35 or Romans 9:19 so James anticipates one here. The objection is: You have faith; I have deeds, in other words, the claim that faith and action are different gifts. Did not Paul write about varieties of gifts but the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4–10)? Faith is a gift and so is charity (Rom. 12:8). Is there any reason for one to suspect that faith and action would come together in the same person any more than healing and tongues or prophecy and evangelism?

James answers with a demand that is common to this kind of speech: Show me [or “prove to me”] your faith without deeds. A better translation would be “Prove your faith without action.” This demand is impossible to meet. Like a horse that cannot be seen, smelled, touched, or ridden, that eats invisible grass and leaves no mark on the ground, such faith is indemonstrable and suspect. Faith is seen in lifestyle, or as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:2, “If I had all … faith but had not love, I am nothing.”

On the other hand, I will show you my faith by what I do. Though a claim to faith without resultant life is suspect, so conversely Christian action demands one posit a motivation behind it. No one lives like Jesus without faith in Jesus. The sermon preached by a life of action does not need to buttonhole people to get a hearing; instead, people hearing the unwritten sermon of action request an explanation in terms of the faith that motivates it.

2:19 James has not yet put to rest the specter of dead orthodoxy, so he turns to the assertion of belief itself and accepts it at face value. You believe that there is one God. Good! This is the most basic teaching of Judaism and Christianity, being the first part of the Shema. This confession of faith was recited two times a day by every Pharisaic Jew, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4–5; the fullest form of the Shema included Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13–21; Num. 15:37–41). Such a confession of faith was a starting place for Christians as well, for Jesus had referred to it as the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28–34). Paul would assert “there is only one God” (Rom. 3:30). Hermas would later write that the most basic tenet of Christianity is “First of all, believe that God is one” (Mandate 1). So although Christians believe more than this, this belief is the starting point.

But James’ praise is partly tongue-in-cheek: Even the demons believe that—and shudder. The orthodoxy of the demons was well known not only in Judaism but also in the New Testament, where the demons frequently give fuller confessions of Christ than the apostles (Mark 1:24; 5:7; Acts 16:17; 19:15). Their problem is that their response to the name of God (the reminder of their orthodox knowledge) is to shudder, because they are in rebellion against that God. All their orthodox knowledge simply makes them tremble, for their “faith” does not lead to obedient action. Likewise, those who can only claim an orthodox confession of faith are doing no better than Satan if they have not committed themselves to lives of obedience.

2:20 James has completed his theological argument but will add concrete scriptural illustrations. Before citing these passages he adds (as was common in the homiletic style of the day): You foolish man. The address seems strong—hardly polite—and it is, as the term fool indicates, not primarily an intellectual error, but a moral error. Yet the strong language was normal for that day: One need only cite Jesus (Matt. 23:17; Luke 24:25) or Paul (1 Cor. 15:36; Gal. 3:1) to be able to guess accurately that Jewish teachers of all types and Greek teachers as well used similar language.

The content of the appeal is almost equally strong: Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? This suggests that it is the person’s willful ignorance that is demanding more proof and may make it impossible to accept the proof. A searching mind receives evidence quickly, but the willfully ignorant can never be shown enough evidence. Yet James makes the charitable assumption and continues the discussion.

2:21 The first character discussed is our ancestor Abraham. A gentile Christian could have written this expression, thinking of the church as the New Israel (Rom. 4; Gal. 2:7, 29), but it is more likely the unconscious reference of a Jewish Christian. Yet, in a sense, Abraham is the father of all the faithful, and the reference fits all Christians.

Abraham was considered righteous. With this translation the NIV correctly differentiates James’ terminology from that of Paul. James uses the standard meaning of this term, “declared right by God” or “considered righteous by God”, whereas Paul uses the same language in a unique way (“make [a sinner] right”). James’ meaning clearly flows from the Old Testament passage which lies behind his conclusion, Genesis 22:12, in which God says, “Now I know that you fear God,” the “now I know” being the declaration of righteousness. (This difference in meaning, of course, is another indication that James had not had contact with Paul’s work.)

The basis of the declaration was actions: It was for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. Abraham’s faith in God was real because it governed Abraham’s life. The word what he did is plural, because in selecting the offering of Isaac James points to the Jewish tradition in which this was the capstone of all Abraham’s actions. “Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?” (1 Macc. 2:52). The tests referred to are a series of ten tests, culminating in the sacrifice of Isaac, which were Abraham’s works of charity: “Abraham woke up charity which slept. For he opened an inn, and received within it the passersby” (Midrash on Psalms on Ps. 110:1). The basis of his legendary charity was Genesis 18 as interpreted by tradition. Thus Genesis 15:6 was seen as an anticipatory declaration in the light of subsequent action revealing true faith. The declaration of righteousness comes in two ways: First is the fact that God inexplicably aborts the sacrifice, as this later Jewish story illustrates:

The angels then broke into loud weeping, and they exclaimed: “The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth, he [God] hath broken the covenant. Where is the regard of Abraham, he who took the wayfarers into his house, gave them food and drink, and went with them to bring them on their way?… for the slaughtering knife is set upon his throat.” [Then God in response acknowledges Abraham’s righteousness by ordering him to stop.]

Second is the “now I know” statement of Genesis 22:12; Abraham had a lived-out faith that had resulted in righteous actions that in turn were declared right by God.

2:22 James continues: You see. Surely the point of the passages cited was clear; His faith and his actions were working together. (Or, “his faith worked with his actions.”) But where did the faith come from? The answer lies in the Jewish traditions about Abraham. These asserted that Abraham, who lived in an idolatrous culture, had contemplated nature, and this had led him to the one God. He had rejected idolatry, burned the local house of gods, and committed himself to the one God (the story is narrated in the apocryphal book of Jubilees 11–12). Thus Abraham was the originator of the creed “there is one God” (James 2:19).

Given this background, it is clear that a Jewish Christian would understand how faith and actions worked together. Unlike Terah in the legends, who agrees with Abraham’s faith but through fear of the people tells Abraham to keep quiet and hold this faith in his heart, Abraham acts consistently with his faith. His faith works with or directs his actions.

Furthermore, his faith was made complete by what he did. The idea is not that faith was perfected in the sense of it having been less than faith before, but that faith is brought to maturity through action (cf. 1:4, 15). There is a mutuality: Faith informs and motivates action; action matures faith. James is not rejecting one for the other but is instead insisting that the two are totally inseparable.

2:23 James draws two conclusions. First, and the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Although Paul also cites this passage (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6), he and James interpret it differently. For Paul the point is that Abraham believed God and was declared righteous before he was circumcised and thus before keeping the ritual law. James (like 1 Macc. 2:52) sees the two parts of the sentence as separate statements. The first is Abraham believed God, or “had faith in God.” That was true; all Jewish tradition witnessed to his belief that God is one. The second is it was credited to him as righteousness, or better, “God declared him righteous.” This was also true. Abraham expressed his faith at every turn, whether in welcoming strangers (charity), refusing reward from the king of Sodom, or offering his son Isaac. Thus both parts of the sentence are true, and the scripture in Genesis makes the same point about Abraham as James has been arguing.

The second conclusion is and he was called God’s friend. Unlike the first conclusion, this is not a direct biblical quotation but a rough paraphrase of the sense of Isaiah 41:8 or 2 Chronicles 20:7. Its significance is that the Jews connected the title “friend” with Abraham’s faithfulness and obedience under testing. Thus the apocryphal Jewish work Jubilees, after recounting the completion of the tenth test of Abraham, concludes, “he was found faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the friend of God” (19:9). In harmony with this idea, James points out that the fact that God refers to Abraham as a friend also shows that he had more than an intellectual faith; he had an active faithfulness expressed in obedience.

2:24 James summarizes: You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. This summary, which is addressed to the “my brothers” of 2:14, not the objector of 2:18, causes a problem, for it appears that James is contradicting Paul, who writes in Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (cf. Rom. 3:20; 4:16). This problem can be resolved by careful interpretation.

First, by what he does means for James works of love and charity (as in 1:27), whereas Paul is always concerned about “observing the law,” meaning specifically the ritual law, for example, circumcision, dietary regulations, sacrifices. Paul expected every Christian to do works of love and charity (e.g., Eph. 2:10; Gal. 6:9–10) and also believed that those who failed to follow through in this area were not among the “saved” (e.g., Gal. 5:19–21; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Rom. 1:28–32).

Second, a person is justified is a poor translation (unlike that in 2:21 above), for it reads the Pauline meaning of this term (the forgiveness which repentant sinners receive at God’s judgment seat when they put their trust in Christ) into James. James is still using the older and more standard meaning of the term, “a person is declared to be righteous by God” or “is considered righteous by God” and this “on the basis on what he does” (and not on the basis of what ideas he agrees to).

Third, not by faith alone means for James “by intellectual belief that God is one” or “that Jesus is Lord,” whereas faith for Paul means personal commitment to Christ that leads inevitably to obedience because one is convinced that Jesus is Lord. For Paul the concern is to prove that one is not “saved” by ritual actions (“observing the law,” or the “works of the law”). He would never consider separating faith and actions the way James does, except to refute such a separation (e.g., Rom. 6–8). Therefore, though Paul uses “alone” with ritual works (Rom. 4:16), James uses it with faith to show its illegitimate total separation from action.

James’ point is that God will not approve a person just because he or she is very orthodox or can pass a test in systematic theology. He will declare someone righteous only if this faith is such that the person acts on it and produces the natural result of commitment, obedient action. With such a point Paul would not disagree.

2:25 James continues, introducing a second illustration, Rahab the prostitute, whose words and actions in Joshua 2:1–21 fascinated the Jews as well as the early Christians (Heb. 11:31). Again the translation considered righteous is the correct one. Again there is a faith-action combination. Rahab had faith, for in Joshua 2:9–10 she confesses a faith that came from reflection on what God had done for Israel. But her faith was not enough to deliver her; she had to act by giving lodging to the spies and then sending them off in a different direction, which meant risking her life. Hebrews 11:31 similarly stresses faith-motivated action: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Faith alone would not have saved her, but when faith led to action the spies declared her righteous. She became one of the promised people and an ancestor of David (and Jesus) because her faith was that of committed action, not intellectual reflection.

2:26 With so, James welds together the themes of 2:14 and 2:17 to form a concluding verse: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. A body without spirit (or breath) is a corpse. Jews were aware that it was when a person “breathed his last” or “gave up his spirit” (the words for breath and spirit being identical in both Greek and Hebrew) he was dead (John 19:30; Luke 23:46; Ecclesiastes 3:21; 8:8; 9:5). A dead body is a liability that must be buried. Likewise faith that remains intellectual belief is dead. It cannot save; it is a liability, for it can deceive a person as to his or her true spiritual state. Only when faith becomes full commitment and is joined to actions does it have value.

Additional Notes

2:1 The term for partiality (prosōpolēmpsia) was coined by the Christian ethical tradition on the basis of the Old Testament statements about God and applied especially to God’s judgment (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; 1 Pet. 1:17). See further E. Lohse, “Prosōpolēmpsia,” TDNT, vol. 6, pp. 779–80.

The phrase our glorious Lord Jesus Christ is awkward Greek. S. S. Laws, James, pp. 95–97; and J. B. Mayor, James, pp. 80–82, argue for a titular use parallel to John 14:6, “our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory.” Some ancient translations believe the faith is what is glorious, i.e., “the glorious faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The translation that this commentary prefers, on the analogy of Eph. 6:24 and James 1:25, is that of the NIV our glorious Lord Jesus Christ (see further M. Dibelius, James, p. 128; J. H. Ropes, James, p. 187). If this is the correct interpretation then Christ is seen as the expression of God’s own glory, which surrounded his presence in the Old Testament, particularly when he acted to save Israel. In the New Testament this reference is especially applied to God’s coming salvation of his people, i.e., his eschatological deliverance (Matt. 16:27; 24:30; John 1:14; 17:5; Rom. 8:17; 1 Cor. 2:8; Titus 2:13; 1 Pet. 4:13). By using this term James removes his readers’ focus from their present situation and reminds them that the present world is transitory. See further S. Aalen, “Glory, Honor,” NIDNTT, vol. 2, pp. 44–48.

On Jesus and the Bible’s attitude toward wealth see further R. Sider, Cry Justice (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), pp. 124–46.

2:2 The rich man in the example is never called rich in the Greek text. He is simply referred to as a person with a gold ring and fine clothes, from which his wealth is correctly inferred. James never uses the Greek word for rich (plousios) when writing about wealthy Christians (cf. 4:13–17) but does when referring to pagans (1:10–11; 2:6; 5:1–6). The rich are by definition outside the kingdom (cf. Luke 6:24). The other person, however, is expressly called poor (ptōchos), for that is almost a title for the Christian community (cf. 2:5).

The person enters your meeting; James uses synagōgē instead of the usual term for church, ekklēsia (5:14). Synagōgē occasionally refers to Christian gatherings until the time of Ignatius and Hermas (Mandate 11.9, 13–14) as W. Schrage, “Synagōgē,” TDNT, vol. 7, pp. 840–41 shows, but it is unusual, being chosen because James is not referring to an assembly for worship but to a special assembly. The word itself means a gathering.

It is in Jewish sources that one reads of the importance of similar clothing and posture in judicial assemblies (e.g., Deut. Rabba 5:6 on Deut. 16:19; b. Shebuot 30a; 31a; t. Sanhedrin 6:2; Aboth de R. Nathan 1:10; Sipra Kedoshim 4:4 on Lev. 19:15). For further data see R. B. Ward, “Partiality in the Assembly.”

2:4 Have you not discriminated …? is in some translations phrased as a statement rather than a question. The Greek text does have a question, but the form of the question makes it clear that he is not really expressing doubt but making his charge in interrogative form.

Become judges with evil thoughts can be translated “evilly motivated judges” like the “unjust judge” of Luke 18:6. Cf. the Jewish condemnation of such behavior: e.g., Prov. 18:5; Psalms of Solomon 2:18; b. Berakoth 6a.

2:5 God’s election of Israel is further discussed by L. Coenen, “Elect,” NIDNTT, vol. 1, pp. 539–42.

God’s interest in the poor was not only a major part of the Old Testament tradition (e.g., Deut. 15; Prov. 19:17; Ps. 35:10) but also very much a part of the intertestamental period; e.g., 1 Enoch 108:7–15; Psalms of Solomon 5; Gen. Rabba 71:1. See further E. Bammel, “Ptōchos,” TDNT, vol. 6, pp. 895–98; R. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Downers Grove, Ill: Inter-Varsity Press, 1977), pp. 59–86; R. Foster, The Freedom of Simplicity (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), pp. 15–51.

The promise of the kingdom of God to the poor is found throughout the New Testament, e.g., Matt. 5:3, where “poor in spirit” should be interpreted as those poor who have the proper spirit of dependence on God; it cannot be expanded to include people who have no real needs in life. The kingdom is further discussed in Matt. 25:34; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Gal. 5:21. In all these cases the kingdom is equivalent to salvation. See further G. E. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), pp. 57–69.

2:6 In making his charges against the rich, James again uses rhetorical questions expecting a positive answer, which the NIV has correctly restructured into question-and-answer form.

Note the shift of number that happens in this verse. They dishonor the poor person (singular). This person is one of their own group, an individual. But the rich are a class (plural), a group outside the church. At this point the author shifts to the word “rich” (plousios, cf. 2:2), for he is not referring to a wealthy individual in the church but to an oppressing class that the church as a group is imitating.

When the Old Testament speaks of “oppression,” e.g., Ezek. 22:7, 29; Heb. 1:4; Zech. 7:10, it rarely calls the oppressor “the rich” but normally uses the term “the violent.” However, it is clear that the oppressors are invariably wealthy and powerful. Thus it is not surprising to see a shift in later Judaism and the New Testament to identify the term “rich” with oppression. See further E. Bammel, “Ptōchos,” TDNT, vol. 6, p. 888.

The idea of dragging one before the judges is not a use of the usual term for arresting a person. It indicated injustice or persecution, as in Acts 16:19; 21:20.

2:8 Some see the royal law as a Jewish reference to the kingship of Yahweh. Others, e.g., Dibelius, James, p. 143, view it as a law having sovereign authority, citing 4 Macc. 14:2 as a parallel. Still others believe this epithet royal refers to its rank among other commands (cf. Matt. 12:31). Probably the reference is to its being a law of the kingdom of which Jesus is king, first, because that sense of kingdom appears in 2:5; second, because James uses the term “law” (which normally refers to a body of law), not commandment (which refers to a single law); and third, because this sense of royal most underlines the seriousness of their action. See further, V. P. Furnish, The Love Command in the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1972), pp. 179–80.

2:9 On the connection between love and caring for the poor see also G. F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1927), vol. 2, pp. 84–88.

The term sin is found frequently in James, e.g., 4:17; 5:16, 17, 20. His goal (5:20) is to turn sinners from the error of their ways. Jesus also spoke about doing sin (Matt. 7:23).

The idea of being a transgressor or lawbreaker is found in Rom. 2:25, 27; Gal. 2:8 and also in the Talmud, e.g., b. Shabbath 11a. See further S. Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology.

2:10 The idea of the unity of the law is found in such Jewish writings as 4 Macc. 5:20 and Testament of Asher 2:5, as well as rabbinic writings. It also occurs elsewhere in the New Testament, e.g., Matt. 5:18–19, with its emphasis on the least commandment, or Gal. 5:3, where Paul insists that one cannot take the law piecemeal.

2:11 The reversed order of the commands in the Decalogue does appear in a few Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament as well as in Luke 18:20 and Rom. 13:9, so one cannot be sure that James’ order is deliberate. Yet Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Amos 8:4; Sirach 34:26; Testament of Gad 4:6–7, and 1 John 3:15 all associate murder with the failure to care for the poor. Thus there was a strong Jewish and Christian tradition for James to use. James is conceptually so close to 1 John that this parallel passage may be very significant.

2:12 James speaks frequently of judgment, e.g., 1:19; 3:1–12; 4:11–16, and 5:12 speak of words being judged, and 1:27; 4:1–10; 5:1–6 speak of deeds. But Jesus also gave solemn warnings in Matt. 12:36; 25:31–45.

J. B. Adamson, James, pp. 118–19, contrasts the law of liberty of 2:12 with the law of ordinances in 2:10–11, seeing a law-grace dichotomy consonant with his reformed theology. But there is no evidence in the text that this was in James’ mind. He feels perfectly comfortable with enjoying grace within a structure of ethical rules.

2:13 Judgment without mercy is not injustice but rather strict justice without forgiveness. See further E. E. Urbach, The Sages.

Mercy triumphs over judgment in the sense of “boast in triumphant comparison with other,” as R. Bultmann points out (“Katakauchaomai,” TDNT, vol. 3, pp. 653–54). In comparison with the strictness of judgment, mercy is more powerful.

The sense of mercy meaning charity is already evident in the Old Testament passages cited. For example, the wider context of Zech. 7:9 explicitly mentions caring for the poor as the focus of mercy. In the New Testament the Greek for mercy, eleos, or merciful, eleēmones (Matt. 5:7), is closely related to giving alms or charity, eleēmosynē (Matt. 6:2). New Testament mercy is not reactive, simply not giving someone what he or she deserves, but proactive, i.e., meeting the needs of another whether or not that person has a formal claim on the giver (Luke 10:37, the good Samaritan). Furthermore, mercy is pre-eminently an attribute of God and thus a characteristic taken on by those being transformed into God’s likeness in Christ.

2:14 The what good is it form also appears in 1 Cor. 15:32. The second rhetorical question (Can such faith save him?) begins with the Greek negative mē, which introduces questions expecting a negative answer.

That save refers to salvation in the final judgment is seen when one considers the judgment already spoken of in 2:13; the references to such salvation in 1:21; 4:12; 5:20 and the general meaning of save in the New Testament. See further W. Foerster, “Sōzō,” TDNT, vol. 7, pp. 990–98.

For the prophetic denunciation of piety without works, see e.g., Amos 5:21–24; Micah 4:1–4, and J. Miranda, Marx and the Bible, pp. 111–60. Paul is in full agreement: The works Paul is against are the “works of the law,” the ritual actions of the law, like circumcision, used to gain salvation. When it comes to evil (e.g., Gal. 5:19–21), he can say that those doing certain things “will not possess the kingdom of God.” On the other hand, he points out that the whole purpose of salvation is good works (Eph. 2:10). Jews had a similar faith-works position. See m. Aboth 1:2 or S. Schechter, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology, p. 214, or G. F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1927), vol. 2, pp. 168–69.

2:15 The without clothes in Greek is literally “naked.” This means, however, the lacking of an outer garment (Job 22:6; 24:7; 31:9; Isa. 20:5; 58:7; Matt. 25:36; John 21:7; 2 Cor. 11:27). Rabbi Akiba and his wife had only one outer garment between them, so one stayed home while the other wore the garment to the market or the rabbinic school. At night they buried themselves in straw to keep warm.

The without … daily food in Greek is not the same as Matt. 6:11 but means the same. James has used a form more common in classical Greek

2:16 Go, I wish you well is the common Hebrew dismissal, which was actually blessing the person (Judg. 18:6; 1 Sam. 1:17; 20:42; Mark 5:34; Acts 16:36). The wish for peace (Hebrew shalôm, which means health or wholeness) was taken so seriously that 2 John 10–11 prohibits Christians from giving such greetings to false teachers.

The physical needs are the food and clothing the person cannot survive without. Any Jew or Jewish Christian would have understood the imperative of charity in such a case, for as R. Hiyya said: “He who turns his eyes away from almsgiving is as if he worshipped idols” (b. Kettubim 68a, from C. G. Montefiore and H. Loewe, A Rabbinic Anthology [New York: Schocken Books, 1974], p. 413; see further pp. 412–39). Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31) taught that the failure to meet an obvious need despite having the means damns a person.

2:17 The term by itself is particularly close to the body-breath analogy and might have suggested it to James (2:26).

2:18 Although the general meaning of the passage is clear, the language is so difficult some scholars have assumed that part of this verse has disappeared. Two other positions have merit. One argues that the voice is favorable to James and restates his position of 2:17: “You (claim to) have faith, and I (you admit) have works. Show me your ‘faith’ apart from your works (you cannot, naturally), and I will show you my faith by means of my works” (see further J. B. Mayor, James, pp. 124–25, 135–37). In that case the voice merges back into James’ voice in v. 20 or 21. Grammatically this is possible, but the stumbling block is the fact that in other places in Greek literature the someone will say introduction always introduces a hostile or opposing voice (see also Luke 4:23; Rom. 11:9; 4 Macc. 2:24; Barnabas 9:6; Josephus, Wars 8.363). A second position, followed in the NIV and this commentary, argues that this sentence is an objection and that although “you” and “I” are used in the Greek they are simply a distributive “one … another.” Thus the “you” and “I” refer to no one in particular but indicate two different individuals. (M. Dibelius, James, p. 156, cites a similar example in Teles.) Though this explanation is grammatically awkward, it is consonant with the introductory phrase and does not resort to emendation. See further J. H. Ropes, James, pp. 208–14; C. L. Mitton, James, pp. 108–9; S. S. Laws, James, pp. 123–24.

2:19 The fact that James writes you believe that rather than “you believe in” shows that he is thinking of intellectual belief rather than personal commitment. See further R. Bultmann, “Pisteuō,” TDNT, vol. 6, pp. 210–12.

The form of the Shema in this verse is translated in the NIV “there is one God,” following one set of Greek manuscripts. However, the reading “God is one,” found in other manuscripts, is probably the one James actually wrote. Though the Shema was the beginning point for Christians in a pagan world (e.g., 1 Thess. 1:9), it was not the end point of faith. For the Jew as well, the Shema was not the end, for it led to keeping the law as an expression of faith. The fact that James cites the Shema may also be connected to his citation of Abraham in 2:21, for Abraham was believed in Judaism to have discovered and taught this truth that God is one, despite his pagan environment and persecution. See further R. N. Longenecker, Paul, Apostle of Liberty (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1976), pp. 79–83.

That the demons shudder or tremble was also known outside Christianity. For example, in the apocryphal work 1 Enoch, when Enoch sees the fallen angels, he states, “Then I spoke to them all together, and they were all afraid, and fear and trembling seized them” (1 Enoch 13:3; cf. 69:1, 14). One reason for the trembling was that the name of God was invoked in exorcisms. See further A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1927, 1978), especially p. 260; and J. Jeremias, “Paul and James,” ExpTim 66 (1955), p. 370.

2:20 The term for you foolish man (used differently in 4:5) is the Greek equivalent for raca of Matt. 5:22 (“you fool,” NIV; RSV; “you good-for-nothing,” GNB). In the Septuagint kenos is used in Judg. 9:4; 11:3, meaning moral error rather than intellectual lack. Similar strong language occurs in the Stoic Epictetus and the Christian Hermas: “And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Oh, foolish man! Do you not see the tower is still being built?’ ” (Vision 3.8.9). See further A. Oepke, “Kenos,” TDNT, vol. 3, p. 659.

The term useless in faith without deeds is useless is not the same word used in 2:17, 26 or 1:26. It is a term meaning “sterile,” “unproductive,” “useless” (Matt. 12:36; 20:3, 6; 1 Tim. 5:13; Titus 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:8), forming (in Greek) a wordplay with actions.

2:21 Our ancestor Abraham was sometimes used by the Gentiles; 1 Clement 31:2 asks, “Why was our forefather Abraham blest? Was it not because he acted in righteousness and dependability through faith?” but Jews referred to him far more frequently this way, e.g., Isa. 51:2; 4 Macc. 16:20; Matt. 3:9; John 8:39; m. Aboth 5:2).

The tests of Abraham are referred to in a variety of late Jewish literature, e.g., Aboth de. R. Nathan 32; m. Aboth 5:3; Jubilees 17:17; 19:8; Pirke R. Eliezer 26–31, as is his great charity: Testament of Abraham, recension A, 1.17; Targum Ps.-Jonathan on Gen. 21:33; Aboth de R. Nathan 7. Translation of the last-named as well as of the Midrash on Psalms passage cited in the text can be found in C. G. Montefiore and H. Loewe, A Rabbinic Anthology, pp. 415 and 564 respectively. See further L. Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, vol. 1, p. 281. Further passages are cited in R. B. Ward, “pp. 286–90; and P. H. Davids, “Tradition and Interpretation in the Epistle of James,” pp. 113–16.

On the concept of declaring right at the end of a test see further B. Gerhardsson, The Testing of God’s Son, esp. p. 27.

2:22 Gen. 15:6 (cf. James 2:23) speaks of faith, but that does not explain the particular emphasis James gives to it. Furthermore, although only the Jubilees version was cited, there are multiple versions of the Abraham legend. In the midrash Genesis Rabba 98:3, for example, the Shema is traced back to Abraham. Josephus has his version in Antiquities 1.154–157 (1.7.1 in Whiston’s division): “[Abraham] was the first that ventured to publish this notion that there was but one God, the Creator of the universe.” Philo also refers to the legend (Legum Allegoriae 3.228; De Virtue 216). Thus all Jews in the New Testament period thought of Abraham as the first to discover monotheistic faith.

2:23 The form of argument is a typical Jewish exegesis or midrash, with a first text (the Abraham history) having already been discussed and now secondary texts being added. The scripture was fulfilled is not in the sense of prediction fulfillment, but in the sense of the scripture agreeing with the scriptural narrative. See further R. N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period, pp. 32–38.

The Jews frequently referred to the Gen. 15:6 passage, Abraham believed God. Not only 1 Macc. 2:52 uses it but also Jubilees 15:6; Philo (De Abrahamo 262; Quod Deus sit Immutabilis 4); and several passages in early rabbinic midrash. James’ use follows this moderate tradition, not that, for example, of the Targum Ps.-Jonathan (on Gen. 15:6), where the faith of Abraham is itself seen as a work.

It was credited to him as righteousness is passive in the Greek Old Testament (“it was reckoned to him for righteousness”) but active in Hebrew (“he accounted it to him [as?] righteousness”). James apparently understands this active sense and thus sees Abraham’s faith as one part of the sentence, and “he accounted him righteous” as the second part. The idea of accounting was understood in James’ day as entering in the heavenly books. See further H. W. Heidland, “Logizomai,” TDNT, vol. 4, pp. 284–92.

That Abraham was counted God’s friend and that this was connected to his deeds is clear from Jubilees 30:20; 2 Esdras 3:14; and 1 Clement 10:1 (who shares James’ tradition), as well as the passage cited. See further J. Jeremias, “Abraam,” TDNT, vol. 1, pp. 8–9.

2:24 The you see is a shift from second person singular (the “you” of 2:18, 19, 20, 22) to second person plural.

The supposed James-Paul conflict is a major issue. J. T. Sanders, Ethics in the New Testament, pp. 115–28, sets James against Paul in such a way as to force the reader to reject one or the other. Luther, for whom the problem was also acute, opted for Paul and almost rejected James from the canon. Luther was correct that if James knew and understood Paul’s doctrine so that he used his words with the same meanings, then James is directly contradicting Paul. What Luther failed to understand was that he was reading Paul’s meaning backwards into James. James uses words so differently from Paul that if he had ever heard Paul’s teaching (as he might not have before A.D. 49), he had only heard it in the form of second- or third-hand slogans, which had taken on a meaning that Paul would have rejected.

The three critical terms discussed illustrate this point. The first is the Greek ergon, which in James means what he does (charity, kindness, virtue), whereas in Paul it is always joined to the word “law” (nomos) and always means ritual acts, except in Gal. 5:19 and 6:4 where it is used positively. The second is dikaioō, which is translated in Paul correctly as “put right with God,” whereas James uses it as it is used forty-four times in the Septuagint for “declared to be right by God.” Where Paul’s new meaning is read into James, total misunderstanding results. Finally there is the word faith (pistis), which James uses in three ways himself, for true commitment (2:5), for Christianity (2:1), and for intellectual belief (2:14–26). He only has problems with this last type of “faith” and then only if unconnected to works (faith alone). Paul normally uses it in one of the two first meanings, which include the actions about which James is so adamant.

James’ teaching, then, is that of Matt. 7:15–21, that all one’s orthodox assertions will not substitute for obedience as a proof of heart commitment when it comes to the final judgment. Paul believed the same (1 Cor. 13:2; 2 Cor. 9:8; Gal. 5:6; 6:4; Eph. 4:17ff.; Col. 3:5ff.), but James is closer in phrasing and life-setting to his master Jesus.

See further J. Jeremias, “Paul and James,” ExpTim 66 (1955–1956); J. A. Ziesler, The Meaning of Righteousness in Paul (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1972), pp. 9–14; E. L. Allen, “Controversy in the New Testament,” NTS 1 (1954–1955), pp. 143–49; and especially H. C. Hahn. “Work,” NIDNTT, vol. 3, pp. 1147–52; H. Seebass and C. Brown, “Righteousness,” NIDNTT, vol. 3, pp. 352–77; O. Michel, “Faith,” NIDNTT, vol. 1, pp. 393–607.

2:25 Rahab was viewed by Jesus as the archetypal proselyte to Judaism, and traditions about her abounded. In Christian literature, not only Heb. 11:31 (which stresses her action) praises her, but also 1 Clement 12:1, 8, which is part of a larger section, 1 Clement 9–12. In this section, after a brief mention of Enoch and Noah, Abraham is treated thoroughly as one “called the friend, proved faithful in that he obeyed the words of God.” Especially “his faith and hospitality” are named. Lot, who comes next, is cited for “hospitality and piety.” Then Clement continues, “Because of her faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved.” Thus in the early church Rahab was grouped with Abraham, perhaps because both turned from their respective pagan environments to serve God. It is no coincidence that James cites both in order. Furthermore, both are cited as examples of faith and charity, for in the East hospitality was an important form of charity (e.g., Heb. 13:2). See further H. Chadwick, “Justification by Faith and Hospitality,” SP 4 (1961), p. 281.

2:26 In Gen. 2:7 the first human is formed of spirit, or breath, and body. The union of the two produces a living being, whether in creation or in the womb (Eccles. 11:5). When one dies, the spirit or breath returns to God and the body crumbles into dust (Eccles. 12:7). Spirit and breath are identical words in Hebrew and in Greek (rûaḥ and pneuma respectively), so breathing one’s last is often seen as giving up spirit (e.g., Gen. 49:33; cf. John 19:30; Luke 23:46; and Mark 15:37 for three descriptions of the same death). For the Jew and Christian death is never welcome. Their Greek neighbors rejoiced in the freeing of the immortal soul from the prison of the body. The Christian, by way of contrast, did not want to be unclothed (without a body), but clothed with a resurrected body (2 Cor. 5:1–10; cf. 1 Cor. 15); the redemption of the body was the real hope (Rom. 8:23). James follows normal Christian practice in seeing a corpse as useless and bad.

Understanding the Bible Commentary Series by Peter H. Davids, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Dictionary

Direct Matches

Abraham

Abram is a well-known biblical character whose life is detailed in Gen. 11:25 25:11. Abram’s name (which means “exalted father”) is changed in Gen. 17:5 to “Abraham,” meaning “father of many nations.”

The narrative account in Genesis details one hundred years of Abraham’s life and moves quickly through the first seventy-five years of events. In just a few verses (11:26–31) we learn that Abram was the son of Terah, the brother of Haran and Nahor, the husband of the barren Sarai (later Sarah), and the uncle of Lot, the son of Haran, who died in Ur of the Chaldees. The plot line marks significant events in Abraham’s life chronologically. He left Harran at the age of 75 (12:4), was 86 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (16:16), 99 when the Lord appeared to him (17:17) and when he was circumcised (17:24), 100 when Sarah gave birth to Isaac (21:5), and 175 when he died (25:7). In summary, the biblical narrator paces the reader quickly through the story in such a way as to highlight a twenty-five-year period of Abraham’s life between the ages of 75 and 100.

The NT features Abraham in several significant ways. The intimate connection between God and Abraham is noted in the identification of God as “the God of Abraham” in Acts 7:32 (cf. Exod. 3:6). The NT also celebrates the character of Abraham as a man of faith who received the promise (Gal. 3:9; Heb. 6:15). Abraham is most importantly an example of how one is justified by faith (Rom. 4:1, 12) and an illustration of what it means to walk by faith (James 2:21, 23).

Those who exercise faith in the living God, as did Abraham, are referred to as “children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). Regarding the covenant promises made to Abraham in the OT, the NT writers highlight the promises of seed and blessing. According to Paul, the seed of Abraham is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, and those who believe in Christ are the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16, 29). In a similar way, those who have Abraham-like faith are blessed (3:9). The blessing imparted to Abraham comes to the Gentiles through the redemption of Christ and is associated with the impartation of the Spirit (3:14).

Altar

Altars were places of sacrifice and worship constructed of various materials. They could be either temporary or permanent. Some altars were in the open air; others were set apart in a holy place. They could symbolize either God’s presence and protection or false worship that would lead to God’s judgment.

Barren

A barren woman is one who is infertile and without children. The biblical world placed great value on the blessing of having children. Being without children brought despair. This can be seen in Rachel’s despondent plea (Gen. 30:1) and in the fact that wives would offer a servant in their place to bear a child (16:3; 30:3, 9).

In most of the stories about women and infertility, God reversed their circumstances: Sarah (Gen. 11:30), Rebekah (25:21), Rachel (30:22), Samson’s mother (Judg. 13:2 3), Hannah (1 Sam. 1:2), the Shunammite (2 Kings 4:16), Elizabeth (Luke 1:7). For Michal, barrenness appears as a punishment (2 Sam. 6:23).

Caring for the barren is part of God’s praiseworthy caring for the needy (Ps. 113:5–9).

Demons

In Gen. 3 the serpent entices humankind to sin. Not until Rev. 12:9 are we told explicitly that the serpent is Satan.

In the OT, “evil spirit” may be a heavenly being sent by God (1 Sam. 16:14 23; 18:10; 19:9; cf. 1 Kings 22:22–23). The OT engages in extensive rebuke of the superstitions of the surrounding nations that included belief in demons (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37; perhaps Isa. 13:21; cf. Rev. 18:2).

Jesus’ encounter with the devil in the wilderness recalls Adam and Eve’s encounter with the serpent in Eden. The setting, significantly, is now a wasteland. The second man to walk the earth with no sin claims the right to take back the dominion that Adam passed to the serpent. Jesus can have the whole world (without the cross) if only he will submit to the devil’s rule (Luke 4:5–7). Jesus rejects the offer. Later, he sees Satan’s fall from heaven to earth (Luke 10:18; cf. Rev. 12:5–12). Whereas once the devil had access to God’s courtroom, now his case is lost. His only recourse is murderous persecution. Between the ascension of the Son of Man (Acts 1:9) and the final judgment, this is understood to be the experience of Christ’s people (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 12:17; cf. 1 Pet. 5:8).

Whereas the OT provides sparse information about Satan and his angels/demons, the NT opens with an intensity of activity. Demons are also called “evil spirits,” and they are associated with physical illness, madness, and fortune-telling. In Acts 17:22 Paul describes his pagan Athenian listeners as “demon-fearers” (NIV: “religious”). Jesus’ miracles demonstrate his lordship over Satan’s regime as the demons flee in terror before him (Mark 1:23–26; 5:1–15). According to Paul, Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and John urges believers to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1), assuring them that they need not fear Satan or his forces, “because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). On judgment day Satan will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14–15) along with all of God’s enemies.

Faith

Faith in the context of the OT rests on a foundation that the person or object of trust, belief, or confidence is reliable. Trust in Yahweh is expressed through loyalty and obedience. The theme of responsive obedience is emphasized in the Torah (Exod. 19:5). In the later history of Israel, faithfulness to the law became the predominant expression of faith (Dan. 1:8; 6:10). OT faith, then, is a moral response rather than abstract intellect or emotion.

Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ.

In the Gospels, Jesus is spoken of not as the subject of faith (as believing in God), but as the object of faith. In the Synoptic Gospels, faith is seen most often in connection with the ministry of Jesus. Miracles, in particular healings, are presented as taking place in response to the faith of the one in need of healing or the requester. In the Gospel of John, faith (belief) is presented as something that God requires of his people (6:28 29).

In the book of Acts, “faith/belief” is used to refer to Jews and Gentiles converting to following the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and becoming part of the Christian community. The book correlates faith in Christ closely with repentance (Acts 11:21; 19:18; 20:21; 26:18).

Paul relates faith to righteousness and justification (Rom. 3:22; 5:11; Gal. 3:6). In Ephesians faith is shown as instrumental in salvation: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (2:8).

In Hebrews, faith is described as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). Faith thus is viewed as something that can be accomplished in the life of the believer—a calling of God not yet tangible or seen. To possess faith is to be loyal to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite all obstacles. In the Letter of James, genuine works naturally accompany genuine faith. Works, however, are expressed in doing the will of God. The will of God means, for example, caring for the poor (James 2:15–16).

In 1 Peter, Christ is depicted as the broker of faith in God (1:21), whereas in 2 Peter and Jude faith is presented as received from God (2 Pet. 1:1). In the Letters of John “to believe” is used as a litmus test for those who possess eternal life: “You who believe in the name of the Son of God, . . . you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

Father

People in the Bible were family-centered and staunchly loyal to their kin. Families formed the foundation of society. The extended family was the source of people’s status in the community and provided the primary economic, educational, religious, and social interactions.

Marriage and divorce. Marriage in the ancient Near East was a contractual arrangement between two families, arranged by the bride’s father or a male representative. The bride’s family was paid a dowry, a “bride’s price.” Paying a dowry was not only an economic transaction but also an expression of family honor. Only the rich could afford multiple dowries. Thus, polygamy was minimal. The wedding itself was celebrated with a feast provided by the father of the groom.

The primary purpose for marriage in the ancient Near East was to produce a male heir to ensure care for the couple in their old age. The concept of inheritance was a key part of the marriage customs, especially with regard to passing along possessions and property.

Marriage among Jews in the NT era still tended to be endogamous; that is, Jews sought to marry close kin without committing incest violations (Lev. 18:6 17). A Jewish male certainly was expected to marry a Jew. Exogamy, marrying outside the remote kinship group, and certainly outside the ethnos, was understood as shaming God’s holiness. Thus, a Jew marrying a Gentile woman was not an option. The Romans did practice exogamy. For them, marrying outside one’s kinship group (not ethnos) was based predominantly on creating strategic alliances between families.

Greek and Roman law allowed both men and women to initiate divorce. In Jewish marriages, only the husband could initiate divorce proceedings. If a husband divorced his wife, he had to release her and repay the dowry. Divorce was common in cases of infertility (in particular if the woman had not provided male offspring). Ben Sira comments that barrenness in a woman is a cause of anxiety to the father (Sir. 42:9–10). Another reason for divorce was adultery (Exod. 20:14; Deut. 5:18). Jesus, though, taught a more restrictive use of divorce than the OT (Mark 10:1–12).

Children and parenting. Childbearing was considered representative of God’s blessing on a woman and her entire family, in particular her husband. In contrast to this blessing, barrenness brought shame on women, their families, and specifically their husbands.

Children were of low social status in society. Infant mortality was high. An estimated 60 percent of the children in the first-century Mediterranean society were dead by the age of sixteen.

Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean societies exhibited a parenting style based on their view of human nature as a mixture of good and evil tendencies. Parents relied on physical punishment to prevent evil tendencies from developing into evil deeds (Prov. 29:15). The main concern of parents was to socialize the children into family loyalty. Lack of such loyalty was punished (Lev. 20:9). At a very early stage children were taught to accept the total authority of the father. The rearing of girls was entirely the responsibility of the women. Girls were taught domestic roles and duties as soon as possible so that they could help with household tasks.

Family identity was used as a metaphor in ancient Israel to speak of fidelity, responsibility, judgment, and reconciliation. In the OT, the people of Israel often are described as children of God. In their overall relationship to God, the people of Israel are referred to in familial terms—sons and daughters, spouse, and firstborn (Exod. 4:22). God is addressed as the father of the people (Isa. 63:16; 64:8) and referred to as their mother (Isa. 49:14–17).

The church as the family of God. Throughout his ministry, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. This was a call to loyalty (Matt. 10:32–40; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26), a call to fictive kinship, the family of God (Matt. 12:48–50; Mark 3:33–35). Jesus’ declaration “On this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18) was preceded by the call to community. Entrance into the community was granted through adopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and the initiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–63; John 1:12; 3:16; 10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9). Jesus’ presence as the head of the community was eventually replaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18). Through the Spirit, Jesus’ ministry continues in the community of his followers, God’s family—the church. See also Adoption.

Harlot

When God creates humans, he pronounces them “very good/beautiful” (Gen. 1:31). They are designed to be magnificent visual displays of God’s character (1:26 27). Human sexuality originally is set in a context of overwhelming beauty. God’s first command is to reproduce and extend this paradise throughout the earth (1:28). Human sexuality is not simply a mechanism for reproduction. From the outset it has been about completion, without which there is loneliness (2:18).

Although the Bible does not define the distinctives of masculinity and femininity in any detail, it does defend that there are distinctions between the genders. Behaviors that confuse the genders are explicitly condemned (Deut. 22:5; 1 Cor. 6:9; 11:4–16).

Homosexual intercourse (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:24–27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10) and intercourse with an animal (Exod. 22:19; Lev. 18:23; 20:15–16; Deut. 27:21) are violations of God’s created order.

Although damaged by sin, marriage continues to be the ultimate human relationship involving intimacy, privacy, and liberty. Marriage is defined by a covenant—a contract witnessed and enforceable, not just a promise made in private. The couple separate from their parents to become “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).

Once the marriage contract is agreed upon, the couple are married. They cannot consummate the marriage until the economic commitments of the contract have been delivered (Matt. 1:18; 25:1–13). This is celebrated with a feast. Jesus uses this custom as an analogy for his departure and return (John 14:1–3).

Paul commands husbands to love their wives (Eph. 5:25–33; cf. Gen. 24:67; 29:20; 1 Sam. 1:5; Eccles. 9:9; Song 8:6–7). Nowhere in the Bible is a wife commanded to love her husband, though older women should teach younger women to do so (Titus 2:3–4). Love is the husband’s responsibility. Love is a command that can be obeyed, not just a pleasurable feeling over which one has no control. The model of husbandly love is Jesus laying down his life for his people.

The ecstasy of making love is celebrated in the erotic Song of Songs, which holds out the hope of such marital delight even now. The axiom of marriage is a righteous jealousy (cf. Exod. 20:5; 34:14; Num. 5:14, 30; Prov. 6:34).

The first year of marriage is especially important and is protected by exemption from military service (Deut. 20:7; 24:5).

When a man dies without a male heir, his widow’s possession of that part of the family estate can result in her marrying a man from another family and so alienating that land. This can be resolved either by the injustice of eviction or by the device of levirate marriage. The nearest male relative of the deceased husband marries the widow, and their son then inherits the deceased husband’s name and title to the land (Deut. 25:5–10; cf. Gen. 38; Ruth).

Concubines are wives from poor families, slaves, or captives, and their marriages are protected (Exod. 21:7–9; Deut. 21:11–14).

Rape of a married woman constitutes adultery by the rapist, not the victim. Consensual sex with a married woman is adultery by both parties. Rape of a single woman is treated as fornication, with no blame attached to the woman. Her father has the option of letting her marry the man or receiving significant financial compensation (Exod. 22:16–17; Deut. 22:23–27). Her father has the right to take the money and refuse the marriage. To falsely accuse a woman of adultery is a crime (Deut. 22:13–21).

Prostitution is an extreme form of adultery or fornication and totally forbidden (Lev. 19:29; Deut. 23:17). Under the new covenant, this warning is heightened by the reality of the gift of the Holy Spirit transforming each believer into the temple of the Lord (1 Cor. 6:15–20).

Originally, marriage between siblings is implied (Gen. 4:17, 26; 5:4). Abram married his half sister, Sarai (Gen. 20:12; cf. Gen. 11:29; Num. 26:59). The Mosaic covenant at Sinai bans marriage to blood relationships closer than first cousins and to in-laws (Lev. 18:6–30; cf. 2 Sam. 13; 1 Cor. 5:1).

Polygamy occurs soon after the fall (Gen. 4:19–24). It is never explicitly forbidden in the Bible, but it is managed by OT law so as to restrain further injustice and damage. It is always seen as less than satisfactory (cf. Gen. 29–30; 1 Sam. 1:6; 2 Sam. 13; 1 Kings 1–2; 11). In the NT, monogamy is mandatory for those who would lead the church (1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).

Isaac

Along with Abraham and Jacob, Isaac is a central character in the narratives of Gen. 12 35. Isaac is the offspring of Abraham and Sarah, the fulfillment of a promise from God of an heir for Abraham (15:4). The promise of offspring is one component in a set (protection and land being some of the others), the provisions of a covenant between God and the patriarchs (12:1–3; 17:1–8; 26:2–5). The name “Isaac” is associated with the verb for “laugh” (21:3–7), referring to Sarah’s reaction upon hearing the promise of a child coming well beyond her childbearing years (18:9–15). Sarah’s incredulity, and Abraham’s sympathy to it, may be witnessed by their attempt to enact fulfillment to the promise through the insemination of Hagar, Sarah’s slave (16:1–4, 16).

In the narratives of Gen. 12–35 Isaac is the least prominent of the patriarchs. The main event of his life is encapsulated in the incident known as the Akedah, the “binding” (22:1–19). Abraham demonstrates his loyalty to God by complying with a command to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. After an initial inquiry about the absence of a sacrificial beast, Isaac (apparently) passively follows Abraham’s directions in compliance with God’s will. A divine emissary, however, halts Abraham’s actions just prior to the slaying of Isaac.

The procurement of Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, by Abraham’s servant is found in Gen. 24:1–67. Like Abraham, Isaac describes his wife as a sister in order to deflect danger to his person (26:6–11; cf. 12:10–16; 20:1–18). Rebekah bears two sons to Isaac, Esau and Jacob (25:21–26). Through the instigation and cooperation of Rebekah, Jacob tricks Isaac into conferring a blessing upon him, one originally intended for Esau (27:1–30).

Rahab

(1) A woman associated with the conquest whose history is recounted in Josh. 2. Two Israelite soldiers entered Jericho and headed straight for the nearest brothel (Josh. 2:1). There, they “lay down” (the literal meaning of shakab, which the NIV translates as “stayed there”) with Rahab. They were on a reconnaissance mission under Joshua’s command, as a precursor to invasion. The king of Jericho demanded that Rahab hand over the spies to him. She lied and sent the pursuers away on a false path, enabling the Israelites to escape. Her justification for this action was that she, and all of Canaan, knew that Israel’s God was with Israel and surely would destroy Jericho. She asked the spies to spare her family. This they promised to do if she would mark her window with a red cord, which she did.

These acts identified Rahab with Israel and Israel’s God, making her, as it were, a de facto Israelite. Thus, her works justified her to Joshua and saved her family (James 2:25). Although the citizens of Jericho believed in the coming judgment, only Rahab’s faith moved her to switch loyalties. Thus, her faith saved her (Heb. 11:31). The red cord in the window connects her story with Passover, where the angel of death passed over Israelite houses marked with lamb’s blood. Joshua’s forces passed over Rahab’s house, since it bore this mark. She is found in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1:5).

(2) A mythological monster especially associated with the ocean that represented the natural forces of chaos in the world. Many scholars believe that Rahab is identical to the Canaanite Leviathan. In the OT Yahweh fights Rahab in the process of ending chaos and creating the world. Rahab is depicted as a poor opponent (Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps. 89:10; Isa. 51:9). Later, Egypt is sometimes equated with the monster Rahab (Ps. 87:4; Isa. 30:7), although there is no historic relationship between the two. The NKJV transliterates the Hebrew in Isa. 30:7 as though a proper name, Rahab-Hem-Shebeth, but most versions translate it with a phrase such as “Rahab the Do-Nothing” (NIV) or “Rahab who sits still” (ESV, NRSV).

Righteousness

Righteousness is an important theme in both Testaments of the Bible. The concept includes faithfulness, justice, uprightness, correctness, loyalty, blamelessness, purity, salvation, and innocence. Because the theme is related to justification, it has important implications for the doctrine of salvation.

Being careful to avoid imposing Western philosophical categories onto OT texts, we may say that the core idea of righteousness is conformity to God’s person and will in moral uprightness, justness, justice, integrity, and faithfulness. Behind the many and varied uses of righteousness language in the OT stands the presupposition that God himself is righteous in the ultimate sense (e.g., Ezra 9:15; Isa. 45:21; Zeph. 3:5). Righteousness is the expression of his holiness in relationship to others (Isa. 5:16), and all other nuances of righteousness in the biblical texts are derived from this.

Related to humans, righteousness is often found as the opposite of wickedness. Righteousness often occurs in evaluative contexts, where it relates to proper conduct with respect to God, the order of the world as he created it, the covenant, or law (e.g., Deut. 6:25). God reigns in righteousness and justice (e.g., Ps. 97:2), and humans should align their conduct with this righteous reign. Righteousness can be expressed as personal integrity with phrases such as “my righteousness” (2 Sam. 22:21, 25; Ps. 7:8) and “their righteousness” (1 Sam. 26:23). Unrighteousness is found in poetic parallel to injustice (e.g., Jer. 22:13); the unjust are parallel with the wicked (Ps. 82:2).

Righteousness language is more rare in the Gospels than one might expect in light of OT and Jewish intertestamental usage. These references fit with the Jewish setting: righteousness is required of God’s people, and unrighteousness is to be avoided. Righteousness is proper conduct with respect to God or Torah (Matt. 21:32) in contrast to wickedness (Matt. 13:49). Righteousness could be conceived as one’s own (e.g., Luke 18:9) and has its reward (Matt. 10:41). While the specific terms related to righteousness are infrequent in the Gospels, the broader concept of conformity to God’s will is widely apparent in calls for repentance, personal moral uprightness, mercy, and concern for the marginalized. The NT Epistles continue these general strands of the concept. Righteousness is related to personal conduct (1 Thess. 2:10; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 2:24) and is contrasted with wickedness (2 Cor. 6:14); it is a matter of doing, not knowing (Rom. 2:13). An example of righteousness in doing is the kindness shown by the prostitute Rahab, who hid the Israelite spies (James 2:25).

The NT does signal some new dimensions related to righteousness. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 7), Jesus extends the requirements of righteousness to conformity to his own teaching and directives, a shocking display of authority. In his mission to call sinners rather than the “righteous” (e.g., Mark 2:17), Jesus implicitly questions the righteousness of the “righteous.” In similar manner, personal righteousness in terms of a righteousness of one’s own is negative in the NT (Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:6; cf. Luke 18:9).

The NT continues the OT theme of righteousness as it relates to God himself. God is righteous (John 17:25; Rom. 3:5; 9:14; Heb. 6:10; cf. Matt. 6:33). His judgments are righteous (Rom. 2:5), and his commands and laws are righteous (Rom. 7:12; 8:4). God is a righteous judge (2 Tim. 4:8). His saving activity is righteous; he does not compromise his own justice in justifying the ungodly (Rom. 3:24–26). The righteousness of God is contrasted with human unrighteousness and wickedness (Rom. 3:5; James 1:20). Since God reigns over creation in righteousness, human conduct should conform to that standard (e.g., Rom. 14:17). Jesus is also noted as righteous (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:1, 29). He fulfilled righteousness in the absolute sense of demonstrating complete conformity to the nature and will of God (e.g., 1 Pet. 3:18). He also fulfilled God’s righteousness in the sense of his saving activity toward humans (e.g., 2 Pet. 1:1).

Save

“Salvation” is the broadest term used to refer to God’s actions to solve the plight brought about by humankind’s sinful rebellion and its consequences. It is one of the central themes of the entire Bible, running from Genesis through Revelation.

In many places in the OT, salvation refers to being rescued from physical rather than spiritual trouble. Fearing the possibility of retribution from his brother Esau, Jacob prays, “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau” (Gen. 32:11). The actions of Joseph in Egypt saved many from famine (45:5 7; 47:25; 50:20). Frequently in the psalms, individuals pray for salvation from enemies that threaten one’s safety or life (Pss. 17:14; 18:3; 70:1–3; 71:1–4; 91:1–3).

Related to this usage are places where the nation of Israel and/or its king were saved from enemies. The defining example of this is the exodus, whereby God delivered his people from their enslavement to the Egyptians, culminating in the destruction of Pharaoh and his army (Exod. 14:1–23). From that point forward in the history of Israel, God repeatedly saved Israel from its enemies, whether through a judge (e.g., Judg. 2:16; 3:9), a king (2 Kings 14:27), or even a shepherd boy (1 Sam. 17:1–58).

But these examples of national deliverance had a profound spiritual component as well. God did not save his people from physical danger as an end in itself; it was the necessary means for his plan to save them from their sins. The OT recognizes the need for salvation from sin (Pss. 39:8; 51:14; 120:2) but, as the NT makes evident, does not provide a final solution (Heb. 9:1–10:18). One of the clearest places that physical and spiritual salvation come together is Isa. 40–55, where Judah’s exile from the land and prophesied return are seen as the physical manifestation of the much more fundamental spiritual exile that resulted from sin. To address that far greater reality, God announces the day when the Suffering Servant would once and for all take away the sins of his people (Isa. 52:13–53:12).

As in the OT, the NT has places where salvation refers to being rescued from physical difficulty. Paul, for example, speaks of being saved from various physical dangers, including execution (2 Cor. 1:8–10; Phil. 1:19; 2 Tim. 4:17). In the midst of a fierce storm, Jesus’ disciples cry out, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” (Matt. 8:25). But far more prominent are the places in the Gospels and Acts where physical healings are described with the verb sōzō, used to speak of salvation from sin. The healing of the woman with the hemorrhage (Mark 5:25–34), the blind man along the road (Luke 18:35–43), and even the man possessed by a demon (Luke 8:26–39), just to name a few, are described with the verb sōzō. The same verb, however, is also used to refer to Jesus forgiving someone’s sins (Luke 7:36–50) and to his mission to save the lost from their sins (Luke 19:10). Such overlap is a foretaste of the holistic salvation (physical and spiritual) that will be completed in the new heaven and earth (Rev. 21–22). The NT Epistles give extensive descriptions of how the work of Jesus Christ saves his people from their sins.

Scripture

The term “Scripture” (graphē) appears fifty-one times in the NT, used in reference to the OT. Sometimes the biblical writers cite a specific OT text as Scripture, while at other times they refer to Scripture in a more comprehensive manner.

Spirit

In the world of the Bible, a person was viewed as a unity of being with the pervading breath and thus imprint of the loving and holy God. The divine-human relationship consequently is portrayed in the Bible as predominantly spiritual in nature. God is spirit, and humankind may communicate with him in the spiritual realm. The ancients believed in an invisible world of spirits that held most, if not all, reasons for natural events and human actions in the visible world.

The OT writers used the common Hebrew word ruakh (“wind” or “breath”) to describe force and even life from the God of the universe. In its most revealing first instance, God’s ruakh hovered above the waters of the uncreated world (Gen. 1:2). In the next chapter of Genesis a companion word, neshamah (“breath”), is used as God breathed into Adam’s nostrils “the breath of life” (2:7). God thus breathed his own image into the first human being. Humankind’s moral obligations in the remainder of the Bible rest on this breathing act of God.

The OT authors often employ ruakh simply to denote air in motion or breath from a person’s mouth. However, special instances of the use of ruakh include references to the very life of a person (Gen. 7:22; Ps. 104:29), an attitude or emotion (Gen. 41:8; Num. 14:24; Ps. 77:3), the negative traits of pride or temper (Ps. 76:12), a generally good disposition (Prov. 11:13; 18:14), the seat of conversion (Ezek. 18:31; 36:26), and determination given by God (2 Chron. 36:22; Hag. 1:14).

The NT authors used the Greek term pneuma to convey the concept of spirit. In the world of the NT, the human spirit was understood as the divine part of human reality as distinct from the material realm. The spirit appears conscious and capable of rejoicing (Luke 1:47). Jesus was described by Luke as growing and becoming “strong in spirit” (1:80). In “spirit” Jesus “knew” what certain teachers of the law were thinking in their hearts (Mark 2:8). Likewise, Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” at the sickness of a loved one (John 11:33). At the end of his life, Jesus gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

According to Jesus, the spirit is the place of God’s new covenant work of conversion and worship (John 3:5; 4:24). He declared the human spirit’s dependence on God and ascribed great virtue to those people who were “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3).

Human beings who were possessed by an evil spirit were devalued in Mediterranean society. In various places in the Synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, either Jesus or the disciples were involved in exorcisms of such spirits (Matt. 8:28 33; Mark 1:21–28; 7:24–30; 9:14–29; 5:1–20; 9:17–29; Luke 8:26–33; 9:37–42; Acts 5:16).

The apostle Paul pointed to the spirit as the seat of conversion (Rom. 7:6; 1 Cor. 5:5). He described believers as facing a struggle between flesh and spirit in regard to living a sanctified life (Rom. 8:2–17; Gal. 5:16–17). A contradiction seems apparent in Pauline thinking as he appears to embrace Greek dualistic understanding of body (flesh) and spirit while likewise commanding that “spirit, soul and body be kept blameless” (1 Thess. 5:23). However, the Christian struggle between flesh and Spirit (the Holy Spirit) centers around the believer’s body being dead because of sin but the spirit being alive because of the crucified and resurrected Christ (Rom. 8:10). Believers therefore are encouraged to lead a holistic life, lived in the Spirit.

Works

The Bible has much to say about works, and an understanding of the topic is important because works play a role in most religions. In the most generic sense, “works” refers to the products or activities of human moral agents in the context of religious discussion. God’s works are frequently mentioned in Scripture, and they are always good. His works include creation (Gen. 2:2 3; Isa. 40:28; 42:5), sustenance of the earth (Ps. 104; Heb. 1:3), and redemption (Exod. 6:6; Ps. 111:9; Rom. 8:23). Human works, therefore, should be in alignment with God’s works, though obviously of a different sort. Works in the Bible usually reflect a moral polarity: good or evil, righteous or unrighteous, just or unjust. The context of the passage often determines the moral character of the works (e.g., Isa. 3:10–11; 2 Cor. 11:15).

Important questions follow from the existence of works and their moral quality. Do good works merit God’s favor or please him? Can good works save at the time of God’s judgment? When people asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” he answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:28–29). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). The people from the OT commended in Heb. 11 did their works in the precondition of faith. Explicitly in the NT and often implicitly in the OT, faith is the condition for truly good works. God elects out of his mercy, not out of human works (Rom. 9:12, 16; Titus 3:5; cf. Rom. 11:2). Works not done in faith, even if considered “good” by human standards, are not commendable to God, since all humankind is under sin (Rom. 3:9) and no person is righteous or does good (Rom. 3:10–18; cf. Isa. 64:6). Works cannot save; salvation is a gift to be received by faith (Eph. 2:8–9; 2 Tim. 1:9; cf. Rom. 4:2–6). Even works of the Mosaic law are not salvific (Rom. 3:20, 27–28; Gal. 2:16; 3:2; 5:4). Good works follow from faith (2 Cor. 9:8; Eph. 2:10; 1 Thess. 1:3; James 2:18, 22; cf. Acts 26:20). The works of those who have faith will be judged, but this judgment appears to be related to rewards, not salvation (Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:13–15).

Direct Matches

Abraham

Abram, eventually named “Abraham,” is a well-known biblical character whose life is detailed in Gen. 11:25–25:11. The patriarchal name “Abram” is used exclusively in Genesis, 1 Chron. 1:27, and Neh. 9:7. Abram’s name (which means “exalted father”) is changed in Gen. 17:5 to “Abraham,” meaning “father of many nations.” His prominence as a biblical character is evidenced in the 254 references to him documented in both Testaments.

The historical reliability of the account of Abraham is vigorously debated by scholars, although the Middle Bronze Age (2200–1550 BC) is the generally accepted time period of Abraham’s life. The narrative of his life is a selective account of key events that serves the theme and purpose of the larger biblical narrative.

The Abraham narrative in Genesis is a story intentionally structured around the familiar details of life and death, uprooting and resettling, faith and doubt, and dysfunctional relationships. It is distinguished with illustrations of divine activity in family and political relationships. God is speaking (12:1, 7; 15:5, 7, 9), revealing (12:7; 17:1; 18:1), rescuing, judging, and fulfilling words of promise (18:19; 21:1). God’s fingerprint is clearly noted with the summary statements of the Lord’s blessing (24:1) and wealth (24:35).

The covenant that God made with Abraham is a key element in the overall story and foundational for the theology of both Testaments. This divine arrangement is introduced in Gen. 12:1–3 and progressively unfolded with increased detail in Gen. 15; 17. It is structured so that the obligations are borne by the Lord himself. The covenant promises land, seed, and blessing to Abraham and his descendants. In Gen. 15 the Lord officially cut the covenant with Abraham, thereby guaranteeing his commitment to his word. The halving of animals and the walking between the cut pieces by God symbolized by the torch constituted an ancient covenantal ritual affirming God’s responsibility for the covenant particulars.

The promise of land made to Abraham is referenced specifically in Acts (7:5, 16) and Hebrews (11:8, 11), where his obedient faith is featured and the land is discussed in connection with the historical context of his life. See also Abram.

Believe

The spectrum of meaning of “faith” and “faithfulness” may be applied both to God and to human beings. Cognates of “faith” are used interpersonally in human relationships but are used in the Bible specifically to denote the interaction between God and humanity, and human response to God. A question of theological pertinence is the degree to which one must distinguish between faith as an agent of personal belief and faith as an object of personal belief as pertaining to the relationship between God and human being.

In Hebrew the words most often translated “faith” or “faithful” are ’emunah and ’emet. In Greek the word rendered most frequently “faith” or “faithful” is pistis. In terms of their semantic domains, ’emunah and ’emet connote an objective sense of reliability (of persons) and stability (of inanimate objects); pistis conveys more of a subjective sense of placing confidence in a person, trusting in a person, or believing in a person or set of propositions. This subjective sense of pistis is correlated to considering the person or object of trust, belief, or confidence as reliable—“faithful.” Pistis likewise is used to communicate the quality of this person or belief as “committed” and “trustworthy.”

As noted, to some degree the meanings of the Hebrew and Greek terms overlap. However, certain dissimilarities are apparent as well. These observations play out in OT and NT expressions of faith. Martin Buber (1878–1965), a Jewish philosopher known for his academic work in the area of “faith,” distinguished between two types of faith: OT/Judaic faith, typified as tribal, national, and communal trust and fidelity based on the covenant; and NT/Christian faith, characterized as individual persuasion or belief in something.

Old Testament

Faithfulness as an attribute of God. Yahweh is presented in the OT as faithful to his promises, as faithfulness is a part of his very being. In the Torah the Israelites are reminded, “The Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deut. 7:9). Not only is God presented as keeping his covenant, but also the prophet Hosea calls God “the faithful Holy One” (Hos. 11:12). Isaiah likewise pre-sents faithfulness as an attribute of God (Isa. 49:7). The people can rest assured, for God is unchanging and reliable.

The psalmist speaks of Yahweh as the faithful God: “You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” (Ps. 31:5 NRSV); “he remains faithful forever” (Ps. 146:6). The translation “faithful” is warranted in these instances in the psalms. Its connotations are “truth” and “trustworthiness.” Yahweh is ascribed divine honor by his people recognizing and acknowledging his faithfulness and trustworthiness, and by responding to it in obedience as the people of God.

The faith of Abraham. Abraham’s (Abram’s) faith is used in the Bible as an example (Rom. 4:12; Gal. 3:6–9) in the sense that Abraham trusted God’s faithfulness in a way unequaled by other characters in the OT. Abraham lived in Mesopotamia when God spoke to him in a vision and told him that his descendants would be as innumerable as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:1–5). Abraham trusted that God would be faithful to keep his promise despite insurmountable obstacles. This trust was credited to Abraham as righteousness (15:6). God subsequently initiated a covenant with Abraham (15:7–21).

Abraham’s life was characterized by his obedience to God and by his considering God to be faithful, something well noted by the early church (Heb. 11:8–11, 17–19) and used as an example of faith in the Christian walk (12:1). The three best-known examples of Abraham’s obedience and hence trust in God’s faithfulness are found consecutively in the departure from his homeland, the birth of his son Isaac, and the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice.

When God said to Abraham, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1), Abraham went as commanded (12:4). He obeyed despite his cultural disposition toward staying in the area of his ancestry and kin, and he went without knowledge of an appointed destination. Elderly and childless (12:7, 11–12), Abraham considered offspring to be impossible. However, Abraham trusted that God would be able to raise offspring for him, believing that he would become a great nation (12:2). His offspring Isaac was later reminded of the obedience of Abraham (26:5). Abraham’s greatest challenge of trust in God’s faithful provision came when he was commanded to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering (22:2). He was commended for fearing God without reservation (22:12).

When the priest and initial leader of the Maccabean revolt, Mattathias, gave his farewell speech to his sons as he faced death in 166 BC, he placed his deeds along the lines of biblical heroes of faith such as Abraham. With likely reference to Abraham offering Isaac, he said, “Was not Abraham found faithful when tested, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?” (1 Macc. 2:52 NRSV). The early church likewise used this test in Abraham’s life as an example of his faithfulness, while at the same time claiming that the source for this faithfulness was found in faith—faith in God’s faithful provision (Heb. 11:17).

Faithfulness to the covenant. Faithfulness embodies the very core of the covenant relationship. God seeks a love relationship with humanity expressed in initiating his covenant. He is described as “abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exod. 34:6). His covenant love (Heb. khesed) is closely correlated to his faithfulness: “He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love” (Deut. 7:9). Throughout the OT, Yahweh is shown as loyal to his covenant. Yahweh’s righteousness is seen in his faithfulness in keeping the covenant even when his people were disloyal and did not acknowledge his faithfulness. He delivered his people out of Egypt because of his covenant love and righteousness, as the psalmist declared: “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts” (Ps. 103:17–18). He delivered them out of their subsequent exile, declaring them righteous because their repentant hearts trusted in his faithfulness and sought to obey his covenant. Yahweh said, “If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them” (Jer. 33:25–26).

God’s people, however, were expected to reciprocate and trust his faithfulness (1 Chron. 16:15–16). When God met with Moses on Mount Sinai, he instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to obey the commands fully and to keep the covenant. It was only then that they would be a treasured possession, a holy nation (Exod. 19:5–6). The Israelites were expected to follow in obedience and thus reciprocate God’s faithfulness. The people of Israel often failed, but David and other godly people chose to be faithful to God and walk in his truth (Ps. 119:30; Heb. 11:4–38).

Faith counted as righteousness. Whereas faith is used throughout the OT in reference to God’s faithfulness and loyalty, it is used in Hab. 2:4 as pertaining to the faith of the righteous: “But the righteous will live by his faith” (NASB). In Rom. 1:17 Paul specifies, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ ” He notes that God’s righteousness, even as revealed within OT promises, is by faith (“faith to faith,” or “faith, through and through”). By the parameters “from faith to faith,” Paul intends to exclude works of righteousness, a theme that he carries consistently in the first four chapters of Romans. Justification, for Habakkuk’s hearers, meant faithfulness, a single-minded focus on Yahweh to meet life’s essential needs. For Paul, salvation by way of justification meant that reliance upon Christ alone was foundational. In Pauline theology, faith is a thread connecting the old covenant with the new covenant.

New Testament

Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews, faith is described as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). Faith thus is viewed as something that can be accomplished in the life of the believer—a calling of God not yet tangible or seen. To possess faith is to be loyal to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite all obstacles. In the letter of James, genuine works naturally accompany genuine faith. Works, however, are expressed in doing the will of God. The will of God means, for example, caring for the poor (James 2:15–16).

In 1 Peter, Christ is depicted as the broker of faith in God (1 Pet. 1:21), whereas in 2 Peter and Jude faith is presented as received from God (2 Pet. 1:1). In the letters of John “to believe” is used as a litmus test for those who possess eternal life: “You who believe in the name of the Son of God, . . . you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

Faith is rarely addressed in the book of Revelation. Rather, faithfulness is the objective. Christ is described as the faithful and true witness (Rev. 1:5; 3:14), the perfect example for believers. One of the believers in Asia Minor, Antipas, is identified as Christ’s witness and faithful one (2:13). Those believers who, like Antipas, are faithful unto death, are called “overcomers” (2:10, 26). The faithless are thrown into the lake of fire, which represents the second death (21:8).

Faith and salvation. The role of faith in salvation is often hotly debated. Views are polarized between Christ as the object of faith and as the subject of faith. These views are designated as an objective genitive (faith in Christ), also known as an anthropological view, and a subjective genitive (the faithfulness of Christ), also known as a christological view. Thus, for example, Rom. 3:22 can be translated as “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (cf. NRSV) or as “This righteousness from God comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe” (cf. NET). In the latter translation the faithfulness of Christ is seen as the agent of salvation.

In Eph. 2:8 the phrase “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith,” points to faith as instrumental in salvation. However, the source of that faith is not made clear. Does God provide the faith required to be saved, and thus the event is out of the hands of humanity? Or does salvation require a response from human beings in the form of faith—that is, trust?

In the Letter to the Romans, Paul indicates a correlation between grace and faith (Rom. 4:16; 5:1–2), and he shows that Abraham’s faith, his belief and unwavering hope in God’s faithfulness, was credited to him as righteousness (4:18–22). In the new covenant this righteousness likewise is credited to those who believe in God (4:23–24).

Faith and works. In Eph. 2:8–10 works are described as an outflow of the faith of believers: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Faith and works are also related in the letter of James, where works appear to be a prerequisite of faith, for faith without works is dead (2:26). While at first sight this might appear to contradict a Pauline understanding of faith and works (Rom. 3:19–5:1; Gal. 2:15–3:24), James and Paul use the word “works” differently. Paul uses it in terms of “obedience to the law,” something obsolete as a requirement in the new covenant. James, however, writes with regard to works of charity, not works of obedience to Jewish ritualistic law. Authentic faith, then, shows the evidence of good works—charity, the fruit of the Spirit.

Faith and the Church

Whereas baptism was a public initiation rite into the first-century Christian community, it was faith in Christ Jesus that was understood as establishing one’s membership in the family of God (Gal. 3:26). This membership was available to both Jews and Gentiles. Faith, the shared belief system in and confession of Jesus’ salvific work, became the common denominator in the Christian community. In Ephesians, faith is identified as one of the unifying elements of the church (Eph. 4:5). The prayer of faith heals the sick person in the church, another unifying element of applying faith (James 5:13–15).

Faith as a spiritual gift. According to the apostle Paul, the gift of faith is closely related to the life and functioning of the church (1 Cor. 12:9). Mentioned among other gifts, or charismata (12:4), this aspect of faith is that benefit of salvation with which certain members of the church are graced and is used for the common good (12:7). This faith, then, is understood as edifying the Christian community at large rather than just the individual believer.

Faith and the Christian life. Christians are described as living by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). Not only does faith lead people to Christ, but also Christ subsequently dwells in believers’ hearts through faith (Eph. 3:17). This Christian faith is subject to testing (James 1:2).

Faith is presented by Paul as present at different levels of growth among believers. Some Christians are weak in faith (Rom. 14:1), whereas others are strong in faith (15:1). Faith can differ in its strength of conviction (4:20–22; 14:5). It is presented as something that can grow (2 Cor. 10:15).

Faith is grouped among gifts and virtues. Lifted out together with hope and love, faith is mentioned among gifts that edify believers in the church (1 Cor. 13:13). Likewise, faith is mentioned as a Christian virtue among the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23).

Clothed

Clothing serves not only the utilitarian function of protecting the body from the elements (1 Tim. 6:8; James 2:15–16) but also a number of socially constructed functions, such as identifying the status of the wearer (James 2:2–3) and expressing cultural values such as modesty and beauty. The full range of such functions is attested in the Bible, and clothing plays a prominent symbolic role in a number of texts. Evidence concerning Israelite and other ancient clothing comes not only from the Bible but also from reliefs, pottery decorations, incised ivories, and, to a limited extent, textile fragments recovered in archaeological excavations.

In biblical lands most clothing was made from the wool of sheep or goats. More expensive articles (such as the garments of priests and aristocrats) could be made from linen, a textile made from the plant fiber flax. Other items, such as sandals, belts, and undergarments, were made from leather. Biblical law forbade the mixture of woolen and linen fibers in Israelite clothing (Deut. 22:11).

Articles of Clothing

A number of specific articles of clothing can be identified in the Bible. Egyptian and Mesopotamian pictures suggest that in OT times each nation was known for a distinctive costume or hairstyle. Some notion of how Israelite costume was perceived, at least that of royalty, may be derived from the depiction of the northern king Jehu (842–814 BC) and his retinue on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. In this image Israelites are depicted wearing softly pointed caps, pointed shoes, and fringed mantles.

In OT Israel, men wore an undergarment or loincloth held in place by a belt. This loincloth could be made of linen (Jer. 13:1) or leather (2 Kings 1:8). Over this was worn an ankle-length woolen robe or tunic. The tunic of Joseph, traditionally rendered as his “coat of many colors” (Gen. 37:3 KJV, following the LXX), is perhaps better described not as colorful but as “long-sleeved” (see also 2 Sam. 13:18 NASB). The corresponding garments worn by women were similar in appearance, though sufficiently distinct that cross-dressing could be prohibited (Deut. 22:5).

Outside the tunic were worn cloaks (Exod. 22:25–26), sashes (Isa. 22:21), and mantles (1 Kings 19:19). A crafted linen sash was a marketable item (Prov. 31:24), whereas a rope belt was a poor substitute (Isa. 3:24). Both Elijah and John the Baptist wore a belt of leather (2 Kings 1:8; Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6).

The characteristic garment of the elite was a loose-fitting, wide-sleeved, often elegantly decorated royal robe (Heb. me’il ). This garment was worn by priests (Exod. 28:4), nobility, kings, and other highly placed members of Israelite society, such as Samuel (1 Sam. 15:27–28), Jonathan (1 Sam. 18:4), Saul (1 Sam. 24:4), David (1 Chron. 15:27), David’s daughter Tamar (2 Sam. 13:18), and Ezra (Ezra 9:3).

In the NT, the inner garment was the tunic (chitōn), and the outer garment was the cloak (himation). This distinction lies behind the famous command of Jesus: “From one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either” (Luke 6:29 ESV). The Gospel of John reports that the tunic taken from Jesus at the time of his death was made seamlessly from a single piece of cloth (John 19:23).

Footwear consisted of leather sandals attached to the feet by straps (John 1:27). Sandals were removed as a sign of respect in the presence of deity (Exod. 3:5; Josh. 5:15). The exchange of footwear also played a role in formalizing various legal arrangements (Ruth 4:7–8; see also Deut. 25:9).

Special Functions of Clothing

According to Genesis, the first humans lived initially without clothing or the shame of nakedness (Gen. 2:25). After eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and fashioned clothing from leaves (3:7). Later, God made “garments of skin” for Adam and his wife (3:21). The significance of this story and the meaning of the divinely fashioned garments have a long history of interpretation going back to antiquity. Clearly, however, the story illustrates that a basic function of clothing is to cover nakedness—a motif that soon after this story is featured again in the story of Noah and his sons (9:21–23).

Rebekah’s ploy to secure the birthright for her son Jacob involved disguising him in the clothing of his brother Esau (Gen. 27:15; see also Saul’s use of disguise in 1 Sam. 28:8). This tale illustrates how especially in a culture in which individuals owned what would, by modern standards, be considered a limited amount of clothing, clothing itself became an extension of the individual’s identity. In the same way, Jacob himself later was tricked into thinking that one of his own sons was dead, based on the identification of an article of clothing (Gen. 37:31–33). That Isaac could detect Esau’s distinctive smell on his clothing may also indicate the infrequency with which garments were changed and laundered (Gen. 27:27; see also Matt. 10:10). So closely was clothing identified with its owner that a garment could be used as collateral or a pledge, though biblical law regulates this practice for humanitarian reasons (Exod. 22:26). Perhaps because the production of clothing was labor intensive, making clothes for someone was sometimes considered an act of intimacy or an expression of love, so that descriptions of this aspect of clothing in the Bible are quite poignant (see 1 Sam. 2:19; Acts 9:39). When clothing wore out, it was discarded and replaced (Ps. 102:26; Isa. 51:6; Luke 12:33). During the forty years in the wilderness, as a special provision to the Israelites, their clothes and shoes did not wear out (Deut. 8:4; 29:5; Neh. 9:21).

Clothing was an emblem not only of one’s identity but also of one’s office. Thus, when the authority of Elijah passed to his disciple Elisha, Elisha received his master’s cloak or mantle (2 Kings 2:13–14; see also Isa. 22:21). Examples of this function are multiplied when we consider the significance of clothing in symbolizing the role of priests in ancient Israel (e.g., Exod. 29:5–9; 39:27–31). The story of Tamar illustrates that the status of certain women was expressed by their clothing, including that of the prostitute (Gen. 38:15) and the widow (Gen. 38:14, 19).

Biblical texts reveal a rich gestural language involving clothing. In several biblical accounts, spreading the corner of one’s garment over a woman appears as a courtship or marriage ritual (Ruth 3:9; Ezek. 16:8). Giving garments as gifts was a way of honoring or elevating the recipient (Gen. 45:22; Judg. 14:12; Ezek. 16:10; Dan. 5:7), including royal investiture (Pss. 45:8; 93:1; 104:1). The guards who tortured Jesus prior to his crucifixion made light of his status as “king” by dressing him in a royal purple robe (Luke 23:11; John 19:2–3). Grasping someone’s garment, especially its hem, signified entreaty (1 Sam. 15:27–28; Zech. 8:23; Mark 5:27–28). Tearing one’s garments was a way of expressing despair or repentance (Gen. 37:29; Josh. 7:6; Judg. 11:35) or of lodging an especially strong protest (Num. 14:6; Matt. 26:65; Acts 14:14). In some cases, the tearing clothing was accompanied by the act of donning sackcloth and ashes, which signified a further degree of self-humiliation or mourning (Gen. 37:34; 2 Sam. 3:31; 2 Kings 19:1; Matt. 11:21; in Jon. 3:8 animals are included as well, perhaps to comic effect). In such instances, shoes and headwear were also removed (2 Sam. 15:30; Isa. 20:2; Ezek. 24:17). A number of these customs can be understood in terms of the correlation of nakedness with shame, and clothing with honor. Military captives often were stripped naked as a form of humiliation (Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:10; Amos 2:16). In Luke 8:27 Jesus encounters a demon-possessed man who neither lived in a house nor wore clothing. In this case, the lack of clothing represents the full measure of human degradation.

Clothing stands symbolically for attributes such as righteousness and salvation (Job 29:14; Ps. 132:9; Isa. 61:10), the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:53–54; 2 Cor. 5:2–4), glory and honor (Job 40:10), union with Christ (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27), compassion and other virtues (Col. 3:12; 1 Pet. 5:5), and purity (Rev. 3:18).

Clothes

Articles of Clothing

Special Functions of Clothing

Clothing

Articles of Clothing

Special Functions of Clothing

Faith

Old Testament

New Testament

Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews, faith is described as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). Faith thus is viewed as something that can be accomplished in the life of the believer—a calling of God not yet tangible or seen. To possess faith is to be loyal to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite all obstacles. In the letter of James, genuine works naturally accompany genuine faith. Works, however, are expressed in doing the will of God. The will of God means, for example, caring for the poor (James 2:15–16).

Faith and the Church

Faithfulness

Old Testament

New Testament

Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews, faith is described as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). Faith thus is viewed as something that can be accomplished in the life of the believer—a calling of God not yet tangible or seen. To possess faith is to be loyal to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite all obstacles. In the letter of James, genuine works naturally accompany genuine faith. Works, however, are expressed in doing the will of God. The will of God means, for example, caring for the poor (James 2:15–16).

Faith and the Church

Poor

Taken together “poor,” “orphan,” and “widow” are mentioned in the NIV 280 times, evidence of God’s particular concern for those in need. “Poor” is an umbrella term for those who are physically impoverished or of diminished spirit. In biblical terms, “poor” would include most orphans and widows, though not every poor person was an orphan or widow. With over 170 references to the “poor” in the NIV, the biblical writers emphasize God’s concern for the poor. This is best summarized in Deuteronomy: “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land” (15:11).

The Poor

Old Testament. All sections of the OT (including the Torah, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets, and wisdom literature) contain both instructions and warnings regarding the treatment of the poor. Portions of the tithes and offerings were to be set aside for the needs of the poor (Deut. 14:28–29; 26:12–13). The law made specific provisions that allowed the poor in the land to glean from fields that they had not planted or tended (Lev. 19:9–10; 23:22). Boaz’s allowance of Ruth’s gleanings is an example (Ruth 2:7–8, 15, 23).

Favor was given to those who were kind to the poor (Job 29:12; 30:25; 31:16; Ps. 112:9; Prov. 19:17; 22:9; 28:8, 27; Isa. 58:5–7; Jer. 22:16). Inversely, those who did not care for the poor were strongly warned (Prov. 21:13; Ezek. 16:49; Amos 8:4–9). The OT often warns against oppression of the poor, with the added emphasis that God is their defender (2 Sam. 12:3–4; Job 20:19; Pss. 109:16; 140:12; Prov. 14:31; 23:11; Isa. 3:14). If a poor person made a vow, specific regulations were provided to prevent a pledge of unfair amount and to prevent the pledge from being kept overlong (Lev. 27:8; Deut. 24:12). Israelites who were hired as workers because they were impoverished were to be treated fairly and not as slaves (Lev. 25:39–42; Deut. 24:14–15). The poor were to be judged fairly, being shown neither favoritism nor oppression because of their situation (Exod. 23:3, 6; 30:15; Lev. 19:15; Job 34:19; Ps. 49:2; Isa. 10:2).

In addition, the poor were not to be disregarded in the Sabbath Year or Jubilee Year. During the Sabbath Year, the poor and the needy of the land were permitted to gather food from the land, including the fields, olive groves, and vineyards (Exod. 23:11). If a man became poor and was forced to sell his land, and if it was not redeemed by a family member, the land would be returned to the man during the Jubilee Year (Lev. 25:25–30). Also, if a man was forced to submit himself to being a hired worker, he would be redeemed in the Jubilee Year (Lev. 25:47–54).

New Testament. The NT advances the atmosphere of kindness and nonoppression toward the poor and those in need found in the OT. The NT church was marked by such a real and selfless generosity that its members sold their own possessions and gave to “anyone who had need” (Acts 2:45). The poor were to be treated with generosity, and needs were to be addressed whenever they were discovered (Matt. 19:21; Luke 3:11; 11:41; 12:33; 14:13; 19:8; Acts 6:1; 9:36; Rom. 15:26; Gal. 2:10).

Kindness to the poor was regarded as a natural manifestation of the love of God. Several NT writers considered a lack of concern and kindness toward the poor in a believer’s life cause to question the authenticity of that person’s faith (James 2:15–16; 1 John 3:17–18).

Furthermore, because of the incarnation of Christ, in which the almighty God chose to dwell with humanity, distinctions between believers on the basis of material wealth and, more specifically, favoritism toward the rich were expressly forbidden by the NT writers (1 Cor. 11:20–22; Phil. 2:1–8; James 2:1–4).

Orphans

Other specific biblical instructions regarding people in need concern those without parents and especially those without a father. Such individuals are referred to as “fatherless.” As with the provisions made for the poor, oppression of orphans or the fatherless was strictly forbidden (Exod. 22:22; Deut. 24:17; 27:19; Isa. 1:17; 10:1–2; Zech. 7:10). Furthermore, God is often referred to as the provider and helper of the orphan or fatherless (Deut. 10:18; Pss. 10:14, 18; 68:5; 146:9; Jer. 49:11). Jesus promised not to leave his followers as “orphans,” implying that he would not leave them unprotected (John 14:18). In one of the clearest statements of how Christian belief is to manifest itself, James states, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). (See also Fatherless.)

Widows

Since widows are bereft of their husbands and thus similar to orphans in vulnerability and need, they are the beneficiaries of special provisions in both Testaments. Oppression was forbidden (Exod. 22:22), provisions were to be given in similar fashion to that of the poor and orphans (Deut. 24:19–21), and ample warnings were given to those who would deny justice to widows (Deut. 27:19). Jesus raised a widow’s son from death (Luke 7:14–15), a miracle especially needed because she lacked provision after her only son’s death. The apostle Paul gave specific rules to Timothy regarding who should be placed on the list of widows to receive daily food: they must be over sixty years old and must have been faithful to their husbands (1 Tim. 5:9). In the book of Revelation, a desolate city without inhabitants is aptly described as a “widow” (18:7). (See also Widow.)

Rahab

(1) A woman associated with the conquest whose history is recounted in Josh. 2. Two Israelite soldiers entered Jericho and headed straight for the nearest brothel (Josh. 2:1). There, they “lay down” (the literal meaning of shakab, which the NIV translates as “stayed there”) with Rahab. They were on a reconnaissance mission under Joshua’s command, as a precursor to invasion. The king of Jericho demanded that Rahab hand over the spies to him. She lied and sent the pursuers away on a false path, enabling the Israelites to escape. Her justification for this action was that she, and all of Canaan, knew that Israel’s God was with Israel and surely would destroy Jericho. She asked the spies to spare her family. This they promised to do if she would mark her window with a red cord, which she did.

(2) A mythological monster especially associated with the ocean that represented the natural forces of chaos in the world. Many scholars believe that Rahab is identical to the Canaanite Leviathan. In the OT Yahweh fights Rahab in the process of ending chaos and creating the world. Rahab is depicted as a poor opponent (Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps. 89:10; Isa. 51:9). Later, Egypt is sometimes equated with the monster Rahab (Ps. 87:4; Isa. 30:7), although there is no historic relationship between the two. The NKJV transliterates the Hebrew in Isa. 30:7 as though a proper name, Rahab-Hem-Shebeth, but most versions translate it with a phrase such as “Rahab the Do-Nothing” (NIV) or “Rahab who sits still” (ESV, NRSV).

Righteousness

Old Testament

Divine righteousness. Being careful to avoid imposing Western philosophical categories onto OT texts, we may say that the core idea of righteousness is conformity to God’s person and will in moral uprightness, justness, justice, integrity, and faithfulness. Behind the many and varied uses of righteousness language in the OT stands the presupposition that God himself is righteous in the ultimate sense (e.g., Ezra 9:15; Isa. 45:21; Zeph. 3:5). Righteousness is the expression of his holiness in relationship to others (Isa. 5:16), and all other nuances of righteousness in the biblical texts are derived from this. Either he reveals what is right or demonstrates rightness in his activity. God’s decrees and laws are righteous (Deut. 4:8; Ps. 119); his will is righteous (Deut. 33:21); his acts are righteous (Judg. 5:11; 1 Sam. 12:7; Ps. 71:24); his judgments are righteous (Ps. 7:11); and he always judges with righteousness (Ps. 96:13). In OT texts, divine righteousness is often linked to God’s saving activity, particularly in Psalms (e.g., Ps. 71) and in Isa. 40–66. Divine righteousness is much broader than deliberative justice (i.e., punishing the wicked and rewarding the righteous), though it does include it.

Human righteousness. Related to humans, righteousness is often found as the opposite of wickedness. Righteousness often occurs in evaluative contexts, where it relates to proper conduct with respect to God, the order of the world as he created it, the covenant, or law (e.g., Deut. 6:25). God reigns in righteousness and justice (e.g., Ps. 97:2), and humans should align their conduct with this righteous reign. Righteousness can be expressed as personal integrity with phrases such as “my righteousness” (2 Sam. 22:21, 25; Ps. 7:8) and “their righteousness” (1 Sam. 26:23). Unrighteousness is found in poetic parallel to injustice (e.g., Jer. 22:13); the unjust are parallel with the wicked (Ps. 82:2).

It seems likely that the OT understanding of righteousness was more concrete and less absolute than the typical thinking of most contemporary Western Christians. A more absolute way of understanding righteousness might lead one to think that a truly righteous person is sinless. While we do have references to absolute righteousness in the OT (e.g., Ps. 143:2; cf. Job 4:17; 25:4; Isa. 64:6–7), there are many more references to a righteousness grounded in particular or generalized situations (e.g., Pss. 32:11; 64:10). Another way of unpacking this conceptual difference is the helpful distinction between “ordinary” and “absolute” righteousness. Ordinary righteousness reflects the kind of righteousness that we intend when making comments such as “my wife is a righteous woman.” This means, taken in broad perspective, that her life is characterized predominantly by righteousness. This statement is not making a claim of sinlessness, absolute righteousness. The OT offers examples of comparative righteousness between people (e.g., Gen. 38:26; 1 Sam. 24:17; Jer. 3:11). Absolute righteousness is different from this. It is the extraordinary righteousness that we see in the person and work of God; he is righteous and without sin, totally holy in his dealings.

Noncanonical Jewish documents from the intertestamental period, while varying greatly in individual perspective, generally affirm OT views of human and divine righteousness. In these documents righteousness often is associated with mercy, goodness, justness, and concern for the poor and is contrasted with wickedness.

In Greco-Roman society, righteousness was one of the cardinal virtues and thus had an important influence in society. Greco-Roman righteousness did have some measure of abstractness as a kind of external norm, but this abstractness should not obscure the fact that righteousness often had a relational component in Greco-Roman literature and life. Righteous and unrighteous behaviors often were embedded in interpersonal relationships. Unrighteous deeds not only violated “transcendent” standards of righteousness, but also impacted humans.

New Testament

Ordinary human righteousness. Righteousness language is more rare in the Gospels than one might expect in light of OT and Jewish intertestamental usage. These references fit with the Jewish setting: righteousness is required of God’s people, and unrighteousness is to be avoided. Righteousness is proper conduct with respect to God or Torah (Matt. 21:32) in contrast to wickedness (Matt. 13:49). Righteousness could be conceived as one’s own (e.g., Luke 18:9) and has its reward (Matt. 10:41). While the specific terms related to righteousness are infrequent in the Gospels, the broader concept of conformity to God’s will is widely apparent in calls for repentance, personal moral uprightness, mercy, and concern for the marginalized. The NT Epistles continue these general strands of the concept. Righteousness is related to personal conduct (1 Thess. 2:10; 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 2:24) and is contrasted with wickedness (2 Cor. 6:14); it is a matter of doing, not knowing (Rom. 2:13). An example of righteousness in doing is the kindness shown by the prostitute Rahab, who hid the Israelite spies (James 2:25).

The NT does signal some new dimensions related to righteousness. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7), Jesus extends the requirements of righteousness to conformity to his own teaching and directives, a shocking display of authority. In his mission to call sinners rather than the “righteous” (e.g., Mark 2:17), Jesus implicitly questions the righteousness of the “righteous.” In similar manner, personal righteousness in terms of a righteousness of one’s own is negative in the NT (Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:6; cf. Luke 18:9).

Divine righteousness. The NT continues the OT theme of righteousness as it relates to God himself. God is righteous (John 17:25; Rom. 3:5; 9:14; Heb. 6:10; cf. Matt. 6:33). His judgments are righteous (Rom. 2:5), and his commands and laws are righteous (Rom. 7:12; 8:4). God is a righteous judge (2 Tim. 4:8). His saving activity is righteous; he does not compromise his own justice in justifying the ungodly (Rom. 3:24–26). The righteousness of God is contrasted with human unrighteousness and wickedness (Rom. 3:5; James 1:20). Since God reigns over creation in righteousness, human conduct should conform to that standard (e.g., Rom. 14:17). Jesus is also noted as righteous (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:1, 29). He fulfilled righteousness in the absolute sense of demonstrating complete conformity to the nature and will of God (e.g., 1 Pet. 3:18). He also fulfilled God’s righteousness in the sense of his saving activity toward humans (e.g., 2 Pet. 1:1).

“The righteousness of God” and extra-ordinary human righteousness. There is a significant OT connection between God’s righteousness and his faithfulness in saving activity (e.g., Psalms; Isa. 40–66). Although there are glimpses of righteousness related to God’s saving activity outside of Paul’s Letter to the Romans (e.g., Matt. 5:10; 6:33), a technical phrase, “the righteousness of God,” is used in three important texts in Romans (1:17; 3:21–22 [2×]; 10:3 [2×]). In the gospel, “the righteousness of God” is revealed, where “righteousness of God” could mean his divine righteousness in some sense, righteousness from God (NIV), God’s saving activity as related to his righteousness in fulfilling his covenant faithfulness (e.g., Psalms), or some combination of these.

The righteousness of God is further discussed in Rom. 3:21: “the righteousness of God” has now been revealed apart from the Mosaic law, though the OT testifies about it (cf. Rom. 4 and Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). This righteousness of God is clarified in that it is by trust in Jesus Christ for all, both Jews and Gentiles. The “righteousness of God” may be distinguished from righteousness as a character quality of God (Rom. 3:25–26). In fact, it must be, for God’s righteousness as a character quality was revealed in the OT, whereas “the righteousness of God” is “apart from the [Mosaic] law” (3:21).

In Rom. 10:3 Paul comments that the Israelites are ignorant of “the righteousness of God”; they are seeking to establish their own righteousness because they are not submitting to “the righteousness of God.” The Israelites certainly knew of God’s righteousness in terms of his character, judgments, and expectations of his people. The lack of submission to “the righteousness of God” occurs in the context of the Jewish rejection of Jesus (e.g., 9:32–33; 10:9–13). And Jesus is the key to understanding “the righteousness of God” in the other texts also.

In Rom. 1:17 the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation to all who trust in Jesus (1:3–5, 16). The righteousness of God in 3:21–22 is related to trust in Jesus (3:22, 25–26), who as a sacrifice of atonement (3:25) enables the justification and redemption of sinners (3:24, 26). In Jesus we become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). The righteousness of God, then, is God’s saving activity revealed and manifested in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, whereby sinners are justified as both innocent and righteous in Christ.

Trust

Old Testament

New Testament

Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews, faith is described as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). Faith thus is viewed as something that can be accomplished in the life of the believer—a calling of God not yet tangible or seen. To possess faith is to be loyal to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite all obstacles. In the letter of James, genuine works naturally accompany genuine faith. Works, however, are expressed in doing the will of God. The will of God means, for example, caring for the poor (James 2:15–16).

Faith and the Church

Works

The Bible has much to say about works, and an understanding of the topic is important because works play a role in most religions. In the most generic sense, “works” refers to the products or activities of human moral agents in the context of religious discussion. God’s works are frequently mentioned in Scripture, and they are always good. His works include creation (Gen. 2:2–3; Isa. 40:28; 42:5), sustenance of the earth (Ps. 104; Heb. 1:3), and redemption (Exod. 6:6; Ps. 111:9; Rom. 8:23). Human works, therefore, should be in alignment with God’s works, though obviously of a different sort. Works in the Bible usually reflect a moral polarity: good or evil, righteous or unrighteous, just or unjust. The context of the passage often determines the moral character of the works (e.g., Isa. 3:10–11; 2 Cor. 11:15).

Secondary Matches

The following suggestions occured because James 2:14-26 is mentioned in the definition.

Belief

Old Testament

New Testament

Faith is a central theological concept in the NT. In relational terms, faith is foremost personalized as the locus of trust and belief in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Hebrews, faith is described as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). Faith thus is viewed as something that can be accomplished in the life of the believer—a calling of God not yet tangible or seen. To possess faith is to be loyal to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite all obstacles. In the letter of James, genuine works naturally accompany genuine faith. Works, however, are expressed in doing the will of God. The will of God means, for example, caring for the poor (James 2:15–16).

Faith and the Church

Belt

Articles of Clothing

Special Functions of Clothing

Church

Terminology

The NT word for “church” is ekklēsia, which means “gathering, assembly, congregation.” In classical Greek the term was used almost exclusively for political gatherings. In particular, in Athens the word signified the assembling of the citizens for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the city. Moreover, ekklēsia referred only to the actual meeting, not to the citizens themselves. When the people were not assembled, they were not considered to be the ekklēsia. The NT records three instances of this secular usage of the term (Acts 19:32, 39, 41).

The most important background for the Christian use of the term is the LXX (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, dated c. 250 BC), which uses the word in a religious sense about one hundred times, almost always as a translation of the Hebrew word qahal. While qahal does not indicate a secular gathering (in contrast to ’edah, the typical Hebrew word for Israel’s religious gathering, translated by Greek synagōgē), it does denote Israel’s sacred meetings. This is especially the case in Deuteronomy, where qahal is linked with the covenant.

In the NT, ekklēsia is used to refer to the community of God’s people 109 times (out of 114 occurrences of the term). Although the word occurs in only two Gospel passages (Matt. 16:18; 18:17), it is of special importance in Acts (23 times) and the Pauline writings (46 times). It is found 20 times in Revelation and in isolated instances in James and Hebrews. Three general conclusions can be drawn from this usage. First, ekklēsia (in both the singular and the plural) applies predominantly to a local assembly of those who profess faith in and allegiance to Christ. Second, ekklēsia designates the universal church (Acts 8:3; 9:31; 1 Cor. 12:28; 15:9; especially in the later Pauline letters: Eph. 1:22–23; Col. 1:18). Third, the ekklēsia is God’s congregation (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1).

The Nature of the Church

The nature of the church is too broad to be exhausted in the meaning of one word. To capture its significance, the NT authors utilize a rich array of metaphorical descriptions. Nevertheless, there are those metaphors that seem to dominate the biblical pictures of the church, five of which call for comment: the people of God, the kingdom of God, the eschatological temple of God, the bride of Christ, and the body of Christ.

The people of God. Essentially, the concept of the people of God can be summed up in the covenantal phrase: “I will be their God, and they will be my people” (see Exod. 6:6–7; 19:5; Lev. 26:9–14; Jer. 7:23; 30:22; 32:37–40; Ezek. 11:19–20; 36:22–28; Acts 15:14; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 8:10–12; Rev. 21:3). Thus, the people of God are those in both the OT and the NT eras who responded to God by faith and whose spiritual origin rests exclusively in God’s grace.

To speak of the one people of God transcending the eras of the OT and the NT necessarily raises the question of the relationship between the church and Israel. Modern interpreters prefer not to polarize the matter into an either/or issue. Rather, they talk about the church and Israel in terms of there being both continuity and discontinuity between them.

Continuity between the church and Israel. Two ideas establish the fact that the church and Israel are portrayed in the Bible as being in a continuous relationship. First, in the OT the church was present in Israel in some sense. Acts 7:38 suggests this connection when, alluding to Deut. 9:10, it speaks of the church (ekklēsia) in the wilderness. The same idea is probably to be inferred from the intimate association noted earlier existing between the words ekklēsia and qahal, especially when the latter is qualified by the phrase “of God.” Furthermore, if the church is viewed in some NT passages as preexistent, then one finds therein the prototype of the creation of Israel (see Exod. 25:40; Acts 7:44; Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 21:11; cf. Eph. 1:3–14).

Second, Israel in some sense is present in the church in the NT. The many OT names for Israel applied to the church in the NT establish that fact. Some of those are “Israel” (Gal. 6:15–16; Eph. 2:12; Heb. 8:8–10; Rev. 2:14), “a chosen people” (1 Pet. 2:9), “the circumcision” (Rom. 2:28–29; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11), “Abraham’s seed” (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:29), “the remnant” (Rom. 9:27; 11:5–7), “the elect” (Rom. 11:28; Eph. 1:4), “the flock” (Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:2), and “priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).

Discontinuity between the church and Israel. The church, however, is not totally identical with Israel; discontinuity also characterizes the relationship. The church, according to the NT, is the eschatological (end-time) Israel incorporated in Jesus Christ and, as such, is a progression beyond historical Israel (1 Cor. 10:11; 2 Cor. 5:14–21). Indeed, significant discontinuity is introduced by the fact that the church includes Gentiles as members of Israel, without requiring them to convert to Judaism first. Gentiles enter as Gentiles. However, a caveat must be issued at this point. Although the church is a progression beyond Israel, it does not seem to be the permanent replacement of Israel (see Rom. 9–11, esp. 11:25–27).

The kingdom of God. Many scholars have maintained that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God, producing the overlapping of the two ages. The kingdom has already dawned but is not yet complete. The first aspect pertains to Jesus’ first coming, and the second aspect relates to his second coming. In other words, the age to come has broken into this age, and now the two exist simultaneously. This background is crucial in ascertaining the relationship between the church and the kingdom of God, because the church also exists in the tension that results from the overlapping of the two ages. Accordingly, one may define the church as the foreshadowing of the kingdom. Two ideas flow from this definition: first, the church is related to the kingdom of God; second, the church is not equal to the kingdom of God.

The church and the kingdom of God are related. Not until after the resurrection of Jesus does the NT speak with regularity about the church. However, there are early signs of the church in the teaching and ministry of Jesus, in both general and specific ways. In general, Jesus anticipated the later official formation of the church in that he gathered to himself the twelve disciples, who constituted the beginnings of eschatological Israel—in effect, the remnant. More specifically, Jesus explicitly referred to the church in two passages: Matt. 16:18–19; 18:17. In the first passage Jesus promised that he would build his church despite satanic opposition, thus assuring the ultimate success of his mission. The notion of the church overcoming the forces of evil coincides with the idea that the kingdom of God will prevail over its enemies and bespeaks the intimate association between the church and the kingdom. The second passage relates to the future organization of the church, not unlike the Jewish synagogue practices of Jesus’ day.

The church and the kingdom of God are not identical. As intimately related as the church and the kingdom of God are, the NT does not equate the two, as is evident in the fact that the early Christians preached the kingdom, not the church (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). The NT identifies the church as the people of the kingdom (e.g., Rev. 5:10), not the kingdom itself. Moreover, the church is the instrument of the kingdom. This is especially clear from Matt. 16:18–19, where the preaching of Peter and the church become the keys to opening up the kingdom of God to all who would enter.

The eschatological temple of God. Both the OT and Judaism anticipated the rebuilding of the temple in the future kingdom of God (e.g., Ezek. 40–48; Hag. 2:1–9; 1 En. 90:29; 91:3; Jub. 1:17, 29). Jesus hinted that he was going to build such a structure (Matt. 16:18; Mark 14:58; John 2:19–22). Pentecost witnessed to the beginning of the fulfillment of that dream in that when the Spirit inhabited the church, the eschatological temple was formed (Acts 2:16–36). Other NT writers also perceived that the presence of the Spirit in the Christian community constituted the new temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16–17; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1; Eph. 2:19–22; see also Gal. 4:21–31; 1 Pet. 2:4–10). However, that the eschatological temple is not yet complete is evident in the preceding passages, especially in their emphasis on the need for the church to grow toward maturity in Christ, which will be fully accomplished only at the parousia (second coming of Christ). In the meantime, Christians, as priests of God, are to perform their sacrificial service to the glory of God (Rom. 12:1–2; Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:4–10).

The bride of Christ. The image of marriage is applied to God and Israel in the OT (see Isa. 54:5–6; 62:5; Hos. 2:7). Similar imagery is applied to Christ and the church in the NT. Christ, the bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be his bride (Eph. 5:25–27). Her responsibility during the betrothal period is to be faithful to him (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:24). At the parousia the official wedding ceremony will take place, and with it the eternal union of Christ and his wife will be actualized (Rev. 19:7–9; 21:1–2).

The body of Christ. The body of Christ as a metaphor for the church is unique to the Pauline literature and constitutes one of the most significant concepts therein (Rom. 12:4–5; 1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph. 4:7–16; Col. 1:18). The primary purpose of the metaphor is to demonstrate the interrelatedness of diversity and unity within the church, especially with reference to spiritual gifts. The body of Christ is the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the new humanity of the end time that has appeared in history. However, Paul’s usage of the image, like the metaphor of the new temple, indicates that the church, as the body of Christ, still has a long way to go spiritually. It is not yet complete.

Sacraments

At the heart of the expression of the church’s faith are the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The former symbolizes entrance into the church, while the latter provides spiritual sustenance for the church.

Baptism. Baptism symbolizes the sinner’s entrance into the church. Three observations emerge from the biblical treatment of this sacrament. First, the OT intimated baptism, especially in its association of repentance of sin with ablutions (Num.19:18–22; Ps. 51:7; Ezek. 36:25; cf. John 3:5). Second, the baptism of John anticipated Christian baptism. John administered a baptism of repentance in expectation of the baptism of the Spirit and fire that the Messiah would exercise (Matt. 3:11 // Luke 3:16). Those who accept Jesus as Messiah experience the baptism of fire and judgment (which may be an allusion to undergoing the great tribulation/messianic woes that lead into the messianic kingdom). Third, the early church practiced baptism in imitation of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 3:13–17 // Mark 1:9–11 // Luke 3:21–22; see also John 1:32–34; cf. Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:16; Rom. 6:3–6; 1 Cor. 1:13–15; Gal. 3:27; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 3:21). These passages demonstrate some further truths about baptism: baptism is intimately related to faith in God; baptism identifies the person with the death and resurrection of Jesus; baptism incorporates the person into the community of believers.

Lord’s Supper. The other biblical sacrament is the Lord’s Supper. This rite symbolizes Christ’s spiritual nourishment of his church as it celebrates the sacred meal. Two basic points emerge from the biblical data concerning the Lord’s Supper. First, it was instituted by Christ (Matt. 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–25), probably as an adaptation of the Passover meal. If that is the case, then, Jesus will have introduced two changes into the Passover seder: he replaced the unleavened bread with a reference to his body being given for us on the cross; he replaced the cup of redemption with a reference to his shed blood on the cross, the basis of the new covenant. Second, the early church practiced the Lord’s Supper probably weekly, in conjunction with the love feast (see 1 Cor. 11:18–22; cf. Jude 12). A twofold meaning is attached to the Lord’s Supper by the NT authors. First, it involves participation in Christ’s salvation (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24–25), and in two ways: participating in the Lord’s Supper looks back to the death of Jesus, in which the believer now shares; participating in the Lord’s Supper looks forward to Christ’s return, the culmination point of the believer’s salvation. Second, the Lord’s Supper involves identification with the body of Christ, the community of faith (1 Cor. 10:16–17; 11:27–33).

Worship

The ultimate purpose of the church is to worship God through Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit (see, e.g., Rev. 4–5). The early church first worshiped in the Jerusalem temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:42) as well as in the synagogue (Acts 22:19; cf. John 9:22; James 2:2). At the same time, and into the near future, believers met in homes for worship (Acts 1:13; 2:46; 5:42; cf. Rom. 16:15; Col. 4:15; Philem. 2; 2 John 10; 3 John 1, 6). Although many Jewish Christians no doubt continued to worship God on the Sabbath, the established time for the church’s worship came to be Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:10). The early church most probably patterned its order of worship after the synagogue service: praise in prayer (Acts 2:42, 47; 3:1; 1 Thess. 1:2; 5:17) and in song (1 Cor. 14:26; Phil. 2:6–11; Col. 1:15–20), the expounding of Scripture (Acts 2:42; 6:4; Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:13), and almsgiving to the needy (Acts 2:44–45; 1 Cor. 16:1–2; 2 Cor. 8–9; James 2:15–17).

Service and Organization

Five observations emerge from the NT regarding the service and organization of the early church. First, the ministry of the church centers on its usage of spiritual gifts, which are given to believers by God’s grace and for his glory as well as for the good of others (Rom. 12:3; Eph. 4:7–16). Second, every believer possesses a gift of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 4:7). Third, it is through the diversity of the gifts that the body of Christ matures and is unified (Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 12:12–31; Eph. 4:17–18). Fourth, although there was organized leadership in the NT church, including elders (1 Tim. 3:1–7 [also called “pastors” and “bishops”; see Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Pet. 5:1–4]) and deacons (1 Tim. 3:8–13), there does not seem to have been a gap between the “clergy” and the “laity” in the church of the first century; rather, those with the gift of leadership are called to equip all the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:7–16). Fifth, spiritual gifts are to be exercised in love (1 Cor. 13).

Dress

Articles of Clothing

Special Functions of Clothing

Garments

Articles of Clothing

Special Functions of Clothing

Judgment Day

Judgment Day in the Bible

The book of Revelation concludes with a harrowing vision of final judgment. On that day, when the God of all creation sits on his great white throne and holds court, the dead will rise and answer for their deeds, whether good or bad (20:11–13). The record of each person’s conduct appears in books, one of which is the Book of Life (20:12–13). Anyone whose name does not appear in the Book of Life is thrown into the lake of fire (20:15).

The apostle Paul refers to this same event in Acts 17:30–31. All human beings will face their scheduled day in court, as God certified by raising Christ from the dead. It will be a day of wrath, among other things, when God’s righteous anger against sin is fully displayed (Rom. 2:5). In the presence of this God, Isaiah proclaimed himself to be ruined because of his sinfulness before the one who is called “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:1–5). We therefore confess with the author of Hebrews, who says, “It is [and will be] a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

Many other texts of Scripture forecast the same event: judgment day is coming, and nothing can stop it. They also describe this day in equally frightening terms, anticipating fire, darkness, and weeping for some, but everlasting joy and peace for others. Even Christians will be judged on this day, notwithstanding the promise of everlasting life for everyone who believes (e.g., John 3:16; 5:24; Rom. 3:21–24; 8:1–2; 2 Cor. 5:21). In Rom. 14:10–12 Paul says, “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat,” at which time, “each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” Similarly, in 2 Cor. 5:10 Paul warns, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Justification and Judgment

In these texts, an apparent tension exists between the promise of justification, upon which all Christian hope stands, and the certainty of final judgment, including the judgment of believers. It will not do simply to downplay the one or the other, as if the biblical writers had not really intended one or both of them. These texts say what they say, the good news no less plainly than the bad. Yet, closer inspection shows that the tension is merely apparent.

We must first recognize that Scripture treats piety as the evidence of regeneration and saving faith. Jesus says that a “good tree,” which is a genuine disciple, bears good fruit (Matt. 7:17). That is, the observable righteousness of such a disciple will surpass the hypocritical casuistry of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 5:20). On judgment day, therefore, no actual conflict will or ever could arise between the general tendency of the believer’s conduct and his or her position in Christ. Over a lifetime, the believer’s habitual behavior will have differed fundamentally, though never satisfactorily, from that of a lost person. As for unrepentant sinners, they will be sentenced to eternal damnation because of their lawlessness (Rom. 3:9–19). Their conduct demonstrates that they have rejected the gospel and are deserving of wrath (Heb. 2:3). This linkage between justification and right conduct accounts for James’s polemical statement: “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). Abraham’s positional righteousness, secured by faith in what God would do on his behalf, became publicly evident through his obedience (James 2:21–22).

We should also note the different purpose that God has in judging his church. One aspect of it certainly is to grasp the enormity of our sins, so that we might properly acknowledge the depth of his mercy on that day. But also this judgment will occur in order to mete out the differing rewards that Scripture anticipates for the people of God. The definitive text in this regard is 1 Cor. 3:1–17, which connects the believer’s rewards and losses to the quality of his or her behavior within the body of Christ. Some are building on Christ, the sure foundation, using the available materials, and they receive their proper reward. Others build selfishly on themselves, with the result that they are saved, “though only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Cor. 3:15). In both cases, however, the question seems to be one of greater and lesser reward, as opposed to salvation or damnation. Even in hell itself, various degrees of suffering come into play. According to Jesus, one can receive a heavy or light “beating” for disobedience, based on one’s prior knowledge of the master’s will (Luke 12:47–48). Judgment day, therefore, should not frighten Christians. Jesus really did suffer the full measure of God’s wrath against our sin. But this day reminds us that we are accountable for what we do as his disciples, and it motivates the evangelism that we are commanded to practice.

Justification

Justification is an important topic because of its relationship to Christian salvation and sanctification. The word “justification” occurs only five times in the Bible (NIV), but related words comprise significant themes in both Testaments. Part of the difficulty in the exposition of “justification” is English terminology. English has two word groups that express the same conceptual range for single word groups in Hebrew and Greek. So in addition to words related to justification, such as “justly,” “just,” and the very important verb “to justify,” no discussion can avoid the terms “righteous” and “righteousness.” Care must also be exercised in allowing the biblical texts to determine word meaning, since both “justice” and “righteousness” terminology can have contemporary connotations foreign to the biblical texts.

Justification is often related to a legal setting in both Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts, with its judge, defendant, evidence, criteria for evaluating the evidence, verdicts, and the implications of verdicts. This is a good word picture for justification and is used in the Bible itself. As long as the legal picture is extended to everyday affairs, moral and ethical concerns, and different criteria for evidence evaluation, it is a fine starting point for understanding the doctrine of justification.

Common and Extraordinary Justification

The salvific importance of justification has greatly shaped the exposition that follows. Justification has been somewhat awkwardly divided into common and extraordinary justification, with the latter bearing a significant relationship to the doctrine of salvation. The former is discussed only briefly in OT and NT paragraphs. In common justification, a person’s works or deeds are judged according to a standard of righteousness. Righteous deeds are judged and given the verdict “righteous.” Unrighteous deeds are judged and given the verdict “unrighteous.” Extraordinary justification occurs when an unrighteous person or deed is judged and given the verdict “righteous” by some supernatural intervention.

Common justification in the OT may be described in various contexts: (1) in comparative or relative righteousness between humans (e.g., Gen. 38:26; Ezek. 16:51–52); (2) in specific or concrete situations with God as judge (e.g., 2 Chron. 6:23: “Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence”; (3) in specific or concrete situations with a human as judge (e.g., Deut. 25:1: “When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty”); (4) in giving justice (e.g., 2 Sam. 15:4; cf. Ps. 82:3); (5) in proving correct or right (e.g., Ps. 51:4; Isa. 43:9).

Extraordinary justification is much rarer in the OT. A possible example is Dan. 8:14, where in a vision the sanctuary is desecrated and after a time “will be reconsecrated” or, in other terms, “will be justified holy.” It seems quite unusual that the unholy “is justified” as holy. In Isa. 45:25 we find the promise that “in the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified” (ESV). Another verse declares that Yahweh’s “righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11). The need for extraordinary justification and the deficiency of ordinary justification is clear in Ps. 143:1–2: “Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you” (cf. Job 4:17; 25:4). The last phrase might be translated “no person will be justified before you” and is cited by the apostle Paul in Gal. 2:16 (cf. Rom. 3:20).

In the NT, there are fewer references to common justification than in the OT and a much greater development of extraordinary justification, predominantly in the Pauline letters (for similar concepts in different terms, see, e.g., “kingdom of God” in the Synoptic Gospels or “eternal life” in the Gospel of John). Common justification in the NT may be described in various contexts: (1) in a specific situation with a human or God as judge and a person’s behavior as the object of judgment (e.g., Luke 16:15; 1 Cor. 4:3–4; perhaps Luke 10:29; 18:9–14); (2) when “wisdom is proved right,” meaning vindicated by the results (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:35); (3) in the release from demands no longer binding (Rom. 6:7; cf. 1 Cor. 6:1); (4) in being proved morally right in fullness (1 Tim. 3:16; cf. Rom. 3:4).

Paul and Justification

Extraordinary justification in the NT is characteristic of the apostle Paul. Luke’s report of Paul’s synagogue sermon in Pisidian Antioch concludes with a brief overview of extraordinary justification (Acts 13:38–39). Paul proclaims that forgiveness of sins is available through Jesus. Every person trusting in Jesus is being justified “from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (NKJV). The forgiveness of sins leads to the verdict “innocent” even though sinners apart from Christ are guilty before God of their unrighteous deeds.

In Gal. 2:16 the verb “justify” is used three times: (1) “a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ”; (2) “we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law”; (3) “by the works of the law no one will be justified.” The statements may be paraphrased in the active voice (expressing the implied subject) as in the following: (1) God is justifying a person not by works of Mosaic law, but by trust in Jesus Christ; (2) God justified us by trust in Christ, not by works of Mosaic law; (3) God will justify no person by works of Mosaic law. In Gal. 2:16, God is the subject, the agent who justifies (cf. 3:8; Rom. 3:26, 30; 4:5; 8:30, 33). The basis of justification is faith in Christ, not works of the Mosaic law. The meaning of the verb “justify” may be discerned from the context. This justification is related to the gospel (e.g., Gal. 2:14) and to receiving the Spirit (Gal. 3:2, 14), and the verdict of “righteous” for the person trusting in Jesus (Gal. 2:21; cf. 3:6, 11; 5:5; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21).

Justification and righteousness are important themes in Paul’s letter to the Romans. At the beginning of the letter, Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith (Rom. 1:16–17). Paul argues in Rom. 1:18–3:20, a section abounding with righteousness language, that all humanity, Gentile and Jew, is under the power of sin (3:10), that no one is righteous (e.g., 3:10–18). All are subject to condemnation (i.e., the declaration of “guilty” and “unrighteous” [cf. 5:16]) rather than justification (i.e., the declaration of “innocent” and “righteous”). No human will be justified before God by works of the law; the law provides knowledge of sin (3:20).

The state resulting from this unrighteousness and sin is God’s wrath (e.g., Rom. 1:18). It is into this situation, this sad state of affairs where all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that the righteousness of God, God’s saving activity long anticipated in the OT, is revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ (3:21; 10:3). This righteousness is from God (3:22), a righteousness not related to human fulfillment of Mosaic law or righteousness of one’s own (Rom. 3:21; 9:31–32; 10:4; Phil. 3:6, 9; cf. Eph. 2:8–9). This righteousness comes from God by trust in Christ (Rom. 3:22; 5:1; 9:30; 10:10; Phil. 3:9). By trust in Christ, God justifies each human in his freely given grace, whereby the human is redeemed from unrighteousness and sin (Rom. 3:24).

The death of Jesus is the sacrifice of atonement by which forgiveness of sins is accomplished and made effectual in the human when one trusts in Jesus’ sacrifice (Rom. 3:25). This sacrifice demonstrates God’s righteousness (3:26) because he justly judges human sin in Jesus. The one who had no sin of his own became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21; cf. Rom. 5:6, 8; 1 Cor. 15:3). In merciful forbearance, God passes over sins previously committed, delaying the execution of his justice, that he might justify the ungodly person who trusts in Jesus’ person and work (Rom. 3:26; cf. 4:5). This justification is of a different nature than ordinary righteousness on the human level or of the kind that can be obtained by observing the Mosaic law. In this extraordinary justification, God reckons a human innocent of sin and righteous by trust and apart from works of Mosaic law (3:28). Both Jew and Gentile are reckoned righteous under the same condition: trust in Jesus (3:29–30).

Although the revelation of the person and work of Jesus the Messiah was relatively new at the time Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, Paul emphasizes in Rom. 4 that this idea of justification by trust and not by works goes back to the forefather of the Jews, Abraham. Quoting Gen. 15:6, Paul demonstrates from Scripture that trust, not works, was the basis of extraordinary justification: Abraham believes God, and it is credited to him as righteousness. God justifies Abraham (i.e., God credits righteousness to Abraham) on the basis of Abraham’s trust in God. Paul also cites most of Ps. 32:1–2, from a Davidic psalm, to further demonstrate the consistency of justification by faith with previous revelation. In this quotation the crediting of righteousness apart from works is related to the forgiveness of transgression, where the verdict of the guilty becomes “innocent.” “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). Extraordinary justification of unrighteous sinners leads to the twofold verdict: innocent and righteous.

Titus 3:3–6 expresses the same doctrine of extraordinary justification. Humanity is under sin when Jesus appears. God saves in his mercy through Jesus, not on the basis of righteous human works. This saving activity is equivalent to being justified by Jesus’ grace (3:7).

James and Justification

There are three references to justification in James 2:14–26, which appear at first glance to contradict extraordinary justification as presented by Paul. In support of the claim that faith without deeds is useless (James 2:20), two questions are asked: Was not Abraham considered righteous for what he did, and was not Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did (i.e., justified by works) (2:21, 25)? James 2:24 rephrases this as a proposition: a person is justified by what he or she does, not by faith alone. The context of 2:14–26 demonstrates that although the terms “faith,” “works,” and “justification” are the same as Paul’s, they have different meanings for James. Faith appears in this passage as mere knowledge (2:19), without any implications for living (2:14–18). For Paul, faith is a radical commitment of trust that submits one’s entire life under the lordship of Christ, something much different from the mere belief portrayed as faith by James. Deeds or works in the James passage are the concrete manifestations of what one believes (2:18). Works in the Pauline justification passages are set in opposition to trust in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Outside of the justification context, Paul is an advocate of works properly related to faith, righteousness, and holiness (e.g., Eph. 2:10; 1 Thess. 1:3; cf. Rom. 1:5; 6:1–23; 8:4; 12:1–2). Justification is also different. Pauline justification most commonly relates to the extraordinary justification of declaring unrighteous sinners “innocent” and “righteous” based on trust in Christ. Justification in James has greater ties to common justification, focusing on the righteousness of a specific act at a specific time.

Other Views on Justification

Shortly after the age of the apostles, the doctrine of justification was deemphasized in many circles of church life in favor of a more moralistic system. One group has repeatedly argued for centuries that justification infuses righteousness into the believer, and then the believer must do good works to complete justification. This conception fails to differentiate between sanctification and justification and also misrepresents justification. In justification God declares the believer innocent and righteous, forgiving sin by means of Christ’s sacrifice and imputing Christ’s righteousness to the believer. This is not “legal fiction,” since justification has past, present, and future aspects (Rom. 3:30; 8:30–34; Gal. 2:16; 5:5). Believers have been, are being, and will be justified by faith in Christ Jesus. Recently, some have claimed that justification is related exclusively to the inclusion of Gentiles into the people of God without “works of the law,” racial and national identity markers (e.g., circumcision or food laws). Among the weaknesses of this view, the key one is that both Jew and Gentile are in need of extraordinary justification (Rom. 3:9, 19–20, 23–26, 30; 9:30–10:13; Gal. 2:15–3:14).

Last Judgment

Judgment Day in the Bible

Justification and Judgment

Letter of James

The Letter of James has been hailed as possibly the earliest, most Jewish, and most practical of all NT letters. James 3:13 aptly communicates the book’s theme: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.” The terms “wise” and “wisdom” occur five times in the book (1:5; 3:13 [2×], 15, 17). Hence, the author instructed his readers on leading a life of faith that was characterized by a wisdom expressed through speech and actions (2:12).

Literary Features

The author’s employment of picturesque, concrete language has close affinities to OT wisdom literature and reflects Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.

James 1:2 – Matthew 5:10-12

James 1:4 – Matthew 5:48

James 1:5; 5:15 – Matthew 7:7-12

James 1:9 – Matthew 5:3

James 1:20 – Matthew 5:22

James 1:22 – Matthew 7:21

James 2:5 – Matthew 5:3

James 2:13 – Matthew 5:7; 6:14-15

James 2:14-16 – Matthew 7:21-23

James 3:12 – Matthew 7:16

James 3:17-18 – Matthew 5:9

James 4:4 – Matthew 6:24

James 4:10 – Matthew 5:3-4

James 4:11 – Matthew 7:1-2

James 5:2 – Matthew 6:19

James 5:10 – Matthew 5:12

James 5:12 – Matthew 5:33-37

Like the OT wisdom literature, the teaching in James has a strongly practical orientation. Although the book contains some lengthier paragraphs, much of it consists of sequential admonishments and ethical maxims that in some cases are only loosely related to one another. The sentences generally are short and direct. There are fifty-four verbs in the imperative. Connection between sentences is sometimes created through repeated words. Yet the overall topic of practical faith and wisdom links these exhortations together.

Background and Occasion

After the death of Stephen, many disciples were scattered into the regions of Judea and Samaria (Acts 7:54–8:3). In Acts 11:19 the narrator notes, “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.” James may have written this letter to instruct and comfort those scattered believers, as he addressed his letter to “the twelve tribes dispersed abroad” (1:1 NET). These Jewish Christians no longer had direct contact with the apostles in Jerusalem and needed to be instructed and admonished in their tribulations. Apparently, the rich were taking advantage of them (2:6; 5:1–6), and their trials had led to worldliness, rash words, and strained relationships (2:1; 4:1, 11; 5:9). In view of persecution, some may have been tempted to hide their faith (5:10–11). James exhorted them to demonstrate a lifestyle that would reflect their faith.

James’s View on Works and Salvation

Some readers of this letter have observed a seeming contradiction between James’s call for good works and Paul’s insistence on salvation by grace through faith apart from works (cf. James 2:14–26 with Eph. 2:8–10). The discussion is complicated by James’s argument that a faith without works cannot “save” and by his observation that Abraham was justified by what he did, not by faith alone (James 2:14, 20–24). Paul, by contrast, maintains that Abraham was justified exclusively by faith (Rom. 4:1–3).

Referring rhetorically to people who claim to have faith but have no deeds, James asks, “Can such faith save them?” (2:14). That is, can the kind of faith that results in no works be genuine? The expected answer is no. The kind of faith that produces no works cannot be genuine faith; rather, it is “dead” (2:17, 26) and “useless” (2:20). This kind of faith is “by itself,” meaning that it produces no lasting fruit (2:17). James’s point is that genuine faith will produce good works in the believer’s life. By way of contrast, a mere profession is not necessarily an indication of genuine faith. Even demons believe in God, but they are not saved; the kind of belief that they exhibit is merely an acknowledgment of God’s existence (2:19).

According to James, Abraham was justified not in the sense of first being declared righteous, but rather in the sense that his faith was demonstrated as genuine when he offered up Isaac (2:21). Paul, on the other hand, argues that salvation is obtained not through works but rather by faith alone. He quotes Gen. 15:6 to show that Abraham trusted God and was declared righteous several years before he offered up Isaac (Rom. 4:3).

According to Paul, Abraham was justified (declared righteous) before God when he believed God’s promise (Gen. 15:6), but for James, he was justified in the sense of giving observable proof of salvation through his obedience to God. Whereas Paul refers to the point and means of positional salvation, James refers to a subsequent event that confirmed that Abraham was justified.

I. Faith

A. Paul (Romans 4:1-3):

1. Is personal trust in God

2. Justifies one before God

3. Is not proof of Salvation

B. James (2:14-26)

1. Is a mere claim if there is no resulting fruit

II. Works

A. Paul (Romans 4:1-3):

1. Precede salvation

2. Attempt to merit salvation

3. Cannot justify before God

B. James (2:14-26)

1. Follow conversion

2. Are evidence of salvation

3. Confirm one’s salvation

It is important to keep in mind that each author wrote with a different purpose. Paul wrote against Judaizers, who taught that a man had to be circumcised and keep the OT law to be saved. James was warning against a mere profession of faith that leads to self-deception (1:22). John Calvin correctly expressed the biblical teaching that faith alone saves, but that kind of faith does not remain alone; it produces good works (cf. Rom. 3:21–6:14; Eph. 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14; 3:4–7).

Authorship

The author identifies himself as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1). The NT mentions five persons having the name “James”: (1) James the son of Zebedee and the brother of John (Matt. 4:21); (2) James the son of Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3); (3) James “the younger” (Mark 15:40); (4) James the father of the apostle Judas (not Judas Iscariot; Luke 6:16); and (5) James the brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; Gal. 1:19).

James the brother of John was executed by Herod Agrippa I, who died in AD 44 (Acts 12:2). Since the Letter of James probably was written after this date, the brother of John could not have written it. Neither James the son of Alphaeus, James the younger, nor James the father of Judas was as prominent in the early church as the writer of this letter, who simply identified himself and assumed that his readers would know him (1:1). James the son of Alphaeus is mentioned for the last time in Acts 1:13, and nothing is known of James the father of Judas apart from the listing of his name in Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13. (It is uncertain whether James the younger should be identified with one of the other four or is a separate figure.) Thus, it is unlikely that any of them wrote the book. James the brother of Jesus is most likely the author of this letter.

James the Brother of the Lord

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, James, as well as his brothers Joses (Joseph), Judas, and Simon, did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; John 7:5). However, they came to believe in him after the resurrection (Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:7). Paul called James, along with Peter and John, the “pillars” of the church (Gal. 2:9). James does not claim to be an apostle in this letter; however, he is identified as one in Gal. 1:19. But there the term “apostle” probably refers to a group of leading disciples outside the Twelve (cf. Acts 14:4, 14; 1 Cor. 15:7; Gal. 2:9). Since the author of this letter employed many imperatives, his readers clearly accepted his authority. James, the brother of Jesus, who also became a key leader of the church in Jerusalem, possessed such authority (Acts 12:17; 15:13, 19; 21:18; Gal. 1:18–19; 2:9).

Date

Some scholars hold that the Letter of James was written around AD 62, while others argue that James wrote this letter sometime in AD 45–50. Those who favor the earlier dates point out that the Jewish character of this letter fits with this period when the church was mainly Jewish, based on the following criteria: (1) There is no mention of Gentile Christians in the letter. (2) The author does not refer to the teachings of the Judaizers. If the letter had been written at a later date, we would expect the author to address the issue of circumcision among Christians. (3) The mention of “teachers” (3:1) and “elders” (5:14) as the leaders in the church reflects the structure of the primitive church. (4) The word “meeting” in 2:2 is the same Greek word as for “synagogue.” It describes the gathering place of the early church. This implies a time when the congregation was still primarily Jewish (Acts 1–7).

Outline

I. Introduction (1:1)

II. The Wise Christian Is Patient in Trials (1:2–18)

A. How the Christian should face trials (1:2–12)

B. The source of temptations (1:13–18)

III. The Wise Christian Is a Practical Doer of the Word (1:19–2:26)

A. Hearers and doers of the word (1:19–25)

B. True religion (1:26–27)

C. Prejudice in the church (2:1–13)

D. Faith that works (2:14–26)

IV. The Wise Christian Masters the Tongue (3:1–18)

A. The power of the tongue (3:1–12)

B. The wisdom from above (3:13–18)

V. The Wise Christian Seeks Peace in Relationships (4:1–17)

A. The cause of quarrels (4:1–3)

B. Warning against worldliness (4:4–10)

C. Warning against slander (4:11–12)

D. Warning against boasting and self-sufficiency (4:13–17)

VI. The Wise Christian Is Patient and Prays When Facing Difficulties (5:1–20)

A. Warning to the rich (5:1–6)

B. Exhortation to patience (5:7–12)

C. The power of prayer (5:13–18)

D. The benefit of correcting those in error (5:19–20)

Orphan

The Poor

Orphans

Widows

Poverty

The Poor

Orphans

Widows

Rachab

Rahab-Hem-Shebeth

Sash

Articles of Clothing

Special Functions of Clothing

Welfare Programs

Governmental agencies established to distribute money, vouchers, medical coverage, and other necessities to those who are in need and who qualify for such distributions according to government-established rubrics. Welfare programs as we know them in our own modern societies are modern creations of secular states and are not aspects of the biblical or ancient Near Eastern world. The Bible, however, significantly addresses the complex subject of poverty and Israel’s responsibility to the poor.

The OT emphasizes Israel’s responsibility for the poor, especially fellow Israelites, but also foreigners sojourning in Israel (Exod. 22:25; Lev. 25:25, 35; Ruth 2:10). Because of the blessings bestowed on them by God, Israelites were commanded to be personally generous to those in need (Lev. 25:36–38; Deut. 15:7–13). They were to underharvest their fields, vineyards, and groves so that the poor might glean from them (Lev. 19:9–10; Deut. 24:19–22; Ruth 2:2–3, 7–11). Those who aided the poor were promised blessing (Prov. 19:17; 22:9; 28:27).

The powerful were not to oppress the poor by lending to them usuriously (Lev. 25:36–38) or enslaving them indefinitely (Lev. 25:39–42; Deut. 15:12; 24:14–15). Oppression was a grave offense because God had led Israel out from oppression in Egypt (Exod. 22:21; 22:9; Ps. 72:4, 12–14; Prov. 22:16; Jer. 22:17–19; Ezek. 18:5–9; 22:29–31; Amos 4:1–3).

Particularly in Proverbs, Israel is also cautioned against behaviors that lead to poverty, including sloth (6:6), slacking (10:4), neglecting discipline (13:18; 20:13), loving sleep (20:13), loving pleasure (21:17), heavy drinking and gluttony (23:21), and empty pursuits (28:19).

The NT builds and expands on the OT’s admonitions about treatment of the poor. Giving to the poor remains an imperative (Acts 2:45; Rom. 12:13; James 2:15; 1 John 3:17), but it is to be done without fanfare (Matt. 6:2–3; Mark 12:38–40). Generosity ought to be from the heart and regardless of means (Luke 21:2–4; 2 Cor. 8:1–5), yet not under compulsion (2 Cor. 8:8–9; 9:7). Christians are called to assume responsibility for themselves (2 Cor. 11:9; Eph. 4:28; 2 Thess. 3:7–11) and their families (1 Tim. 5:8, 16).

Showing 1 to 50 of71 results

1. A Dollars Worth of Care

Illustration

Stanley C. Brown

A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry. A few people gathered to see if he was OK and to tell him how sorry they were. In the midst of the works of pity, one man handed the boy a dollar. Then he turned to the group and said, "I care dollars worth. How much do the rest of you care?"

2. Faith Does Good Works

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Martin Luther, who had made himself the apostle and champion of faith alone, wrote the following: “Faith is a living, busy, active, powerful thing; it is impossible for it not to do us good continually. It never asks whether good works are to be done, but has done them before there is time to ask the question, and it is always doing them.”

3. No Imitations

Illustration

Martin Luther

The question is asked: how can justification take place without the works of the law, even though James says: "Faith without works is dead"? In answer, the apostle distinguishes between the law and faith, the letter and grace. The 'works of the law' are works done without faith and grace, by the law, which forces them to be done through fear or the enticing promise of temporal advantages. But 'works of faith' are those done in the spirit of liberty, purely out of love to God. And they can be done only by those who are justified by faith.

An ape can cleverly imitate the actions of humans. But he is not therefore a human. If he became a human, it would undoubtedly be not by vurtue of the works by which he imitated man but by virtue of something else; namely, by an act of God. Then, having been made a human, he would perform the works of humans in proper fashion.

Paul does not say that faith is without its characteristic works, but that it justifies without the works of the law. Therefore justification does not require the works of the law; but it does require a living faith, which performs its works.

4. Ashamed To Beg

Illustration

John G. Lynn

In a large attractive office in a major city, a man worked for several months next to a small attractive woman. He had been there only a few days when he thought he'd ask her to lunch, which he did. The following day he asked her for dinner and they began a long dating relationship. They went to craft fairs together, since he liked to do that. They went to the ocean, which he also liked to do. They used to take long walks along the river.

He liked this relationship. He had lived for many years with his mother. In fact, it was only a few months after she died that he began dating his co-worker. Little by little, however, she began to dislike both the relationship and this man. She felt like she really wasn't herself when she was with him. She couldn't speak what she really felt. She rarely asserted where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do. She later said, "I just wasn't Sandra with him."

So she terminated her social, dating relationship with this man. Once she did, she began to feel like herself again. Her friends told her, "You're more like the old Sandra now."

Across the same town, in another office, a young man sat at his desk for eight years, struggling to manage his office work force. Outside he was a friendly, generous person. In the office he was the same way and his workers flattened him out, like steamrollers over an asphalt road. He worked long, long hours; he holed himself up behind his desk to keep all the records accurate; he just about wore himself out. Finally his friends told him, "Steve, you'd better get out of that job. You're not yourself anymore. Those people are eating you alive and you're not getting anywhere."

He protested, "But it's a good job. I make good money. And besides, it is what I do best. How can I even look for anything else?"

Then the company was sold. New management came in. All the supervisors were replaced and Steve found himself on the street. He was terrified. "To dig I am unable, to beg I am ashamed," he said. "What can I do?"

His friends told him they were glad he was fired. "At least you are your old self," they said. "And you'll find something. Just go for it." He did, and now he's doing better than he ever could have in the position he once felt he could never leave.

The steward in today's gospel lesson is like both Sandra and Steve. Sandra was not herself in that relationship. Steve was not himself in that job. Both were wasting away, losing that which was most precious to them both: their proper identities. Both felt they could not survive if they gave up something so close and precious as a relationship or a job.

In today's gospel lesson the steward's master calls him on the carpet. In Luke's mind, this Lord and Master is God. God always calls his stewards into question when they are wasteful of who and what they are. This steward is not just wasting his master's goods. The steward is wasting himself. Nothing is more precious in God's household than his steward's proper identity. This is God's gift to this steward, and he is wasting it. No wonder God calls him to account.

God does this to us all the time. He checks our relationships and he checks our jobs -- to help us make sure we are not wasting our identities where we are. This steward was. So God dismissed him. He had to get a new job and a new relationship. God does not tolerate our wasting who we are.

This dismissal turned the light on for the steward. "What shall I do? To dig I am unable, to beg I am ashamed." Finally he came to an assessment of who he was and what he could do. He came to value his own identity, one of his master's most precious goods.

He called in his master's creditors. "How much do you owe? One hundred barrels of oil? Take your bill and write 50." Did he cheat his master? Not at all. The commercial documents from that time indicate that 50 percent was the normal commission. He renounced what he thought he had to have to live on -- and he won friends for himself in so doing.

"How much do you owe? One hundred bushels of wheat? Take your bill and write 80." He did not cheat his master. He simply renounced his own commission. He gave up what he thought he needed to survive, and he survived much better without it. He zeroed in on his own identity, rather than on the commission he thought he had to have to survive.

Bruno Bettelheim, who has studied the survivors of the concentration camps in World War II, writes that those who survived were able to give up everything they thought they needed and, in so giving, they survived. Those who thought they would die if they had no clothing, no jewelry, no regular food, no books -- they did not make it.

Sometimes God will do to us what he did to this steward. He will strip us down to the very core of our existence to make us discover who we really are. He will bring us to a crossroad in life where we will be forced to say, "To dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed." There God will reveal to us who we are. As we reach to him for help we will find ourselves renouncing our commissions -- whatever we think we need to survive but we really don't. God knows that.

Luther found himself in this position many times in his life. Once, as he began his study of law, he was struck down in a thunderstorm. Terrified, he cried out, "Dear Saint Ann, help me. I will become a monk." He quit his study of law and became a theologian instead -- the identity God wanted for him in the first place. He was wasting himself in law.

Later on, as a monk, he studied Paul's Epistle to the Romans. At that time in his life he felt he could not be Martin Luther unless he ended each day with a tray full of good works to present to God. In praying over Paul, he learned the difference between works righteousness and faith. He learned he was wasting God's gift of Martin Luther's identity in that daily tray full of good works.

He wrote: "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that the just shall live by faith. Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through mercy and sheer grace God justified us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise." Martin Luther the Do-Gooder was reborn Martin Luther the Believer.

Today's gospel lesson introduces that curious term, "mammon," an Aramaic word which means: "that in which I put my trust." We are like Sandra, Steve, and this steward. How easy to put all our trust in relationships or commissions or a job. God will not let us do that forever. He will force us to give up those people and those things we feel are absolutely critical. In God's eyes they are roadblocks to the truth. He will take them away. Then we will discover our real identities as God's stewards, and him alone shall we serve. "

5. Blasphemy Against the Spirit

Illustration

Staff

This statement (Matt 12:32, par Mk. 3:29, Luke 12:10) has been the subject of much questioning. Obviously the reference here is not to the naming of the Holy Spirit in a blasphemous utterance, for in Matt. 12:32 even blasphemy against the Son of man can be forgiven. Among the many attempts at exegesis, the most convincing is the suggestion that the man who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is he who has recognized that God is working through the Holy Spirit in the actions of Jesus, and who quite consciously "misrepresent faith in God as faith in the devil. This saying is an extremely serious warning against the demonic and scarcely conceivable potential in man: To declare war on God. This is not done in weakness and doubt, but by one who has been overcome by the Holy Spirit and who knows very well on whom he is declaring war" (E. Schweizer, The Good News according to Mark, 1971, 87; cf. H.W. Beyer, TDNT I:624; O.E. Evans, "The Unforgivable Sin", ExpT 68, 1956-57, 240-44). This is the blasphemer who does it deliberately, after encounter with the God of grace, as the context shows. For Jesus has just been accused of casting out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. "Therefore he who blasphemes the Spirit is no longer speaking against a God who is distant, about whom he entertains mere foolish thoughts, but against the one who makes evident to him his gracious work, and confirms it with his manifest, divine seal. He is a man who ought to give thanks, not to blaspheme" (A. Schlatter, on Matt. 12:32).

W.L. Lane draws attention to Sifre on Deut. 32:38 (end): "The Holy One, blessed be he, pardons everything else, but on profanation of the Name [i.e. blasphemy] he takes vengeance immediately" (The Gospel of Mark, NLC, 1974, 145) Lane goes on to comment: "This is the danger to which the scribes exposed themselves when they attributed to the agency of Satan the redemption brought by Jesus. The expulsion of demons was a sign of the intrusion of the Kingdom of God. Yet the scribal accusations against Jesus amount to a denial of the power and greatness of the Spirit of God. By assigning the action of Jesus to a demonic origin the scribes betray a perversion of spirit which, in defiance of the truth, chooses to call light darkness. In this historical context, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit denotes the conscious and deliberate rejection of the saving power and grace of God released through Jesus' work and act" (ibid). Thus blasphemy here is much more serious than the taking of the divine name in vain which a believer may have done before coming to repentance and faith.

It may be said to those who have been tormented by fear that they have committed the unforgivable sin that their concern is itself a sign that they have not committed the sin envisaged in Jesus' teaching here. Lane's interpretation also helps to explain the distinction drawn between blasphemy against the Son of man and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The distinction suggests that "while an attack on Jesus' own person, as son of Man and therefore 'hidden', is pardonable, any speaking against the power by which he works (i.e. the divine endowment for his messianic ministry) will not be pardoned" (D. Hill, The Gospel of Matthew, New Century Bible, 1972, 318). For such an action would be deliberately to attribute to Satan the action of God himself. (NIDNTT, v. 3, pp. 343-344)

What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Though many suggestions have been offered, I think the answer lies in the context here (Luke 12:7-12) and in the context of redemptive history. Remember that the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out, and it is the Spirit who causes men to recognize who Jesus is. Hebrews 6 and 10 contain discussions of unforgivable sins, but the distinction between blasphemy against Christ and the Spirit has disappeared. Jesus seemed to be saying this: Because the Holy spirit has not yet been poured out in fullness, the Jews will be forgiven for blaspheming the Son of Man. They will be given a second chance to repent, as we see in the book of Acts. If, however, they continue to blaspheme after the Spirit has come, they will not be forgiven. But what is the sin, specifically? Since it is blasphemy, we must see it essentially as a verbal sin. In context it is the sin of saying that Jesus Christ is of the devil. Jesus was willing to excuse this blasphemy before Pentecost; but, in the new covenant era it is not longer excusable. If a person curses Jesus, but does not really know who Jesus is, that sin is forgivable. But if the Holy Spirit has borne witness to a person that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and that person curses Him, it cannot be forgiven.

6. Not Through Us, but Through God

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

Shakespeare, in King John, correctly said, "to guild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to smooth the ice, or add another hue onto the rainbow ... is wasteful and ridiculous excess." So it is today, if we wish to improve upon God's plan of salvation by our own good deeds, our own righteousness, our own goodness. Then we are trying to add purity to the pearl, luster to its moonlight whiteness. Then we are trying to polish it with our clumsy, uneven, and rough grinding stone. With St. Paul we need to say, "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

7. DOING CHRISTIANITY

Illustration

John H. Krahn

Let your actions praise the Lord. Praise is something you do more than something you say. It is an act of kindness which demonstrates that you are a child of God. You can worship God better with your life than with your words. The New Testament book of James says we will be judged at the end of time on whether or not we are doing what Christ wants us to do.

Faith without works is dead. Sure we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, but true faith produces good works. To say, "Jesus, I love you," and then go through life without showing it, helps absolutely no one. When we stand before the Lord on Judgment Day, he’ll ask us, "What have you done? What do you have to show for your life? How have you served me and my church?" And if we respond, "Well Lord, I was planning on it, but you know how busy I was all week, and the weekend was about the only time I had for myself. I enjoyed church when I went, and I tried to lead a good life. Lord, I didn’t ask for the heart attack ... I really didn’t expect to die so soon." Then the Lord is going to say, "I’m sorry. You didn’t have time for me and my work in your life now I don’t have time for you in death."

Albert Schweitzer once said, "If there is something you own that you can’t give away, then you don’t own it, it owns you." What owns you? What makes you tick? What is important enough in life to keep us awake at night thinking about it? If we call Jesus Christ our Lord and really mean it, he must be number one in our life. God’s revealed truth in Christ must be the one thing that owns us. We must constantly desire to get really close to Jesus. And in our quest, our Bible must wind up with fingerprints all over it. Our presence in church must be weekly, and our contribution to God’s work must be felt and known because it’s so evident.

Let us begin each day with the words, "Lord what will you have me do today? Fill my mind with your mind." Only then can we go about our day giving praise to him, especially in our doing.

8. THE ONLY WAY OUT

Illustration

John H. Krahn

You are because I am. I was there from the beginning. My Father, God, and I fashioned the world that you enjoy. We hung the stars in the sky, scooped out the lakes, formed the mountains. But our genius was no more evident than when we made you. You are so magnificent. Consider yourself - your ability to think and reason. Do you realize how special you are? We had such a great thing going in the garden.

Unfortunately, the devil talked your forebears into trying to be like God, and they both fell for it. My Father and I had no choice but to show them the exit from Eden. Because of their sin, we had to face the decision whether or not to save what we created or to destroy it all. Save it, we decided. Later, in response to a promise made to your father Abraham, I, the son of God, was implanted by the Holy Spirit in a young virgin’s womb. They called me Jesus, for I had come to save you and all humankind from the consequences of your sins.

The plan of salvation was not complicated, although it was generous perhaps to a fault. You had sinned and continue to sin. It is your nature from the time of the Fall. Therefore, you cannot save yourself. Although some of you sin less than others, none of you is perfect. My Father demands perfection - he will not stand for any imperfection in eternity. Fortunately for you, my Father is also compassionate, and his love goes beyond human love. He wanted to reclaim you as his own, therefore, he decided to be inflicted with suffering and death. To accomplish this, he sent me - part of himself - to become a person like you and to receive punishment and death in your place.

Some of you only see me as an Alka Seltzer for an occasional headache, rather than a Savior for a whole new life. You call upon me and my Father for help only when all else seems to fail. Voices we haven’t heard in years make their way heavenward in dying breaths. Others make a puzzle out of our plan for your salvation. You continue to believe that you must add some of your goodness and righteousness (which is really in short supply by heaven’s standards) to my sacrificial death on the cross. Friends, I paid the price - one hundred percent at Calvary.

Can you imagine how I feel as your God, having humbled myself by becoming a human being, giving up heaven for a stinking stable, being misunderstood, mocked, tortured, spit upon, and hung, all because of you and your wretched sinfulness ... and then to have you believe that this was not enough. To have you, in your pride, believe that some goodness of yours would need to be added in order for the Father to receive you into heaven angers and disappoints me. You can do nothing to save yourself; I did it all because I love you. Please get it into your head, once and for all, I am your only way out of the pits of hell. As I said while I was with you on earth, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me!" May the Holy Spirit convince your hearts of my love, and may you understand that believing in me is the only way to be saved; sufficient in itself, needing absolutely no human works, no false pride, no human righteousness, nothing ... nothing ... nothing at all to be added to it. I died to purchase a place for you in heaven which I offer to you as a gift which you must receive totally and exclusively by faith.

9. A Reflection of Righteousness

Illustration

Martin Luther

He who would gain righteousness by faith and works is as the dog who runs along a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, and, deceived by the reflection of the meat in the water, opens his mouth to snap at it, and so loses both the meat and the reflection.

10. Sheep + Me = Righteousness

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The Chinese character for “righteousness” is most interesting. It is composed of two separate characters—one standing for a lamb, the other for me. When “sheep” is placed directly above “me,” a new character—“righteousness” is formed. This is a helpful picture of the grace of God. Between me, the sinner, and God, the Holy One, there is interposed by faith the Lamb of God. By virtue of his sacrifice, he has received me on the ground of faith, and I have become righteous in his sight.

11. PREACHER

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Mark 1:14 - "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God,"

Preaching, the proclamation of a divine message, and the regular instruction of the converted in the doctrines and duties of the faith, is as old as the human family. Noah is referred to as "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5). This is not a distinctly Judaistic or Christian concept; the Mohammedans practice it freely, and it is not unknown among the Buddhists. It has its roots in the activity of the Hebrew prophets and scribes, the former representing the broader appeal, the latter the edification of the faithful, and in the ministry of Jesus Christ and his apostles, where again we have both the evangelical invitation and the teaching of truth and duty. Whichever is emphasized in preaching, the preacher is one who believes himself to be the ambassador of God, charged with a message which it is his duty to deliver.

From the Acts of the Apostles we gather something of the methods adopted by St. Peter and St. Paul, and these we may believe were more or less general for the preachers of the Primitive Church. The Apostles who had known the Lord would naturally recall the facts of his life, and the story of his words and works would form a great deal of their preaching. It is not until we come to Origen (d. 254) that we find preaching as an explanation and application of definite texts, a usage that Christianity adopted from Greek rhetoricians.

The New Testament writers drew a definite distinction between preaching and teaching. Preaching is the proclamation of the gospel to men who have not yet heard it. Teaching is an instruction or exhortation on various aspects of Chrisitan life and thought addressed to a community already established in the faith.

Today, of course, the preacher or minister or pastor of a congregation is usually called upon to perform both functions. But the preaching mission of the church is still its prime function and should be considered so.

See HERALD

12. Embracing the Gracious Gift

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Writing in a book entitled With Open Hands, Henri Nouwen asserts that "The challenge of the gospel lies precisely in the invitation to accept a gift for which we can give nothing in return. For the gift is the very life breath of God, the Spirit who is poured out on us through Jesus Christ. This life breath frees us from fear and gives us new room to live."

Nouwen's words remind us that the Christian faith is founded not upon your action or my action, but upon God's action: God loving us with a love that will not let us go; God choosing to dwell among us in Christ, taking human form; God seeking relationship and reconciliation with all the world; God adopting persons of faith as daughters and sons. Our task is but to receive the gift, to recognize and live in the assurance that all that we have in life—and indeed, all that we are—comes as a gift from God. Once we embrace this gracious gift which we cannot earn and which cannot be repaid, only then are we freed to become gracious givers.

13. Walking the Talk

Illustration

Suzanne Webb

There's a story about a farmer who was visited by a couple of young, energetic evangelists. They knocked on his door and asked if he ‘was saved.' The farmer left the two at the door and went into his farmhouse for a pencil and a pad of paper. Coming back to the two evangelists, he gave them a list of 10 people. "These are the names of my neighbors. Go talk with them. They will be able to tell you whether what I say I believe is truly how my life is lived."

Talking is not enough. What we claim to believe has to manifest itself through our very life. And this is not just about activity or specific deeds or works that we can do on a weekend. It is about the building of our character. It is about creating a life that is so steered, so controlled by our faith in Jesus Christ that when the rain falls, the floods come and the winds blow we are still the same.

14. Little Deeds

Illustration

King Duncan

John Killinger, in a sermon entitled, The Great Importance of Little Deeds, concluded by saying, "It's an exciting thought that when we die and come into the presence of God and all its fullness, it will not be our major achievements that speak for us, 'He was president of a bank. She was the first woman senator from her state. He was the author of 22 books,' but rather the small apparently inconsequential things that we long ago forgot. 'He mowed my lawn when I was sick. She cared for my child when I went to the market. He sent me flowers when I needed them most. She washed and mended my socks.' These are the little things that hold the world together. They are the small stones that comprise the great cathedrals where God is worshipped. They shall be remembered," says Killinger, "like stars in the crown of the saints."

The world desperately needs to see our love in action. Of what value is our faith if our love isn't stronger: our love for one another and our love for the world? Our love needs to be big enough to take in the whole world.

15. God's Instant Recipe

Illustration

Instant cake mix at first was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn't understand why it didn't sell until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically.

That's how some people react to the plan of salvation. To them it sounds too easy and simple to be true, even though the Bible says, "By grace you have been saved through faith...; it is the gift of God, not of works" (Eph. 2:8-9). They feel that there is something more they must do, something they must add to God's "recipe" for salvation. They think they must perform good works to gain God's favor and earn eternal life. But the Bible is clear we are saved, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5). Unlike the cake-mix manufacturer, God has not changed His "formula" to make salvation more marketable. The gospel we proclaim must be free of works, even though it may sound too easy.

16. Parable of the Counterfeit Money

Illustration

"Mother, look what I got," said Jimmy. "A man gave me all these big pieces of money. Now I'm rich. Is it alright if I buy an ice-cream cone for you and me?"

"Let me see that money," said his mother. "I am sorry Jimmy you can't buy anything with this money. It is no longer of any value."

Jimmy said, "You mean it is no good Why? It is even bigger than the money in my bank!"

"It is difficult to tell you Jimmy, but our government didn't make this money and money is not good unless the people that make it stand behind it."

"Gee, that makes me feel bad," said Jimmy. "I thought I was rich."

Learning a proper set of values and backing up one's word with action is an important part of human development. We have noted in public print that some large multi-million dollar business transactions have been sealed with a handclasp.

Jimmy was fooled by the size and the shape of his false money, and adults, too, are often deceived as to the value of stocks and bonds and the value of human activities. Christians learn that the Way to Christ's Kingdom is through His Church and according to His Word and through faith in a Risen Christ. The value of personal faith in God is indicated by how much action backs up the word of the believer. Mankind has great expectancy of those who believe in Christ; and those, who stand at the altar of their Church and vow their allegiance and loyalty in God's service as members, are God's money ready to be spent in Christian causes. Some may be counterfeit in their commitments.

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

17. BE EASTER PEOPLE

Illustration

John H. Krahn

After the tomb was found empty and Jesus appeared to the early church on many occasions, doubt disappeared, and the early church had overwhelming confidence in the Lord. The church today must live and be about its ministry with the same Easter confidence. We say we rely on God’s mercy for our salvation; we need to give over all areas of our lives to God’s control. What aspects of ourselves are outside God’s control? Our temper? Our money? Our time? We need join the psalmist and say, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Our trust in the Lord must be complete. We are no longer defeated people but powerful Easter people. Little children in danger or in despair literally run and throw themselves into the arms of their mother. This is confident faith. When was the last time we ran and thrust ourselves onto the Lord? A cautious step in his direction is better than none at all, but believing with abandonment is called forth by an empty tomb. God wants us to fall head over heels in love with him so he can bring the greatest joy and purpose possible into our lives.

God also encourages us to hold fast to hope without wavering. Scripture says, "Where there is no hope, the people perish." Too many of us view too much of our lives and the world as hopeless. Without hope, no great strides will be made in the future; there is no venturesome faith without hope. Without hope we burrow into the ground and live the life of a mole instead of walking freely in God’s sunlight. In a difficult situation, a hopeful people find the challenge and opportunity to do something great with God.

Confident in our faith, with an unwavering hope, the Lord also encourages us to stir up one another to love and good works. We must do something. Faith and hope must move from the abstract to the particular.

Easter people are called upon to celebrate the Festival of the Resurrection each Sunday, for each Sunday is a little Easter. "... Not neglecting to meet together," is how it is written in Hebrews. To break fellowship with the worshiping community is to pursue a weakening faith. It is also a form of denial of all that Christ means. True faith, strong faith, is never faith in isolation but must always be faith shared and strengthened through regular worship. We must encourage one another to be regular in worship and strong in the faith.

The end is drawing near. The Lord will return soon to reclaim his fallen creation. When the Lord of the church comes again, how will he find us? Will we be acting like people who have been touched by the meaning of the cross and the empty tomb? Therefore, let us continue to draw near to the Lord with a true heart and a confident faith. We hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. We consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. We do not neglect to worship but encourage one another. In sum, we will all be Easter people.

18. BE A DARKNESS DISPELLER

Illustration

John H. Krahn

As you got out of bed this morning, did you feel like you belonged to a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God? And tomorrow morning, as the daily grind begins again, will you be thinking as you brush the old ivories, "What ways am I going to declare God’s wonderful deeds today?" Will any of us plot how we might upset the devil, the prince of terrorists? How many of us will let the light of Christ shine through us and be among the darkness dispellers? Will any of us seek to be the light of Christ in a darkening world?

Reading the Bible, it becomes evident that Christianity is not a solo proposition. Christianity comes to us through Christian community. Without a relation to the community or church, our individual Christianity is weakened and incomplete. The church is Christ’s body on earth today. The light of Christ shines in the world through each of us as we take seriously that we are a chosen people belonging to God.

There is no disembodied Christianity. The Lord calls us to relate to him in the community of the church with all of its warts and imperfections. Christianity is a social faith, a community of fellow believers. Jesus continues to build his church upon our confession of faith that he was the one promised by the Father to die and pay the penalty of our sinfulness and to defeat death and the grave by rising again. No individual makes the church. Saint Paul speaks of members of the body of Christ; members mean absolutely nothing when they are severed from the body. Every functioning, contributing, participating member is important to the good of our witness.

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church. We are each to be a living stone cemented to the cornerstone and to one another. Each of us has a divine destiny and a place in the drama of divine redemption. We have been baptized into a high vocation. We were once nobody’s people, destined to hell. We are now God’s people, called to serve the Lord, on our way to heaven. We have gone from rags to riches, from a pig sty to a royal palace.

We are God’s own people. We belong to God, saved from hell by the sacrifice of Christ. We are, therefore, called to produce - produce the light of Christ in our words and deeds. We are called by Christ to servanthood, to sacrifice, into ministry. Such ministry is fed and coordinated in the local parish. If each Christian took seriously the Lord’s Word, our ministry and effectiveness as darkness dispellers would double, perhaps even triple. With the help of God, let’s turn on our lights ... full strength.

19. Parable of How Four Boys Got There

Illustration

Four boys stood watching the parade some ten miles from the high school classes they were supposed to be. The event was important to them.

"How did you get here" asked Dick.

"I borrowed my father's car."

"I took the bus," said Bill.

"I thumbed a ride," said Jack.

"Well, at least we all got here, didn't we," said Bill. "Nothing could keep me away."

"Me either," said Jack. "When I want to go some place, I go."

It is surprising how easily we find a way to go where we want to go. And it is strange how difficult we make it to get to some places where we ought to be.

When we stand before the altar of God, and worship each Sabbath Day, each of us may ask the question, "What brought me here?" And whatever the answer, if we truly worship and strengthen our portion in faith, we may say, "Thanks be to God who led me to His throne."

We are not meant to judge what brought people to church, for the Creator works in strange ways His wonders to perform. John Wesley observing the drunk in the gutter said, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

When we observe those who receive great honors, we may question, "How did they get them?" But we ought to rejoice that good deeds have been performed. It is natural to be attracted to dramatic events. Next best, to being in the parade for the boys, was to watch it. Next best to doing good deeds is to observe them and encourage them.

20. Back To Basics: The Three R's of Baptism - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

Baptism is a powerful force in the life of a Christian for two reasons. It is something we share in common. Christians all over the world can say that they were baptized in Christ. You met a Catholic in Ireland. He was baptized. You met a Pentecostal in Nigeria. She was baptized. The second reason Baptism is a powerful force is that baptism takes us back to the basics. Now let me set these two ideas up for you with a couple of stories.

You perhaps at one time or another have seen on TV the old black and white video footage of the civil rights marches in the sixties. Martin Luther King often at the front received his share of stinging high-pressured water hoses. Rev. King once remarked that he and the other marchers had a common strength. He put it this way, as "we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. If we were a Baptist or some other denomination, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water."

You and I know the water. All of God's children know the water. We share by our faith this common symbol, this initiation, this rite, this power of God over the deep and often raging chaos of life. We know water! All over the world Baptism unites us.

It also brings us back to the basics. Perhaps in our lifetime the most public statement of repentance was that of President Bill Clinton's. The one he made before a Prayer Breakfast on September 10, 1998. He summed up the task perfectly when he said, "I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned." Then he quoted from a book given him by a Jewish friend in Florida. The book is called "Gates of Repentance."

Clinton read this passage from the book: "Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways."

Clinton's quote ended with this prayer: "Lord help us to turn, from callousness to sensitivity, from hostility to love, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around, O Lord, and bring us back toward you. Revive our lives as at the beginning and turn us toward each other, Lord, for in isolation there is no life."

What ever you might think of Clinton and his sincerity, he understood that he needed to do something very basic before the nation. He needed to repent. It's amazing isn't it? Not even a president can escape the basic truths of life. It's like in elementary school. Our parents and teachers understand the importance of building a strong foundation for a child's future. So, we were taught the basics, the three R's: Reading, writing, and arithmetic. Ever notice that only one of those begins with an R. I always thought the fellow that came up with that one needed to go back to school.

As parents and teachers and leaders today we would do well to remember that life is still composed of basics. That is why, when Mark chose to open his Gospel, he did so with the Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan. Baptism reminds us of the three R's of the soul: Repentance, righteousness, and revelation. So, don't be amazed when a president of the United States repents before the nation for even Christ himself, as we have just read, began his ministry identifying with the basics: repentance, righteousness, and revelation. Christ submitted himself to the basics. You ask me, Pastor, why should I be baptized? My answer is, Christ himself was baptized, so should you. Baptism begins the most basic elements of the Christian walk: Repentance from sin, a life of righteousness, and an understanding that God has reveled himself in Christ.

Let's take a look at our Lord's Baptism and what it tells us about the three spiritual R's:

1. The first R is Repentance.
2. The second R is Righteousness.
3. The third R is Revelation.

21. Stopping Pettiness

Illustration

Jerry Goebel

All too often, gossip, silence, and exclusion serve just these purposes, cutting off the prophetic from the congregation. This is what the Apostles were doing to this one man "caught healing." They were demanding that Jesus hobble his powerful works because he wasn't one of them.

We can stop our pettiness by taking four actions:

1. Get out in the harvest.

Recognize the crisis in harvesters and the ripeness of the harvest. If you don't bring the harvest in during its due season, it will not just sit out there and stay ripe. This is the harvest time and we need laborers. Let's be one and pray for more!

2. Quit defending the faith and take the offense in outreach.

Rest with Gamaliel, the wise Pharisee who trained Saul. In Acts 5:38 he said that God doesn't need us to defend his name; he is quite capable of that himself. If someone's work is of God, it will continue. If not, it will cease.

3. Recognize the signs of pettiness in our life and flee them.

If we are surrounded by ducks and quack; it usually means we are a duck. If those around us are petty and small, guess what...

We must flee such people! Instead, we should move in the company of giants, heading towards the outer boundaries of our "known world." If we seek out people who don't have time or use for gossip, then we will be forced to live at their level. They will hold our behavior and conversation to a higher standard and we will either grow to meet those standards or begin talking behind their backs as well. Let us hope it is the former.

4. Maintain the habits of faith.

We must maintain the habits of faith:

a. Pray constantly,
b. Hunger for God's Word,
c. Maintain a small group of accountability, and
d. Be in personal relationship with "least of these."

Attending to these habits keeps us from becoming small-minded and hard-hearted.

22. Believing with the Heart

Illustration

King Duncan

A cynical young medical student confronted a pastor: "I have dissected the human body," he announced, "and I found no soul."

The pastor said, "That's interesting. When you dissected the brain did you find a thought? When you dissected the eye did you find vision? When you dissected the heart did you find love?"

The student answered thoughtfully, "No, I did not."

The pastor said gently, "Of course you believe in the existence of thoughts, of vision, and of love. The human soul is the totality of man's existence in relationship with God. Just because you cannot locate it on a medical chart does not mean that it does not exist." Most people accept such reasoning. We believe with our heads, but that is not the kind of belief that faith in Christ is about. "Even the demons believe," say the scriptures, "and tremble."

Faith in Christ is more than mere intellectual assent. It is believing with the heart, with the will, with adoration, and action.

23. Encourage One Another

Illustration

The New Testament book of Hebrews, initially, was a letter written to the Christians of the first century church. Those people were suffering horrible persecutions. They had much to discourage them. They needed one another urgently and deeply.

In this letter to them the writer says, "Stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another." They needed the encouragement of their meeting together and being together. And so they met - whatever the danger to them, they gathered regularly together.

In our gathering today, you and I do not confront the kind of danger those people did. Still we need one another no less than they did. As they could draw strength mutually from the faith and courage of one another, so can we. Their meeting at risk of their very lives stands to shame us for any indifference we may feel toward our meeting, especially since there is now involved absolutely no risk at all.

By our being here today we are giving encouragement and support to one another in one of the historic essentials of Christian faith and fellowship, the meeting together of the people of Christ. Thank you for the ministry of your presence.

24. Because of Jesus

Illustration

Neal Sadler

Mother Teresa was asked by a young man why she always talked about this Jesus stuff. He said he was going to work among the poor like her, do the good works of charity, but without the Jesus baggage. Mother Teresa responded something like, "Go and work 20 years or a lifetime among the poorest of the poor. Then come back and tell me how you did it. I know that the only way I have been able to do it is because of Jesus." Her faith, her understanding of Jesus gave her the ability to be a doer, a doer not just for a week or a season or a year, but for a lifetime.

25. What Can You Bear?

Illustration

Charles Ryrie

What is fruit? Actually the question ought to be phrased in the plural: What are fruits which a Christian can bear? The N.T. gives several answers to the question.

ONE, a developing Christian character is fruit. If the goal of the Christian life may be stated as Christlikeness, then surely every trait developed in us that reflects His character must be fruit that is very pleasing to Him. Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in nine terms in Galatians 5:22-23, and Peter urges the development of seven accompaniments to faith in order that we might be fruitful (2 Peter 1:5-8). Two of these terms are common to both lists: love and self-control. The others are joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, virtue, knowledge, endurance, piety, and brotherly love. To show these character traits is to bear fruit in one's life.

TWO, right character will result in right conduct, and as we live a life of good works we produce fruit (Colossians 1:10). This goes hand in hand with increasing in the knowledge of God, for as we learn what pleases Him, our fruitful works become more and more conformed to that knowledge. When Paul expressed how torn he was between the two possibilities of either dying and being with Christ or living on in this life, he said that living on would mean fruitful labor or work (Philippians 1:22). This phrase could mean that (1) his work itself was fruit, or (2) fruit would result from his work. In either case, his life and work were fruit. So may ours be.

THREE, those who come to Christ through our witness are fruit. Paul longed to go to Rome to have some fruit from his ministry there (Romans 1:13), and he characterized the conversion of the household of Stephanas as the first fruits of Achaia (I Corinthians 16:15).

FOUR, we may also bear fruit with our lips by giving praise to God and thankfully confessing His name (Hebrews 13:15). In other words, our lips bear fruit when we offer thankful acknowledgement to the name of God. And this is something we should do continually.

FIVE, we bear fruit when we give money. Paul designated the collection of money for the poorer saints in Jerusalem as fruit (Romans 15:28). Too, when he thanked the Philippians for their financial support of his ministry, he said that their act of giving brought fruit to their account (Philippians 4:17, KJV).

26. God’s Resources Are Inexhaustible

Illustration

King Duncan

John D. Rockefeller was one of the richest people who ever lived. There is probably nothing of material value in this world that John D. Rockefeller could not provide for his children. Did you know, however, that he had a daughter who became obsessed with the fear that she would die penniless? Her years were haunted with the fear that she would die destitute. Can you imagine such a thing a Rockefeller worried sick about money? Can you imagine a child of God worried sick that he or she will go to God’s well for spiritual resources in a time of need and find that well dry? God’s resources are inexhaustible. Did you know that there are even churches that never venture out to do great works for God because they fear that God may let them down? Unbelievable! Our faith is a gift from God. He gives us faith according to our needs the greater the need, the greater the faith.

27. Spiritual Teaching Gifts

Illustration

Dr. Earl Radmacher

The following is an attempt by Dr. Earl Radmacher and Gordon McMinn to identify and define spiritual gifts centered around teaching.

Prophecy: setting before people the Word and wisdom of God persuasively.
Encouragement: drawing alongside to comfort, encourage, rebuke, and lead someone into insight toward action.
Teaching: laying down in a systematic order the complete truth of a doctrine and applying it incisively to life.
The message of wisdom: Locating formerly unknown principles as well as combining known principles of God's Word and communicating them to fresh situations.
The message of knowledge: Arranging the facts of Scripture, categorizing these into principles, and communicating them to repeated or familiar situations.
Service Gifts. Contributing: Giving most liberally and beyond all human expectation. Mercy: Being sensitive or empathetic to people who are in affliction or misery and lifting internal burdens with cheerfulness.
Helps: Seeing tasks and doing them for or with someone in order to lift external burdens.
Distinguishing spirits: Detecting a genuine or spurious motive by distinguishing the spirit-source behind any person's speech or act.
Evangelism: Communicating the gospel with power and persuasiveness as well as equipping the saints for evangelism.
Leadership Gifts. Leadership (executive ability): Standing before people and inspiring followers by leading them aggressively but with care.
Administration (legislative ability): Standing behind people to collect data, set policy, and develop plans which will guide a course of action with wisdom.
Faith: Seeing through any problem to the Ultimate Resource.

What about the so-called sign gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues, referred to in today's text? To us, Hebrews 2:4 suggests that they were intended to be confirming signs for the Apostles, and ceased with them. Others feel they are still for today, but if so, one thing is clear: they are given sovereignly by the Spirit for specific purposes and are the exception, not the rule.

28. Pastoral Prayer

Illustration

Brett Blair

D-Day for WWII was June 6, 1944 — the day on which the Battle of Normandy began — commencing the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. President Roosevelt composed a prayer and delivered it on the radio that evening. What follows is the full text of that address:

My Fellow Americans,

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Note: We offer this as a possible pastoral prayer during times of war or conflict. We understand that current wars and WWII have many dissimilarities but there are at the same time similarities. Also we understand there are many differences of opinion regarding war and conflict. So we will not attempted to contemporize or adapt the above prayer leaving that up to each pastor. Or, you may simply wish to incorporate part or all into your sermon as an historical illustration.

29. Athanasian Creed

Illustration

Brett Blair

Athanasian Creed: Athanasius, known as Athanasius of Alexandria, was the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His intermittent episcopacy spanned 45 years, of which over 17 encompassed five exiles. He is traditionally thought to be the author of the this Creed named after him. It was created to guard Nicene Christianity from the heresy of Arianism. It is widely accepted as orthodox and some abbreviated versions of it are still in use today. And yes, the intro and outro are actually part of the original text.

Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.

Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith:

    That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
    neither blending their persons
    nor dividing their essence.
        For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
        the person of the Son is another,
        and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
        But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
        their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

    What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
        The Father is uncreated,
        the Son is uncreated,
        the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

        The Father is immeasurable,
        the Son is immeasurable,
        the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

        The Father is eternal,
        the Son is eternal,
        the Holy Spirit is eternal.

            And yet there are not three eternal beings;
            there is but one eternal being.
            So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
            there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

    Similarly, the Father is almighty,
        the Son is almighty,
        the Holy Spirit is almighty.
            Yet there are not three almighty beings;
            there is but one almighty being.

        Thus the Father is God,
        the Son is God,
        the Holy Spirit is God.
            Yet there are not three gods;
            there is but one God.

        Thus the Father is Lord,
        the Son is Lord,
        the Holy Spirit is Lord.
            Yet there are not three lords;
            there is but one Lord.

    Just as Christian truth compels us
    to confess each person individually
    as both God and Lord,
    so catholic religion forbids us
    to say that there are three gods or lords.

    The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
    The Son was neither made nor created;
    he was begotten from the Father alone.
    The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
    he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

    Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
    there is one Son, not three sons;
    there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

    Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
    nothing is greater or smaller;
    in their entirety the three persons
    are coeternal and coequal with each other.

    So in everything, as was said earlier,
    we must worship their trinity in their unity
    and their unity in their trinity.

Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.

But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

Now this is the true faith:

    That we believe and confess
    that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
    is both God and human, equally.

     He is God from the essence of the Father,
    begotten before time;
    and he is human from the essence of his mother,
    born in time;
    completely God, completely human,
    with a rational soul and human flesh;
    equal to the Father as regards divinity,
    less than the Father as regards humanity.

    Although he is God and human,
    yet Christ is not two, but one.
    He is one, however,
    not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
    but by God's taking humanity to himself.
    He is one,
    certainly not by the blending of his essence,
    but by the unity of his person.
    For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
    so too the one Christ is both God and human.

    He suffered for our salvation;
    he descended to hell;
    he arose from the dead;
    he ascended to heaven;
    he is seated at the Father's right hand;
    from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
    At his coming all people will arise bodily
    and give an accounting of their own deeds.
    Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
    and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

This ecumenical creed (428 A.D.) is probably unknown to most Christians because it is seldom, if ever, used in worship services. It is probably not used because of its length. The Nicene Creed has eighteen printed lines, whereas the Athanasian has 69. It is difficult for congregations to use because of the creed's intricate and complex terms.

Though the creed carries the name of Athanasius, he did not write it. It was the product of the church of his time. The creed was named after him to honor him for his brave and forceful defense of the Trinity. Athanasius (289-373) was a bishop in Alexandria, Egypt.

The creed deals primarily with the Trinity and Jesus as the Son of God. At this time, the heresy of Arius was prominent. He taught that Jesus was not fully human or divine and that the Holy Spirit was not God but only a divine influence. The Athanasian Creed denounced these false teachings and upheld the doctrine of the Trinity. Luther's high regard for this creed was expressed: "I doubt, since the days of the Apostles, anything more important and more glorious has ever been written in the church of the New Testament."

30. The Language of God

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a mother mouse who decided to teach her children about the world. So she gathered all of her little mice and set out for a walk. They walked down the hall and turned to the right. Then they went down the hall and took another right. And suddenly they found themselves in front of the family cat dozing in the sunlight. The mother mouse was scared. But she didn't want to give in to her fright. So she signaled to the children to be very quiet and to follow as she began to tip toe quietly and slowly past the sleeping cat. Just as she was about to get past the cat, the cat's eyes popped open and raised its paw.

The little mice were petrified. What would their mother do? Well, just as the cat's paw started to come down, that mother mouse looked the cat right in the eye and started barking like a dog. And do you know what? The cat was so startled and frightened that it jumped up and ran away! The mother mouse, wiped her brow, shook a little and then turned to her little mice and said, "Children, I hope you learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes it's good to know a second language!"

It's the same way with us. It's good to know a second language. Salt and light are the language of God; the language of Grace; the language of hope and love. And when this language is translated into action it becomes the most beautiful language ever spoken. We're called to be salt and light and to speak the language of God as we live our faith. We're called to live the Word.

31. A Phalanx of Faith

Illustration

Staff

In ancient times soldiers who went into battle were clad in heavy armor to protect them against the spears and arrows of their enemies. In Ephesians, chapter 6, the Apostle Paul urges his fellow-Christians to take upon themselves the "whole armor of God." Be equipped, he says, with the "breastplate of righteousness," "the shield of faith," "the helmet of salvation," "the sword of the Spirit."

"Stand," he says, stand up against evil. "Withstand in the evil day," he says, and "quench the flaming darts of the evil one." The armament he prescribes is for standing, not for running away; it is not for defense only, but also for conquest.

Paul's picture is that of a solitary soldier. But soldiers usually do not fight alone - and neither do we who are Christian soldiers. In the old Macedonian phalanx, the soldiers were positioned shoulder to shoulder, marching close, shields overlapping, spears held forward at striking level. We who are involved in the conflict with evil in our time ought to stand and march as members together of an invincible phalanx of faith.

May this hour be an assembling ground for us, and here may we take up and put on the armor of our warfare. When we go from here may it be shoulder to shoulder, eyes forward, at attention, and on the alert for whatever darkness needs to be dispelled by light, for whatever ugliness needs to be displaced by beauty, for whatever wrong needs to be set right. Here in this assembly may we get together, and when we go may we be together.

32. Doctrine vs. Doing

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Doctrine and doing are like the two chemical ingredients of salt, which is composed of two poisons: sodium and chlorine. If we ingested either of the two poisons, we would die. But if we combine them properly, we have sodium chloride, which is the common table salt that gives flavor to our food and indeed life and health to our bodies. So, too, are faith and works inseparable.

33. Devil Descriptions

Illustration

Merrill F. Unger

Possible Biblical references to Satan:

Genesis 3:1-14 · He was disguised under the Edenic serpent
Genesis 3:15 · He is the serpent's seed
1 Chronicles 21:1 · Satan stands against Israel
Job 1:7-2:10 · He accused and afflicted Job
Isaiah 14:12 · He was Lucifer, son of the morning before the fall (This verse is erroneously ascribed to Satan. It actually refers to the king of Babylon, see v. 3)
Ezekiel 28:14 · He was the anointed cherub that covers (This verse also is erroneously ascribed to Satan. It actually refers to the king of Tyre, see v. 1)
Zecheriah 3:1-9 · He is Satan, the Adversary of unbelieving Israel
Matthew 4:3 · He is the tempter
Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:10-11 · He perverts the Word of God
Matthew 12:22-29 · He works in demon possession
Matthew 12:24; Acts 10:38 · He is the prince of the demons
Matthew 13:19 · Snatches away the Word
Matthew 13:38 · "the evil one"
Matthew 13:38-39 · He sows tares
Matthew 13:39 · He is "the enemy"
Matthew 25:41 · He is a fallen angel
Matthew 25:41; Rev 20:10 · His ultimate fate is Gehenna
Luke 4:13 · He is the devil, the slanderer
Luke 10:18 · He fell from a sinless high estate
Luke 13:16 · He blinds people physically and spiritually
Luke 22:31 · He viewed Simon Peter as a target
John 3:8, 10 · His children are unsaved people
John 8:44 · He was branded "a liar" and "the father of lies" by Jesus
John 8:44 · He is a murderer
John 12:31; 14:30 · He is the prince of this world
John 13:2,27 · He caused Judas to betray Christ
Acts 5:3 · Educes Ananias to lie
2 Corinthians 4:4 · He blinds people spiritually
Ephesians 2:2 · He indwells the unsaved
Ephesians 6:10-20 · He is routed by Spirit-directed prayer
Ephesians 6:11-12 · He heads a celestial hierarchy of evil
1 Thessalonians 2:18 · He hinders God's will in believers
2 Thessalonians 2:9 · He works diabolic miracles
1 Timothy 4:1-6 · He instigates false doctrine
1 Peter 5:8 · He seeks to harm believers
1 Peter 5:8-9 · He is overcome by faith
Revelation 2:9 · He has a synagogue of legalists who deny God's grace in Christ
Revelation 12:9 · He is the deceiver
Revelation 12:9; 20:2 · He is the dragon, that old serpent
Revelation 20:1-3 · He will be bound during the millennium

34. The First and Last Things

Illustration

Brett Blair

H.G. Wells had the reputation as the apostle of scientific materialism and the deadly foe of organized faith. So it's surprising that in one of his most successful but least known novels Mr. Britling Sees It Through, he made a rather startlingly confession, or at least it appears to be a confession. It is generally thought that the character Mr. Britling is a surrogate for Wells. The character expresses a simple but clear faith, leaving no doubt as to the meaning. At first, his religious views are passionate, but not strictly orthodox. Mr. Britling makes this confession, giving us a window into Wells' on beliefs:

"Religion is the first thing and the last thing, and until a  man has found God and been found by God, he begins at no beginning, he works to no end. He may have his friendships, his partial loyalties, his scraps of honour. But all these things fall into place and life falls into place only with God. Only with God. God, who fights through men against Blind Force and Night and Non-Existence; who is the end, who is the meaning. He is the only King. . . . It was as if he had been groping all this time in the darkness, thinking himself alone amidst rocks and pitfalls and pitiless things, and suddenly a hand, a firm strong hand, had touched his own. And a voice within him bade him be of good courage. . . . God was beside him and within him and about him."

Note: Wells, through the Britling Character, draws more a picture of a finite God rather than an Omnipotent Being, saying, "After all, the real God of the Christians is Christ, not God Almighty; a poor mocked and wounded God nailed on a cross of matter…. Some day He will triumph…. But it is not fair to say that He causes all things now. It is not fair to make out a case against him. You have been misled. It is a theologian’s folly. God is not absolute; God is finite…. A finite God who struggles in his great and comprehensive way as we struggle in our weak and silly way—who is with us..." Go Here for more.

35. The First Fruits of the Spirit

Illustration

Jane Shepherd

Do we have the first fruits of the Spirit? Can someone coming into our door to visit for the first time recognize these traits in us?

Love: do we love each other, and do we love those who are different from us? Do we love and welcome visitors, no matter who they are? Do we try to make their acquaintance, so that we can love them? Do we put their comfort above our own?

Goodness: Peter tells us to support our faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge. Our salvation is the result of God's goodness. Likewise, other persons should benefit as a result of our goodness. Our mission work should clearly show our faith in God's goodness.

Peace: Is there peace between us, and peace within us? Can someone tell by being with us, that we have a peaceful soul, based upon God as the source of all that we have?

Faithfulness: Is our steadfastness to Christ's church based upon an enduring loyalty that is true to God, no matter how we feel about the pastor, the district, the conference, the women's group, the organist, or any other facet of our organization?

Gentleness: Do we exhibit care and protection for all of God's creation? Are we gentle with the environment, with each other, and with ourselves?

Joy: Do we look joyous to the outsider? Do we feel joy inside? True joy in being a child of God should be able to override all unhappiness and bitterness we feel, and should be reflected in our total involvement in our worship.

Kindness: This action word can be directed outwardly or inwardly. Do we show compassion and generosity to others and ourselves?

Patience: How many of us are willing to let others (and ourselves) come along at each one's own pace? How many of us can forgive seven times seventy?

Self-Control: This is one of the hardest, and may include all of the others. This requires an inner discipline only manageable with the grace of God's Spirit to sustain us in our trials. Do we constantly pray for help in this area, and constantly call on God to help us? If not, we should.

36. When The Light From Heaven Does Not Flash

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

Dawn Hetland didn't move a muscle. The worship service was over. The choir had filed out. The pastor was at the back door greeting the worshippers. The pews were quickly becoming empty. But Dawn did not move. She sat silently, her hands folded, her head bowed in prayer. Bridget Glass was a life-long friend of Dawn Hetland. As she was leaving the sanctuary that Sunday morning she happened to see her friend Dawn with her head bowed low. Bridget thought something must be wrong. She went quickly to Dawn's side, tapped her on the shoulder, and asked if everything was all right. "Oh, yeah, sure," Dawn replied, orienting herself once again to her surroundings. "I was just praying. I've got an important decision to make and I need all the help and guidance I can get." "What decision is that?" Bridget asked. "About my future, Bridget. You know that I've just finished medical school. That's been my goal for any number of years now. So I've finished. So what? What do I do now? I never thought this would all seem so hard and complicated. I've got an offer to join a team of physicians in Tampa, Florida. But I've also been invited to do a residency program in Internal Medicine. I'm really torn between these two offers. All I've ever wanted to do was to be a doctor as a way of living out my Christian faith. Both of these offers open up an opportunity for me to serve God. But which one should I take? What does God want me to do with my life? That's the question I can't answer."

"And that's what you've been sitting here praying for?" Bridget asked. "Yes," Dawn answered. "I really don't know what to do. So I pray. I don't think I've ever prayed for anything so much in my whole life. But I'm not getting any answers. God seems to be very silent!" "Have you asked for advice from people you trust?" Bridget asked. Dawn nodded her head in assent. "Have you made a list of all the positives and negatives with these two possibilities?" Bridget inquired further. Dawn nodded for a second time. "I don't know what else you can do then," Bridget said in a comforting voice. "You've just got to make a bold decision now and get on with your life." "That's easy for you to say," Dawn shot back. "How can I make a bold decision when I don't even know what to decide. Why can't I see a flash of light in the sky? Why doesn't a still, small voice speak to me?" "Now you're asking too much," Bridget replied. "Only a handful of people living or dead have received such signs from God. I don't know if you were here a couple of weeks ago when Pastor Hagedorn preached about discerning God's will for our lives. Make a list of the positives and negatives, he said. Talk to people you trust. Take the matter to God in prayer. Then decide with boldness which course to take." "But what if I choose the wrong thing?" Dawn wondered aloud. "The status of your life before God does not depend upon making right decisions," Bridget said firmly. "We live our lives under the canopy of God's forgiving love. Our God of grace will walk with you no matter what path you choose. And remember, 'God works all things together for good with those who love God.' Don't worry, Dawn. God will take your decision, whatever it is, and make the best of it.""

37. Decoration Day

Illustration

Eric Ritz

In many towns and villages, Memorial Day is known as "Decoration Day." It sets off the imagery of freedom and democracy.

Yes, Memorial Day--fireworks, high school marching bands decked out in colorful uniforms marching in unison down Main Street playing John Phillip Sousa's musical pieces. There are speakers and politicians everywhere, flowers on graves, flags waving and flapping in the air, family picnics, fried chicken, softball games, joy, laughter, tears. This is the obvious and visible side of Memorial Day.

A gray haired woman with a scarf around her head, old skirt, and worn sneakers is kneeling by a grave side with tears running down her cheeks. She is still mourning the loss of her sons in a war in a foreign land thousands of miles away. She wears the medals on her tattered blouse--the medals given by a thankful nation for the lives of her sons sacrifice. The blouse is tattered, but it was the blouse she had on the day her sons went to Fort Dix. She talks to the crosses herself and slowly walks to the car to go home, where she works in the yard all day with her flowers. These flowers are placed periodically on the graves of her boys. Her husband reads the newspaper all day--he hurts too much to go anywhere that day.

Freedom also can be as quiet as a whisper inside a cabin door in 1863, "Mr. Lincoln said we are free."

Our past is vital. It provides identity and the dreams that have guided us individually as a nation, and as a faith community.

38. The Law and the Gospel

Illustration

David Ernst

The primary purpose of the Law is, like a mirror, to teach man the true knowledge of his sin. We see this in the example of the publican. The publicans were tax-collectors for the Roman imperialists. They were Jews, but were not respected by their people. They were considered traitors and thieves, with some justification.

So the publican did not approach God with pride, demanding what was owed him. On the contrary, he approached the Lord with maximum humility and true repentance. Repentance is essential to receive the forgiveness of sins in Christ. That is why the Law should be preached to unrepentant sinners, but the Gospel to those who are troubled by their sins and terrified of damnation.

The Law demands, threatens and condemns; the Gospel promises, gives and confirms our forgiveness and salvation. God offers forgiveness of sins only in the Good News that we are saved because Christ fulfilled the Law, suffered, died and rose from the dead for us. So let us draw near to God in humility and repentance, of course, but also in the hope and faith that we are justified through faith, not by works, and that in Christ we are children of God.

39. Rethinking the Formula

Illustration

James Emery White

Some of you may remember comedian Yakov Smirnoff. He said when he first came to the United States from Russia; he wasn't prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk--you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice--you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, what a country!"

One of the most basic assumptions made about life change is that it happens instantly at salvation. According to this belief, when someone gives his or her life to Christ, there is an immediate, substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes, and character. As a result disciples are born not made.

The question for rethinking discipleship is this: Are these assumptions valid? If they are, then working this formula in the life of the church should consistently give the same result: a new community of people who are becoming increasingly like Jesus in their life and thought. If that is not the answer a church gets when it works the equation, then it needs to rethink whether the formula is sound.

Unfortunately, many churches are not getting the correct answer. In fact, a Search Institute study has found that only 11 percent of churchgoing teenagers have a well-developed faith, rising to only 32 percent for churchgoing adults. Why? Because true life change only begins at salvation, takes more than just time, is about training not trying, and it is a team effort.

40. What's Your Style of Evangelism?

Illustration

Brett Blair

A true heart of compassion will let people know of God's love and that God has provided a way to experience true life, an abundant life. But How? Do we all have to share the same way? No, the unbelieving world is made up of a variety of people: young, old, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, urban, rural, with different race, personalities, values, politics, and religious backgrounds. It's going to take more than one style of evangelism to reach such a diverse population!

So what is your style?

Confrontational? Repent and be baptized, save yourselves from this corrupt generation. (Acts 2)

Intellectual? Paul debated with the philosophers on Mars Hill to convince them. (Acts 17)

Testimonial? One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see! (John 9)

Relational? Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you. (Mark 5)

Invitational? The Samaritan woman at the well begged the people of the city to come and hear Jesus for themselves. (John 4)

Serving? Dorcas impacted her city by doing deeds of kindness. (Acts 9)

Don't ever think you're a second class Christian because you don't proclaim Christ like Peter or Paul. Discover your own method. Then get out of your chair and use it, for the Glory of God. Live by faith, not fear!!!

41. Just Showing Up

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

Director/actor Woody Allen is known for a lot of quotes. But maybe his most famous quote is this one. Anyone want to guess what it is?

"Ninety percent of life is just showing up."

But Woody Allen is famously wrong. Ninety percent of life is what we do AFTER we show up.

Why do we want to believe Allen's computations so badly? We eagerly embrace Woody's calculus because it takes us off the hook for all but ten percent of our lifetime of screw-ups, fall-flats, and melt-downs. It is easy to just "be there." It is much harder to be there for the long haul, the hard times, the big tests, the final curtain.

Just "showing up" at your wedding might get you married, but it doesn't build a living, loving, fighting, mortgage paying, in-law juggling, overdrawn, children challenged, lifetime relationship.

Just "showing up" at the birth of your child might make you a "parent," but it does not make you a changing diapers, up-all-night, learning dinosaur names, cheering at rain-soaked side-lines, doing Algebra homework, enforcing curfews, saving for college, Mom or Dad.

Just "showing up" at church every Sunday morning might make you a member-in-good-standing, but it does not automatically put feet on your faith. G. K. Chesterton used to say that "Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car." To be a Christian takes action; it takes a day-to-day commitment to follow Jesus wherever he leads…

42. THE AGE OF ANXIETY

Illustration

John H. Krahn

The present decade may well be termed the Age of Anxiety. Anxiety is nothing new. In the Sermon on the Mount we read (Matthew 6:25, 33-34): "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day."

We need not rehearse all the problems with the economy, crime, terrorists, and assassination attempts. The evening news plays the same familiar tune night in and night out. Sometimes we feel that these days we have to take the bad with the worst. Much of the time we feel apprehensive about the future. Feeling uneasy, we sometimes wonder what impending ill will befall us next.

In the light of many troubles, the Sermon on the Mount seems to be a tough saying from Jesus. It states that if our minds were set on God, we would not lack the needful things of this earth. When we are anxious over daily concerns, it often has a paralyzing effect on our religious life. Worrying about items of food and clothing directs our life inward toward ourselves rather than outward toward the Lord.

In his sermon the Lord does not speak out against working, or planning, or saving for the future. But our obsession with having the so-called better things in life and the increased amount of time it now takes to be able to afford them, has, too often, supplanted the art of living. Further, and inexcusable in God’s eyes, work has threatened the worship life of many Christians. Many people are working on Sundays. Others work so long and so hard during the week that they say they do not have time for God on Sundays. Jesus has no understanding of this and says in reply, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, then all else will be added unto you."

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "If a man owns land, the land owns him." In some ways he is right. As we begin to own things in life and acquire better things, there are times that it seems that these things own us rather than the other way around. Our increased bills dictate to us that we must work overtime, work on Sunday, or that both husband and wife need to go to work. Maybe if we decided to own less, we could live more.

Jesus concludes his teaching on anxiety by stating that we are not to be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let today’s troubles be sufficient for the day. In Deuteronomy 33:25 God says, "as thy days, so shall thy strength or we don’t trust in the Lord for strength to meet tomorrow or we don’t." Otherwise, we will constantly ruin the present by worrying about the future.

In Isaiah 41:13 God says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ Worry is an insult to God. Anxiety demonstrates lack of faith. When we feel anxious, we best kneel before the Lord, confess our sins, and surrender our anxieties to him."

43. Faith and Power

Illustration

Larry Powell

Mark 4:37-41 is one of the many passages in the Bible which has been set to music. "Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’er shadowed with blackness ..." You recognize it. From childhood, we have sung the words to "Peace Be Still" and have loved to lift the refrain which concludes, "they all shall sweetly obey thy will ..." Two primary elements are underscored in both the scripture and the hymn: the power of Christ and faith in Christ.

The Gospel according to Mark characterizes the ministry of Jesus as being a succession of "mighty works," indicative of his Sonship. Actually, the stilling of the storm is only the beginning of a series of incidents portraying the power of Christ. After the storm experience on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples came to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gerasenes. Here they encountered a man who lived among the tombs, crying out in travail both day and night, inflicting injury upon himself and striking fear into the hearts of all who chance to see him. Frequently, he had been subdued and bound with chains, but such was his deranged agony that he tore away the fetters and ran about the tombs as a wild man. In a great display of power, Jesus freed the man from his torment (5:13) and "all marveled. Then, crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus encountered a certain Janus, a ruler of the synagogue, who prevailed upon him to accompany him to his home and heal his daughter" (5:23). On the way to the home of Janus Jesus was "touched" by a desperate woman who had hemorraged for twelve years and, according to Mark 5:29, so great was the power of Jesus that the woman was immediately healed simply by touching his clothing. Not to be minimized here is Jesus’ statement to the woman; "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed from your disease" (5:34). Now the word comes that during the interval, Janus’ daughter has died. Reassuring Janus, Jesus said, "Do not fear, only believe." Approaching the house Jesus observed a gathering of people loudly mourning the death of the girl. Everyone was asked to wait outside the house save the little girl’s parents and the disciples who had been selected to accompany Jesus to the house, Peter, James, and John. "Taking her by the hand, he said to her, ‘Talitha cumi’ which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ And immediately the girl got up and walked" (5:41-42).

Power! That is the theme of Mark’s section dealing with three successive miracles of Jesus. Read again the refrain of "Peace, Be Still" and see how it applied to each of the three incidents. See also the summons for faith. The disciples were scolded for their lack of faith, the woman with the issue of blood was rewarded because of her faith, and Janus was encouraged to intensify the faith he already had exhibited by falling at the feet of Jesus. Desperation characterizes all three encounters, and all three contain the enacted teaching that the power of Christ is but half of the whole; the other half, which taps this power, is faith. Ironically, it would appear that we, too, learn the lesson best in times of desperation.

44. Dead Works

Illustration

Stephen Craig Jennings

Simply changing outward behavior is not repentance. We at times change our behavior for self-centered reasons. Sometimes we change in an attempt to atone for my sins. Such change will only make my sinfulness more sinful.

This is the basis for the reference in Hebrews of repenting from ‘dead works'. A dead work is a work that is not done with the leading and empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hence any good work a non-Christian would attempt is a dead work. And many types of good works that Christians do could be devoid of the Spirit's leading and empowerment.

A dead work is giving to charity because it is a good tax break.
It is going to church because it is good for my business reputation or my resume or my politics.
It is tithing because I am afraid God will ‘get me' if I don't.
It is sending my kids to a Christian school, not because I want them to learn the truths of the Christian faith and surrender their lives to the Lordship of Christ, but because there they will run in the right crowd.
It is the giving up of a sinful habit, not because I want to be controlled by the Spirit of God instead of the habit, but because the habit inhibits my performance at work and is harming my professional reputation.

In all these ways, I have actually changed, but the change has not accomplished what Jeremiah said was impossible:

Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.

45. Traditions of Men

Illustration

James Cox

It is a remarkable thing that Jesus never wrote a book or drew up a creed. He was at no pains to record his own thoughts in unalterable writing, nor did he impart to his disciples a common set of articles of faith, logically and unmistakably linked together, which they were to hold and to teach. He would have little sympathy for the modern attempts to standardize the theology of men. He did not put his thoughts into articles of faith, which men must sign he put them into actions, which men must do. His great word was not "This say," but "This do." He has not commanded us to repeat creeds, but to perform deeds; not to recite, but to do the will of the Father.

46. HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

Illustration

John H. Krahn

How much is enough? Most of us have asked this question many times throughout life. When our kids are having a bad day, we wonder how much we can take before we lose our temper. How much is enough? When we are buying something and bickering as to how much we should pay, we wonder, "How much is enough?" At work, when the thrust is to increase our production, we wonder, "How much is enough?" And so it is quite understandable that this question might also creep into our religious life and into our thoughts of salvation. How often must we attend church in order to be a good member? How many times must I forgive that person in order to qualify for God’s forgiveness of me? How good must we be to make it to heaven? How much is enough?

Whereas industry might consider it enough to get six hours of work from an employee in an eight-hour day, God says that only perfection is enough for us to enter into his presence at the end of time. There will be no bickering when Jesus returns. To say to Jesus, "But Lord, I was a good provider for my family; I worked seven days a week; I never willfully hurt anyone," cuts no ice with the Lord in terms of salvation. Only those who are perfect will go to heaven when Christ comes again. So you see, we all fall short when we look at our lives and ask, have I done enough? The most righteous among us cannot do enough to save themselves and qualify for heaven, for only perfection is enough.

Heaven can only be grasped by faith. Our faith, our trust, our belief, our love of the Lord Jesus Christ make heaven a certainty for our future. When the King of Ages returns to earth again, those who put their hope in the Lord will receive the benefits of forgiveness obtained through his punishment at Calvary. They will be gifted with eternal life. Good works do not appropriate eternity, only faith does.

To be ready for his return is to remain strong in the faith. If you have been putting off some aspect of the Christian discipline, put it off no longer - now is the time for change. The King is coming, and we must prepare. Each of us needs to be sure that our personal faith is strong. If we all knew the Lord was coming in one week, what would we do differently? Now is the time to begin. God in Christ has given us the crown of life through faith in his Son. Only when God gave everything was it enough for our salvation. How much will be enough of a commitment from us today? The Lord wants a total commitment of faith. How much is enough? Everything!

47. Parable of the HIdden Need

Illustration

"Should I replace the bandage on his ankle?" inquired the nurse of the doctor. "It looks well enough to be removed now."

"Yes, give him a new bandage," said the doctor. "He doesn't really need it there but I want him to come back, so I can check up on something else about him. Without the bandage he won't return."

Many times patients are brought to the doctor by members of their family for some hidden reason because the patient will not come for the true reason. This is done to avoid unnecessary rebellion or anxiety. It is important that the trouble be ascertained and the cure administered.

People sometimes come to church for some selfish reason, but whatever brings them can lead to a good result. Many ask the question, "Why did this happen to me?" Defeats sometimes set the stage for victory. Those who suffer great sorrow may become equipped to give understanding love and help to others. The alcoholic may be more willing to receive assistance from one who suffered the same failing.

Thousands of good deeds are performed daily in patterns that circumvent the barriers of human pride. Each of us may ask, "What hidden blessings has God in store today?" Challenging difficulties can cause us to build character and faith or give us opportunity to serve others in Christ's spirit.

48. The Heart of the Faith

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Nikolai Berdyaev, who abandoned Marx for Christianity, insists that neither history nor theology nor the church brought him to the Christian faith, but a simple woman called only Mother Maria. He was present at a concentration camp when the Nazis were murdering Jews in gas chambers. One distraught mother refused to part with her baby. When Maria saw that the officer was only interested in numbers, without a word she pushed the mother aside and quickly took her place. This action revealed to Berdyaev the heart of Christianity—and what atonement means.

49. Needing a Change of Heart

Illustration

Brian P. Stoffregen

The primary point of this parable of the two sons is about having a change in heart, not just about saying or doing the right things. The following stories might illustrate this point.

Once there were two couples. Couple A were married in a large, beautiful church ceremony. They pledge life-long faithfulness and love to each other in the moving words of their vows. However, their life together has been one of abuse both physical and verbal. They both have been unfaithful to each other.

Couple B live together. They had no public ceremony. They signed no marriage license. They spoke no vows in the presence of witnesses. However, their life together is a loving and affirming relationship. They have remained faithful to each other.

Which couple would you say is doing the will of God?

Both need change of hearts - couple A in the way they act towards each other and couple B in their attitudes about the importance of the words in a public ceremony.

Another analogy might be with those who attend church and say all the right words, but whose lives fall somewhat short of John's "way of righteousness" and others who live exemplary lives; but who want nothing to do with "organized religion" and the public expression of their faith.

Both need "a change of heart".

50. Putting on the Garment

Illustration

Bill J. Leonard

In the early Christian centuries, converts were baptized naked. Did you know that? Now that would perk up a Sunday morning worship service! And they put on white robes when they came up out of the water. It was a sign that they had literally put on Christ like a garment. They wore those robes for a period as a reminder of who they were and what they had done. We, like they, are the Christ-bearers of our world, carrying Christ with us wherever we go.

Note: This is true. For validation of this you can go to this CT article. It reads in part: By the early 200s, baptism often included renouncing Satan and all his works, making a statement of faith, being baptized (naked) in water, being clothed in a white robe, receiving anointing with oil, and immediately celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

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