Paul doesn’t specifically address this improper use here, but this was the entire thrust of his life before he was converted. As he explains in Philippians 3:4-6 and also Galatians 1:13-14, he was zealous for the Law, thinking that keeping the Law and the Jewish traditions was the way to salvation. But in actuality, he was a violent persecutor of the church, far in his heart from the inner righteousness required by God’s Law. As he explains in Romans 3:20, “by the works of the Law (and this includes the Sabbath day) no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
God’s Law can be compared to a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is not to wash your face, but rather to show you the dirt on your face and drive you to soap and water. And the Law serves as the mirror to those without the Holy Spirit (John 16:8) and those whom the law hasn’t been already inscribed on their heart (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26, Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10).
The law is purposely good for those without the two events (Holy Spirit and Heart Inscription) and it is also good for all of us in order to maintain order in a fallen and chaotic world like ours. We have the military, the police, leadership in everything, jails and prisons as a law that controls those who have failed to control themselves and those who have no other controller from within. But a Christian is controlled from within and not from without.
The keeping of the Law has nothing whatsoever to do with how we are saved for eternal destinies. Keeping the law is for our own good while on this planet. Keeping the law can’t save you because no one is able to keep it perfectly (James 2:10). And actually, if any of us succeeded and kept it perfectly, still that individual wouldn’t be saved from death. Jesus, as a man, kept the Law perfectly but he still died.
The miracle of our salvation does not end at Jesus keeping the law and obeying it on our behalf but rather in the resurrection. Without the resurrection, our obedience and disobedience are equal (1Corithians 15:14, 17). Therefore the Law does not solve our ultimate problem which is death. Death is a pit that accommodates both saints (obedient to the Law) and sinners (disobedient to the law).
Christianity does not teach that we are saved by the Law. The law has nothing to do with our faith in God for salvation purposes. It has everything to do with our sociological relations. Both believer and non-believer in God appreciate the law and they are law abiding citizens not for any other interest but their own good.
Those who read James 2 out of context would want us to believe that the law is part of our faith but this according to the proper study of the book, is not true. Couth readers of the Bible will tell you that James 2 has two issues that uncouth readers always ignore and because of this ignorance end up using James 2:14-26 passage wrongly. These two issues are:
- James Preaches a contradictory faith = 2:14-18
- James gets his scriptural references wrong = 2:21-24
Contradictory Faith:
James, from his Judaism attitudes, preaches faith plus works as a means to salvation. This contradicts the entire theology of the Bible about how we are saved. Here are the contradictions:
(a)-He mixes up things in verse 14 when he asks: “can his faith save him?”. The Bible does not teach that we are saved BY FAITH but rather it teaches that we are saved BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH (Ephesians 2:8).
(b)-According to James 2:15-18, James teaches that faith is doing good and therefore whoever does good has faith and whoever doesn’t do good has no faith (vs.15-17).
On the other hand, however, the Bible teaches that you might not have your faith in God but do right and good: The Jews (Judaism) never believed Jesus Christ but they observed the law and kept well the Sabbath day {Mark 3:1-6}.The gentiles kept the law even though they knew neither Yahweh nor the TORAH {Romans 2:14}.
The law is kept well and many non-believers or those with pagan beliefs have behaved right and done wonderful and gracious things since time immemorial. So right behaviour and good deeds are not the crown sign of belief in God {Acts 10:1-5}. Atheists and Homosexuals are the best neighbours in the whole world beating Christians and all other religious people, does this make them faith-filled and faithful to God as James 2:15-18 wants us to believe? If we use James 2, therefore to defend our legalistic theology, we risk these contradictions.
Wrong Scriptural References:
James tells that according to scripture Abraham was given righteousness by works and not faith alone. But according to the Scripture, he references – Genesis 15:1-6, Abraham was justified and righteous before he actually did whatever he did. In fact, he did all he did as a righteous man and not one who attained his righteousness from whatever he did. Many teachers like James defend the law based on the scriptures in the Bible and when they do they abuse these scriptures as they render an interpretation foreign to the context these verses are situated.
The improper and pagan understanding/use of the law is when we believe that our obedience to the law has even an iota that it contributes to one’s salvation.
Finally, none of us should even ever deceive himself that they are keeping the law for the Law according to James is not kept one at ago but they are all kept at once and the violation of one is a violation of the nine or a thousand you had satisfied (James 2:10)
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
@Think & Become
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 