Romans 4:2-4, "2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt."
Above it says that Abraham was justified by his faith. Let's see how James describes Abraham's justification.
James 2:21-22, "21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"
In contrast? No,not really. What James says is that a working faith must result in good works, otherwise it is considered dead, v26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
Is James talking to atheists or christians? Definitely his epistle is addressed to christians. What does he tell them? That their faith must produce works in order for them to be justified
Since some of us hold the idea that if we are regenerated and the Spirit of God dwells in us, then it is inevitable for us to produce works, then we must explain, "was Abraham somehow obliged by his faith to sacrifice his son or it was up to him, his free will, to decide whether he wanted to sacrifice Isaac or not? The answer is that it was up to him. He could had decided not to sacrifice Isaac. It was entirely up to him, not to God. God had nothing to do with his decision to obey or not.
Similarly our obedience to God and the subsequent production of works in our life is not an automatic process like somehow we are programmed to do works, but it is entirely up to us. We can, but we can not do what the Spirit commands. When are we justified? When we decide to have works that result from our obedience to do what we read in the Bible. Otherwise our faith is in vain, dead, resulting in no salvation. All that is not on God, it is on us
Let's go again and examine Abraham's faith..
Romans 4:2-4, "2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt."
Above it says that Abraham was justified by his faith. Let's see how James describes Abraham's justification.
James 2:21-22, "21Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"
In contrast? No,not really. What James says is that a working faith must result in good works, otherwise it is considered dead, v26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
Is James talking to atheists or christians? Definitely his epistle is addressed to christians. What does he tell them? That their faith must produce works in order for them to be justified
Since some of us hold the idea that if we are regenerated and the Spirit of God dwells in us, then it is inevitable for us to produce works, then we must explain, "was Abraham somehow obliged by his faith to sacrifice his son or it was up to him, his free will, to decide whether he wanted to sacrifice Isaac or not? The answer is that it was up to him. He could had decided not to sacrifice Isaac. It was entirely up to him, not to God. God had nothing to do with his decision to obey or not.
Similarly our obedience to God and the subsequent production of works in our life is not an automatic process like somehow we are programmed to do works, but it is entirely up to us. We can, but we can not do what the Spirit commands. When are we justified? When we decide to have works that result from our obedience to do what we read in the Bible. Otherwise our faith is in vain, dead, resulting in no salvation. All that is not on God, it is on us
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