Facts about the book of James

[RichardBurger]

Facts about the book of James:
Note; All scriptures are from the NKJ Bible:

Everyone should be familiar with what James wrote in James 2:20-24
20   But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21   Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son 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.

The above is used by many to show that true faith must be accompanied by works if it is true faith.

Let us explore what James wrote to see if his conclusions are based on facts.

Genesis 15:4-6
4   And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."
5   Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
6   And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

In the above we see that God accounted Abraham as righteous solely for his faith in His Promises, and not by anything that He did.  This event happened many years before Isaac was born. Paul accurately reports this.

It is a fact that James is using Genesis 22 to base his conclusions. However,  it seems that James did not consider the account in Genesis 15.  James conclusions are based on the account given in Genesis 22, many years after Isaac was born, when Abraham was well over 100 years old, and he agreed to offer Isaac.
 
Okay, let us look at the facts:

It is a fact that nowhere does the OT Scripture say that Abraham "was called God's friend" BECAUSE he was willing to offer up his son Isaac. In Isaiah 41:8 it states that God called Abraham His friend but nowhere in the context of the chapter does He say it was because Abraham offered up his son Isaac. Nor does it say in Genesis 22 that Abraham was accounted as righteous BECAUSE he offered up his son Isaac.

What James wrote, as shown above, is a direct contradiction of the Gospel that Paul taught and the account given in Genesis 15:4-6. Abraham was righteous before God solely because he believed God's promises.

In my opinion, based on the facts, the book of James is devoid of the gospel of grace as taught by Paul. Here are some facts that support my opinion. I find them interesting.

1. The word "Law

[blituri]

Don't know why this is non-traditional--whatever that is!

Gen 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham
       obeyed my voice,
       and kept my charge,
       my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Gen 26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: [obeyed God's commandment]

[RichardBurger]

The facts that I presented stand as correct since no one has been able to say otherwise. Paul points to a time (Gen. 15) where Abraham was declared (accounted) righteous, SOLELY, because he believed God's promises and James points to a time when Abraham did a work.

The most debated idea on Christian forums is the idea of works. James is at the center of these debates. The problem is that the Christian religion blends what James said with what Paul said and in doing so destroys what each of them said.

Are Christians saved (accounted as righteous before God) because they believe what Jesus did on the cross saves them or by what man does? --- With Paul it is the cross and with James it is by what man does. --- It is that simple. It is not by both. God will not share His Son's glory with man.

To many this indicates that there were (past tense) two gospels being preached in the book of Acts. I am one of these. One only has to read Acts 21:20-21 and compare verse 21 with what Paul was teaching in Galatians 5:3-6 and realize that the believing Jews were only upset with Paul. If James and the elders were teaching what Paul was teaching in Galatians 5:3-6 then wouldn't they be mad at James too?

Some are saying that Paul got permission to preach from James and the Elders. But this idea is not supported in scriptures. Jesus ordained Saul on the road to Damascus and changed his name to Paul.

Galatians 1:11-17
Call to Apostleship (cf. Acts 9:1-25) 11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.
14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace,
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
NKJV

[preacherwesley]

I think you might be committing a fundamental error of Bible study, which is to assume the same word is used the same way in different books.

In Paul "works" is used as works, where the person is trying to earn salvation.  In James it has to do with obedience to which Paul would agree (Romans 1:5).

Also faith is used different.  To Paul faith is a trusting in the work of Christ for our salvation, but is not devoid of obedience (1:5).  To James faith is simple beliefism.  Simply affirming there is a God. 

When we take these two together there is no contradiction.  And on top of that it would be wise to look at the different purposes of the two books.  James was written to individuals who were treating their brothers wrong and therefore needed to remember the words of Jesus about loving your neighbor as yourself. Paul was trying to unite two groups of people by helping them overcome their arogance.

[RichardBurger]

I think you might be committing a fundamental error of Bible study, which is to assume the same word is used the same way in different books.

In Paul "works" is used as works, where the person is trying to earn salvation.  In James it has to do with obedience to which Paul would agree (Romans 1:5).

Also faith is used different.  To Paul faith is a trusting in the work of Christ for our salvation, but is not devoid of obedience (1:5).  To James faith is simple beliefism.  Simply affirming there is a God. 

When we take these two together there is no contradiction.  And on top of that it would be wise to look at the different purposes of the two books.  James was written to individuals who were treating their brothers wrong and therefore needed to remember the words of Jesus about loving your neighbor as yourself. Paul was trying to unite two groups of people by helping them overcome their arogance.

Well I believe you are making a "fundamental error of Bible study" by trying to rationallize the scriptures to fit into a preconcieved idea that everything written in the Bible has to be blended into a set theology.

Some want to take James' reference to Gen. 22 and overlay it over Gen. 15. --- I think this is silly. It destroys the meaning of both. Some want to throw out all the writtings of Paul since he states works do not save us and use and James said; we must have works to prove our faith. Since it is difficult to blend what Paul said with what James said some will use the arguement that James used the word works differently. RUBBISH!  WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO MAKE THEM OUT AS SAYING THE SAME THING?? Why not see why they are saying something different?