By Grace through Faith that Works

Daily Reading:  James 2

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ...  You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2.21, 24)

Devotional Thought: Sola fide is the Latin term indicating that “faith alone” is sufficient for salvation.  But, James says very plainly in these verses “that a person is justified… not by faith alone.”

In Genesis 22, God had called Abraham to go to the region of Moriah and sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering.  Abraham believed and obeyed God, and was considered righteous.  James interprets this in such a way that he says Abraham was "justified by works" which made his faith complete.  The Apostle Paul, however, also used Abraham as an example - but of being justified by faith alone!  Paul referred back to Genesis 15,  before Abraham was circumcised, when God entered into a covenant relationship with him.  Abraham believed God, and God credited that faith to Abraham as righteousness apart from any other "work."

So is it faith or works?  And what of grace?  Paul tied the three together in Ephesians 2.8-10: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Martin Luther, the great Reformer, the champion of sola fide, said that faith is “a living, creative, active and powerful thing… Faith cannot help doing good works constantly... Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith from works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!”  ...  "We are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone" (R. C. Sproul).

I like to say, "We are saved by grace through a faith that works!"

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for doing all the work of salvation.  Help me, in my faith, to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. 

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 49:10-15

10 For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others.

11 Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.

12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

14 They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.

15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.