Quiet Time Files - 060208

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25 (NASB)



For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
James 2:26 (ESV)

The argument between salvation by faith and salvation by works is one that reaches back to the time of Abraham, when Abraham "believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." (Gen 15:6 (NASB)). Was Abraham justified on the basis of faith, or because of his obedience?

The best illustration I've ever seen of the interrelationship between faith and works is in a footnote on James 1:25 in the NASP Ryrie study Bible.

Faith and works are like a two-coupon railway ticket. The "works" coupon alone is not good for passage to the final destination; the "faith" coupon, however, is not valid if detached from the "works" coupon. The two go hand in hand. Faith saves; works are the proof of that faith. That's what James was getting at in 2:26 - without the proof of works, faith must be "dead" - invalid.

It's difficult for us to swallow that we ourselves can do nothing to achieve our own salvation. We persistently try to use the works coupon for passage, but find that it just doesn't...work. The change in our lives, the good that we do, should be the outward proof of the inner change that salvation has wrought.