Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
ON VIDEO-
.Sartre’s unique atheism
.Telos
.Objects or subjects?
.Useless passion?
.Hemingway
MY OLD POSTS [below]
VERSES [below]
NEW STUFF- Sartre is
one of the most famous 20th century philosophers- also described as
the father of existentialism.
I say ‘also’ because
when we covered Kierkegaard- I said the same of him.
How can this be?
Well- Kierkegaard was a Christian- Sartre an atheist.
So you can divide existentialism between ‘Christian existentialists-
and atheistic’.
Ok- it would be a lot to try and cover all of his ideas- but
what I want to do is sort of contrast the thinkers who trended away from
God with those who continued to believe
in a creator- while at the same time engage in the intellectual world [many I
could name- Descartes- Kant- etc.].
Though Sartre- like Camus- was indeed an intelligent man-
when they tried to develop philosophies- ways to explain man- his purpose- what
‘it’s’ all about.
They have difficulty giving any real purpose or meaning to
man.
Why?
Because if you believe [and teach] that man is really some
sort of a cosmic accident- with no creator who made him- then how do you teach
‘that man’ that he has a purpose?
This would apply to all the great thinkers- who rejected
God.
In the end- if you were born without a preceding purpose
[which Christians teach is to glorify God] and when you die- there is no after
life- then it’s common sense to see your life ‘without purpose’.
Sartre's most famous work ‘being and nothingness’ says it
all in the title.
Some of his most famous ideas are ‘no essence before existence’.
Now- Christians usually criticize him for this [which I just
did in a way].
But he sort of tried to apply this idea- and say ‘because we
are not predetermined- then we are indeed responsible for our actions- we are
‘left alone- without excuse’.
When you study Philosophy- along with Theology [the study of
God]. A big thing that is debated is predestination.
Many misunderstand the historic reformation doctrine of
Predestination –and they see it as a form of fatalism- meaning ‘whatever will
be- was meant to be’.
You can do a whole debate on this subject- in studying theology
alone.
Yet it also ‘bleeds’ into philosophy- because many thinkers
were trying to figure out the problems of man- and some thought the doctrine of
original sin taught a form of fatalism.
Actually- it does not.
But that’s why you see these ideas pop up – that we can act without
our past having power over us.
So- in a sense- though Sartre was an atheist- this was an attempt
[I think] to try and give man the ‘freedom’ to act on his own will.
But without belief in God- there really is no grounding
authority to values- ethics.
Where would they come from? [that’s a long debate- but if in
effect ethics- right and wrong- were simply some sort of value system that was
majority rule- then when the majority gets it wrong- slavery- abortion- etc.-
then these values do not really ‘mean’ anything].
From the Christian view [they do debate between predestination
by the way] Values- worth- purpose- do indeed ‘precede’ existence.
God had a purpose for us before we were born- and values are
the revealed ‘rules’ that God gave to man.
The Nihilistic thinkers [those who admit that there really
is no purpose] in the end have a hard time teaching their ideas- and at the
same time instilling self-worth in people.
Camus summed it up when he said-“There
is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide” (MS,
3).Oct 27,
2011
Sartre [like Kierkegaard] wrote plays- poetry- etc.
One of Sartre’s dramas was called ‘NO EXIT’
He depicted Hell as a place where people are forever
‘observing’ one another- with no way out [obviously he did not really believe
in Hell].
But why would he see it this way?
Sartre had a unique insight [though an atheist- he was
indeed smart].
One of the things that Sartre believed- was subjectivity- he
taught that if man were to be truly Free- he could not be an Object [lots has
been said in the last few years on objectifying people- seeing them as objects
degrades them].
So in Sartre's mind- belief in God objectifies people.
How?
If there is an ‘all seeing’ creator who is always
looking/seeing into people’s lives [and intents- hearts] then they are not
truly free.
All the thinkers who rejected God- did not do so for the
same reasons.
Freud- and those who taught Hedonism- said it was the moral
constraints on man [from God and the church] that was the problem.
So in Freud’s mind- we should deny God- and man should live
out all of his most base desires.
It was a failed idea for sure- but that was the Hedonists
view.
Sartre did not espouse unrestrained passion- actually even though
he was an atheist- he believed that men should live with some type of ethic.
So his rejection of God was based on the idea that God is
always ‘watching you’ and a man cannot truly be free- if someone is always
watching him. It was an interesting idea [and yes- God is always watching- but
from the Christian view he is not watching as some type of cosmic voyeur- but
as a Father watches over his children.
Or- as the bible says ‘as a mother hen watches over her
chicks’. So Sartre was right about God always seeing us- but he disagreed with
the Christian view of omniscience [all knowing God] and said this ‘constant
watching’ makes us an object- and to Sartre- the basic attribute of human
character is subjectivity- if he is not a subject- with no previous ‘essence’
[remember- his other famous idea was ‘existence precedes essence’] he is not
truly free.
So to Sartre- man and reality are simply things- and we develop
life from this materialistic view.
He rejected universals- there is not a universal category of
‘mankind’ but simply individual people.
Another famous atheist thinker was Camus [‘there is only one
really serious question left- suicide’].
Even though some of the atheistic thinkers ‘meant well’ yet-
in the end- as Kant said- if there is no God- then society cannot function
without the basic understanding that we are all accountable- and will someday
give an account.
In Kant’s view- he rejected the classical idea that you could
‘prove God’ from reason and nature.
But some said he ‘let God in the back door’.
Because for Kant- if you reject God outright- then society cannot
function.
For instance- if there is some type of injustice- maybe
framed for murder and you sit in jail your whole life- never being vindicated.
For Kant- the person can survive- because he knows- in the
end- the truth will come out [if there is a God].
And not only will it come out- but those who wronged the man
will give an account.
So Kant saw the need for there not only to be an ‘all seeing
God/judge’.
But that Judge had to also have all power- so he could carry
out justice in the end.
But for Sartre- and Camus- and the other atheists- they
grappled with the problem of where moral laws come from [or if there is even
such a thing].
How can we really define ethics if there is no real meaning
to our existence?
If ‘nothing matters’ [no essence before existence] then in
the end- WE don’t matter.
And you come to the same conclusion as Camus.
The question of suicide has been pondered for centuries- it
has made it into the plays of Shakespeare [below]
Many are familiar with this famous line- but read it
carefully- it’s Hamlet’s struggle- whether it’s nobler to ‘go thru stuff’ or-
end it.
That’s why I think the Camus’ and Sartres of the world don’t
help- in the end.
To be, or not to be, that is
the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovere'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovere'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.
PAST POSTS I WROTE THAT RELATE-
.
TELOS [What’s your purpose?]
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/7-3-15-telos-or-jack-nichols-n-the-3-dollar-tip.zip
A telos (from the Greek τέλος for
"end", "purpose", or "goal") is an end or
purpose, in a fairly constrained sense used by philosophers such as Aristotle. It is
the root of the term "teleology,"
roughly the study of purposiveness, or the study of objects with a view to
their aims, purposes, or intentions. Teleology figures centrally in Aristotle's biology and in his theory of causes. It is
central to nearly all philosophical theories of history, such as those of Hegel and Marx. One
running debate in contemporary philosophy of biology is to what extent teleological language (as
in the "purposes" of various organs or life-processes) is
unavoidable, or is simply a shorthand for ideas that can ultimately be spelled
out nonteleologically. Philosophy of action also makes essential use of teleological
vocabulary: on Davidson's account, an action is
just something an agent does with an intention--that
is, looking forward to some end to be achieved by the action.
In contrast to telos, techne is the rational method involved in
producing an object or accomplishing a goal or objective; however, the two
methods are not mutually exclusive in principle.
Q. 1. What is the
chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,[1] and to enjoy him forever.[2]
1Peter
2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, all evil speakings,A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God,[1] and to enjoy him forever.[2]
1Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1Peter 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
1Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
1Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1Peter 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
1Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which
Stuff I
mention on the video
(1360) Lets do a
little Catholic/Protestant stuff. First, those of you who have read this site
for any period of time know that as a Protestant I am ‘pro Catholic’ that is I
read and study Catholic scholars, believe in the ECT statement [Evangelicals
and Catholics together] and for the most
part am pro Catholic in that sense. I have offended more Protestants because of
this stance than Catholics. But sometimes I need to state the differences and
be honest about them, true ecumenical unity should never be achieved on the
altar of doctrine, we should not sacrifice sincerely held beliefs while seeking
unity for Christ’s church. Last night I caught the journey home show with
Marcus Grodi as well as Catholic scholar Scott Hahn [EWTN- the Catholic
network]. Scott was doing a teaching on the sacraments of the church and shared
a common belief in the ‘incarnational’ aspect of matter. Some theologians
believe [both Catholic and Protestant] that since God became man in Jesus, that
this united/sanctified matter in a way that never occurred before. They will
carry this thought into sacramental theology and teach a kind of ‘connection’
with God thru material things; both Baptism and the Eucharist would be major
examples. I believe the historic church was well intended when they developed
this idea, they were combating the popular Greek/Gnostic belief that matter is
inherently evil, not a biblical doctrine. As Scott Hahn made the argument I
simply felt that he gave too much weight to the idea that because of the
incarnation [God becoming man] that now there is a special ‘sanctity’ to
material things when connected with the sacraments. Does the bible teach that
there are actual physical things in this world that carry out the truth of the
incarnation in a material way? Actually it does, the bible teaches that the
bodies of believers have this special aspect because Gods Spirit lives in us.
In essence the idea of ‘special matter’ that is often taught by well meaning
scholars can be applied to the physical church in the earth, all who believe. I
do not totally dismiss sacramental theology, many Protestants who dismiss it
out of hand are not aware of the strong beliefs that the reformers held too in
these areas. Luther is often misunderstood when it comes to his disagreement
with Calvin, many teach and think that he split with Calvin over the doctrine
of Predestination, he did not- Luther’s written views on the doctrine were just
as strong [if not stronger] on the subject. Calvin never wrote a book dedicated
solely to the doctrine, Luther did [bondage of the will]. But they did split on
the sacrament of the Eucharist, Luther’s view [consubstantiation] was much
closer to the Catholic view than Calvin, and Zwingli [the Swiss reformer] was
further away than both Calvin and Luther. Lutheranism would eventually be
developed by a protégé of Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and the Lutheran church
would bear the image of Melanchthon more than Luther. The point being many good
men have held to very strong views on these matters. I believe the biblical
doctrine leans more heavily on the ‘material body’ of the believer as being the
major material change since the incarnation, I do not hold to the idea that
‘God becoming man’ fundamentally changed the nature of matter when dealing with
the sacraments. Matter is not [nor ever was] intrinsically evil, Greek dualism
got it wrong from the start- we do not need a strong sacramental theology to
refute this, scripture itself will do.
. He had a few theological battles in his day. With
Pelagianism and Donatism- these were early Christian movements that broke away
from the standard teaching of the church- they derive their names form the
Bishops/priests who espoused these ideas.
Pelagius denied the doctrine of original sin- and he taught
that men were indeed capable of obeying Gods law- out of their own moral
integrity- and thus ‘save themselves’. Augustine rejected this view and taught
that men were saved only by the grace of God- that men were indeed sinful and
corrupt- and if left to their own designs would end up in hell.
There were various adherents to Pelagius’ view- and his
ideas have carried down thru the centuries to varying degrees- sometimes you
will hear [read] the term ‘Semi- Pelagian’ this refers to those who have
various ideas about man’s ability to save himself through good works.
Some in the Reformed church [the original Protestant belief
system that came out from the 16th century Reformation] accuse the
Catholic Church of this very thing- yet the Catholic Church has made it clear
that they do reject Pelagianism- and they agree with Augustine on the matter.
The Donatists taught that the Sacraments were dependent upon
the ‘holiness’ of the Priest who ministers them. That if you were in a Parish
where the priests were bad- lived in sin- rejected a holy life- then if you
were Baptized by these men- that the Baptism didn’t ‘stick’.
The Donatists formed there own break away church in the 3rd
century- and a few very influential men would join the group. A well respected
early church father- Tertullian- eventually joined their ranks.
Augustine argued against the Donatists teaching- and taught
that Gods grace- and the grace given to believers thru the sacraments were not
derived from the holiness of any priest or preacher- but if a believer in good
conscience received the sacraments- that that’s what really counted.
Saint Augustine is one of the titans of church history- he
is loved by Protestants and Catholics alike. He is famous for his belief in the
doctrine of Predestination [that those who are saved were chosen by God before
they were born] and for this reason he is loved by the original protestant
theologians [Luther, Calvin, etc.]
He also taught a very ‘Catholic’ form of Ecclesiology
[church govt.] and is well loved by many Catholics as well.
The Catholic Church refers to him as the Doctor of Grace- later on in the 13th
century we will meet Saint Thomas Aquinas- who the church refers to as the
Angelic Doctor.
Both of these men played a major role in the development of
western thought and Augustine made an effort to distinguish true Christian
thought from the philosophy of Neo Platonism which was very strong in his day.
When reading Augustine [he wrote a lot] you need to be
careful to distinguish some of his earlier writings from his later ones.
Early on you still see forms of Platonic thought in
Augustine- but as the years rolled by his thinking
. HEBREWS 10-13
There’s more on the video- Kant, John Mill- Moral Theory-
Utilitarianism, Kantianism. Dead Sea Scroll-s ‘Lost Books’ of the bible-
Septuagint- Jerome- Alexander the Great- Ptolemy- Seleucids- Essenes- Qumran
community- Ecclesiology- Local Church
etc.
END NOTES OF POST-
Masada.
Hadrian.
Judaism in transition.
Did they ‘move on’ ?
Who was Elazar ben Yair?
End notes of chapter-
IS THERE MEANING TO THE ACTUAL ORDER OF BIBLE VERSES?
HOW DID THE SPIRIT ‘TESTIFY’ TO THE FINAL SACRIFICE?
WHY DOES THE WRITER CONTINUE TO SAY THE NEW COVENANT IS HARSHER?
CHAPTER 10:
‘For the law having a SHADOW of good things to
come, AND NOT the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshipers
once purged should have no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year’. Paul shows how the
simple fact of ongoing sacrifices in and of itself testifies of the
insufficiency of the law. The on going sacrifices were a reminder that the
peoples sins were still there. If the sacrifices really worked, then why do it
over and over again every year? He will contrast this with the singular
sacrifice of Christ. The fact that Jesus did it once shows the superiority of
his sacrifice over the law.
‘Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he
saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. THEN
SAID HE, lo, I come to do thy will O God. ABOVE WHEN HE SAID sacrifice and offering…THEN
HE SAID, lo, I come to do thy will O God. He taketh away the first that he may
establish the second’ Here Paul uses the actual order of the verses in Psalms
to prove that the Old law will pass away and a New covenant will replace it.
The fact that David [Psalms] says ‘sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared for me’ in this order shows that God always
planned on taking away the sacrificial system and replacing it with Christ [or
fulfilling it!] So even in the simple prophetic order of these statements Paul
sees the Old law passing away and a new one being instituted. Wow again!
‘By the which will we are sanctified thru the
offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every high priest
STANDETH daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which
can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever, SAT DOWN on the right hand of God’ The comparison here is that
the priests under the law stood, showing their sacrifices were never
sufficient, they could never say ‘it is finished’. The fact that they stood
while offering sacrifices showed the incompleteness of the system. Jesus sat
down. This showed that his sacrifice was once and for all. Now, no where does
scripture teach this concept between ‘sitting and standing’. Where does Paul
get this stuff from? From ‘revelation’, that is God is supernaturally showing
this stuff to Paul as he writes. This is the prophetic element of scripture.
While we don’t ‘write scripture’ any more today, there are still lots of hidden
meanings that we don’t fully see yet. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to
‘bring to our remembrance all the things that Jesus taught us’ [also all the
things about Jesus!] So when you read the Old Testament, look for Jesus! He is
there in more ways than you realize.
‘For by ONE offering
he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost
also is a witness to us [of what? Of the singularity of Christ’s offering. The
fact that the Holy Spirit thru Jeremiah prophesied that God would never
remember our sins any more speaks to the truth of the one offering of Christ,
we will read ‘if there is no more remembrance, then there is no more
sacrifice’] this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I
write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
. Both of the above books/movies became favorites of mine-
till this day I’ll watch them when they pop up on the classic channel. I
actually have the Grapes of Wrath book sitting right here.
But the movie- Old man and the Sea- enthralled me. The
struggle of the old man- his fight with the great fish- his arm wrestling bouts
with the younger guys- the whole mystique was my thing.
The author- Hemingway- was himself a ‘mans man’ he lived
large- took in all the experiences of life- and embraced a philosophy of life
called Nihilism. This world view was popularized by men like Sartre, Camus and
Freud. It basically is atheistic and says ‘there is no real meaning to life-
man is a ‘useless passion’- he exists, only for the purpose of experiencing
life- when the pain exceeds the pleasure- that the responsible thing to do is
check out’. Yes- this philosophy advocates suicide.
Sartre [John Paul Sartre] actually said that the only
philosophical question left is suicide- that we need to ask ourselves- as a
society- should we allow ourselves to check out- for the good of the whole-
when the pain exceeds the pleasure.
Another great work of Hemingway is titled ‘the Sun also
rises’. He took the title from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes- written by
Solomon [you know- to everything there is a season]. Solomon also embraces a
sort of nihilistic view in this book- though it is in the bible- it is a form
of literature called ‘pessimistic wisdom literature’. Sort of the philosophy
Hemingway embraced.
Hemingway spoke about this view all thru out his life-
though he was a brilliant writer- he had no hope ‘in the world’ [Apostle Paul].
One night, after he went to bed with his wife- he woke up- went downstairs and
rigged up his favorite hunting rifle- and blew his head off. His daughter
followed him a few years later.
I don’t know what’s down the road for our world right now-
there are many people feeling hopeless today because they have lost- yes once
again- a big portion of their wealth. As Christians we can say ‘yes- life is
hard- we struggle at times- but in the end our struggles are working out a higher
purpose- we have meaning in life’ but the atheist/nihilist- to them there is no
redemptive purpose to the struggle- when the pain exceeds the pleasure- well
yes- they check out.
Over the next few weeks- wherever you are at- think for
yourself. If all the professional investors take their money out of stocks- and
at the same time they advise you different- then stop listening to them. If
your mad at the right [or left] then don’t keep watching people who are coming
up with diagnosis’ that say the country is being run by actual Oslo killers-
that’s just not true- no matter how much you might hate their point of view.
And at the end of the day- we as believers- we do have hope
in the world. Mr. Steinberg wore that star of David- proudly. And in a recent
post [Last?] I spoke about the promise that God made to king David- that he
would raise up one of his sons and this Son would rule on the throne for ever.
Yes- today this promise has been fulfilled through Christ- who sits at the
right hand of God.
I don’t know- maybe I’ll rent the Old man and the Sea later
[I tried in the past but couldn’t find it] and I’ll see the struggle of the old
man [played excellently by Spencer Tracy] but instead of embracing his creators
view [that is his earthly creator- Hemingway] I’ll ‘give’ my sufferings up- as
the Catholics say- I’ll offer them to the Lord. Hemingway took the cowards way
out- at the end of the day- he wasn’t the man we thought he was- he copped out.
. For Aristotle- knowledge is more A-Posteriori- that is we
obtain knowledge about a thing- from the very thing itself. We see/touch and
experience that thing- and by our senses interacting with the substance- we get
knowledge- after the fact.
Okay- to Aristotle all substance has both Form and Matter.
Then what he called substance- had 2 categories as well. The ‘substance’
[actual thing it is] and the Accidens [not accidents- not a typo].
The Accidens was simply the outward appearance- what we see
on the outside. It might not be what the substance really is- or it might.
This teaching would eventually become a major way that our
Catholic friends would come to define the doctrine of Transubstantiation-
during the 13the century the great thinker Thomas Aquinas would re-discover
[and introduce] Aristotle’s teaching back into the church.
In his theological works [Summa Theologica] he would use
Aristotelian thought to explain how the Bread and Wine become the actual Flesh
and Blood of Christ. Thomas explained that the actual substance of the thing
was Flesh and Blood- but the Accidens- what you’re seeing on the outside- looks
like Bread and Wine.
Catholic scholars have debated for centuries on whether or
not they should stick to the hard line teaching from Thomas on this. They are
not challenging the belief in the Real Presence [that Jesus is really there at
the Eucharist] they simply wonder whether or not explaining it this way is
right.
Finally- after many years of certain Catholic scholars
asking this question- in 1965 the Pope [I think it was Paul the 6th?]
put out a Papal Encyclical [an official Vatican teaching] and he stated clearly
that the way Aquinas taught it is the official doctrine of the church- so that
settled that.
Okay- Plato was an Idealist [Dualist] and Aristotle was a
Realist. That’s the major difference.
I will note that Aristotle’s most famous student was
Alexander the Great. And during the great conquests of Alexander he took with
him a whole team of scientists who brought back all types of specimens of
things and he gave them to his famous teacher Aristotle- to advance the cause
of learning at the Lyceum school.
It has been said that Alexander’s efforts at collecting and
bringing these things back after their victories- that this was probably the
most expensive scientific endeavor of all time- right up until the modern space Era.
Note- I try to avoid too many ‘big words’ in these posts.
Not because people don’t understand them- but because I forget how to spell
them! And in this post- there are around 10 words that my spell check has no idea
how to spell- so just a warning- there might be a few misspelled words in this
one.
. (846)ROMANS 8:29-30 ‘for whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
whom he justified, them he also glorified’. Let’s talk a little. When I first
became a Christian I began a lifelong study of scripture, where I continually
read a certain amount of scripture every day for many years. Over the years I
have varied on how fast I should read [that is how many chapters per day and so
forth]. But during the early stages I always took these verses to teach
predestination in the classical sense. Simply put, that God ‘pre chose’ me [and
all whom come to him] before we ‘chose him’. The Fundamental Baptist church I
began to attend [a great church with great people!] taught that ‘classic
Calvinism’ [predestination] was false doctrine, and they labeled it ‘Hyper
Calvinism’. I simply accepted this as fact. But I never forgot the early
understanding that I first gleaned thru my own study. I also was very limited
in my other readings outside of the scripture. I did study the Great awakenings
and Charles Finney. I read some biographies on John Wesley and other great men
of God. These men were not Calvinistic in their doctrine [which is fine], as a
matter of fact Wesley would eventually disassociate from George Whitefield over
this issue. Whitefield was a staunch Calvinist! Over time I came to believe the
doctrine again, simply as I focused on the scriptures that teach it. Eventually
I picked up some books on church history and realized that Calvinism was [and
is] a mainstream belief among many great believers. I personally believe that
most of the great theologians in history have accepted this doctrine. Now, for
those who reject it, they honestly struggle with these portions of scripture.
Just like there are portions of scripture that Calvinists struggle with. To
deny this is to be less than honest. The Arminians [Those who deny classic
predestination- the term comes from Jacob Arminias, a Calvinist who was writing
and studying on the ‘errors’ of ‘arminianism’ and came to embrace the doctrine
of free will/choice] usually approach the verses that say ‘he predestined us’
by teaching that Gods predestination speaks only of his foreknowledge of those
who would choose him. This is an honest effort to come to terms with the
doctrine. To be ‘more honest’ I think this doesn’t adequately deal with the
issue. In the above text, as well as many other places in scripture, the idea
of ‘Gods foreknowledge and pre choosing’ speak specifically about Gods choice
to save us, as opposed to him simply knowing that we would ‘choose right’. The
texts that teach predestination teach it in this context. Now the passage above
does say ‘those whom he foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed into
the image of Christ’ here this passage actually does say ‘God predestinated us
to be like his Son’. If you left the ‘foreknowledge’ part out, you could read
this passage in an Arminian way. But we do have the ‘foreknowledge’ part. So I
believe Paul is saying ‘God chose us before we were born, he ‘knew’ ahead of
time that he would bring us into his Kingdom. Those whom he foreknew he also
predestinated to become like his Son.’ Why? So his Son would be the firstborn
among many. God wanted a whole new race of ‘children of God’. Those he
predestinated he ‘called’. He drew them to himself. Jesus said ‘all that the
Father give to me will come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no way
cast out’. Those who ‘come’ are justified, those who are justified are [present
tense] glorified. Gods design and sovereignty speak of it as a ‘finished task’
like it already happened. God lives outside of the dimension of time. I believe
in the doctrine of predestination. Many others do as well. You don’t have to
believe it if you don’t want to, but I believe scripture teaches it.
(847)ROMANS 8: 31-39 ‘What shall we say then to these
things? [what things? The fact that God predestined us and has guaranteed
completion of the purpose he has designed us for!] If God be for us, who can be
against us?’ Paul teaches that Christ is the only one with the ‘right’ or
authority to pass judgment. If the only person in existence who can
‘officially’ condemn and pass legal judgment has actually died for us for the
purpose of ‘freeing us from a state of condemnation’, then who ‘gives a rip’
about others opinions and views of us? Most of us struggle with how others view
us.
VERSES-
. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for
out of it are the issues of life. Prvb.
4:3
. Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better
thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for
that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth
him under the sun. Ecc. 8
. If the Son therefore shall
make you free, ye
shall be free indeed. Jesus
. Acts 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to
testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and
dead.
Acts 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his
name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Acts 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell
on all them which heard the word.
Acts 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were
astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify
God. Then answered Peter,
Acts 10:47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be
baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Acts 10:48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the
Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
.
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not
obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
crucified among you?
Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are
ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be
yet in vain.
Galatians 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and
worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In
thee shall all nations be blessed.
.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he
loved us,
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
.
John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the
world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil.
John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and
every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that isbegotten of him. 1st John 5
Monday, October 26, 2015
SOREN KIERKEGAARD ‘FEAR AND TREMBLING’- https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/10-22-15-soren-kierkegaards-fear-and-trembling.zip
ON VIDEO-
.Why study the classics?
.C.S. Lewis too
.Was he depressed?
.Why write in the dirt?
.Leave by faith
.The 3 stages of life
.Sproul liked him!
.What was the city?
[PAST POSTS AND VERSES BELOW]
NOTE- I just walked outside from one of the spots where I
work on my laptop- and sure enough there is a homeless guy- originally from
NYC.
I also have become friends with another new ‘street guy’
named Vince [in another new spot where I go- to be alone].
I gave Vince the ministry card- so he could check out the
site [I always tell these guys I do a homeless ministry- but at first they see
me – often dressed in black- and they are suspicious].
So- I went to one of the new spots the other day- sure enough
Vince says ‘Hi John’ [I forgot his name- had to ask for it again].
It seemed like he checked out the site- and saw I was
telling the truth [Vince is homeless- but I could tell he is organized to a
degree- able to survive pretty well- Like my friend Tim you saw on the last
video].
I always find it ‘strange’ when I run into these guys [like
just now] because these are areas where you normally do not see the homeless.
So- just wanted to mention this.
NEW NOTES-
Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher-
thinker- theologian and social critic [poet too!].
I’ve done philosophy posts in the past- and think I might
have covered him before-
But these recent posts [Nietzsche] are simply covering the
classics of literature-
So we will talk about his best known work ‘fear and
Trembling’.
He covers different perspectives on the story of Abraham
found in genesis 22- when God told him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.
He gives different scenarios of how Abraham might have
struggled deeply with this command.
Kierkegaard wrote at a time when many scholars were defending
the Christian faith from the standpoint of reason and proofs for the existence
of God.
Many defenders of the faith were trying to give an intellectual
defense for the reality of God.
They sought to show that truth is objective [which it is by
the way] and they gave very strong cases for the argument of the existence of
God thru reason and history [for instance- faith is not ‘blind faith’ where you
reject the mind- and simply believe in God as some blind act of a leap into the
dark].
But- Kierkegaard responded to these intellectuals [Hegel-
etc.] and said that faith is the 3rd stage of the journey of life.
The first stage people are spectators- they enjoy the arts-
poets- even the study of deep theological truths [the so called Ivory Tower
intellectuals].
But to him- this was not actually engaging in the reality of
life- and God.
The 2nd stage was the Ethical stage- where you see
the reality of right and wrong [natural law] the truth about the ‘fatherhood of
God and brotherhood of man’ [some scholars reduced the faith to this].
But to Kierkegaard- this too was not ‘true faith’.
The 3rd stage he saw as ‘the religious stage’ of
man- but to him religion was indeed a personal relationship with God through
Jesus Christ [sounds very evangelical for his day].
He criticized organized religion [the church state of
Denmark] and stressed the need for the individual to experience God- even
beyond the point of reason.
Now- in the scholarly debates that have raged over the centuries-
a big one is whether truth is objective- or relative [or subjective].
Kierkegaard does seem to teach – at least in part- that
truth [and our relationship with God] can be subjective.
I think he was not trying to embrace what some Relativists
do- that there is no ‘real truth’.
But more in the line of showing us that we can’t reduce
‘religion’ to simple ethical standards- or reasoning-
Because- like in the story of Abraham- he was asked- by God-
to do something that did indeed violate ethics- and the actual command of God
to not kill.
So in fear and trembling he shows that Abrahams faith went
beyond a simple head knowledge of right and wrong- but he had heard the voice
of God- who by a lifetime of walking with him- he understood because he had a
relationship with God.
In genesis 22 we read that Abraham went to offer his son-
and told the servants ‘we will be back’.
In Hebrews 11 we read that Abraham simply convinced himself
that if he offered Isaac on the altar- that God would raise him up.
Why?
Because Isaac was the child that God promised would be the
father of many generations- God made this promise to Abraham.
Then how could Isaac be this promised child- and yet at the
same time- be the child that God said to ‘kill’.
See- to Kierkegaard- the faith of Abraham was not reduced to
an intellectual reality of right and wrong- but it was a passionate embrace of
God- even to the point where others would never understand it.
In the end- God told Abraham it was simply a test- and he
did not let Abraham go thru with the act.
Kierkegaard tried to show the struggles of man-
He also used the example of Job- where he was in great
stress- to the point of seeking death- and yet he would still serve God.
He spoke about severe loneliness- and depression- the example
he gave was solitary confinement- where even if the prisoner wanted to die- he
could not ‘find death’.
Why was he so ‘negative’?
Some think the book fear and Trembling’ was actually his own
experience.
He broke off the engagement to the love of his life- Regine
Olson- because he felt God wanted him to ‘sacrifice’ this love- for a higher
calling.
Much like Abraham being willing to give up his son- though
he loved him so much.
Kierkegaard probably suffered from depression most of his
life- and he died at the young age of 42.
TEACHING I DID IN THE PAST THAT RELATES TO VIDEO-
(820) .
ROMANS 3:19-31 ‘Now we know that what things the law says, it says to those who
are under the law… that every mouth may be stopped and all the world becomes
guilty before God’. One of the questions that arise as a response to Paul’s
gospel is ‘if the law cannot make us righteous, then why even have it’? Paul
will consistently teach the concept that Gods intention for the law was simply
to reveal mans sin to him. Man would have this ‘form’ of the law written on
stone tablets and as he tried to live up to God’s standards he would come to
the proper diagnosis that all men are sinners. This diagnosis would then lead
him to a place of faith in Jesus. After he believes in Jesus he then fulfills
the law naturally, out of having a new nature ‘yea, we establish the law’
[3:31]. I have found it interesting over the years to teach people this. To
explain to sincere people, church goers. To say ‘did you know the bible says
that no man can be saved by trying to obey Gods Ten Commandments’? I will
always explain that this doesn't mean that God wants us to break them! But when
we come to the Cross we by nature keep them. These verses lay down the
foundation of ‘justification by faith’. He that believes is righteous. To
declare Jesus righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. Having
faith ‘in His Blood’. Both Jews and Gentiles need to be made righteous thru
faith/belief in Jesus. I want to establish this fact in your mind. Paul without
a doubt describes this experience as being ‘justified by faith’. This is the
same as saying ‘believing with the heart unto righteousness’. Later on [chapter
10] this needs to be understood when parsing the verses that say ‘with the heart
a man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation’ many are confused about this, to get it right you need to see that
Paul spends much time early on establishing the fact that ‘those who believe
unto righteousness’ are justified by faith already!
Below are just a few clips from Romans 1-3- I hope to hit on these in
the video.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from
faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness;
Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in
them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of
the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Romans 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Romans 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law
unto themselves:
Romans 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean
while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God.
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is
manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no
difference:
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God;
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God;
Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness:
that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?
of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
ROMANS 4-7
Video
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/700-galatians.wav?_=1 This is an old radio show I made years ago-
thought it fit well with what I’m teaching now- you’ll need to use Internet
Explorer browser to hear it.
The apostle Paul quotes a lot of Old Testament
scriptures in this letter- I hope to cover some of them on the video- but as
you read these chapters- it would be helpful to read Genesis 12- 13- 15-and 17-
these are the main chapters Paul uses in the life of Abraham to show Abrahams
faith- and how he was justified by faith- before he was circumcised [Gen 15].
He will describe the faith of Abraham by using
the story of Abraham and Sarah having a son in their old age [Gen. 17] - and talk
about how the heirs of the promise- that Abraham would be ‘heir of the world’
was made to ALL THE SEED- meaning not just to his Jewish brothers who would
believe- but also to the Gentiles- who were never granted the ‘right of the
covenant’ [circumcision].
Paul explains that Abraham was justified BEFORE
he was circumcised- so- he is the father of all the kids- even the Gentile
believers who were never circumcised- but had the faith of Abraham.
Now- there’s’ a lot I am trying to cover in this
Romans study- for those who watch the videos- you will see that I’m also
covering the divisions within Christianity- primarily those that arose out of
the 16th century Protestant Reformation. I quote the book of James-
and show how James says ‘was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS when he
offered up Isaac his son on the altar’. It’s important to see- that these words
JUSTIFIED BY WORKS- are indeed used in our New Testament- in the videos I’m
explaining this- but the point I’m making is James uses the account of Abraham-
in Genesis 22- and shows us that the progressive work of ‘Justification’ can-
and is- applied to the act of Abrahams obedience- and when God saw Abraham DO A
JUST THING [a work] James says ‘he was then justified’- the same word used in
the initial act of our Justification- seen in Genesis 15- ok- this might be a
bit much to take in now- but over time when we get a better grasp on this- I believe
it will help to foster unity in the Body of Christ.
James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he
had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by
works was faith made perfect?
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called
the Friend of God.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and
not by faith only.
NOTE- As I do this study- I’m copying/pasting an old commentary I
wrote years ago- I guess I should read the commentary first- after I penned the
above- I read it- I basically covered the same thing- at least I’m consistent!
ROMANS 4: 1-12
Now, Paul will use one of his most frequent arguments to prove that all
men, both Jews and Gentiles, need to be justified by faith and not ‘by works’.
The most famous singular figure that natural Israel looked to as the
‘identifier’ of them being a special people was ‘Father Abraham’. Paul does a
masterful job at showing how Abraham was indeed justified by faith and not by
works. The ‘work’ of circumcision came before the law. It would later become
synonymous with law keeping [Ten Commandments] and Paul can certainly use it here
as implying ‘the whole law’. But to be accurate this work of circumcision was a
national identifying factor that Israel looked to as saying ‘we are better than
you [Gentiles]’. Paul is showing Israel that God in fact ‘made Abraham
righteous’ before he circumcised him! [Gen. 15] And the sign of this
righteousness was circumcision. This meaning that Abrahams faith in Gods
promise [a purely ‘passive’ act! This is very important to see. Later on as we
deal with the famous ‘conversion texts’ we need to keep this in mind] justified
him without respect to the law. God simply took Abraham outside and said ‘look
at the stars, your children will be this abundant’ and Abraham simply believed
this promise to be true. Much like the passive belief of Cornelius house at
their conversion [Acts 10]. The simple belief in the promise of Jesus justifies
the sinner! Now this fact of Abraham believing and being made righteous, before
being circumcised, is proof [according to Paul] that Abraham is the father of
‘many nations’ not just natural Israel. All ethnic groups who HAVE THE SAME
FAITH AS ABRAHAM are qualified to be ‘sons of Abraham/ heirs of God’. The fact
that Abraham carried this justification along with him as he became
circumcised, shows that all Jewish people as well can partake of this
‘righteousness by faith’ if they have the same faith as Abraham had. Jesus did
say ‘Abraham rejoiced to see my day’[ John’s gospel]. In Gods promise to
Abraham of a future dynasty of children, this included the promised Messiah. So
indirectly Abraham’s belief in the promise of being the father of ‘many
nations’ included belief in the coming Messiah. So according to Paul, all
ethnic groups who have faith in Jesus are justified/made righteous. The very
example Israel used to justify ‘ethnic/national pride’ [Father Abraham] was
taught in a way that showed the truth of the gospel and how God is no respecter
of persons.
(820) ROMANS
4:13-14 ‘Now the promise that Abraham would become the inheritor of the world
was not going to be fulfilled thru the law [natural Israel] but thru faith [all
who believe, both Jew and Gentile]’. I have spoken on this before [see note at
bottom] and will hit on it a little now. The historic church can be defined for
the most part as ‘a-millennial’, that is they interpreted the parables on the
Kingdom of God and the promise of ‘inheriting the world [which includes the
Promised Land]’ as being fulfilled thru the church. That Jesus established Gods
kingdom and the church basically fulfills these promises by expanding Christ’s
‘rule’ thru the earth. Some historians saw the 4th century
‘marriage’ of Rome and Christianity as a fulfillment of this. During the 19th
and 20th century you had the rise of Dispensationalism, a
‘new/different’ way of interpreting these land promises. Many good men showed
the reality of Christ’s literal coming and pointed to a future time where Jesus
literally sits on a throne in Jerusalem and rules all nations. These brothers
are called ‘Pre-millennial’, they believe that Jesus comes back first [pre] and
then establishes his ‘millennial rule’ on earth. The Premillennialists would
see the Amillennialists as ‘replacement theologians’. They said that these
brothers were taking the actual promises that God made to Israel and
‘replacing’ Israel with the church. In essence they accused the Amillennialists
of spiritualizing the promises to Israel and saying the church would be the
recipients of the promises. Now, both sides have truth to them, I personally
believe the Amillennialists have a lot more truth! But I do see some of the
good points that the Premillenialists made. I want you to simply read these
verses [Romans 4:13-14, Galatians 3:18] and see for yourself how Paul does
teach the reality that the promises to Abraham are to be fulfilled thru the
church [spiritual Israel]. This does not mean that there is no future physical
return of Jesus. But the body of scripture leans heavily on the Amillinnialists
side. [see entry 703] NOTE- To be fair, some historic thinkers held to the
Premillennial position. The majority were Amillennial.
(821) ROMANS
4:15-25 ‘For the law worketh wrath, for where there is no law there is no
transgression’. I simply want to touch on the concept of ‘wrath’ being a very
real part of judgment. One of the ways the gospel ‘saves us’ is by promising a
future [and present!] deliverance from wrath. While death ‘reigned’ before the
law was given, it wasn’t until the law where you had a clear picture of
transgression and atonement. We will deal with this later in Romans. Now Paul
once again hits on the theme of Abraham being the ‘spiritual father’ of many
nations [all who believe] and how the promises of God to Abraham were to be
fulfilled thru this ‘new race of people’ [the church]. Paul is careful to not
demean Israel; he couches his terms in a way that says ‘God will fulfill these
things thru the circumcision who believes [Jews] and the un-circumcision who
believe’ [Gentiles]. I want to stress the very plain language Paul uses to show
us that we should not be seeing Gods ‘covenant promises’ thru a natural lens.
Christians need to be careful when they support [exalt!] natural Israel in a
way that the New Testament doesn’t do. ‘To the end that the promise might be
sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also
which is the faith of Abraham’. Now Paul tells us that when God made promises
to Abraham that Abraham believed against hope. When all things looked really
bad, he still believed. When he was 100 years old and Sarah around 90, he held
to the promise [read my commentaries on Genesis 15-18 and Hebrews 11] and
therefore God imputed righteousness to him. How closely are you paying
attention to Paul’s free use of Abraham and Genesis? If you carefully read this
chapter you see Paul ‘intermingle’ the story of Abraham being ‘made righteous
upon initial belief’ [Gen. 15] and the later story of Sarah having Isaac [Gen.
17]. I think Paul was simply using the description of Abrahams faith, as seen
in the Gen. 17 [and 22!] accounts of his life, to show the type of faith he
initially ‘exercised’ [I don’t like using this term to be honest. God actually
imputes faith to the believer at the initial act of regeneration]. The
important chapters from Genesis that we all need to have a ‘working knowledge’
of are Chapters 12 [the initial promise], 15 [the oft mentioned ‘imputed
righteousness’ verse], 17 [the receiving of the promised seed- Isaac], and 22
[the ultimate act of obedience that Abraham showed in offering up Isaac. This
will be described in James epistle as ‘righteousness being fulfilled’. James,
who is concerned about ‘works’, will say that when Abraham offered Isaac he was
fulfilling the ‘imputed righteousness’ that God gave him earlier. James
actually describes this as ‘being justified by works’{James 2:21} and James
says ‘the scripture was fulfilled that saith Abraham believed God and it was
imputed to him for righteousness’… ‘see how that by works a man is justified
and not by faith only’. The classic view taken by many confuses the ‘justified’
part with the initial act of justification that Paul centers on. James uses
‘see how he was justified by works’ in a future ‘judicial decree’ sense; that
is God having the ongoing ‘freedom’ to continually say ‘good job son, you did
well’. The word justification is used in a fluid sense much like salvation.
Christians need to be more ‘secure’ in their own assurance to be able to see
these truths. When we approach all these seemingly ‘difficult passages’ in a
defensive mode, then we never arrive at the actual meaning]. When we see the
overall work of God in Abraham’s life we see the purpose of God in ‘declaring
people just’ [initially ‘getting saved’]. The purpose is for them to eventually
‘act just’ [obey!] ‘Jesus was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification’ thank God that this process is dependant on the work of the
Cross! [see # 758]
Romans 5:1-9 ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God thru our Lord Jesus Christ’. There are certain benefits
‘results’ of being ‘made righteous by faith’, peace being one of them. Paul
goes on and says we glory in hope and also trials, because we realize that thru
the difficulties we gain experience and patience. Things that are needed for
the journey, we can’t substitute talent and motivation and ‘success principles’
for them. We need maturity and God produces it this way. Those who teach
otherwise have a ‘self inflicted wound’ their teachings are very immature! That
is there was a ‘strain’ of teaching in the church that said ‘we don’t learn
thru difficulty and suffering, we learn only thru Gods word!’ [that is reading
it]. Those who grasped onto this false
idea have produced some of the most unbalanced teaching in the church, stuff
that even the younger generation is saying ‘what in the heck are these guys
preaching’? If you by pass the difficult
road, you will be shallow. Now Paul says ‘God commended his love toward us,
that when we were sinners Christ died for us’ ‘being now justified by his
death, we shall be saved thru his life’ [saved from wrath thru him]. Once again
this theme pops up; ‘since we are justified, made righteous by believing with
the heart, we shall be saved [continual, future deliverance] from wrath thru
him’. I don’t know if you ever realized what a major theme this is in Romans?
The ongoing, future ‘being saved’ is a result of ‘being made righteous’. Later
on in chapter 10, when we read that the righteous call for salvation, we need
to understand this context. Remember, when the two are linked together
CHAPTER 11: [see commentary on
Acts 21]
END NOTES-
JUSTIFIED BY
FAITH.
TORTURED- BY
FAITH?
REJECTED MONEY-
BY FAITH?
THEY ALL WAITED
FOR THE CITY- THE CHURCH.
‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen, FOR BY IT THE ELDERS OBTAINED A GOOD
REPORT [JUSTIFIED]’ This is the key verse to the chapter. Paul will go on to
prove that all the Old Testament figures that ‘pleased God’ did it by faith,
and not by works! ‘Through faith WE UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear’ Faith is not ‘blind’. It informs and gives understanding. This
understanding is real! Let me show you what I mean. All of the universe and
creation had a beginning point. Science did not always know or believe this.
Today science teaches this. It is called ‘the point of singularity/density’.
Science has traced back the origins of all things and has found scientific
evidence to prove that all things had a ‘beginning point’. Now if you were to
ask science ‘what did you have right before the beginning point’? They are
stumped. Some of course believe in God and will boldly proclaim him at this
point. To the others they can not answer this question. Why? Because they
realize, thru science, that matter is not infinite.
Some have
theorized that either all things always existed [which science has now
disproved] or that at one point nothing existed [which science also teaches
that if this were true then you would have nothing today. You can not get
something from nothing!] So all true science has gone back to this ‘point of
singularity’ and can not see what is right before ‘the point’. The Christian
‘sees’ God at this point! He ‘understands’ that by necessity there has to have
been something that existed before creation, science teaches this. This
something can not have been created also, because then where did the ‘being’
who created ‘it’ come from? So science teaches us that whoever got the ball
rolling [Saint Thomas Aquinas calls this the ‘prime mover’] had to have been preexistent/
self existent in order to have done it. And we know that creation couldn’t have
done it by itself, so therefore all reasoning and understanding leave us at the
philosophical point of ‘there had to have been something/someone who existed
forever in order for anything to be
today’. So now you see how ‘by faith we understand that all things that now
exist were brought into existence by someone who we can not see’. FAITH
UNDERSTANDS!
As we go thru the rest of this chapter I want
you to focus in on all the references of justification by faith. You will be
surprised [I think?] on how many examples Paul gives to Israel from
their own history [his too!] on God justifying people by faith. I will also try
and show you [if I remember] how this chapter links the division between Paul’s
epistles to the gentiles [Romans, Galatians] with James letter to the Jews.
James was one of the lead Apostles at Jerusalem
[Acts 15] and the Judaizers who were always accusing Paul of preaching grace in
a way that justified sin, they came out of Jerusalem . James and Paul were rivals in a
sense. James had the difficult job of overseeing the Church at Jerusalem , who had all the Pharisees who
believed, while Paul was preaching this radical message of grace. This is why
James’s letter [book of James] focused so much on faith and works. James was
seeing the Genesis 22 account of Abraham’s justification when he offered Isaac
on the altar. James will say ‘see how Abraham was justified by his works’.
While in Paul’s letters he focuses on the Genesis 15 account of Abraham
believing God and being made righteous. James was not contradicting Paul; he
was showing the actual outcome of the life of a person who was previously
justified by faith. James was saying ‘When God made Abraham righteous [Gen 15]
he later actually became what God made him!’ [Gen. 22].
Now when Abraham would later do righteous
things, he only did them because he previously had faith in Gods promise. But
the fact still remains that when Abraham did a righteous act, God still
justified him [in a sense, God has the prerogative to say ‘good job son, I am
pleased with you’ so this can be described as an act/function of
justification]. Well, now that I already showed you all this, I guess I wont
have to remember telling it to you later. The point is in this chapter Paul
will go down and show all these examples of Jewish leaders acting by faith and
doing righteous deeds. This sort of bridges the gap between the strong emphasis
on faith in Paul’s letters, with the strong emphasis on works in James letter.
Paul is telling Israel
‘yes, all the old saints did do good works that pleased God, but they did them
by faith!’ ‘Faith without works is dead’ [James]. So in a sense this single
chapter bridges one of the key divisions in the early church between Jerusalem and Antioch [Acts 13 and 15].
Note; I believe all the chapter references above are correct, I write all this
from memory so you might want to go back and double check the references. I
know all the stories are right.
‘By FAITH Able offered …by which he obtained
witness that he was RIGHTEOUS…by FAITH Enoch was translated…he had this
testimony that he PLEASED GOD…without FAITH it is impossible to PLEASE HIM [all
these ‘please him’ references are like saying ‘being justified’ when a person
is justified by God, God sees him as acceptable, pleasing. ‘Thou art my beloved
son in whom I am well PLEASED’ God to Jesus!] By faith Noah… prepared an ark to
the SAVING of his house…and became heir to the RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS BY FAITH
[wow, he makes this one real plain] By faith Abraham…went out into a strange
land…and sojourned’ interesting, both the aspect of ‘going out to a new land’
and ‘staying in it when you get there’ are both functions of faith. Let me
throw in some practical stuff here. Over the years of ‘doing ministry’ I have
seen and been a partaker of both of these experiences. Sometimes it takes an
act of faith to uproot us from familiar territory and move on to the next
level. And do you know what can happen next? The enemy will try to intimidate
you once you get in the land of promise, and tell you ‘you cant stay here, look
at all the people who hate you. Look at all the mistakes you made’ and it often
takes an act of faith to STAY IN THE LAND. Don’t leave the land of your destiny;
all true leaders will go thru both of these dealings.
‘For he looked
for a city which hath foundations [Jesus is the foundation of this city!] whose
builder and maker is God’ All of these great heroes of the faith were looking
forward towards a future promise of being in Gods true church, the ‘City of
God’ the Bride, the Lambs wife. Paul shows Israel that this 1st
century appearing of Messiah was for the purpose of Israel coming into the ‘new land’
the Body of Christ. It is important to see this. There are many preachers today
who are treating natural Israel
as in if everything is just fine. It isn’t! They need Christ as much as the
Muslim does. God was telling Israel
‘come into this new city ’
[New Jerusalem versus Old Jerusalem] he wasn’t appealing for them to stay in
‘old Jerusalem ’
and be a ‘completed Jew’. [I know this sounds harsh, but I want to emphasize to
all my evangelical friends that Jews need Jesus, they play a special role in
Gods plan, but ultimately they need Christ!]
‘Through faith also Sara herself received
strength to conceive seed’ it takes faith to produce spiritual offspring! It
might look impossible, but with God all things are possible. ‘Therefore sprang
there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky and
the sand by the shore’ sometimes God will allow you to bring forth one ‘seed’
[person or act of ministry] and you will be surprised how much fruit can come
forth from this singular effort. This is why it’s so important to simply hear
and obey God. Often times in ministry we do tons of ‘leg work’ which is OK. But
when God gives you an idea or mode of function that you weren’t even thinking
of, go with it. These are usually the ‘little seeds’ that produce the great
harvest! ‘THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH, NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES’ I want to
emphasize here that it is possible to live your whole life in faith without
actually seeing the fulfillment of all that God has told you.
Now faith does obtain promises [verse 33] but
sometimes we also see things many years down the road and we must realize that
the measurement of faith is not whether or not you are currently getting the
actual promise. In the above [and below] verse’s we see Abraham and Sara being
told that their offspring would number in the millions. They believed these
promises, but it is obvious that they didn’t live to see it fulfilled, but they
sure knew that after they were gone it would come to pass. So I want to exhort
you to believe to see certain things fulfilled in your life time, but have some
greater goals that you initiate while here on earth, knowing that after you
depart they will be fulfilled. ‘And truly if they had been MINDFUL of the
country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have
returned’ what is Paul saying here? The greatest threat to the gospel taking
root in the Hebrew community was the desire to go back to old law and culture.
How many believers ‘revert’ back to an older form of church simply because they
missed the old culture and ‘feelings’ that they had when they were younger?
Many of the Jews would not go all the way with the gospel because they were
‘mindful’ of the good old days of law and sacrifice.
I just watched a show the other day that told
how even some gentile believers began celebrating certain feasts of Israel with
their Jewish neighbors. While it is good to understand and see the significance
of the feasts, yet we know Paul wrote the early believers and said ‘you observe
days and times and feasts, and I am concerned about it’. So when we [or 1st
century Israel] are ‘mindful’ of the ‘good old days’ then there is always a
danger of going back! ‘By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac…of
whom it was said in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Accounting that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a
figure’ Abraham exhibited characteristics of the Father [God] as well as Isaac
being a type of the Son [Jesus]. It’s interesting that these verses show that
Abraham knew for a fact that God was going to give Isaac millions of children,
Abraham also knew the voice of God so well that when he ‘thought’ he heard God
say ‘offer up this boy’ that in the mind of Abraham, the only way these 2
things could be reconciled, is he came to the conclusion ‘I guess God will have
to raise him up, being he has told me this boy will have millions of children,
plus he is telling me to kill him’. Most of us would not have come to this
conclusion! We would have doubted either the original promise, or said ‘surely
this can’t be God telling me to offer Isaac’ [most likely we would have doubted
the latter!].
There is a real
important reason for Abraham to have been a real man of faith. God wanted this
‘picture’ of the offering up of Isaac for a type of the Cross and Resurrection.
The only way he could have shown this example was to have had someone so
radically filled with faith, that he would have come to this conclusion of
‘well, I guess God will just raise him’. It was necessary for the figure to
have been truly fulfilled. It took Abraham many years of hearing and believing
God before he would get to this stage. The part of Abraham’s mind that said
‘God will just have to raise him up’ was important for the figure to truly
work. God knew he could only bring someone to this conclusion by arranging the
whole scenario around a person of faith. It truly took a real person of faith
to have come to the conclusion of resurrection as being inevitable! [For
Abraham to fulfill the type of God, he had to have been convinced beyond all
doubt that after he offered up his son, that he would be raised again. This is
exactly what the Father [God] believed and knew about his own Sons death. So
not only did Isaac fulfill the type of Jesus in this story, but Abraham also
fulfilled a type of God!] [NOTE; Today is September 22, 2007 . Israel’s Day of Atonement.
I just heard a brother preach on the feasts of the Lord [I have done this also]
but he preached it in a way that said ‘because God said you were to observe
these feasts perpetually, therefore all gentile believers need to start
observing these days’ he added ‘I know Paul taught the law passed and all, but
these feasts are supposed to be forever because God said so’.
How are the feasts ‘perpetual’? Thru the
fulfilling of them in Christ! Paul makes this plain all thru the New Testament
[as well as this letter!] I was surprised to hear the brother preach that the
first 2 feasts [out of the 3 main ones] were fulfilled and memorialized, but
the 3rd one [Atonement/tabernacles] has yet to be fulfilled! What?
Jesus fulfilled Passover and Pentecost for sure, and they are still being
‘fulfilled’ God is still bringing people in thru the blood of Christ and the
Spirit is continually being poured out on people, and of course the ultimate
reality of our atonement thru our high priest is a daily reality [he ever lives
to make intercession] that is ‘fulfilled’ all the time[ I understand what the
brother meant, that both Passover and Pentecost were fulfilled at the Cross and
the day of Pentecost, and Tabernacles still has a future fulfillment. That
Jesus will ‘ingather’ all peoples to himself at the end. The way he said it was
in a way that he said Atonement, the beginning of Tabernacles/booths, still has
to be fulfilled. It really came out badly!] I just thought it worth noting that
today is natural Israel ’s
feast day, and we hold this feast in reality 24/7!]
‘By faith Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of pharaohs daughter;
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, then to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the
reward…by faith the harlot Rahab perished not…’ I want you to see that faith in
Moses situation caused him to forsake great riches and leave a successful
future. This is in keeping with all the times Jesus called people in the
Gospels ‘forsake all and follow me’ mentality. We too often equate the
‘treasures of Egypt ’
with following Jesus; the scripture puts a different spin on it! Also Rahab
‘perished not’ because she ‘believed’. Paul teaches in Corinthians that those
who believe are ‘being saved’ and those who don’t believe are ‘perishing’. I
want you to see that Paul is really making a theological argument for ‘being
saved by faith’ in this chapter. Even a harlot can be saved! Wow. The law
seemed to have no mercy on someone like that!
‘Who thru faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions…women received their dead raised to
life…others were TORTURED not accepting deliverance…others had mocking and
scourging and bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, cut in half, were slain
with the sword… being destitute, afflicted, tormented…they wandered in deserts
and mountains and dens and caves of the earth, ALL THESE [both the ones who
shut the mouths of lions as well as the one’s who were tortured without
deliverance] OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT THRU FAITH, AND RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE’
Faith does not always cause you to be better off in this life. I am very
familiar with all the verses of God blessing us and providing for us ‘the
blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow to it’. I believe
and claim these verses just like the next guy. I also don’t want to tell people
‘give your life to Christ and all will go well’ did it go well for the ones who
were tortured not getting delivered? Sure did. It went well the moment they saw
the face of God. The same for those who were cut in half. It also went well for
the women who received their dead raised to life. The point is ‘going well’ is
not always defined by your outward circumstance.
We must see the
overall biblical worldview of all things here being temporary, while all true
spiritual riches are eternal. Moses actually was ‘less rich’ by the choice to
follow Christ. But he was ‘more rich’ in that he fulfilled Gods purpose. It is
important to see that many of these great heroes of the faith died without
fully seeing the promise in this life. Now the last verse does say ‘that they
without us should not be made perfect’ and this does show that the promise is
now fulfilled thru Christ. We have all become recipients of eternal salvation
thru Christ. The Old Testament patriarchs have ‘found that city’ in that we are
all now members of the great ‘City that comes down from God out of heaven’ we
are all in Christ today, even our Old Testament brothers who had faith. The
point is don’t always measure a persons faith by their outward wealth and
condition. James rebuked this idea in his epistle, he taught us not to show
partiality to people who were rich while despising the poor.
When believers see faith only from the
standpoint of outward things, they are missing the true riches. Jesus taught
that all these outward things were not the true riches; I am surprised how many
believers spend so much time hoarding and storing things that will all pass
away some day. Let’s close this chapter on a good note. Paul has offered Israel all of
their Old Testament heroes as an example of being justified by faith. He is
saying ‘look, all the great fathers of the faith pleased God, just like you have
said and taught for ages. I am declaring unto you they were all
‘justified/pleasing to God’ by faith, not law’. Therefore if you want to follow
the example of Abraham and Moses and all the other wonderful fathers, then you
too MUST BELIEVE!
END NOTES-
JUSTIFIED BY
FAITH.
TORTURED- BY
FAITH?
REJECTED MONEY-
BY FAITH?
THEY ALL WAITED
FOR THE CITY- THE CHURCH.
This chapter is
loaded with the history of the Jewish people-
I could teach on
each story- but that would be a bit much-
So I pasted the
verses below to show that the writer is saying ‘see- all of our forefathers
were justified- received a GOOD REPORT- by faith’.
Wait a minute-
they DID THINGS- in these stories-
Isn’t that
WORKS?
If you read the
letter of James- and the letters of Paul- some scholars says there is a
disagreement-
Paul says a man
is justified by faith- and not by works.
James says ‘see
how a man is justified by works- and not faith only’.
If this letter
[Hebrews] was written by Paul- then it’s a true masterpiece- because he is
combining the examples that James uses [Rahab- and Abrahams Genesis 22
experience- which James uses to say ‘see how works justifies’].
So- to me- Paul
would be saying ‘no- I’m not contradicting James- we both believe/teach the
same thing’.
If the letter
was written by Barnabus- then it also is a masterpiece- because Barnabus might
be trying to bridge the gap between Paul and James.
We read about
this tension in Acts chapters 13 and 15.
This chapter is
certainly not showing us how to obtain stuff [money- etc.] thru faith- because
look at the examples- ‘Moses chose to suffer- and reject the wealth of Egypt-
BY FAITH’-
‘SOME WERE
TORTURED- SUFFERED- CUT IN HALF- by faith’- ‘CHOOSING TO not be delivered-
because they had faith’.
We also see the
heavenly city- as the goal of the patriarchs- they were all waiting for THE
CHURCH- the city that the apostle John spoke about in the book of revelation.
The writer says
‘if they were mindful of the city they came out of [a reference to the law
covenant- meaning if the Jews kept clinging to the law- the ‘city they came out
from’- they will have a hard time moving on- into the New Covenant revelation
of Messiah].
I didn’t quote
verse 2- but we could teach modern physics from that one [the bible says all
things were made from something invisible- modern physics has come to that
reality in the 20th century- yet this verse was penned 2 millennia
ago]!
By faith we
understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen
was not made out of what was visible.
So yeah- lots of
good stuff in this chapter- but the main point is these ancients were justified
by faith- the example of Noah and Abraham actually use that very language-
salvation/righteousness [it’s a bit clearer in the King James Version- the
above verses are from the NIV].
Yes- the writer
is saying ‘everything is based on faith- and even our ancestors were justified
by faith- they did all these things because they believed God- and God saw
their faith- in action- and they too were made righteous- by faith’.
By faith Abel
brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as
righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still
speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Noah,
when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his
family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
All these people
were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things
promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that
they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say
such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been
thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to
return. 16 Instead, they
were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them
By faith Moses,
when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be
mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting
pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded
disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of
Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
By faith the
prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who
were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to
tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the
prophets, 33 who
through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was
promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched
the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was
turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign
armies.35 Women received back their
dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be
released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some
faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were
put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the
sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and
mistreated— 38 the world
was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves
and in holes in the ground.
39 These
were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been
promised, 40 since God
had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be
made perfect.
CHAPTER 12:
END NOTES-
A HEAVENLY CITY.
DON’T BE SAD,
HE’S TREATING YOU LIKE A SON.
NO REPENTANCE-
OUTSIDE OF CHRIST THAT IS.
CULTURE SHOCK IS
HARD ON US ALL.
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-29-15-james-2.zip
END NOTES
Genesis 15, 22.
Romans 4.
Galatians 3.
My view on Justification by Works.
James 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
James 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
James 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
James 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
James 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
James 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
James 2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
END NOTES
Genesis 15, 22.
Romans 4.
Galatians 3.
My view on Justification by Works.
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto
Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding
great reward.
Genesis 15:2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me,
seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no
seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Genesis 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him,
saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine
own bowels shall be thine heir.
Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now
toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him
for righteousness.
Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did
tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for
a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Genesis 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave
the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which
God had told him.
Genesis 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and
saw the place afar off.
Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here
with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to
you.
Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and
laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and
they went both of them together.
Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the
wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a
lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Genesis 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of;
and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac
his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the
knife to slay his son.
Genesis 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of
heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Genesis 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad,
neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God,
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
Romans
4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not
before God.Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth, crucified among you?
Galatians 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are
ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be
yet in vain.
Galatians 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and
worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?
Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In
thee shall all nations be blessed.
Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with
faithful Abraham.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in
all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the
sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that
doeth them shall live in them.
Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth
on a tree:
Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith.
MY VIEW ON JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS-
Understand that the letters
of Paul were circulating among the early believers- and without a doubt his
writings were the most influential in the early church.
Both critics of Paul- as well as other believers [including Peter]
were reading his stuff.
Now- seeing the controversy that was taking place- especially that
the people Paul was writing against- these were believing Jews- under the
ministry of James [he was the leader at the church of Jerusalem- where the
Judiazers worshipped].
With this in mind- knowing how Paul was using the story of Abraham
[quoted above- Romans and Galatians] to teach Justification by Faith.
When James finally enters the fray with his own letter- to the
Jewish believers.
And reading James saying ‘do you not see how Abraham was JUSTIFIED
BY WORKS when he offered his son on the altar’!
It’s in a way a strong rebuke- not of the reality of what Paul
taught- per se- but of the confusion going on between the Jewish believers and
the gentile ones.
In the first 2 chapters of Galatians- which I posted last-
We see Paul rebuking Peter- and saying ‘when some came- FROM
JAMES- Peter stopped eating with the gentiles’.
These guys are not teaching different theologies [Paul and James]-
But it’s easy to see that James is making a bold statement- and
setting the record straight [for those who were misreading Paul].
Because he uses the same person- Father Abraham- to teach
Justification by works.
Now- Many attempts have been made to harmonize James’ statement
‘see how a man is JUSITFIED BY WORKS’ and Paul ‘A man is justified by faith-
not works’.
These attempts are noble and have a degree of truth to them.
But when they are done trying to reconcile these verses- they say
‘works does not justify- only faith’.
The problem with that explanation is the actual verse says ‘see
how a man is justified by works’.
I think the best way to explain it is like this-
Paul uses- primarily- the example from Genesis 15- when Abraham
simply believed God- and God declared him righteous.
James uses the example from Genesis 22- many years after Abraham
was ‘initially justified’ by faith.
And James says when Abraham obeyed- did a work of obedience- God
then ‘justified him’.
James says ‘see how the scripture was fulfilled- which said he
believed God and was justified’ [Genesis 15].
You can say the actual obedient deeds we do- after the initial act
of Justification by faith- can be looked upon as works being produced in the
believer- as a result of the initial justification by faith.
Now- I’m not saying ‘we get saved by faith- then sanctified by
works’.
Paul refuted this in Galatians 3.
But- James is indeed saying this act of obedience- in Genesis 22-
is the fulfillment of the act of believing- in Genesis 15.
And he does describe this as being JUSTIFIED BY WORKS.
The terms ‘Justification- Salvation- Born of God’.
All these words are both static [they describe one time events-
like the initial salvation of a believer].
And fluent- they also describe the progressive Acts of God thru
out the life of the believer.
So- in short- When God looks down from heaven- and sees us doing a
just act- he can say ‘good job- I’m pleased with you’.
And James simply applies the term ‘Justification’ to this response
of God.
It’s the same term [in the Greek] that Paul uses when speaking
about the initial act of justification upon belief.
But it’s the context that shows us the difference.
James is not saying that Abraham was not justified by faith in
Genesis 15- but he is saying that he ‘too’ was declared just- by God- when he
did the work of obedience in offering up his son.
And this work- in the bible- is called ‘justification by works’.
The language is in there- and James also uses it to describe Rahab
receiving the spies with peace.
So- instead of rejecting the letter of James- like the Reformer
Martin Luther did in a way when he called it ‘an epistle of straw’.
We simply need to see that the debate revolves around the use of
language-
When James says Abraham- and Rahab- were justified by works- he is
simply saying that God was pleased with the acts they did [by faith mind you-
Hebrews 11].
And when he saw them do these acts of obedience- he ‘justified
them’- meaning- he said ‘you are righteous- you are doing a right act- I still
continue to make decrees of acceptance over you- many years after I made the
initial decree- when you first believed’-
See?
NOTE- Remember a few things-
James actually uses the phrase ‘justified by works’.
Over the years I have read many good scholars try and explain this
verse- and some of their ideas have merit- like ‘James is saying the faith that
saves is a real faith’.
All of these things are true- and James even says that in this
chapter.
Problem?
These explanations are referring to the initial act of
justification- like saying ‘when Abraham believed God [Genesis 15] he had real/
working faith’.
Ok- I get it.
But- these explanations – in the end- still leave the ‘justified
by works’ verse without a clear understanding.
In these other explanations [by Protestants] they are ‘stuck’ on
the initial act of justification- and are unable to see that this term- like
salvation- and righteousness- can- and does speak not only to the initial
‘getting saved’ but also speaks about things that we do- and ways God responds
to those things- thru out our lives.
And God himself is not ‘limited’ to the ‘original Greek’- meaning
if he wants to declare us righteous- or just- all thru out our lives- yes- even
when we ‘do right things’ he can!
After all- he is God.
TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT THE ACTUAL WORDS-
James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he
had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by
works was faith made perfect?
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called
the Friend of God.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and
not by faith only.
James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by
works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also.
Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
Romans
4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not
before God.Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Romans 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness.
Galatians 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In
thee shall all nations be blessed.
Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with
faithful Abraham.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are
under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in
all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the
sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that
doeth them shall live in them.
Note- It’s important to understand when Paul says ‘the works of
the law do not save’-
He is not saying we can break the 10 commandments- live a sinful
life- and still be saved.
The works of the law entail circumcision- and coming under the Old
Covenant.
This was the big debate we read about in these chapters I have been
posting.
You’ll notice that James himself- at the Jerusalem council- agreed
that the gentiles did not need to ‘become Jews’- that is- to convert into
Judaism to become saved.
So part of the problem is we read Paul say ‘you are not saved by
works’- and we tend to associate that with ‘all good works’.
Then we read James say ‘see how a man is justified by works- and
not faith only’.
And this too [not understanding Paul’s full meaning of
‘works/law’] adds to the confusion.
NOTE- If you carefully read the letters of Paul- even some of the
above quotes- you will see that he also taught a ‘justification’ - that was
sort of an ongoing process.
The words ‘salvation- righteousness- justification’ are also used
by Paul to describe things God is doing in us- in a progressive way.
It’s funny- but when you come across these verses- and read the
various study notes in good reference bibles- you see a sort of preoccupation
in trying- at times- to make them fit the reductionist idea that focuses too
much on the initial conversion experience- to the point where believers [yes-
even scholars who wrote the notes!] try to make the verses that show a sort of
progressive salvation- they try to ‘explain’ them away.
In scripture- justification is God’s declaration over us- ‘not guilty’-
that does indeed take place when we believe in Jesus.
But it is also a progressive work [often called sanctification-
but not limited to this word].
So- when we read Paul saying
‘while we seek to be justified’. Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be
justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ
the minister of sin? God forbid.
Philipians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ,
Philipians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
We tend to want to make these verses fit the one time act of
justification that took place upon belief [initial conversion- yes this word
too is fluent!]
So- some of the problems with interpreting these verses are
actually a language problem [down the road I will discuss the philosophy of
Gilbert Ryle- an Ordinary language philosopher from the 20th
century- he thought the whole field of philosophy and the debates were simply a
problem of language! I don’t agree with him by the way].
Note verse 13- Paul said this in the letter to the Romans. Here he
is talking about a future justification that comes to those who DO THE LAW-
see- he and James agree.
Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also
perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by
the law;
Romans 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law SHALL BE JUSTIFIED.
Romans 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law
unto themselves:
Romans 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean
while accusing or else excusing one another;)
By the way- did you notice the view of James about money? How he
speaks about the poor and the rich? I did not comment on all the good verses in
this chapter- I want you guys to simply read thru the chapter- it’s really
self-explanatory.
JAMES 3-5 [I’ll be in New Jersey June 19th-21- with my
daughters- won’t have
VERSES- [I usually add verses here- but as I reposted past
posts above- I realized most of the verses are already there].
.
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