Where is there a single line in St James' epistle that talks about converting other people? The entire passage and about loving others at yourself. There's not a single word that says anything about "getting other people saved" or converting. There's no "bearing fruit" metaphor in St James' epistle, certainly nothing that "dead" can build on.Quote:
The concept of before men is in verse 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. - Works are a great way to show other people you are a serious Christian. The word "dead" is building upon the metaphor of "bearing fruit" meaning to get other people saved. If you don't preform works for the Lord, you will have a tough time getting other people to trust you and to allow you to convert them.
He says it five times:
faith by itself if it has not works, is dead
faith apart from works is worthless
a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone
Rahab the prostitute also justified by works
faith apart from works is dead
The word for justified and made righteous is the same word in Greek. People translate it sometimes one way and sometimes the other because we don't say "righteous" as a verb. But above you can substitute made righteous and justified, they're literally the same.
Groundhog day.Quote:
If works are required for our salvation, how good is good enough? The same chapter we are discussing states in chapter 10: whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
If you have ever sinned in your life you are unworthy of salvation. Only through the belief that Jesus Christ paid the debts for our sins 100% on the cross can we achieve salvation. Nothing you or I could ever do would make us worthy.
The works which save are the saving works of the Lord. God works in us, and we either cooperate with Him or not. Which is why St Paul says we are God's co-workers. The works which do not save are the works of the Torah, because St Paul (speaking from experience) knows that following the Torah does not make you righteous. Keep one point or none, it doesn't fix you, and it never was given or meant to fix you.
On the other hand being faithful to God and trusting that He will carry out His promises toward us makes you righteous, fixes you.
Belief is intellectual assent - every single demon knows who Jesus Christ is and that He was Crucified. Every one, and probably know that in some ways better than we do. It means nothing. If you want to be a son of Abraham, the Lord tells you how - do what Abraham did. Was Abraham perfect? Was David perfect? No - both sinners. But both were faithful to the Lord.
There is no amount of works, no "enough" that saves a man. Only trust in the promise of the Lord - which is freedom from sin and death - can make a person righteous, set right, in our proper place, can fix the problems of sin and death in us. Being faithful to let Him do His Good works through and with him which is how the Lord continuously works in His creation is what makes a man righteous.
This is why James said - if your faith is not characterized by this work of love - by caring for widows and orphans, by showing mercy, by loving others as yourself - then your faith is dead and you are deceiving yourself.