Bible Study Short Bible Studies by C. R. S.

[JM]

"DEAD FAITH"

Nothing in the Bible is stated more clearly or with greater emphasis than the blessed Pauline revelation of justification by grace, through faith, without works.

Romans 4:5: “To him that worketh not, but believeth...his faith is counted for righteousnessâ€Â. Ephesians 2:8,9: “For by grace are ye saved, through faith...it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boastâ€Â. Titus 3:5: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved usâ€Â.

Yet James states, just as clearly that “faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone†(Jas.2:17). He challenges professing believers: “Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith BY my works†(Ver.18), and declares that “by works a man is justified and not by faith only†(Ver.24), since “faith without works is deadâ€Â.

Some have imagined a contradiction here, while actually there is none. There is a dispensational distinction, for to Paul had been committed “the dispensation of the grace of God†(Eph.3:1,2). His was “the preaching of the cross†(ICor.1:18), offering salvation by grace, through faith alone, to all who would trust Christ as Saviour.

James, on the other hand, was an apostle of the kingdom, proclaiming the kingdom rights of Christ and offering a changed way of life on earth which had already been experienced by the disciples in Judaea (Acts 2:44-47; 4:32-35).

Hence with James the emphasis is on works, not because good works can save or even help to save, but because true faith inevitably bears fruit and we can judge true faith only by the fruit it bears. Our Lord said: “By their fruits ye shall know themâ€Â. Hence James' epistle abounds with such phraseology as, “ye seeâ€Â, “show meâ€Â, “I will show youâ€Â, etc.

What we must be careful to remember is that according to both Paul and James, faith comes first, then good works. Faith is the root, good works the fruit. The absence of fruit indicates that the root is dead, that while there may be an intellectual assent, there is no true heart faith, and “without faith it is impossible to please God†(Heb.11:6).

The source of justification is grace; the basis, Calvary; the means, faith; and the evidence, works. Think this through; accept God's grace and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord. He will cause you to produce good fruit.

 

[Solo]

AMEN! :D

 

[JM]

“UNDERSTANDEST THOU WHAT THOU READEST?â€Â

This was the question Philip asked of the Ethiopian prince as he sat reading from Isaiah’s prophecy (Acts 8:30), and it is a question which we should continually keep asking ourselves as we read the Holy Scriptures.

There are always those among God’s people who do not much care whether or not they understand what they read, if only it warms their hearts! To them the Bible is little more than a fetish. Taking only those Scriptures which appeal to them, and leaving the rest, they actually feel themselves quite spiritual and often talk about believing the Bible whether they understand it or not!

But such “spirituality†is far from genuine, and such “faith†is blind and superstitious at best.

While it is true that the Bible teaches many truths which we believe, although they are beyond our comprehension (such as its opening verse!), yet how can we believe what the Bible says unless we understand what it says? God would have us understand what we read and believe it intelligently. Indeed, true faith will want to know and understand more and more of God’s Word. One who does not care whether or not he understands what God has said is not interested in knowing what God has said at all. His faith is based on his own will rather than on God’s Word, for regardless of the meaning of Scripture, he will take any passage that suits his fancy and use it as he wishes.

How great an emphasis God Himself puts upon the importance of understanding His Word! On one occasion, when our Lord saw the multitudes, He “was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and He began to teach them many things†(Mark 6:34).

And now that the secret of God’s great plan has been made known, how much more reason there is to study the Scriptures with a view to understanding them! How Paul, by the Spirit, emphasizes this as he writes of his prayers for the saints:

“THAT the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, MAY GIVE UNTO YOU THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM:

“THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENIGHTENED; THAT YE MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING…†(Eph.1:17,18).

 

[JM]

ENEMIES RECONCILED TO GOD

“When we were enemies†(Rom.5:10).

Think of it! God has good news for us even in our willfulness, our enmity against Him! “When we were enemiesâ€Â, says Paul, “We were reconciled to God by the death of His Sonâ€Â.

Here we can almost hear some reader object: “Of all things, don’t charge me with being an enemy of God. I’m a religious person, I go to church regularly, I even give to the churchâ€Â. Ah, but God does not say that the unsaved are not religious. Perhaps 999 out of 1,000 are religious. The point is that by your ungodly, sinful life, and certainly by rejecting God’s gift of salvation, you have made yourself an enemy of God. You may not be an enemy against the “God†you have conjured up in your won mind, but you are certainly an enemy against God, the God of the Bible.

But despite all this God still sends His ambassadors out to offer reconciliation to all His enemies everywhere  “by the death of His Sonâ€Â. Think of it! We who believe are reconciled to God, not by some effort or payment offered by us to placate God, but “by the death of HIS Sonâ€Â. He bore the enmity as His own creatures mocked Him, spat in His face and nailed Him to a tree. This is grace indeed! And this is not all, for the whole passage reads:

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement [Lit., reconciliation]†(Rom.5: 10,11).

The argument of this passage is that if, as His enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more “being reconciledâ€Â, we may be assured that our living Savior will keep us safe. And not only are believers safe in Christ, but all the while we “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now receivedâ€Â, not only help in or helplessness, or the forgiveness of our sins, but “the reconciliationâ€Â, by which we are brought nigh to God and experience His love toward us.

 

[JM]

"NOT ASHAMED"

The Apostle Paul uses three wonderful phrases in Romans One: “I am debtor†(Ver.14), “I am ready†(Ver.15), and “I am not ashamed†(Ver.16).

As God’s appointed Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul declared: “I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwiseâ€Â.

The gospel now was no longer to be confined to Israel, but was to go to all nations, and Paul felt himself a debtor to proclaim it, first because God had appointed him to do so, and second, because he held in his hands that which would save the lost. He was morally obligated  and so are Christians today.

Notice: the Apostle did not say, “I am debtor, but†and then begin to give a thousand excuses, as so many Christians do. He said: “I am debtor…SO…†and his fidelity to his call is seen as he adds: “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel†(Rom.1:15).

Oh, that the millions of Christians today would join Paul and say: “I AM READY to preach the gospel with all that is in meâ€Â.

But in Verse 16, the Apostle explains why he was ready to put his all into proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; unto the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentile or Nations]†(Rom.1:16).

Many thousands of Jews had already come to trust Christ as Saviour, but the good news of Christ’s finished work of redemption was  and is  “the power of God unto salvation to EVERY ONE that believethâ€Â.

Surely there is no other way. None of the pagan religions can give the assurance of salvation. They all represent efforts to find or earn salvation. Only the gospel, the good news of our Lord’s payment for sin can give us the knowledge, the assurance and the joy of salvation from sin.

 

[Terral]

Romans 4 and James 2 Are NOT To Be Reconciled

Hi JM:

Your C.R.S reference must be to C.R Stam from the Berean Bible Society in Chicago. Many of his books appear in my library and much of his work is very good. However, we have a few points of disagreement in his work.

Stam >> Hence with James the emphasis is on works, not because good works can save or even help to save, but because true faith inevitably bears fruit and we can judge true faith only by the fruit it bears. Our Lord said: “By their fruits ye shall know themâ€Â. Hence James' epistle abounds with such phraseology as, “ye seeâ€Â, “show meâ€Â, “I will show youâ€Â, etc.

Stam accurately identifies the fact that James is addressing the Kingdom Dispensation “bride†(John 3:29) and that Paul is addressing the “dispensation of God’s grace†(Ephesians 3:2), but then he heads off and tries to reconcile Romans 4:4-6 with James 2:20-24 anyway. That is a grave error; as these two passages contain church doctrine for two separate churches of the New Testament. Therefore, the great mistake is in trying to force the reconciliation in the first place.

Stam >> What we must be careful to remember is that according to both Paul and James, faith comes first, then good works.

Paul is talking about how God imputes “His righteousness†(Righteousness of God; Romans 3:21-22, etc.) upon those hearing (Romans 10:17) and believing (Ephesians 1:13-14) his “word of the cross†(1 Corinthians 1:18) gospel message. There is NOTHING to do with WORKS in that teaching at all. The works that follow (Ephesians 2:10) are part of another topic entirely. However, the kind of justification James is talking about is by ‘works and not by faith alone.’ James 2:24. To understand James’ teaching, we must go all the way back to the very beginning of the salvation process for the dispensation he is addressing. The members of the kingdom ‘bride’ (John 3:29) were saved by obedience to the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ (Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, etc.), which includes the WORKS of repentance, confession and water baptism by a human being (Mark 1:4-5). The man could stand on the banks of the river and never become justified of anything, because his active participation in the three step kingdom baptisms (Matthew 28:19) is vital to his justification before God and men. Even receiving the Holy Spirit through obedience to the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ requires a human being with the Holy Spirit to go and lay hands on the converts (Acts 8:12-17). Those saved through the ‘gospel of the Kingdom’ (Matthew 24:14) MUST ‘endure to the end’ (Matthew 24:13) for their very salvation, which is altogether different from those saved by Paul’s ‘word of the cross’ gospel message. We are saved by God’s grace through faith apart from works. Ephesians 2:8-9. The ‘righteousness OF GOD’ is not imputed upon anyone saved through the ‘gospel of the kingdom.’ The matter of faith coming first and works coming second only clouds the issues at hand, when men begin to reconcile these things have nothing to reconcile between them.

Stam >> Faith is the root, good works the fruit.

The members of “Christ’s body†(1 Corinthians 12:27) have the ‘faith of Jesus’ (Romans 3:26) from ‘hearing’ (Romans 10:17) Paul’s Gospel itself. NONE of those receiving James’ letter were saved in the same way and NONE of them have the ‘faith of Jesus’ IN them. The kingdom disciples have the ‘gift of the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:38), which includes the sign gifts of the kingdom. However, those saved by Paul’s gospel have only a ‘pledge’ of their inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14), until the ‘day of redemption.’ Ephesians 4:30.

Stam >> The absence of fruit indicates that the root is dead, that while there may be an intellectual assent, there is no true heart faith, and “without faith it is impossible to please God†(Heb.11:6).

Who among men having the ‘faith of Jesus’ can show that to another? Nobody. The saved and unsaved give money to the poor and have good works. Do you feel qualified to stand in the Mall and point out who has the ‘faith of Jesus’ and who does not? Please . . . Paul is teaching 'grace doctrine' to the members of the ‘body of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:12), while James is teaching ‘kingdom doctrine’ to the members of the ‘bride’ (John 3:29) or the ‘twelve tribes dispersed abroad.’ James 1:1. Let’s not try to join together what God Himself has put asunder. Those carrying the mantra to ‘rightly divide’ (2 Timothy 2:15) the ‘word of truth’ should be placing dividers between Paul’s Epistles written ‘to’ us (1 Corinthians 14:37-38) and the Epistles written ‘to’ someone else.

Thank you very much for starting this thread. It is very good to see folks recognizing the different dispensations of the New Testament.

In Christ Jesus,

Terral