"Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." —Genesis 15:6
Sometimes the craziest things happen between me and the Lord after my wife and I have been spending time together. This morning was one such occurrence. There was wake-up, then, “Hey, how ya’ doin?” ...Then breakfast, more chat, and a time of prayer for her productivity in writing today, and off we went to our separate corners—her to her study to research and write, and me to the kitchen table where the Lord and I spend time reading His Word.
So a while into my end of the deal I find myself in the book of James ... 2:21 specifically: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the alter.” Now don’t take me too seriously, but there may have been a few times when offering up Sarah has not seemed like such a bad idea, but this was not the case here. What really caught my attention was that ever-looming question in Christendom, “What act was it that really saved Abraham? What was it that really justified him in God’s eyes?” Was it the work of offering up his son? That would be salvation by works, so that couldn’t be right. Or was it an act of faith found somewhere else?”
A little bit more of my deep theological thinking and I came up with a path to finding the answer. Check the foot note at the bottom of the page, Dummy. I have one of these great study Bibles that address questions like this and, hey, there it was, the answer. In Paul’s writings, justification means to declare a sinner righteous. That’s receiving salvation. In James, justification is showing by your works or even a single act that you already are justified, or saved. The first is getting you into God’s family and the second is proving you really belong there. Put a little more eloquently, James’ type of justification is that which vindicates your claim to being a part of God’s family or—now get this—to show you to be righteous.
The understanding of James 2:21 then is not that Abraham was saved by the work of offering up his son to God. Rather, Abraham proved that he was a real believer in God already (Genesis 15:6), by being obedient to what God had told him to do, offer his son. His claim—already established—was vindicated. This act of obedience showed him to be righteous.
Well, this justified by my works thing (or proving true by my works that I’m already saved) relates to my wife ... how? No, I haven’t concluded that I can be shown righteous by offering her up. What it does show me is that to be shown righteous I must be obedient to God’s Word, and yes, that includes in relationship to my wife as well.
So I sat at the kitchen table and thought about the last time I wanted to really offer my wife up—a thought then that lasted no longer than a second, I assure you. And what I came up with was how much I really love her ... with a love that is beyond love. I had to ask myself, “Did I show her that beyond love, that agape love, then? Or did I operate out of my fleshly nature? I'd have to say it wasn't the agape, beyond love stuff. In short I did NOT show myself to be righteous ... not the James sort of stuff. Why? Because I didn’t show my wife the kind of love that the Word says we are to love our wives with—a sacrificial love ... a Christlike love ... a love that is beyond human love.
So the next time one of those potential I’d like to offer you up moments comes along—and it will, we’re all human—I will work harder at doing the thing that vindicates me as a follower of Jesus. How wonderful then it would be to be justified by my works—to love her with a love that is beyond love. And, oh yeah, show myself as well…to be righteous.
So a while into my end of the deal I find myself in the book of James ... 2:21 specifically: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the alter.” Now don’t take me too seriously, but there may have been a few times when offering up Sarah has not seemed like such a bad idea, but this was not the case here. What really caught my attention was that ever-looming question in Christendom, “What act was it that really saved Abraham? What was it that really justified him in God’s eyes?” Was it the work of offering up his son? That would be salvation by works, so that couldn’t be right. Or was it an act of faith found somewhere else?”
A little bit more of my deep theological thinking and I came up with a path to finding the answer. Check the foot note at the bottom of the page, Dummy. I have one of these great study Bibles that address questions like this and, hey, there it was, the answer. In Paul’s writings, justification means to declare a sinner righteous. That’s receiving salvation. In James, justification is showing by your works or even a single act that you already are justified, or saved. The first is getting you into God’s family and the second is proving you really belong there. Put a little more eloquently, James’ type of justification is that which vindicates your claim to being a part of God’s family or—now get this—to show you to be righteous.
The understanding of James 2:21 then is not that Abraham was saved by the work of offering up his son to God. Rather, Abraham proved that he was a real believer in God already (Genesis 15:6), by being obedient to what God had told him to do, offer his son. His claim—already established—was vindicated. This act of obedience showed him to be righteous.
Well, this justified by my works thing (or proving true by my works that I’m already saved) relates to my wife ... how? No, I haven’t concluded that I can be shown righteous by offering her up. What it does show me is that to be shown righteous I must be obedient to God’s Word, and yes, that includes in relationship to my wife as well.
So I sat at the kitchen table and thought about the last time I wanted to really offer my wife up—a thought then that lasted no longer than a second, I assure you. And what I came up with was how much I really love her ... with a love that is beyond love. I had to ask myself, “Did I show her that beyond love, that agape love, then? Or did I operate out of my fleshly nature? I'd have to say it wasn't the agape, beyond love stuff. In short I did NOT show myself to be righteous ... not the James sort of stuff. Why? Because I didn’t show my wife the kind of love that the Word says we are to love our wives with—a sacrificial love ... a Christlike love ... a love that is beyond human love.
So the next time one of those potential I’d like to offer you up moments comes along—and it will, we’re all human—I will work harder at doing the thing that vindicates me as a follower of Jesus. How wonderful then it would be to be justified by my works—to love her with a love that is beyond love. And, oh yeah, show myself as well…to be righteous.
Thank you, James ... Thank you, Abraham ... Thank you, Lord.
A thought from a husband … still in training.
Michael
