{"id":5838,"date":"2014-11-17T22:27:08","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T22:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5838"},"modified":"2014-11-19T01:47:54","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T01:47:54","slug":"james-221-24-abraham-friend-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5838","title":{"rendered":"James 2:21-24\u2014Abraham, friend of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, \u201cAnd Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,\u201d and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone<\/em>.\u00a0 James 2:21-24<\/p>\n

Many wonderful people of faith have been bewildered throughout the history of the Church about the subject of works vs. grace and faith. Am I too legalistic?\u00a0 Am I too loose? How do I reject condemnation without rejecting the pure conviction of the Holy Spirit?<\/em> These are extremely important questions.<\/p>\n

This is not a new challenge; the apostles James and Paul both addressed it in their letters, as have men and women of God throughout the ages. But navigating through the various doctrines promoted by the vast array of teachers can be mind-boggling, to say the least, when all you want to do is to pursue God with the simplicity of devotion to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:3). It is my aim to clear up some of the muddy waters, not to agitate them with more confusion.<\/p>\n

James had just stated the case\u2014faith without works is useless. He did not<\/em> say that works were required for you to go to Heaven; he did not<\/em> say that you cannot be saved unless you do good deeds. He did<\/em> say that if you have true, legitimate faith, works will be present in your life.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen it:\u00a0A churchgoer breezes through life misusing, abusing, and using others without any sign of conviction or concern at all. We\u2019ve watched him\u2014or her\u2014live like the devil, talk like the devil, and rarely bat an eye. We\u2019ve watched as he seems to say all the right things at church but then turns his back again and again on the very real needs and hurts of others.<\/p>\n

James did not blanketly state that this man\u2014or woman\u2014was going to hell. He did<\/em> insist, however, that if you recognize yourself\u2014even a little\u2014in this description, that you must take a closer look at the fruit\u2014or lack thereof\u2014in your life and allow the Spirit of God to search you and reveal any hurtful way in you (see Psalm 139:23-24). If anything\u2019s amiss, He\u2019ll reveal it to you, and He\u2019ll also show you what to do about it. He wants to help you; likewise, He wants to use you to help others.<\/p>\n

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

James pointed to Abraham as an example of one whose faith played out in actions. When God directed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his long-desired, promised son, he obeyed the Lord\u2019s instructions. In fact, he would have followed through fully if God hadn\u2019t stopped him right before the kill. Isaac was delivered from death, Abraham was spared from having to kill his son, and God found a man who would obey Him without reservation (see Genesis 22:1-14).<\/p>\n

You, as well, have the opportunity every day<\/em> to follow through with God\u2019s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. As you do what you read in the Word or sense in your spirit, you, too, are allowing your faith to play out in your actions. And this reveals that your<\/em> faith is not<\/em> useless\u2014your faith is very much alive!<\/p>\n

\u2026the Scripture was fulfilled which says, \u201cAnd Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Without action, Abraham couldn’t have demonstrated the very real faith within him, thereby rendering his faith useless. However, Abraham\u2019s faith played out in a supreme act of obedience, and because of that, God declared him righteous.<\/p>\n

The New Testament is clear: you<\/em> follow in the footsteps of Abraham when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Your faith in Him and His atoning sacrifice on Calvary is the \u201cwork\u201d God uses to declare you<\/em> righteous (see John 6:29). At the very moment you receive Jesus, you not only are called<\/em> righteous, but you are also cleansed, forgiven, and made new\u2014something Abraham never experienced.<\/p>\n

\u2026and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Abraham was the only person throughout the record of the Old Testament who was called the friend of God (see 2 Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8). What gave him this amazing honor above all others\u2014even above David, a man after God\u2019s own heart? Abraham obeyed God unconditionally, proving his faith by doing what he heard God tell him to do\u2014even to the point of nearly sacrificing his precious son.<\/p>\n

You, too, are a friend of God. Jesus said, \u201cNo longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends<\/strong>, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you<\/em>\u201d (John 15:15, emphasis added).<\/p>\n

What draws you into the intimacy of friendship with God? Jesus said, \u201cHe who has My commandments and keeps them<\/em><\/strong> is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him<\/em>\u201d (John 14:21, emphasis added). Notice that Jesus emphasized, like James, both hearing<\/em> and doing<\/em> the Word.<\/p>\n

Jesus went on to say in verse 23, \u201cIf anyone loves Me, he will keep My word<\/strong>; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him<\/em>” (emphasis added). As you prioritize God\u2019s Word and put it into action in your life\u2014despite how uncomfortable or tough it may be\u2014Jesus discloses Himself to you and makes your life His personal habitation and hang out.<\/p>\n

You will never<\/em> be able to perform enough good deeds to earn<\/em> a spot in Heaven. That\u2019s impossible; and that\u2019s why Jesus died for you. But as you grow in the grace of God through faith in Christ and put His Word into practice in your life, you demonstrate the reality of the faith that is in you. As the simplicity of your devotion to Christ plays out through your actions, you honor Him and help others along the way\u2014and you become someone He calls friend.<\/p>\n

You are a friend of God!<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, \u201cAnd Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5841,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5838\/revisions\/5841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}