Does The Bible Contradict Itself? (Part 2)

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Wednesday April 22, 2009

The following two verses seem to contradict eachother at first glance:

Ephesians 2:8,9 (NIV)
8. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9. not by works, so that no one can boast.

James 2:24 (NIV)
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

But you can readily see in James 2 that he is not talking about salvation, but about a person being JUSTIFIED IN THEIR FAITH:

James 2:21-23 (NIV)
21. Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22. You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

According to verse 23, it was the fact that Abraham believed God that caused righteousness to be credited to him. He had believed God and had a relationship with God LONG BEFORE the incident with Isaac!

Genesis 12:1-4 (NIV)
1. The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4. So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

Genesis 12:1-4 was long before the incident with Isaac; in fact Isaac wouldn't be born for another 25 years, and the Bible tells us that Abraham was exercising faith by leaving his country without even knowing where he was going:

Hebrews 11:8-11 (NIV)
8. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren--was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Notice that Abram exercising faith by leaving his country at God's command is mentioned right alongside believing God that Isaac would be born to him despite the fact that he and Sarah were too old to have children. Abram was already a man with a relationship with God long before the time he was willing to sacrifice Isaac on the altar!! He was ACTING on his faith long before the incident with Isaac. And the Bible tells us he believed God, and THAT was credited to him as righteousness!

The faith walk James was talking about BEGINS for every believer at salvation. We act on our faith in the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead by confessing Jesus as Lord:

Romans 10:9,10 (NIV)
9. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

But our faith walk doesn't END there, just as Abraham's faith walk didn't end by him leaving his country at God's command! The Greek word translated "saved" in Romans 10:10 is "soteria", which means "rescue, safety (physically or morally), deliverance, health, and salvation. Abraham acted on his faith and was JUSTIFIED in his faith actions BY THE RESULTS. If James meant our salvation is by works, he would have been contradicting many verses in the Bible; but James wasn't talking about salvation, he was talking about being justified in our acts of faith. Yes, faith without actions is dead:

James 2:14-26 (NIV)
14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Many people jump on the phrase "Can such faith save him?" and think it's saying that if you don't have a certain amount of righteous deeds, that your faith won't save you. But according to the Bible, the "deed" that saves us is confessing Jesus as Lord! If a person believed that God raised Jesus from the dead, but never confessed Jesus as Lord, they would not be saved!

James is talking TO BELIEVERS in James 2 about acting in faith and being SAVED from whatever situation you are believing God to be saved from. Since many believers never exercise their faith for anything AFTER they are saved, they don't understand this concept and relate it to the only time they ever acted on faith; which is when they got saved. Our Christian walk should be a CONSTANT ADVENTURE in faith!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your unfailing Word that tells me timeless spiritual truths. Help me understand Your Word so I can allow You to govern every area of my life.
In Jesus' Name, Amen

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