Lesson 2 Flashcards
Christians and letter of james
-Some Christians accept that the Letter of James is very clear in what it says, particularly the last line of the argument above: ‘… faith apart from works is dead’.
-James says, even demons must believe in God but by nature their works are demonic. In other words, demons are judged by their demonic works and not by the incidental fact that they happen to believe in God.
-Many Christians across all denominations accept the need for works on the basis of Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, on the judgement of the nations, Matthew 25:31-46.
Matthew 23:25 quote
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me
Jesus’ very clear message (S+G)
-God makes no mention at all of whether those who are sheep-like or goat-like are full of faith or lacking in faith.
-sheep go to eternal life in God’s Kingdom for the simple reason that they have done good works: they have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, visited the sick in prison and more besides.
-goats, by contrast, have failed to live up to these examples of good works.
-many Christians feel that to follow Jesus is to follow his commands.
-Many of these are specified in Matthew 5-7, including the need to keep all the commandments, Christians are to keep them and teach them, so Jesus himself is emphatic about the need for good works,
-hence he says, ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’
Ephesians 2:8-10:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God- not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Emphasis on faith - Martin Luther
-Here again is the emphasis on faith as the channel for salvation. It is not a person’s faith that saves, but God who saves the person through the channel of their faith.
-The best-known advocate of justification by faith alone is Martin Luther.
-Luther based his understanding of justification on Romans 1:16-17:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.”
Sola Fide
-Martin Luther believed that God pardons guilty sinners on the basis of their faith alone, without reference to their works.
-Through Jesus’ atonement, God grants sinners justification. God’s verdict on the sinner is not based on anything the sinner has done. Moreover, the faith of the sinner is passive, not active.
How is justification brought about?
-Justification is not brought about by human achievement or works but by what God brings about through Jesus Christ.
-The righteousness of Christ is literally attributed by God to the believing sinner.
Protestant Theology
-In much of Protestant theology, then, following Luther’s line, righteous works are the result of being justified by God and born again through the Holy Spirit.
-Luther considered the doctrine of sola fide to be so important that to ignore it was literally to preach a false gospel: the Church stands or falls in accordance with whether or not it accepts this.
-Luther considered sola fide to be one of five interlinked and equally fundamental doctrines, the others being:
sola scriptura (by Scripture alone)
sola gratia (by grace alone),
solus Christus (Christ alone) and
soli Deo gloria (to the glory of God alone).
-Together they emphasise Paul’s argument that salvation is through Christ alone, through his work of atonement.
Sola Fide - Catholic Church
-Luther’s insistence on sola fide did not impress the Catholic Church at the time, and at the Council of Trent the Catholic Church clarified and
“…. codified its understanding of the doctrine of justification, which the Council said was predicated upon both faith and good works’ “
-Whereas Luther insisted that grace was received in an entirely passive manner, purely on the basis of faith, the Catholic Church took the view that some human effort had to be involved in the process of justification.
Division of catholic and protestant thinking issue.
-caused many Catholics to accuse Protestants of preaching an antinomian (lawless) gospel that minimised the importance of following Jesus’ life and teaching in their daily lives.
-In return, many Protestants accused Catholics of preaching a doctrine of justification by works, as though one could work one’s way to heaven without the necessity of God’s grace.’
-Catholic teaching is that grace comes to the individual through baptism.
-Baptism is the sacrament of faith, so that faith is then developed in the context of the Church.
-For the baptised, faith grows ‘after’ baptism. In turn, this leads to a new life in Christ, the outcome of which is good works through living in the light of Christ. (John 3:16-21)
Catholic perspective
-Catholic perspective, belief is not just ‘intellectual assent’ to God’s existence and Jesus’ sacrifice, because as the Letter of James says, even the demons have that: it must entail obedience and good works.
-Moreover, in 1 John 2:3-6 we find the following:
“And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
Salvation and grace
-Without a positive response (by works) to grace, salvation is not possible.
-On this interpretation, the passage in James 2:14-26 is comparing two kinds of faith: the kind that leads to good works, and the kind that does not.
-The kind of faith possessed by demons (James 2:19) is of the first kind - they have faith in God since they believe in God; but that kind of faith does not lead to good works, and faith without works is dead (verse 17).
PREDESTINATION
–the doctrinethatGod has ordained all thatwill happen, especiallywithregard tothe salvation of someand not others.
-It has beenparticularly associated withStAugustine and Calvin.
What is predestination?
-Predestination is the view that the fate ofeach individual,with regard tohis or herplace in the Kingdom of Heaven,has alsobeen willed by God.
-If this is the case, then this seems to implythattheir conduct is morally goodbecauseGod has willed that.
-In addition, it wouldalso implythat good moral conduct inhuman beings is less important than God’swill.
Jeremiah 29:11
“FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU DECLARES THE LORD
PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE AND A HOPE”
