Is a conclusion that one may come to after reading James 2. Unfortunately this is the conclusion that one YouTube preacher has apparently come to in his video…

I commented on his video and tried to reason with him. But unfortunately he sticks by his arguments. So I thought I should really write something about it here so that I at least can explain James 2 the way it’s supposed to be explained to the very few readers of this blog.

Reading James 2 can indeed be really confusing. Here were the main points the author of the video was making.

• James 2:17, Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
• James 2:20-24, But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?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, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
• James 2:26, For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

I’m sure you can see why this can be so confusing. Well my argument to him started of course with Ephesians 2:9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

But of course, this did not address the James passages. So I asked him to consider this, as I ask you now.. Who is the source of good works in the first place? In Philippians 2:13 it says, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” While in 1 Thes. 5:24 it is even more clear, “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” In the NIV, the end of the verse says “he will do it”. Finally, in Galatians 2:20, it says “it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me”.

From this it is pretty clear to me that it is Jesus Christ’s indwelling life which is producing these good works in and through me anyway. Given this understanding then, you can see how the passages in James can be so absolutely true! Let’s read these James passages in this way…

• James 2:17, Even so faith, if it has no JESUS, is dead, being by itself.
• James 2:20-24, But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without JESUS is useless? 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 JESUS, and as a result of the JESUS, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by JESUS and not by faith alone.
• James 2:26, For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without JESUS is dead.

Can’t get clearer than that. I love the middle one where it says “as a result of Jesus, faith was perfected” cause this is exactly what Hebrews teaches! That Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith!

I have faith. Different kinds of faith that is. I have faith that the chair that I am sitting on right now will keep me up. But that faith is useless to save me isn’t it? Of course faith is useless by itself, because faith must be directed on the right object. And the only object of faith which saves is that of Jesus Christ. In fact, that’s what James 2:14 says: “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

Alright. End lesson there. Though I have to mention this, not all of this person’s video was wrong. In fact I do respect the reason why he made the video in the first place. Because some Christians have somehow got it in their minds that there does not need to be any outward effects of the faith they profess. He really meant that video as an admonishment to these people. With this I absolutely agree.

Here’s the deal. What James is teaching in Chapter 2 is not that Salvation requires works (and faith), but rather that works are the inevitable outcome of Salvation (and faith). This is quite clear in James 2:18, in fact, where it says “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Now this, if anything, should be a serious wake up call for Christians around the world to begin living out their faith and letting Christ work in and through their lives.

So in summary… Salvation is by GRACE alone. It is attained through faith in the one who is mighty to save, Jesus Christ. Works come as a result of Jesus Christ’s indwelling life in us, and thus is an inevitable result of this faith.

I’ve been on a bit of a book buying spree lately. Most recently, because I traded in some Aeroplan Miles for a $50 gift certificate from Chapters. Man, after 8 weeks of crazy 10-hour days work, I’m glad to just have some time to unwind and relax. Not that the books I bought are for light reading. But eh, this is how I choose to pass my time. Pretty soon, though, I shall be going on even more buying sprees, as I purchase my textbooks for the year. I’m really looking forward to that. Until then, I hope the 6 books I bought in 2 weeks will be enough to keep me occupied.

1. The Uncensored Bible. Written by a coupla wacky Biblical Scholars, it presents alternative theories (none that are theologically controversial, I don’t think) or explanations of some things in the Bible some of us might just take for granted. For example… Was Eve really made from Adam’s rib? Well they make a pretty convincing argument that actually, she was made from man’s “Penis Bone” hahahaa.
2. The God Delusion. Yes, I am reading.. or well, going to read a book by a Darwinian Atheist. But hey. Why not? Shouldn’t we also find out what the other side has to say about us? Besides, according to Wikipedia, the book has “spawned an industry of religious responses. According to the Amazon.co.uk website, the book led to a 50% growth in their sales of books on religion and spirituality (including anti-religious books such as The God Delusion and God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) and a 120% increase in the sales of the Bible.” I find that HILLARIOUS!
3. Fifteen Stars. A Biography of 3 of the most famous World War 2 Generals, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Marshall.
4. Red China Blues. Is a book I heard about on CBC. I dunno, it was kind of just an impulse buy.. well not really an impulse buy cause I actually delibirately searched for it. But yeah, after watching the interview on CBC with the author, Jan Wong, I just wanted to read it. It is her autobiographical account of moving back to China in the 70’s as a Maoist.
5. Beijing Confidential. Kind of a part 2 to Red China Blues. It expands on one of the stories Wong told in that book, about a classmate who wanted help to get to America. But of course, a “starry eyed Maoist”, Wong reported this classmate who later disappeared. The book tells about how she went back to China to look for her.
6. A Case for Christ. I’ve been meaning to get around to reading this book…

Hmph. Well, yeah, I’m looking foward to getting through this. Call it my warm up for all the reading I have to do in University. Oh on that note, I also plan to get through the entire New Testament before Mid-Terms. *And* to read through Joseph’s New Testament text book. Oh man, I should really mention that… I’ve made alot of changes with my programs at school. Here’s the basics…

The biggest switch is my programs. Now I am doing… Honours Bachelors of Art with a Major in “Christianity and Culture”, and Minors in History and Political Science.

What this means is that I only have to take 1 300-level Political Science course to finish that Minor. And, this year, I’m taking only Christianity and Culture courses. They are…

1. SMC200Y1, Christian Imagination (Progam Prerequisite)
2. SMC203Y1, Christianty and the Secular World (Program Prerequisite)
3. SMC206H1, Christianity and Music
4. SMC363H1, Music and Liturgy
5. SMC418H1, Biblical Studies in the New Testament

I’m amused that I have classes from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year. I wish now that I had taken that Greek language class, or French language class, cause then I woulda had classes from all four years.. haha, maybe next year.

Anyway, I have 3.5 FCEs this year, which is just enough to maintain my status as a Full-Time Student. With these courses, I am on track to finish my Bachelors in 2010… I plan to take 2 FCEs this coming summer, and 3 FCEs next school year, which again, is just enough to maintain my Full-Time Student status. That’s really important so that I can continue to mooch off my parent’s insurance. Oh and of course I don’t have to pay for my banking yet.. Go BMO and free Student Banking! Haha.

What’s next after this then? Well It’s looking like an MTS for me – A Masters of Theological Studies. I’m not sure where I want to take it, but for sure I do want to continue it on to the end… A Ph.D, or a Th.D. That means I need to choose a good school, either stick with UofT, or go to the States somewhere. Or hopefully to a really good Bible School like Heritage Seminary… Anyway, here’s one scenario of how that could look like…

• 2010-2012, Masters of Theological Study at Knox College or Wycliffe College.. Basically at UofT
• 2012-2013, Masters of Theology (Th.M) at Harvard University… Yes, that’s right!
• 2013-2020, Doctor of Theology (Th.D) or Ph.D in Theology back at UofT

There are 2 problems with this scenario though. The first is the first degree, the MTS. It’s what they call a “Basic Degree” program, which is kind of at par with something like a Masters of Divinity. The second level, the Th.M, is the important one, which is the “Advanced Degree” that is required to get into any Doctorate degree program. But it’s while some Th.M program allow MTS students to be enrolled, others require M.Div.. Problem is, I really don’t want to get an M.Div. The key distinction between and M.Div and MTS is that in M.Div, you study Greek or Hebrew.. what they call “Research Languages”. Obviously these are really important if you want to get into the academic study of theology. So. What this means is that if I want to take MTS instead of M.Div, I need to either do Greek or Hebrew next year, or do it while I’m doing the MTS.

The second problem is the fact that I might *not* get in to one of the UofT Colleges. We’ll see how much I can raise my GPA  this year, but based on last year, it’s going to be a serious struggle. What this means is that I could end up in a not-so-well-known Bible School, like Heritage, as I mentioned, but while I wouldn’t mind that at all, it would really jeopardize my chances of getting into a decent Th.M program, and then later on a Th.D.

Bah but of course that’s a few years away still right? We’ll see how things go this year… On to my new books.

The Star reported today that the head of the Anglican Church has declared homosexual relationships biblical and not sin. I think we all know how I feel about that… So I’m not even going to bother commenting about it.

What this post is about is one of the comments to that story, which I found very interesting…

A “Bfordc” responded:

Homosexuality is genetically predisposed. Boys who have already had two older brothers are 33% more likely to be gay (Brock University study). God doesn’t hate anyone. He hates the sin (homosexuality) and loves the sinner (homosexual). It isn’t true love. Unless some random person thinks they are a better judge of what love is than God. Define “love”. In Romans 8, Paul said, I have a flesh side that wants to do bad things, and a spirit side that wants to do good. For some, isn’t alcoholism and obesity etc., a genetic tendency? So, they should embrace it and be proud of it? Sober and fit still aren’t wise life choices to strive for? Christ give power to overcome the flesh side so we don’t have to sin anymore.

I thought this was a very nuanced view of homsexuality/genetics… Personally I’m still not convinced of the genetic link, especially since I attended (I was performing) that Exodus Conference held at my church. But. I thought that Bfordc had a very articulate way of turning around the “genetecists” argument regarding homosexuality.

I made the Gospel Presentation during Week 3 of SonShine Day Camp. The theme of the week was Noah.

***

Back in the days of Noah, all of the people on the earth were really bad. They did many things that were evil in the eyes of the Lord. But we have learned already that there was a man named Noah, and his family, who were the exception.

But God grew tired of all of the bad things that people were doing, and so He decided to do something. He’s going to destroy the world! But God remembered Noah, and decided that he was going to be saved. So God talked to Noah, and told him to build him a big Ark.

God told Noah exactly how long, how wide, and how high the ark was going to be. And Noah obeyed God.

Noah began building the ark with his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet.

All of the people were laughing at Noah, because he was building this ark on land that was very far away from water. Noah did not listen to them, though, and continued on with his work.

Finally, when the Ark was completed, Noah gathered two animals of every species, and entered the ark with his family.

Soon God shut the door to the ark, because the rain and the floods were about to begin.

It rained, rained, and rained. It rained for forty days, causing a great flood to come and destroy everything.

The ark began to float, and soon, all Noah could see was water. But, the people and animals inside the ark remained safe.

Just like in Noah’s time, there are many many bad people in the world today! In fact, the bible says that we are all bad people, because we are all sinners.

All of us are born sinners. Me, Chico, Astro, Miso, Mr. Boy…  We can’t help it, really. Sometimes we can try to be good, but a lot of times it doesn’t work.

Can you remember the last time that your mom or dad asked you to do something, and you didn’t do it? Or you took a really long time to do it? I bet it wasn’t very long ago when that happened.

Because of our sins, we are all separated from God. Just like the people in Noah’s time, we all have to be punished for our sins. God just cannot help it. Because He is so holy – which means, He is sinless, and He is perfect, He cannot stand sin to be around Him.

But guess what, here is the wonderful news! God has a rescue plan! Because God loves us so much, He wants to save all of us!

In the story that we have been learning this week, God’s plan to save the human race was Noah, his family, and his ark. Imagine, if Noah didn’t build the ark and was destroyed with everyone else, then would we be here today?

For us, it’s a little different. God’s plan to save the Human Race is through a man who lived about 2000 years ago. His name was Jesus!

It’s different for us, because God didn’t ask Jesus to build Him an ark. God asked Jesus to do something much harder than that! Noah’s ark saved the human race temporarily! But what Jesus did for us will save us forever!

Just like Noah, people laughed at Jesus. They mocked Him, and made fun of Him. Yesterday, we watched a movie here at b-towne right? Do you remember what it was called? Has anyone from B-Mount seen this movie?

Do you remember what happened when Evan finally told everyone that he was building the ark? And what happened when he was trying to get everyone to go inside his ark? People were really mean to him right?

Well imagine that, but about a thousand times meaner! That’s what they did to Jesus. Because people didn’t stop at laughing and making fun of Jesus. They also beat him up really really badly.

But they didn’t even stop there! Eventually, after beating Jesus up really badly. They killed him! They crucified him. Does everyone know what that means?

But guess what? This is exactly what God was planning to happen! That’s because Jesus was different from all of us. Remember what we said before? We are all sinners! But Jesus, he wasn’t a sinner. Just like God, He is also sinless, He is perfect! But wait, why is it then that Jesus died?

That’s God’s rescue plan for us. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, but still died on the cross. The Bible says that “God put the wrong on Him who never did anything wrong, so that we could be put right with God.” What happened to Jesus is that he was being punished for our sins!

So Jesus was punished – he was beaten, and made fun of, then he was crucified on the cross. But three days later, Jesus rose again! This completes God’s rescue plan for us! Because he rose from the dead, we know that He has defeated sin, and can do the same for us!

Isn’t that wonderful? God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to save us! But wait, it’s not really *that* easy! God has done all of the work of saving us, but we have to do something too! It says in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This is the only thing God is asking us to do. He is asking us to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, and believe that he can save us!

Do any of you believe this? Do you think that Jesus really died on the cross, and rose again for your sins? Everyone eyes close please…