Dear Doves,

 

I personally used to find James 2:14-26, “Faith Without Works is Dead”, very confusing.  To me, I always thought that “works” meant duties performed by Christians that may or may not always be from the leading of the Lord.  In a way, it seemed like works could even be a slippery slope of sorts, wherein we believe we can earn our goodness instead of via the only way and Only Good, Jesus.  Perhaps works could even be done for show to get praise from other men.  Again, this may just be how I read it.

 

However, on the weekend, I came across a very interesting article on obedience to the Lord’s Will and subsequent directions to us and a different take on James 2 suddenly hit me.  Works, in the context of James, may actually be referring to acts by Christians specifically in line with the calling of Jesus and His Will.  Indeed, when I inserted the words “obedience to the Lord’s Will” in place of the word “works”, the whole passage came to life to me in a new way and made more sense than ever.

 

Disclaimer:  Please don’t worry, I am not trying to rewrite Scripture in this post.  This is simply my opinion only and is meant for entertainment purposes.  Please do not be offended by what I am trying to accomplish here, which is simply trying to view Scripture from a different perspective.

 

On that note, the following is James 2:14-26 with the words “obedience to the Lord’s Will” inserted in place of the word “works”:

 

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have obedience to the Lord’s Will? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have obedience to the Lord’s Will, is dead.

 

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have obedience to the Lord’s Will.” Show me your faith apart from your obedience to the Lord’s Will, and I will show you my faith by my obedience to the Lord’s Will. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from obedience to the Lord’s Will is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by obedience to the Lord’s Will when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his obedience to the Lord’s Will, and faith was completed by his obedience to the Lord’s Will; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by obedience to the Lord’s Will and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by obedience to the Lord’s Will when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from obedience to the Lord’s Will is dead.”

 

I must admit when I saw how perfect the words “obedience to the Lord’s Will” worked in the examples of Abraham and Rahab, I was thrilled, as I did not expect it to insert so seamlessly.  Perhaps you will derive something from the above?  If not, thanks for reading this to the end!!  Regardless, blessed are those who are obedient to the Lord’s Will and may you all be warmly blessed by the Father of ALL Good Things…

 

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Brothers and sisters, are you ready to meet the Lord in the sky?  Repent and believe that grace is by faith alone and can ONLY be attained through Jesus Christ.  Get ready and leave the temptations of this world behind and ready yourself as a Bride.

 

Surely, time is almost up.

 

YbiC, MathMan