James with Beth Moore

I am doing the study of James with Beth Moore and I thought I would share one of my study days with you.  So, pull up your chair and grab your Bible and a cup of coffee (or tea) and take a look at day two with me.  The title is Faith Perfected.  If you will, take a moment to read James 2:20-26 where James talks about faith without works being dead.  Beth likes the HCSB version of the lead-out verse:  "Foolish man!  Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?" 

Beth has us reflect back to two old testament figures as you read James 2:21-25.  Abraham and Rahab both believed God would do what He said he would do.  God interrupted the slaying of Abraham's beloved son and substituted a ram caught by its horns in the thicket (see Gen. 22).  The glorious irony is that, in the actual fulfillment thousands of years later, the substitutionary offering would be the one and only beloved Son of the Father.  We are depicted by Isaac, escaping death, and Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world. 

Let's take a look at Rahab now.  She appears in James 2 and James only mentions two models of faith evidenced through works.  One is a man.  The other is a woman and she is a prostitute of Canaan.  She hid the spies and sent them off in a different direction (see verse 25).  God can change what people do.  He can change behavioral patterns that have been in play for decades.  He can change what we do to cope, to find comfort, to survive conflict, to count.  Like many of us, Rahab had done a same old thing for years....and then she did something new.  She believed God and acted on it.  That definitive action won her a spot in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith.  More importantly, God won her a place of honor in Matthew 1:5.

Now read James 2:24 and list everything works accomplishes there.  James doesn't prefer works to faith or faith to works.  He's sees them as conjoined co-workers.  The part of James 2:22 that Beth especially wants you to see is where James says that Abraham's faith "was perfected" by works.  That's a key concept in this epistle.  It forms the basis on which James is able to use Genesis 15:6 in reference to an act in Genesis 22 that occurred many years later.  Think of it as Abraham's life verse.  The faith that Abraham exercised when he believed God in Genesis 15 was brought to its ultimate goal and maturity in Genesis 22 when he offered Isaac on the altar, foreshadowing the gospel.

In your own life, do you struggle more with superficial faith or with legalism?  Why?

Reflecting back on the first paragraph where it says:  "Foolish man!  Are you willing to learn......."
My answer is YES!!!  I am willing to learn as I sit at the feet of Jesus and soak in his Scriptures.......

I hope you enjoyed this day with me as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you...........