Be Like Abe Part 3

This week we continued our “Be Like Abe.”  We focused on the idea that accepting grace is what breaks the sin cycle.  2 Corinthians 3:6 emphasizes that law and sinful nature are one in the same, but the Spirit and grace work together in the same way.  Curse and failure comes in because of condemnation when we believe that good works are the reason for blessing, or lack thereof.

This week we began by looking at a couple of what I refer to as “yeah, but…” scriptures. These are verses that may seem to contradict what Paul has written in places like Romans, Galatians and Hebrews concerning grace and faith. Some call these other scriptures “balance” to the grace message. But grace does not need balance. Our interpretation may need clearer understanding, but it does not need to be balanced.  Additionally, God would not balance by contradicting Himself. The Word of God does not contradict itself. It is only our misunderstanding of it that causes supposed contradictions to appear.

In James 2:21-24, we read that being justified by faith, without works, is dead and useless. Does this contradict what Paul says about being justified by grace and faith alone? It does seem like it. Is this just one of those ways of “balancing” the grace message? No and no!  Again, scripture does not contradict itself. After the overwhelming evidence that Paul has presented in regard to righteousness by faith, we should look deeper into what James did and did not say in order to clear up the misunderstanding.

I agree with what James says about righteous works being important – but not at the place in the system that you may think.  In James 2:22, (in regard to Abraham) he says YOU SEE that his faith and his actions were working together. Verse 24 says that YOU SEE that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. (emphasis added on the YOU SEEs).  In modern English we often begin a sentence by saying things like, “You see, I was at the grocery store…” But James did not write using a sort of slang or casual vernacular. He MEANS “you see”.   Can anyone SEE that you’re justified by faith alone?  No. They can’t see until your actions in life begin to reflect that you know you are righteous by faith alone.  They see you doing work not to become justified but because you ARE justified.    

Abraham was righteous in Genesis 15:6 when God says Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness, but WE SEE that righteousness in action in Genesis 22 when he is willing to obey God in sacrificing the promised child, Isaac.   Our works have nothing to do with our state of righteousness; however, no one else can see you are righteous until that righteousness inspires you to good works (and the good works I am talking about are not just keeping a list of religious rules). Doing that doesn’t make us stand out to the world. There is no supernatural occurrence when we don’t watch tv or go to movies.

True, grace-driven works are awesome. Abraham believed God and trusted God and was obedient to God out of his knowledge that God loved him and promised to bless him. So, when God asked for Isaac, Abraham had to know God had a plan, and, in case you are not familiar with the story, God did have a plan. God stopped Abraham from offering Isaac on the altar and replaced Isaac with a lamb (a picture of Christ).

That righteous work is still being talked about today. No one is talking about any of the Israelites who didn’t covet their neighbor’s donkey. Obeying the commandments is good, but it isn’t going to change the world. Actual acts that are bold and world-changing happen when we KNOW we are right before God, and that there is nothing hindering His power flowing through us!

When you truly know you are right before God, the works that you will do will be awesome. I dare say that the biggest reason we are not all doing such awesome works is that we don’t really know just how righteous God has made us by the blood of Jesus!  We do good works BECAUSE we are righteous, not in order to become righteous.

We also looked at Romans 4:4, which reflects law thinking.  Romans 4:5 reflects what Abraham did.  When we ask for something God has promised, we have to remember the answer is yes and then receive it as a gift.  We also looked at Galatians 5 as a reminder that the fruit of righteousness is through the Spirit and through Christ and not fruit of our own labor.

We also looked at two different kinds of righteousness. When the Lord took me to Genesis 18 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in my study last week, I was initially wondering why. The first thing that occurred to me was how grace responds to sin. Abraham, who was right before God, plead with God to save as many people in Sodom and possible. If all he was concerned about was his nephew Lot, he would not have started by asking God to save 50 people.

 We contrast this with the story of Jonah, whom God sent in grace to warn the people of Nineveh to turn from their sinful ways. Even though his message was successful in changing the hearts of the people of Nineveh, Jonah still sat waiting for God to rain down fire on them for their sin. Law-mindedness is always looking for how to disqualify people from God’s favor. Grace is always hoping to qualify.

While studying that story in Genesis 18 another thought came to me. How would there be ANY who were righteous in Sodom? Abraham is the only one who was right before God. Hmm, I thought… maybe the Hebrew word for righteous in Genesis 18 was different than the one used elsewhere, and it was. The difference between them tells an amazing story.  The Hebrew word that was translated righteous in Genesis 18 (to describe some people in Sodom) was tsaddiyq (pronounced: sadeek,) and the word used in Genesis 15:6 to describe Abraham was tsedeqah (pronounced: sedaka).  In the Hebrew language, each letter contributes  to the overall meaning and/or context of the word.

The two differences between the Hebrew words tell the story. The third Hebrew letter in the word tsaddiyq is yud. Yud represents the work of man (and it is also the smallest word in the Hebrew language). In ancient Hebrew, its symbol was an outstretched arm, working. The word used to describe Abraham’s righteousness, tsedeqah, does not have a yud in it. Instead it has the letter hey at the end (all the rest of the letters are the same). Hey is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It represents the breath of God, and many agree it represents the idea of His grace, His very life being breathed into a imperfect human vessel.

 Now a picture of the Gospel comes into view. Abraham was pleading for the “good people” in Sodom. Those people who do really good things. But their works were not good enough. If not for the intercession of the one whose righteousness was by grace (to us: Jesus), they would have been destroyed along with the wicked of the world.  No amount of man’s works is enough apart from the intercession of THE righteous one. Hallelujah, we have that righteous one interceding for us!

 

 To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.