Old Testament reading: 2 Chronicles 30-31
Hezekiah’s greatness and dilignece is seen as he restored the Passover, “since they had not done it for a long time in the prescribed manner” (30:5). A sad state is seen as Hezekiah’s messengers are mocked in Ephraim, Manasseh and Zebulun. They were so far removed from God that they could not see the need to turn and serve the Lord. The Passover was kept in the second month as opposed to the first, which testifies to the mercy of God when people want to do right (cf Num 9:6-14). God made an exception as opposed to making Judah wait an entire year to observe the Passover.
New Testament reading: James
“Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort.” So says the Methodist Book of Discipline, Articles of Religion, IX. Our Methodist friends are not the only ones who so claim. Can a man be saved by faith only? James is clear from the outset in his discourse on faith and works that faith alone is insufficient to save anyone: “What does it profit my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” James answers this question with (another) rhetorical question: “Can faith save him?” (2:14). In verse 17 the matter is addressed again: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Why do so many people find this so hard to understand? James even provides two examples of those who had faith, but were not saved until their faith prompted them to act, most notably Abraham. According to James, Abraham was not justified by his faith alone, but also by his works when he offered up Isaac on the altar. James 2:23 is one of the most important verses in the New Testament to refute the error of salvation by faith only. Many point to Romans 4:3 in defense of this error: “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (cf Gen 15:6). “You see there?” they say, “Abraham was made righteous as soon as he believed God.” But James 2:23 answers this error, noting Genesis 15:6 was not fulfilled when Abraham believed, but when he obeyed (did works). James follows that clear statement with one more that should forever bring this matter to a close – “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” That, my friends, is “ungetaroundable!”
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