Knowing for sure one is going to heaven

[Obsidian]

The wolf hunts alone. Adjective?
The child only talks, and does not listen. Adjective?

[footwasher]

The wolf hunts alone. Adjective?
The child only talks, and does not listen. Adjective?

The text is a good example of the absence of redundant phrases, avoiding pleonasm:

Quote
On the other hand, as is the case with any literary or rhetorical effect, excessive use of pleonasm weakens writing and speech; superfluous words distract from the content. Writers wanting to conceal a thought or a purpose obscure their meaning with verbiage. William Strunk Jr. advocated concision in The Elements of Style (1918):

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm

A faulty version would read:

James 2:24
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith a man is justified only.

The redundant phrase "a man is justified" is left out because of idiomatic usage for the purpose of increasing communication by lessening verbiage. Therefore "only" qualifies the verb "is".

I never claimed faith doesn't justify, it does. However an affirmation of the faith, a demonstrative action justifies too. What James teaches is that when faced with a fresh choice, loyalty is always required.

Joshua and Caleb persevered in loyalty. Israel did not. Both were justified by following God, leaving Egypt, but the latter's loyalty collapsed under testing.

[RBerman]

Some teach that the law could not justify, if it could, then Christ need not have been sent, damning Old Covenant believers to hell. Yet Scripture tells us that Zacharias, Elizabeth , Mary, David, etc. were found righteous. Also that it was the doers of the law who are justified. This shows that justification is God checking to see if we are clean, faithful. Every time we are found faithful, He finds us acceptable, counts us justified. Some situations require us to grow into better knowledge, some into better actions. All showing that the word justification has a wide semantic range.

Law could reveal sin leading to confession and forgiveness, resulting in justification, as Christ taught with the parable of the publican. However, law could not produce the justification that Christ brought, the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham, making Christ's disciples the means by which the world is blessed, Creation rescued. The narrative is richer than modernist hermeneutics can unpack.

Atomistic interpretation would result in concluding justification precedes sanctification. But see how justification includes forgiveness, acceptance, cleansing, empowerment AND reward:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

As you say, "justification" has a range of meaning. So too does "sanctification." It means "set apart." We can be set apart in the sense that our actions make us seem different from the world. This is the "progressive sanctification" in which Christians over time become more and more like their Lord. But there's also "definitive sanctification," the once-for-all-time marking that a Christian belongs to God which happens when one first comes to faith in Christ. That definitive sense of sanctification is what Paul has in mind when he says that the Corinthian Christians were once unrighteous, "but you were washed, but you were sanctified, you were justified..."

As for justification, sometimes it's used to say that our behavior is something that one could check to see if a person is truly a Christian. This is the sense of James 2, which does not talk about God using that method of checking, but rather ourselves, and other men. We can't see men's hearts, so we must use their deeds to evaluate whether their claim to be a Christian is justified.

Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:24b)

However, other passages speak of a different sense of justification, which concerns God reckoning a man righteous by faith, irrespective of his works:

You can see that the justification in view here is not God seeing that a man has been righteous, and thus declaring him so. That would be a reason for the man to boast about his behavior. Rather, here, justification is God seeing that a man has sinned, but declaring him righteous anyway because of his faith. Not just any old faith, of course. The context from the previous paragraph at the end of Romans 3 is that we are saved by believing Christ, who propitiated God concerning our sins. That's why God declares sinners righteous: their sins have been "covered" by Christ, through faith.

[footwasher]

As you say, "justification" has a range of meaning. So too does "sanctification." It means "set apart." We can be set apart in the sense that our actions make us seem different from the world. This is the "progressive sanctification" in which Christians over time become more and more like their Lord. But there's also "definitive sanctification," the once-for-all-time marking that a Christian belongs to God which happens when one first comes to faith in Christ. That definitive sense of sanctification is what Paul has in mind when he says that the Corinthian Christians were once unrighteous, "but you were washed, but you were sanctified, you were justified..."

As for justification, sometimes it's used to say that our behavior is something that one could check to see if a person is truly a Christian. This is the sense of James 2, which does not talk about God using that method of checking, but rather ourselves, and other men. We can't see men's hearts, so we must use their deeds to evaluate whether their claim to be a Christian is justified.

Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:24b)

However, other passages speak of a different sense of justification, which concerns God reckoning a man righteous by faith, irrespective of his works:

You can see that the justification in view here is not God seeing that a man has been righteous, and thus declaring him so. That would be a reason for the man to boast about his behavior. Rather, here, justification is God seeing that a man has sinned, but declaring him righteous anyway because of his faith. Not just any old faith, of course. The context from the previous paragraph at the end of Romans 3 is that we are saved by believing Christ, who propitiated God concerning our sins. That's why God declares sinners righteous: their sins have been "covered" by Christ, through faith.

Good post, RB. I agree with it, with a few reservations.

You say that justification in the Old Covenant is God deciding to accept sinners in spite of their sins, based on the faith they show.

The point is that a grammatico-historical hermeneutic gives that conclusion, but a historico-critical one looks at the narrative presented, piecemeal though that presentation may be, differently, and gives us another view. We have to take the Sermon on the Mount from one pericope, and the parable of the Publican in the Temple from another to piece together a view that the law brings condemnation:

Semitic Totality Concept

Quote
Requirements or Results?
Objection: If works are the result of salvation, then why did Christ and Paul so often exhort others to maintain moral standards? Doesn't this view make such commands meaningless?

The problem with this sort of objection is twofold.

First, when appealing to the commands of Christ (like the Sermon on the Mount), they are correctly understood as commandments; yet they are not commandments alone, but a mirror that demonstrates our inability to meet up to God's standards.

Romans 3:19-20 tells us, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." The primary purpose of the law, and of the Sermon on the Mount, was condemnation, not salvation.

Second, as Horton observes, the argument used confuses the indicative(who we are in Christ) with the imperative (the command to respond to the indicative in a certain way). [Christ the Lord, 113] Paul does not merely issue commands; he rather calls upon the believer, in this and other exhortation passages, to be consistent with the new life they have in Christ:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him...(Romans 6:1-8)
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Eph. 4:21-24).

http://www.tektonics.org/af/baptismneed.php

[Truthseeker]

"Alone," "only" are adjectives in English. If people translate the Greek word to those 2 English words, it must be an adjective. I believe Bible Hub is in error here.

I forgot that an adverb can qualify the meaning of not only a verb, but an adjective, an other adverb, a clause or a sentence. I withdraw my objection. But I make a new objection. Bible Hub should not have classified that Greek word as an adverb on the grounds that it can be an adjective in another context.

[KingsGambit]

Thank you to whoever fixed the spelling of the title. It was driving my OCD tendencies crazy.

[Truthseeker]

Good post, RB. I agree with it, with a few reservations.

You say that justification in the Old Covenant is God deciding to accept sinners in spite of their sins, based on the faith they show.

The point is that a grammatico-historical hermeneutic gives that conclusion, but a historico-critical one looks at the narrative presented, piecemeal though that presentation may be, differently, and gives us another view. We have to take the Sermon on the Mount from one pericope, and the parable of the Publican in the Temple from another to piece together a view that the law brings condemnation:

Semitic Totality Concept

Quote
Requirements or Results?
Objection: If works are the result of salvation, then why did Christ and Paul so often exhort others to maintain moral standards? Doesn't this view make such commands meaningless?

The problem with this sort of objection is twofold.

First, when appealing to the commands of Christ (like the Sermon on the Mount), they are correctly understood as commandments; yet they are not commandments alone, but a mirror that demonstrates our inability to meet up to God's standards.

Romans 3:19-20 tells us, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." The primary purpose of the law, and of the Sermon on the Mount, was condemnation, not salvation.

Second, as Horton observes, the argument used confuses the indicative(who we are in Christ) with the imperative (the command to respond to the indicative in a certain way). [Christ the Lord, 113] Paul does not merely issue commands; he rather calls upon the believer, in this and other exhortation passages, to be consistent with the new life they have in Christ:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him...(Romans 6:1-8)
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Eph. 4:21-24).

http://www.tektonics.org/af/baptismneed.phphttp://www.faithalone.org/journal/1996ii/Wilkin.html

Here I believe Hodges is belaboring the point, when he says there are two types of justification, one by works which is before men, and one is by faith, which is before God.

The point is that Paul is saying that Abraham might have reasons to boast about his strong faith, his belief in God's reliabilty in promising him a son, before men, but not before God. As far as God was concerned, Abraham's belief was not contractual, obligating God to recognise his response as worthy of a stamp of righteousness, firstly, because there was no contract in existence then, therefore faith does not qualify to be recognised as a service rendered for which payment must be made, and secondly, Abraham never considered his faith as a service requiring an affirmative recognition of acceptability , but like David, considered his own status as sinful, not mitigated by faith, but a sinfulness overlooked, forgiven, in anticipation of a future redemption, because he had seen the Day of the Lord and was glad (John 8:56).

That was a great post! Points to you. Unfortunately I wrote my last post here before seeing your post.

Apparently Greek adverbs are different from English adverbs in that they do not qualify clauses or sentences?

I have to withdraw yet another objection. Bible Hub was right after all.

[Obsidian]

What are you two even saying? It's an adverb and it modified "justified." And as far as I can tell, the Greek text does not even contain the word "is" so I don't know what that was about. The text says that a man is justified by works, and not just by faith. There is justification by faith. And there is justification by works.

[Truthseeker]

What are you two even saying? It's an adverb and it modified "justified." And as far as I can tell, the Greek text does not even contain the word "is" so I don't know what that was about. The text says that a man is justified by works, and not just by faith. There is justification by faith. And there is justification by works.

Your question puzzles me. I now agree with you that the Greek word translated "only" is an adverb.

Maybe James is accusing people of looking at someone's works to judge him, when they should bear in mind that it is God who will judge his faith.

[footwasher]

What are you two even saying? It's an adverb and it modified "justified." And as far as I can tell, the Greek text does not even contain the word "is" so I don't know what that was about. The text says that a man is justified by works, and not just by faith. There is justification by faith. And there is justification by works.

[37818]

Law and Grace
There are two covenants to sign up for, participate in, law or grace. Under the first, you could humble yourself when faced with the high requirements the law imposed, and this was considered the way to be acceptable to God, be ritually clean, allowed entry into the camp, the Community of God's People.

Under the second, you could be loyal to Christ , leading to acceptability by God, be ritually clean, allowed entry into the camp, the Church. Loyalty has a price. Just confessing Christ led to confiscation of a Jew's property:

Hebrews 10:32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

Jesus told the rich young ruler the perfect justification was available by dropping loyalty to the world and taking up perfect loyalty , to Him. This perfect justification is called the gift , Charis, grace: entry into the Kingdom of God.

Luke 12:32"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

That is clear as mud.

No one was ever saved by Law under the Law. Everyone who was justified, even while under the covenant of the Law, were all justified by God's grace. By the Christ who was to die and be raised from the dead. Even Isaiah's prophecy of this is in the past tense.

" All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." -- Isaiah 53:6.

[footwasher]

That is clear as mud.

No one was ever saved by Law under the Law. Everyone who was justified, even while under the covenant of the Law, were all justified by God's grace. By the Christ who was to die and be raised from the dead. Even Isaiah's prophecy of this is in the past tense.

" All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." -- Isaiah 53:6.

So step through the process by which a person was justified under law.

[footwasher]

That was a great post! Points to you. Unfortunately I wrote my last post here before seeing your post.

Apparently Greek adverbs are different from English adverbs in that they do not qualify clauses or sentences?

I have to withdraw yet another objection. Bible Hub was right after all.

Glad you liked the post. It all starts with asking the Father for the Holy Spirit, the Father who will not give snake when we ask for fish, scorpions when we ask for eggs, and leads us to the source from where when we drink, out of our inner beings flows a spring of living waters, to the Body of Christ.

Where we get our break out moments, standing on the shoulders of giants , like Ireneas, Origen, Justin, Augustine, Aquinas, Erasmus, Luther, Arminius, Calvin, Schaeffer, Frame, Poythress, Wright, Boyd, each of whom provide the precious material to build on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets, of whom Christ is the chief cornerstone...

PS Justified is a gerund, an adjectival participle...oh! Never mind.

;)

[Truthseeker]

Not a gerund ("justifying"), but, yes, a past participle.

[37818]

So step through the process by which a person was justified under law.

" Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. " -- Matthew 5:17.

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." -- Romans 3:19-26.