Nipate
Forum => Controversial => Topic started by: GeeMail on November 06, 2014, 10:46:37 AM
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http://www.absg.adventist.org/2014/4Q/TE/PDFs/ETQ414_06.pdf
The 'Faith' of Demons
If works are absent, there is only one other way to “prove” the genuineness of one’s faith: by orthodoxy. If I believe the right things, then I must have faith, right?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Timothy 2:4; James 5:19, 20; 1 Peter 1:22;
and 1 John 3:18, 19. What do these verses tell us about how important knowing truth is?
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There is no question that an intellectual knowledge of truth has its
place, a very important place. Yet, that knowledge, in and of itself, is
not sufficient to prove that a person has saving faith.
What warning is given to us in James 2:19 about a false concept of
what true faith is?
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The most fundamental statement of faith in the Old Testament is
Deuteronomy 6:4: “ ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord
is one!’ ” (NASB).
Known as the Shema (because this is the Hebrew word
it begins with), this verse neatly summarizes belief in one God. Every
other biblical teaching flows from this cardinal truth.
But even the demons believe this truth. In fact, they know it! And yet,
what good does it do them? They tremble in God’s presence, as they did
also when confronted by Jesus and commanded by Him to come out of
their victims (Mark 3:11, 5:7).
An intellectual faith that has no effect on how we act is useless; in
fact, it is the same faith that demons have, demons who are actively at
work to deceive us with false doctrines and lies. As with Israel at the
time of Jesus, demons will encourage people to believe their deceptions
based on their victims’ desires to hold on to impure and unrighteous
behavior: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1).
Faith must be manifested in our lives or else it is not saving faith; it
is, instead, “the faith of demons,” and such a faith won’t save us any
more than it will save them.
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http://www.absg.adventist.org/2014/4Q/TE/PDFs/ETQ414_06.pdf
Abraham’s Faith
Read James 2:21–24 and compare it with Romans 4:1–5, 22–24. How
is the faith of Abraham described in these texts, and on what is
justification based?
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Interestingly, both James and Paul quote Genesis 15:6, but they seem
to arrive at opposite conclusions. According to James, Abraham was
justified by works, but Paul seems, in Romans 4:2, to deny this possibility explicitly
(compare vs. 24).
However, the immediate context of Romans 4 has to do with whether
circumcision is necessary for justification; that is, whether Gentiles had
to become Jews in order to be saved (Rom. 3:28–30).
Paul shows that Abraham’s faith, not his “work” of being circumcised, was the basis of
justification, because Abraham believed even before he was circumcised. Abraham was circumcised later as an outward sign of his inward faith (Rom. 4:9–11).
But works alone, even circumcision, are not sufficient for justification, because only those “who also walk in the steps of that faith [of] our father Abraham” (Rom. 4:12, NKJV)
will be justified.
Is this emphasis really so different from that of James? Paul even goes on to use the same “proof ” of Abraham’s faith that James does (see Rom. 4:17–21).
Abraham believed God could resurrect Isaac because He “gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist” (vs. 17, NASB; compare Heb. 11:17–19).
Paul also defines saving faith as “being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Rom. 4:21, NKJV).
In short, faith that trusts God to keep His promises and obediently relies on His word is saving faith. These works are not “works of law” but “works of faith.” Or, as James puts it: “Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith
was made perfect?” (2:22, NKJV; emphasis added).
Many stress the importance of faith and works, but even this separates
the two, at least to some extent. True faith is “faith working through love”
(Gal. 5:6, NKJV).
Good works are not just the outward sign of faith; they are the outworking
of faith. Abraham’s faith in the God who created all life motivated him to obey God in offering up his only son, Isaac. According to James, it is by obedience that faith is made perfect.
What is your own experience with how works (or the lack thereof) impact your faith?