Yahsheba, glad you found some answers in the Scriptures... now, the 'works' you highlighted in the other Scriptures. We know that James was written about 60 A.D., being therefore the first book compiled chronologically, after Yeshua resurrected. Why is this book so deeply themed on works and faith being hand-in-hand...? The 'works' are quite simply, enacting Torah in your lifestyle as the 'do' of your lifestyle together with the 'believe' in your heart. We know also that 'faith' in hebrew is 'emunah', which has much more meaning than what the christian church has defined as 'faith'... to just believe something.
Emunah is 'trust grounded obedience', meaning you are acting on what you know to be true, or trust to be true. There are many examples of this being enacted in peoples' lives in Scripture. Matth. 9:20-22 is the classic story of the woman who touched the tzitziyot of Yeshua's garment... she knew the prophecy of Malachi 4:2, which states the Son of Man would come with 'healing in His wings'.. wings being a hebraic idiom for tzitiyot. Yeshua declares to her that her 'faith' has made her well. The church has taken this to mean that she healed herself, by way of her strong 'faith' or belief in Jesus. Well, only Jesus heals anyone, and Yeshua was actually saying that because she knew the prophecy and acted on that prophecy as true, her 'trust grounded obedience' brought her into the Kingdom (Yeshua's Presence) and HE made her well BECAUSE she trusted that He could/would.
By the way, that story is all about you and me. WE are that woman, with a blood discharge for 12 years. 12 years refers to the 12 tribes of Israel.. the blood discharge is our uncleanliness, according to Torah. Yeshua will heal each of us, when we 'touch' Torah, and enact it in our lives WITH the Spirit of Torah (Yeshua) in us. Trust that walking in Torah as your lifestyle will do this.
This is the 'works' that James is always writing about. The 'doing' that comes from believing Torah is true. Faith in James is this 'trust grounded obedience', not sitting and just believing in something, but getting out of the chair and actually acting on what you believe is true.
Abraham was told by YHVH to arise, leave his family and 'go west young man..' and only when Abraham (as Abram) got up, packed his tent, and MOVED, was he 'believing' or in emunah. YHVH didn't give him all the details of the journey and the destination, just enough to give Abraham a motivation to be in emunah. Abraham's choice to 'do' or not.. same with you and me.
So, the 'works' in all the Scriptures you highlighted are about enacting Torah in your lifestyle.. not about doing the daily work you do for a job, etc. Scripture is ALWAYS focused on your soul-salvation.. after telling you that it's only YHVH, as Yeshua, who saves your Spirit. After that, it's up to you and me to 'save' our souls, by enacting Torah in our lifestyle. This is what the church just doesn't get at all. They have believed for 2,000 yrs. that being saved by Jesus completes the whole event.. and that Torah is obsolete, replaced by Grace. Well, this is why the church is infected by lawlessness to a nearly fatal degree.
What we do on Shabbat is vital to our Spirit-life. It's the wedding ring of the Bride. Once you embrace Shabbat as Isaiah describes it (Is. 58:13,14) you will experience that JOY of relationship and redemption that the returning remnant in Nehemiah did, as described in ch. 8.
Edited by user Monday, July 2, 2007 4:58:16 PM(UTC)
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