If we believe the Bible is the word of God why do we often interpret it in a
way that makes it contradict itself? Truth is harmonious or else it's not
truth and cannot be. Jesus says of God's word, "your word is truth." (John
17:17) It does not oppose itself when properly interpreted.
Martin Luther was persuaded he had found contradiction
in the Bible between what Paul wrote in Romans about salvation being by faith
versus James saying it was by works. In an online article entitled,
"Martin Luther's View of the Epistle of James" by Daniel Petty he says, "Once
Luther remarked that he would give his doctor's beret to anyone who could
reconcile James and Paul (Bainton 259)." (His source: Bainton,
Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther.
Martin Luther's doctrine does indeed make Paul and James
contradict one another. That fact alone ought to tell you he was wrong in
his theology no matter how sincere. Any time
your doctrine makes the Bible contradict itself this tells you, if you will
listen, that your doctrine is in error, incorrect, that you are wrong in your
thinking, and need a new approach to understanding the scripture.
In the first place we error when we speak of the word of God as though it
came from man even though I concede we generally know what is meant by such
statements. But, the reality is it is not Paul's word, then James' word,
and then Peter's, etc., for "all scripture is given by inspiration of God." (2
Tim.
Thus if Paul says we are saved by faith and James says we are saved by works
then both are correct else you have God fighting against himself. Even
worse you have God lying in one place or the other if either Paul or James is
wrong. If both are correct truth is harmonious as it must be.
Everyone agrees the New Testament is full of passages that teach that a man
is saved by faith so due to space considerations I will only list a
couple. John
We all accept these passages and this teaching
but too often people do not consider or give thought to what faith is. Do
these passages define faith? Do they tell you whether this is a living
faith or a dead faith as per James? Is it an obedient faith or a
disobedient faith? Is faith just a matter of the mind alone, a belief
held, or is it more than that? The texts do not tell us.
The assumption is we know what faith is and generally that is whatever we each individually want it to be. We define it as we desire. This creates a lot of problems in interpreting the Bible and the end result is we end up with doctrines that have the Bible contradicting itself.
Without preaching a sermon on faith to define it let me refer you to James
The scriptural biblical faith that saves is that faith which is a completed faith, not an incomplete faith. Other versions use the word "perfect" instead of the word "complete". It is the faith that is made perfect that saves rather than the faith not made perfect.
The New Living Translation of the Bible, which I consider a paraphrase, gets at the sense of what is being taught. (James 2:22 NLT), "You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did - by his actions."
This is saving faith, the faith that saves, the only kind of faith that makes a difference, the only concept of faith we should hold, the only concept of saving faith that is scriptural.
Only faith so strong that it obeys can save but this is the very concept of faith that is wanting among most believers, believers whose concept of faith is merely mental assent.
James then says by inspiration that we are saved by works. "You see
then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James
Jesus has said we will be judged by his word in the last day. "He who rejects Me, and does not receive
My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him
in the last day." (John
If a person's doctrine does not allow for salvation by both faith and works
he is in error since the Bible states clearly that one is saved by both.
The passages quoted above suffice to show that.
But, one will object. How about Eph. 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest anyone should boast." (NKJV) Since the Bible, and truth,
cannot contradict itself it becomes immediately obvious that Paul is speaking of
one kind of works while James speaks of another. One type of works saves;
the other does not and cannot.
The type of works that cannot save are the works of the Law of Moses.
Why could they not save? I quote Gal.
This being the case Paul writes in Gal. 3:21, "For if there had been a law
given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the
law." (NKJV) Since no such law could be given man could only be saved by
Christ, by faith in him.
But, there are works other than the works of the Law of Moses. These are the works James speaks of which bring justification. What are those works? Hear the writer of the book of Hebrews. The Hebrew writer says of Jesus, "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)
Paul who
speaks so much of salvation by faith and grace says in Rom. 6:16, "Do you not
know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's
slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to
righteousness?" Note his phrase, "obedience to righteousness." This is the same as to say obedience to
salvation for the righteous person will be saved, not the
unrighteous.
It becomes readily clear then that the works James speaks of that bring
justification are works of obedience to Christ. Too many are ready to say
that obedience is more or less equivalent to law keeping. Since we are not
saved by law they do not see obedience as being essential. True, for
example, Christ commands baptism but one does not have to obey that to be
saved. To require it would be law keeping or salvation by
works.
The trouble with that way of thinking is that the idea is in conflict with passages such as those I have just quoted, Hebrews 5:9 for example. If one's doctrine does not harmonize with total Bible preaching on a subject it cannot be true.
The truth is Christ was also a law giver and has a law we are expected to
keep as much as we humanly can. Listen to the following scriptures.
"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal 6:2
NKJV) This is Paul writing, the very one who wrote of salvation by grace
and faith. Paul says of himself, "not being without law toward God, but
under law toward Christ." (1 Cor.
The Hebrew writer says, "For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there
is also a change of the law." (Heb.
Jesus himself says, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves me." (John
But, here is the difference. The law of Moses required perfect law
keeping for salvation, an impossibility. The law of Christ, while still
law, provides a grace element for sin. The person, however, who thinks he
can forget all about the commandments of Jesus and just be saved by grace and
faith apart from works of obedience makes the scriptures contradict themselves,
invites lawlessness, and propagates error if he teaches such. The scriptures are
harmonious.
This brings us to the place where so many want to kick and say it is not so,
to baptism. The Bible teaches we are saved by baptism. "There is an
antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter
"Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,'" while preaching the first
gospel sermon ever heard after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts
Saul was told, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins." (Acts
Jesus says, "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
Paul, the very man who speaks of salvation by faith although never faith
alone, says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Gal.
3:26-27 NKJV) Many would have this read, "for as many of you as were not
baptized into Christ have put on Christ." That will not work. That
is not what Paul said or taught.
Paul says in Rom. 6:3, "as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus" so
he says the same thing again that he had said in Gal.
Salvation is "in Christ Jesus." We are, Paul says, "baptized into
Christ Jesus." Thus if there is no baptism, there is no being in Christ
Jesus, and no salvation which is found only in Christ Jesus.
One can believe it or not but make no mistake about it, that is what God's
word says and teaches. When God says something we ought to believe it and
obey it. One's sins are forgiven at baptism which is the act where one
contacts the blood of Christ.
Jesus shed his blood in his death. His side was pierced and the blood
flowed forth after he was already dead. (John 19:33-34) Paul say's we are
baptized into his death (Rom. 6:3) which is where Jesus' blood is located for
the simple reason that is where God chose to locate it. No, there is no
real blood in the water. No one ever literally comes into contact with
material blood. But, figuratively or spiritually, that is the place God
chose for us to come into contact with the blood of the cross for the remission
of our sins.
In 2 Kings 5:11 (NKJV) we find a man by the name of Naaman who wanted to be
healed of his leprosy and thus came to Elisha, God's prophet. He was told
to go dip 7 times in the
Naaman wanted to be cleansed of his leprosy but wanted it done his way and at
first that did not include any water. It was only after he decided to go
about it God's way that he was cleansed. We ought to learn from
that. If God wants water involved in our cleansing from sin why should we
object?
So far I have not mentioned even one item that conflicts with another in the
teaching of God's word concerning those things that bring about our salvation
the reason being that everything God has had to say on the matter works together
in perfect harmony with everything else he has had to say about it. Faith
is not in conflict with works, is not in conflict with obedience, is not in
conflict with baptism.
But, the Bible teaches there are other things involved in our salvation and
thus essential to it. When God says a thing that makes it true whether we
like it or not or accept it or not. Here are a few other things that bring
us to salvation. It is not an exhaustive list, only a partial one.
We are saved by the blood of Jesus. "Having now been justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." (Rom. 5:9 NKJV) Without
Jesus and his shed blood for the remission of our sins there is nothing to have
faith in and there is no such thing as grace. Thus again we see an
interrelationship between factors that save.
The Bible also teaches that we are saved by repentance. Paul speaking
to the people in
The Bible teaches that we are saved by confession with the mouth of the Lord
Jesus. Paul says, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made to salvation."
(
We are saved by the love of the truth. "And with all unrighteous
deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the
truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thess.
We are saved by fearing him and working righteousness. "But in every
nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (Acts
We are saved by grace. Peter says, "But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they."
(Acts
If we are saved at all it will be by grace. God was under no obligation
to save us or give us a plan of salvation, a gospel, by which we can be
saved. The very fact that he did is itself an act of grace. He was
under no obligation to give us his word, his will for us telling us how to be
saved, under no obligation to send Christ as a Savior into the world. All
of these things were God's grace extended to us.
Cornelius was told to call for Peter who would "tell thee words, whereby thou
and all thy house shall be saved." (Acts
Enough has been said to make the point - the Bible does not teach that we are
saved by any one thing alone exclusive of everything else but rather there are a
number of things, or factors, that work together to bring about our
salvation. Every one of them is essential. I emphasize the idea that
these things work together, in harmony, and not against each other in bringing
about our salvation.
The word of God does not contradict itself. Whatever the Bible says you
are saved by, made righteous by, justified by, is truth and is essential to
salvation. To say it is not is to reflect upon the word of God. It
is to set God's word aside to keep one's own tradition, the tradition of
men. Many have done that on the subject of how a man is
saved.