The other night at our Bible study, I sat there puzzling over the relationship between faith and works. We were reading through Galations where, as the NYC theme song put it, Paul was reviewing the importance of the "law of love" instead of the "love of law." And we talked about the importance of not falling into a works-based model. But what about James? Jesus' own brother said, "Faith without works is dead!" That's some pretty strong language. So... how does it fit together? There must be place for both. Today's scriptures shed some light on the situation.
Works- Not Out of Necessity
7 "Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me." (Psalm 50:7-15)
When I read this scripture over, it really became quite meaningful to me. Yes, that's it! The Lord begins by saying that he doesn't rebuke us for the offerings that we bring, but he reminds us that it is not what he needs. Everything is His. God doesn't need anything. If we believe that we can earn His love/forgiveness or our own salvation, we are foolish... because the Lord does not need anything that we can give to Him. He already has "the whole world in His hand" as the song goes. But then, He ends on a different note. Even though God does not need the offerings, he accepts them without rebuke and invites His people to sacrifice thank offerings, fulfill their vows and call on Him. If God doesn't need it, it would appear that it is for our own good to do these things. We exist to praise the Lord our God. He doesn't need our praise, but He deserves it and we need to fulfill our purpose in praising Him. And furthermore, we need Him... we need to honor and glorify the Lord who is worthy.
It's interesting to think about faith & "works", because I was raised in the Church of the Brethren, and it may seem to some that we're a much more practice-based, works-based church. Yet, not in the way that other people would describe it. Other fellow Christians I hear talk about "obligations" and "works" and "needing" to do something or "feeling that you've done ok this week". Instead, in the COB, I never remember people talking about "sacrifices" and "obligations" or even "works." I heard about "struggles" and "difficulties", "counting the cost" and "service." But it was never something that was a "duty", never something you "had to" do, never something I was "earning." Instead, for me, the Brethren Volunteer Service worker who came was my hero. I dreamed of going and serving abroad. We really had a desire to help and serve the broader global community, because that was what we practiced with one another within our church family and our own families. We never thought that God needed us, but it was a blessing that God would allow us to work for His kingdom. In grad school talk, the most famous author of the best-selling book in the world wants to be our advisor! Not to mention that, He's super cool and wonderfully forgiving. Sign me up!
Works That Come From Faith
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4and who through the Spirit[a] of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-6)
After having read through Romans in detail with an amazing group of insightful friends last year, I came to chapter 1 and thought... oh, I know Romans. There won't be anything new. And besides, Paul is all 'faith,' no works. That is the debate, isn't it?
But this morning, something else jumped out at me. In verse 5, we see that Paul and the others are calling people to the obedience that comes from faith. Well, what is obedience if not the observable actions resulting from the unobservable faith? So then maybe our faith-based Paul isn't so entirely faith-based. He's trying to explain to us not that we need no works... but that the works should come from the faith. So, the answer to 'what comes first, the faith or the works?' should be "faith." And from that faith, we are freed to see not legalistic obligations but acts of love freely and generously lavished upon our brothers and sisters in the name of Christ.
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