The Apostle Paul in Romans 4:2-3,
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."
The Apostle James in James 2:21,
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
Hey, what's going on here? Are the apostles contradicting one another? Do they different ideas about the gospel?
Well, for starters, we need to understand what Paul and James mean by "works" — this reader-perceived apostolic tension calls for a defining of terms. Does James mean the same thing by "works" that Paul does?
New-Old Transcribed Resource
This is the direction that Pastor John guides us in this week's new-old resource from The Life of the Mind. Through this 1976 document of freshly transcribed notes, Pastor John helps us to look closer at the text and ask the right questions.
Read the paper, "A Note on Faith and Works in James 2:14-26 and Romans 3:28-4:21."
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