“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.” James 2:12
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Martin Luther, the great 16th century apologist for the doctrine of justification by faith, had some trouble with the Epistle of James, especially chapter 2. Here James labors to point out that true faith – saving faith – must be validated in good works. Luther scratched his head over this and concluded that James was a “right strawy epistle.” He didn’t reject it; he simply struggled to put together James’ insistence on good works with Paul’s explanation that justification is by grace through faith alone.
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But the Apostle Paul reconciled the two ideas in Ephesians 2.10, where he explained that those who have been saved by grace through faith are saved unto good works, specifically, those good works which God has before ordained for us to walk in.
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We’re not saved by good works, but apparently we’re not saved without them.
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Well, which good works might those be?
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Back to James, and to his straightforward explanation: “speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.” There is a standard for Christian conduct, and it has very little to do with what we think is right for us. The standard by which God will judge our behavior is the “law of liberty”, or, as James calls it in verse 8, “the royal law.” This “royal law” is according to the Scriptures.
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Thus, Christians should make sure that all our speaking and living are in line with this divine standard.
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There is a divine standard for a life of good works, and that standard is embodied in the “law of liberty” or “the royal law”, which is according to the Scripture.
The psalmist says that the righteous person meditates day and night in God’s Law (Ps. 1). Would like to get started in this discipline? Order a copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics and The Law of God. The first will explain the importance3 of God’s Law, and guide you in taking up the practice of daily reading and meditation. The second provides all the statutes, precepts, and rules of God’s Law organized under their proper number of the Ten Commandments.
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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).
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Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
