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.