The Cross and Crowns Ministry Nairobi

The Just Shall Live by Faith-Part-22A-20260705

1. Jas. 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only…26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. 1. In addition to the truth seen in Paul’s letters to the Churches in Rome and the region of Galatia, James states the following: 1. Faith finds its best expression through works! In this context therefore, merely admitting that one possesses faith without works is insufficient because even demons BELIEVE and tremble–v19. In other words, faith without works is DEAD! 2. To illustrate this, James uses the example of a brother or sister who needs both clothing and food. Mere words to such an individual are of no benefit. Rather, the only benefit that will accrue to such an individual is provision of both clothing and food. 1. James then ropes in Abraham to clarify his point−Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 1. From Paul’s letter to the Romans and Galatians, we learnt that Abraham was justified BY FAITH, NOT BY WORKS but James ‘seems’ to suggest otherwise i.e., he was justified by works! Is this a contradiction? 2. For the avoidance of doubt, God’s Word DOES NOT contradict itself because it was written by the SAME AUTHOR, the Holy Spirit, about the SAME PERSON, Jesus Christ! Was Abraham justified by faith or by works? 1. To answer our question, let us note that justification is a judicial act of God whereby He declares a person to be righteous. Said differently, justification is God declaring a person to be righteous as a result of acknowledging or recognizing His righteousness in that person, in our case Abraham! 1. When Abraham believed God’s word concerning his descendants, it was accounted to him as righteousness! At this point, Abraham was justified BY FAITH i.e., by believing! 2. When testing Abraham, God allowed an event that would seemingly contradict His promises i.e., God had promised Abraham that in Isaac, his seed shall be called and this is the same son that God asked Abraham to offer as a burnt offering! 3. Abraham obeyed God by offering Isaac on the altar and in this, he was justified by WORKS through which his FAITH was PERFECTED!  * The Greek word for ‘perfected’ means to complete, i.e. (literally) accomplish, or (figuratively) consummate; consecrate, finish, fulfil.  1. Abraham’s action (WORK) of sacrificing Isaac in obedience to God’s instructions brought his faith to an end or to the intended goal! 1. Through Abraham’s works, the Scripture in Gen. 15:6 was FULFILLED and he was called the friend of God–Jas. 2:23 And the scripture was actually and fully realized… (Wuest)

The Just Shall Live by Faith-Part-21E-20260628

1. Having separated themselves from the young men, Abraham and Isaac went together to the top of the mountain−Gen. 22:6. 1. Isaac may have discerned that his father was going to present an offering to the Lord presumably by seeing the wood and the fire. That being the case, his question was a legitimate one because there was a missing ingredient in this equation i.e., the lamb−Gen. 22:7. 1. Abraham DID NOT blink an eye in responding to his son’s question nor did he stutter on the matter! Abraham told Isaac that God would provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering−Gen. 22:8. 2. When Abraham and Isaac finally got to the place of which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar, placed the wood in order, bound his son and laid him on the altar in readiness to slay him as commanded by God−Gen. 22:9-10. 3. The Lord called Abraham, through His angel, restraining him from laying his hand on Isaac or doing anything to him−Gen. 22:11. 4. Abraham had PASSED the TEST because he did NOT withhold his son, his only son, from the Lord. Through his actions, Abraham demonstrated his fear of God−Gen. 22:12. 1.  Abraham’s responses demonstrate the outcome of an individual who has undergone transformation by the renewal of his mind−Rom. 12:1-2. 1. As our spirit man is being renewed DAILY, so is our mind−2 Cor. 4:16. 2. Our inner man, the spirit man, is renewed DAILY, ONLY ONE way i.e., in mature knowledge−Col. 3:9-10; Eph. 4:22-24; 1 Pet. 1:13. 3. Why the mind? Strongholds exist in the mind−2 Cor. 10:4-6. 4. God had been speaking to Abraham continuously thus had a rich deposit of His Word which the Holy Spirit used to transform him−Gen. 12-22. 5. Abraham’s transformation, originating from his intake of the Word of God is a demonstration of his spiritual maturity which happened over time, NOT instantly! It had taken him approximately 60+ years of consistently hearing God for him to mature in his faith−Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 14:20; 1 Pet. 2:2. 1. Through his FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE to God’s command by offering Isaac, Abraham expressed his fear of God, something that must have attracted the Lord’s pleasure in him−Ps 147:11. 1. Abraham’s fear of God caused the Lord to send His Angel to him−Ps 34:7. 2. Abraham’s fear of God would cause the Lord to reveal His secret to him−Ps 25:12-15. 3. Abraham’s fear of God was proven in his choice to keep His commandments by walking in His ways in obedience−Deut. 8:6, 13:4. 4. Abraham’s fear of God was proven in his choice to hate evil i.e. unbelief−Prov. 8:13. 5. Abraham’s fear of God was anchored on the truth that God will judge every Man’s work including his−Eccl. 12:13-14. 6. Abraham must have resolved to FULLY OBEY God, something that God Himself acknowledged at the end of the test−Gen. 22:18; 26:5.

The Just Shall Live by Faith-Part-21D-20260531

1.  Testing has a CONTEXT. 1. Having created Man to rule the earth in place of Satan who had since disqualified himself through rebellion, God TESTED him to prove his worthiness to realize this purpose−Gen. 2:16-17; 1:26-28. 2. Joseph had two dreams, both of which were REGAL in nature−Gen. 37:5-11. The Lord TESTED Joseph by orchestrating events which seemed to contradict the REGAL dreams that he had−Ps 105:8-12. 3. The Lord TESTED the nation of Israel after their deliverance from Egyptian oppression and on their journey towards the land of their inheritance−Ex. 15:25-26; 16:4. In TESTING the nation of Israel, the Lord sought to establish the nation’s worthiness to rule as the head over the nations−Deut. 28:1, 13. 4. The context of TESTING is RULERSHIP, the goal being to ascertain the worthiness and subsequent approval of the individual being tested. 1. When the Lord tested Abraham, his response was IMMEDIATE! There was NO DEBATE, NO HESITATION, NO RESERVATIONS, NO PUSHBACK, NO DELAY, NO NEGOTIATION−Gen. 22:3-5.

The Just Shall Live by Faith-Part-21C

God TESTED Abraham 1. Gen. 22:1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 1. It is God’s prerogative to TEST and He does so with the RIGHTEOUS−Ps 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous… 1. Prov. 17:3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts. 2. Ps 7:9 …For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. 3. There are different Hebrew words for ‘test’ all of which mean to try, to prove, to tempt, to prove, to examine/assay, to scrutinize. It carries the idea of testing or proving the quality of someone or something. 1. The ONLY basis by which God TESTS His people is His Word! 1. Ex. 15:25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” 2. Ex. 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. Judges 2:20 Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, 21 I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, 22 so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” 23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

The Just Shall Live by Faith-Part-21B

1. The Lord kept His Word, in His time and style, and did as He had promised Sarah who bore Isaac−Gen. 21:1-3. 1. As time elapsed, Isaac grew and he was subsequently weaned, much in every way a baby was−Gen. 21:8-9; 1 Sam. 1:22-24; 1 Kin 11:20; Hos. 1:8. 1. Weaning conveys the idea of bringing to an end, the time a child comes to the end of need for nursing, because he/she has matured. 2. In the Septuagint, ‘weaning’ conveys the picture of ‘to remove from milk.’ Weaning marks the time when a child is introduced to solid food. 1.  On the same day that Isaac was weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael scoffing! Although this may pass as any other gesture, it is fraught with significance. 1. In Hebrew, scoffing means mocking, and in the Septuagint, it means to make sport of or to mock and is in the present tense, describing Ishmael as continually mocking Isaac. 2. As long as Isaac was taking milk, Ishmael had NO problem with him but the moment he was weaned, scoffing began. 1. Sarah did NOT take Ishmael’s scoffing lightly! She told Abraham to cast out Hagar, the bondwoman, and Ishmael, her son! According to Sarah, Ishmael would NOT be heir with Isaac−Gen. 21:10. 1. Sarah had finally understood the Lord’s Promise concerning Isaac, Abraham’s chosen heir−Gen. 15:4; 17:19, 21. 2. Sarah’s statement aligned with God’s Word even though it was grievous in Abraham’s sight−Gen. 21:11-12. Abraham obeyed God’s Word by sending Hagar and Ishmael away, something that he did early in the morning−Gen. 21:14.