What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? (James 2:14)
Lord Jesus, let our faith find its fruit in good works.
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, (James 2:15)
Lord, open our eyes to those in need around us.
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? (James 2:16)
Holy Spirit, set us free from empty words.
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:17)
Holy Father, prune away our dead faith and bring forth the fruit of your Holy Spirit in works of faith.
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. (James 2:18 )
Jesus, let our lives shine forth by works done in faith and trust in you.
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble! (James 2:19)
Lord Jesus, bring us to a robust faith that gets us outside our church doors and into our communities and the wider world in works of faith.
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20)
Holy Spirit, please help us repent of that kind of piety which never reaches out in faith and is content with itself.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (James 2:21)
Father, thank you for Abraham’s deeds done in faith. Help us to go forth at your word as he did. Help us to be children of Abraham by works done in faith.
Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? (James 2:22)
Jesus, please bring us to maturity and perfection in our faith and works.
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. (James 2:23)
Holy Spirit, bring us to that righteousness that comes from doing the Father’s will for us be deeds of faith.
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (James 2:24)
Jesus, bring us to the justification that comes from woks done by faith in you.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (James 2:25)
Holy Spirit, help me to remember that every prostitute I meet at the prayer table can become a Rahab by faith in Jesus.
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)
Father, prune away the dead wood in our lives and bring forth the fruit of your Holy Spirit. Thank you.
A word received: Look to me. Look to me day by day. I AM your redeemer and the one who rescues you.
Tuesday: 26, 28 * 36, 39; 1 Kings 8:65-9:9 James 2:14-26 Mark 14:66-72
Wednesday: 38 * 119:25-48; 1 Kings 9:24-10:13 James 3:1-12 Mark 15:1-11
Albany Intercessor
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Four Walls Separating Us from the New Testament
Four crises separate Western Christians on the one hand from the New Testament writers and Eastern Christians on the other. If we understand these crises and the effects they had, we can attempt to “roll them back” in our minds and understand the New Testament more clearly.
The New Testament is in Greek, which has a large philosophical vocabulary that Latin lacks. Ecumenical councils used Greek as the working language; then they made an official translation into Latin for use in the West. Many of the most heated debates were about which Latin words best conveyed the meaning of the Greek resolution they had already agreed on. Because Greek philosophical concepts had to be translated into Latin legal concepts, theology in the West took on the character of codified law after the West lost Greek. To this day, Orthodox theologians reason like rabbis, while western theologians reason like lawyers.
Pelagianism
Augustine accused Pelagius of teaching salvation by works • Western Christians are obsessed with not being saved by works
• Western Christians deemphasize ascetic disciplines and exercises
• Spirituality becomes a set of mental acts
• Salvation is rescue from hell, rather than transformation into glory
• Determinism enters some parts of western theology from Manichaeism through Augustine
Scholasticism
Theology moved from the monastery to the university • Western theology is an intellectual discipline rather than a mystical pursuit
• Western theology is over-systematized
• Western Theology is systematized, based on a legal model rather than a philosophical model
• Western theologians debate like lawyers, not like rabbis
Reformation
Catholic reformers were excommunicated and formed Protestant churches • Western churches become guarantors of theological schools of thought
• Western church membership is often contingent on fine points of doctrine
• Some western Christians believe that definite beliefs are incompatible with tolerance
• The atmosphere arose in which anyone could start a church
• The legal model for western theology intensifies despite the rediscovery of the East
Enlightenment
Philosophers founded empirical sciences • Western theologians attempt to apply empiricism to theology
• Western theologians agonize over the existence of God
• Western theologians lose, deemphasize, neglect, marginalize, or explain away the supernatural
• Western theologians no longer have coherent answers for many practical religious questions
• Western churches outsource the treatment of religious problems to secular therapists
East and West
West East
• Western Christians are obsessed with not being saved by works
• Western Christians deemphasize ascetic disciplines and exercises
• Spirituality becomes a set of mental acts
• Salvation is rescue from hell
• The emphasis is on the cross
• Determinism enters some parts of western Christian theology • Works express faith, faith gives birth to works
• Eastern Christians engage in fasting and other spiritual disciplines
• Spirituality involves both mind and body
• Salvation is transformation into glory
• The emphasis is on resurrection and transformation
• Determinism never entered Christian theology
• Western theology is primarily an intellectual discipline by professors
• Western theology is over-systematized
• Western theology is based on a legal model
• Western theologians debate like lawyers • Eastern theology is primarily a mystical pursuit by monastics
• Eastern theology is not as strictly systematized; for example, the number of sacraments is not set and is not controversial
• Eastern theology is based on a philosophical model
• Eastern theologians debate like rabbis
• Western churches became guarantors of theological schools of thought
• Western church membership is often contingent on fine points of doctrine
• Some western Christians believe that definite beliefs are incompatible with tolerance
• The atmosphere arose in which anyone could start a church • Eastern theology, while holding more strictly than western theology on basic dogmas, is tolerant of differences of opinions on finer points
• Eastern church membership is contingent on commitment and behavior
• Eastern Christians have no difficulty maintaining definite beliefs while remaining tolerant.
• There was nothing corresponding to the Protestant reformation and there is no proliferation of sects within the mainstream
• Western Christians see a dichotomy of spirit and matter
• Western theologians attempt to apply empiricism to theology
• Western theologians agonize over the existence of God
• Western theologians have lost, deemphasized, neglected, marginalized, or explained away the supernatural and miraculous
• Western theologians no longer have coherent answers for many practical religious questions (such as during bereavement)
• Western churches outsource the treatment of religious problems, such as bereavement, to secular therapists • Eastern Christians see a dichotomy of God and creation
• Eastern theologians are largely unaffected by modernism
• Eastern theologians do not agonize over the existence of God
• Eastern theologians systematize the transcendent, the miraculous, and the mystical into their theology, without a concept of ‘supernatural’
• Eastern theologians have coherent and helpful answers for most practical spiritual problems (such as during bereavement)
• Eastern clergy, monastics, and lay experts have resources for spiritual direction, moral direction, and bereavement counseling; thus they do not outsource religious problems to secular experts,