discussion board

So here we have it. In one of my fabulous classes from Liberty, we were asked to discuss the issue of Romans and what the purpose of the book is. And then to parrallel what James says in his book about faith and works so here's what i had to say.
question:
Read Romans 3:21-4:25 and explain the Apostle Paul's argument. What is his thesis (3:21)? How does he build his case? What is his conclusion? Compare Paul's conclusion here with James 2:14-26. How do you explain the tension between Paul and James? Offer a resolution.

I would first like to remind us of the context of this letter before we delve into it. Paul wrote this letter to a people group he had never been with, to a city he had never been to, and to a church he or any other Apostles didn't start. Paul's intention were to describe exactly what the Gospel was and was not about. And when your writing to a people group who is steeped in Jewish tradition you have to write in a certain way to make your point clear.
The Apostle Paul's point was this; faith in Jesus Christ is imputes righteousness on our behalf. And what i mean by that is this, for years the Jews spent their time working the law, an trying their hardest to obey every command. But, this was an impossible task for anyone who wasn't divine. So when Christ came to die for us, their lives were not supposed to feel like a losing battle anymore because Christ defeated sin through his righteous death.
To me Paul is building his case around Abraham's faith back in Genesis. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, so that's what Abraham was doing until God stopped him in mid swing. This painted a prophetic picture of what the son of God would go through thousands of years before it ever happened. And that faith that Abraham trusted God with his only son, was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham didn't have the resurrected Jesus to place his faith in for righteousness.
His conclusion was not that keeping the law is pointless. His conclusion was that keeping the law apart from having a faith in the resurrected Jesus was pointless. Because of your faith in Jesus, you keep the law. Paul probably had to attack this argument from an extreme angle to let his readers know just how crucial faith in Jesus is. He wanted to let them know that there is no way for salvation apart from this faith.
So now let's look onto what James comments on in his letter. Again i want to first remind you of the context in which James wrote. It is very likely that James wrote to the Jewish believers who fled Jerusalem during persecution. So these believers would be believers that have had apostolic interaction and teaching before this letter. He basically tells them that faith without works is dead. Now what I believe that he means by that is that saving faith produces deeds of service to prove its reality. James was essentially asking his readers if a faith without serving save the lost. The answer to that statement in my opinion is no. Very plain and simple, because of our faith in Jesus we should desire to carry out his commission which is to reach the ends of the world with the gospel. If that isn't our desire then our faith isn't in the Jesus of scripture.

music makes me move....

Theres something crazy about the way music affects us all. We get that song stuck in our head and it doesn't leave for the whole day. Music makes us happy and sad, it creates mood. I can't figure it out, but music simply makes me move. Over the past year i've began to take it more seriously and i play music everyday of my life now. I think what i enjoy most about music is the fact that i can't explain it. So every sunday when i lead students into worship its like i don't know how it connects with them.... but it does, and that my friends is the mystery of music.... it makes me move....

Life is short...

this week it has been really obvious, that is, what God is trying to teach me. Sometimes it just seems like i get tied up about things that really don't matter, and it's like all the time. When i evaluate the stress in my life it's mostly about things that really don't matter all that much. A job for instance. The more i learn to trust God the more he shows me it's just a job. Don't get me wrong, it's important to love what you do, but there's so much more to life than Jobs, school, and stuff. Each day is an opportunity, the more quickly we can make that realization the closer we will be to God's heart.

weekly update...

I've really been looking forward to this week for a lot of reasons. For one i started school back and am ready to be finished, 12 more classes till i will officially be a college grad, heck yes. Another reason is we just started our sunday morning student gathering, now that we've got the first week under our belt we can breathe and critique everything as need be. God is really making me realize just how small i am through all of this, he's using us (megan and I) in remarkable ways. It's really crazy how much we realize who we really are when we open up to what god wants for our lives, it even makes us want what he has even more....

Rocks gotta have faith....

Wow.... If only id known where God would take me 21 years into life. The past 11 months of my life have been mind blowing. I've went from doubting God, to following others, to dwelling in his light. Recently i've really been stuck on this issue of faith and what that looks like for the Christ follower, and i'm not so sure that i've got it all figured out. What is faith? If we say that it is believing in the unseen, then that could be correct... But what if it's living the life you've not yet seen and following the God you've only felt?

You see, i thought that i had faith figured out for the last 5 years or so.... But it is truly so much more than i had ever imagined. God has taught me one thing that will dwell with me for life, that is this; just when i think i've Got him figured out he will start a new venue of faith that i cannot explain. Faith is living out heaven today, and daily realizing that we do not belong to the problems and strongholds of earth, we only endure those issues to see the daylight.

this is what i've learned:

Faith is living out the risen Jesus.....
Faith is trusting when its completely unlogical...
Faith is inconvenience....
Faith is putting yourself in second place....
Faith is looking beyond your circumstance....
Faith is stepping into the grey areas of life with boldness....
Faith is Living
outside...
of...
where...
you...
can...
place yourself....

Faith is the conglomeration of the human spirit, and its decision to follow the creator, or not....

I forgot...

I was just rummaging around on the internet reading some blogs and i completely forgot about my own. I know its been forever but I am getting back to this, i love it!