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BukiRob
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Righteousness is imputed by faith. Gen 15:6 (speaking of Abraham) Then he believed in the LORD; He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
It is by FAITH that we are made righteous and NOT by our works lest we boast
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That's an incomplete understanding, as it is written:
"because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions." So, "works" are essential as the whole story of Abraham is a story of trial and obedience. It is an error to use one verse to dismiss the nature of Abraham's relationship with Gd.
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gadar perets
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Abraham's relationship with God is based on faith and works. It is his faith that produced his works. If he only had faith, but no works, it would be a dead faith (James 2:17). If he had only works, but no faith, it would not profit him (Hebrews 4:2). The two go hand in hand. Two examples; David had faith and slew Goliath, but the spies Moses sent to check out the land had no faith except for Caleb and Joshua.
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What is faith? Faith is a demonstration of our trust in Gd. How do we demonstrate it? By following His Torah. Because that is what faith was to Abram- obeying the commandments of the Almighty and trusting His instructions. Therefore, if one is doing it, he trusts Gd. Trust(faith) is but a description of our actions. In other words, we follow His teachings because we trust, as David said, that those teachings are true and perfect. So, according to the Torah, you cannot have faith without obedience (works). It would have been better, if Paul used "believe" instead of faith (trust) as he needlessly created a controversy where none existed before.
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gadar perets
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I totally agree and that is what I just wrote.
If Paul wrote in Greek, then he used two different forms of the same word; the noun form and the verb form. It is English translators that created a controversy by translating them two different ways, but they mean basically the same thing.
Paul wrote, "We having the same spirit of faith (Greek-pistis), according as it is written, I believed (Greek - pisteuo), and therefore have I spoken; we also believe (pisteuo), and therefore speak"
2 Corinthians 4:13
The words "faith" and "believe" are interchangeable. The definition of "pisteuo" is "to have faith; to entrust".
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gadar perets
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Faith is not action, faith results in action. Action is a fruit of faith/trust/belief which is what James was teaching. Faith without works/actions is dead. It is a misunderstanding of Paul's writings that has led to the belief that as long as one has faith they need never do works.
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gadar perets
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You call it a philosophy/theology and James calls it "dead". We agree that faith must have actions.
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BukiRob
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Wrong. Works do NOT impute righteousness. I will side with what Gen 15:6 actually says.
6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
You are citing Gen 25:6 and it is G-d speaking to Issac:
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Issac's offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed BECAUSE...
Because Abraham was obedient Issac'offsprin and the nations would be blessed by virtue of the promised Messiah.
Nothing in chapter 25 is suggesting that Abraham's obedience was his righteousness.
10 chapters before we are told plainly that it was Abraham's FAITH with no mention of his works.
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Meowzltov
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Vis is absolutely correct. Hebrew faith is action. The Hebrew word for faith is the SAME as the Hebrew word for faithfulness: Emunah. This is why James is said to be the most Jewish book in the NT.
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gadar perets
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It all starts with a belief/trust in YHWH. From that comes one's faithfulness/actions.
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Why Genesis 25 6? Because Scripture explains Scripture, it explains why Gd was so taken by Abraham. And "works" absolutely impute righteousness. Nothing else does.
"If you do good, won't there be special privilege? And if you do not do good, sin waits at the door. It lusts after you, but you can dominate it." Genesis 4:7 Do, not faith or belief.
"Even when I have told the wicked that he will die, but then he repents, and he does justice and righteousness; he returns the collateral when he is supposed to, he repays what he stole, he begins to live by the Laws of Life, and does not do evil, he will live, and he will not die. All the sins that he committed will not be held against him, for he has begun to do judgment and righteousness; he shall surely live."
Ezekiel 33:14-16
The message of the Torah and the Prophets is constant and consistent: do this, don't do that. The Book Of Deuteronomy says explicitly-the commandments are not too difficult nor too distant, so we may DO them. Even the very definition of a righteous man simply describes him as someone who fails, but tries again-even seven times!
So, Abram believed in Gd's promises
and Gd gave him a pat on the back. Great. But, why do we respect Abraham, so? Because he believed? Or because of his unquestionable trust and obedience to the Almighty? To bring the story of Abraham to a simplistic "faith" interpretation is to miss, not only the teaching derived from his life, but the purpose of the Torah itself.
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