2:23
James now quotes directly the verse, Gen 15:6, used by Paul to demonstrate that we are justified by faith, not works. James uses Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac as the fulfillment of Gen 15:6. We should also note that Heb 11:19 says that Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead. For in Gen 22:5 Abraham says that both he and Isaac would return. God counting us as righteous is not a mere legal fiction. The whole package includes us being forgiven, being counted righteous because of the blood of Jesus, and being sanctified through and through (1 Thess 5:23).
2:24
This verse does not mean we are saved by faith, but the notion that someone can be saved and there be no change is a concept which is totally alien to the Bible. The idea that “we are saved by faith alone” is completely Biblical. The idea that “we are saved by faith alone, and so it doesn’t matter what I do” is completely unbiblical. We were saved in order to become ever more Christlike, Rom 8:29.
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