“We are not saved by our good deeds, our works in the flesh, by avoiding sinning, but purely by grace APART from works”
That does not appear to be scriptural:
James 2:24
King James Version (KJV)
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only
The Thief on the Cross was saved by Faith alone, but that appears to be a special case. After all, he died on a cross next to Jesus. But James,reported to be the half brother of Jesus, clearly said that a man is not justified by faith only.
The one who posted this thread is convinced that Jesus is not God. Do you agree with him? He says that he NEVER sins anymore. Do you buy it? He says that the Bible is not a closed revelation but can be added to (a new disclosure) and that what the Bible says is not that important anyway. He also insists that the man named Roy Masters is a wonderful and blessed Christian even though he teaches doctrines contrary to Holy Scripture. Have you ever heard of the man and do you agree with his gospel?
"appear" is correct. As BB points out, the word of God is unified in the mind of God, even if we sometimes have a little work to do to understand it. James does not contradict Paul, who makes it clear:
Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. [28] Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
So how do we reconcile these two inspired writers? It’s actually not that hard. Paul is teaching that the deeds of the law cannot justify anyone. If we are justified before God, forgiven of our sin, released from our sentence of death, it is not because we perfected the art of good deeds, but because we believe in Jesus by faith, whom, BTW, Paul calls our God and Savior:
Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ
In the Greek there’s only one definite article that applies to God and Savior, so they both apply to Jesus. As with Polycarp.
No belief in Jesus, no salvation. Pretty straightforward.
But what about James? If we already know that James does not contradict Paul, we know James is not teaching that works save. But we do see James saying that a justified man will show his faith by his works, and in this we are, I think, all in agreement:
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
A supposed faith that does not result in repentance and doing right is a false faith, an empty faith, a death faith, but certainly not the faith of which Paul spoke, a living faith that comes as a gift from God, to open blind eyes to see the need of a Savior, the need for forgiveness, and for always growing in the knowledge of Christ.
As for the thief on the cross, Jesus, being God, knew that man's faith was real, though all he had left was a few hours on the cross next to Jesus. He was no exception. He was a demonstration of the rule, set before us, not by James, not by Paul, but by Jesus Himself, so that no one would ever doubt:
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. [17] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
A famous preacher once said, you should never make enemies of good friends. The teaching of Paul and the teaching of James are two halves of the same coin. There is no contradiction, and a great blessing is to be had by any who will just take a small effort to understand it.
Peace,
SR