Spoke 15
Works Righteousness
Isaiah 59  James
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with
their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in
their hands.
Isaiah 59.6
If there is one theological controversy associated with the Book of James, it is the question
of justification by works. The reason for this difficulty is obvious. In Romans
4.2, Paul explicitly states that Abraham was not "justified by works", whereas James
2.21 just as emphatically states that Abraham was "justified by works." The
problem is exacerbated by two facts: 1) Paul and James used exactly the
same Greek phrase, and 2) this
phrase is used nowhere else in Scripture! If there were no other information to go on, it would
appear that James not only was contradicting Paul, but that he was doing so deliberately!
The opposition between the two uses of this highly specific theological phrase has caused an
enduring difficulting for numerous students of Scripture. It is a perennial question with an
ancient history. Even strong believers have been challenged in their effort to
explain this apparent contradiction which undoubtedly contributed to Luther's
reference to James as an "Epistle of straw."
The miracle of God is that He has designed the structure of Isaiah to cast His divine light
onto this question. Isaiah chapter 59 corresponds to the Book of James. The correspondence between
these two geometrically correlated portions of Scripture is truly astounding.
Isaiah 59 explicitly
addresses the question of justification by works, saying "they shall not cover themselves with their
works." And who was Isaiah refering to? He spoke of the unrepentant evil doers, whose works are
"works of iniquity." James, on the other hand, spoke of works done in faith, for
without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11.6). The solution to the question
of works righteousness may be stated quite simply as follows:
It is impossible for the righteousness
of God to come out of a man before it has entered him through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
To see the depth of God's divine integration of Isaiah 59 and James, I will simply do a verse-by-verse
analysis of Isaiah 59. Beginning at Isaiah 59.1 we read:
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that
it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your
sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with
blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath
muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust
in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Anybody familiar with the Book of James should imediately recognize the spirit of that great prophet
in these words, penned hundred of years before his birth by the Prophet Isaiah. Compare them with
these words from James 1:
If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his
tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and
undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Note the reference to the tongue, vanity, and defilement. Searching the entire
KJV for all passages containing tongue, defiled or undefiled, and vain or vanity within
a few verses of each other yields but one other verse, Isaiah 59.3, as quoted above.
We have, therefore, the following KeyLink:
| KeyLink: The Wicked Lying Tongue | | Isaiah 59James |
This theme also manifests strongly in Psalm 59 in the Inner Cycle of the Psalms.
Yet this is but the beginning of the divine integration. Note this sequence beginning in Isaiah 59.4:
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies;
they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s
web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
This is the Cycle of Sin detailed in James 1:
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own
lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Note the sequence:
1) Temptation/Trusting in Vanity
2) Conceive mischief/lust
3) Bring forth Iniquity/Sin/Death.
Note also how close the phraseology is: Isaiah 59 uses the phrase
"bringeth forth iniquity", whereas James uses the phrase "bring forth sin." These verses are
further integrated with two KeyLinks:
- (Conceive*, Bring*, Forth*, Sin/Iniquity) Isa 59.4 - Jam 1.15 [Verify]
- (Conceive*, Bring*, Forth w/i Death/Die*)
Using | 