The Verse Luther Didn’t Love

 

For just as the body without the spirit is dead,
so also faith without works is dead.

James 2:26 (CSB)

Some people have had a little bit-o-trouble with this verse. Historically, Martin Luther was one of them.

It seems the conviction that salvation cannot be earned, while correct, has made the word work distasteful. "Sola Fide! Faith alone!"

It might help to know that the word translated spirit here can also mean breath...or even wind. The Names of God Bible takes that into account and translates the verse like this:

A body that doesn’t breathe is dead.
In the same way, faith that does nothing is dead.

I may have faith that a tightrope walker can safely carry me on a cable strung hundreds of feet above the ground, but if I never let the guy pick me up and start balancing his way across the highwire, my supposed faith is meaningless.

If I believe that Jesus not only forgives me, but transforms me, that has to affect what I do and say. It's not enough to "just believe." James said in verse 19, "Even the demons believe  -  and they shudder."

Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying we work our way to salvation. I am saying that our salvation will work its way out into the world through our feet, our hands, and our mouths.

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Truth is...The proof really is in the pudding.

Hidden Hatred, Public Reckoning

 

Though his hatred is concealed by deception,

his evil will be revealed in the assembly.

Proverbs 26:26 (CSB)

According to verse 24, the person being talked about here is a "hateful person." In other translations, he is known as "an enemy."

Whatever you call him, he is no stranger.

• He is the government official who signs a treaty he never intends to honor.
• He is the politician who promises unity while targeting different groups.
• He is the friendly, helpful neighbor who gossips behind your back.
• He is the family member who excuses his passive-aggressive comments as jokes.

You know what else he is? He is doomed.

The legislative body will launch an investigation. The church will instigate accountability. The family reunion will become an intervention.

The truth will come out, and, as promised, set you free. That won't necessarily be pleasant for "the hateful person," but it will be a little bit of justice brightening the corner where you are.

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Truth is...Present circumstances are never the end of the story. 

When "I Was Just Looking" Didn't Cut It

 

But Lot’s wife looked back
and became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26 (CSB)

This incident, as Abraham's nephew and his family were fleeing the rain of fire and brimstone that was engulfing Sodom and Gomorrah, kind of reminds me of when Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood were present at the opening of the Ark of the Covenant: "Marion, don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion. Don't look at it, no matter what happens!"

At least, as a child, that's the way it always seemed: If Lot's wife had just not turned around and looked, she could have escaped and God would not have turned her into salt.

As it usually does, the Amplified Bible sheds some light on the subject:

But Lot’s wife, from behind him, [foolishly, longingly] looked [back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience], and she became a pillar of salt.

Then, in a footnote, it says even more:

"Lot’s wife not only “looked back” to where her interests were, but perhaps lingered behind and was overtaken by the fire and brimstone; her dead body likely became continually encrusted with salt since this disaster occurred in the salt-rich area around the Dead Sea."

Whether her transformation into salt was miraculous or the result of a chemical reaction, what matters is the single word, longingly.

They were supposed to be fleeing, not just the physical fire, but the hotbed of sin and corruption that was Sodom and Gomorrah. The problem Lot's wife seems to have had is that she didn't really want to leave.

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Truth is...That's the problem a lot of us have with particular sins. The reason we don't truly repent (i.e., turn and go the other direction) is because we don't want to. We like what we're doing and just wish that God would shut his eyes and not look at it, no matter what happens.

What Happens When It’s Hammer Time?

 

So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (CSB)

This verse comes near the end of Paul's lengthy metaphor comparing a human body to the Church  -  calling it the body of Christ.

The idea is, if you hit your thumb with a hammer, your whole body reacts. The opposite hand puts down the hammer. Your mouth sucks the injured thumb while your torso curls in and self-comforts by rocking.

 

But what about when a member of your spiritual body  -  that group of people you worship and serve and follow Jesus with  -  is in pain or grieving? Do the other members mobilize to provide comfort?

Then there's the other side of the coin.

When a church member receives an honor or experiences success, how do the others react: with happiness or jealousy?

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Truth is...I'm pretty sure you know what the answers should be and that what the answers are will reveal whether you're attending church or being the church.

 

The Verse That Disappointed the Teenaged Me

 

Greet all God’s people with a holy kiss.

1 Thessalonians 5:26 (NIV)

As a male teenager in North America, this may have been one of the Scripture verses I was most eager to obey. Of course, I wasn't aware of the myriad ways the original Greek of this verse had been translated through the years...

Modern English Version:
Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

This more-literal translation limited my pool of possible smooch partners to males, which greatly dampened my enthusiasm for obedience.

The Message:
Greet all the followers of Jesus there with a holy embrace.

This more-modern paraphrase opened it back up to include females, but erased the specific use of lips to greet each other.

The Living Bible:
Shake hands for me with all the brothers there.

And then Kenneth Taylor totally flipped the switch on both variables: no lips; no girls.

So, I needed to go to my favorite translation for getting every possible nuance of meaning out of a verse...

Amplified Bible:
Greet all the believers with a holy kiss [as brothers and sisters in God’s family].

...which gave me hope, but then I read the footnote:

Greeting other believers with a kiss on the cheek would be the equivalent of today’s handshake, pat on the back, or casual hug.

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Truth is...The point was never about romance, but about accepting and welcoming fellow believers, harboring no ill will against anyone who calls Jesus Lord, and recognizing commonality with all who share The Faith.

In the words of the Contemporary English Version: Give the Lord's followers a warm greeting.

Unleavened Bread, Undeniable Love

 

As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:26

During the Passover meal, the bread was more than food. It was a reminder of Israel’s hurried escape from Egypt  -  unleavened because there was no time to wait, pure because God was calling His people into a new beginning. That same bread, free from corruption, becomes the symbol Jesus lifts in His hands on the night He is betrayed.

When Jesus breaks the bread and says, “Take and eat it; this is my body," He is not merely reinterpreting a ritual. He is revealing its fulfillment. The bread  -  unleavened, untainted  -  mirrors His sinless life. Its breaking foreshadows the physical tearing of His own body on the cross. What had once pointed back to Israel’s deliverance now points forward to humanity’s salvation.

In the Passover story, the bread sustained God’s people for a journey out of bondage. In the gospel story, Jesus’ body  -  offered, broken, given  -  becomes the sustenance that frees us from a deeper slavery. The bread of the old covenant becomes the body of the new. And in taking it, we remember that redemption is never cheap. It required a body that could be broken, a Savior who would not turn away, and a love willing to be torn so we could be made whole.

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Truth is... The bread reminds us that salvation is not an idea. It is a body, broken. A life, given. A Savior, offering Himself so that we might live.

[This post was created through CoPilot, using the resources of BibleHub.com, ScriptureSavvy.com and BibleRef.com.]

The Day Ephesus Lost Its Cool

 

You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.

Acts 19:26 (CSB)

The man who spoke these words was Demetrius, a silversmith whose shrine-making business for the goddess Artemis (or Diana, in Latin) kept many craftsmen in ancient Ephesus employed. Paul’s preaching was disrupting their commerce, and Demetrius wasn’t happy about it.

So he gathered the silversmiths and every craftsperson connected to their line of work into the local amphitheater — the ruins of which still stand today. There, he held a rally and whipped the crowd into a chaotic frenzy against “this man Paul.”

It's interesting to note how he starts with their wallets, warning that Paul’s message is wrecking their livelihood. Only afterward does he tack on a religious concern: that “the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin — the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

The result was an hours-long, life-threatening riot.

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Truth is...people have been using religion for personal gain for a very long time. That doesn’t make faith the problem, but it does mean we should stay alert whenever someone tries to blend profit and piety.