“SYNTHETIC SALVATION” Lesson 175

Only true, genuine, heart felt, from the soul salvation could have withstood what the first Christians faced. They were persecuted by idol worshippers, contradicted by false teachers and disillusioned over the actions of church members. Synthetic salvation offered worldly pleasure without fear of punishment, belief without the requirements of following God’s commandments and usually had no moral rules attached. Many of the early Christians had an inadequate knowledge of faith, wisdom, morality and prayer. Wealth was looked on as a reward for righteous and virtuous living and caused a problem in the early churches. Out of fear or perhaps habit, the poor Christians treated the wealthy ones with special favors and honors and usually the wealthy expected this type of treatment. If any of this sounds the least bit familiar to anyone you have contact with, then you need to encourage them to read the little book of James.

Some persons today come to Christ seeking success, wealth and power. Others come expecting freedom from all the worldly troubles. James warns about the dangers of wealth and makes no promises about the Christian life being an easy road. James’ message was not gloom and doom but facts and the possibility of joy amidst the trials. Joy is not laughing at pain but rather finding strength in God through the persecutions and tribulations of life. Testing of faith is a maturing agent, developing perseverance and perseverance is victory over trials.

It takes wisdom to understand how to stand in the face of trials and this wisdom is given generously by God. Ask in faith, believing that you will receive the wisdom you ask for. James speaks of wealth being a test of faith and not proof of faith. There is no sin in wealth but the sin comes when money causes one to think more highly of themselves than they should. People sometimes pursue material goods as ends in themselves but these things actually have nothing to do with salvation and have no eternal permanence. Humility is the only proper attitude for the rich according to James. Rich or poor, we are all made from dust and will return to dust. It is our life of obedience, ushered in through genuine salvation, which leads us into a life of prayer, purity, humility and ministry, pleasing to God.

James shows us that God is a just God doing no evil, causing no evil and never tempting anyone to do evil. God’s desire is to bring everyone under submission of righteous living and we must accept personal responsibility for our own sinful acts. Physical, emotional and psychological desires lead to sinful acts. There is no invisible force that makes persons sin against their wills and this includes the devil. Sin is a consciously chosen path, and yes, Satan will jump on that path with you and encourage you to continue, but he can be resisted through obedient control. Losing control affects the whole being such as losing your temper. “Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires”. Gaining control over this greatest of all emotions, anger, can provide a key to the maturing expression of more positive virtues in one’s character (2 Pet. 1:8).

True understanding of God’s Word produces new behavior and attitudes. James warns against knowing the Word but failing to do as it says therefore deceiving oneself about a personal relationship with God and genuine salvation security. Along with anger, your very spoken words, if not Christ like, can destroy your testimony and witness for Jesus. James does not just warn against favoritism, he forbids it saying it defines a person in terms apart from God’s grace. Showing favoritism is relating to others breaks what James calls the ‘royal law’, meaning ‘love your neighbor as yourself’.

Now we get into the sticky, controversial part of the book of James. “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” Devoted Christians from all ages have been troubled by this passage when compared to Paul’s teachings of justification by faith alone. James was speaking of a synthetic faith; a false definition of faith with intellectual content but no consequence for practical daily life. Faith is not repeating words even demons can speak (Mark 1:24, 5:7). Genuine faith is commitment to Christ, depending on Him and not on human achievements for salvation but also serving Him as directed by the Holy Spirit. Paul added that God did not wait for humans to achieve righteousness but gave us Jesus Christ so that through Him we might obtain righteousness, trusting in God to control every action of life. Those who turn from sin and trust in God will be saved (Rom. 10:13). Paul is saying that upon receiving salvation there are three elements that come to life. A sense of obligation to witness and work for God, an eagerness to pay the debt Jesus paid for us on the Cross and pride in the gospel, producing a ‘working righteous life’, dedicated to ‘doing what the Word says’.

Paul and James were in agreement but emphasized different points in the salvation experience and different components of Christian faith. Good deeds do not earn salvation but they do provide evidence of genuine salvation received by faith. Jesus said we would recognize false prophets (synthetic salvation) by their fruits (Matt. 7:16-17). In a nut shell, Paul was saying be saved ‘free’ and James was just adding that once you are saved you will want o show this to everyone by doing God’s work. Actually, once you have true genuine salvation you will not be able to stop doing good works because of the Holy Spirit, who lives within all Christians, guiding and prodding you (John 14:26, 16:13, Rom. 8:26, Gal. 5:22, 25, Eph. 5:18, 2 Thess. 2:13, 2 Pet. 1:21).

Next James gets point blank on the evils of the tongue saying no one can tame this restless, poisonous part of the human body. He relates the boasts of the tongue to a small spark that sets a forest on fire. Words control our relationships with others and using the tongue unwisely will hurt and destroy those in its fiery path. Once these words are spoken we cannot take them back or extinguish the fires of hatred, doubt, jealously and anger our tongues start. The only power we have over our tongue is to totally submit our thoughts and words to God (Col. 3:1-2) so that we do not discredit our Christian confession before the world. Remember that if Satan can control our tongue he has no need to control anything else. He can just sit back smugly and watch the fights and quarrels, judging and slandering among the Christians. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. Satan is not only a liar but a coward as well and cannot stand in the presence of God.

Boasting about tomorrow is futile according to James. Life is as temporary as a fog which quickly and silently disappears. A person’s life is totally dependent on the sustaining power of God therefore we cannot boast about future plans and/or accomplishments. We must live one day at a time seeking God’s will and committing ourselves to doing it. Not doing God’s will, that is to sin knowingly, is commonly known as the ‘sin of omission’. Sometimes people just get tired of ‘doing good’! When or if this happens to you, then you should call out to God for strength and guidance back into His will. “Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near”.

James stresses the importance and pressing urgency of prayer. Some should not stand in awe of others who seemingly have the power of prayer, but imitate their earnestness. All prayers said in faith are powerful and effective. Pray from the heart and with Scripture in hand or in mind, depending on the Holy Spirit to help you (Rom. 8:26) and prayers, even simply stated ones, become effective and answered. Remember Jesus’ warning about praying just to be seen and heard (Matt. 6:5).

Christians should pray for one another’s known sins. This does not give license to share publicly that which was told to you in confidence and does not require a full confession from those needing prayer. “Confession is good for the soul” is actually a Scottish proverb and I have not found these exact words strung together in a Biblical sentence. However, Scripture points to this fact in many ways such as David’s Psalms where he ‘declares his ways’ to the Lord and finds deliverance and restoration for his soul. “He that conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them receives mercy” (Prov. 28:13). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us” (1 John 1:9). Bear in mind two things: 1) Confession may be said to ONLY God and not publicly. 2). If done publicly, be sure the prayer session does not become a judgmental gossip session, hence, turning your genuine salvation into synthetic salvation. How can we “stick to” our genuine salvation? “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no”!
All scripture references taken from the book of James unless otherwise noted.