295. Thursday after Sixth Sunday after Trinity.
Lord, let my soul live, and it shall praise thee;
and let thy judgments help me. Amen.
James 2, 10-17. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
❦
“The law of liberty”; what is it? The eternal purpose and the fixed order of love and grace concerning our salvation by faith in Christ alone; this love, which Christ fulfilled, and poured out in our heart, and which the Spirit has made a living fact in us, — is “the law of liberty.” He who does not through faith know and feel that, being dead and buried with Christ, he is free from the compulsion of the law; and that, having been raised again with Christ from the dead, he has been quickened in love; he does not know the law of liberty, nor understand what it is. He, on the other hand, who is united with Christ through a living faith sustains a new relation to both God and man. The former commandment, which made love a matter of compulsion under the law, is become a new commandment of love, a law of liberty. If any man say that he has faith, but know not love, his faith is dead and of no account, and he is the slave of sin.
Among those who expect to be saved there are many who dwell in the house of bondage, labor in their own strength, rely on their works, and do not understand that this road is impassable. They should be able to see that the holy demand of the law is perfect love; that the least transgression of one commandment violates the law in its entirety, destroys their whole effort to make themselves righteous, and brings upon them the curse of all their sins; but they do not grasp it. — Others expect to be saved through faith; but they imagine that they have the faith which saves, when they hold it to be true that there is a God, and that Jesus is the Son of God. But alas, what can empty words and idle opinions avail against sin, death, and devil? — No, faith alone justifies; by faith only, not by the law, is a man saved. But the faith which brings salvation works by love. (Gal. 5, 6). Therefore James says, 2, 17. 19. 20, that “faith, if it have not works, is dead, being alone. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” — He, on the other hand, who truly believes, and thus in faith flees from his sin to Christ, and receives the righteousness of Christ, and his victory over the devil, his life and love, liberty and salvation in the Son of God; — this man has the faith which brings salvation, and shall of a certainty inherit the kingdom of God. Whom the Son makes free is free indeed; he is Abraham’s seed, and heir according to the promise. There is a wealth of life and power in true faith. This faith works unceasingly to make free from the guilt of sin, and to keep the conscience unfettered. But it is equally tireless in the active practice of charity, in giving thanks to the Lord, and doing mercy toward men. God preserve us from deceiving ourselves in bondage under the law, or in a faith which is dead!
We pray thee, merciful God; give us thy Holy Spirit. Create by him true faith in our hearts; and increase it, and make us active in every good work. Amen.*
If you cannot cross the ocean,
And the heathen lands explore,
You can find the heathen nearer,
You can help them at your door.
If you cannot give your thousands,
You can give the widow’s mite;
And the least you do for Jesus
Will be precious in his sight.
[suggested tune: St. Hilary, TLH 640; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.