Are We Provocative Enough?

"We are deceiving ourselves if we are assuring ourselves that we are not under condemnation--and yet have a pattern of life that is governed by our fallen nature," said pastor Mark Minnick commenting on Romans 8:4. When James asks the question, "can faith save him?" (2:14)he is being deliberately provocative. He knows Paul's doctrine. He agrees with Paul's doctrine. James is provocatively challenging a claim concerning that doctrine, a personal application of that doctrine that some are making:"if a man say...". It is pointless to ask a question about a scenerio that does not exist. In other words James knows full well many of his readers believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone. One of numerous factors which will help us become appropriately provocative is getting our minds around what is at stake in self-deceptive ideas about what constitutes saving faith.