Questions...

"Nothing in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:39.

One of my favourite living theologians put out a request on Facebook this week for questions to examine in a new series of podcasts he is intending to do soon.

There were some good responses, but most of them I'd seen raised in similar productions, so I began to ponder what would be interesting and useful to raise that perhaps hadn't been addressed, or at least was not common to such opportunities.

Here's what I came up with:
'The Epistle of James states that because Elijah was a righteous man, his prayer was both deemed fervent and defined as effectual. Does this statement in any manner relate to the epistles' earlier affirmation in respect to the value of works in our salvation and does it also have any bearing upon the reason why Enoch and Elijah were the only two men who never saw death in the manner of others'.

I have no idea if Dr Rosenbladt will get around to addressing my question (I'll let you know if that changes), but even as I was framing it, another question formed - how would I seek to address and answer such a question from my own resources? 

It's always best to start with the source material itself - "The earnest (continual and heartfelt) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available - dynamic in its working" (James 5:16 - Amplified). The Apostle writes these words in the context of being servants as believers (verse 7 of the chapter onwards), and clearly sees ongoing and confident prayer as a part of such living.  Elijah, he notes (verse 17), was a man like us, yet he saw God's hand at work in correspondence with his prayers and is clearly deemed to be 'righteous' (just) in the context of these events. Is James, then, in some respect adding to his earlier argument here (see 2:21-26) that it isn't faith alone, but faith that creates works, that makes us right before God?

The real clue, I think, comes in the way James sees the Prophet's prayers as effective. Notice how the amplified version suggests that the 'power' of divine action came because Elijah acted in accordance with the will of the Lord, and this is certainly borne out in the events of the story itself in 1 Kings 17 & 18. God speaks, Elijah believes and acts accordingly, and then miraculous circumstances follow as a result of this, so there is a very strong correlation to what James writes about Abraham in his second chapter, but notice what the 'work' in both of these cases is - it is primarily having confidence in Who has spoken and what He has said - that is what causes these men to act. Confidence is shown in God's character and word, and this in turn leads to a change of mind and behavior to align to that word - this is indeed the work of faith (hearing and resting upon - living in - God's word).

The same is simply and quickly said of Enoch - He was a man who believed (trusted in the disclosure of the Lord) and was therefore taken (Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5).

The examples of Abraham and Elijah are actually really encouraging (that's why James uses them), because they are not paragons of unwavering virtue, endurance and unceasing triumph. Abraham clearly falters many times over his life, including in his understanding of God's will, but he also shows remarkable confidence in the Lord to secure and keep his promises. Elijah on occasion spends as much time running and hiding as he does confronting the situations of his day, but the Lord is the one who holds him through all of this, so what we learn is that true righteousness isn't in the rising and falling of our behavior, but in the sure and steadfast love, mercy and unceasing faithfulness of the one who walks with us and keeps us by those precious truths.

It's all too easy for us to loose sight of what really matters when we engage with such questions, and to turn God's good surety into either license or a lash to justify 'religion' of our own making, but faith allows us to boldly press in and press on in our life with a Redeemer who is always seeking what is best for His people and the world they witness within of His faithfulness.

The key thing, then, to take away is that we are indeed very needy people, needy and often foolish in the way we live, but the God who made us is for us in being rich in love and mercy, and when we come to Him, He hears, He acts, He cares in ways often far beyond our small requests, because of who He is, as evidenced most clearly in Jesus Christ.

There's a comfort that we can truly hold with us whatever comes through today.