Jud 12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
Just as in the case with the Ephramities who could no say "shibboleth" and thus betrayed themselves by their speech, so it is true of those who embrace a false doctrine of justification by faith.
Those who embrace a false doctrine of justification cannot say with Paul:
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
They cannot say justification before God is "without works." If they say it, they must redefine "works" in order to say it. These are the enemies of the gospel of Christ. Yes, I said they are the "enemies" of the cross. They are the ones who preach "another gospel."
A. Redefining "works"
All Christian cults redefine "works" in Romans 3-4 in order to say that we are justified "without works." However, the use of "works" in Romans 4:1-6 which is illustrative of Abraham and his works as the example for what Paul taught in Romans 3:27-31 are "works" performed by Abraham 430 years prior to the Law of Moses. Therefore, "works" cannot be defined as becoming a Jew or the Jewish culture or as obedience to the Mosaic Law.
The proper definition of "works" is provided by Christ when he defines them negatively in Matthew 15:17-18. He defines "evil" works as the product of the "thoughts" and actions of the heart. Paul defines the root of sin to be the failure to "glorify God" as God (Rom. 1:21-22) and thus coming short of the "glory of God" (Rom. 6:23). Evil works has its source in the human heart's attitude toward God in everything originating from the heart that is not motivated to glorify God. Externally it is the violation of any moral code, whether it is the code of conscience or the Mosaic Moral Code.
Therefore, "works" in Romans 4:1-6 is anything and everything originating from Abraham's heart that is not rooted in the motive to glorify God and/or is a violation of any moral code provided by his own conscience or revealed to him in nature or directly by God. In contrast, good works must originate with the heart motive to glorify God and are not in violation of any moral code. The Mosaic Law is the most comprehensive moral code revealed to man and therefore is the epitome of all lessor moral codes.
Therefore, doing the "works of the law" is not becoming a Jew or adopting Judaism as a religious culture, but is about attempting to conform to the most complete moral code revealed to man by God. It is a superior moral code than revealed in creation or conscience or culture. With the Jew it is about attempting to be justified in God's sight by their own works when in reality God never provided it to the Jew for justification but for revealing sin and his inherent inability to obtain justification through personal obedience to God by conformity to any moral code.
B. Contextual Sibboleth instead of Shibboleth
Those who are enemies of the gospel cannot say "to him that worketh not BUT believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" without qualifying it to mean exactly the opposite of what it says. Instead their view of justification is progressive and ulitmate of the godly not the ungodly. Their view of justification is defining "believeth" as inclusive of good works or "faithfulness."
Those who are the enemies of the gospel strip justification of its essentials which is both imputed righteousness that is foreign to the "ungodly" and complete and total remission of sins both of which Paul demands is the essence of the "blessedness" found in Biblical justification in Romans 4:6-11.
Those who are enemies of the Gospel cannot say Abraham was justified by faith without works EXACTLY as we are so that he can be called "the father OF ALL who are of faith." These are the sibboleths of the enemies of the gospel.
Just as in the case with the Ephramities who could no say "shibboleth" and thus betrayed themselves by their speech, so it is true of those who embrace a false doctrine of justification by faith.
Those who embrace a false doctrine of justification cannot say with Paul:
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
They cannot say justification before God is "without works." If they say it, they must redefine "works" in order to say it. These are the enemies of the gospel of Christ. Yes, I said they are the "enemies" of the cross. They are the ones who preach "another gospel."
A. Redefining "works"
All Christian cults redefine "works" in Romans 3-4 in order to say that we are justified "without works." However, the use of "works" in Romans 4:1-6 which is illustrative of Abraham and his works as the example for what Paul taught in Romans 3:27-31 are "works" performed by Abraham 430 years prior to the Law of Moses. Therefore, "works" cannot be defined as becoming a Jew or the Jewish culture or as obedience to the Mosaic Law.
The proper definition of "works" is provided by Christ when he defines them negatively in Matthew 15:17-18. He defines "evil" works as the product of the "thoughts" and actions of the heart. Paul defines the root of sin to be the failure to "glorify God" as God (Rom. 1:21-22) and thus coming short of the "glory of God" (Rom. 6:23). Evil works has its source in the human heart's attitude toward God in everything originating from the heart that is not motivated to glorify God. Externally it is the violation of any moral code, whether it is the code of conscience or the Mosaic Moral Code.
Therefore, "works" in Romans 4:1-6 is anything and everything originating from Abraham's heart that is not rooted in the motive to glorify God and/or is a violation of any moral code provided by his own conscience or revealed to him in nature or directly by God. In contrast, good works must originate with the heart motive to glorify God and are not in violation of any moral code. The Mosaic Law is the most comprehensive moral code revealed to man and therefore is the epitome of all lessor moral codes.
Therefore, doing the "works of the law" is not becoming a Jew or adopting Judaism as a religious culture, but is about attempting to conform to the most complete moral code revealed to man by God. It is a superior moral code than revealed in creation or conscience or culture. With the Jew it is about attempting to be justified in God's sight by their own works when in reality God never provided it to the Jew for justification but for revealing sin and his inherent inability to obtain justification through personal obedience to God by conformity to any moral code.
B. Contextual Sibboleth instead of Shibboleth
Those who are enemies of the gospel cannot say "to him that worketh not BUT believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" without qualifying it to mean exactly the opposite of what it says. Instead their view of justification is progressive and ulitmate of the godly not the ungodly. Their view of justification is defining "believeth" as inclusive of good works or "faithfulness."
Those who are the enemies of the gospel strip justification of its essentials which is both imputed righteousness that is foreign to the "ungodly" and complete and total remission of sins both of which Paul demands is the essence of the "blessedness" found in Biblical justification in Romans 4:6-11.
Those who are enemies of the Gospel cannot say Abraham was justified by faith without works EXACTLY as we are so that he can be called "the father OF ALL who are of faith." These are the sibboleths of the enemies of the gospel.
