Church in the U.S. Capitol
David Barton – Originally published 11/10/2005
Many people are surprised to learn that the United States Capitol regularly served as a church building; a practice that began even before Congress officially moved into the building and lasted until well after the Civil War. Below is a brief history of the Capitol’s use as a church, and some of the prominent individuals who attended services there.
The cornerstone of the Capitol was laid by President George Washington in 1793., but it was not until the end of 1800 that Congress actually moved into the building. According to the congressional records for late November of 1800, Congress spent the first few weeks organizing the Capitol rooms, committees, locations, etc. Then, on December 4, 1800, Congress approved the use of the Capitol building as a church building. 1
The approval of the Capitol for church was given by both the House and the Senate, with House approval being given by Speaker of the House, Theodore Sedgwick, and Senate approval being given by the President of the Senate, Thomas Jefferson. Interestingly, Jefferson’s approval came while he was still officially the Vice- President but after he had just been elected President.
Significantly, the Capitol building had been used as a church even for years before it was occupied by Congress. The cornerstone for the Capitol had been laid on September 18, 1793; two years later while still under construction, the July 2, 1795, Federal Orrery newspaper of Boston reported:
City of Washington, June 19. It is with much pleasure that we discover the rising consequence of our infant city. Public worship is now regularly administered at the Capitol, every Sunday morning, at 11 o’clock by the Reverend Mr. Ralph. 2
The reason for the original use of the Capitol as a church might initially be explained by the fact that there were no churches in the city at that time. Even a decade later in 1803, U. S. Senator John Quincy Adams confirmed: “There is no church of any denomination in this city.” 3 The absence of churches in Washington eventually changed, however. As one Washington citizen reported: “For several years after the seat of government was fixed at Washington, there were but two small [wooden] churches. . . . Now, in 1837 there are 22 churches of brick or stone.” 4 Yet, even after churches began proliferating across the city, religious services still continued at the Capitol until well after the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Jefferson attended church at the Capitol while he was Vice President 5 and also throughout his presidency. The first Capitol church service that Jefferson attended as President was a service preached by Jefferson’s friend, the Rev. John Leland, on January 3, 1802. 6 Significantly, Jefferson attended that Capitol church service just two days after he penned his famous letter containing the “wall of separation between church and state” metaphor.
U. S. Rep. Manasseh Cutler, who also attended church at the Capitol, recorded in his own diary that “He [Jefferson] and his family have constantly attended public worship in the Hall.” 7 Mary Bayard Smith, another attendee at the Capitol services, confirmed: “Mr. Jefferson, during his whole administration, was a most regular attendant.” 8 She noted that Jefferson even had a designated seat at the Capitol church: “The seat he chose the first Sabbath, and the adjoining one (which his private secretary occupied), were ever afterwards by the courtesy of the congregation, left for him and his secretary.” 9 Jefferson was so committed to those services that he would not even allow inclement weather to dissuade him; as Rep. Cutler noted: “It was very rainy, but his [Jefferson's] ardent zeal brought him through the rain and on horseback to the Hall.” 10 Other diary entries confirm Jefferson’s attendance in spite of bad weather. 11
In addition to Mary Bayard Smith and Congressman Manasseh Cutler, others kept diaries of the weekly Capitol church services “” including Congressman Abijah Bigelow and statesman John Quincy Adams. (Adams served in Washington first as a Senator, then a President, and then as a Representative; and his extensive diaries describe the numerous church services he attended at the Capitol across a span of decades.)
Typical of Adams’ diary entries while a U.S. Senator under President Jefferson were these:
Attended public service at the Capitol where Mr. Rattoon, an Episcopalian clergyman from Baltimore, preached a sermon. 12
[R]eligious service is usually performed on Sundays at the Treasury office and at the Capitol. I went both forenoon and afternoon to the Treasury. 13
Jefferson was not the only President to attend church at the Capitol. His successor, James Madison, also attended church at the Capitol. 14 However, there was a difference in the way the two arrived for services. Observers noted that Jefferson arrived at church on horseback 15 (it was 1.6 miles from the White House to the Capitol). However, Madison arrived for church in a coach and four. In fact, British diplomat Augustus Foster, who attended services at the Capitol, gave an eloquent description of President Madison arriving at the Capitol for church in a carriage drawn by four white horses.
From Jefferson through Abraham Lincoln, many presidents attended church at the Capitol; and it was common practice for Members of Congress to attend those services. For example, in his diary entry of January 9, 1803, Congressman Cutler noted: “Attended in the morning at the Capitol. . . . Very full assembly. Many of the Members present.” 16 The church was often full “so crowded, in fact, one attendee reported that since “the floor of the House offered insufficient space, the platform behind the Speaker’s chair, and every spot where a chair could be wedged in” was filled. 17 U. S. Representative John Quincy Adams (although noting that occasionally the “House was full, but not crowded” 18) also commented numerous times on the overly-crowded conditions at the Capitol church. In his diary entry for February 28, 1841, he noted: “I rode with my wife, Elizabeth C. Adams, and Mary, to the Capitol, where the Hall of the House of Representatives was so excessively crowded that it was with extreme difficulty that we were enabled to obtain seats.” 19 Why did so many Members attend Divine service in the Hall of the House? Adams explained why he attended: “I consider it as one of my public duties- as a representative of the people- to give my attendance every Sunday morning when Divine service is performed in the Hall.” 20
Interestingly, the Marine Band participated in the early Capitol church services. According to Margaret Bayard Smith, who regularly attended services at the Capitol, the band, clad in their scarlet uniforms, made a “dazzling appearance” as they played from the gallery, providing instrumental accompaniment for the singing. 21 The band, however, seemed too ostentatious for the services and “the attendance of the marine-band was soon discontinued.” 22
From 1800 to 1801, the services were held in the north wing; from 1801 to 1804, they were held in the “oven” in the south wing, and then from 1804 to 1807, they were again held in the north wing. From 1807 to 1857, services were held in what is now Statuary Hall. By 1857 when the House moved into its new home in the extension, some 2,000 persons a week were attending services in the Hall of the House. 23 Significantly, even though the U. S. Congress began meeting in the extension on Wednesday, December 16, 1857, the first official use of the House Chamber had occurred three days earlier, when “on December 13, 1857, the Rev. Dr. George Cummins preached before a crowd of 2,000 worshipers in the first public use of the chamber. Soon thereafter, the committee recommended that the House convene in the new Hall on Wednesday, December 16, 1857.” 24 However, regardless of the part of the building in which the church met, the rostrum of the Speaker of the House was used as the preacher’s pulpit; and Congress purchased the hymnals used in the service.
The church services in the Hall of the House were interdenominational, overseen by the chaplains appointed by the House and Senate; sermons were preached by the chaplains on a rotating basis, or by visiting ministers approved by the Speaker of the House. As Margaret Bayard Smith, confirmed: “Not only the chaplains, but the most distinguished clergymen who visited the city, preached in the Capitol” 25 and “clergymen, who during the session of Congress visited the city, were invited by the chaplains to preach.” 26
In addition to the non-denominational service held in the Hall of the House, several individual churches (such as Capitol Hill Presbyterian, the Unitarian Church of Washington, First Congregational Church, First Presbyterian Church, etc.) met in the Capitol each week for their own services; there could be up to four different church services at the Capitol each Sunday.
IN 1867, OVER 2,000 PER WEEK ATTENDED CHURCH SERVICES AT THE CAPITOL
The Library of Congress provides an account of one of those churches that met weekly at the Capitol: “Charles Boynton (1806-1883) was in 1867 Chaplain of the House of Representatives and organizing pastor of the First Congregational Church in Washington, which was trying at that time to build its own sanctuary. In the meantime, the church, as Boynton informed potential donors, was holding services- ˜at the Hall of Representatives’ where- ˜the audience is the largest in town. . . . nearly 2000 assembled every Sabbath’ for services, making the congregation in the House the ˜largest Protestant Sabbath audience then in the United States.’ The First Congregational Church met in the House from 1865 to 1868.” 27
With so many services occurring, the Hall of the House was not the only location in the Capitol where church services were conducted. John Quincy Adams, in his February 2, 1806, diary entry, describes an overflow service held in the Supreme Court Chamber, 28 and Congressman Manasseh Cutler describes a similar service in 1804. 29 (At that time, the Supreme Court Chamber was located on the first floor of the Capitol.) Services were also held in the Senate Chamber as well as on the first floor of the south wing.
Church In The Capitol Milestones
* 1806. On January 12, 1806, Dorothy Ripley (1767-1832) became the first woman to preach before the House. One female attendee had noted: “Preachers of every sect and denomination of Christians were there admitted- Catholics, Unitarians, Quakers, with every intervening diversity of sect. Even women were allowed to display their pulpit eloquence in this national Hall.” 30 In attendance at that service were President Thomas Jefferson and Vice President Aaron Burr. Ripley conducted the lengthy service in a fervent, evangelical, camp-meeting style.
* 1826. On January 8, 1826, Bishop John England (1786-1842) of Charleston, South Carolina (Bishop over North and South Carolina and Georgia) became the first Catholic to preach in the House of Representatives. Of that service, President John Quincy Adams (a regular attendee of church services in the Capitol) noted: Walked to the Capitol and heard the Bishop of Charleston, [John] England -” an Irishman. He read a few prayers and then delivered an extemporaneous discourse of nearly two hours’ duration. . . . He closed by reading an admirable prayer. He came and spoke to me after the service and said he would call and take leave of me tomorrow. The house was overflowing, and it was with great difficulty that I obtained a seat. 31
* 1827. In January 1827, Harriet Livermore (1788-1868) became the second woman to preach in the House of Representatives. (Three of her immediate family members: ” her father, grandfather, and uncle” had been Members of Congress. Her grandfather, Samuel Livermore, was a Member of the first federal Congress and a framer of the Bill of Rights; her uncle was a Member under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison; her father was a Member under President James Monroe.) The service in which she preached was not only attended by President John Quincy Adams but was also filled with Members of Congress as well as the inquisitive from the city. As Margaret Bayard Smith noted, “curiosity rather than piety attracted throngs on such occasions.” 32 Livermore spoke for an hour and a half, resulting in mixed reactions; some praised her and were even moved to tears by her preaching, some dismissed her. Harriet Livermore preached in the Capitol on four different occasions, each attended by a different President.
* 1865. On February 12, 1865, Henry Highland Garnet (1815- 1882) became the first African American to speak in Congress. Two weeks earlier, on January 31, 1865, Congress had passed the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, and Garnet was invited to preach a sermon in Congress to commemorate that event. In his sermon, Garnet described his beginnings: ‘I was born among the cherished institutions of slavery. My earliest recollections of parents, friends, and the home of my childhood are clouded with its wrongs. The first sight that met my eyes was my Christian mother enslaved.” 33 His family escaped to the North; he became a minister, abolitionist, temperance leader, and political activist. He recruited black regiments during the Civil War and served as chaplain to the black troops of New York. In 1864, he became the pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D. C. (where he served at the time of this sermon). He later became president of Avery College and was made Minister to Liberia by President Ulysses S. Grant.
(For more information on this topic please see “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic: Religion and the Federal Government (Part 2)” on the Library of Congress website)
NOTES
[1] Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1853), p. 797, Sixth Congress, December 4, 1800.
[2] Federal Orrery, Boston, July 2, 1795, p. 2.
[3] John Quincy Adams, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott and Company, 1874), Vol. I, p. 268, October 30, 1803.
[4] Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith (Margaret Bayard), The First Forty Years of Washington Society, Galliard Hunt, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906), p. 16.
[5] Bishop Claggett’s (Episcopal Bishop of Maryland) letter of February 18, 1801, reveals that, as vice- President, Jefferson went to church services in the House. Available in the Maryland Diocesan Archives.
[6] William Parker Cutler and Julia Perkins Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler (Cincinnati: Colin Robert Clarke & Co., 1888), Vol. II, p. 66, letter to Joseph Torrey, January 4, 1802. Cutler meant that Jefferson attended church on January 3, 1802, for the first time as President. Bishop Claggett’s letter of February 18, 1801, already revealed that as Vice-President, Jefferson went to church services in the House.
[7] Cutler and Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 119, in a letter to Dr. Joseph Torrey on January 3, 1803; see also his entry of December 12, 1802 (Vol. II, p. 113).
[8] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 13.
[9] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 13.
[10] Cutler and Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 119, in a letter to Dr. Joseph Torrey on January 3, 1803; see also his entry of December 26, 1802 (Vol. II, p. 114).
[11] Cutler and Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 114, December 26, 1802.
[12] John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 268, October 30, 1803.
[13] John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 265, October 23, 1803.
[14] Abijah Bigelow to Hannah Bigleow, December 28, 1812. “Letters of Abijah Bigleow, Member of Congress, to his Wife,” Proceedings, 1810-1815, American Antiquarian Society (1930), p. 168.
[15] See, for example, Cutler and Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 119, from a letter to Dr. Joseph Torrey on January 3, 1803.
[16] Cutler and Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 116, January 9, 1803.
[17] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 14.
[18] See, for example, John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. VII, pp. 437-438, February 17, 1828; Vol. XI, pp. 160-161, May 22, 1842; and others.
[19] John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. X, p. 434, February 28, 1841.
[20] John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. XI, p. 169, June 5, 1842.
[21] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 14.
[22] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 16.
[23] James Hutson (Chief of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress), Religion and the Founding of the American Republic (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1998), p. 91.
[24] William C. Allen (Architectural Historian of the Capitol), A History of the United States Capitol, A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 2001), p. 271.
[25] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 14.
[26] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 15.
[27] Fundraising brochure, Charles B. Boynton. Washington, D.C.: November 1, 1867, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress; available at Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06-2.html.
[28] Hutson, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, p. 90.
[29] From the Library of Congress, at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06-2.html.
[30] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 15.
[31] John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. VII, p. 102, January 8, 1826.
[32] Smith, The First Forty Years, p. 15.
[33] Henry Highland Garnet, Memorial Discourse (Philadelphia: Joseph M. Wilson, 1865), p. 73.
(Reprinted with permission from Wallbuilders.com)
- The Righter Report
Justification by Faith – How believers are declared righteous by God
by Pete Righter
How are people declared righteous and saved by God? Is it by faith, or by works? The answer from the Bible is clear. But first we have to understand what justification is:
Justification: “1: the act, process, or state of being justified by God; 2. the act or an instance of justifying.” (Websters Dictionary)
Justification: “To justify or make just, by which sanctification is included under justification; to set right; correct a wrong thing done; to deem right or approve. Justification is, in Pauline language, synonymous with reconciliation. God is not imputing to men their trespasses, but declaring them righteous. The means (of justification) is the vicarious expiatory death of Jesus Christ. The sole condition is faith … in Jesus Christ.” (Hastings Bible Dictionary)
Justification: “To prove or show to be just; to vindicate as right; to declare free from guilt or blame; to absolve, to clear; to pardon or clear from guilt; to acquit; declare righteous; pronounce sentence of acceptance.”
Bible scholar Kevin J. Conner goes on to quote J.R. Gregory (“The Theological Student”), who defines justification as, ‘That act of God by which He accepts as righteous the penitent sinner who believes on Christ for salvation.”
With the above definitions and quotes as our starting point, we can now delve into one of the most dynamic and unselfish works in the history of creation – the work of God / Jesus Christ, who became our righteousness because we had none of our own. Conner explains it this way:
“When Adam sinned, all that he was and all that he did was ‘imputed’ to the whole, unborn human race. Sin left a debit on the books (Genesis 3:1-16; 2:17; Romans 5:12; 6:23). In Adam all sinned, and all died, spiritually and physically (I Corinthians 15:22). When Christ died on Calvary, the sin of Adam and the whole human race was ‘imputed,’ or put to Christs’ account. And because God imputed our sin to Christ, He suffered our penalty, which was death. All our liabilities were transferred to Him….(and) Christ’s righteousness was ‘imputed’ to us. His righteousness is credited to us, put to our account (Psalm 32:8; Romans 4:8). Justification pronounces the sinner legally innocent, freeing him from condemnation.”
Romans chapters 3-4 contain the magnificent statements of justification for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-22 states:
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from (observing) the
law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets
testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
A few sentences later, Paul declares, “For we maintain that a man is justified (righteous in the eyes of God) by faith apart from observing the law.” (Romans 3:28)
In Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem makes the point that, “the word ‘justify’ in the Bible indicates that justification is a legal declaration by God. Paul says, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn?” (Romans 8:33-34). Grudem continues, “In God’s legal declaration of justification, He specifically declares that we are just in His sight. This (legal) declaration involves two aspects. First, it means that we have no penalty to pay for sin, including past, present, and future sins. The second part of justification is that God must declare us not to be merely natural in His sight but actually to be righteous in His sight. In fact, He must declare us to have the merits of perfect righteousness before Him.” (Grudem 724-25)
When considering the implications of legal declarations, we have to acknowledge that there is a substantial body of judicial law which was given to us by God. I’m speaking, of course, not only of the Ten Commandments, which comprises the moral law, but also the civil, dietary, and ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. This ‘weighty’ and seemingly inflexible array of commandments can surely be viewed as a burdensome yoke of oppression for the common man. In Old and even New Testament times, man sometimes considered his salvation as being inexorably linked to his ‘keeping’ of the law. To the degree that he kept the Lord’s rules and regulations, that was the degree to which he calculated his chances of salvation. Yet the keeping of the law TO EARN SALVATION was and is an exercise in futility. In Galatians 3:10-11, Paul addresses this contentious issue:
“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is
written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do every-
thing written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly, no one is justified
before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by
faith.”
The law was powerless to justify anyone righteous in the eyes of God for the simple reason that no mortal human was able to keep the law.
“There is no one righteous, not even one…no one who seeks God.
There is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-11)“I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he
is obligated to obey the whole law.” (Galatians 5:3)
One might sweat out an entire lifetime trying to keep only one of God’s laws, much less all of them. No, keeping the law was not the way to justification.
The law has four main purposes:
1. It shows us the moral character of God
2. It serves as a tutor to lead us to Christ, by defining what sin is.
3. It is a guide for Christian living.
4. Knowing the law can keep us from suffering the adverse consequences of sin.
ATTEMPTS AT SELF- JUSTIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE
It seems clear from scripture that there are only two possible sources of obtaining justification: from one’s own self, or from an outside source (God). Mark chapter 10 gives us an illustration of one man’s attempt to justify himself before God (before Jesus). A rich young man is asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. In verse 18 Jesus responded by stating, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Jesus goes on to list a number of the Ten Commandments as the standard by which the young man must measure his actions. The young man remarked, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” To which Jesus then said, “One thing you lack. God, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The story ends when the young man’s face fell and he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
There are a number of lessons in this story. One of these was that the young man was trying to justify himself righteous before Jesus by indicating he was “keeping the law,” when in reality he was in violation of the commandment not to make for one’s self any idols. Money was the young man’s idol, and thus he had already broken the law.
Perhaps some other young man might have listened to Jesus reciting the commandments and come to realize that not only could he not keep them in the future, but he had already broken many of them in the past. The conversation might well have then taken a different turn. He might have said something like, “Teacher, I confess that I have not kept the whole law, and I guess I need to be truthful and tell you that I don’t think I can keep it in the future either. What then can I do?” I’m fairly sure that Jesus would have told him to believe in Him, and then he will receive eternal life. One other note: later in the story of the rich young man Jesus noted that, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus responded by saying, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. With God, all things are possible” (v. 27). The crux of the message was that it is impossible for a rich man to justify himself, especially when he is engaging in idol worship. Though man might possess great wealth, and achieve tremendous influence in the worldly system, he still has two major problems: one, he still is unable to keep the law; and two, he is completely helpless in justifying himself before God – he needs divine assistance. Only God can justify a person righteous. And it’s not by the works of man that this is achieved, but by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Two other examples of men seeking to justify themselves before God can be found in Luke 16:15 and 18:11. It is from these types of Biblical references that the Bible paints an exceedingly clear picture that man, of himself, has no means of self-justification. Only God is able to perform that work.
PAUL AND JAMES – Are they in agreement with each other?
Much has been said over the years about salvation, justification, and works, and their relationship to each other. I think it is best to look at this from a chronological perspective, starting with the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that
no one can boast.”
Paul makes the following points:
1. You are saved by (God’s) grace through faith (in Jesus Christ).
2. This salvation did not originate from yourselves.
3. It is the gift of God (therefore it cannot be earned).
4. This salvation is not by any type of works that a man can perform.
Back in Romans chapter 4, Paul gave an illustration from Genesis 15:6 concerning Abraham’s justification:
“If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something
to boast about – but not before God. What does the scripture
say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3)
Now, going forward to James chapter 2 we read:
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but
has no deeds (works)? Can such faith save him? Faith, by
itself, if it is not accompanied by action (works – KJV), is dead.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds
is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous
for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You
see, a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
James is clearly referring to Genesis chapter 22 (Paul referenced Genesis 15 – seven chapters earlier) as the point where Abraham was justified righteous. What we see here is an illustration that James uses to answer those people who are claiming to have saving faith but no works. Specifically, he states; “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (what good is that man’s faith?)” In effect, James is saying, “You claim to have faith? You claim that God has saved you, put His Holy Spirit in you, and sealed you for redemption? You claim all these things and yet you let the poor go without food or clothes? What kind of a faith is that? I, James, will tell you quite frankly that if you possess the kind of saving faith that results in regeneration and changes a person’s life, the Holy Spirit will do a work in you and cause you to follow the Lord’s decrees (Ezekiel 36:27) and feed and clothe the poor.”
Well, what then does Paul state about works as proof that a person’s life is changed? Perhaps not surprisingly, he agrees with James:
“I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove
their repentance by their deeds (works).” (Acts 26:20)
So why did Paul state in Ephesians that a person is saved by grace through faith, and not by works? And why did he refer to Genesis 15:6 as the point of Abraham’s justification and not Genesis 22?
Initial saving faith is the precursor to works. Abraham was not saved (justified righteous) by performing works, he was performing works od A Godly nature because he first was saved and regenerated by faith. Works of a Godly nature are the result of our regeneration and salvation, not the cause of it. Faith by grace is the antecedent of works. It chronologically occurs first. Once the Holy Spirit indwells a believer at the point of salvation, He starts the process of Progressive Sanctification, and one of the effects of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5-7) is that of causing, or compelling a person, by a change of heart and mind and with the believer’s cooperation, to perform works of a Godly nature. James’ argument addresses that time period of a person’s life, following true salvation and regeneration, when good works are supposed to be in evidence. He is saying, “Now that you claim to be saved, we should be seeing some good works out of you. However, if these good works are not apparent, then your initial faith was probably not genuine, and you were never, either in the eyes of God, nor in the eyes of man, justified righteous.”
Another way to illustrate this is to consider the thief on the cross next to Jesus – the one who stated, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Then Jesus responded by saying, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). It was at this particular moment that the repentant thief received his salvation, and was justified righteous in the eyes of God. This particular moment would also coincide with Genesis 15:6, when Abraham believed God and it was credited (imputed to his account) as righteousness, and would also coincide with what Paul stated in Ephesians 2:8-9. Note that there is no evidence that the thief had performed any good works in his life. To the contrary, his works were more of a criminal nature than a Godly nature. That was the very reason he was being crucified. Even as he initially hung from his cross, he heaped insults on the Lord (Mark 15:32). But then the sky darkened, his pain and suffering magnified, and the words Jesus spoke on the cross hit their appointed target, and the thief had a change of heart and believed on the Lord. At that point, the thief received his salvation and justification.
Now, if by some means the thief could have come down from the cross, prior to death, and continued on with his life, then eventually his saving faith would have produced good works (corresponding to Abraham in Genesis 22 and James chapter 2). There is a progression whereby salvation leads to good works. In the eyes of God, Abraham was genuinely justified righteous in Genesis 15:6. Because his faith was genuine, it produced his works in Genesis 22, whereby he was seen as being justified righteous in the eyes of men. James and Paul, though they approach the issue of justification from two different points in time and two different perspectives (the perspective of God and the perspective of man), nevertheless are in total agreement with each other.
Recommended reading:
The Foundations of Christian Doctrine, by Kevin J. Conner
God bless America!
- The Righter Report
The Power of Grace and Forgiveness
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 5:23-24; 6:14-15; 18:21-22.
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; and then come and offer your gift.”
“For if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father in heaven will not forgive you your sins.”
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times but seven times seventy” (Also see Matthew 18:23-35).
During his many travels Ernest Hemingway once spent some time in Madrid, Spain. And he told the story about a young man who had a falling out and a disagreement with his father, to the extent that, in anger, the son left home and ran away. The father was very hurt and upset, but after a short period of time he longed again to be reconciled to his only son, whereby he placed an ad in the local newspaper that read: “Paco (the son’s name), meet me at the Hotel Montana at noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. Love, Papa.” Well, Paco is a common name in Spain, and it turns out that when the father went to the hotel square to meet his son he found a number of other young men named Paco anxious and waiting for their fathers.
It’s somewhat sad that on that day only one family was reconciled back together when many others could have been.
Today, two of the major problems that we face in the church of Jesus Christ are, (1) the failure to understand and receive God’s unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness in our lives, and (2) the failure to give the same things out to others. Grace, love, and forgiveness are Christianity’s most gracious gift to the world we live in, exerting a force stronger than vengeance, stronger than racism, and stronger than hatred. What blocks forgiveness is not God’s reticence, but ours. God’s arms are always open. We are the one’s who sometimes walk away, thinking God cannot forgive what we’ve done. Let me assure you, He does. And He does it because He loves us.
Remember the apostle John? He was the one who wrote that he was the disciple that Jesus loved. I think in reality all the other disciples felt the same way. But only John wrote that down for us. What is our primary identity in life? Should it not be, “I am the one who Jesus loves?”
And I think God’s love and mercy are the reasons we cannot look to the government and other institutions for the answers to our problems. As Phillip Yancey noted, the government can arrest and punish KKK murderers, but it cannot cure their hatred, much less teach them how to love. It can pass laws making divorce more difficult but it cannot show husbands and wives how to love each other. It can give welfare to the poor, but cannot show the rich how to shower them with mercy and compassion. It can ban adultery but not lust, theft but not covetousness. And it can encourage virtue but cannot bestow holiness or character. Only God can do those things.
There was once a meeting of many of the world’s philosophers and religious leaders and one of them asked, “What is Christianity’s unique contribution to the world?” After struggling with this issue for some time, a man by the name of C. S. Lewis walked into the room and asked what the fuss was all about. After telling him that they were trying to define the one principle that separated Christianity from the other religions and philosophies of the world, Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” He knew that grace was the manifestation of God’s love, freely given to a world that has known so little of it.
Our God is a good God, and He is a God of reconciliation – father to son, mother to daughter, brother to brother, and man back to God. That’s the predominate theme we see repeated over and over again in the Bible – God’s love, grace, and forgiveness in reconciling brother to brother, and man to God. And the ultimate expression of His love and forgiveness was manifested at the cross of Calvary, where Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so that our transgressions and guilt would never be counted against us. Do you want to see another example of the depth of God’s desire and commitment for reconciliation? I’ll read you 2 Samuel 14:14, then. “But God does not take away life; instead He devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.” Reconciliation is the goal, and grace and forgiveness are the means that God uses to bring it to pass.
Mark Twain used to tell the story about how he put a cat and a dog together in a cage to see if they could get along. They did, so then he put in a bird, a pig, and a goat. After a few adjustments, they too got along. And then he put in a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic. And within an hour there wasn’t anyone left alive. Obviously, they weren’t discussing forgiveness and reconciliation.
So, “Just what is forgiveness?”
The Greek word to forgive means “to release, to dismiss, to hurl away, or to free yourself.” You see, there is a prisoner who is set free once we forgive our neighbor, and that prisoner is us. If we do not forgive others, we remain bound and chained in our own bitterness and resentment – we are held captive to the hatred or pain that someone else has caused us. It’s like we have given the people who have hurt us free rent to take up residence in our hearts and minds so that we can continually be reminded of that bitterness. In Ephesians 4:31 the apostle Paul tells us to get rid of all our anger, bitterness, and rage. Because everytime we are reminded of the pain, or the person who caused it, our anger and resentment resurfaces from somewhere deep within us to make us feel that bitterness over and over and over and over again. If we do not forgive, we continue to bear the wounds that the pain has caused us until time or death takes it from us. Some people remain in bondage their entire lives, because their pride won’t let them forgive someone who has hurt them. So now we add the sin of pridefulness to unforgiveness, and if we take revenge and add that in as well, then all of a sudden we’ve broken three of God’s commandments instead of just one.
Unfortunately, bitter people do not make very good friends, because their bitterness destroys their love, and their hearts turn cold.
Back in the first world war, the Germans were forced to sign an armistice in the back of a railroad car. Adolph Hitler remembered that, and when he defeated the French at the start of World War II he made them sign their surrender agreement in the same railroad coach that previously ended World War I. Hitler had held his bitterness and hatred inside him for over twenty years, and we can see the devastation and the destruction that it caused the world.
Failure to forgive others imprisons us in an unpleasant memory from our past and keeps us from achieving our potential for constructive change. Unforgiveness is often just revenge waiting to happen. And the one major flaw with revenge is that it never seems to settle the score. It sets off a chain reaction of vengeance that never ends, and it’s like an escalator that no one ever gets off. Ghandi once said, “If everyone followed the ‘eye for an eye’ principle of revenge, eventually the whole world would go blind.” There will never be any escape from hatred, war, or misery unless our hearts are changed and we learn to forgive and show mercy to others. So forgiveness is a release from the prison of bitterness that people build for themselves. Man has built many prisons in his day, but this is one that he can surely do without.
The next thing that I think needs to be said is that of all the people that we need to forgive, we need to forgive ourselves the most. There’s probably no other group of people in the world who carry around the amount of guilt and baggage that Christians do. It’s totally unnecessary. And there’s several reasons for this. The first reason is that Christians read their Bibles, and they know that God hates sin. They get convicted by the Holy Spirit and condemned by the devil. They live in constant fear that God will never accept them or forgive them.
There was this one woman who had just recently become a Christian. She was still having a problem believing God had forgiven her of all her sins. So she went to her pastor and asked him, “Has God really forgiven me ALL my sins?” The pastor replied, “You know if this is really troubling you, I think I know what God would tell you. He would tell you to mind your own business!” The woman was startled when she heard that and asked the pastor what he meant. He said, “Your sins are no longer any of your business. Jesus made them His business at Calvary and He’s already taken care of them. He cast them into the depths of the ocean and posted a sign on the beach that says, ‘No Fishing.’”
Yet no matter what you do, some people still feel unworthy their whole life through. What they desire most is to know and feel that God loves them and accepts them – that he affirms them in His heart, and that He will never let go of them even though He may not always be real pleased with what He has. Often, people think their sins are uglier and more unforgivable than anyone else’s, and so they think they have to do some extraordinary amount of good works to make up for it. But that makes salvation a salvation by works and not by grace. And that’s not what the Bible teaches. In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul wrote: “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith. And this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God – not by works so that no man can boast.” People often don’t understand the magnificence of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. If salvation were by any kind of works then man could boast about what he’s done. But the Bible says there won’t be any boasting at the judgment seat, because salvation is something God does by grace alone. It is a gift of unmerited favor, and there’s nothing we can ever do to earn it.
God’s grace comes with no strings attached to people who do not deserve it. God loves people because of who He is, not because of who we are. It’s not about fairness, it’s about mercy. Love is God’s bottom line, and mercy and forgiveness through Christ Jesus are the means He uses to take away our guilt. The often-heard adage in Christianity is “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” That goes for ourselves too. We need to love and forgive ourselves so we can pass that on to others. Do you think you’ve done something God cannot forgive you for? Once again, take a look at the type of people in the Bible that God loved and forgave. Moses was a murderer. Yet after he died he was resurrected into heaven and eventually appeared to Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. God forgave him. King David was an adulterer and a murderer. Yet the split second after David confessed his sins God said, “Your sins are forgiven.” Even the apostle Paul was an accomplice to murder and the Bible says he “persecuted believers to death.” Yet God forgave him and made him an apostle to the nations.
The solution to sin is not to impose an ever-stricter code of behavior on people that they can’t possibly keep. If that were true, then salvation would have come to us through Moses and not through Christ. The solution is to know Christ and accept His unmerited favor. One theologian gave this simple definition of God: “God is the one who loves.” God is a good God. The Bible says, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And Romans 11:32 says, “For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.” Jesus died for all of our sins – past, present, and future. So the necessity is that we need to forgive ourselves so that we can learn to develop more love for one another. If you have a sin that you feel guilty about, confess it and get it under the blood. Then move on and don’t worry about it anymore. Remember, it’s “none of your business anymore.” Continuous guilt is a tool that Satan uses to keep us from becoming productive and loving Christians. We must be able to overcome that.
The next thing I’d like to say about forgiveness is that forgiveness is seldom easy. Often it’s difficult and many times it is downright painful. It seems to go against our very nature. You all remember the story of Joseph, and how his brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery. Years later, after he had been enslaved and thrown into prison, Joseph interpreted a dream for the Pharaoh of Egypt, and the Pharaoh, in gratitude, made him governor over all the people of Egypt. And later, during a famine, the brothers of Joseph came into Egypt to buy grain to feed their people. They hadn’t seen Joseph in over seventeen years, and for all they knew he was dead. If anyone had good cause to be bitter it was Joseph. Yet on the day that Joseph chose to forgive his brothers and be reconciled to them, the scripture says that he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him.” What was that sound we heard – that terrible crying? Is Joseph okay? Yes, he’s fine. That’s the sound of a man forgiving.
Our innate sense of pride and justice fights against us forgiving people. We say to ourselves, “Why do I have to forgive? Why doesn’t the other person come to me and ask for my forgiveness? Why do I always have to be the one to initiate it? But forgiveness isn’t about keeping score. It’s about making friends with your enemies. Abraham Lincoln once remarked, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” Forgiveness is an unnatural act that stops the vicious cycle of retribution. But there’s one thing that’s even harder than forgiving – the alternative – continually living with the pain, anger, and bitterness of unforgiveness. Why should anyone want to subject themselves to that type of unpleasantness?
Forgiveness also restores the other person to wholeness by setting them free from the guilt and pain they caused. It releases a healing power both in us and in the person who did us wrong, and sets us both free. It restores relationships, brings families back together, and sets us free from unpleasant memories. It’s like one of those big church bells like the hunchback of Notre Dame used to ring. As long as unforgiveness reigns, the church bell keeps ringing in our ears. But once we forgive, the ringing of the bell, like our guilt and pain, slowly begin to fade away, until the only sound we have left is the sound of peace and serenity.
Some people think we need only forgive those who repent. If they don’t we don’t have to forgive them. But what did Jesus say about those who crucified Him? He said, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” The principle is clear. Even if we can’t set the offender free, then we can at least set ourselves free. Vengeance is not ours to take. “Vengeance is mine,” declares the Lord. If we recognize that God alone is the one who judges and avenges, then we can release ourselves from that obligation.
If we don’t forgive, we’re never going to have any peace or unity in our families. It’s like the two brothers once went to a rabbi to settle a long-standing feud. After a brief period of hollering and arguing, the rabbi finally got the brothers to reconcile their differences and shake hands with each other. As the two were about to leave, the rabbi asked each of them to make a wish for the other to celebrate the Jewish New Year. The first young man turned to his brother and said, “I wish you the same thing that you wished for me.” At that, the second brother threw up his hands and started screaming and said, “See that, rabbi, he’s starting it up all over again!”
Why forgive? Really, that’s the wrong question. It should be, “Why love?” It’s because we are commanded to. Our emotional health should not depend on waiting for someone else to ask our forgiveness. We do not give people that much power over us. We take the initiative and do the right things not because it’s easy, but because we value God’s word and our own happiness. Forgiveness is an ongoing process in our lives. Little by little, bit by bit, layer upon layer of bitterness and hatred is burned away, until our rage is gone, and all that is left is love. We make a conscious decision not to harbor resentment. We make a commitment to no longer be controlled by rage and pain. Instead, we choose to forgive and give out grace and mercy to others. Surely that has to be God’s desire for all of us.
Today, I ask for all of us to look into our hearts and find out if there is anyone we need to forgive. That shouldn’t be difficult to do – to identify who it is that we need to forgive. Just look for the pain, or look for the anger…. the person responsible for it won’t be far behind. And let us not forget to forgive ourselves. You see, in some mysterious way, God’s forgiveness for us depends on us forgiving each other. Ask Him to take away any pain you may have. He is faithful and true, and He will do it.
I will close with a word from Christian author Philip Yancey, who wrote: “The world thirsts for grace and mercy. And when it descends, the world falls silent before it.”
Many excerpts in this message are from the book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” by Philip Yancey
- The Righter Report
A Gift for Daddy – A Christmas Story
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a man disciplined his five-year-old daughter for using up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper before Christmas.
Money was tight, so he became even more upset when, on Christmas Eve, he saw that the child had used the expensive gold paper to decorate a large shoebox she had placed under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy! Merry Christmas!”
As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.
But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “that when you give someone a present there’s supposed to be something inside the package?”
The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full.”
The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.
An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.
In a very real sense, each of us have been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and from God.
There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.
May God bless you and your family this Christmas Season.
Other Christmas Stories:
- The Righter Report
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