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don't think I'm seeking strife and debate with you my brother
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No, this is good for us, lets keep it up.
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I think I've heard you say say 'dispensation...' more times that I want to here.
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Why don't you ask Paul to leave it out of I Corinthians 9:17, Eph 1:10, 3:2, and Col 1:25. It is ok to talk about dispensations. We are commanded to rightly divide(II Tim 2:15). That is all Chette777 is doing. Nothing wrong with going by the Bible.
Stephanos, you then go on to illustrate Example #1 of why people are supposed to rightly divide the word of truth. I want to know, Who is James addressed to? You find it in James 1:1...
Jam_1:1, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James is not giving us church age doctrine in these passages. Spiritually there is a lot of good stuff in the book and I love reading it. But doctrinally it is not TO us.
How do I know?
Because when you talk about James 2:20, 24, my mind goes right to Romans 4:5
Rom_4:5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Contradiction? Of course not. Paul is writing to the CHRISTIANS at Rome. James is writing to the JEWS. We, stephanos, are not Jews. We have no works that impact our salvation in any way. Our works impact our rewards II Cor 5:10...
2Co_5:10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
We, that is Christians, get saved and then our works are judged and then we receive rewards for our works (good or bad). That does not mean that a Christian without works goes to Hell.
Praise God for that. That is why what Jesus did on the cross was so great. We ought to thank Him for His 'great salvation'. Calling it "great" is the understatement of history. It makes me rethink all the times that I have called something else 'great'.
This is what is practiced by the "dispensationalists" if you confuse these things (James and Romans) you will end up in trouble. Trust me, to dismiss 'dispensationalism' and not just discuss its merits would be a grave mistake for all Christians.