Good morning. What good was it to be a Jew? They were entrusted with the oracles of God. That is actually a really big deal. The Jews were very meticulous in copying the Scriptures and in taking care of them. If they had been entrusted to anyone else, they would’ve been long ago lost forever. Paul then quotes the scripture that there is none who is righteous. By the works of the law no flesh will be justified (declared not guilty, but rather righteous) in His sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Of course that seems to contradict what James said that faith without works is dead; and that Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar. He also said that you can see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. How do you reconcile the two? Unlike some people, I don’t know everything. It is possible that James wrote his letter before he came to the full understanding of salvation. After all, it was years after the resurrection before he understood that the Gentiles could be saved without becoming Jews first. It could also be that he was talking about during Old Testament times. It wasn’t until after Jesus died and rose again that you could become saved by grace through faith and didn’t take works. Father thank You that we are justified in Your sight. As the song says: “ not because of who we are; but because of what You’ve done; not because of what we’ve done; but because of who You are.“

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