Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

“To fulfill,” therefore, equals “to have a further application.” In James 2:23
neither a “prediction come true,” nor “a further “application” come into view,
but rather an unmistakable “implication” (See PDavids, 69; and Manton,
256). “What we have here is not a prophecy-fulfillment scheme ... but a use
of Gen. 15:6 to show that this verse is a confirmation of what James has been
saying” (Martin, 93). What God promulgated in Genesis 15, was carried
through and carried out to the end and in this way verified in Genesis 22
(Zodhiates, II, 49). In short, the full implication of Genesis 15 is Genesis 22.
The latter authenticates and legitimizes Abraham’s faith and in the larger
biblical framework Abraham’s justification as well. A powerful statement,
indeed!
It proves to be even more powerful, when it is recognized that both
genuine faith (demonstrably justified) and gracious justification (manifestly
authenticated) produce friendship with God (See also 2 Chron. 20:7 and Is.
41:8). Productive faith “endears” us to God and leads to an intimate friendship
with him (Henry, III, 1295). At the same time it is sobering to realize
that without such faith and justification such friendship can never materialize.
Friendship goes hand in hand both with the peace that flows forth from justification
by faith (Rom. 5:1), and from the sonship that is inseparable from
holiness through the Spirit (Rom.8:4, 13-14). But when it becomes a reality, it
is glorious. Friends become “one soul,” have a common life, common interests,
common concerns and common goals. They always share everything
with each other in a communication of goods, status, will, energy, time, as
well as secrets, and all that because there is a sharing of “hearts” in mutual
respect and delight (Gen. 18:17; 1 Sam. 18:1-4; 2 Sam. 16:17; Ps. 41:9;
55:12; John 15:13, 15). It fits quite well in the whole picture of James with its
theme of practical godliness to point out that friendship with God, while contingent
upon faith and justification, goes hand in hand with sanctification
(John 15:14). This is further underscored in James 4:4. The friendship with
the world is said to incompatible with the friendship with God. In fact, a
friend of the world is defined as an enemy of God!
Turning now to the wording and exegesis of Genesis 15:6, the meaning
of the phrase “Abraham’s faith was imputed to him for righteousness,” when
understood correctly, adds further weight to the power of James’ argument in
James 1:23. In general this phrase meets with two possible interpretations.
(1) Abraham’s faith was the instrument through which he received righteousness
(namely that of Christ) and becomes a friend of God. This interpretation
has in its favor the fact that it reflects the teaching of Paul in his letter
to the Romans. In short, Genesis 15:5 informs us that Abraham was justified
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