MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

PROPHECY COMPLIANCE
Descendant of Adam and Eve and son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam,
would end the kingdom of Sin son of God (Lk 3:38)
And I will put enmity between you and He also stripped the principalities and
the woman, and between your offspring authorities, and made a public
and her offspring; it will bruise your spectacle of them, having triumphed
head, and you will bruise its heel (Ge over them on the cross (Col 2:15).
3:15).

Abraham's descendant Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,

Abraham being a great and powerful son of David, son of Abraham (Mt 1:1)
nation, and in him all the nations of the
earth are to be blessed? (Ge 18:18).

Descendant of Isaac Son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of

And God answered, Surely Sarah your Abraham, son of Terah (Luke 3:34).
wife will bear you a son, and you will
call his name Isaac. I will confirm my
covenant with him as a perpetual
covenant for his descendants after him
(Ge 17:9).

Jacob's descendant Son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of

I will see it, but not now; I will look at it, Abraham, son of Terah (Luke 3:34).
but not closely: A star will rise from
Jacob, a scepter will rise from Israel. He
will crush the temples of Moab and the
skulls of all the sons of Seth (Nu 24:17).

Descendant of the tribe of Judah Son of Aminadab, son of Admin, son of

The scepter will not be taken away from Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son
Judah, nor the rod of authority from of Judah (Luke 3:33).
between his feet, until Shiloh comes;
and the people will obey him (Ge
49:10).

His Birth in Bethlehem Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, in the days of King Herod. And behold,
although you are small among the wise men came from the east to
families of Judah, from you will come Jerusalem (Mt 2:1).
forth to me one who will be the ruler of
Israel, whose origin is ancient from the
days of eternity (Mi 5:2).

Would be born of a Virgin The birth of Jesus Christ was like this:
Therefore, the Lord Himself will give His mother Mary was espoused to
them the sign: Behold, the virgin will Joseph; and before they were united
conceive and give birth to a son, and she was found to have conceived of the
will call his name Immanuel (Is 7:14). Holy Spirit (Mt 1:18).

The angel answered and said to him,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore also the holy
Being who will be born will be called the
Son of God (Luke 1:35).
Descendant of King David Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
In those days and at that time I will son of David, son of Abraham (Mt 1:1).
bring up for David a Branch of
righteousness, which will do justice and This one will be great, and will be called
righteousness in the land (Jer 33:15). the Son of the Most High; and the Lord
God will give him the throne of his
father David (Lk 1:32)

It would be the Lamb of God The next day, John saw Jesus coming
Then Isaac said to Abraham his father: toward him and said, Behold the Lamb
My father. And he answered: Here I am, of God who takes away the sin of the
my son. He said to him: Here is the fire world! (John 1:29).
and the wood, but where is the lamb for
the burnt offering? Abraham answered:
God himself will provide the lamb for the
burnt offering, my son. And they both
went together (Ge 22:7-8).

A precursor with the Spirit of Elijah They asked him, saying: Why do the
would prepare his Way scribes say that Elijah must come first?
Behold, I am sending the prophet Elijah He said to them: Indeed, Elijah comes
before the great and fearful day of the first and restores all things. And how is
LORD comes (Ma 4:5). it written about the Son of Man, that he
suffers many things and is despised?
However, I tell you that Elijah has
already come; and they did with him
whatever they wanted, just as it is
written about him (Mark 9:11-13).

God declares him his Son And behold, a voice from heaven said:
I will declare the decree: the LORD has “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
said to me: You are my son; I have well pleased” (Mt 3:17).
begotten you today (Ps 2:7)

I would teach with parables Jesus spoke all this in parables to the
I will open my mouth in parables; I will multitudes and without parables he did
recall the hidden things of the past (Ps not speak to them, so that what was
78:2). spoken through the prophet was
fulfilled, saying: I will open my mouth
with parables; I will publish things that
have been hidden since the foundation
of the world (Mt 13:34-35).

I would visit Galilee and be a light to Matthew 4:12-17

the people 12When Jesus heard that John was in
However, she who was in distress will prison, he returned to Galilee; 13And
not have darkness. In former times he leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in
humbled the land of Zebulun and the Capernaum, a maritime city, in the
land of Naphtali; but in later times he region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14that
will bring glory to Galilee of the what had been spoken by the Lord
Gentiles, on the way to the sea and might be fulfilled.
beyond the Jordan (Is 9:1).

He would be a prophet for his people Then, when the men saw the sign that
The LORD your God will raise up for Jesus had done, they said, Truly this is
you a prophet like me from among you, the prophet[a] who is to come into the
from among your brothers. They will world! (John 6:14).
listen to him (Deut 18:15).

He would give sight to the blind and And Jesus answered and said to them:
open the ears of the deaf Go and tell John the things that you
Then the eyes of the blind will be hear and see: The blind see, the lame
opened, and the ears of the deaf will be walk, the lepers are made clean, the
unstopped (Is 35:5). deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
poor are preached the gospel. (Mt 11:4-
5).

It would heal many sick people In the evening, many demon-possessed

Surely he bore our illnesses and people were brought to him. With his
suffered our pains. We considered him word he cast out the spirits and healed
stricken, as smitten by God and afflicted all the sick (Mt 8:16)
(Is 53:4).

They wouldn't believe in Him But, despite having performed so many

Who believed our announcement? signs before them, they did not believe
Upon whom has the arm of the LORD in him, so that the word of the prophet
been revealed? (Is 53:1). Isaiah might be fulfilled, who said: Lord,
who has believed our message? To
whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed? (John 12:37-38).

He would be rejected by his people He came to his own, but his own did not
He was despised and rejected by men, receive him (Jn 1:11).
a man of sorrows and acquainted with
suffering. And because we hid our faces
from him, we despised him and did not
esteem him (Is 53:3).

They would hate him without cause John 15:18-25

Those who hate me without cause have 18If the world hates you, know that it
increased (Ps 38:19). hated me before it hated you. 19If you
were of the world, the world would love
its own; But because you are not of the
world, but I chose you from the world,
that is why the world hates you.

He enters Jerusalem humble, riding Matthew 21:1-11

on a donkey 1When they approached Jerusalem,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! and came to Bethphage, to the Mount
Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
Behold, your King comes to you, just 2saying to them, Go into the village
and victorious, humble and riding on a opposite you, and immediately you will
donkey, on a colt, the son of a donkey find a donkey tied...
(Zech 9:9).
Betrayed by a very close companion Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve,
Even my close friend, in whom I trusted went to the chief priests to hand him
and who ate my bread, has lifted up his over to him (Mark 14:10).
heel against me (Ps 41:9).

Sold by 30 pieces of silver Matthew 27:3-10

And I said to them: “If it pleases you,
give me my salary; and if not, leave it.”
And they weighed out thirty pieces of
silver for my wages (Zc 11:12).

The disciples would abandon him Then Jesus said to them: You will all be
Arise, O sword, against my shepherd scandalized by me tonight, for it is
and against the man who is my written: I will strike the Shepherd, and
companion, says the LORD of Hosts. I the sheep of the flock will be scattered
will strike the shepherd and the sheep (Mt 26:31).
will be scattered, and I will turn my hand But all this has happened so that the
against the little ones (Zech 13:7) Scriptures of the prophets might be
fulfilled. Then all the disciples
abandoned him and fled (Mt 26:56).

He would be silent before his And being accused by the chief priests
accusers and elders, he made no answer. Then
He was oppressed and afflicted, but he Pilate said to him: Do you not hear how
did not open his mouth. Like a lamb, he many things they testify against you?
was led to the slaughter; and like a He did not answer him a word, so that
sheep that is silent before its shearers, the procurator was greatly amazed (Mt
neither did he open his mouth (Is 53:7). 27:12-14).
Faith and works

James 2:15 tells us about faith, works and salvation:

James 2:14
“My brothers, of what avail What will happen if someone says he has faith and
has no works? Can faith save him?

Many brothers are perplexed by this passage, thinking that James contradicts
Paul, who so many times says that a man is saved and justified freely, without any
work, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection (see the articles: “
Justification and the Bible ” and “ Amazing Grace ”) Something we need to make
clear from the very beginning is that the Word of God never contradicts itself. What
commonly happens, and happens in this passage, is a problem of understanding
what the Word of God tells us. The purpose of this article is to help the reader
understand this passage from James 2 as well as give a more complete overview
of salvation.

Faith and works: he who has true faith will also have works

Beginning in the first part of James 2:14, we see James talking about
“someone who says he has faith.” The verbal expression of one's faith, that is, if
someone says he has faith, is not enough to save him. In fact, Paul also tells us
the same thing in Romans 10:9-10 which says:

“that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, but with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.”

Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?"

Answer: This is perhaps the most important question in all of Christian theology.
This question is the reason for the Reformation – the split between the Protestant
church and the Catholic church. This question is a key difference between Biblical
Christianity and most sects that profess to be "Christian." Is salvation by faith
alone, or by faith plus works? Am I saved only by believing in Jesus, or do I have to
believe in Jesus and do certain things?

The issue of faith alone or faith plus works has been made difficult by some
passages in the Bible that are difficult to reconcile. Compare Romans 3:28 , 5:1 ,
and Galatians 3:24 with James 2:24 . Some see a difference between Paul
(salvation is by faith alone) and James (salvation is by faith plus works). Paul
dogmatically says that justification is by faith alone ( Ephesians 2:8-9 ), while
James seems to be saying that justification is by faith plus works. This apparent
problem is resolved by properly examining what James was talking about. James
is refuting the belief that a person can have faith without producing any good works
( James 2:17-18 ). James emphasizes the point that genuine faith in Christ will
produce a changed life and good works ( James 2:20-26 ). James is not saying
that justification is by faith plus works, but rather that a person truly justified by faith
will have good works in their life. If a person claims to be a believer, but has no
good works in his life – then he probably does not have genuine faith in Christ (
James 2:14 , 17 , 20 , 26 ).

AN APPARENT CONTRADICTION BETWEEN PAUL AND JAMES

This entire introduction is simply to prepare the ground for the apparent
contradiction between Paul and James over the doctrine of justification by faith.

Last week I presented the arguments from Romans 4:1-5 for the truth that we are
justified by faith alone, and not by works. You can already see it, for example, in
Romans 3:28: “we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of
the law”; and more specifically in Romans 4:5: “But to him who does not work, but
believes in him who justifies the wicked, his faith is counted as righteousness.” So
God's verdict of not guilty and the imputation of his own righteousness to us, in
Christ Jesus, at the beginning of our Christian life, is by faith alone, without
anything else to recommend us to God. We trust in His free grace to forgive and
absolve us, and count us righteous because of the work of Christ. This is how we
begin in the Christian life - justified by faith alone.

Now, you have heard the verses from James that seem to contradict this. Let's look
at it again. James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
offered Isaac his son on the altar?” And James 2:24, “You see that a man is
justified by works and not by faith alone.” So you can see that James not only says
that a person is justified by works, but he also denies that justification is through
faith alone. At least he uses words that, taken in isolation, seem to mean
something very different from what Paul says.
DOES JAMES REFUTE PAUL, OR AN ABUSE OF PAUL'S TEACHING?

So the key question here is: Is James' purpose to refute Paul's doctrine that
justification is by faith alone, which would mean there is a massive contradiction in
the Bible? Or is James' purpose to refute an abuse of Paul's teaching and send a
corrective to the churches he was writing to? I want to try to show you that here
James is not contradicting Paul, but teaching something compatible with Paul's
teaching and correcting a misuse of Paul's teaching.

Paul was well aware that his teaching that justification is by faith alone was being
distorted and misused by those who said, “Well, if while we are still wicked we are
justified by faith alone, and this magnifies the grace of God, then Let us continue to
sin, because we are saved anyway and the grace of God will obtain more glory.”
You can see this, for example, in Romans 3:8: “And why not say (as we are
slandered, and as some claim we say): Let us do evil that good may come?” So
Paul knows he is being slandered: 'Paul teaches that the more evil you do, the
more good comes from God, for the grace of God is glorified by justifying the
wicked.'
Or consider Romans 5:20. Paul says, “The law was introduced so that
transgression might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded all the
more.” Paul knows that some are saying, 'Well, if grace abounds where sin
increases, what shall we say?' Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we
continue in sin so that grace may abound?” That's what they were saying, “Shall
we continue in sin so that grace may abound?”

Now, Paul has answers to this kind of superficial misrepresentation and abuse of
his teaching. He implicitly has answers in all his letters to demonstrate how good
works and love necessarily flow from true justifying faith. For example, in Galatians
5:13 Paul says: “For you, brothers, were called to freedom; Only do not use
freedom as a pretext for the flesh, but serve one another in love.” So we are
amazingly delivered from God's commandments as a way of justification. But then,
does Paul place the works of love at the top of that freedom, as a level of legal
duty? You have a good start through justification that is by faith alone. But is there
now another way, apart from faith, to do what needs to be done and become a
loving person?

FAITH WORKS THROUGH LOVE

No. Examine Galatians 5:6, a crucial text for seeing Paul and James in harmony
with each other. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
means anything, but faith working through love.” And when Paul dealt with the
abuse of his doctrine that justification is by faith alone, he said: It is not additional
works, such as circumcision, that will gain God's favor. So what? It is the “faith that
works through love.” Note very carefully what he says. What counts for God?
Faith". But which faith? The “faith that works through love.” It does not say that
what counts for God is “faith”, plus the level of works of love additional to faith. Paul
says that what counts with God is the kind of faith that by its nature produces love.
But it is faith that gives us our good standing before God. The love that comes from
it only shows that it is, in fact, a justifying, real, and living faith.