FAITH IS A SYNECDOCHE

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24).

What is a synecdoche?  It is not a strange animal.  It is not an alien from outer space.  It is not a word for a bad politician, of which there seems to be many these days.  A synechdoche is a figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole.  I have nine hundred head of pigs in my pig barn.  It would be a strange sight out of an old science fiction movie to walk into the barn and see only pig heads there.  There are also plenty of loins, chops and hams too--that's what I see when I go into the barn.  But it is the head that is the predominant feature of most any animal and that is why I have nine hundred head of pigs, not nine hundred loin of pigs.  When a buyer buys my pigs he buys them with the full expectation that the loins, hams and chops will come along with the head.

So it is with faith.  If a person truly believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the change in his/her life is a forgone conclusion.  It will happen.  Faith is the predominant feature of the Christian life.  If a person says that he has faith, but there is no obedience and submission to the Lord, if he does not evidence a life of  compassion and a desire to invest in the things of God, his faith is like one of my pigs with only a head and no body.  A creature like that only happens in a bad science-fiction movie, otherwise it is dead. 

Reading the context of James 2:24, one easily discovers that James is dealing with the believe-and-be-saved mentality that is so foreign to the scriptures.  Texts like Acts 16:31 which say, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household" are synecdochial; the context demonstrates the synecdoche.  Belief is not something that exists apart from obedience.

No one has perfect faith and thus no one has perfect trust, obedience and compassion, but one of our prayers should always be, "Lord Jesus, I believe, help my unbelief."

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom