James 3:17-18

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17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. ~ James 3:17-18

Today, we return to James 3 where the main topic is God's wisdom that yields His righteousness. Having given us a look at worldly wisdom, James, in today's passage, gives us a deeper understanding of God's multi-faceted wisdom and how it is expressed in and through our daily lives.

In v.17 of today's passage we read, "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

The first expression of God's wisdom in the life of the yielded believer in Christ is it is "pure." The Greek word James uses here implies sincere and authentic character which is free from bitter envy, and selfish ambition. This purity means freedom from all defilement, including jealousy, selfish ambition and immorality. This pureness comes only through the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us from our sins. As a result, God's imparted nature and rule results in the yielded believer experiencing a life free of arrogant self-promotion. 

The person who has come into a personal relationship with God and is being defined by Him is a person who is being given the heart of God. Once the believer experiences the heart of God for himself, he will begin to be motivated by pure desires which push him along in doing God’s will. The believer who is engaged in personal relationship with God hates his sin, and has a longing for that which brings pleasure to the One who has gone through Hell to redeem him.

In addition, the wisdom of God is also "peace-loving" which causes the believer to extend God's peace to others. Since the believer in Christ has peace with God and he knows the peace of God, he wants others to know the blessing of being defined by God's peace. The believer has this posture because he has come to the place where he no longer has anything to prove to God or to others. His identity is now wrapped up in His Savior's love for him.

The Greek word James uses to describe this peace is eirēnikē which literally means peace victory. This word has as its foundation gentleness which is produced by God's peace. When we have come to Christ and we have been embraced by Him, we know we have arrived in Him. The scratching and clawing to be somebody has come to an end and we are rendered gentle and humble at heart. 

Eirēnikē causes the believer to be "considerate" of those who know not God. This consideration of those not in God's family motivates him to be submissive to the will of God for the sake of the unsaved. God's wisdom causes the believer to submit to dishonor, disgrace, mistreatment, persecution with an attitude of humility, kindness, without hatred, malice, and revenge. The yielded believer in Christ is enabled to do this because he is no longer defined by the things of this world and he has nothing to lose.

The believer who is being defined by God's wisdom will be "full of mercy" which literally means to be concerned for people who suffer. These are those who have basked in the acceptance of God's mercy for them. Have you noticed yet that this description of God's wisdom parallels the beatitudes in Matthew 5? The evidence of saving faith is the presence of God's wisdom in the life of the believer. And, that wisdom describes the process of a changed heart given in Matthew 5.

As the believer yields his life to the person of Christ, he will experience the life of the Lord Jesus for himself. This will result in the believer being full of "good fruit." This fruit is the expressions of the Lord Jesus in and through the life of the believer who is yielded to Christ. He will be yielded because he is experiencing the Lord Jesus for himself. And, once he has experienced such, he inevitably will want to pass it on to others, especially those who treat him badly because they are trapped in the web of the deceitful one.

The impact of the wisdom of God also yields impartiality and sincerity in the life of the yielded believer. The wisdom of God  is without partiality, and this is the only place in the New Testament this term is used. It means to be unwavering, undivided in its commitment. There’s no vacillating, no shifting or no turning away. It means the believer is consistently committed to the heart of the One who has intercepted him. This is the person who lets his light shine consistently before men who, in seeing his good works, can glorify the Father in heaven. 

And then finally, the last description of the person who is garnering God's wisdom is he is sincere. To be sincere is to be genuine and without hypocrisy. This is the climax of true wisdom. As Christ lives His life through the yielded life of the believer, these characteristics will come through.

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness."

The acquisition of God's wisdom by the yielded believer yields the fruit of God's righteousness which is re-sown by them who have experienced God and His peace for themselves. This is the law of sowing and reaping. Where we have true wisdom, the true righteousness of God will be shown. As we sow His fruit of righteousness, it will produce more righteousness. As a result, God’s wisdom will be revealed in the way we live. And, it will be out of this intimacy with Him that we will grow to love, obey and serve Him more and more. Through this natural process He will manifest Himself through our yielded lives. And, in the end, there will be no glory but only to the One who laid down His life for His friends.

James 3:14-16

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14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ~ James 3:14-16

In today's passage, we return to James 3 where we discover whether or not we have received God's wisdom. In today's verses we discover when we give safe haven in our souls to bitter envy and selfish ambition, we give the enemy of God rightful sway in defining us. 

When we became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we then entered into the ability to access God's wisdom. We might say that our sanctification is the equivalent to gaining God's wisdom. And, once we have gained His wisdom, it will be made evident in our lives by the choices we make. God's wisdom is relating with God in a life-changing relationship, but today, we consider the devilish origins of man's wisdom.

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth."

The motivation behind false wisdom is bitter envy and selfish ambition. People who possess this world's wisdom are self-focused, and are eaten up with a bitter attitude toward anyone who threatens the world of their own creation. These who are defined by evil itself are resentful of anyone who threatens their accomplishments, status and reputation. These are those who think if anyone differs with them, well, they are evil and wrong. They also believe if anyone agrees with them, well, they are trustworthy and good.

In addition to being motivated by "bitter envy," those defined by this world are motivated by their own "selfish ambition." This means they have a personal ambition that creates antagonism with all who differ with them. The origins of this phrase "selfish ambition" was used of ladies who spun thread. This phrase eventually came to mean any work done for pay. And then it came to mean anybody who did anything for what they could personally get out of it. It entered politics and it became used of those who sought high political office, attaining their personal goals at any cost.

To put it simply, the wisdom that is not of God is selfish and self-centered. It has as its goal personal gratification at any cost. It is the goal of humanistic thinking, sociology and psychology. With it, there is no selflessness, no humility, and no love for someone else. 

In v.15 of today's passage we read, "Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic."

This wisdom is earthly (of this world), unspiritual (of the flesh) and, demonic (of the devil). We see this list in other passages in the Bible as the world, the flesh, and the devil.

That which is earthly cannot crawl out of the world's locked prison of time and space. It is outside of God and all of His eternal truth. Apart from Christ, man cannot get out of this prison. Man conceives what he thinks is impeccable truth without spiritual illumination from God. Unsaved man never rises above the level of the material world, therefore all of his wisdom has the mark of the curse of man's own fallenness.

In addition to earthly, man's wisdom is unspiritual or fleshly. In 1 Corinthians 2:14, we learn the fleshly man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. All of the feelings, impulses, appetites of the worldly man are defined by the fallen, corrupted world system that is run by the diabolical one. And, man is unaware of his imprisoned state with the devil in control. 

In addition to earthly and unspiritual, man's wisdom is demonic. This is the only place in the whole New Testament where this word appears in adjective form. This means man's wisdom is influence by demons who themselves are captive to the same kind of evil system of which man is also captive. Ultimately, man's wisdom is spawned by the influence of Satan who in the garden promised a wisdom foreign to the wisdom of God. Satan always promises freedom from God. He promises that we can be God, being in the know, apart from God. What makes human wickedness so devastating is that man is smart and wicked, at the same time. And, the combination is deadly.

Satan's wisdom leads man into arrogance, immorality, self-sufficiency, and self-dependency. In fact, when God's Spirit and people, are taken out of this world, at the Rapture, all hell will break loose for seven years because evil will no longer be restrained by the presence of God's Spirit in this world. At that time, immorality and evil will be fully unleashed, and this world will be miserable to live in.

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."

Chaos and disorder will rule the world. Earthly wisdom will never produce harmony, love and security because it is antithetical to God and His ways. As the Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 5, the flesh brings with it destruction. For those not right with God, there is no ability to love like God, there is no intimacy with anyone else, there is no real fellowship, no harmony, and no peace.

James 3:13

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Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ~ James 3:13

The thrust of the teaching in the book of James, one of the four the half brothers of the Lord Jesus, is how God matures our faith in Him. Everything in this book is predicated upon James 1:5 which reads, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

If we claim to have God's wisdom, that means we are doing well in the process that we entered into when we first became believers in Christ. This process is called "sanctification." In reality, sanctification is the garnering of God's wisdom or His definition of all things. As we garner God's wisdom, He will change us from the inside out. The goal of the process is NOT to get us into heaven, the goal of this process is to get heaven into us, so that others would inquire of Him who is changing us. Our sanctification is not about a better us, it is about a more prominent Christ seen in and through our lives.

In 1 Kings 4:29 we read, "God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore."

Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all others, because he asked God for it, and it was granted to him. In today's verse, James asked, "Who is wise and understanding among you?" The preeminence of this question has been proven down through the centuries through those who acquired all this world had to offer, like Solomon, who had it all and knew there was more. This is when he cried out for God's wisdom which is one's transcendent view of life. It is wisdom that enables us to recognize the good in something bad, and, it is wisdom that enables us to see something bad in something good. 

Together, the books of Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes give us the cry of the human soul for wisdom. In Psalms we have the emotional nature, which is one part of the soul function. Ecclesiastes deals with the function of the mind, the search of man's reason throughout the earth, analyzing, evaluating, weighing and concluding on the basis of what is discoverable. In the book of Proverbs we have God's appeal to the will of man and the conclusion of our subsequent choices. Proverbs is all about the things man should decide, the choices of life. It is through a careful study of these three, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes that we truly come to understand wisdom and its beauty.

The word "understanding" in today's verse is used only here in the New Testament, and it refers to a specialist who is highly skilled in some area of knowing and doing. The specialist is the one who passes the series of tests for genuine faith in the God of the Bible. When these tests are passed, God gives to the believer His wisdom. 

In James 1, we discovered that genuine faith can be seen in how we respond to trials and temptation. Then, in James 2, how we respond to needy people. And then, at the end of James 2, we learned genuine faith is manifested in the righteous works of God in and through our lives. Then, in James 3, genuine faith is revealed through the words we use. How we live our lives reveals whether or not we possess true wisdom. Our relationship with God will be revealed by the extent to which God defines us in a given day.

James ends today's verse with these word: "Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom."

Humility is another earmark of the fact that we have acquired God's wisdom. Our God-given ability to understand ourselves, God’s truth, this world, our environment, and God’s revelation comes in response to our willingness to acknowledge our need for God's help. God's wisdom comes packaged to us and is accessed by us through humility. Arrogant people do not access or display God's wisdom.

The word translated "humility" communicates the opposite of self-seeking or self-ambition. In Matthew 11:29 we read, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

True wisdom comes from God. His wisdom makes life meaningful and purposeful. His is the kind of wisdom that is pure and peaceable and gentle and full of mercy and without hypocrisy.

In Proverbs 1:7 we read, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 

To fear God is to reverentially trust Him with our lives. Wisdom begins with our respect of God, and then, He enables us to make sense out of life. When we learn to respect God, we will allow Him to define us, and, when we do this, we show that we have acquired His wisdom. 

In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we read, "Christ is made unto us wisdom." When we received the Lord Jesus Christ, we received the wisdom of God. Apart from Christ, we can not access the wisdom of God. Wisdom, then, is the manifestation of the Lord Jesus in our lives through a personal relationship with God. His wisdom is manifest in and through us when He takes His truth and applies it to our lives in every dimension.

James 3:7-12

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7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. ~ James 3:7-12

Today, we continue in our study of the maturation process of the faith of the believer in Christ. The overriding purpose of the Epistle of James is to help believers get to real spiritual maturity. And, these early Christians to whom James wrote this letter were facing tremendously bad persecution. They were being intensely slandered, but James reminded them to resist stooping to the level of those who were not in God's family. To speak evil of others, even when they speak evil of us, reveals we lack the wisdom of God.

In v.7-8 of today's text we read, "7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

God gave mankind the ability to tame the animals, but man can not control the expressions of his heart. In this text, James does not say the tongue can’t be controlled, he says man can not control his tongue. The first recorded sin in the Bible, after the Fall, was Adam's accusation that God was responsible for sin. Interestingly, the first thing that happened after the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost was that all of the believers in the Lord Jesus immediately spoke of the wonderful works of God. 

In v.8 of today's text, James reminds us that the tongue "is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." The word "restless" is the same word translated "unstable" in James 1:8. The tongue is impossible to control if we are not living in submission to God's will. This explains how believers can say the most awesome thing one minute, and then, the most hellacious the next. 

James instructs us that the tongue is "full of deadly poison." A snake has a special gland in the roof of his mouth called a Jacobson’s Gland. When the snake wags his tongue, he gathers scents around him on it. Then he sticks the two tips of his tongue onto the two corresponding holes in his Jake Gland. The gland sends the data to his brain, which processes the gathered knowledge. Our tongues are not so beneficial, and in reality, the words we say are even more poisonous.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.

On the one hand, we bless God, but, on the other, we curse humans. When God brought us into a personal relationship with Him, He started the process of transforming us. One of the ways He brings about our transformation is through the changing of the way we think and what we communicate. While transforming us, God gives us the capacity for new speech, and this new way to communicate reflects the presence of God in our lives. And, when we speak badly of others, we actually are informing others that we are fighting God's will for our lives.

In v.10-11 of today's text we read, "10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?"

To be born again only supplies the possibility of living according to the leading of God in our lives. To be born again does not make authentic spiritual living automatic. The true Christian can, and often does, manifest phony righteousness, though he can also yield godly righteousness. The key is who do we allow to call the shots in our lives in a given moment. 

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

When we serve the enemy, it does not make sense for us to do so, although, we all do it from time to time. It does not make sense for us to understand the battle that is daily taking place and choosing to serve the enemy. James likens this to fresh and salty water coming from the same source; it just does not make sense because it is impossible for fresh and salty water to come from the same source.

When we garner God's wisdom, we will recognize and heed the lessons that even nature actively teaches us. Fig trees do not bear olives, nor do grapevines bear figs. It just doesn't happen that way. Nor should a believer in Christ curse his fellow man. That which is in our hearts produces what comes out of our lives. Critical words come from a critical heart. Destructive speech issues from a heart where the love of the Lord Jesus is a stranger.

James 3:3-6

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3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ~ James 3:3-6

In this letter, James, one of the four half brothers of the Lord Jesus, reveals to us avenues through which we can discover if our faith in the God of the Bible is maturing. The first two chapters cover growth through trials and temptations by replacing our faulty ways of thinking and living with the teaching from God's word. In the third chapter, James directs our attention to the way we speak. His goal is to get us to be controlled by the word of God like a rider controls a horse by the use of a bit. As a result of being defined by God's word, we will be able to control the way we speak to and about others. And, once we gain control over our mouths, our lives, as a whole, will be useful for God's purposes. 

In v.4 of today's text we read, "Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. "

Considering this illustration of a large ship which is steered by a small rudder, we learn that if we can just get control of the little tongue, we can have tremendous impact on others for the glory of God. In the same way that a large ship is controlled by a small rudder, when the power of God's word is applied to our speech, we will help others and bring glory to God. We must be diligent to control our words because our words have the power to control us. Learning to speak only gracious words is a titanic order. When we speak only gracious words that are selfless, we will be better positioned to control other parts of our lives. We will only be able to do this by yielding to the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God.

In v.5 of today's text we read, "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark."

The tongue is a powerful instrument. Some have suggested that it is the strongest muscle in the human body due to its tenacity which comes from the way it is built. The tongue doesn’t fatigue, because there’s a lot of redundancy in the muscle architecture.  The tongue can tear down or it can build up. The tongue is like the tiniest spark of a flame that leaps into the largest of flames. Our words are potentially edifying or destructive.

A few years ago, I came a cross a poem by Charles Franklin Benvegar which goes like this ... 

"As I watched them tear a building down, a gang of men in a busy town, with a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell, they swung a beam and the side wall fell.

I asked the foreman, 'are these men skilled, and the men you’d hire if you wanted to build?' He gave a laugh and said, 'No, indeed, just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two, what builders have taken years to do.'

And I thought to myself, as I went my way, 'Which of these roles have I tried to play', am I a builder who works with care, measuring life by rule and square? Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan, patiently doing the best I can?'

'Or am I a wrecker who walks to town, content with the labor of tearing down? O Lord let my life and my labors be that which will build for eternity!'"

In v.6 of today's passage we read, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

Slander or gossip occurs when someone shares something about someone else that is not factual, or perhaps partially true, but results in damaging the individual’s reputation. The fruit of slander is that it damages the perception of another individual in the mind of one or more people. The fruit of slander is not sweet and it never glorifies God.

The word James used here for "hell" is gehenna. This word is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word "ge-hinnom," meaning "Valley of the sons of Hinnom." This valley south of Jerusalem was where some of the ancient Israelites sacrificed their children to the Canaanite god, Molech. Years later, Gehenna was made an unclean place used for burning trash from the city of Jerusalem. It was the Lord Jesus who first used Gehenna as an illustration of hell.

When we slander or gossip, we play right into the very deviant plan of the Devil himself. When we speak slanderous words, we set a fire that serves the purposes of hell itself. And, although, these fires will never truly threaten the advancement of the kingdom of God, souls are often caught in the cross fire. And, if we are not careful, we will encourage others to go the way of the enemy.

James 3:1-2

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1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. ~ James 3:1-2

In the epistle of James, the theme is the maturation of the believer's faith in the God of the Bible. In fact, in James 3, we are told the words we use give great evidence to whether we have maturing faith. James uses the words we use as another test of our maturing faith, because the genuineness of our faith inevitably will be demonstrated by our speech. There are not many things that reveal that our faith is mature as much as our words. James mentions the tongue in every chapter in this epistle. It is a dominant theme throughout this book.

It's been estimated that the average person speaks 18,000 words per day. That's enough to write a 54-page book! Supervising our words is essential, and we desperately need the help of God for the wisdom to know: when to speak, what to speak, how to speak and to whom we are to speak. Our words always speak louder than our religious rituals. Anyone can dress nicely and go to church, put a fish icon on the rear bumper of their car or listen to Christian music. But without a doubt, one of the greatest indicators of our spiritual maturity is our ability to have firm control over the words we speak.

In v.1 of today's text we read, "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." 

Many admire the teaching position because of the honor, recognition, and power it brings. But, it is incredibly easy to become a spiritual tyrant. And, such self-seeking honor coming from ill-intended motives is to be foreign to any true follower in Jesus Christ. Since our speech is a mark of our maturing faith, those who teach the faith are scrutinized most closely. Of course, the Lord wants us to articulate His truth. But, we do well to master the fine art of choosing our words more carefully. Few speak words that are seasoned by grace, and, because of this, speaking on the behalf of God is truly a fine art.

We have a tremendous responsibility to God when we teach at any level. This is why Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 2, "Be diligent to be approved of God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, because he is rightly dividing the word of truth." There is, rightfully, judgment and shame connected to teaching error. 

In v.2 of today's text we read, "We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check."

The phrase "We all stumble" is a comprehensive word on the depravity of everyone on this earth. There is no person who does not sin. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." The word "stumble" means a moral lapse against God or a failure to do what is right. It is written in the present tense, meaning, we all do it in all kinds of ways, at all kinds of times. To stumble means we all fail to do what is right, and the tongue is one of the many means by which we fail.

When we entered into a personal relationship with God, He began the process of giving to us His heart. And, in time, He gives us new mouths and a new way to speak words which reflect His culture. This new way of talking is jeopardized in a continual fashion because it remains subject to our old way of thinking and speaking. This is James point here in v.2, and because of this, James says the only people who don’t sin with their mouth are perfect people, and, there are no perfect people on this earth.  

Now, if in the process of the maturation of our faith, we can get to the place where we exercise self-control over what we say, we succeed. But self-control is not adamic to any of us for it is a fruit of the Spirit. So, to the degree that we die to ourselves and allow Christ to express Himself through our yielded lives, will be the degree to which we will mature. 

And, the person who controls his words will also control his body, with all of its other impulses. Since the tongue responds more immediately, more quickly, and more easily, to sin, if it were controlled, the slower-responding parts would also be controlled, because the means of divine grace applied to the greater are then also applied to the lesser.

Finally, teachers should be conscious of the weight and potential influence of what we say because words lie at the heart of our teaching ministry. To have an unreliable tongue is likely to pro- vide a destructive model for those who are taught. The potential for multiplication of influence requires an enormous amount of discernment that takes the measure of both responsibility and opportunity into account.

James 2:25-26

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25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. ~ James 2:25-26

Today, we close out our study of the second chapter of James. In this chapter, James established the argument that biblical faith is proven by the expressions of God in and through our lives. Having given us one illustration of his point on the idea that faith without works is dead, James gives us a second illustration.

In v.25 of today's text we read, "In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?"

James provides us a powerful contrast between Abraham and Rahab. In Joshua 2 Rahab is presented as an example of a "righteous Canaanite." Rahab is remarkably unlike Abraham. It is also remarkable that God would use her as an example since she is introduced as a prostitute. 

Rahab lived in Jericho and she made a living at running a prostitution ring. And then, on the day God sent spies into Jericho to spy out the land, the spies stayed in the inn owned by Rahab. Through Rahab's actions of protecting the spies of God, she was considered righteous. Rahab believed all she knew about God, and it was imputed to her for righteousness. After she had protected the spies, in Joshua 2, Rahab said she had heard of God’s victory in Egypt and understood Him to be "the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath." 

Whereas, Abraham was a Jew, Rahab was a Gentile. Abraham was a man full of wisdom, but Rahab had made many foolish decisions. Abraham was at the top of the social order, while Rahab was at the bottom. Abraham received direct revelation from God but Rahab received very indirect revelation about God. And yet, in Hebrews 11 the list of the heroes of faith is given. Rahab is in the same text as Abraham. And, according to Matthew 1, Abraham and Rahab are in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus. 

Rahab believed the truth presented to her and, as a result, God declared her right with Him. It was her faith that made her right with God. She was vindicated by the action she took to save the life of those spies. And, by the way, she told a lie in order to protect the spies. She had been an unbeliever for some time, and she was coming out of a culture that was quite contrary to God's. For many years, Rahab had succumbed to the prevailing immorality of her ungodly culture. She, in that context, became a believer in the God of the Bible. And, God accounted to her faith His righteousness.

That day Rahab took in those spies, she put her life on the line. Had she been found out, it would have cost her her life. She hid the spies in the attic of her Inn. And, as a result, she let the spies escape. She told the guys that came to find them that they weren’t there for she had told the spies how to escape. And, later, she protected herself by putting a cord in the window. In doing so, Rahab demonstrated her faith by works. 

In the case of both Abraham and Rahab, their faith in the God of the Bible was shown by their choices. They both put their lives, dreams and hopes on the line. That is the kind of work that is associated with true faith to varying degrees. It isn’t that we go to church, read our Bibles, and sing a few songs. It is that we are increasingly committed to God to the point that we would sacrifice our hopes, dreams and ambitions, and we would risk our own lives to be true to His faith.

In v.26 of todays passage we read, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

A body without life imparted by God is nothing but a rotting corpse. It has absolutely no value. And, so is belief without behavior, just as dead, just as decaying. When it comes down to the crux of why we live and what is most valuable to us, our faith in the God of the Bible is most valuable to us. Oh, we are growing at this, and we have been known to fail, but we are in the process. And, even failure factors into the process that sometimes includes success. I'm glad God is not caught up in the linear. 

There are times when God refines us by allowing us to fail and allowing us to fall back in our progress in our sanctification. His grace abides in the places where we see our faults and our inability to get it "right" on the first try. Our imperfections point us and others to His perfection. This, by the way, is part of our problem, we are caught up in being linear. There is great freedom in realizing that God doesn't look at our lives in a linear way. The progress in our walk with God is often non-linear. Learning to be ok with the discomforts that God allows or causes while He is writing our story is a major part of our progress. When we think we are writing our story, we are in the greatest trouble. Learning to trust that the wisdom of God transcends our finite understanding is one of the greatest keys in realizing His success in our lives. God's grace will always meet us at the door of confusion, frustration, and impatience. 

We tend to think of our decisions in present-tense terms; right here, right now! But God spans the generations. When we find ourselves discouraged because our progress doesn’t look like it is happening in a straight line, we must remember that this is no problem for God. He uses all things, including our failures, as opportunities for us to gain what we need to gain to realize His victory in our lives. Our journey is safe in His hands.

Rahab demonstrated her faith by hiding the spies before she expressed her faith in the God of Israel. Out of all of the residents of Jericho, only Rahab and her family were saved from destruction and only because she expressed her faith through an action. Belief without behavior doesn't instill the culture of God into our souls. Belief with behavior allows God to do the miraculous in and through our yielded lives. Every decision we make has a domino effect way beyond our ability to predict or control.  We can’t predict when or how, but our faith in the God of the Bible will always reap a harvest somehow, someway. And it is often when and where we least expect it.

James 2:20-23

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20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ~ James 2:20-23

We continue our study, today, in James 2 where James is making the argument that biblical faith is proven to be biblical by the biblical choices we make. Without clearly saying it, James is differentiating between justification faith and sanctification faith, although they both have the God of the Bible as their object. 

In James 2, James is highlighting the illusion of just hearing truth and not being defined by it. Faith, without transformation, is not substantive, and is rightly judged fake by others. James understood that like electricity, faith is hard to see, but when we tap into it, its effects are obvious.

Now, our faith in the God of the Bible is not known to be real to others until it is evident through our actions. James uses the word, faith, as if, it is equal to spiritual life. When he wrote, "Faith without works is dead," he meant: "Spiritual life without works is dead." His argument is: there is no real life unless it can be verified through righteous works, and these righteous works are really the fruit of God in our lives. The fruit is the evidence that God is at work in and through our lives.

In v.20 of today's text we read, "You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?"

Self-deception is the worst of all deceptions. In Jeremiah 17:9 we read, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" True faith is revealed by the object of that faith. This is why trials are used of God in our lives to refine our faith in Him. It is what or whom we depend upon that determines the quality of our faith. In fact, there is a faith that goes far and there is one that falls by the wayside. The one that falls is not to the saving of the soul. And, the faith that goes far is to the saving of the soul.

In v.21 of today's text we read, "Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?"

Abraham is the father of those who believe in the existence of God, and who, to some degree, seek a personal relationship with Him. In Romans 3 we are told by the Apostle Paul that Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham's right standing before God was not earned, it was a gift from God because of Abraham's faith. And, Paul, further in Romans 3, establishes the fact that Abraham was not made right before God by his goods works; he was justified by faith, alone.  

It seems that what James is saying in today's text something contradictory. Clearly, James is saying here that Abraham was justified by his good works. Once we put our faith in God in Christ, God granted us the gift of right standing before Him. That is justification, that is, our faith working to justify us for eternity. When we trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross, God deposited the righteousness of Christ into our account. We had been spiritually bankrupt, but now, in Christ, we have arrived to acceptability before God through Christ. So, Abraham, then, is the father of all who believe, because it was his believing that brought about righteousness. 

In v.22-23 of today's text we read, "22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend."

Abraham was justified by works before men, but what is man's opinion compared to that of God. Works are the only way anyone's faith can be seen and verified as real saving faith, that is, before the eyes of people. The basis of our rightness with God is the death and resurrection of Christ. And, the authority of our rightness before God is His promise in His Word that if we believe, we will be saved. In this chapter, James has in mind our justification before men. In Romans and Galatians, the Apostle Paul emphasizes our justification before God.

When God led Abraham up the Mount Moriah with his son Isaac and then challenged him to sacrifice him, it was nearly 50 years after Abraham first believed in God. Abraham had been walking in God's gift of justification all those previous years. On that day God led Abraham up that mountain and commanded him to slay his son, everything Abraham knew about the character of God was near to being violated in his mind. And, even though Abraham struggled at understanding it all, he was an inch away from sacrificing his son when God provided a ram in the thicket. Abraham's faith was evidenced by his works that day. There was nothing that Abraham would withhold from God, but he didn't arrive there over night. Our sanctification is a long process.

Abraham believed, unalterably, in the character of God. He believed that the God of the Bible was a covenant-keeping God who under no circumstance would ever violate His promises. Abraham was justified in the sight of God by his faith, and he was sanctified in the eyes of man by his works. And, as a result, Abraham was called God's friend. Through the process of sanctification, Abraham's soul was changed and he was granted an intimacy with God that few have ever had. His intimacy with God came as the result of his obedience which made the process of sanctification effective for it enabled him to give his heart to God.

James 2:14-19

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14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  ~ James 2:14-19

The main theme in the book of James is faith. In fact, earlier in this book, God promises His people will be "rich in faith." And, this faith expresses one's trust in the Lord. But, those with false faith substitute words for deeds. They believe that they are what they say. 

Everybody has faith, but not all have faith in the God of the Bible. Faith, when placed in the God of the Bible, ushers us into a personal relationship with God. Many believe about God, but few have faith in God. And, true faith in the God of the Bible will always be quantified by His fruit in our lives. On the other hand, false faith will not be seen at all. This kind of faith does not save because it does not find its substance in God. 

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?"

The veracity of our faith in the God of the Bible is so important because as we read in Hebrews 12:14, "Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” No one will ever enter into the presence of the Lord without the application of His holiness to our lives. Our justification must have with it more than just a forensic statement about our position; it must have with it, sanctification. This is to say saving faith is manifest in the expressions of God's presence in our lives. There is a great difference between saving faith and nominal faith. For those who believe that there is contradiction with James writings, we must remember that Paul wrote about the root of faith, while James wrote about the fruit of faith. 

In Romans 3:21-28 Paul wrote, "21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." 

It is clear that no one is made right through our own good behavior. There is never any boasting of our goodness before God. Paul wrote that our rightness before God can only be purchased by the perfect Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. But, if there is no expression of God in and through the life of the believer, the believer does well to make sure his faith is authentic.

This is why in James 2:14 we read, "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?" 

Whereas Paul wrote to those who wrongfully trusted in their ability to measure up to the Law of Moses, James wrote to many Jews who had not entered into a personal relationship with God through Christ. The whole of the epistle written by James is a series of tests by which we can evaluate whether our faith is a living faith or whether it is a dead faith. Some of them, obviously, were genuine, and some of them were less than genuine, hence all of these tests given in this epistle. And James' point: if we come into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, He will express Himself in and through us. 

In v.15-17 of today's passage we read, "15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

In these three verses, James gives an example of his point. Here is a person who is poorly clothed and starving. Here is a person who’s cold and hungry. And, we say to this needy person, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," which was a common Jewish expression in that day. James is saying the words are empty, meaningless words. If we were to say to this needy person these words, and do not cloth and feed them, we would really be ignoring their need. If we say we believe in God and have not His heart for the needy, we very well may not be in His family. If our alleged faith is not accompanied by helping to meet his need, that faith is not living faith. 

Justification is always accompanied by sanctification. The process that we entered into when we got saved, this process whereby God began to change our souls, is evidence that we have entered into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. A faith with no fruit is a faith that is marked by false compassion because it has not the heart of the Lord.

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."

The word "show" means to exhibit, to demonstrate, or to put on display. Real faith always reveals itself in the fruit that it produces. And, of course, our good works are really the fruit of the Spirit. If God lives in us, it is impossible for us to hide Him. This will never mean that we will be perfect or sinless. This just means that if we have entered into a personal relationship with God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, we will experience His expression in our lives.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder."

This is a sarcastic verse. James wrote this verse with a bit of a chuckle in his voice. Many give mental assent to the reality of God, but, if their hearts aren't engaged, their faith isn't real. The heart must be involved, to some degree. It is at the point of our hearts that we are justified in the presence of God. This is why the Lord Jesus was able to say to the thief on the cross, "Today, you shall be with me in paradise." 

If our faith in the Lord is not demonstrated by good works then we are not even in the category with the demons. All of the demons believe in the deity of Christ, and they tremble from fear. Many have intellectual faith while demons have emotional faith. And, demonic faith is characteristic of those who are in rebellion to God. To be saved, we must have faith in the heart. 

James 2:8-13

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8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ~ James 2:8-13

Treating one person better than another, for any reason is showing partiality or favoritism. The only legitimate favoritism allowed by God is that we esteem everybody else better than ourselves.

In James 2:8 we read, "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right."'

The guiding principle throughout the Bible with regard to how we should treat others is "Love your neighbor as yourself." Naturally, this follows the first greatest command to "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." This pattern is clearly seen here in James 2 where in our last blog and podcast we considered the role of our growing love for God. It makes all the sense in the world that our ability to love others comes from the source of our love. 

In order to love those whom we love and those whom we should love, we must have a proper understanding of God's love for us. Our ability to love others is dependent upon the reservoir of our love. To the degree that we understand God's love for us will be the degree to which we will be able to love others. The Lord Jesus put these two commands together, to love God and to love others, because they are inseparable. We have a hard time learning to love certain people because we have a ways to go at learning to love God and at giving our hearts to Him.

In v.9 of today's text we read, "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers."

Partiality is a sin and all sin is foreign to the nature of God who treats everyone equal based on our relationship to Him. Consequently, that is the way believers should act toward others. We should treat people equally, with no regard for status of any kind. In fact, if we approach loving others as if they are God or ourselves, the problem is solved. Otherwise, we are those who break the Law of God which forbids partiality. When we do not love our neighbor, we are undermining our understanding of God's love for us, because our understanding of God's love for us underscores our ability to love, period.

In v.10-11 of today's text we read, "10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker."

We only have to break one law in order to be a lawbreaker. As we have mentioned before, once we became Christians, we entered into this process of sanctification whereby God is actively changing us from the inside out. In order to do that He convinces us that the way of the flesh or the evil desires within us are not to be invested in. And, having convinced us of this, He actively gives us His heart. The unity of God’s law is that it all hangs together. When we ignore one of God's laws, we undermine God's ability to give us His heart, and thus we are lawbreakers. We consciously break apart what God is trying to put together.

In v.11, James chooses two severe sins. The thing these two sins have in common is they required death. Now, adultery and murder seem pretty far beyond the idea of favoritism. James puts favoritism in very serious company in order to make his point. He wants us to understand that it is the sin of favoritism that can lead to an attitude of hate, which is the attitude behind adultery and murder.

In v.12-13 of today's text we read, "12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment."

If we live as people who are headed for a future judgment, then we will have the wisdom to shirk that which desires to destroy us, namely sin. James uses the phrase "the law that gives freedom" because real freedom is learning to live according to the specifications that God created us with. These specifications or laws make life happen in the way that He intended, thus freedom is found therein.

In Matthew 5:7 we read, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Where mercy is given, mercy is distributed. When we treat others impartially, we are not being merciful. And, "Mercy triumphs over judgment." If our lives are characterized by mercy, we will triumph over judgment, because the one who is merciful proves he is being transformed by God. When we show not mercy to others, we demonstrate we haven't yet been defined by God's mercy.

So, if we are merciful, without partiality, meeting people at the point of their need, no matter who they are, we give evidence of having received such mercy and of being transformed by the power of God, and thus ready for the Day of Judgment. And, we will triumph in that day by the demonstration of new life that comes through the attitude and the action of mercy toward others. This type of living is not what justifies us before God, but this type of living, very well, may lead others to be justified before God. I say this because when they see God in and through our lives, they will likely be drawn to Him, the One who justifies the sinner.

James 2:5-7

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5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? ~ James 2:5-7

In our last blog and podcast we considered how wrong it is to show favoritism to a wealthy person at the expense of a poor person. The lesson was we must not evaluate others based upon their socio-economics. Although it is built into our fallenness to divide like this, it is not pleasing to the Lord. Yet, there is a legitimate favoritism to be tolerated in the church. The only legitimate favoritism allowed by God is that we esteem everybody else better than ourselves. 

In v.5 of today's text we read, "Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?"

Again, James refers to his listeners as brothers and sisters. James is writing to people who have trusted in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of their sin. So, what we have here is sanctification teaching. This is teaching that changes our souls which are made up of our minds, wills, and emotions. And, God's purpose for changing our souls is that we might live a better quality of life while here on this earth. In addition, and I might say more importantly, our sanctification is mostly about the result of others looking at the wisdom of God displayed in our lives. Our sanctification should cause others to wonder what is qualitatively different about us.

James is quick here to highlight the fact that God has chosen the poor of this world. It is not that God does not love the rich, it is just that the poor are most often postured to be aware of their need for God. This is not to say, though, that the economically poor are automatically placed by God into His family and the rich are not. 

When the Lord Jesus came to the rich young ruler, He said, "It is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Here, the Lord Jesus is saying it is impossible for a rich person  to get saved apart from believing in Him. In fact, this is impossible for anyone, rich or poor. In Luke's Gospel, Luke uses the word for a surgeon's needle. The Lord Jesus is saying it is as impossible for a rich person to get saved as it for a camel to get through the eye of a sewing needle.

Again, the Lord Jesus said, "With men, this is impossible.  But with God, all things are possible." It is humanly impossible to get into heaven, but this is why God sent His Son into this world, to make the impossible possible. All we have to do is to trust that His death paid the penalty for our sin. But, people who are rich are not as quick to see their need for a savior as the poor are.

A careful examination of the Bible renders a connection between the poor and those who will end up in heaven. That is to say, the poorest are often the ones who are the most genuine in their need for the Lord. It is not that the poor are any better or have some special gift that the rich do not, but it is that God is non-discriminant, and that the poor are more likely to recognize their own need for the Savior. 

At the end of James 2:5 we read, “To them that love Him.” When we put our faith in Christ, we will grow in our ability to love Him. It is a process. This does not happen over night. In Romans 8:28 we read, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." The evidence that we have been made right with God through Christ is the we will grow in our love for God. Or, we might say, we will grow in our ability to give to God our hearts. All believers in Christ receive the same eternal life. So, James is really asking, how in the world can we look down on the poor when God has chosen the poor to be the eternally rich? 

In v.6 of today's text we read, "But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?"

History tells us that the rich have oppressed the poor. The Pharisees were some of the most wealthy back in that day, and, they were known to not only drag the poor into civil courts, but also into religious courts. The religious not only depreciate our human value, they also depreciate our pure faith in the God of the Bible.

In v.7 of today's text we read, "Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?"

The religious are the ones who blasphemed the Lord Jesus Himself. Wealthy Christ-rejecting Jews, no doubt, in that community, rejected the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, were blaspheming the name of Jesus, dragging these poor people in to courts and harassing them. And so, James reminds us that we belong to Jesus Christ and we are not to practice partiality. These issues that James is addressing are all bound up in the purpose and the person of God in Christ. And if we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot be partial to the rich and impartial to the poor.

Finally, I refer you to the first beatitude in Matthew 5. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." To be poor is spirit is to recognize one’s spiritual poverty apart from God. It is to see oneself as one really is: lost, hopeless, helpless. Apart from Jesus Christ every person is spiritually destitute, no matter what our education, wealth, social status, accomplishments, or religious knowledge. The poor in spirit are those who recognize their total spiritual destitution and their complete dependence on God. They perceive that there are no saving resources in themselves and that they can only beg for mercy and grace. Any expression of pride has a hard time finding a resting place among the poor in spirit.

James 2:1-4

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1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ~ James 2:1-4

Our study of the book of James, so far, has shown us that we grow in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by learning to be dependent upon God as we encounter trials and temptations. It was in our last study of James that we learned that one of the greatest demonstrations of our faith in the God of the Bible is seen in how we treat the helpless.

Today, we transition into James 2. As we make this transition, it becomes evident that, like us, the early church struggled with favoritism. Having become Christians, these young believers had to learn that God shows no partiality to anyone, and neither should the believer in Christ.

In v.1 of today's text we read, "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism."

The order this verse was originally written in the Greek is very interesting. The original reads this way: "My brothers and sisters must not show favoritism." 

In the English the last phrase in this verse comes at the end of the verse, yet, in the Greek it comes at the beginning. James put it at the beginning because he meant it to be emphatic. It means the believer in Christ must not show partiality to anyone, especially toward those who can give us something in return. 

This word "favoritism" means to lift up the face of someone or to elevate them. The idea is to judge someone by the face or to exalt them strictly on a superficial level. The lesson is we must not evaluate others by what they look like, or their clothes, or where they live, or what they drive, or their socio-economics. It is built into our fallenness to differentiate and divide. And so, this emphatic phrase at the beginning is a warning against preferential treatment based on race or wealth or dress or rank or social status.

Now, being partial toward someone regarding their socio-economics is in total conflict with what our faith teaches. If we are children of God, we ought to act like God, and He is impartial and we should be impartial. God does not tell us to give honor to someone based on their worldly wealth, nor does He want us to treat the poor with disdain, forcing them sit at our feet.

In v.2 of today's text we read, "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in."

Here in v.2, James uses a third-class conditional sentence to get his point across to us. The situation James presents included two visitors who potentially come to our meeting, one is wealthy and the other is not. He is saying that when we make judgment of others just by the way they look, this is wrong. We are all equal because God has created all humans in His image. Our intrinsic value comes from the fact that God created us equal.

In v.3-4 of our text today we read, "3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"

To "show special attention" is to look upon this man with favor, rendering to him special treatment. Although, it is not wrong to give the rich guy a good seat, it is wrong if it is at the expense of the poor guy. We show partiality towards others because it is built into our fallenness to do so. We, naturally, extend favor to those who look nice, smell nice, and are obviously wealthy. And, we show contempt towards those who do not look nice, who do not smell nice, and who are obviously not wealthy.

In v.4 James asks, "have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" 

Making distinctions among ourselves creates division. When we do this, we are guilty of evil discrimination. When we do this we are being defined by evil. When we make these distinctions, we are not being led by the Spirit of God. So, the issue of such behavior is that it’s not God-like, and it gives evil an opportunity to advance the kingdom of the enemy. This is not the wisdom of God which is what we need in the midst of our trials and temptations. 

The word "evil" means vicious. In this case, we are being motivated to cater to the rich and the prominent and we are being motivated to shun and slight the poor and the common. This is anti-God behavior. This is "the flesh" at its finest. And, this has no place among the people of God.

James 1:26-27

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26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ~ James 1:26-27

Today, we come to our eleventh and final blog and podcast on James 1. As you know, James wrote this book to Christians who were going through some of the most difficult times anyone could go through. They had lost their homes and all of their belongings. They had been scattered from all the comforts of their world and they were scared. 

In v.26 of today's text we read, "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."

Back in James 1:22, James had addressed the topic of self-deception. He reminded us to not only be hearers of God's Word but also doers of God's Word. If, when we have heard the Word of God, all we do is hear it and it never has an impact on our lives, then we are self-deceived. What is the point of enduring the trials and the temptations, if we are not being defined by the Word of God?

In James 1:26, James turns our attention to a slightly different issue when it comes to our faith in the God of the Bible. James takes us to the arena of religion. There are those who think that the doing of religious activities is the goal of our faith in the God of the Bible. Thinking they are not just hearers of the word, they do religious things, like rituals and other religious activities.

So, James addresses this posture of the man who thinks he earns God's favor by doing certain things. James essentially says here, "If anyone has the opinion that he is religious, yet controls not his tongue, he does not get it." 

Even though the ritual might be biblical, it is useless if we perform the religious activity and our hearts are not engaged in it. It is a deception to think that we earn God's favor when read our Bibles, or attend church services, or to pray, or to give money, or to sing songs. The goal in doing these things is not to earn God's favor, but to realize God's blessings in our lives. 

The word "religious" in James 1:26 is used in the Bible to describe outward ceremony. It delivers the idea of external trappings, religious rituals, routines, liturgy, rites, external forms. So, James is saying, "if somebody thinks himself to be religious in the sense that he’s carrying out all these outward formalities of religion while not controlling his words, deceives his own heart. This kind of religion is absolutely useless." 

We can spend our whole lives in a religion that is absolutely useless, accomplishing nothing. Religion that doesn’t transform the heart accomplishes absolutely nothing. A proper reaction to the Word of God is to receive it without deception. James directs us to the heart of the matter which is the matter of the heart. When we have entered into a personal relationship with God, He will increasingly gives to us His heart for others. And, it is out of the overflow of our hearts that our hearts speak.

In v.27 of today's text we read, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

The genuineness of our religion is determined by the opinion of God. And, God says we are religious when our lives are marked by our love for the needy. Martin Luther, as I am sure you know, had a problem with the book of James being included in the Bible. But, when we approach our study of this book from the standpoint that he is writing to believers, we do not have the issue of the scenario that if a person does not act in a certain way that he is not saved. 

Here, James is saying that if we do not respond to God through our trials and temptations in dependence upon God, we will lack His wisdom. And, when we lack His wisdom, we will miss the heart of what it is all about. The heart of it all is not that we earn God's favor. No, we can't earn God's favor. But, once we have God's favor through believing in the finished word of the Lord Jesus on the cross, we are set in the right direction to get what this life is really all about. And, if our heart is not involved, we will have been derailed from the point of the faith.

The words, "look after" in James 1:27 carries the idea of bringing love and compassion to someone who has been abandoned. The orphans and the widows have nothing to give us. And, when we give to them, our hearts motive will be revealed. This word is used by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 25 when He said, "When I was sick and you visited." It means "you came and you cared enough to help me in my need." It means our hearts will be engaged in the process of helping the needy. It means helping those who can not return the favor.

Now, God places a huge premium in His Word upon the orphans and the widows. As the tongue is not comprehensively indicative of Christianity, so widows and orphans are not comprehensively indicative of Christianity. But they are as representative of love as the tongue is representative of a pure heart. God has always been concerned with the fatherless and widows. Replete is His word for the helpless. And, when we have His heart, we will have a heart for them.

Our acquisition of God's word and wisdom is made manifest by how we love people who are in need and can not repay us. In addition, as James writes at the end of v.27, true religion is "to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." That is to say, "the culture of this world is not defining us, God is."

The believer in Jesus Christ will be, to some degree, defined by God. And, he will increasingly, not be defined by this world. As believers, we have been set apart by God. We have the good news that has set us free from the false in this world. And, once we have come into a personal relationship with God, we will want others to know what we have come to know. And, in order to be effective at sharing this good news, we must not be defined by this world, we must be defined by God.

Finally, it is not our perfection that proves our personal relationship with God through His Son. No, it is our reaction to our imperfection that proves that we have a personal relationship with God. It is our authenticity in our personal relationship with Him. The pattern of our lives changed the day we entered into this personal relationship that we enjoy with God. That day, He began the process of transforming our hearts and subsequently our lives. We now care about people in need. We now care about what God cares about. We now are increasingly being defined by God and not this world. 

James 1:22-25

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22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. ~ James 1:22-25

Today, we come back to James 1 where we have been for several days, and, rightfully so. James 1 is a testament to the depth of the Word of God. The Bible is the most popular book in the world despite a considerable amount of opposition waged against it. Unlike other religious texts, advocating good works to please an unreachable god, the Bible uniquely teaches that salvation is a gift from God that does not require human works. 

The Bible reveals that Jesus is God and that He saves us through His death and resurrection. No other sacred book claims that its leader rose from the dead. The God of Scripture is not a far-off, uncaring god but the Creator of all things who is intimately involved in the lives of His creation. 

In v.22 of today's text we read, " Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

In this chapter, James, one of the four half brothers of the Lord Jesus, gives a portrait of what it looks like to have biblical faith. In this chapter James provides certain tests that can enable us to know that we have real biblical faith in the God of the Bible. The first is how we respond to trials. The second is how we respond to temptation. A trial is simply a situation which God allows or brings into our lives to strengthen our dependence upon Him. And, with the trials, there always looms the temptation. The temptation there to get us to make a go at life without the influence of God on our souls.

Here in v.22, James provides the third test to determine whether our faith is biblical or not. And, that test is how we respond to the Word of God. The hearer of God's Word who is not a doer of the Word is deceived. Back in James 1:18, James reminded us we were born again through the Word of truth. The Word of God gave us new life. God used His Word to wake us up spiritually. How we respond to the Word of God is indicative of our spiritual state toward God.

When we seek God in the midst of our trials and temptations, He promises that we will receive His wisdom. And, once we have that wisdom, we will be able to recognize the genius of God's Word. And, to ignore His Word is plain dumb because the alternative leads to all sorts of destruction in our lives.

The word deceive means to reason beside or alongside. It means to be beside yourself. The mathematical use of this word, when it appears in mathematical terminology, outside of the Bible, means to miscalculate, to reckon wrongly. If we think just hearing God's Word is enough, we have made a gross miscalculation. We are self-deceived through this false reasoning. 

In v.23-24 of today's text we read, "23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."

Now, in order to explain this deception, James develops a very graphic analogy in v.23-24. This man is like someone who looks carefully into a mirror, and as a result, he sees the details of his condition in the mirror. This word "looks" means to observe carefully. It doesn’t mean to take a casual glance. He comes to the Word of God which shows him his sin, and he gets distracted. He goes back to his life and he forgets what he saw. The message did not stick. His problem is he has not the wisdom of God guiding his sights.

In v.25 of today's text we read, "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do."

The Greek word used here for "looks" literally means to stoop over, to bend down to examine something with care and precision. Here is a person who really gets into it, and really searches out the Word of God. The stooping implies a humbling of oneself, looking intently with great desire and effort at the mirror, wanting to discern what is revealed.

Our attitude when we come to the hearing of the Word of God is the key to everything. Preparing our hearts to receive the message from God and responding to it is the key to it all. And, what best prepares our hearts for God's Word is the wisdom of God which is garnered through our trials and temptations. Resisting the lure of turning away from God in those most difficult moments is the preparation we need to see the impact of His wisdom on our lives.

The law James speaks of here is not the Law of Moses which condemns. This law gives freedom to the believer in Christ because Christ has fulfilled the Law of Moses and has given to us His perfection. This law James speaks of does not get us into heaven, it gets heaven into us right now.

At the end of v.25 we read, "they will be blessed in what they do."

When we obey God's Word, we will access God's blessing. As a result of accepting life’s tests and temptations, as friends, we are prepared for God's wisdom and blessing. The pain brought on by interruptions and disappointments, by loss and failure, by accidents and disease, is the long and arduous road toward spiritual maturity. The blessing here is not garnered in the hearing, only, the blessing is garnered in the hearing and the doing. Countless people have given testimony around the world of freedom from substance abuse, destructive lifestyles, lying, and stealing, due to learning to be hearers and doers of God's Word.