James is
practical Christianity and challenges us who name the name of Christ to live
out what we believe. It was James who said: “faith without works is dead”.
(James 1:17) The author of James is considered by most to be the half-brother
of Jesus. If this is correct; perhaps James had a strong desire to live
righteously because James would have earlier denied Jesus during his earthly
ministry. (Mark 3:21-35, John 7:5) Whatever His motives under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, (2 Peter : 1:21) James’ letter is considered by some NT
adherents to be on par with Jesus’ sermon on the mount (Mathew 5-7) in terms of
the level of conviction which the book delivers.
For those
who think the Christian faith is about a “personal relationship” with Jesus
apart from outward works that manifest themselves to people; the truth found in
James chatters such false notions. While it is true that salvation is always
received as a gift apart from any works on our part, (Ephesians 2:8-9) the
complete truth is that genuine salvation will always produce good works that
bear witness to the inward or outward profession of faith that a Christian will
make. (Ephesians 2:10)
Over the millennia;
many scholars have debated whether or not salvation (saving faith) is based on
faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone (Refer to the five solas of the
protestant reformation) or whether that grace spoken of in Ephesians 2:8-9 is
in fact good works on our part to earn merit with God. As in the matter of
which came first: the chicken or the egg, I believe that faith (the chicken)
always proceeds good works because prior to being born-again; we are unable to
do any works worthy of meriting approval from a Holy God. (Romans 8:8)
The primary
(priority) work that God gives us to do in this dispensation is to believe in His
Son Jesus Christ to be made righteous. (Justified in His sight) (John 6:29,
Romans 3:24) Once a person is made righteous; than their works will become
righteous as well. (Mathew 12:33) Going back to the point about the human
debate concerning the relationship between saving faith and good works; James’s
letter is written in defense that being a Christian involves more that
intellectual assent to a bunch of facts about Jesus. On the contrary; being a
Christian should revolutionize our living and practicalize our inward faith
through outward virtues such as service, mercy, or charity. (James 2:18-20) In
the end however; the final judgment of human works will be reserved by God
alone and He will judge each according to their deeds. Justice and fairness
will be accomplished perfectly by an omniscient, (all-knowing) holy God whose
standard is perfectly righteous. (Mathew 25: 31-46)
Assignment: Read James: Chapter 1
Question 1:
Do you like being tested?
Why or why
not?
Question 2:
Why do we need to have our faith tested?
Question 3:
According to James 1:9-11; what should our perspective be concerning the riches
of this world in light of the brevity of our earthly lives and the eternal
benefit of knowing Jesus Christ?
Question 4:
What is the crown of life and who will receive one?
Question 5:
Can God be tempted to do evil?
Question 6:
Does God tempt people to do evil?
(Discussion)
Question 7: Read verses 14-15 to carefully. Although Satan is a tempter,
(Mathew 4:1-11, Genesis 3:4-5, 1 Chronicles 21:1, James 4:7) where does human
temptation originate from? (Genesis 3:6)
Question 8:
What qualities are necessary to avoid temptations while going through trials?
Question 9:
Why is it important to be a doer of the word?
As mentioned
in the introduction last week; the Christian faith encompasses all of our being
and has a transformative effect on our entire lives. No stone is to be left
unturned so to speak. Partiality is common in the secular world because people
naturally tend to judge others based on external, superficial values such as
beauty, position, wealth, power, etc. (1 Samuel 10:23-24, 1 Samuel 16:6-13, 1
Samuel 17:4-11)
Question 10: What is
it called when we judge others according to outward clothing or appearance and
why is it sinful?
Assignment: Read James: Chapter 2
Christians
are not to behave that way however and special mention in James 2 :1-13
addresses this common problem; even amongst God’s people. The 12 apostles also
wrangled for special positions amongst themselves while with Jesus (Luke
9:46-50) and in certain occasions, viewed others with contempt (feeling the
other is beneath you) because they didn’t belong to their group.
The main
concept of Christianity is that it is God’s kingdom, which is Christ’s kingdom;
not our own. God is the one who saves and God is the one who gives worth to
people apart from human judgement which is often confused and distorted based
on self interest and selfishness. All people are valuable because they are
created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and the elect are especially valuable to
God because they are the objects of His divine mercy and grace. (Colossians
3:12)
Question 2:
According to James: chapter 2:8, what is the more excellent way to live towards
others than sinfully judging them because of evil feelings of superiority?
Behaving
partially towards other believer’s breaks the perfect law of God and therefore
creates disunity and disharmony between the body of Christ. Partiality may not
be as damaging as adultery or murder for example; but it is a sin none the less
and should be condemned and destroyed. The Bible says we must crucify the flesh
which means we must put to death any feelings of superiority we may harbor
towards other people. Jesus’s kingdom exalts humility and service above
self-importance and lording it above others anyways. (Mathew 23:11, James 4:6)
An indicator whether a person is truly born again is whether they are capable
of showing mercy to others. (James 2:13)
Question 3: Why
does mercy triumph over judgement?
Having faith
and claiming to have faith are not necessarily the same. One is genuine (faith
that manifests in good works) and one is false.
(Faith that does not manifest in good works) genuine faith goes beyond
intellectual assent to facts (James 2:19) and manifests itself in obedience.
The example that James gives is Abraham (Genesis 15:1-9) and Rahab (Joshua
2:1-21)
What acts of
obedience were demonstrated by:
Abraham:
Rahab:
Question 4: How is
faith made perfect by works?
Discussion
Question: How do you seek to make your faith perfect?
Assignment: Read James: Chapter 3
James
chapter 3 : 1-12
speaks to our small, yet powerful body part; our tongue. James cautions the
reader that the tongue (Which produces speech) has the potential to commit
great sin or bless its Creator. The tongue however is just an extension of
human nature and is therefore not the origin of evil; but rather a broadcaster
of human depravity or an instrument of God’s redeeming goodness in the life of
the believer. (Proverbs 4:23)
Question 1: How might the tongue (speech) have been used prior to the fall of man and
compare that to how speech is used in the world today.
Question 2: How will we use our tongues when our bodies are glorified? (without a sin
nature)
Through
James; the Holy Spirit reveals that one of the marks of Christian perfection is
controlling our speech not to sin by what we say. (verse 2) For those of us who
want to gauge our own spiritual growth; our ability to govern our speech is one
way we can know where we stand towards our goal of Christian perfection.
Question 2: What
are some of the ways that we as Christians can guard our speech against sin?
Through
analogies of a rudder of a ship, a spark, or even the everlasting fires of
hell; James makes the case that our tongue is uncontrollable apart from God’s
power, which alone can tame the tongue. God therefore grants us reason and
wisdom to use our speech for good and not evil. (verse 12)
Question 3: What
example can you give from scripture where someone used their tongue for good?
The Holy
Spirit through James continues (verse 13-18) to confront sinful political
practices that people act out because of carnality. (sin nature) These sinful
practices (envy, bitterness, self-seeking) have the appearance of wisdom in the
world’s eyes because they appeal to mankind’s selfishness but are in fact
demonic. (Mathew 20:25) God’s wisdom is of a different sort than the world’s.
God’s wisdom is peaceable, gentle, yielding, merciful, full of good fruits and
without partiality. (verse 17-18
Discussion Question: Compare Ahab’s motive and the carnal (demonic) wisdom He used to get what He
wanted (1 Kings: 21) with David’s motive and the godly wisdom that He used to
do what God wanted. (2 Samuel 24:18-25)
Ahab’s demonic wisdom
Ahab’s
motive:
Ahab’s
actions:
David’s godly wisdom
David’s
motive:
David’s
actions
Assignment: Read James: Chapter 4
Earthly life requires a temporary pleasure passport. When we
begin to prioritizes seeking after the things of this life with no regard for
the things above, we are bound to run into conflict because our affection and
longing turn towards satisfying the creature rather than the Creator and our
longings for pleasure cannot be satisfied without a conflict of interest taking
place. If our passport is for pleasure only, we begin to view pleasure as an
end to a means rather than a means to an end. Ultimately; God is a good God who
is to be enjoyed for his splendor, majesty, and glory and our earthly blessings
are meant to bring us temporary satisfaction and ultimately lead us to worship
and magnify the God who gives life and every good gift. (James 1 :17) Enjoying
pleasure with thanksgiving and gratitude towards God means we hold a temporary
pleasure passport but our final destination is not the pleasure itself but
rather; enjoying fellowship with the God who gives to all creatures abundantly.
Question 1: Why did God give us capacity to enjoy pleasure when human
pride can turn pleasure into a vice?
One of the ways an unwholesome want of pleasure manifests
itself is when we strife with others when our own personal desires are not met
and / or our own personal wishes are not fulfilled by others. James answers one
of the most important and often asked questions from all mankind. James answers
the question: what is the origin of the evil of war? (James 4:1-4)
Question 2: What is the origin fighting and wars?
The tragedy of going to war with others for our desires is
that only God above is able to satisfy all of our needs according to His riches
in glory in Christ Jesus if we would only ask. (Philippians 4:19) How
ridiculous for someone to seek fulfilment in life apart from God alone who can
bring true, lasting satisfaction. When we submit ourselves to God; (verse 7)
than and only then can God’s grace overflow in our hearts and eclipse a
downward spiral of craving after destructive desires. God’s grace in our lives
will lead us to contentment with God’s provision in our life. (Romans 5:20)
James points to the solution of drawing near to God so that
our evil desires will not overwhelm us. (Verse 8-10) (Psalm 73:28) James uses
the picture of Old Testament Priests washing their hands as an external symbol
of purifying our hearts before a Holy God. This exercise of purifying involves
being broken hearted about sin and recognizing that not all desires are good or
pleasing to God. (Psalm 51:17)
Question 3 How can we keep our church pure from evil desires?
Verse 11-12 warns again against using careless speech to
damage someone else. (i.e., talking down, criticizing, gossiping, slanderous
accusations. (Psalm 141:3)
Planning with Jesus (verse 13-17) is the privilege of every
believer in Christ and one of the awesome ways for us to bear witness to God’s
faithfulness in our lives as we track God’s dealings with us as we commit our
plans into God’s hands.
Question 4: How are you planning with Jesus in the new year for your own
life, and the life of your church?
Assignment: Read James: Chapter 5
In contrast
to 1 Timothy 6:17; the evil-rich mentioned in James 5:1-6 are hypocrites associated
with the church and bearing the name of “Christian” as a cover for their true
god; wealth. (Philippians 3:19) I Timothy 6:17 tells wealthy people not to
trust in the uncertainties of riches but rather to trust in God and that God
provides all things to freely enjoy. The evil-rich mentioned here in James had
gotten some of their riches by robbing their labourers. (Verse 4) The result is
that these pleasure lovers turned to excess which became for them a form of
divine judgment. (Verse 5) God desires that the poor who are oppressed exercise
patience with those who oppress them by remembering the soon return of the
Lord. (Verse 8)
Question 1: Describe in
your own words why hoarding up wealth or living in excess pleasure is sinful?
Persecution
could/can lead to grumbling but complaining is also a sin so we need to instead
choose perseverance over collapsing under the weight of rich oppressors or
violent persecutors. God’s people are on the winning side and our Judge (Jesus
Christ) will soon deliver the final verdict. James points us back to the
prophets and Job who also choose perseverance. (Job 13, 42)
Question 2: Jesus Christ
is the ultimate example of perseverance under persecution. How did Jesus Christ
triumph over his persecutors? (Hebrews 12:2)
Don’t make
oaths! Let your yes be yes and your no be no. (James 5:12, Mathew 5:37) Verse
13-19 tells us how we need to handle oppression and persecution. Elders
(pastors, church leaders) need to pray and help strengthen those who are
spiritually downtrodden. (Verse 14) People undergoing oppression need to pray
for themselves also. (17-18) We are also to confess our sins to others. (Verse
16)
Question 3: What are
some ways we as Christians can minister to the hurting?
Verse 19-20
addresses the problems of apostacy. (Those who abandon the faith) Since these
people were never saved to begin with but had a sense of what Christianity is
about but on a superficial basis; effort to win these types of people for
Christ are notable since their soul would be saved from destruction. (Verse 20)
