Re: Saved?

For example: John 15:1-17

This is a really wonderful chapter. In this chapter Jesus is speaking to those who are already saved and explaining to them the various differences in His relationship with those who are saved. He's not telling them how to be saved, he's telling them how to be in a good relationship with Him. How they can "abide" in Him.

John 15:1–8, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

To get it out of the way right off the bat Jesus tells us that if someone bears no fruit at all, they've never been saved and since they were never saved to start with, He "cuts them off". (like Judas)

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

This is one of my most favorite verses of all! We are clean!!! Totally, completely clean! There are no "ands", "ifs" or 'buts" or "excepts" about this statement. Those who have been saved are clean! We are forgiven of ALL our sins, past, present and future!

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Again, now He's not talking about salvation, He's talking about relationship. We remain in Him when we are living according to His Ways rather then the worlds ways. When we backslide or sin, we are no loner "in Him". We're still saved, just not in relationship with Him; just as my children weren't when they misbehaved. He explains that the only way we can bear fruit for Him, which is His will for us is if we remain in Him. In other words when we start trying to do things in our own strength it's not going to work. We must be in a close personal relationship with Him in order to do His Will and in order to live the way God wants us to.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

uh oh! now does this mean we lose our salvation? Again, no! He is still explaining what happens to us both when we are living in Him and when we don't. And there are times for all of us when we're not living in Him, simply because we're still human and we haven't yet received our new bodies and had our old nature removed. (that won't happen till the rapture)

When we aren't abiding in Him, we cannot produce fruit. Our prayers are pretty worthless and we're usually living in a worldly manner at least partially. Here Jesus is giving us a visual clue to what's happening to us spiritually when we're not plugged into Him, when we're not abiding in Him. We begin to "wither" spiritually. Next, Jesus isn't saying He's going to pick us up and throw us away, He's simply continuing with his comparison and saying that those who are withered and not living in Him are like withered up branches that the gardener throws away. We're worthless to Him in that condition. Jesus knows, because He knows our hearts, that for those of us who are saved (and remember, He's talking to people that are already saved) there could be nothing worse then to think that we would be withering up and dead inside spiritually and so worthless to Him. That's why He gives us that word picture to remember it by.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Now He goes back to when we are abiding in Him and reminds us to always remain in Him, not to let ourselves get disconnected and wither up. He tells us that as long as we're remaining in Him, our prayers are answered and we will bear a lot of fruit for Him.

John 15:9–12, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

OK, NOW is Jesus threatening us? Of course not! He again is telling us to remember that we need to remain in Him. Then He tells us how to do that. We do it by being obedient to Him. He even explains that that was how He remained in His Father's love while He was here. He did that to show us how we could remain in Him.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

His last statement here about why He's telling us this should put to rest any possible fear that "remaining in Him" is talking about our salvation. He's not threatening us. Instead He wants us to be filled with His Joy. He wants us to have lives of victory and joy in His love. He can and will give us that, that was His intention from the very start, but too often people simply accept His gift of salvation and let it end there. Those people will NOT live in His joy or victory. Only those who remain in Him after they are saved will live in joy and victory!

Just to make sure there's no misunderstanding at all, I want to reiterate that we all go in and out of this relationship with Him. (when I say "we" I'm meaning those of us who are truly disciples and following Him and not those who say they are Christians but don't remain in Him. They are not in a close personal relationship with Him.)

How do we fall out of this or stop "abiding in Him"? Whenever we sin for one thing, or whenever we fall back into old worldly patterns--maybe laugh at a crude joke that we shouldn't have even listened to, allowed ourselves to watch something on TV we shouldn't have, when we stop studying His Word, when we're disrespectful to others, etc. We get back into step with Him though confessing our sin and turning around (repenting) and going back to being obedient to Him.

Finally both so you'll know this isn't just "my" idea of what this means and so you'll have an even better understanding of this foundational teaching, I want to quote from two commentaries that I think you'll enjoy reading:

The key word is abide; it is used eleven times in John 15:1–11 (“continue” in John 15:9 and “remain” in John 15:11). What does it mean to “abide”? It means to keep in fellowship with Christ so that His life can work in and through us to produce fruit. This certainly involves the Word of God and the confession of sin so that nothing hinders our communion with Him (John 15:3). It also involves obeying Him because we love Him (John 15:9–10).

How can we tell when we are “abiding in Christ”? Is there a special feeling? No, but there are special evidences that appear and they are unmistakably clear. For one thing, when you are abiding in Christ, you produce fruit (John 15:2). Also, you experience the Father’s “pruning” so that you will bear more fruit (John 15:2). The believer who is abiding in Christ has his prayers answered (John 15:7) and experiences a deepening love for Christ and for other believers (John 15:9, 12–13). He also experiences joy (John 15:11).

This abiding relationship is natural to the branch and the vine, but it must be cultivated in the Christian life. It is not automatic. Abiding in Christ demands worship, meditation on God’s Word, prayer, sacrifice, and service—but what a joyful experience it is! Once you have begun to cultivate this deeper communion with Christ, you have no desire to return to the shallow life of the careless Christian.

....The vinedresser prunes the branches in two ways: he cuts away dead wood that can breed disease and insects, and he cuts away living tissue so that the life of the vine will not be so dissipated that the quality of the crop will be jeopardized. In fact, the vinedresser will even cut away whole bunches of grapes so that the rest of the crop will be of higher quality. God wants both quantity and quality.....

....The greatest judgment God could bring to a believer would be to let him alone, let him have his own way. Because God loves us, He “prunes” us and encourages us to bear more fruit for His glory. If the branches could speak, they would confess that the pruning process hurts; but they would also rejoice that they will be able to produce more and better fruit.

Your Heavenly Father is never nearer to you than when He is pruning you. Sometimes He cuts away the dead wood that might cause trouble; but often He cuts off the living tissue that is robbing you of spiritual vigor. Pruning does not simply mean spiritual surgery that removes what is bad. It can also mean cutting away the good and the better so that we might enjoy the best. Yes, pruning hurts, but it also helps. We may not enjoy it, but we need it.

How does the Father prune us? Sometimes He simply uses the Word to convict and cleanse us. (The word translated “purge” in John 15:2 is the same as “clean” in John 13:10. See Eph. 5:26–27.) Sometimes He must chasten us (Heb. 12:1–11). At the time, it hurts when He removes something precious from us; but as the “spiritual crop” is produced, we see that the Father knew what He was doing.
The Bible exposition commentary

I absolutely must share this one because it talks especially to those of us with computers LOL This might make it easier to remember too.

Computer networks have become important systems in today’s competitive marketplace. They enable teams of workers in different offices, at regional sites, and even from around the world to join together on tasks that would otherwise be difficult if not impossible.
One way of setting up a network is to use a central computer to handle the main programming, storage, and communication functions, with remote workstations for individual input and retrieval. This is similar to the situation that Jesus described in His image of the vine and the branches (John 15:1–10):

(1) Jesus is the key (15:1). Like the central processing unit of a computer system, Jesus provides the life, the direction, and the commands for His followers, those of us “on-line.”
(2) To be effective, believers must maintain their relationship with Jesus (15:4). In order to use the features of a network, a user must remain attached to the network. If one “signs off,” there is no more access to the central computer or to others in the network. Likewise, if we allow sin to disrupt our walk with Christ, we lose fellowship with Him and with other believers (1 John 1:6–7).
(3) Jesus wants His followers to be productive (John 15:5–8). Companies install computer networks so that their employees can get their work done. The systems cost too much to be treated as toys or to be underutilized. Correspondingly, the relationship that believers have with God was purchased through Christ’s blood, so we need to take it seriously. Christ wants us to enjoy walking with Him, but He also wants us to accomplish His purposes.
(4) To love Jesus is to follow His commands (15:9–10). Occasionally network users receive an “error message” indicating that they have not followed the instructions of the program correctly. By the same token, Jesus has given us commands to follow, and the only way to experience His life and power is to obey those commands. To do so is not only practical, but an expression of our love for the Lord.

Are you “on-line” with Jesus, drawing on His resources and obeying His commands? Is your life productive, accomplishing the tasks and responsibilities that He has assigned to you?
Word in life study Bible

Saved?

I know that often when we're first saved we come with many questions and even doubts about our salvation and what exactly it means, how we can be sure of it, if we can etc. This isn't anything new because even the first Christians had all these same questions and doubts. The Lord made sure that the apostles dealt with all these things in His Word though so that we can know for sure what the answers to these questions and doubts are.
1 John 5:13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Let's take a close look at John's statement here. He says I write "these things" to you, so what are the things he's talking about? He's talking about what he said just prior to this statement. So let's see what he just said there:

1 John 5:9–12, We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

John is telling us that he wrote this to us so that we would know, without any doubt that we are saved and have eternal life in Jesus. Now, just to make sure we're really understanding John, let's look and see what the original word that was translated "know" means in the original language: (If you see circles or squares etc it's because you don't have the Greek or Hebrew language installed on your computer)

3857 οἶδα (oida): vb.; ≡ DBLHebr 3359; Str 1492; TDNT 5.116—1. LN 28.1 know, possess information about
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek

3359 יָדַע (yā∙ḏǎʿ): v.; ≡ Str 3045; TWOT 848—1. LN 28.1–28.16 (qal) know, i.e., possess information about
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew

1492 οἶδα [eido, oida /i·do/] v. A root word; TDNT 5:116; TDNTA 673; GK 3857; translates as “know” to know. 2A to know of anything. 2B to know, i.e. get knowledge of, understand, perceive. 2B1 of any fact. 2B2 the force and meaning of something which has definite meaning.
Strong, J. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible

3609a. οἶδα oida; perf. of 1491a; to have seen or perceived, hence to know:—appreciate(1), aware(3), become learned(1), having a knowledge(1), knew(16), knew … about(1), know(216), know about(1), know how(9), knowing(36), known(4), known about(1), knows(15), knows how(1), realize(1), realizing(2), recognize(3), , understand(5), understanding(1).
New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries

1. ginosko (γινώσκω, 1097) signifies “to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, understand,” or “to understand completely,”
2. oida (Perf. of εἴδω, 1492), from the same root as eidon, “to see,” is a perfect tense with a present meaning, signifying, primarily, “to have seen or perceived”; hence, “to know, to have knowledge of,” whether absolutely, as in divine knowledge
Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words

With all of that there should be no doubt in our minds that John meant exactly what he said. He wants us to KNOW that we are saved without any doubts whatsoever. He is writing to us who are saved, not to people who aren't. He tells us in the preceding verses how we can know for sure we're saved. He says that anyone who believes in Jesus has God's testimony (the Holy Spirit) in his heart. In other words, we have God's Truth in our hearts. God's Truth says that Jesus has given us Eternal Life. So those who don't know this, don't have God's testimony in their hearts and aren't saved.

John was writing this to specifically counter the false teaching that was going around at the time that Jesus didn't give people eternal life.

What tends to confuse people now is something that really didn't confuse the early Christians because they understood what was being said. We tend to confuse the issue of salvation with the issue of "abiding in Christ" and look at them as though they were the same thing, but they're not. This particular letter that John is writing is being written to clear up false teaching and to explain to those who are already saved how to live a life of fellowship with God. If you'd like to know more about that subject, we did this study on it: The principles of all genuine fellowship with God

Now let's clear up the difference between these two things, salvation and living in fellowship with God. Remember, these are Jew's that he is talking to for the most part. They've been saved but they're not accustomed to having a personal relationship with God. They're accustomed to just having the law to follow and priests to intervene with God for them. What Jesus taught about what's in their hearts being more important then what they did was really radical to them. Now they knew that if they felt lust for a woman it was just as much a sin as if they'd actually had sex with her. This was difficult for them to process as it can be for us too. But now they didn't need to have a priest sacrifice for them and go through all kinds of rituals to become "clean". Instead they could just go straight to God.

Now comes the part that's hard for us to get but that they seemed to understand easily. Through the Law, God taught the Jews a number of very important things. One being that He is Holy and cannot abide sin.

Habakkuk 1:13, Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.

Being Holy means that God is separate from sin which is why He taught the Jew's (and us) about the difference between "clean" and "unclean" and told them to separate themselves from the other nations. They were to be (and still are to be) a Holy Nation, separate from sin, just like God. That's what we're to be as well.

Ephesians 1:4, For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

1 Peter 1:16, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

So it was a very serious matter when a Jew sinned and took a lot of ritual (and dare I say "tradition") to get it cleared up. This was hard for them to let go of and something the false teachers grabbed hold of to try and entice them with. Whereas Jesus had come and told them that for those who were saved, their sins were forgiven. All their sins: past, present and future! But the Jews understood what we don't seem to. That even though they're forgiven, when we sin after we've been saved, it still puts a damper on our relationship with God. Our sins may be forgiven, but until we recognize that sin and repent of it, confessing it to Him (which means agreeing with Him that it is a sin) we have put a block in our relationship with Him. We are no longer "abiding" in Him, or in fellowship with Him. We're back on the outside, looking in.

We haven't lost our salvation--not at all! If we did, it would make God a liar just as John said! We've simply fallen out of fellowship with Him. Let me see if I can use an every day example to make this plain.

My children were pretty average kids. They had their good days and their bad days. When they misbehaved they didn't stop being my children, but our relationship definitely cooled! They knew when they'd been bad was not a good time to ask me for a favor! In fact, they knew that they'd better not ask for much of anything until I got an apology from them. It didn't mean that I'd stopped loving them or that they weren't my child any longer or that I was no longer their mother. It simply meant that they were not in fellowship with me any more. Our relationship was no longer "easy".

As soon as I got that apology though and they began to behave themselves, our relationship went back to normal. Our relationship, our fellowship, was "close" and "easy" again.

This is the difference between when the bible is talking about salvation and abiding in Christ. (it's also referred to as walking in Christ, living in Christ, fellowship in Christ, etc.) It is not referring to our salvation except for the fact that only those who are saved can have this fellowship or relationship with Him.

Once you understand this it makes the bible MUCH easier to understand and takes the fear out of those passages for us. I'll give you an example in the next post.

Read and reply on Fresh Hope

The Bema Judgment of Believers

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."

1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

This is the judgment that every believer will go through after the rapture. Notice that the judgment isn't about our sins, or concerning our salvation. We are all saved period and that will never be taken from us. However this judgment concerns everything we have said and done since the moment of our salvation. The foundation laid for each of us was Jesus Himself, and it's what we built on that foundation that will be judged.

I want to point out that God isn't going to just judge the quantity of our work, but He will also judge it's quality. Therefore someone who has spent their entire life in missionary work or volunteering in soup kitchens or something like that, but whose heart had not really been in it, and who wasn't truly doing it for Jesus, won't be rewarded for it. Yet another person who out of love and concern for their fellow man because of what Jesus did for them, helped a neighbor, will be rewarded for that act of kindness. So this is about our hearts and our attitudes as well. If we tell others about Jesus because we're trying to earn brownie points with God, then it will be burned away as dross; but if we tell others about Jesus because we love Him, and because we want to see that person saved, then that will be judged worthy or reward.
I think the biggest question I had when I first heard about this was "how does someone build on that foundation?" That is answered in God's word too. The first way we build on the foundation is by something I'm quite sure you're all sick and tired of hearing me say. It's God's Truth though so I'll say it yet again. We build on it every time we read, study, and reflect on God's Word and talk to Him about it. Again if we are "reading the bible" out of a feeling of "duty" then that won't build on the foundation and will be burned away as dross. If however we are reading and studying His Word because we love Him and want to know more about Him and know His Will for us, and know more so we can speak intelligently to others about Him, that will build on the foundation and be rewarded.

So the first two ways and the foremost ways we build on the foundation is
1. by reading, studying and reflecting on God's Word and
2. through prayer.

In other words, by working to become mature in Christ.

I want to say a little more about prayer here though because many types of prayers will survive the fire as will the time spent praying them. Anytime we spend time praying for others or praying for God to help us understand His Word or His Will for us etc will survive the fire.

The next thing that builds on the foundation is

3. telling others about God. That includes things like witnessing, discipling others, teaching others, teaching Sunday School, or bible class, or even doing what I'm doing right now. It would include answering other people's questions about God and anything else that has to do with this. Again though it must be being done out of our love and gratitude to God for our salvation and not because we think we "have to" or because we want to look good to others.

The next area that builds on the foundation concerns how we live our lives after salvation. Anything we do regularly that is in line with God's will for our lives will build on the foundation. For example,

1. wives submitting to their husbands, raising their children to know the Lord and His Ways, honoring their husbands and being a good godly wife to them, even something as simple as keeping their house clean because they know that's what Jesus would want them to do;

2. husbands loving their wives the way Christ loved the church--with a sacrificial love, raising their children to know the Lord and His Ways, being responsible for the spiritual development and growth of their wife and children;

3. having a good work ethic and working for the Lord and not man--in other words, when you do your best even though you could get away with doing less because you know that's what Jesus asks of us; when you put up with being treated badly, not getting that promotion etc because you know that your real boss is God and not a man and that your reward for your work will be much better then any raise a man could give you.

4. Managing your money in accordance with God's Word. Being a good steward of all He's given you. Paying your bills on time etc.

5. Giving money toward God's work in the world. Supporting your minister/church or whoever or wherever you are fed; giving to Christian charities that help others, for example two of the places I give to are Teen Challenge and Moody Radio. Supporting missionaries and their work. Supporting Christian pro life organizations that work with mothers to help them keep their babies, train them in parenting skills, get them the things they need and help pay for their medical care etc. Any place or person that you support that is doing God's Will would come under this.

6. Another area of our lives that would survive the fire would be areas where we take good care of our bodies so that we can be healthy and fit so we can serve the Lord as well as we can. Again here it makes a difference what your attitude about it is and why you're really doing it. If you're doing body building so you can look sexy, that's not going to survive the fire. If you're exercising so you can do the things that the Lord wants you to do, that will survive.

7. Another area would be how we dress and the impression we give others when they first see us as well as when they get to know us. If we're dressing according to God's Will which is to dress modestly and we're doing it because we know it's God's Will and we desire to obey Him and please Him, that will survive the fire.

8. Anything we do for others out of concern for them or to help them will survive the fire because the Lord tells us to help others.

9. Obeying the authorities over us, our government, the laws etc will also survive the fire as the Lord tells us we are to obey the laws unless they contradict God's Word. For children, obeying their parents will survive the fire for they are told to obey their parents.

10. Time spent at church or in His worship will survive the fire IF we are there for the right reasons. Again if it's "duty" or to "look good" then it won't survive, but if we're there because we love God and want to be where He wants us then it will survive. It doesn't matter what kind of church it is, where it is--such as in an "official church denomination" or in your own home--if you are meeting to worship God it will survive the fire. Now this one brings up a whole can of worms however since there are definite things we are to do and things we are not to do as far as church goes. We are not to tolerate false teaching of any kind, so if you're attending a church that does teach heresy and you have done nothing to stop it and are still there, then that won't survive the fire. Which brings us to the next point.

11. Times we've tried to steer people away from error and or heresy and or sin will survive the fire if we're doing it in love and because we love God and don't want others to miss out on anything.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

12. Time spent encouraging others and helping them get through hard times, helping them to keep their focus on God will survive the fire as well.

I'm sure that we could add many other things but what it boils down to is why we're living the way we are. What are we most concerned about? Are we more concerned with what others will think of us, or are we more concerned with what God will think?

The things that are going to burn up are all the time we've wasted, the times we've spent in frivolous things, times we've spent on selfish things. The time we've wasted "looking out for ourselves" instead of others.

Now the Lord doesn't expect us to spend 100% of our time working. He does want and allows us to have times for just refreshing ourselves. I know for myself though that I have often taken that "time for refreshing myself" to the extreme and that won't be honored.

So these are some of the main areas that will survive the fire and for which we will be richly rewarded. However it's about more then just rewards, it's also about how we are going to spend eternity. (notice I said "how" not "where"). We'll get into that tomorrow though as this is already quite long. I do want to leave you with a few more verses that speak about this judgment to reflect on though:

Luke 12:48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Matthew 10:40-42 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

2 John 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Hebrews 10:35-38 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

Hebrews 11:25-26 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Luke 14:12-14 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Bema Judgment of Believers on Fresh Hope

Growing up

“We are all as an unclean thing.”
— Isaiah 64:6

The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people—the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection of his nature, and will continue so to the end of his earthly life. The black fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere the great Potter has finished it, upon the wheel. Selfishness defiles our tears, and unbelief tampers with our faith. The best thing we ever did apart from the merit of Jesus only swelled the number of our sins; for when we have been most pure in our own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in God’s sight; and as he charged his angels with folly, much more must he charge us with it, even in our most angelic frames of mind. The song which thrills to heaven, and seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath human discords in it. The prayer which moves the arm of God is still a bruised and battered prayer, and only moves that arm because the sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication. The most golden faith or the purest degree of sanctification to which a Christian ever attained on earth, has still so much alloy in it as to be only worthy of the flames, in itself considered. Every night we look in the glass we see a sinner, and had need confess, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as ours! How priceless a gift is his perfect righteousness! And how bright the hope of perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal. Yet a little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where nothing defileth.

Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings

What he says here is very true but I felt led to add both an admonition and an encouragement to it today. What he is basically trying to get across is simply how very far from the perfection of God even our very best is. Although we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin in this life, the Lord tells us that we are not to simply accept that give up trying to do better.

Romans 6:1-3 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:11-12 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

We are told over and over that we are no longer slaves to sin, we can now choose who we serve, sin or God, and that we are to choose righteousness over sin. Paul likens it to being an athlete in training which is really appropriate because this life for us is a school and we are in training for what we will be doing throughout eternity.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

We are told to remember our blessed hope because it is then that we will receive our new bodies which will be totally free from the stain of sin and those bodies will match the new spirit that was given us at salvation. So at the moment we receive our new bodies our "old spirit or nature" is totally done away with, it will no longer exist and the only spirit within us will be the new spirit that God placed in us at our salvation.

Think back again to the passage I just posted from Paul about how we are in training. I'm sure you've all familiar with the facts of life that if you don't use your muscles they will deteriorate and you'll get flabby and be out of shape. Even the world tells us that our minds are the same way--if we don't use them, then our ability to remember things will deteriorate and so will our ability to process and understand information. So just like a muscle you have to keep your brain in shape. We're all aware too that when a baby is born they aren't born knowing everything or being able to do all that an adult can do--they can't even crawl yet much less walk! Every moment a baby is awake they're learning; they're absorbing all the information around them, they're using their muscles as they wave their arms and legs around, etc so they're actually with the help of good parents training their bodies and minds. As they get older the training continues. Every parent wants their child to do their best and use all the abilities that God gave them, so they certainly don't want their children to get lazy and stop studying or even to stop playing because "play" is how they exercise their bodies too.

The reason I bring this up is because the new spirit the Lord puts in us at salvation is very much like a newborn baby. It's at a tremendous disadvantage too because it's been born right beside our old spirit which we've been "teaching and growing" every since we were born. If it wasn't for God's grace and mercy, our new spirits wouldn't stand a chance against our old fleshly spirit! God expects us to nurture our new spirit and grow it up to maturity. That's what Paul is talking about. We have to feed our new spirit with God's Word in order for it to have the knowledge and tools it needs to defend us from our old spirits.

This is why it's so true that the more time you spend in God's word, reading it, studying it, and reflecting on it, while talking to the Lord about it, the stronger and more mature your new spirit becomes. That's what becoming mature in Christ is all about. We want our new spirits to be mature when we receive those new bodies to match it! More importantly though, God wants us to be mature by then! While we will all have a wonderful life in eternity, God will not be mocked even then.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

We will all be saved, yes, but our future in eternity will be dependent upon how much we mature here. This is our one and only chance to grow our new spirits, train them and make them strong in the Lord. This is what this is talking about:

Hebrews 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Now for the encouragement. To put it simply and bluntly, the more time we spend in God's Word, talking to Him about it, reading, studying and reflecting on it, the stronger our spirit will be and the less we will sin; the stronger our connection to the Holy Spirit will be and the quicker we will hear Him as He guides us and teaches us. So while we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin as long as we are in these bodies, we do not have to be wallowing in it! We can be victorious over it to a great degree! No, we won't be perfect, but the more and more mature we become, the closer to perfect we'll get and the easier it will get too! Again, it's just like a baby growing up. When they're first learning to walk, they fall down a lot, and as new baby Christians or any Christian who hasn't worked to become mature in their faith, (by studying God's Word etc) when we first begin to say no to sin and fight against it, we'll fall down a lot. However, the more we study and talk to the Lord, the more mature we get and the stronger we become until little by little, we're not falling down so much anymore; and then after yet more time, we rarely fall down at all!

Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

We are living in the last days. There is no doubt about that anymore. God is calling us all back to His Word. This is our very last chance to grow to maturity in whatever time we have left here in this school. Have no doubt about it, the Lord is testing each of us to see if we are committed to Him and willing to obey Him by spending time each day studying, reading, and reflecting on His Word and talking to Him about it so that we can become mature. When we do that then the Lord changes us to be more like Jesus every day.

Re: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

As I was studying to prepare for today's post, I realized that I haven't mentioned something that would probably be helpful to you all.  You may already be aware of this for for those who aren't, I thought I'd better mention it.

When you are studying a book in the bible or even a topic, it's important to remember a couple of things.  First, it's not really a book.  James, as well as the other "Books" is a letter.  Now letters are written to specific people so in order to understand what's being said, it helps to know who the letter is being addressed to. In other words, who is James writing to? 

Is he writing mainly to Jewish unbelievers trying to convince them that Jesus is Lord? 

Is he writing mainly to Gentile unbelievers trying to convince them that Jesus is Lord? 

Is he writing to those who are already saved, mainly elders who are already spiritually mature? (Keep in mind that back then they would have never allowed someone to be a deacon, elder etc. that hadn't been saved for quite some time; those positions were only filled by people who were spiritually mature--people who both walked the walked and talked the talk; who could and did teach and disciple others etc.)

Is he writing to those who are saved in the congregations?  Remember that back then they didn't allow people to lie about what they were.  You were either saved or you weren't or you were pretending to be and were a false teacher.  They most certainly didn't teach or show "tolerance" for false beliefs, false teaching etc among their members.

The next thing you need to look for is what the main point of the letter is.  What is it the apostle is trying to get across to this group of people?  What is the theme?

Once you know who the letter is being written to, and what the theme of his letter is, it will help you determine what the writer means when he writes some things. 

In the book/letter of James that we're studying now, James is writing to people who are already saved.  His theme is spiritual growth and maturity  These folks are apparently still somewhere near the beginning stages of their Christian walk and he's attempting to show them how to become spiritually mature.  He's sharing with them what kinds of things will hold them back in their growth, what will help them move forward, what kind of things they can look for that are hallmarks of spiritual growth and what kind of things would show that they're going the wrong way-that instead of growing spiritually, that they are stagnating or back sliding. 

I guess you could almost look at this letter as though James was a teacher who had prepared his class for a test that was about to be given and he was now going over the material one last time and giving them a pep talk too to let them know he was sure they'd do just fine on the test tomorrow.

Because of that, James is a wonderful book for us to study, since we are all saved, and we are all looking to grow and become spiritually mature.  In many ways, you could even say that James is a "how to" letter to us!  He packs a lot of wisdom into a very short space!  So knowing this, we can continue on.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

Re: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

Today I'd like to look at this thing about "joy" a little more, picking up where we left off with the verse from 1 Peter. Even today's devotionals were about this subject so I'll start with a verse from them:

John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

I know most of us really don't like looking at "commands" and we certainly don't like calling them commands either, yet there it is. You know, over the years I've noticed something about God's commands to us, even the ones we don't like. All of them are for our good, not His. Even this next command which has to do with joy:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

God doesn't "need" us to pray. he already knows what we have, what we need and what we want--better then we ourselves do! So our prayers don't help Him. He doesn't need us to be joyful or to give thanks either. Again, it's not going to do a thing for Him. So why does He say that? He commands us to do these things because these things will help us. Like any good father, He knows what's best for us, what will truly make us happy and healthy etc, so He has made rules for us to follow so we can be joyful and happy all the time.

We don't have to follow His rules. We will still be saved if we don't follow His rules, so our salvation isn't at stake here, but something very important IS at stake. Our relationship with Him. Think about it on an earthly level. As a parent I too made rules for my children to live by and I expected them to follow my rules because they loved me. Sometimes they didn't though. When that happened, I didn't stop loving them, and they didn't suddenly stop being my children. Even the child that seemed to constantly rebel against the rules didn't stop being my child. It did affect our relationship with each other when they didn't obey me though. I would get upset, they would get rebellious and defensive. Generally they would either avoid me as much as they could and when they couldn't avoid me, they'd attempt to avoid the subject of what was wrong.

It's the same way with our Heavenly Father after we're saved. When we don't obey His rules it affects our relationship with Him. We find that we're no longer "abiding in Him" or "remaining in Him", because we're trying to either avoid Him or avoid the subject of the area we're in rebellion about. Often if this isn't taken care of we'll start trying to do things on our own instead of relying on Him and so our relationship will deteriorate even more. Again, we're still saved, but our relationship with Him isn't healthy and full anymore. So let's go back and look at those verses again now that this is clear:

John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

He has told us what so that our joy is complete? He has told us that the way to remain in His love is by obedience to His commands. Ouch! Now this Christian walk is starting to sound a little difficult! Now we have responsibilities. We are to obey His commands, but what do we get out of this? He says that if we do, His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete. Now that is quite a promise don't you think?

Does that word "complete" ring a bell? Remember where we heard it last?

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So here we again have joy and completion linked together again and Jesus and/or our faith in Him is also an integral part of both passages. If you think about it, that verse from 1 Peter has all these things as well because our goal is the completion of our salvation:

1 Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

So now we see that this joy is linked to Jesus and our faith in Him. Remember, this is a "living hope" a living faith, not just some head knowledge. We're talking heart knowledge if you will. We're talking about the joy from our relationship with Jesus, but not just from our side of that relationship, but from His side of it too. Now let's look at some other verses this time from Hebrews. First we learn something pretty amazing--

Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered! If that's how Jesus learned while He was on earth, why do we think we're so different that we could learn some other way? We've already seen how important obedience is in our relationship with Him, so if it's that important, to keep our relationship to Him close and good, doesn't it stand to reason that obedience is going to be one of our big lessons to learn?

Let's see what else Hebrews says about this subject of obedience, trials, suffering, discipline etc, faith, completion (remember, we receive the completion of our salvation when He comes to get us at the rapture), perseverance, and joy:

Hebrews 10:35-38 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

Hebrews 12:1-7 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

So once again we're right back at our relationship with the Lord. When we're saved we become His children. As His children He expects obedience and will discipline us to get it. He also will test us to refine our faith and encourage our growth to maturity. You see, we can't be "complete" if we're not mature. So all of this is entwined together. There's yet other words that are going to become part of this pattern too such as "peace", "holiness", "righteousness", and "our good". Let's look:

Hebrews 12:10-11 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

And how do we come by these things--righteousness, holiness and peace? We are trained by God's discipline and those trials we hate so much! Look again at what James says:

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Let's see what Paul said about being mature and complete:

Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Paul let's us know that even he knows he's not perfect yet, but he's doing his best to be obedient to God and so always presses onward. Then he says something very similar to what James says although we hadn't looked at that yet. he says that god will make this clear to us. Here's how James puts it:

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

We usually take this verse out of context and think it means that God will give us wisdom about anything we ask. While God will do that, in the context this verse is in, James is saying that God will give us wisdom about the subject he's talking about. So let's read it in context:

James 1:2-5 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

So James and Paul are telling us that if we want God's wisdom about our trials and how they can and should be faced with pure joy, and what those trials will do for us, that we must ask God for wisdom about it.

This is a good place to end for today and I hope we'll all ask the Lord to give us His wisdom about this subject, that He will open our eyes and ears that we might see and hear what He has to say to us about this.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

Re: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

Ok, let's start at the beginning then.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

Did you notice that James calls himself a servant of God and Jesus? The word translated servant means "bond slave". He is saying that he no longer owns his own life. Instead of determining his own future, he now belongs to God who bought him as His slave when He died for him on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So James doesn't just consider himself as God's slave. This isn't some special position that only the disciples and apostles filled. Instead, it's a position that all who have been saved are in. You and I are servants of God. Our lives are not our own. We hear that all the time and even say it, but do we really understand what that means??? This is the kind of attitude we're all to have every day, yet it's rare of any of us to even consider what God might want us to do that day. Most of us just continue to do whatever it was we normally do without giving it another thought. So this is for sure something we should reflect on and integrate into our daily lives.

James is writing this to his fellow Jews who have once again been scattered all over the world. This is still very relevant to us though because he's not writing it to just "regular Jews", he's writing it to Jew's who have been saved, just like him. These Jews are now Christians; they're "followers of the Way".

Acts 24:14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect.

So don't think this book isn't written to us, it is! Now comes his most astounding sentence:

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

This is just amazing! We are to consider it "pure joy" when we're going through trials! He had to have known that every person reading his letter was going to say, "What???" "How????" so that's what he deals with next. But first I want us to notice that he addresses this sentence to his "brothers". He doesn't put himself above them in any way nor is is talking down to them or even lecturing them. He's talking to them about a common experience they've all had and that he himself has had. Notice after he tells them that we should consider it pure joy, he says, "because you know". In other words, he's not telling them something new, he's just reminding them of what they've already learned through experience as has he.

So he tells them to consider it "pure joy", not partly joy and a bunch of hassle, not something to complain about, not something distasteful that we have to get through whether we like it or not, but instead, to consider it "pure joy". This is just about incomprehensible to most folks now I think. At least it sure was to me! I mean no matter how you look at it, like when you have to get a shot to protect you from a virus, you may have to do it, but you sure don't look forward to it with pure joy! So how in the world can we do that??? Why in the world would we do that???? Let's look and see.

James 1:3-4 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Ahhh! So that's it! We should consider it pure joy because we know that the trials will lead to our spiritual maturity, and as we become spiritually mature we become "complete, not lacking anything"! So we're not to see our trials as a calamity, or as something "bad" or as a punishment from God or curse of some kind etc. We're to see them instead as a test of our faith. One thing to keep in mind about this is that God doesn't test us to see if we'll fail, He tests us to help us succeed! One thing I have learned from experience with the Lord is that He will keep on testing you in an area over and over and over, until you DO succeed! He never gives up on us and He never leaves us.

If you'll recall when my husband first got laid off we were doing another study that had something to do with trials and I mentioned that I knew that it was a test for me and that I was determined to pass it because I didn't ever want to have to go through another test on that particular subject again!

At the time I said that, I knew that the trials we were going through was a test for me, but I didn't realize that all our trials are tests. So I'm just learning this too.

Most kids in school don't like tests and I think that hangs onto us even as adults. We often even view tests themselves as trials and now God's telling us to view the trials we're going through as a test, which reads "trial" to us, with pure joy!

But He tells us that when we've passed each trial we become more mature and when we have finally become spiritually mature we will lack nothing and be complete. Now THAT, I agree, is something to look forward to! And you know when we'll be totally "complete"? At the rapture!!!! The rapture is the completion of our salvation!

Peter mentions this too and compares our faith with gold:

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

So now we know that our trials will produce spiritual maturity in us by refining our faith, and that it will then bring praise, glory and honor at the rapture! Did you notice I underlined the words "proved genuine"? That's because the word that's translated that way actually means "to test for the purpose of approving"! So the Lord is going to keep testing us till we all come out with straight A's!

You see, we have a 'living hope". Our hope isn't in some dead words on paper, but rather in a living God who loves us and wants what's best for us. He has lots of plans for our time in eternity with Him and in order for us to enjoy it to the fullest extent, He needs to get us all through our schooling here. I've always looked at life on earth like a school, and the more I study God's word, the more I see that it really is! Because we have a living hope though, we are responsible to respond to the things that happen in our lives with faith. When we do that, we're basically putting our faith into practice. So a sound faith built on a firm foundation is going to result in sound practice. This is the kind of faith, or living hope if you will, that enables us to face our trials with joy because the trials refine our faith and prove it's reality, it's value.

1 John 5:3-4 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

Then when the unsaved see us living our faith and facing our trials with joy, they want what we have, and so we bring others to Christ as well. It's all because the focus of our faith isn't in some abstract thing, but is instead in the person of Jesus, who is very much alive and who speaks to us through His Word, who guides us and never leaves us, who loves us, that we can have this "pure joy" even during trials.

Let's look again at how Peter puts it, but this time let's look at it in context:

1 Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

I wanted to share this with you again because I just love how one of my commentaries explains this and wanted you to see it too:

Believers can rejoice because they are (pres. tense) receiving (komizomenoi, “to receive as a reward”) what was promised, namely salvation, the goal or culmination (telos, “end”) of . . . faith. For those who love and believe in Jesus Christ, salvation is past (“He has given us new birth,” v. 3), present (“through faith are shielded by God’s power,” v. 5), and future (it is their “inheritance,” v. 4, which will “be revealed in the last time,” v. 5, and is “the goal of your faith,” v. 9). Since each day brings believers closer to that final day, they are now “receiving” it. All of this—in spite of persecution which deepens and demonstrates one’s faith—is certainly cause for “inexpressible and glorious joy”! (v. 8)

The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures

I really wanted to cover more today but I can see this is getting pretty long so I'll stop for now and pick it up again tomorrow.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials

  James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds

Did you do a double take when you saw the title of this study? I bet back when James wrote this that the folks he wrote it to did a double take too!

I know we've done studies about the subject of trials before, but it looks like the Lord isn't done with us yet. I've had a specific subject on my mind that I thought He wanted me to do a study on and was ready to start it today. However, I also was strongly feeling I should be doing a study on James. So I figured I'd go take a look at James first and pray and see if i could figure out which one the Lord wanted me to do first.

Well...guess what? The study I thought I was supposed to do and the study on James are actually going to be one and the same! I just love it when God does something like that!

I'm really excited about this study because I just know we're going to learn a lot from it! I hope you'll all join me in it too. What I'd like to suggest is that we all read the first chapter of James today and think about it and tomorrow I'll start the study. Although this is a short book and even the chapters aren't very long, there's a LOT of information packed into this little book and even into this short first chapter. So don't be surprised if it takes us a couple of days or more to cover each chapter. Even if it does though, I still think it's best if we start out by reading the whole first chapter ok?

For this I'll just give us a bit of background that I've learned today. The first thing which really shocked me is that James isn't James! Yep LOL that's right! I always assumed this was written by the apostle James, our Lord's half brother, and it was, but his name wasn't James. Let me share with you what the commentary says though:

The human author of this epistle is not easily identified. The New Testament mentions at least four men named James: (1) the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Mark 1:19), (2) the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18), (3) the father of Judas (not Iscariot; Luke 6:16), and (4) the half brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19). Which one wrote the epistle?

James, the son of Zebedee, could not be the author since he suffered martyrdom under Herod Agrippa I before this epistle was written (Acts 12:2).

It is unlikely that the little-known son of Alphaeus was the author though some, especially Roman Catholics, equate the son of Alphaeus with the Lord’s brother. They claim that James was really Jesus’ cousin through Mary of Cleopas (Alphaeus), the Virgin Mary’s sister. This contention, however, violates a literal interpretation of “brother” and is clearly an attempt to support the invention of the perpetual virginity of Mary. It seems clear from Scripture that children were born to Joseph and Mary after the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is called “her firstborn” (Luke 2:7), implying that others were born thereafter. The Scriptures state that Joseph had no union with Mary, that is, no normal physical relationship, “until” (heōs) after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:25). Repeated references are made to the Lord’s half brothers and half sisters and four of His brothers are named: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matt. 13:55).

James, the father of Judas (not Iscariot) did not figure as an important person in the early church. He could hardly be the author of this epistle.

It seems clear therefore that the author is James, the half brother of the Lord, who became the recognized leader in the Jerusalem church. This conclusion is supported by the authoritative tone of the letter and by the marked similarities in Greek between this epistle and the speech by James recorded in Acts 15.

Though James was reared in the same home with the Lord Jesus, he apparently did not become a believer until after Christ’s resurrection. John wrote, “For even His own brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:5).

James’ encounter with the risen Lord may have brought him to saving faith. Christ “appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:7). Paul later listed James, Peter, and John as “those reputed to be pillars” of the church (Gal. 2:9).

The strongest evidence for the authorship of the Epistle of James clearly favors the half brother of Christ. Furthermore, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, Augustine, and many other early writers support this view. .....

....James was actually Jacob (Iakōbos). It is not certain why the English translators chose “James” rather than “Jacob.” “James,” “Jake,” and “Jacob” all come from the same root. Bible translations in other languages tend to utilize the transliterated name from the actual Hebrew “Jacob” (ya‘ăqōb). Could it be that King James desired to see his name in the English translation he authorized?

The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures

So, with that little tid bit of information, let's read the first chapter! I'll post it here, but of course you can read it in your own bibles too!

James 1:1-27 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 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.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials