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JAMES CHAPTER 2 KJV WEB See previous page Jm 2,1-11 (17l) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the flesh >> Making distinctions between each other – James is hitting on a common error of judgment, making distinctions between people with evil motives. The person who tells one to sit here and the other to stand over there is probably acting under the authority of the Church, thus making the problem systemic. In the world making these distinctions is a normal way of doing business; the poor man gets the lowliest position, while the rich man is held in high esteem; but James says that it shouldn't be this way in God's Church. One of the ways we practice love is to avoid showing partiality. The world raises people to higher positions supposedly for their experience and skills, but in the Church if we use the same criteria, we would be partial and would inevitably place the wrong people in authority who don’t belong there just because he has credentials or is a friend or relative of the clergy. Meanwhile, there are other people who are better qualified for the position, yet we lead them to the last chair and deny their gifts. If we befriend the pastor, we stand a better chance of receiving a position in the Church. This has been the manner in which people have seduced the doctrines of the faith from the very beginning to the point of them being unrecognizable to the Scriptures. See also: Partiality; Jm 2,1-9; 51i (184j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Dragging God’s Grace Through The Mud >> Unwilling to honor God’s grace Jm 2,1-9 (2h) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Do not touch the apple of His eye >> Do not harm His people (17f) Sin >> Judging in the flesh >> Seeking the glory of man (51i) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Do not show partiality to one another – When the rich man enters the Church, he shows himself by his clothes and jewelry with an air of refinement proudly worn on his vesture and countenance, while the poor man enters disheveled with a sheen on his face from a lack of hygiene and with green teeth. Immediately, someone comes to the rich man’s aid and ushers him to a prominent seat, giving him all the accolades that he has come to expect, but they look at the poor man with derision, leading him into a faded corner where he will be less likely to attract attention. James says that with these contrasting preferences we are not permitted to treat one person better than another. Attendants of the assembly lean into each other, pointing with smiles, imagining what it must be like to be rich, yet he is possibly the employer of the poor man, giving him a scarce wage barely sustainable for his work. Then they turn their whole torsos and strain their necks, frowning for a glimpse at the poor man standing in the shadows, ending their curiosity with a quick twist of the head and rumors of a derelict. Only he and God knows the road that the poor man has traveled that led to their church. They wish the poor man would go away, yet who is to say that he will not listen to the gospel and be converted and God will clean him up, change his circumstances and serve the Lord with all his heart, becoming one of the most faithful parishioners in the Church? Meanwhile, the Bible teaches that the rich man's contribution is usually just his money, which is more important to most churches than the giftedness of its faithful believers. See also: Poor / Partiality; 130j (78o) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Putting your heart on display >> Consequence of not renewing your mind (97h) Thy kingdom come >> Attention >> Facing the direction of God’s will >> Focusing your attention on what matters to you (130j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Small people cannot accept great leaders – We should not base our judgment on appearances, because those things can lie to us, for the truth of a man is in his heart, in the content of his mouth and in the works of his hands. In contrast, James spoke about a finely dressed rich man who enters the assembly with polished social etiquette adding to his charisma, attracting the more refined attendees of the room, and they escort him to a seat of nobility but leave the the poor man in the overflow room sitting on a cold, steel chair. Everyone thinks there must surely be a place reserved for the rich man in heaven, though he doesn’t know God anymore than the man on the moon. He receives a position of authority in the Church, while the poorly dressed man goes unnoticed, who is closer to God in his heart than most people in the congregation. Whoever has dedicated his life to the Lord Jesus Christ through the word of God and prayer, who has something to offer the people, should be made a spiritual leader in the church before the socially adept person who has not committed his heart to Christ. See also: Poor / Partiality; Jm 2,1-7; 61d (169l) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory of man >> Stepping on people to get to the bottom >> Those who seek their own glory idolize men (171f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Decorating the outside to simulate the inside >> Playing the part to be accepted by men (182k) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Deceitfulness of riches (240d) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Beware when all men speak well of you >> Natural disadvantage of being popular KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2,1-7 (23h) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Shaming the poor -- These verses go with verses 15-17. The original audience of James’ letter were Jewish people who were scattered abroad (Jm 1-1), not in particular the leaders of the Church, but the followers too. Therefore, James was not telling shepherds that they have dishonored the poor man; nor was he reminding shepherds that it is the rich who “oppress you and personally drag you before the courts.” James was reminding the sheep too of these things. He placed responsibility on both the sheep and the shepherds for the things wrong with God’s Church. However, who has turned a blind eye to oppression of the poor and downplayed the fact that it is always the rich who personally drag the saints into court? Isn’t it the leaders of the Church who have ignored these things? Nevertheless, he held the sheep equally responsible for allowing the shepherds to do this. That is, James saw the Church as a democracy, not as a strong central leadership form of communism. James was telling the sheep that if their shepherds do wrong, they are obligated to correct the problem, such as fire the shepherds and find better ones who will lead the Church into the will of God. In other words, James’ complaint against the Church, giving preference to the rich and discounting the oppression of the poor, was that of false judgment; and their motive was, as always, money. The rich have much to offer financially, and the shepherds of the Church cater to them, because they had turned God’s Church into a business, and for this reason it runs on money. (61d) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Shutting off the kingdom—Rich oppressing the poor / Church oppressing the poor – What if a guest speaker dressed like a bum and milled among the people before service to see what kind of reception he would get before walking to the podium to give his sermon on this passage? It would be great if the people treated him well, so his sermon would vindicate the congregation, but it is more likely that the people would have ignored the man until he disclosed his true identity. James was saying that God does not make these distinctions; therefore, neither should we. Also, we don’t want to honor those who are of no account to the Church, for God knows that the unkempt and raggedy person is capable of just as much faith as the one who sparkles, if not more. Giving preference to so-called wealthy people and ignoring the destitute is the way of the world and is the first step in raising up unbelievers to positions of authority in the Church, such as board members and elders, where they will judge the saints and make decisions that affect everybody, causing whole ministries to veer from the faith. Such people receive their status from financial success, not from faith in Jesus Christ. Giving them authority in the Church when they might not even have a place in heaven waiting for them explains why they also persecute the saints and oppress the faithful. See also: Poor; Jm 2,5-7; 222d / Partiality; 164g (96m) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having an attitude of greed (164g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> His elementary principles of the world – If the Church shows partiality, it means people are modeling themselves after the world, which is under the control of the devil. Our true standard is Jesus, who taught that the least are greatest and the greatest are least in the Kingdom of Heaven. If these things were happening in the early church, imagine what must be happening in our churches today, and if we incorporated Christ's values into our belief system and practiced them, these problems would disappear overnight. Jesus taught that if we want to be great, we must serve, but the rich are usually anything but servants. The Church and the world are two opposite systems that should contradict each other, but the fact that they often act the same means the Church has conformed to the world. If Christians want to make distinctions, they ought to distinguish themselves from the world, not from each other. See also: Partiality; Jm 2,1-4; 76h (166i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The world’s perspective on wealth (203g) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God >> Dishonor God by dishonoring your brother (222l) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >> Thinking you are superior to others >> Treating people with contempt (249f) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the carnal perception of wealth >> Wealth influences your motives Jm 2,1-5 (18ca) Sin >> False Judgment lacks evidence >> Charges not defined as crimes >> Persecuting the body of Christ Jm 2,1-4 (76h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Living by a double standard – When living by a double standard, neither standard obeys the truth. It is impossible to make distinctions between people without judging them with evil motives, so how do we avoid making distinctions, since it is bred into us; we like one person over another; how do we rise above that? Are we really supposed to treat everybody the same? The short answer is no. The wealthy man enters the Church and is immediately ushered to a place of nobility. If we simply changed our criteria to being spiritual instead of worldly and used our faith to make distinctions between those who believe and those who don’t, it would protect the Church from wolves. However, this is easier said than done, mostly because we are not spiritual. We should make distinctions between the faithful and the faithless within the Church; otherwise, how can we raise the righteous to positions of spiritual authority and deny wolves that seek opportunities to hold us captive to their bogus theology? See also: Partiality; Jm 2,1-11; 17l (178h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for disunity (196g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to seek God >> Unable to make sound judgments (240h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Natural disadvantage of the world Jm 2,1-3 (28i) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God crushes those who make us stumble KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2-3 (84k) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> They will condemn you (161m) Works of the devil >> Carried away by greed Jm 2,5-26 (108d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith is the balance between freedom and law Jm 2,5-7 (219b) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> Man is not in control of God’s calling (222d) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> God does not entrust his treasures to dogs >> Do not give to dogs who will not receive you – In Mat 5-3 Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;” however just because a person is poor doesn't make him a Christian. Of the financially poor who fit James’ description in these verses, only a handful of them will make it to heaven, because "the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Mat 7-13,14). There are many poor in the world who are preoccupied with a religion that does not teach Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Many of these religions have survived for thousands of years, and people apparently find solace in them. It seems to give them what they want, but in the life to come they will realize that they are naked before God and their sins have not been forgiven, and it will be too late to repent. They neither enjoyed the glory of this world, nor will they participate in the glory of the life to come. The unsaved poor are bigger fools than the rich and famous (if that were possible), because the gospel was made for them and they rejected it. There is nothing worse than seeing a poor man enter eternity without Christ. See also: Poor; Jm 2-5; 56m / Definition; Mat 6,1-4; 124b Jm 2-5 (30j) Gift of God >> He favors you by His gracious choice of you (36h) Gift of God >> Inheritance >> We are heirs according to the will of God (56m) Paradox >> Opposites >> The poor in spirit are rich in faith – James is saying that the poor of this world are far more likely to go to heaven than the rich, but the poor to which James is referring does not necessarily indicate how much money a person had; maybe he can support himself and his family but still feels broke; he is poor in spirit. The physically poor have less to sacrifice to make faith the leading influence in their lives; nor do they have wealth and riches to blind them from the glory of Christ. Hence, the poor are far more likely to become rich in faith, though there are many poor people who are not saved, which is a travesty. In contrast, those rich in earthly possessions are less likely to show a genuine interest in the things of God; they may well go to church and even hold leadership positions there, but in matters of faith they are destitute. The fact that the poor are more susceptible to the gospel than rich people suggests that the world's wealth is a curse, though the world can’t seem to have enough. Rich people can have almost anything they want, which creates a distraction from the things of God, so faith becomes the least of their concerns. See also: Poor; Jm 2,1-9; 51i (148d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Natural advantage in the flesh regarding evangelism (205d) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of His inheritance (221a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who are not looking for Him (234ab) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> God chooses us as we seek His glory >> As we follow Him – The servant who serves for the sake of serving is the greatest of all. This one virtue of servanthood does more to define the true nature of God and his coming kingdom than any other. If there were competition in the Church, it ought to be to this end. Jm 2-6 (243d) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Sources of persecution >> Persecution from within the body – Jesus is waiting for the Church to obey Him before He will return, and it is fair to say that not a single generation has obeyed the Lord to the extent that He expects, not even the First Century Church. He is coming back, it says, for a Church without “spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without defect” (Eph 5-27). These criticisms of James against the First Century Church have become the backbone of all that is wrong with the Church today. They didn’t understand that the Church doesn’t rely on money, and we understand that even less. The false shepherds slowly turned the Church into the direction of money; they have turned it into a business, whereas the sheep are not in it for that. They seek faith in Jesus Christ. If that is what we want from the gospel, we will have to take the bull by the horns and turn the Church in the direction that we know is right, and that will require confronting the leaders. This would cause tremendous upheaval and disruption of everything. We are talking about revamping the Church from the ground-up, removing strong central leadership and giving the ministry back to the people where it belongs. False shepherds of the Church throughout the age of grace have effectively stolen the ministry from the people, and we let them do it, because we are lazy, complacent and content to come to church and let the pastor manage our relationship with Jesus for us. This is what we see in every church, but it is not what we see in Scripture. These are the things that must change before we will see the return of Christ. Christians in the last days are lazy, having given responsibility of their faith and the destiny of their eternal souls to their pastor. This is an extension of Catholicism, which started the Church in this direction, and it has spread to the Protestant Church through the complacency of the sheep. Jm 2-7 (27a) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> Blasphemy (67g) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> The name of Jesus is the salvation of God (91j) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s calling transcends the will of man >> It is etched into our spirit KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2,8-13 (42g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformation >> Conform to the Love of Christ (52a) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> Those who transgress against it – Someone who vandalizes a page in a book does not vandalize the page but the book. In the same way, someone who writes graffiti on the wall doesn’t deface the wall but the building. Again, someone who does harm to a son or a daughter doesn’t hurt the child only but the entire family. Therefore, if someone breaks one of the Ten Commandments, he has violated the Law as a whole. God is offended by every sin we commit, not just partially offended but entirely offended. God is one (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), not three, just as the law is one and not ten. (90k) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Unless you keep the law you will not see heaven (96k) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Being willing to practice sin (178f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for sin (196i) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Replacing God’s standard of excellence with yours >> Lukewarm Christianity Jm 2,8-11 (151f) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The law Jm 2,10-13 (2o) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Quit sinning Jm 2-12,13 (31e) Gift of God >> Grace >> Salvation >> God’s mercy overrules man’s sin – As judgment condemns, so mercy pardons, and as hell follows judgment, so heaven follows mercy, and since God made man for heaven and not hell, mercy triumphs over judgment. The cross is the transition point between the old and new covenants, who destroyed condemnation of the law through mercy. Satan incites us to break the law so God will judge us, giving Satan a degree of control in our judgment, making him our judge, but God’s mercy destroyed the power of Satan, neutralizing the forces of darkness that rise against our souls through the blood of Christ. (34m) Gift of God >> Be generous like your Father >> Give to the poor (45j) Judgment >> Of believer’s sin >> God will judge us for the words we speak (69h) Authority >> Righteous judgment >> Meditate on discernment >> Judging what is pure (112d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Jesus light in us overcomes darkness >> The light of His power (118l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Spirit delivers you from the desire to sin – The law of liberty is an oxymoron in that the law brings about judgment, whereas liberty refers to freedom. Paul talked about “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8-2); he also taught that if we believe in Jesus, one new law replaces the Ten Commandments, the law of faith (Rom 3-27), which states that if we believe in Jesus, God will endow us with His Holy Spirit, who will enable us to fulfill the Ten Commandments. Therefore, the law of liberty is the law of life, which produces mercy and will lead us to love our neighbor, triumphing over judgment. From the beginning of this epistle, James has not diverted from making sure God’s laws are fulfilled in us, and he hints that we should do this by the Spirit of God, whereas Paul more than hinted at it but made the ministry of the Holy Spirit his main focus. (120e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >> Forgiving your brother >> Don’t forgive your brother and God won’t forgive you (187ha) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Deny the flesh to walk in the Spirit >> Deny bondage to walk in freedom (247c) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in His people >> God is interested in our freedom Jm 2-13 (48g) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your standard of measure KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2,14-26 (6l) Responsibility >> Protecting the Gospel >> Expose hypocrisy in the Church – The epistle of James was one of the last two controversial writings to be included in the New Testament canon of authoritative works, the book of Revelation being the other. James spoke very differently from Paul about the relationship between faith and works, but from James’ perspective this passage was the capstone of his message. James preached a gospel of works, and the early fathers wrestled with it and eventually came to the conclusion that he really wasn't contradicting Paul. The early church leaders were doing their best to protect the New Testament cannon from writings that contradicted the faith, as James was dong his best to protect the Church from licentiousness and dissipation. (87a) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> God blesses us for doing His word, not for knowing it – The Church today believes like acrobats, juggling their faith with the world. They look for loopholes in the grace of God and try to exploit them, giving their flesh leeway to explore its corrupt desires. Paul separated works from faith to show it is faith in Jesus' blood sacrifice that saves us and not our works, so they go on with their lives as though Jesus never rose from the dead, leading to a mental ascent about God's truth, believing a set of facts instead of knowing God by Revelation of the Spirit. When does obedience enter Christianity? The sad and unfortunate answer for many is never. (88a) Faith Produces Works (Key verse) (88c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> Faith without works is dead – Faith does not exist apart from works, because if we genuinely believed in God, our faith would produce works. James never contradicted Paul; the only difference in his teaching was to bring works back to the table and show where they fit in the gospel. As Paul separated faith from works to drive home his point of a faith-based gospel, so James brought them together to drive home his point that dead faith is useless. (99e) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Endure the position of a servant – James had the opportunity to know Jesus long before His ministry began, from childhood, a time that theologians still speculate regarding His personality and character. As a child, Jesus was the same person we see in His ministry, minus the anointing, the persona that James taught in his epistle, that is, what an observer would see in Jesus as a child. What did James see in Jesus before his ministry? He saw a righteous and compassionate person who never did anything wrong, who was always helping those in need, and was regularly bullied because he was different, yet was patient with His enemies and never retaliated. This alone would make us think James should have believed in Jesus as Israel's long-awaited Messiah, but that would have been hard to believe under any circumstances. Born under the weakness of human flesh, His siblings and community merely saw Him as a good kid. Jesus must have had a huge impact on James’ life as a child, so much that after James received the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, he continued interpreting God's word through his childhood experiences with Jesus. For this reason James viewed Christianity as a lifestyle instead of a battery of doctrines and beliefs. See also: Rejecting Christ; Jn 4-39; 150g (157d) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Being displeasing to God >> Leading a fruitless lifestyle (171c) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vain experience >> Things you do in the absence of God (184f) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Trying to take advantage of God’s kindness Jm 2,14-20 (5n) Responsibility >> Jesus’ yoke of obedience >> Our obligation to believe God – The Church leaders in the first and second centuries wrestled with the book of James, because it sounded like he was contradicting Paul, who separated faith from works. Paul made the point that faith alone justifies us before God, and nothing is to be added to it. Had Paul included works as a requirement of salvation, people no would have ignored faith as they did in the old covenant days of the law. Regardless of Paul's efforts, the Church did this very thing during the Dark Ages, making works mandatory, establishing two categories of sin, mortal and venial sins, so the only way people could be forgiven was by the Church through priest-determined penance, called indulgences. It was a works oriented redemption that required the parishioners to become wholly dependent on the Church for any hope of divine forgiveness. There is a word that describes a works-based religion: "Paganism", or perhaps even Witchcraft. If for centuries the Church dictated these things to people in spite of Paul’s efforts to avoid such institutions, imagine what heresies they would have devised had Paul not been so thorough in his examination of faith! See also: Catholicism; 55c / Building the Church on Peter instead of Christ; Mat 16,13-18; 109h (21d) Sin >> Disobedience will condemn you to hell (55c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Faith without works -- These verses go with verse 26. James, the brother of Jesus, supplied us with a whole dimension to our knowledge of God, demonstrating through the Scriptures that works are a natural outflow of our faith. Nevertheless, most people speak against works after Martin Luther read in the Bible that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works (Eph 2-8,9). The Catholic Church was selling Indulgences to its parishioners and fabricated many pagan rituals, not as misinterpretations of Scripture but as a complete departure from what the Bible says. Consequently, faith was missing from the Church, but after Martin Luther finished editing the doctrines that most of us believe to this day, our understanding of works has been truncated from the equation of salvation. The only people who had it right were the first and second century Christians, who incorporated both faith and works into the doctrines of salvation, and for this reason they were united. See also: Catholicism; 5n / History of the Church (Who were the disciples?); Act 12,1-4; 242b (174k) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Lip service (178g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for disobedience (196e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to die to self >> Unable to obey God (197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom (202i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running from walking in faith >> Running from God through disobedience – This is one of the most important passages in the Bible when it comes to understanding the gospel. We have Paul who throughout most of his letters taught that we are saved by grace as a gift of God through faith, and then we have James saying that faith without works is dead. Between these two statements rests the gospel. If we choose to believe without works, the Bible doesn’t promise anything, or if we work our fingers to the bone without faith, we still haven't come to know God. We might as well go back to the Old Testament and talk about Moses and his Law and the consequences of transgressing it, in that all the consequences still apply to the lawbreaker. If we believe in Jesus, He will give us the Holy Spirit, who will lead us in ways that please God, so we don’t need the Law to lead us anymore; but if we are not going to obey the Lord, then we might as well revert back to the Law, and let it become our task master. There are piddly few promises for fulfilling the Law, but there are countless promises for being led by the Spirit. It makes us wonder who was James’ audience when he wrote this? His initial audience was faithful Jewish believers (v1); but when he wrote it, he also apparently had unbelievers and disobedient Christians in mind. Sin debilitates our faith, making us appear as though we did not believe. When he said that faith without fruit is dead, didn’t Jesus also say this with His parables? The unfruitful person will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Lk 13,6-9; Jn 15-6). James called them "brethren", but before he finished his statement he called them foolish fellows, which describes people who sought the inheritance but never committed themselves to the faith (v20). In the days of the old covenant, when someone was called a fool, there was no derogatorily worse word. What exactly is it that unbelievers believe? It must be a set of teachings and doctrines, and James said that simply affirming certain teachings and doctrines never got anyone to heaven. Jm 2,14-17 (158j) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Love sickening sweet >> Loving words that lack action KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2,15-17 (23h) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Shaming the poor – These verses go with verses 1-7 (249d) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the carnal perception of wealth >> Do not try to hold on to your money Jm 2-15,16 (131c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Brother depends on you >> To care for his needs (134d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> We are physically subject to this natural realm -- These verses go with verse 26 Jm 2-17 (26d) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is separation from God’s life – This verse goes with verse 26 Jm 2-18 (57b) Paradox >> Opposites >> World’s perspective versus God ’s perspective -- This verse goes with verse 24 (155ka) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their fruits >> You will know them by their good deeds >> Good works prove our faith – James spoke opposite of Paul’s teaching, but opposite doesn’t mean they were in contradiction. With faith we have confidence before God, and with works we have confidence before man. We are able to express our confidence in God to others through our works, but we do not use our works as proof toward God that we have faith, because He knows our heart. It is not God who questions our faith if we have no works but man, and we should question ourselves. Jm 2-19,20 (177g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Doctrines of demons – Although the demons believe that God is one, it doesn’t do them any good, because they are already condemned to the eternal flames of hell with no chance of redemption. He is warning those who are barren of good works not have the faith of demons, who know the facts well enough but are devoid of Truth. Jm 2-19 (23o) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of death (46j) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Demons are subject to Christ (86f) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Mental ascent (believing a set of facts) – Unbelievers assert a set of doctrines to be true, but when they read this verse, it requires them to have a genuine faith in God. James did not mean to believe in a set of doctrines, but to actually believe in God. The Bible doesn’t teach easy-believism. Also, the first three chapters in the Book of Revelation describe the last generation, and only two of seven churches were acceptable. So God knew that people would adopt the tenets of easy-believism prior to His second coming. Many people in our generation claim to be Christians but are not, of whom God said to the Laodicean Church, “I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev 3-16). We don’t casually believe in God and expect the Scriptures to confirm our easy to believe doctrines, because at the end of the day we wouldn’t know we were going to heaven any more than the godless man and the sinner. James was careful to describe the person who truly believed in God throughout his epistle, so by the time he made this comment the word “believe” was well defined to mean obey. See also: Easy-believism; Tit 2-11,12; 239k (163l) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Entertaining demons >> The Church entertains demons (255i) Trinity >> Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> Three in one >> God is one KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2,20-26 (44c) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> Fulfill the requirements Jm 2-20 (186f) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool >> The heart of a fool Jm 2,21-26 (87ia) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Those who obey believe in God >> Those who obey the Holy Spirit (233h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory by faith Jm 2,21-25 (151ba) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> Abraham >> Faith of Abraham Jm 2,21-24 (12c) Servant >> Examples of God’s people >> Abraham is our example of faith – James used Abraham as an example of faith as Paul did in the early chapters of Romans, but since James is approaching the issue from the opposite standpoint, let’s do a mental experiment. Imagine Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac, on the altar without faith. If by his own volition he killed his son as a sacrifice to god, would that constitute faith? No, in fact it would have constituted murder at the hands of a religious madman, which should open our eyes to the significance of faith. Abraham did not have a Bible to fill his mind with the knowledge of God as we do. Instead, Abraham obeyed the voice of God. Now let’s give Abraham back his faith but take away his works, which is the scenario that James is painting for us. What if Abraham heard the voice of God well enough but never offered up his son on the altar? Had he never done what he was told, his faith would have been dead instead of Isaac, so James is saying both faith and works are equally necessary. Remember in chapter one James told us to be "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (v4). It wasn’t a coincidence that James used Abraham as an example of faith just as Paul did. This way we can look at the same person in two different ways and arrive at the same conclusion, that salvation is a matter of faith, human faith in this case, referring to obedience, whereas Paul spoke about having God's faith. Did you know that if the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we have the faith of God? See also: Abraham; 114d (103m) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >> Purified through faith (114d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven >> Obeying the revelation of God’s word – Where does faith end and works begin? If works are the result of faith, then our works are an aspect of faith; and if James is saying that works literally manifest our faith, then they are truly spiritual behaviors. When Abraham offered up Isaac his son on the altar and put a knife to his chest and was about to plunge it into is son’s heart, his obedience allowed him to participate in the spiritual realm, and for this reason he was called the friend of God. Abraham was therefore obeying the Holy Spirit, making Isaac’s near death-experience spiritual in nature, thus making his life afterward a type of resurrection. See also: Abraham; Jm 2-23; 85l (137j) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Stages of maturity are levels of accountability >> Maturity is working with God (208f) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God through obedience >> We are His friends if we keep His commandments KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2-23 (41fa) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Righteousness of faith >> Example of Abraham (85l) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing the Son by obeying the Father >> Obeying the law by faith in the cross >> Obedience represents our faith – Rom 1-16 says that salvation is to “the Jew first and also to the Greek [gentile].” We gentiles are spiritual descendents of Abraham who believe in Jesus; we are spiritual Jews through faith. However, this is difficult to see in the Jew today, and faith was almost impossible to see in the Old Testament when they supposedly believed in God, yet the Jew represents all mankind, meaning that the gentiles are no better than the Jew, which is revealed in history with the apostasy of the Church beginning shortly after the Church was born (in AD 300). Faith is God’s expectation of us. Many people don’t believe in God because they think such things are fairy tales, and if there were a God and He imposed expectations on us, He would ask something from us more substantial than faith. However, if faith were so easy, then why don’t religious skeptics believe? The Jews forgot all about the faith of Abraham and focused on the Law of Moses instead. Jews in the Old Testament recognized Abraham as the father of Israel but failed to understand that God created their nation through his faith. Instead, Israel glorified Moses, though they did not follow his Law. Abraham obeyed what God commanded of him, which Paul defined as the righteousness of faith. When we put Abraham and Moses together, we get: obeying the law by faith in God’s righteousness. See also: Abraham; Jm 2-24; 57b Jm 2-24 (57b) Paradox >> Opposites >> World’s perspective versus God’s perspective -- This verse goes with verse 18. Both faith and works are substances of our salvation in that God sees faith as a substance, whereas man sees works as the substance of faith. We see Abraham who obeyed the voice of God and did what he was commanded, thus perfecting his faith. According to James, Abraham believed God after he did what he was told, whereas Paul saw faith before he did what he was told, that is, at the very hearing of God’s voice, and both are equally true. The difference is in the observer; if it’s God (who knows the heart), then Abraham believed at the hearing of His voice, but if the observer is man, then Abraham believed when his works were finished. See also: Abraham; Jm 2-26; 110m KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Jm 2-26 (26d) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is separation from God’s life – This verse goes with verse 17 (55c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Faith without works -- This verse goes with verses 14-20. When we think of this analogy, the body represents our works and the spirit represents our faith, so if we take out the spirit (faith), the body dies. The very definition of death is when the spirit leaves the body, but James is saying just the opposite. What happens if we take out works (body), from the equation? We become wandering spirits! Isn’t that how Jesus described the demons, and didn't James allude to this in verse 19? Faith without works is the religion of demons. (110m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spiritual substance and truth >> Spiritual substance follows obedience – Paul taught that we are justified by faith, whereas James taught that we are justified by perfected faith; that is, we are not justified by faith that has no power to act. The day we got saved we obeyed the Holy Spirit for the first time. Just as Abraham obeyed the Holy Spirit after God spoke to him, so we do things that are revealed by the Spirit. These acts of obedience work (with) the grace of God, which is perfected faith. When God reveals His word to us, and we mold our lives around it, our faith is perfected. See also: Abraham; Jm 2,21-24; 12c (134d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> We are physically subject to this natural realm -- This verse goes with verses 15&16 See next page