Prayer is a gift from
God.  Prayer is a command of God.

Good prayer begins in knowing who God is, what He
expects, and what we should expect. 
Every successful prayer, whether offered by a child in Christ or a
seasoned veteran, has many things in common. 
This booklet looks at the essentials common to good prayer.

Every believer in Jesus has the right be heard by God in
prayer.  But did you know that there are
such a things as useful prayer and ineffective prayer?  The Bible shows that prayer has its basic
requirements, and poor preparation will result in poor prayer.  On the other hand, the Bible also offers
direction on effective prayer, and is full of examples of His response to
faithful people.

Prayer is a willful effort, in faith.  This at least means that we are to labor in
prayer, believing and waiting on what God says will happen.  But good prayer has its benefits now, as
well.  Good prayer is a wonderful,
rewarding thing.  Communing with God, His
Spirit stirring in us, knowing we are following His command, living a holy life
in constant readiness, laboring with others in Christ, seeing God at work – all
of these are benefits of effective prayer.

So, why should we be concerned about these things?  So that we can succeed and please God in
service, which is also rewarding to us both now and on the Day He will examine
our lives for the quality of our labor.

Our prayer vs.
God’s Sovereignty?

If God is Sovereign over everything, how can we
justify our responsibility to pray for things to change? Is He Sovereign or
not?  If He is, then why do we have to
pray?  If He is not, are we changing His
mind?

Why are we even here?

Actually, our praying to God is exactly what He has
planned.  The outcome, whether change in
us or in the arena we are praying for, is exactly what He wants.  First, we need to recognize the foundation of
what we were made for.

We have been made for the glory of God, to have
dominion over Creation, and to be stewards of it and it’s
responsibilities.  In this way, we are
made in the Image of God, Who has Dominion over all, and in Stewardship of His endless resources, chose to
introduce Creation.  He has an overall
corporate ‘plan’, knowing what is to be achieved – from before until after all
of Creation.  He has chosen to place us
in the middle of it all.  We glorify Him
by participating in His Creation and His plan. 
He is being, and will be, glorified as this plan unfolds – and we have
been made to be a part of it.

God wants us to pray for change

The conflict of ‘why pray if God is in control?’,
and ‘does prayer change His Mind?’, are both problems only if we look at it
from man’s standpoint.  From man’s point
of view in our sinful, self-centered minds, none of this can hope to be
understood.  But from a God point of
view, everything really does fit together.

Consider this – does God want us to pray for
change?  Of course, because through it many
things happen:

• We must humble ourselves
  before Him – and He is Glorified in His supremacy
• We must turn to Him as the
  Sole and Primary Provider – and He is Glorified for His provision
• The sinful issue at hand
  stands out against His Holy standard, His Will, and how it should be – and He
  is Glorified in His perfection
• We must recognize our sin,
  repent of it, confess it, and ask forgiveness – and He is Glorified in Saving
  and forgiving us
• We must approach the Throne,
  Sanctified again by the Blood of the Lamb if we hope to be heard – and He is
  Glorified in His Son
• We can call on His promises,
  expecting Him to answer our request – and He is Glorified for being faithful
  and trustworthy
• Being a prayer in faith,
  that it is in His Will because we are familiar with His Character and His Word,
  we can observe Him answering that prayer – and He is Glorified in His teaching
  us to know Him
• And in an answered
  prayer, the believer is edified while the pagan is convicted – and so and He is
  Glorified as He blesses those who obey and grieve those who do not. (2 Sam
  22:41-2?)

Did God know these things would happen?  Did He know we would pray (or not)?  Do all things work together for good to those
who love Him?  Has He made it clear we
have been placed as stewards in His Creation? 
Has He made it clear we are to pray? 
Does He answer prayer?  To all of
these, of course!

Is God not Sovereign?  Is He not in control?  Is He unaware of what lies ahead or why all
issues occur?  Can anyone change His Mind
from what He has already intended?  Was
the Fall a big mistake He didn’t expect, that He is now scrambling to
‘fix’?  To all of these, of course not!

We have been made for an incredible task

We have been enlisted in an incredible task – to
participate in the Work and Will of God over Creation.  It is all His Will being done, often carried
out through us as His servants.  We have
the means and His command to be conduits, or priests, of His Work.  But, we must recognize His Sovereign
Provision, which makes everything possible.

He is like the Master Craftsman,
allowing his child to participate in his work in a real, meaningful way.  The Master wants to have an end product, the
one he envisions.  He also wants to
involve his young child, one that he loves. 
Under his exceeding expertise, he sets aside parts of his work for his
child to do, under his watch and always under his careful eye.  The child is trusted with as much as the
Master sees appropriate, and gradually, the child learns lessons of the
craft.  The child learns, and becomes
more like the Master.  The Master’s
vision of the end product moves closer towards completion.  And now, and in the end, the Master is
satisfied in his stewardship over what he possesses in himself – to see his
work played out in the end product and to see the child fulfill his potential
in the work the Master alone is praised for.

Our High Priest – why we can pray

A priest is a representative between God and man.  It is the only way to God.

Beginning with
Creation, mankind has interacted with God the Spirit in Heaven.  A separation exists that goes beyond distance
– a condition because of sin.  It is the
chasm between the timeless and spiritual realm of the God and the physical
Creation.  The only hope we have of
crossing this separation is through God making it possible.  He has chosen to use men as priests for this.

There have
always been men who were priests of God. 
After the Fall, a few of those illustrated in the Bible include Adam,
Enoch, and Noah.  After the Flood were
Abraham, Melchisedec, Jethro, and Moses. 
And after the Law were Aaron, his sons and descendants, Samuel, and
Annas and Caiaphas.

God increasingly showed this truth in Moses and the Law

In these people
we see God’s example of what is required of those who would interact with
Him.  With the Law being handed down
through Moses, and with it His directions to him for the Tabernacle, God began
laying out the foundation for our understanding of the priesthood.  God was very specific in instructing Moses to
carefully follow His design and commands, because the Tabernacle and the Law
were facsimiles, or representations, of how God governs.  The overall theme is that God has
expectations, which he knows we won’t meet, and that He alone mercifully
provides the way in making up for our shortfall.

Many facets of
God’s provision are shown through the Tabernacle and it’s priests– the physical
parts of the Tabernacle and the special areas inside of it, the court, the
curtain, the alters, the candlestick and Ark of the Covenant, the High Priest,
his garments and his duties, the sacrifices and Atonement, and most of all, the
Holy of Holies.  The High Priest was
responsible for utilizing all of these things while representing God and His
special people of Israel to each other.

The High
Priest’s duties centered around service through sacrifices to maintain daily
forgiveness for Israel’s sins, as well as for offerings to God in worship.  The daily morning and evening sacrifices,
along with the burning of incense as a part of prayer, were essential to
Israel’s relationship with God.  And
finally, the yearly Day of Atonement was the High Priest’s most significant
responsibility.

In short, the
priest was responsible for continually carrying every single issue of his
people concerning God, upon himself.  It
was a demanding and relentless responsibility. 
Nonetheless, he was commanded by the Law to do this, and all of God’s
people relied upon him with their very lives.

Jesus was sent to assume the perfect High Priesthood

God stated that
He wants His people to grow in useful fellowship with Him.  While the Law and the Tabernacle are exactly
what God intended them to be, He also knew that they would never be able to
achieve what He is ultimately working towards. 
In the end, He knew His goal was ultimately a superior priest who would
utilize the genuine Holy of Holies in Heaven. 
This priest would be tireless and without any personal sin hindering
him, he would have a
fully sufficient sacrifice to satisfy God in both atonement and worship, and he
would never surrender his office through death. 
And finally, he would be of a totally different lineage than that of
Aaron and the Levites, because this priest would offer a better covenant.

Jesus’
Incarnation and work up through His return to the Father was all in making Him
this superior High Priest.  With His
establishment at the Father’s right hand in the Holiest place of all, the old
order of the Levitical priesthood was put aside.  The covenant through Moses, responsible for
establishing that facsimile, is now put aside by a new covenant through Jesus.  Every means the old order possessed to carry
out their duties has been removed.  <<<Today there are no legitimate earthly Levitical
priests>>>, no Tabernacle, <<<no
sacrifices>>>, nor any atonement that God recognizes as
superior from mankind.  However, the need
of a priest still remains, and the Priesthood continues today through Jesus the
Christ.

Every Christian’s interaction with God is only through God’s perfect High Priest

Anyone who
would have interaction and forgiveness from God will still find it through a
priest.  Because Jesus is the only priest
recognized by God, it is quite true when He said ‘no one may see the Father,
but by Me’.  Our service to God in prayer
requires our access to God, our being seen without sin, and our faithful priest
Who is in constant intercession on our behalf. 
Our adoption through Jesus paved the way for us to serve God, but we
still must be mindful of His continuing requirements from us.  Our failure to follow His commands will hinder
our ability to serve Him well.  Because
He tells us to serve Him, and because He has paved the way – except for taking
responsibility for our own personal obedience – we must consider what would
hinder our work, and strive to do our best for His sake.

Our heart’s role in prayer

Our ‘heart’ is the root of who we are, the source of the ‘fruit’ we produce

God is very
interested in our ‘heart’.  The Biblical
heart is the seat, or root, of a person. 
It is the source of character, and is responsible for the reaction or
response we might expect from a person. 
‘Where your heart is, so is your treasure.’  ‘I will write my Law on their hearts.’  ‘What is in a man’s heart is what makes him
unclean, not what he eats.’  Salvation
begins the process of the changing of our heart.  God is committed to bringing our heart into
conformity with His Spirit, Who is given to us when we are Saved.  A good heart is everything – it is the goal
God is after.

Our interaction with the Holy Spirit, and our prayer, is directly related to the condition of our heart

Sin affects the
state of our heart.  Our heart, in its
perfect state as God intended, is something like an instrument – like a unique
and beautiful drum.  Without anything to
hinder it, the finest drum will respond brilliantly to the slightest
rhythm.  The Holy Spirit on our heart
relates the Father’s truth to us, like that rhythm.  The Holy Spirit is responsible for our
interaction with God, and He is like the mallet to our drum.  If that finest quality drum is hindered or
deadened to the rhythm in any way, it will not produce the beautiful sound it
is made for.  In the same way, sin on our
heart insulates us from the rhythm of the Holy Spirit, and it hinders our
response and relationship to Him. 
Because our interaction with God in Heaven is through His Holy Spirit
here in us, anything standing in between His Spirit and us adversely affects
our relationship with God.  The sin we
carry on our heart negatively effects our relationship with God the Father, and
so, our prayers.

A healthy heart is a confessed, humble heart

A heart that is
anything but humble will hinder prayer.  James
4:1-10 tells us God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  We must approach God earnestly, in
faith.  Now, we are still sinners, but
yet Saved in Christ’s forgiveness.  The
difference for someone Saved is that his sin will repulse him, and he will seek
and receive relief from it.  Salvation is
a good example of a sinner with a humble heart – no one has ever been Saved in
his own pride, but only in true humility before God.  Humility demands our recognition, confession,
repentance, and our plea to Him for forgiveness.  This is the foundation for all good
prayer.  This humility is necessary for
God to recognize our request.

The sin we
refuse to get rid of hardens us, and it hardens our heart toward conforming to
God’s Will and everything He desires us to pray for.  Consider Jesus’ words of having the heart of
a child in order to see Heaven, or the four soils and the effects of the
hardness of sin, or the battle between the Holy Spirit in us and the sinful
body we still have which wants to do just the opposite.  All of these issues speak of the Christian
heart.  Sin hardens our heart and dampers
our responsiveness to God. 

Good prayer is the overflow of a healthy heart, spilled out before God’s Throne

God prepares ‘good works’ for us by making way for a
good heart, in combination with plenty of opportunity to serve Him.  He has made an ‘arena’ in Creation, as well
as a collection of able and equipped servants, through Jesus.  Anyone who is Saved and living anywhere in
Creation must acknowledge the need and the means for taking issues to the
Father in prayer.  Our firsthand
interaction with issues caused by sin serves to fill us with an awareness of
need.   These needs will always lay heavy
on a healthy, sensitive heart.

God also gives us plenty of opportunity to worship
Him in prayer for Who he is and what He is doing.  We are Saved through the Word, but we also
continue to be refined and edified through it as well.  As our experience with God grows through
knowing Him in the Word and our experience of His interaction in our lives,
thankful love steadily grows in us.  As
we get to know our Father more and more, this gratitude swells in our heart.

We must
maintain a healthy heart, and then fill it with these opportunities of worship
and need.  Then, with our hearts full of
these issues, we bring them before God for His response.  We have been Saved to sensitively carry the
issues, and we have the unique right to bring them to the Father.  As priests made by God, to serve God, we have
been recruited for the work of carrying needs and worship before the Father’s
Throne.  Only His children, as priests
through the work of the High Priest Jesus, have the right to come to the
Throne.  Our job is to serve as faithful
stewards, wisely using the means He has given us, to serve Him through the
opportunities of needs and worship He presents to us.  We must know the issues, both of needs and
God’s Word, and take them to heart.

Opportunities to pray

What started as perfect is now ingrained in sin

When God was
done making all of Creation, it was perfect.  
Everything was just as He intended. 
Today, it is easy to see that things aren’t like they began in the
Garden.

However, we
cannot simply say that things have unexpectedly gone bad.  This is no accident, because God is sovereign
forever.  He is not scrambling to fix
something gone unexpectedly out of control. 
True, He is out to fix something, and it is in fact often hurtful and
chaotic.  But, it is never out of His
control.

Creation is an arena soaked in sin

The sinful
world is a means to an end.  God is
creating a group of people who will be Saved from their hopeless loss to sin,
making them into a family who personally know Him and have come to obey and
serve Him effectively.  One day, all of
God’s ‘veterans’ in Christ will be gathered and delivered out of this arena of
sin, to be judged for their efforts and to live with Him forever in peace.

In the mean
time, He keeps us in a world where the need for Him abounds, and we, equipped
with the tools and protection of God, are commanded to take a stand in the
middle of it all as salt and light.

Sin’s opportunities to pray are always around us

Inner-personal sin:  Prayer is not just about seeking forgiveness, or praying for someone’s well being.   A big part of God’s goal is for us to be Sanctified – to increasingly become more like Christ.  Jesus is perfect in obedience to everything God commands, and everything God commands is perfect.  If we are to become like Jesus, then all things standing in the way of His likeness is sin, and are therefore candidates for prayer.  We are to pray for God’s shaping us, and for our obedience to His truth.  These issues fall under the category of inner-personal sin.

Inter-personal sin:  The people within the circle of our daily influence are sinners, too.  If someone you interact with is not Saved, then he will not know or follow God.  Or, if that person is a believer, he might still make an error in sin as well.  In either case, we are talking about sinful people interacting, and that is always hurtful in some way.  Jesus wants us to live the truth before the lost sinner, and find peace with the sinning brother in God’s truth.   Each case is a candidate for prayer – for both of these people, and for us while dealing with them.  These issues fall under the category of inter-personal sin.

Extra-personal sin:  The world, Creation, is also a sinful place affecting us.  We suffer harm from natural circumstance, or from people and their actions outside of our known circle of influence.  The world is full of issues where the Creation under sin, and the sinful actions of others, adversely affect us.  Natural disasters, harm for other living creatures, hunger and disease, pollution, physical or political oppression – these are just a few examples falling under the category of extra-personal sin.

We are stewards, well equipped and well supplied

In all three
cases, we are involved in some way.  But
the important issue to remember is that you are involved as a child of God and
you possess a very powerful tool – the right to go before the Throne of God, in
intercession for the issues of sin. 
Every believer through Christ has the means and the opportunity to see
God have compassion on the issues they bring before Him.

A good steward
is someone who makes good use of the resources entrusted to him.  In the case of every believer, this at least
includes forgiveness, the Holy Spirit in us, direct access to God’s Throne, and
endless opportunities to exercise these resources as we strive to bring God’s
influence upon all areas of sin.  When we
are Saved, we are then equipped to become distributors of God’s grace.  We are made to become founts of blessing,
bringing down God’s response upon the countless needs around us – as only a
child of God the Father can.  And again,
in doing so, He is glorified, each issue is rectified, and we are
Sanctified.  This is His Will.

What
is prayer?

• Prayer is in obedience
• Prayer is in faith
• Prayer is in a desire of worship and commune with God
• Prayer is in stewardship
• Prayer is in edification with the Holy Spirit
• Prayer is through the admission of Christ alone
• Prayer is in surrender
• Prayer is in service
• Prayer is in an intertwining with God

The
whole issue of prayer to God is a simple one in the main sense of what it is –
the tangible, bridging connection with God, the essence and means of our
relationship with Him.  Prayer is unique
in that it is our means of conversing with God while still here in the
body.  The Spirit within every believer
of Jesus demands the nurturing of commune with God, and while we are here, away
from Him, this is the means we have to be spiritually sustained.

There is no prayer in Heaven

There
is no prayer in Heaven in the presence of God, because there is no need – the
host of beings who are there with Him are directly fed and nourished.^  But for now, while we journey here, we are
given the privilege of a connection of our common possession with God, the Holy
Spirit.^  This connection crosses the
divide between the Spirit gifted to us here in the physical world and the place
where the Creator resides in that same Spirit. 
This is all in the parcel of the reconciliation that Jesus has provided;
this is the means for us to flourish in serving God, by providing the
foundation to be reshaped in our preparation for going back Home.  Here, we are drawn near to the heart of God
in prayer.  Once we are gathered and at
Home, we will draw near to Him in Person.^

Our
prayers, just as the Salvation that they rest upon, are accomplished through
faith, and faith alone.  God has provided
no physical representations of Himself that we may physically encounter Him in.  And there is good reason, the most of which
is in the claim of Jesus to be the One and Only way to the Father.  God is responsible for all of our provision,
for meeting all of our needs.  And in
this case of prayer, He provides the circumstance for the opportunity of
prayer, He provides the means to do it, and He provides the results.

The opportunity

The
opportunity comes in the command, the world, and our obedience.  The command is clear in Scripture, both
directly and in the example of our Lord and His Church after His
departure.^  Continually through the
Gospels, Jesus teaches and practices prayer at all junctions, always showing
His devotion to talking with God.  Note, with
God, not just to God.  His
constant command, and the command of the rest of the Bible, is clearly to
pray.^  And as is the case in all
commands from God, the only appropriate response is to obey.

To
follow a command, the opportunity to carry it out is necessary.  What sense would it make for God to direct us
to do something when there was no need or occasion to actually exercise
it?  But He has provided the opportunity
in great abundance in the world we live in. 
Everywhere we might look, be it anyplace around us or anyplace in us,
there is always a need for prayer. 
Recalling the overall definition of prayer (What for, prayer?), consider
the possibilities for God to be glorified, and for us to glorify Him as we
strive to be like Jesus, among the issues of the world.

Is
there any shortage of issues of prayer? 
Of course not.^  And is God sovereign
over everything?  Does He, in His plans
for Creation, of mankind, and of everything else, know this is exactly where we
would be right now?  Of course He does.^  And why, then?  To make opportunity to magnify His glory –
first in His show of Creation, next in His merciful work of resurrecting our
dead souls and building a purified nation of priests under Christ, and finally
in His conclusion in the gathering of the Church to Himself and the destruction
of all that is not Pure and Holy.  It is
no accident that we are here among abounding opportunity to pray.  And it is no accident that we are here, made
ready as believers with full access to the Throne of God and the resources of
Christ.  We have been Saved for good
works, among them the distribution of Heaven’s provisions, for God’s glory.^
<in proof, refer to the passage w/ “to he whom much is given, much is
expected” – mounting responsibility, in trust>  He has created the arena.  He has uttered the command.  He has given us all things necessary to carry
it out.  The only thing remaining is our obedience
– and that, He has left as our responsibility.

For
what were you Saved, Christian?  For the
Glory of God, on all fronts.  True, your
Salvation was free.  But now as a servant
and slave of Christ, see what work you have been called to equip yourself for,
called to do, and for what purpose.  As
His slave, you love God because He loved you first.^  And as 
Christian love is a love in service, come forward in loving service to
the God Who has made you and made your work for you.  See how He has provided every facet for you
to carry out His command.  Hear Him call
you to labor in prayer, in joy as you experience the privilege of God working
through you.  You know His commands – follow
them, obey, and draw close to God as His Spirit is moved in you.
(John 14:21)

On
shedding our sin before approaching the Throne in prayer

Perhaps
it is best understood as this:  We,
having been Forgiven and thus being seen Righteous in God’s eyes even now,
always have access to the Throne, despite even our unconfessed sin.  However, this sin is a hindrance – not
because it restrains us from approaching the Father through Christ our Priest,
but because God resists the haughty and the proud.  We will stand before Him in prayer, yet He
will not answer any insincere prayer. 
What does this mean?

A
man can come before God, in the midst of a terrible burden of his sin, and ask
God to relieve him and help him as he earnestly sets out in repentance of
it.  Though this man is very guilty and
involved with his sin, does God answer his prayer?  Yes, because the man is sincere in his request
in seeking relief from what he knows is wrong – but also, quite importantly, he
is repentant.  Repentance
in humility is this man’s responsibility, and the change, the release, and the
forgiveness is God’s.  James 4:6 &
10 tells us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  As well, this man is praying in faith and in
the will of God.  He has faith that God
will see his sin as offensive, as well as faith that God will come to his
rescue.  And in that faith, he exhibits
his belief by stepping forward in action, in prayer, and in repentance.  Also, this request is in the will of God
because this man knows God has said in His Word that if anyone would confess
his sin and repent of it, God will lift his burden.  This man is embracing and living
the promise of Hebrews 11:6 – that in faith, anyone who will approach
God must believe in Him and know that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

This same issue can be seen in the sinner’s prayer to God,
begging Forgiveness and Salvation. 
Everyone who has been Saved holds several issues in common:  They first believed in Christ as the Son of
God and the Saviour of Mankind; each recognized his sin, and in true remorse,
turned in repentance in hope of Forgiveness; all came before God’s Throne
through Christ, because of their belief in Him, and pleaded in sincerity for
Forgiveness; and each came away, believing that God is true to His Word – they
are now in faith – and sat in the assurance that they are now Righteous before
God.

Is
this person a sinner, yet still before God in prayer?  Yes. 
And was this person before God earnestly and sincerely in faith?  Yes. 
And does God hear this person’s prayer, and though he be a sinner, still
answer his prayer?  Yes.  And why? 
Because this man came to God, on behalf of Christ’s Righteousness, in
true faith, and asked of God an issue that is in His Will – and we can surely believe that God answers this request.

And what of sins hindering
the prayers of one already a child of God? 
And why should we seek to right ourselves before Christ before
approaching the Throne?

Look into the issue of even
the high priest going into God’s Presence in the Most Holy Place – ceremonially
clean, yet because of the limitation of the Law, still unable to come forward
with a clean heart & conscience.  Is
this us as well, in our sin, yet forgiven? 
Saved, granted the right as sons of God to come to the Throne, yet still
possible with a hard and sin-ridden heart?

Faith and
prayer

Faith is essential to our prayer, for it is only in humble faith in Jesus that we may approach God.  And in drawing close to Him, our faith grows, for all faith we have comes from the Father above.  We are to use the seed of faith He gives us, and as good stewards, nurture it and invest it’s potential in us back to the Father again, asking and seeking more.  Step by step, reinvesting the faith He grants us, we strive to capitalize on its increase in us that God promises.  Faith finds increase in the good soil of a soft heart bathed in God’s influence, so our task is to continually seek to remove ourselves form sin, repenting of that which hinders the promise of increase.  We strive to fulfill our responsibilities in removing the hindrances to faith’s increase in us, and to continually go back to the Well, the Source, the Father to receive our provision of faith, which promises to grow and bring this increase.

Spiritual fitness

If you have been Saved by the Blood of the Lamb, you have also received a resurrected soul, one seen blameless before God, one He has cleansed and set aright as it was originally, before Adam’s sin perverted it.  This soul in each Christian is promised eternal life, in the Pure and Glorious Presence of God.  Yet while we are still here in the body, our flesh is not yet Resurrected, or perfect like our soul.  It, unlike our soul, has not yet died to sin and is thus still to be made perfect.  For now, our flesh, our human nature and condition, still is quite fallen and inclined to full disobedience to what God would desire.  And so this is our lot – a perfect, resurrected soul endowed with the Holy Spirit of God, carried around in a fallen, sinful, wickedly indulgent body of which who’s nature desires to do the things the spirit knows it shouldn’t. (soul/spirit?)  This is the Christian’s condition, and our task for the rest of our co-existent life is to choose the way God and our spirit desire, while confronting, subduing, and disciplining our flesh.  To do this undoubtedly requires prayer to fill our spirit and gain the continually needed provisions of God and His faith to overcome the relentless resistance of the body.  Our faith, essential to our Salvation and our Sanctification, needs the continual and purposeful nourishment of God’s provision – of His faith which feeds our spirit.

Before
the Throne; bringing issues on our heart

In being this fount, how is it that we shall go before the
Throne and spill our heart’s burdens and desires – in Christ’s Name and for
God’s Glory?  Petitioning the Lord for
issues of those we intercede for must come from the heart; and to come from the
heart, it must be truly in and on our own heart.  How? Through sufficient effort, in Christian
compassion, to understand, love, and embrace the person or issue we ask intercession
for.  A cursory mention of an issue
before God is surely inferior to a heartfelt, heart-invested plea to the Father
from one of His children.  Love the
person in need; hate the manifestation of evil; know the issues at hand, and
make them your own concern; carry these issues of thanks and need on your own
heart; and always, seek and ask God’s intercession in the hope and assurance of
Him being Glorified by His answer.  This
last point demands our glad acceptance and satisfaction in however He may
choose to deal with the issue.

General stuff…….

Prayer
is an essential to our faith, and thus our walk with the Lord.  Our commune with Him in His presence fills
our spirit and carries us along in our obedience throughout the day.  Time to right ourselves and continually align
our heart with God is imperative, as well as edifying.

God’s Will
and Our Prayer: Conflict or Sovereign Harmony?

On God’s Sovereignty and His Plan
of the Ages versus our responsibility to pray; how can these two be
reconciled?  Is He Sovereign or not?  If He is, then why do we have to pray?  If He is not, are we changing His mind?

Our praying to God is exactly
what He has planned, and the outcome, be it change in us or in the arena we are
praying for, is exactly what He has sought to achieve.  Looking back to our beginning in Adam, we
first must recognize the foundation of what Man was made for.  Briefly, we were made for the glory of God,
to have dominion over Creation, and to be stewards of it and it’s
responsibilities.  In this, we are made
in the Image of God, Who has Dominion over all, and in Stewardship of
His endless resource, chose to introduce Creation.  He has an overall corporate ‘plan’,
foreknowledge of what is to be achieved from before until after all of
Creation.  He has chosen to place us in
the slip of it all, to glorify Him by our participation in His Creation and His
course for it.  He is being, and will be,
glorified as this plan unfolds – and we have been made to be a part of it.

This supposed conflict of ‘why
pray if God is in control’, and ‘does prayer change His Mind’, are both
problems only if we look at it from man’s standpoint.  From man’s point of view in our sinful,
self-centered minds, none of this can hope to be rectified.  But from a God point of view, all is indeed
harmonious.

Does God want us to pray for
change?  Of course, because through it
many things happen:  we must humble
ourselves before Him, and He is Glorified; we must turn to Him as the
Sole and Primary Provider, and He is Glorified; the sinful issue at hand is
contrasted with His Holy Standard, His Will and how it should be, and He is
Glorified; we must recognize our sin, repent of it, confess it, and ask
forgiveness, and He is Glorified; we must approach the Throne, Sanctified again
by the Blood of the Lamb if we hope to be heard, and He is Glorified; we can
proclaim our expectation of His promise to answer our request, and He is
Glorified; being a prayer in faith, that it is in His Will because we are
familiar with His Character and His Word, we can observe Him answering that
prayer, and He is Glorified; and in an answered prayer, the believer is edified
while the pagan is convicted – and so and He is Glorified.

Did God know these things would
happen?  Did He know we would pray (or
not)?  Do all things work together for
good to those who love Him?  Has He made
it clear we have been placed as stewards in His Creation?  Has He made it clear we are to pray?  Does He answer prayer?  To all of these, of course!

Is God not Sovereign?  Is He not in control?  Is He unaware of what lies ahead or for what
purpose all issues occur?  Do we have the
influence, does any man, to change His Mind from what He has already
intended?  Was the Fall a big mistake He
hadn’t taken into account, only to have to scramble to compensate, and so
reluctantly choose to send Christ afterwards? 
To all of these, of course not!

We have been enlisted in an
unbelievably fortunate and blessed endeavor – to participate in the Work and
Will of God over Creation.  It is all His
Will being done, often carried out through us as His vessels.  We have the command and the means to be
conduits of His Work.  But, we must
recognize His Sovereign Provision, which makes everything possible.

He is like the Master Craftsman,
allowing a child to participate in his work in a real, meaningful way.  The Master wants to have an end product, the
one he envisions.  He also wants to
involve his young child, one that he loves. 
Under the exceeding bounty of his expertise, he sets aside parts of his
work for his child to do, under his watch and always under his careful
eye.  The child is entrusted with as much
as the Master sees appropriate, and gradually, the child learns lessons of the
craft.  The child learns, and becomes
more like the Master.  The Master’s
vision of the end product moves closer towards completion.  And presently, and in the end, the Master is
satisfied in his stewardship over what he possesses in himself – to see his
work in the end product and to see the child fulfill his potential in the work
the master is hailed for.

The High
Priesthood of Jesus

For consideration; in an attempt to satisfy Scripture’s
declaration and undercurrents regarding the perseverance of the believer in
Jesus (under God’s grace alone, despite our freedoms in our will), the warnings
of damnation for apostates, and while under the viewpoint of Jesus’ Priesthood,
see this:

Our Mediator

Christ our Salvation, as the Mediator between God and these
of the fallen flesh, taking possession of us in our representation before the
Throne;

Our Lifeline

as we are surely here in this violent kingdom under Satan’s
temporary dominion, while yet too we do cling to the unbreakable Lifeline of
our Saviour, Who sustains us and makes us useful in service to Him while we
remain here;

Our High Priest, of
which the Moses’ faithful work was modeled

that this Life Line was presented, no, lashed to us at our
Regeneration, and now remains as our sure Hope because of His office of Most
High Priest in the Most Holy Sanctuary at God’s right hand.  This Priesthood demands our understanding and
recognition if we are to have any hope of successfully navigating our walk, or
have any measure of the holiness we are commanded to embody.  This Priesthood is the perfect truth upon
which Moses was to fashion Israel’s foundations as servants of God – the
earthly Sanctuary; the Aaronic priesthood; the sacrifices; the Law – these have
not been put away, but instead have been fully established and now realized in
the Work and Person of Jesus, the Son of God, made manifest as one of us.  The Priesthood continues yet today through
Jesus alone, and we must realize this and live accordingly if we are to stand
as holy before God.

Our continual need
for a Priest

Thus, we shall not fall away, yet we also must not
ignorantly rest in our sin (rendering ineffective our walk and good service)
but instead cling to our High Priest and seek continual restoration through
active recognition, confession, and repentance of our sin, made possible
through the perpetually sufficient Sacrifice of Jesus’ Blood.

To stand before God
effectively, we must be purified again and again of our continuing sin

It is true that God Almighty cannot look upon sin – ‘His
eyes are too pure’ – and so it is yet today in this Age of Redemption.  Is it dangerous to believe that once we have
received Christ that all sin is now forgiven, and thus we can stand in
assurance of our righteousness before our Holy God?  No, I don’t believe so.  True, we have forgiveness through Christ’s
forgiveness, but remember that we are yet sinful in this flesh, and tomorrow,
yes, even today, we will likely commit sin.

Confession and belief
is the beginning, but utilizing our Priest is the rest of the issue

However, we are still burdened with our sin until we turn
back to Jesus every time, to recognize, confess, repent from our sin, and thus
have the righteousness through our faith in His response.  Thus, we must renew our righteousness over
and over again in order to be seen as so before God, not just resting in our
simple confession in Christ!  Unless we
continually shed our sin through His forgiveness, through the Office and
Function of His High Priesthood, we cannot expect to stand before God and be
blessed and be heard in our prayer.  We
must first, again, be made right to God through His High Priest, our Salvation,
Jesus.

The works we were
Saved for require our good preparation to approach God, in the name of our
Priest’s Salvation

To say that we are made righteous to stand before God for
now and forever through our confession in Christ is only a half-truth, and does
not agree with the Mighty Declaration of the Scriptures.  Instead, we need to see Jesus the Priest, as
did the Jews to whom He came as their Answer. 
And in seeing Him so, we must continually utilize the gift of the
reconciliation through the Work of our Priest, Who today and forever stands as
our Bridge to God.  We must be slaves in
service to the God Who loved us first. 
To do so, we must be flush in His Spirit’s edification and power, also
utilizing the means He has granted us, His children, as we may now stand before
His Throne in appeal.  And in order to do
this, we must be clean.  This is the
reason for Jesus, and the reason we worship Him.  He is the Means we have received to carry out
our central purpose – our joyful, useful bond slavery to the benevolent God of
all Creation, not just the revel of our escape from Hell, and His love for
us.  Our view of Salvation and its
purpose must be God-centered, not stopping on the benefits it conveys to us.

On prayer and our place in God’s Creation

Out of all of the gifts God has given His children,
those He has Saved, prayer must be one of the greatest.  To understand this, we need a clearer view of
what prayer is and what it is capable of. 
When we have a good grasp of the reality of a gift, we can also have a
good appreciation of its value and how to use it.

In order to see prayer’s value, we must first
consider what has taken place on a spiritual level as far as God is
concerned.  Prayer is about access to God
and His willingness to hear and answer us. 
This is not to be centered on our own purposes, but for God’s.  God’s desire and His intent for all things –
be it an issue outside of us or one on our own heart – is to have them come
under the alignment of His perfect Will. 
God is perfect and in full, purposeful harmony, and anything that comes
into alignment with Him becomes harmonious as well.  In the end when Jesus returns and all sin and
its effects are destroyed, He will replace everything with a blessed
perfection, which knows no strife.  This
new Creation will truly be centered on God and be not only a reflection but an
extension of Him.  And as God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit are in total, peaceful balance, so too will everything
brought to replace this world once it is destroyed.  Prayer is about seeing and seeking and
requesting this perfection of God’s Will to be upon us now, piece by
piece.  God’s Will upon us is for the
advancement of the Kingdom and the provision of His children – and all for the
glory to Him that He deserves.  His Will
upon us relies on His provision for all needs, and we have the highest
privilege to stand before Him in Spirit and make our requests.

A good question to ask is – why does God wait on us
to ask Him in issues of prayer? 
Certainly, He does not need us for this – and this is a good attitude to
have.  After all, just as He told Job,
who else was even present when He created all things seen?  Yet we believe the claim that we, in our
Salvation, stand directly before the God of the Universe with our
requests?  And further, that those
requests, He answers??  The explanation
lies first in the question of what is it that God desires of us and of our
Saved lives.  Or simply put, why has He
Saved us, and so made us able and responsible for standing before Him in
petition?

God’s affairs with everything under Him, and that
literally being everything, are carried on continually.  Even as for us, God carries each breath we
take through the thing we call life.  The
atoms and the planets and the universe all keep spinning in order under the
direction of God.  God is God
because He is the sole Provider, and all things rely upon His provision.  Seeing the issue with any less scope of God’s
contribution would deny God of the truth and the recognition of what He is
responsible for.

And so, here we are, participating in this portion
of His Creation.  And if Saved, we have
the special standing before Him – in a very real, tangible way which is central
to our membership in His Family, as brothers with Christ.  So again, why has He Saved us, and so make us
able and responsible for standing before Him in petition?  He clearly does not need our help, and in contrast
with all that He is responsible for, this is very easy to see.  The same God Who is spinning the atoms in
this piece of paper is also very interested and concerned for the plight of
that one person on your prayer list who is in some sort of need.  Will God see to that person’s needs?  The more appropriate question is, has God
given you this person’s needs as an opportunity to exercise your relationship
with Him – which by Christ’s Sacrifice, He has blotted out your offensiveness
and made this relationship possible – and has He given you the means to appeal
to Him and see Him answer your intercession for this person?

If you are Saved, then you would do well to realize
the arena that God has created for us to dwell in, (here, this world around
us), while at the same time see the value and purpose in the rights He has
given you to stand before Him. The introduction of sin to the world was no
surprise to God, nor was it a mistake He is scrambling to correct.  The fact that God is staying His Wrath and
Judgment on sin is not because He is somehow indecisive, but instead that it is
serving His Sovereign purpose for the End Goal. 
The new Heaven and the new Earth He sees laying ahead is a place of that
perfect harmony of the Triune God, inhabited by creatures truly in His image –
again, in that same perfect harmony. 
This begins with our Resurrected soul, and will be embellished by love,
obedience, and existing in the enjoyment of God’s perfect Will.

The purpose of this fallen world, and the priceless
gift of standing before God, is in our gathering and preparation for this New
Jerusalem.  This existence here, now, for
the child of God is a working camp, a training ground, for the citizens of
God’s Holy City.  Here opportunity
abounds, and there is hardly a shortage of sin and it’s consequences – nor is
there any shortage in the greater provision God has granted to his children for
attacking the blight of this world by our faithful distribution of God’s
blessings – brought down through diligent intercession before the Throne of God
Almighty.  Here, we learn how to rely
upon and interact with God.

No one else but the Saved children of God possess
the right to go before Him and be heard. 
No one else can hope to have Him answer their prayers than those who
know Him and pray in His Will.  No one
else has been selected, then commanded, to take all of these issues
before God in prayer as good stewards of the most precious gifts they have been
charged with.  It is for all of these
issues we have been Saved, made to march on towards our appointment in the Holy
City as His Royal Priests.  Why did the
world fall to sin?  Why did God allow
this to happen and to continue?  Why did
He choose to Save a sinner like me?  Why
does He endow all of His children with His most precious Gifts?  Why has He commanded us, and then enabled us,
for these good works?  Look to the End
Goal, as He does.  See the means made
available to you now, child of God, and set about to learning how to make good
use of them.  Then follow through, and
serve and please the Creator of all, the Creator of you.

What does sin have to do with our hearts and prayer?

The role of sin in the Christian
life is important to understand, because though we are forgiven, our sin still
has it’s consequences.  Knowing how sin
affects our walk, and what to do about it, will make the difference between a
successful walk and a failing one.

This is not an issue in
opposition to our Salvation.  Those in
Jesus are Saved and fully forgiven, though still sinners.  We are Justified now before God on the merit
of Christ’s Sacrifice.  However, we are
yet in the flesh, and we still suffer the results of our sin – all the way up
to death or when Christ returns and we are Glorified in our new bodies.

Though we are sinners, as
Righteous through Christ we may now approach the Throne of God in the Most Holy
Place in Heaven.  We may stand before God
in the Holy Spirit, clean under the Sacrifice of the Lamb’s Blood.

Yet, James 4:1-10 tells us
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  We must approach God earnestly, in
faith.  Salvation is a good example; no
one has ever been Saved in his own pride, but only in true humility
before God.

Humility demands our recognition,
confession, repentance, and our plea for forgiveness – if we are to be set
free.  This is the pattern for all good
prayer.  Prayer is for conforming us, and
everything in this fallen world, to the desires of God.  It is for our interaction with God.  This humility is necessary for God to
recognize the sinner’s plea – be it a prayer to be Saved, or the prayer of an
experienced Christian.

So then, how does sin impact all
of this?  It hardens us, it hardens our
heart towards conformity to God’s Will and everything He desires for us.  Consider the issue and the effects of fasting
on a heart preparing to go before God. Consider Jesus’ words of having the
heart of a child in order to see Heaven. 
Consider the 4 soils and the effect of sin, or the lack of, in the good
soil.  Consider the battle between the
Spirit in us which speaks to our resurrected soul, and the sinful body we still
occupy which wants to do just the opposite.

All of these issues speak of the
Christian’s heart.  The Gift of the Holy
Spirit is for the express purpose of the transformation of our heart, and thus
our life.  All that we do and are flows
from the heart, and God’s primary concern is our heart and the results
following it.  The nurture of our heart
and our interaction with the Holy Spirit in us is our primary responsibility,
and sin is the obstacle standing in our way.

The nurture of our relationship
with the Spirit in us revolves around five things – the study of the Word to
know the Person, Heart, and Will of God; prayer to God seeking our conformity
to His Word; the deliberate pursuit of a holy life before God; our obedience to
His Word, supported in prayer made profitable through a holy life; and our joy
in obedience to God, bringing joy in experiencing Him.  All of these issues are common and are seated
in the heart.  If these are necessary for
our transformation to Christ’s image, and if our heart is centrally involved,
and if sin hardens our heart and so dampens our responsiveness to God – then
the only reasonable thing to do is what God already demands.  Examine yourself, see your sin in your
reflection in Scripture, see what you are to be, be conformed in obedience
under the help of the Holy Spirit, turn from your sin, and strive to be a
useful slave to Christ in the Kingdom of God.

See sin for the blight it
is.  See its hindrance on your heart, the
same heart responsible as the source of yourself and your Christian walk.  Recognize God’s despise of sin. Strive to be
holy, for He is holy.  Strive and live to
obey His law written on your heart.

Saved, Adopted – and Responsible

Now Saved, we in Christ are now adopted as sons of
God and co-heirs with our Brother Jesus. 
In this we have full rights as inheritors, and one Day, when we are
gathered and brought home, we will receive our place in the Family.

As for now, we stand Righteous before God due to His
acceptance and expectation of this Day of Justification, when the world will be
Judged and our Lord will wave us past the scrutiny and condemnation that will
send those without Forgiveness into Hell.

This time now, the Last Days, are the time of
Salvation and service to the God Who has rescued us.  And as God and we await and look forward to
our homecoming, we are now kept in the assurance, and under the deposit, of the
Holy Spirit.  Because we have been Saved,
and because we have been truly given a resurrected soul, and because God knows
His Act and His Will in our Salvation is going to be confirmed on the Day the
whole world is Judged, and because He has called us to labor in good works – He
has given us the Holy Spirit.  We have
been entrusted and endowed with the very Spirit of God!  He is our assurance and the seal on the
Inheritance we will receive at the Gathering.

This issue of His Spirit in us, and our
responsibilities concerning this, are central to the Christian life and
walk.  Our success, our joy in God, our
good stewardship – all of these pivot on our deliberate and faithful
cultivation of our relationship with the Holy Spirit of God in us.

Good stewardship requires first something of value
to administer; second, an understanding of what it is and how to relate to it;
and third, the discipline to deal with it diligently in a way that is
proportionate to it’s value.

The ‘titanium cable’ which runs centrally through
any useful Christian walk contains the following: 1) Knowing God’s Mind, His
Person, and His Will through the Word He has given; 2) Praying, in His Spirit,
for our own obedience to His Will; and for His intercession, consistent with
His Person and Will revealed in His Word; 3) A holy life, always seeking out
our sin through diligent reflection in the Word, the Standard God has set forth
for us – and this all for the purpose of remaining soft in heart and sensitive
to the Spirit’s leading by seeking, recognizing, confessing, and repenting of
our sin; 4) Obedience to what we know God, His Word, and His Spirit convey to
us as we, in a pure and soft heart, learn His expectations in Scripture and
grow in our relationship through experience and prayer; and 5) Exercising our
good walk, to experience the joy of meeting God and dancing with Him as he
blesses and assures His child, whom He has given all of the ingredients, means,
and circumstances to do so.

All of these issues, the strands of that ‘cable’,
are rooted in the centrality of the Holy Spirit within each of us as children
of God.  These are the main concerns of
the Christian, and all are common in the responsibilities they represent for
both God and us.  Study of the Word,
Prayer, the Holy life, Obedience, and the joy of experiencing God; we have our
responsibilities to do each of these, and God has the responsibility to provide
the means, His response, and the circumstances to carry it all out.  All of these ‘cable’ issues are the task and
the promised blessing of each child of God. 
And all are possible through the Holy Spirit, which we hold in common
with God Himself.  And every believer in
Jesus Christ has the duty and the means to exercise and cultivate his or her
relationship with God the Holy Spirit. 
All of these points demand a relationship with this Spirit, and as for
God’s part of the responsibility, He is never lacking.  A failure to cultivate this relationship, and
a failure to see the fruit of a good walk, and the disappointment, which always
accompanies a poor walk, is no one’s fault but our own.  The fellowship of a healthy walk with God is
exactly what He desires, exactly what He has provided for in our Salvation,
exactly what He commands us to strive for – and exactly what we will be
discussing with Him when we get Home.

See the Promise of the Holy Spirit to you and in
you; grow in your recognition of the value of this Gift; strive towards the
best relationship possible; and enjoy God now as you prepare to go Home to
enjoy Him forever!

Bema
Seat Narrative

How many believers
in Jesus Christ will there be over the ages? 
Have you ever considered that? 
Scripture tells us potentially billions, “as the sand which is on the
seashore”.

There is a day
ahead of us, a Great Day, when God will gather up His Church and we will stand
before Him as a great sea of His people. 
Imagine the exhilaration!  In the
presence of God!  In beautiful fellowship
with our brothers and sisters in Christ! 
In sweet communion in Heaven! 
Shoulder to shoulder, singing praises to the Lord of the Marriage Feast
in Paradise.  We will be there, savoring
the events leading up to this beginning of blissful eternity with God
Himself.  A sea of people, perhaps more
than you can imagine.  And you, standing
there amongst the throng.

One day, this will happen to you if you trust Jesus
with your soul.  If you’ve ever been in a
great crowd, you’ve noticed how easy it is to feel like a grain of sand.  However, as we will stand before Jesus,
together with the whole Body of the Church, He will call out each of our names,
one by one, to come forward and kneel before Him.  And as He is forever your personal Saviour,
He will know you intimately as the individual He has walked with your entire
life.  In that moment each of us will be
fixed under His gaze, and He will know everything about us, everything in
us.  And not just by a divine call on His
knowledge, but more importantly by His loving, intimate crafting of your life,
His patient walk with you here and now. 
He will look upon you and me, and weigh out what we have done with our
lives since He Saved us, and He will test our lives with an honest, piercing
accuracy.  From what He reveals, He has
promised to give to everyone according to what he has done as a steward of the
life he has been given.  Each of our
lives, as disciples of Jesus Christ, will be fully exposed and weighed.  So, the big question is, brothers and sisters
in Christ, what will He say to you?

This depends upon
the life and opportunities the Lord has put before you, and how you have
strived to fulfill your responsibilities to manage them as He expects you
to.  This is the Christian life, the one
you have been Saved for.

James instructs us
to persevere and to engage our faith in the arena around us.

Paul tells us to
recognize who we are now before God and to break away from the “pattern of this
world”.  He urges us to follow his
example in tireless pursuit of the Prize.

Jesus commands
those He has Saved to surrender their lives and pick up their cross, to cling
to their first love of Him and overcome, so that we may eat of the “Tree of
Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God”.

And why do they
tell us this?  Because of the common end,
the Day, they all know lies ahead of us.

Enter, the
Church.  The Church of Jesus Christ
exists to Worship God, to equip and impact the lives of It’s members, and to
reach out to gather the Lost.  It is the
funnel God has chosen to use to prepare us for that Great Day. 

John 14:21 reads:

“Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is
the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too
will love him and show Myself to him.”

Here, Jesus
explains the relationship a believer should have with the Lord through loving
Him in Scripture and by experience, by obeying Him and doing what
the He shows you is true, and then in experiencing Him as He
reveals Himself to you.  This is the
cycle of our walk we hope to encourage, because it is true that anyone who
brushes with God is never the same.  The
Church presents opportunities to encourage your walk and to step into this
cycle with other people who love the Lord, too.

I long to see the
Lord and hear Him say, “I’m pleased in what you’ve done with what I’ve given to
you.  You’ve done a good job.”  Do you want to hear this from your Lord,
too?  Then make it your priority to make
the most of your walk, and to take advantage of every opportunity you have to
grow in the Lord.  Run for the Prize, and
long to hear Him say “Good job, my faithful and trustworthy servant”.

Freedom and Liberty under Sovereignty                                                              6-5-01

Today
I learned freedom and liberty under the all-encompassing Sovereignty of a Great
and Loving God.  For the first time in my
life, in a certain way I am not accustomed, it is without reservation I came to
the Father as His child, of whom has been given free will – yet approaches,
asks, and receives from his God, of Whom no detail is missed nor passes without
consent.

I
write this at my usual table, yet in an unusual place we currently call
home.  It has been a long road coming to
this place, as well as in coming to the place I now stand before my
Father.  I have much joy and satisfaction
in recognizing that it was only yesterday at the threshold of my arrival I
asked Him to help me understand this issue of living as a free being, Saved by
His Grace, yet doing so under His inescapable oversight of all Creation.  How can these two truths coexist?  I have wondered and pondered this from my
rebirth.  I sat yesterday in a parking
lot of some business park, in the shade of trees; in my usual position I prayed
out to God for help and understanding once again, and finally I am in a place
to understand.  I might marvel that He
took me this far from home and so much farther from my previous self to make me
to understand – yet I also can report no surprise because I enjoy such an open
freedom and liberty to roll along with whatever He might have of me.  Not without a hitch, of course, but I look to
this abandon as paramount in enjoying His teaching me how to live under Him.

Freedom
to choose.  Freedom under a Sovereign
God.  Freedom under a God Who is over
all, without fail.  Perhaps a simple
issue to some, but to this child, a very insurmountable concept until now.  How personal our Salvation and
Regeneration.  Each person a universe in
his mind, a world in his personal dealings and consciousness.  How is it a God and Saviour over just one
lost and rebellious being can persevere and unravel so many intertangled
issues, let alone his countless brothers’ and sisters’?  How mandatory a personal relationship with
the One Who would do this.  Only through
an intimate understanding and relationship might anything like this be realized
by the forgiven.

Only
through that intimate relationship might we approach our Creator; that approach
made possible through the Reconciliation He has provided; that intercourse
maintained and made possible by His encompassing Spirit Who attends and roams
this Earth for our quickening, conviction, connection, communion, and benefit
until we are gathered rightfully.  How
else might this Miracle of Regeneration be possible while still preserving our
free will, without arresting it or denying it? 
And not for the sake of us because of some perceived value or rights we
might wish to claim, but in fact to honor what He has created, that which makes
us what He intended – capable of a choice, of a real and loving relationship,
of communion of an intimate nature as it was in the beginning before the Fall.

What
are God’s responsibilities, and what are ours? 
How many times have I uttered that question?  We are to exercise our free will, choosing
that which is pleasing to God, under Whom all things are made able to exist, as
He is truly God; in freedom and liberty afforded us despite our beginnings in
failure in condemnation; freedom and liberty which now has been Gifted to us by
the same Provider.  We may make our
choices, and do best in making them under His precepts; made attainable through
Forgiveness, made possible only in a relationship and true walk with our
Saviour Jesus, and thus with God on His Mighty Throne, through His Gift of the
Counselor He has poured out for our benefit.

Today
I asked the Father to make way for a job for me here for the next few months,
to bring us back home to Indiana, to provide us property and a new place we may
come to find as a home, and to let us make good use of our time here, enjoying
His creation in the Northwest.  And for
the first time, I perceived no fear, reservation, or concern that I was out of
the bounds of our respective responsibilities. 
All of these things I desire to do as a free child of God, who desires
to live in a way pleasing to Him. 
Comfortable in my freedom, content and thankful under the God of all.

No
One Will Be Argued Into Heaven

After all is considered,
nothing but faith will convince us of the reality of God.  No one will be argued into Heaven, but we’ll
only be able to escape punishment and go to Heaven by recognizing who Jesus is
and who we are in relation to Him.  The
Bible has much to say about this, and no single verse is likely to explain
everything at once.  However, the Bible
does make it very clear if we make the effort to understand and ask God to make
it plain to us, that he will answer.

God is not afraid of our
questions.  He is perfect, because He is
God.  The real question is about what He
thinks of us and how He will deal with us according to it.  Our job is to understand Him and
respond.  Asking these questions is good,
if we want to really consider the Bible’s answers.

Jesus is part of what’s
called the Trinity, the whole making up God, yet separate in the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.  Three, all of the
Trinity, yet all God.  I don’t expect to
fully understand this, but we can see facets of the truth of this in the
Bible.  The important thing really, is
who is Jesus and what does He represent for us? 
He is called, and calls Himself, many things in Scripture.  Most important is recognizing that He is in
the authority of God, and stands as the only way for mankind to possibly go to
the Father, in Heaven.  If Jesus is
merely a man, or a prophet, or even a Moses-class person, then nothing He
claims to be really matters.  In order to
be the only way to the Father, as He claims, He must be a God-class Being.  No one else is eligible because the way to
the Father must be free of sin, have satisfied God’s judgment on sin for those
guilty, and stand ready and able to give forgiveness to whoever meets the
criteria, which is faith in Him.

Faith is the dividing factor
in Christianity.  More specifically, it
must be faith in God and His answer to freedom from the debt of sin, who is
Jesus.  Faith is the currency of God.  It crosses the divide between us in the
material world and God in the Spiritual realm. 
Faith is a belief which brings action in response to it.  We all have faith, even those who say they do
not believe at all in God.  They still
have faith there is no God.  The issue
is, if God is above this all as He says He is, our stake in our existence lays
in who or what we have faith in.  If God
is the standard, being over everything and being perfect, we need to see Him
and ourselves for what we are and consider the ramifications.

Concerning the death and
resurrection of Jesus, the Bible records both plainly.  Aside from theological reasons, God’s
bringing Jesus back to life is one of the more tangible issues we can see.  Jesus is the first to be raised from the dead
by God, without any sin, yet still in an earthly type body.  This body is different in that it is how we
were meant to be, without the effects of sin and without any decay.  After His resurrection in His body, Jesus
spent time here before going back to Heaven. 
Today He has the same body, and when He comes back, He still will.  The reason this is important is that people
who have faith in Him, who are ‘saved’, will experience the same resurrection
when He comes back to settle accounts. 
His being alive today is central to His claim as the Son of God and the
Savior of mankind.

God wants no one
to be turned away from Heaven, and He has made it absolutely free to come
in.  Disbelief, lack of faith, and denial
of God are what ultimately stand in the way of Paradise, and are also
responsible for punishment for whoever doesn’t believe.  I hope you will consider this and ask
questions, even challenge it.  Faith
comes from a solid belief, no matter how small the faith.  To have a saving faith in Jesus, you must
understand who He is and what He means to your life.

Jesus as the Son of God, not anything less:

John
1

1          In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2          He was with God in the beginning.

3          Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.

Hebrews
1

2          but in these last days
he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and
through whom he made the universe.

Luke 22

66       At daybreak the council
of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law,
met together, and Jesus was led before them.

67       “If you are the Christ, ” they
said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not
believe me,

68       and if I asked you, you would not answer.

69       But from now on, the Son of Man will be
seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

70       They all asked, “Are you then the
Son of God?” He replied, “You are right in saying I am.”

71       Then they said, “Why do we need any
more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

Luke 23

1          Then the whole assembly rose and led
him off to Pilate.

2          And they began to accuse him, saying,
“We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes
to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”

3          So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you
the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.

Why
faith is important:

Hebrews 11

1          Now faith is being sure
of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

3          By faith we understand
that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not
made out of what was visible.

            (This includes
aliens, if they do exist)

6          And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Death and the
spirit leaving the body

Luke
23

46           Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his
last.

The
Resurrection

Mark 16

5              As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed
in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6              “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are
looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not
here. See the place where they laid him.

7              But go, tell his disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead
of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'”

8              Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled
from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

9              When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared
first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

10           She went and told those who had been
with him and who were mourning and weeping.

11           When they heard that Jesus was alive
and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

12           Afterward Jesus appeared in a
different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.

13           These returned and reported it to the
rest; but they did not believe them either.

14           Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he
rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe
those who had seen him after he had risen.

Luke 24

36           While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself
stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

37           They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a
ghost.

38           He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do
doubts rise in your minds?

39           Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and
see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

40           When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.

41           And while they still did not believe it because of joy and
amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

42           They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

43           and he took it and ate it in their presence.

His Return to
Heaven

Acts
1

3              After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and
gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a
period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

9              After he said this, he was taken up before their very
eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10           They were looking intently up into the sky as he was
going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

11           “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand
here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

He is still alive today

1
Peter 3

21           … It saves you by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ,

22           who has gone into heaven and is at
God’s right hand–with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Scripture (NKJV)

¹⁸ Then after three
years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.
¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
²⁰(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I
do not lie.)

 
²¹Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²And
I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. ²³But
they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the
faith which he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴And they glorified God
in me.

Commentary – The
Making of an Apostle of Jesus, Part 2

Divine tools,
useless without love

After receiving the revelation from the Lord Jesus
in Arabia, (Gal 1:15-17, 2 Cor 12:2-7), Paul was equipped in his
understanding for his ministry which lay ahead. 
However, though he had all knowledge shown him by God, his was still no
ministry.   That is to say, the knowledge
of God and His Will makes no ministry, but instead the exercise of it in
love.  Consider the Apostle’s own
thoughts on this, as he reports in 1Cor. 13. 
The issue of one’s love – that active love, not the counterfeit
‘feeling’ love put forth as all-important by the Liar and the world – is
examined from all angles to show it’s relevance. 1Cor 13:1-2 addresses
knowledge left bare without it; v.3 the ultimate personal sacrifices rendered
useless by it’s lack; vs. 4-7 it’s behavior and exercise; and vs. 8-13 loves
timeless survival past all other things which shall see their end when the Lord
returns.  Paul here illustrates the truth
of where the reality of God’s power and intent reside; it is not by knowledge
the Lord Jesus have saved us, no more than by his personal revelation and
teaching was Paul’s knowledge alone any good. 
Only by the essential ingredient of love these things were made
powerful.

Perhaps this is because love is the only product we
produce in true partnership with God. 
Faith in God comes from the Father, while our fruits, whatever type, are
borne out of hearts.  But the self-sacrificing
love of the Savior or one of His own is a perfect response of the believer’s
heart, to the incitation of God’s Holy Spirit. 
Love is the perfect expression of Christ, and the same when we exercise
it upon others in our world.

Galations 1:11-17 recounts the equipping of the
Apostle and his Salvation story.  Vs.
18-24, and the three years gap following this time are his fledgling years –
those when he learned how to cope with and use what had been conveyed upon him.  It was somewhere in this time he might have
considered the issues lined out in 1 Cor 13. 
The equipping of the Apostle was in at least two parts – his gain of
knowledge, and his exercise of it in love.

Paul’s timeline through Gal 2:1

Acts
22:14-15
¹⁴Then he said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you that you
should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.
¹⁵For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Acts
26:16
¹⁶But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this
purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have
seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

Acts
22:10
¹⁰So I said, “What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me,
“Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which
are appointed for you to do.’

Acts
9:19-22
¹⁹So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent
some days with the disciples at Damascus. 
²⁰ Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that
He is the Son of God.

Acts
9:25
²⁵Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the
wall in a large basket.

Galatians
1:15-17
¹⁵But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb
and called me through His grace, ¹⁶to reveal His Son in me, that I
might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh
and blood, ¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles
before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

2
Corinthians 12:2-7
²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago–whether in the body
I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows–such a one
was caught up to the third heaven. ³And I know such a man–whether
in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows– ⁴how he
was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not
lawful for a man to utter. ⁵Of such a one I will boast; yet of
myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. ⁶For though I
might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I
refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears
from me.

Galatians
1:18
¹⁸Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and
remained with him fifteen days.

Acts
9:26-28

²⁶ And when Saul had come to
Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and
did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and
brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on
the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at
Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So he was with them at Jerusalem,
coming in and going out.

Acts
22:17-21

¹⁷“Now it happened, when I
returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance
¹⁸and saw Him saying to me, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem
quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ ¹⁹So
I said, “Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat
those who believe on You. ²⁰And when the blood of Your martyr
Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding
the clothes of those who were killing him.’ ²¹Then He said to me,
“Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.”‘

Acts
26:17
¹⁷I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the
Gentiles, to whom I now send you,

Acts
9:29-30
²⁹And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed
against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. ³⁰When the
brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to
Tarsus.

Acts
26:19-20
¹⁹ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first to those in Damascus and in
Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles,
that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Acts
1:8b
”…and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.”

Acts
9:15
¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of
Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

Galatians
1:21
²¹Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

Acts
11:25-26
²⁵Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. ²⁶And
when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole
year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the
disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Acts
11:29-30

²⁹Then the disciples, each
according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in
Judea.  ³⁰This they also did,
and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Acts
12:25
²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had
fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was
Mark.

A servant’s stance

Among
our life’s work as believers must be growth in faith and obedience to the
Father, carrying out our responsibilities in the Kingdom now and the Kingdom
Come.  As of now, each of us has
opportunity to grow into spiritual maturity through our Sanctification.  We are given responsibilities now to train
us, finish and perfect our faith, refining our subsequent works.

In view of our realm of responsibility, consider the
means we have available to us to carry out our task.  Jesus taught and showed us by example the
actions of a Servant Savior.  In His
dealings with the vile, fallen souls He came into contact with, He always
showed compassion, truth, and care.  Consider
for a moment how we are then to deal with each other and the world as well –
aren’t we to show the same as our Lord did? 
The answer to this must lie in the same servant stance in our dealings
with others, and that this is truly the highest means our Lord would have us to
use in our efforts.  Not employing this,
we would show impatience, hardness of heart, judgment, lack of compassion, lack
of good works, lack of reliance on the Father, and an unwillingness to pour
ourselves out for the sake of others – even those who hate us and try to oppose
and hurt us.  Perhaps there is a very
good reason that the Father has not typically provided us anything that the
world would count as powerful, that we might employ such things to propel His
Cause.  Experience is teaching me that
anything less than a servant’s meekness is inferior when dealing with others I
hope to impact.  And perhaps the reason
why is best answered by considering Jesus’ earthly ministry and what methods He
employed.

Jesus walked among us as a man, and that in itself
is a paramount show of His Servant Heart. 
But also consider His mission in dealing with persons along the way to
the Cross.  Every one of the Elect He
came across had resisted Him in sin.  Did
He desire that they turn and be Saved? 
Did He possess the Knowledge of God? 
Did He not have the means to compel anyone to do anything, even for
their ‘own good’?  Did He not have
everything at His disposal in His Godship and Glory, hidden by Self-restraint
in obedience to the Father?  The answer
to all of these is of course “yes”.

But Why?  For
His Sake?  I submit, for ours, and not
specifically that we be Saved, but that we be finally a finished work of His,
made for reflecting His Glory and giving worthy service for Him in the
Kingdom.  Jesus submitted Himself, fully
and perfectly to the Father’s Will, that He would be of greatest Service to
Him, and that He would lead us too, by His Perfect example.  If we are to have responsibilities in the
Kingdom, we must learn to do so now in total reliance on the Father, learning
not to taint His Will or Glory in our attempts to service Him.  Jesus had an endless means available to Him,
but He forewent them and instead relied on the Father in faith and prayer,
submitting Himself fully for God’s good intent and pleasure.

So too must we, who ascribe to serve well in the
Kingdom.  Only true and pure servanthood
to another holds any true hope of seeing the Father’s Will be done.  We must not rely on any of our own
devices.  We must forgo and slay our own
agendas and pride, making way for the Spirit’s direction.  A servant must pour himself out that those
served might be most likely to benefit from his effort.  Forcing someone is not efficient, nor is it
in the character of our Example.

All of this will work towards the end goal, our
Sanctification, ending in Glorification, and for the service to God in His
Kingdom, feebly reflected now by any show of faithful service to Him in
governing over our responsibilities in this life.  The greatest will be the least; the least
will be the greatest.  If any of us
aspires to greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven, he must be a servant of his
brother.  To learn how to do any of this
and become the person the Lord sees us to be, we must forgo the weak tools of
control and self-position over others, and instead employ the mighty position
of a servant of God, relying on Him to carry out His Work through us.

Scripture (NKJV)

¹¹ But I make known to you, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.  ¹²For I neither received it from
man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³For you have heard of my former conduct in
Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy
it. ¹⁴And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in
my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

¹⁵But when it pleased God, who separated me
from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, ¹⁶to reveal
His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not
immediately confer with flesh and blood, ¹⁷nor did I go up to
Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and
returned again to Damascus.

Commentary – The
Making of an Apostle of Jesus, Part 1

The wayward Church at Galatia alarms Paul as they
turn to embrace a gospel outside the one of Grace in faith.  Apparently adrift with competing authorities
leading them, Paul, after setting them back on their heels in vs. 6-10,
establishes himself in the authority of an Apostle of none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ.  Galatians 1:11-24 is a
summation of his exposure and experience leading up to the engagement of his
missionary ministry after v24.

As a slave of Christ (v.10), Paul has had no choice
but to serve the One Whose Spirit commands him from within.  And in choosing His vessel of deliverance of
the Gospel to us Gentile sinners, our Lord is a most gracious Task Master,
meeting every need of those in His charge. 
And so, the Lord made known to Paul everything he would need to carry
out his task.  Paul needed at least two
things – the authority of an Apostle of Jesus who would be responsible for the
establishment of foundational Truth in the Church, and the divine knowledge and
understanding to support, convey, and propagate his ministry, to spread the
Gospel of Christ.

A Foundational Source

Verse 11 is a most central anchor point to both
Paul, and to us now as inheritors of God’s Word, because here he claims the
point and source of origin for the Message he expounds as an Apostle.  He makes it clear that his Gospel is at the
most foundational level, and is in nature unattainable in origin to anyone
else, unless they too had direct and special instruction from God’s Son. – ‘the
gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.’  Those who know of the ways of God through His
Word are not of that same foundational level, but instead have built upon It
under the instruction of men conveying God’s Truth through their revelation,
made useful through the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  Paul however, was not enlightened by any
man’s teaching, but received his understanding from direct revelation from the
Source – ‘For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it
came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.’, also (Acts 22:14-15).

His good use of our old
and new lives

The Lord’s making of Paul for good use is no
different than how He deals with us today. 
Paul’s life before conversion was made every bit useful by God, even
though he was still His enemy at the time. 
He was an enemy long before his campaign of persecution of the
Church.  Though he strived to satisfy God
and His Law to be at peace with Him, he was never Reconciled until the Lord
Arrested him on the road to Damascus. 
Even so, the Lord used Paul’s previous life of religious piety to His
great advantage in Paul’s new life. 
Because of Paul’s background, he was especially equipped to defend the
Gospel to the Jews, but more importantly, to grasp how the Christ brought
everything together under the whole of God’s revealed Will.  The Lord used Paul as an appropriate vessel
to bring the Truth of the Salvation of the Gentiles, as children of Abram, to
bear upon the scope of the Gospel.  As
well, the Lord, having the opportunity to choose among perhaps countless
scholars with a thorough understanding and practice of His Law, chose to Save
and use none other than the most feared pursuer and antagonist of the Lord’s
Church.  And why?  Is not the Lord’s Grace exhibited in making a
most notable disciple and child out of a prior terrible enemy?

Savior of His enemies

Every child of God was once His enemy.  Likewise, all who are not or will not be
Saved are His enemy too.  Our hearts are
black with sin and in hateful, willing rebellion towards our Maker, right from
our inception, through Adam’s inheritance. 
Such is Christ’s active, serving love in making Sacrifice of Himself on
our behalf for the Glory of God, though all the while for those hating Him, yet
scheduled to one day love Him.  Who of us
was not also a persecutor of the Lord? 
Who else was not an offense to Him, by choice?  Who could say he had a heart that loved God,
before God gave him the faith in His Grace to even recognize Him as Lord?  No one, of course.  God made a mighty working example of his
transforming power in the miracle of Paul’s converted life, and so too He does
again and again in us whom He transforms. 
And in both cases, both in Paul and in all believers, God is credited
with all of the Glory for His Work.  His
Work always shows the dramatic nature of the before and after, the old man and
the new, the old life of persecution and the new life of service.  Praise God for choosing an educated man of
the Law of the Jews, and a man once white hot with hatred towards His
Church!  What a telling picture of every
last one of us!   What a revelation of
God’s patient love for a hateful sinner like you and me!

The ingredients of
Salvation

‘But when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother’s womb and called me through His grace’ – The story of Paul’s
predestined Salvation, and that of every other person to see
Justification.  While Paul continues on
in v 16 to speak of the Lord’s special use of him, all of the brethren share in
this same story.  Verse 15 contains the
ingredients of every believer’s miracle of Salvation; ’who separated me from
my mother’s womb’ – God knowing us, as an original and new physical
creation, who has been awaited by the Creator until our appearance in the
flesh, are already known and expected to be set aside from those who will not
see Salvation.  ’Called me through His
grace’ – and knowing us, one day chooses to Arrest us by His undeniable
Call to turn to Him, in our recognition of our sin and His Lordship, to call on
His Name for Safety and Forgiveness.  ‘But
when it pleased God’ – God’s timing is always perfect, never out of His
Plan, always under His control as a Sovereign God.  The Lord chose the perfect and appropriate
time to seize Saul for His own.  Life,
existence, creation, circumstance; are all choreographed in perfect harmony
under the watch of a Perfect God, of Whom no detail escapes.

Saved for good works

And for what purpose, all of this work in seeing
Saul Saved?  Verse 16a – ‘to reveal
His Son in me, that I may preach Him among the Gentiles’.  Notice ‘His Son in me’, not ‘to me’;
Saul’s Salvation wasn’t for his benefit, but for the Lord’s and His
benefactors, the Gentile Church.  Paul is
most certainly a special vessel made by the Lord, in that he, through the
Lord’s Work in his preparation, Salvation, and service, would take God’s Plan
beyond what any Jew on his own would have ever understood or expected.  A Gentile becoming a child of God, aside from
coming under Judaism and the Law, was unimaginable before the Christ.  But again, in his preparation, Paul was shown
the complete Work of God through Christ in the spreading encompassment of the
Gospel of Saving Grace.  Paul was made to
understand the impact of God’s Christ, but only through His Grace.  In persecuting the new Church, he had
opportunity to hear of what was being preached, but his hard, dead heart saw
nothing but the hatred he harbored. 
However, once confronted and delivered to Damascus, ‘immediately he
preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God’, ‘confounding
the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.’ (Acts
19:20, 22)  Once Grace was
conferred, the Lord, using Saul’s previous life to His advantage, had created a
new man who immediately recognized, embraced, and expounded the Truth about
Jesus in the very context he had formerly used in ignorance.  Such is God’s Grace, the empowering ingredient,
the main missing link, the One Thing that can transform hatred into love, folly
into wisdom, persecutor into Apostle!

The Apostle’s
preparation

And so wisely, Saul, surely recognizing the gravity
of what had been conferred to him, was led away for a time to Arabia.  This was wise, be it either the decision of
the Lord or Saul himself, because this would protect his understanding as well
as his credibility, which he has referred to back in v 12.  Saul’s preparation under the Holy One’s
tutorage was the special, foundational work on which the Church of the Gentiles
would be laid.  As in Peter’s confession
of Matthew 16:16, Saul’s revelation was sourced in the Holy Spirit’s
deliverance of God’s Truth, not having anything to do with man’s thoughts. Saul
was taken away to Arabia so as to receive his instruction from the Lord
Himself, just as the other Apostles had enjoyed, without any pollution from a
man’s teaching.  This way, the Apostle’s
teachings would remain foundational, and be to us, the Church, an instruction
through the Holy Spirit and not a mere man.

Study Questions

Why
is Paul writing this letter to the Church at Galatia?

What
is the overall reason for his writing of his life prior to this letter?

How
is Paul’s responsibility in and to the Truth of the Gospel different than other
believer’s?

How
might God make use of our lives before being Saved, as we still hated Him?  What of your previous life has He used?

What
is so amazing about God’s Grace in Saul’s Salvation?

For
what reasons might Paul have gone away from, rather than to, the Apostles in
Jerusalem?

Scripture (NKJV)

3 ²⁹And if you are Christ’s, then you are
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  4 ¹ Now I say that the heir, as
long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master
of all, ²but is under guardians and stewards until the time
appointed by the father. ³Even so we, when we were children, were in
bondage under the elements of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of
the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
⁵to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption as sons.  ⁶And
because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” ⁷Therefore you are no
longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Lesson

A
wonderful encompassment of the Gospel, this block of Scripture gathers the
truth of who we are in Christ Jesus – our long journey revealed with the
Promise of God to Abram, to later be under the tutor of the law, then on to our
rescue and subsequent receipt of the Holy Spirit.

‘And
if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise.’ – Paul qualifies his
readers before continuing, closing the conditions starting at v 26, which shows
who belongs to the Lord Jesus.  And if we
meet the criteria, then we have been shown to be of Christ.  And if we are of Christ, we must also be the
people spoken to be Abraham’s descendants and heirs of Salvation, Promised to
him by God, a Promise he believed. (Gen 15:5-6)  Paul also lays the foundation for his
argument against Salvation through works of the Law instead of through faith, a
damnable practice the Galatians threatened to embrace under false teachers,
even after they had seen the saving Grace of the Lord Jesus. (Gal 4:9)

‘Now
I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a
slave, though he is master of all’ –
A child is told of being an ‘heir’,fully promised to one day
receive his father’s estate, already recognized as ‘master of all’ his
father’s estate in the future. 
Meanwhile, he ‘is under guardians and stewards until the time
appointed by the father.’  This is a
time of preparation for when he receives what is already understood to be
his.  But until the time comes, he will
be under the care, guidance, and protection of the figure of authority made
responsible by his father.  The ‘steward’
has the responsibility to oversee the children and slaves of the household,
supervising their activities and preparation. 
The child is the heir, but he still ‘does not differ at all from a
slave’, not yet exercising the rights he is sure to inherit at ’the time
appointed by the father’. 

‘Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of
the world’ – Paul moves to draw the parallel
of our station in God’s Order, as His children. 
Before we were freed, we were all ‘in bondage’, slaves to our sin and to the Law of Moses which
exposed it.  The Law is the ‘steward’ responsible for our restraint and safe keeping,
bringing every human being to either his Salvation or his Judgment.  As His children, we were once in bondage ‘under
the elements of the world’, the Law, which in
light of the New Covenant is a simple yet true means to the end goal.  The ‘elements’, the Law, are a lesser part of the larger whole.  As elements in the physical world are the
base contributors of things of a higher order, so too is the Law which is
designed to deliver us to the final goal, our standing at the time of
Judgment.  And before the Father calls
them forth into Salvation and their inheritance in Jesus, the children are
under the ‘steward’ of the Law.

But
when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a
woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption as sons.  This is the Promise fulfilled,
the content of the Good News of the Gospel in one sentence!  ‘But when the fullness of the time had
come’ – Beginning before Creation, first revealed at the Fall, the Father’s
Plan deliberately marches on with the goal of seeing Himself Glorified by the
trophy of those He would Save.  And at
the perfect time, when all was in agreement within His perfect Order and Will, ‘God
sent forth His Son’ Who is the Promise the Jews and the Nations look to for
Salvation.

Foreordained
before the foundation of the world (1Pet 1:20), the Son of God
Himself was made flesh (Jn 1:14a), taking on the very form and
nature of His creation that we might be Redeemed. (Phil 2:6-7) He
is the union of God and man, perfect and without sin (1 Jn 3:5),
the second ‘Adam’ (1 Cor 15:45), the Firstborn among the
believers (Rom 8:29).  ’Born
of a woman’ that He would be fully clothed in man, yet still God,
satisfying the promise of the Man Who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen
3:15).   He is the Word, the
Essence and Truth of God, becoming flesh and living among men that they might
behold Him and be Saved (Jn 1:14).  ‘Born under the law’ that He would
fulfill the Law, living in obedience to the Father without fault or blame. (Phil
2:8) His Grace over the Law shows us the chasm of our inability to meet
God’s Standard, our desperate situation before He calls each believer to see
and embrace his inheritance as a son. 
While He came to relieve us of our enslavement to the Law, the truth and
validity of the Law was not undermined, but reveals the far reaches of
Grace.  He has, in His sinless life and
Resurrection, ended the bondage of the flesh to the Law through death,
releasing the flesh from the old covenant (Rom 7:1-4),(Rom 8:2) ‘to
redeem those who were under the law’. 
He has ‘created in Himself one new Man from the two’, ‘reconciling
them both to God in one body through the cross thereby putting death to the
(law)’. (Eph 2:15-16)   He has
created the union of a Body now Glorified, made complete in a Flesh free from
the Law and with a Spirit at peace with God. 
The Jews and the rest of the world are all under the Law, unless Saved
and living in the liberty given to us as heirs no longer under the ‘steward’
of the Law.

’And
because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”’ – At the time appointed by the Father, each believer, recognized as a
child of God, received the Seal and Promise of Salvation by the receipt of the
Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22). 
This Spirit released us from the fear of death and bondage to the Law,
so now we are free and cry out as one whose voice was once restrained.  Like one escaping drowning, we burst through
the surface and draw a breath as if it were our first.  The Spirit’s arrival brings that same urgency
at our Rebirth and throughout our walk with Jesus.

Cited Scripture

Genesis 15:5-6

Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now
toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He
said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”  And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted
it to him for righteousness.

Galatians 4:9

But now after you have known God, or rather are
known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements,
to which you desire again to be in bondage?

1 Peter 1:20

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth.

Philippians 2:6-7

who, being in the form of God, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the
form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

1 John 3:5

And you know that He was manifested to take away our
sins, and in Him there is no sin.

1 Corinthians 15:45

And so it is written, “The first man Adam
became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Romans 8:29

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren.

Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall
bruise His heel.”

Philippians 2:8

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Romans 7:1-4

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those
who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?  For the woman who has a husband is
bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies,
she is released from the law of her husband.  So then if, while her husband lives,
she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband
dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has
married another man.  Therefore,
my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ,
that you may be married to another–to Him who was raised from the dead, that
we should bear fruit to God.

Romans 8:2

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the law of sin and death.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has
anointed us is God,who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit
in our hearts as a guarantee.

Scripture (NKJV)

¹⁹You believe that
there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble!   ²⁰But do you want to know, O foolish
man, that faith without works is dead?

 ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²Do you see
that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made
perfect?

 ²³And the Scripture was fulfilled which
says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.”  And he was called
the friend of God.  ²⁴You see
then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.  ²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the
harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them
out another way?

²⁶For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Outline

• James turns to deal with faith that is
  illegitimate before God.
• The works that James writes of are different
  than the works Paul denounces in Rom 11:5-6.
• Likewise, the faiths Paul and James are dealing
  with are totally different in nature.
• Abraham responded in his faith, and God saw him
  Justified by his faith, made complete in his works.
• Jesus is the Deliverance, existing from the
  beginning in God’s Salvation Plan.
• The faith and subsequent works Abraham exhibited
  are the very same we must exhibit.
• Once Saved by this faith, God deals with us no
  longer as criminals, but as legally Righteous.
• Faith is an intangible, yet essential,
  connection between us and our Salvation, and must be proofed in us.

Lesson

James turns to deal with faith
that is illegitimate before God. ‘You believe that there is one God. You
do well.’ – Everyone is aware of God, (Rom 1:20) and we all
have faith in something; we are of the Kingdom or the other.  (Matthew 13:38)  Even someone who professes no alliance in
faith to anyone or anything has faith that there is nothing to have faith
in.  The dividing line will not be over
whether we possess a faith, for we all do; the question will center on whom our
faith lays upon.  ‘Even the demons
believe – and tremble!’   They too,
have a faith, a faith in that God is Who He is and that He will do what they
know to be true – their ultimate eternal banishment and punishment. (Matt
8:29) They have good reason to tremble! 
For them, the problem again is not that they lack even a faith in God –
it is that they lack a Saving faith in the Lord Jesus.  The Bible makes no indication of any means of
Redemption for the fallen of the Heavenly Host, and if not, because the Father
has not Willed it.  Salvation is offered
only to mankind, not to them.

The works that James writes of
are different than the works Paul denounces in Rom 11:5-6.  Paul’s works are those intended, though
unsuccessfully, to satisfy God’s Law and earn Justification.  James’ works, on the other hand, are borne
out of faith here on the other side of Justification, through Jesus’ Work on
the Cross.  In the same way, the
faiths Paul and James are dealing with are totally different in nature.  Paul’s faith is that germ, that seed, that
God puts in the heart of the sinner at the moment he is convicted by the Word,
sees Jesus as the Savior, and calls out to Him for Mercy to be Saved.  This is a Holy Gift from God, the first
gracious act evident to the newly repentant sinner Saved by this very
faith.  James is dealing with all other
faiths, which are dead and condemning before God.

‘But do you want to know, O
foolish man, that faith without works is dead?’ – Shall he prove to us that
a true Saving faith must exhibit a response of good works to be proven to be of
any use?  Then consider the acts of faith
in Abraham – ‘Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered
Isaac his son on the altar?’  Four
days earlier, God instructed Abraham to prepare to offer his son Isaac as a
burnt offering. (Gen 22:2) Note that God gave Abraham plenty of
time to stew about this, yet Abraham did not waver.  It is one thing to act on impulse, even in
obedience.  But given any amount of time
to consider, our tendency would probably be to rationalize God’s Will out of
His Command.  Isaac was His promise
fulfilled; he represented not only Abraham’s assurance of a God of promises
kept, but also the only son he would ever have. 
Through it all, Abraham looked to a God he knew is Pure, Holy, and
Righteous, and Whose direction and intent were always the highest priority to
uphold – even in the face of the most severe opportunity for doubt and
distress.  So, Abraham followed through –
he set out to obey, and as he was about to slay his beloved son, bound on the alter,
the Angel of the LORD stayed his hand. (Gen 22:12) ‘Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ – Abraham
responded in his faith, and God saw him Justified by his faith, made complete
in his works.

How is it that someone of the time
before Jesus’ ministry could hope to be Saved? 
How, if one didn’t have the person of Jesus to call on, Who hadn’t yet
been crucified?  In this question lays
another question of how Abraham was accounted as righteous before God, but the
answer to both is the same.  Abraham
believed, had faith in God’s Deliverance, though he had not yet realized or
received the tangibles of what God has promised him.  For both Abraham, and us of this generation
under the New Covenant, Jesus is that Deliverance, existing from the
beginning in God’s Plan. (2 Tim 1:9-10) Abraham’s faith was
complete, made perfect or whole, when he responded to the faith he had in
God.  His response in faith, his works,
qualified his faith before God – and so God credited his belief and works to
his righteousness as being genuine.  ‘Do
you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was
made perfect (complete)?  And the
Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.”’

So what, as children of Abraham,
might this have to do with us?  Don’t we
have the Person of Jesus to look to, His name to call on?  The faith and subsequent works Abraham
exhibited are the very same we must exhibit, if we are to be found to be truly
children of God.  James has focused
on this issue of faith and works for good reason.  Our understanding of faith, it’s nature and
role in Redemption, and it’s affirmation in us, is paramount.  And because of this, James exhorts us to seek
solid proof through works, so that we do not deceive ourselves.

At
our Redemption – that point where we first believed in Jesus, turned away from
our sin, and called on His Name for Mercy – we each were legally Justified, or
no longer held accountable for the payment (eternal punishment) for our
sins.  Jesus’ Work on the Cross satisfied
God’s Justice which demands that all sins are paid for.  In the case of the believer, Jesus has already
endured the eternal punishment on his or her account, long before that believer
would ever have to face Judgment.  And
because of that, at least two issues are now true.  First, Jesus has bought us our freedom by His
personal payment for what we will owe – and because of this, we are now His
possession.  Second, as God’s Justice
looks forward to the Judgment, we are recognized as Justified, legally free of
the debt of our sin.  And because of
our new standing, God deals with us no longer as criminals, but as legally
Righteous.

So,
where is the role of works in this? 
Jesus holds our Redemption and only escape from eternal punishment.  And the only way we might receive this is by
true faith in only Him.  And thus, this
is why James goes to such lengths to have us always testing and proofing the
reality of our faith, an intangible yet essential connection between us and our
Salvation.  James shows us the
barometer of good works, in response to a Saving faith, through a personal
relationship with the Holy Son.  ‘For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Cited Scripture

Rom
1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Matthew
13:38
The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the
tares are the sons of the wicked one.

Matthew
8:29
And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus,
You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Genesis
22:2
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and
go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the
mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Genesis
22:12
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for
now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only
son, from Me.”

2
Tim 1:9-10

Who
has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before time began, ¹⁰but has now been revealed by the appearing of
our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel,

Scripture (NKJV)

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone
says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and destitute
of daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace,
be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are
needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷Thus also faith by
itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith,
and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show
you my faith by my works.

Outline

• What good is a faith that does not bear fruit?
• No conflict between James’ and Paul’s view of works not earning
  Salvation.
• James turns around to view faith from the perspective of what comes
  from it, not what leads to it.
• He is writing about this relationship in faith (with Jesus), which
  responds through works.
• As mock charity is useless, so will a mock profession of faith in
  Jesus, when presented to Him for examination on the Last Day.
• This is the litmus test of any faith; a tree is known by its fruit.
• He persuades us to examine ourselves for the Saving faith in Jesus,
  coexisting with works brought about by that same faith.
• If found deficient, only one choice but to throw oneself at the foot of
  the Cross and cry for Mercy.

Lesson

James
challenges the one, professing to be a believer in Jesus, to examine himself
for the evidence of the root of his faith. 
He begins by asking: What good is a faith that does not bear fruit?
‘What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not
have works?‘  He can ask this,
because he knows that anyone Saved has faith in Jesus the Savior, and that
faith has to come from God, leading to a relationship with His Son.  And if there is a relationship with His Son,
then that relationship must produce nothing less than an outpouring in
response. (Jn 7:37-38) So then, if there is not fruit being borne
out of a faith, what good can it be, for it cannot be the type from God, which
would inherently produce those fruits. 
And therefore, if it is not of God and thus not of Jesus, then how can
this kind of faith save him?  ‘Can
faith save him?’

There is
no conflict here between James’ and Paul’s view of works not earning Salvation. (Rom 11:5-6)
In both cases, they seek to put the issues of works in their proper place and
order.  Paul writes of Salvation ‘according
to the election of (God’s) grace’, (v 5), which cannot be earned
through any works of the one to be Saved,     
(v 6).  If this were so,
then that person’s contribution would negate the nature of grace itself.  Grace is a gift to someone who has no basis
of deserving it, and who has no means of paying for or contributing to it – ‘otherwise
grace is no longer grace’ (v 6). 
Paul does not allow for the Saving Grace from God to be the result of
any works of mankind.  James’ argument
supports this too; he agrees with Paul on the issue of free Saving Grace, then turns
around to view faith from the perspective of what comes from it, not what leads
to it.  He knows that on this side of
Justification the believer will respond to his faith through an encounter with
the Holy God.  He is writing about
this relationship in faith, which responds through works.

So how might
he quantify it?  What example might he
use to illustrate the reality of a ‘dead’ faith?  He offers v15 – ‘If a brother or sister is
naked and destitute of daily food‘. 
These people are shown to be in a terrible state – their lives are
endangered for a lack of fundamental necessity. 
The situation is not only punctuated by the measure of basic humane
concern, but also in that God has commanded us to aid the poor (Lev
25:35).  However, ‘one of
(us)’ who confess to be a child of the God of compassion, – ‘(who) says
he has faith‘ – offers a token blessing of love and comfort – ‘Depart in
peace, be warmed and filled‘. 
However, they are sent away empty-handed.  Here, ‘(we) do not give them the things
which are needed for the body’, that which is a basic need.  James’ illustration shows the utter uselessness
of this hollow charity.  And, as this
mock charity is useless, so will a mock profession of faith in Jesus, when
presented to Him for examination on the Last Day.  This faith, in failing to produce works
helpful in the most basic of ways, nor in the compassion of a heart found in
one of God, betrays itself as hollow and of no value.  ‘Thus also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead.‘  This is the
litmus test of any faith; a tree is known by its fruit, and the value of
the works Judged by God’s Measure will reflect the state of faith in one’s
life. (Matt 7:24-25),   (Rev 20:12)
Under the demand of our new spirit we are called to react, and only the faith
that God grants can produce works righteous before God.  All other faiths are dead.

For the sake
of illustration, James offers someone’s declaration of the validity of his
works, in contrast to James’ plea – ‘But someone will say, “You have
faith, and I have works.”‘.  He
persuades us to examine ourselves for the Saving faith in Jesus, coexisting
with works brought about by that same faith – ‘Show me your faith
without your works,’ (you cannot) ‘and I will show you my faith by my
works.‘ (I do).

James
acknowledges this person’s works, but shows that works can be present without
faith, and this is no better to save him.  
Works or dead faith, by themselves, will both

prove
worthless at the Judgment.  And so, if in
examining his own faith, one was to find it in question or deficient, he has only
one choice but to throw himself at the foot of the Cross and cry for Mercy in
Jesus.  This person of v18 can only
show works, which he cannot prove to be in response to Saving faith, and so
cannot defy James’ logic nor prove to himself his works qualify him as
Saved.  And as a reference point, James
uses a life like his own as an illustration of this doctrine, as his life had
the marks of one saved – ‘and I will show you my faith by my works.‘

Cited Scripture

John
7:37-38
 ³⁷ On the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸He who believes in Me, as
the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water.”

Romans
11:5-6
⁵Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to
the election of grace. ⁶And if by grace, then it is no longer of
works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no
longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Leviticus
25:35
³⁵ “If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into
poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner,
that he may live with you.

Matthew
7:24-25
²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does
them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵and
the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Revelation
20:12
¹²And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and
books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And
the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written
in the books.

Scripture

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone
says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and destitute
of daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace,
be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are
needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷Thus also faith by
itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith,
and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show
you my faith by my works.

Commentary

James now turns our spiritual health, a self-examination
in order to proof our true Salvation in a reliance upon Jesus.  He sets out to challenge us in examining
ourselves for the evidence of Salvation by contrasting the false proofs resting
on faith alone without either works or works alone without faith, vs. the
proper doctrine of both of them coexisting as the result of a saving
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 
So James asks: what good is a faith that is not bearing fruit?  ’What does it profit, my brethren, if
someone says he has faith but does not have works’?  He can ask this because any faith in the
Savior has to be the same faith from God, through a relationship with His
Son.  And therefore, if there is a
relationship with His Son, then that relationship with Him must produce nothing
less than an outpouring in response.  (John
7:37-38)  So then, if there is
not fruit being borne out of a faith, then what good can it be, for it cannot
be the type from God which would inherently produce those fruits.  And therefore, if it is not of God and thus
not in Jesus, then how can that faith save him? ’Can faith save him?’

James gives his example in v 15 – ‘If a brother or
sister is naked and destitute of daily food’.  These people are not noted as asking for
help, though they are known of and acknowledged.  They are in a most terrible state, both
humiliated and in danger of losing their lives for a lack of necessities.  They are in a very severe need of charity,
and we see them and recognize their situation clearly.   (Lev 25:35)  

And so, in dealing with them, ‘one of (us)’, people
of the God of compassion, offers a token of faithful love and comfort in a kind
blessing – ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled’ – as they are sent
away empty handed.  Yet, ‘(we) do not
give them the things which are needed for the body‘, that which they will
need in basic necessity to survive.  In
light of the preceding verse (v 14), he again asks, what good is this sort
of faith?  This faith, in failing to
produce works helpful in the most basic of ways, nor in the compassion of a
heart found in one of God, has betrayed itself as hollow and of no value.  ‘Thus also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead.‘  This is the
litmus test of any faith; the tree is known by it’s fruit, and the value of the
works judged by God’s Measure will reflect the state of faith in the bearer’s
life.  (Matt 7:24-27)    Under the demand of our new spirit we are
called to rise to action, and only the faith which God grants us can produce
truly good works.  All other faiths are
dead.

For the sake of illustration, James offers someone’s
declaration of the validity of his works, in contrast to James’ faith – ‘But
someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”’  James now puts it to the test in light of the
overall point he is expounding – ‘Show me your faith without your works, and
I will show you my faith by my works.’ 
As his intent in this block of passage has been to cause us to examine
ourselves for the saving faith in Jesus, from God alone, and to do so by
considering the coexistence of faith and works, he is able to show this
person’s flawed logic and cause him to even question if he in fact stands
Justified.  This person might still be
looking to works as Saul once did in trying to save himself.  Our Salvation requires a total abandonment of
ourselves, our devices, and our attempts at self-saving works, in exchange for
a total reliance upon the Promise of Jesus to Save us from Judgment and
damnation through faith in His Father’s Grace. 
James acknowledges his works, but shows that the basis of Salvation is
Grace through faith.  Therefore, this person’s
works can be present without faith and thus prove worthless at the Judgment.  The manifestation of both a saving faith,
something only we and our Lord can ultimately examine in ourselves, in
combination with good works borne out of a gratitude and love resultant of such
a faith and relationship, can hope to prove to us our sure standing in
Christ.  And if one, in examining his
faith, were to find it in question or deficient, his only obvious recourse must
be to throw himself at the foot of the Cross and cry for Mercy in Jesus’
Salvation.  (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)  And if so, our Lord promises to Save all
those who call on His Name in this way.  (Rom
10:13)  Therefore, the person of
v 18 can only show works which may or may not be an outpouring in response of
saving faith, and so cannot defeat James’ logic nor prove to himself he is
Saved.  And as a reference point, a
countermeasure, James shows that his argument is correctly in alignment with
this doctrine by pointing to the truth made evident through a life like his,
which had the marks of one saved – ‘and I will show you my faith by my
works’.

Key
Summary

We must be diligent in self examination so as to be
sure we aren’t deceived concerning our motives and Salvation.  A bitter Day at Judgment awaits those who
relied on anything but the Blood and Forgiveness of our Lord, the Final and
Only Atonement.  James gives us the means
to identify the truth of our faith and test ourselves in it through the
response of works.

Cited Scripture

John
7:37-38
³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
³⁸He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will
flow rivers of living water.”

Leviticus
25:35
³⁵ “If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into
poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner,
that he may live with you.

Matthew
7:24-27
²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does
them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵and
the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
²⁶“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not
do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷and
the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it fell. And great was its fall.”

2
Corinthians 7:9-10
⁹Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow
led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might
suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰For godly sorrow produces
repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the
world produces death.

Romans
10:13
¹³For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved.”

Scripture (NKJV)

¹ My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. ²For if there should
come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there
should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, ³and you pay
attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit
here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand
there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴have you not
shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this
world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those
who love Him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich
oppress you and drag you into the courts? ⁷Do they not blaspheme
that noble name by which you are called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; ⁹but
if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as
transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. ¹¹For He who said,
“Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now
if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a
transgressor of the law.

¹²So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the
law of liberty. ¹³For judgment is without mercy to the one who has
shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Lesson

James opens
with a warning to remember, in considering the faith of the Lord, not to
forget Whom we are dealing with. 
He goes the extra mile by twice pointing out that this is ‘our Lord
Jesus Christ’ and ‘the Lord of Glory’.  We must beware of any complacency, leading to
‘partiality’.  God despises
partiality (favoritism) because it is our own judgment on another’s value and
worth.  When we do so it is with
self-serving motives, wrongly putting one person above another.

In James’
scenario, two men arrive, one the world and our sinful heart loves, the
other the world and we shun.  The
‘beautiful’ or ‘important’ person – ‘with gold rings, in fine apparel’ –
is shown to a preferred seat because of a preferred place in our heart, while
the ‘poor man in filthy clothes’ is shown no help or respect.

‘Have you
not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?’ –
If we allow ourselves into this scenario, we are convicted not only of
judging someone, but worse yet as a corrupt judge with an evil heart.  God despises this also.  In (Lev 19:15), God’s
instructions through Moses condemn any partiality like this, which comes from
our heart’s judgment of one another.  In
that verse He does not allow favoritism in judging any man, even if he is flat
broke and destitute, because in judging a matter on it’s merit of right or
wrong, a state of wealth or poverty makes no difference in the eyes of
God.   Justice in Truth is a
non-negotiable issue with God, because He is Just and True.  All things must in the end be judged against
God’s Truth.  That is why the Gift of
Jesus is so incredible – He has satisfied the debt for us, which God’s Justice
demands, yet at the same time He can be forgiving of us without bounds.  Both God’s characteristic of Justice and His
characteristic of Love are met in Jesus. 
So, when we judge another, ‘the poor man of this world’ who is ‘rich
in faith and an heir of the Kingdom’ as one who ‘loves Him’, we
are working in opposition to the work of Jesus.

Here we have
made the ‘rich man’ favored in our heart.  But God is a Jealous God, and demands
to be first in our heart. (Exod 20:3) 
Worse yet, the ‘rich man’ in this illustration does not appear to
be Saved – he has no reverence for the Lord or His people, he is quick to
accuse them and try to do wrong against them, and he slanders ‘that noble
name by which you are called.’  ‘But if
you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as
transgressors’ – If we turn to a person like this, and in doing so reject
another, we have rejected one of God in His Spirit and embraced one who
stands up against Him.

In breaking
God’s law in this, one becomes an offense to the whole Law and stands
guilty.  ‘For whoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.’  However, God also calls us to show love and
respect towards our neighbor.  If this
rich man is treated so, in fulfillment of God’s ‘royal law’ to ‘love
your neighbor as yourself’, there is no sin.  A show of love and respect for a
neighbor or figure of authority, neither in judgment nor at the expense of
another’s worth in the eyes of God, is a righteous thing.

‘God is no
respecter of persons’ (Acts 10:34), and we are very fortunate for this.  It is only because of His choice that anyone
is Saved, and it is never based on one’s value, choice, or character.  So, as He has shown He hates favoritism, and
since He has treated all of us in a perfect measure of Justice, then any
manner of dealing with one another must be nothing more or less than His
Perfect Standard.

‘So speak
and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty’ – each of us will stand
before Jesus’ Judgment, where our life will be examined and we will be
compensated accordingly.  The Judge will
show us the same consideration we have shown to others in this life –
beware!  Or, if we each treat our
brothers and sisters with compassion and love – be glad!  ‘For judgment is without mercy to the one
who has shown no mercy.’  Our Lord
delights in lavishing His Blessings of Mercy on us (Mic 7:18) and will do so,
just as we do so.  ‘Mercy triumphs
over judgment’; so then it is, we must strive to show mercy and not
favoritism, that we might also be shown Mercy. 
(Lk 11:4)

Cited Scripture

Leviticus
19
¹⁵“You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be
partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you
shall judge your neighbor.

Exodus
20
³“You shall have no other gods before Me.

Acts
10
³⁴ Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive
that God shows no partiality.

Micah
7
¹⁸Who is a God like You,

       
Pardoning iniquity
        And passing over the transgression
of the remnant of His heritage?
        He does not retain His anger
forever,
        Because He delights in mercy.

Luke
11
⁴And forgive us our sins,
        For we also forgive everyone who is
indebted to us.

Scripture

¹ My brethren, do not hold the faith of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. ²For if there
should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and
there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, ³and you pay
attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit
here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand
there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴have you not
shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not
chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶But you have dishonored
the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? ⁷Do
they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according
to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do
well; ⁹but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted
by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. ¹¹For He who
said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.”
Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a
transgressor of the law.

¹²So speak and so do as those who will be
judged by the law of liberty. ¹³For judgment is without mercy to the
one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Commentary

Remember, in considering the faith of the Lord, not to
forget Who we are dealing with, nor should we allow ourselves to pervert what
the faith encompasses.  As believers
saved by Him, ‘do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
glory, with partiality.’  James is
being sure to awaken us to any complacency in our hearts by twice invoking the
reality of the terrible Glory and Position of the One to Whom we entrust our
souls.  Do not disregard the substance
(the faith) which embodies our whole association with the Son of God.  Surely do not do so ‘with partiality’,
neither adding to nor taking away from this faith – God’s Holiness and
Righteousness needs no help from us!  It
stands above all as the Perfect Standard. 
God despises partiality, even in judging the poor and lowly.  Partiality is an attempted shortcut to false
Justice; a crutch, a handicap – the faith in Jesus Christ needs no such
‘help’.  It stands on It’s Own; we cannot
treat It lightly.

James next poses a scenario surely common to the assembly
of believers, even today.  Two men
arrive, one the World and our sinful heart loves; the other, we shun.  And in acting upon this, the beautiful person
– ‘with gold rings, in fine apparel’ – is shown to a preferred seat
because of the preferred place in our heart, while the ‘poor man in filthy
clothes’ gains no favor but is instead directed to (note, not given) any
other available place to occupy.

‘Have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and
become judges with evil thoughts?’ – Taking part in the scenario, we are convicted
of not only judging someone, but worse yet as a corrupt judge with an evil
heart.  And this the LORD despises.  Not only must we refrain from judging others,
but this scenario worsens as we become impartial judges.  In (Lev 19:15) the LORD’s
instructions through Moses condemn any impartiality rooted in this very
thing.  It is our love and hate; our
heart’s judgment on another, based on their material or societal standing; a
self-appointed judgment, adding to the one with favoritism, while denying the
other in falsely rooted discrimination.

Further revealing the futility and sin of this, James
next points out to anyone, already ensnared in favoritism, that they are in
opposition to God.  ‘Has God not
chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?‘  How can one with a saving faith in our Lord
Jesus hold anything, including riches of both pride or money, above Him?  God is a Jealous God, and demands to be first
in our heart.  It seems clearly His
design in our Salvation to typically use the lowly and foolish things in the
eyes of this world, to advance His Kingdom. 
And it follows that God is not inclined to favor the so-called high and
mighty of anyone in this world.  He has
no use for the proud, and he resists them; it is a meek heart which shall gain
when all of the world has been lost.  God
has declared that the ‘poor (in the eyes) of this world (shall) be rich in
faith’ and thus rich in Him and His rewards.

Therefore, as God has made it clear that He despises
impartiality, and further that He loves the meek in heart and despises the
haughty, James’ scenario paints a bleak picture for the evil judge and his
actions.  Offering the rich man a favored
position, though he has no reverence of the Lord and thus no Salvation; and
that he, outside of your show of preference in this assembly, is quick to
accuse you and attempt wrong against you; and that he also has the foolish,
damning audacity to slander and blaspheme the Highest name to which we ascribe
and owe our Salvation to – who then is the greater transgressor of the Law and
of God?  ’But if you show partiality,
you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.’  Turning to this haughty slanderer and
slighting a child of God, if we are believers in that same God, is nothing less
than shameless prostitution.  At that
point we have chosen to reject one of God and His Spirit in exchange for the
embrace of one who stands against Him. 
Is there anything much more wounding to the heart than this sort of
betrayal and abandonment?  It should
cause us to weep.  And all the while, we
not only honor this person, but also grieve God by dishonoring the poor man who
is the real child of God.  In breaking
God’s Law in this, one becomes an offense to the whole law and stands guilty.  ‘For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.’

However, there is the call for love and respect towards
our neighbor, as deemed so by God.  If
this rich man is treated so in fulfillment of God’s ’royal law’ to
‘love your neighbor as yourself’, there is no sin.  A show of love and respect for a neighbor or
figure of authority, neither in judgment nor at the expense of another’s worth
in the eyes of God, is a righteous thing.

God is no respecter of persons, and wonderfully so for
us!  If He were, none of us would stand a
chance.  It is only by His Choice and
Grace He has deemed us worth Saving, and His Mercy makes it possible.  If God has done this, His show of
impartiality in Judgment and Mercy, and as our Lord has made it clear on how He
deals with us, then any manner of dealing with one another must be nothing more
or less than His Standard, lest we accuse him of wrongdoing.  But follow His example, and be blessed.

For each will stand before the Lamb’s Judgment, to be
examined in the actions of his life, and will be compensated accordingly.  The Judge will show us the same consideration
we have shown others in this life – beware! 
Or, if we treat our brothers with compassion – be glad!  Our Lord delights in lavishing His Blessings
of Mercy on us (Mic 7:18) and will do so, just as we do so.  However, the hard heart which denies the Lord
and His own, dealing with them wrongly and injuring them in doing so (Job
22:6) will find a like response from the Judge as they cry for
Mercy.  So then it is, we should strive
to show mercy, that we might be shown Mercy. 
(Lk 11:4)

Key Summary

We are not to err in taking the Faith, our Savior
Jesus, lightly.

While it is easy to show preference to ‘important’
people, we can only do so in ‘loving our neighbor’.

Our actions in dealing with others will be applied
to us by the Lord when He Judges our compensation in Heaven.

Study Questions

Who
are the two basic people illustrated in this passage?

Why
are we to be careful in examining our motives in this sort of a situation?

What
are the implications of this on each of us when Jesus examines our life?

Cited Scripture

Leviticus
19:15
You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor,
nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your
neighbor.

Micah
7:18
   Who is a God like You,
   Pardoning iniquity
   And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?

   He does not retain His anger forever,
   Because He delights in mercy.

Job
22:6
For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason,  And stripped the naked of their clothing.

Luke
11:4
   And forgive us our sins,
   For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
   And do not lead us into temptation,
   But deliver us from the evil one.

Scripture

²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
²⁴for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind
of man he was. ²⁵But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty
and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this
one will be blessed in what he does.

Commentary

‘But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves.’ – James continues, saying that hearing and embracing
the Word is not an end unto itself.  One
who believes he is doing well in just hearing but not doing will be sorely
disappointed on the Last Day.  Hardly
anything is more bitter than being betrayed by someone we trust and believe in,
and how more so than when we’ve ‘deceived ourselves’?  Faith without good works cannot be a saving
faith, but is counterfeit.  Why?  Because faith in Jesus, that met with a true
relationship with the Savior, which this faith must be in order to have such a
relationship, has already proven itself true by that same relationship.  Yet, this same faith leaves no choice but to
bear the fruits of works, if it is, in fact, real.  Nothing can suppress the response of a saving
relationship with Jesus, for He is Holy.

So, firmly anchored in this, there are two issues, one on
each side, pointing back towards this Truth. 
James is speaking to those assumed to be believers, (Jas 1:19),
and as so, those who follow his instruction to embrace the Word of God, doing
everything in their realm of responsibility to make the most of their
opportunity.  As a result, James warns
them to follow through, pressing forth the change in their works, made
necessary by the Work of the Word in their hearts.  They are not to ignore their conviction nor
their inspiration, but follow through with works resultant of all of this.  These are the same works which Jesus equates
to the ‘house’ (Matt 7:24-27) the wise and the foolish man each
built.  Their worth in that ‘house’ will
be tested on the Last Day, and their reward presented accordingly.  Therefore, this said by James, he tells them
not to otherwise ‘deceive themselves’. 
And how might we escape this deception, the one we might bring upon
ourselves?   By examining the evidence of
the fruits inherent to a real relationship with the Creator of the
Universe.  No one can brush past His
Presence, in a saving relationship, without experiencing the fruits of the
Spirit.  So we must always cry out to the
Father for the means to be ‘doers of the word’ and not to let the Truth
of God fall to the ground and be trampled.

‘For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer,
he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror‘ – The Word is given
to us to encourage and convict.  The Holy
Spirit shows us for what we truly are by the Truths of the Word.  It is a mirror in which we may see a
reflection of insight into our heart and then use that opportunity to respond
accordingly to the change It brings. 
Note here that it is both the doer and the hearer who look into the
mirror of the Word – the mere hearer will have no excuse before the Lord, for
it is for his actions, and the lack of, that he will be judged.

‘for he observes himself, goes away, and
immediately forgets what kind of man he was.‘ – He has heard the conviction
of God on his sin, then turned away without a comment or response to the
Almighty.  ‘But he who looks into the
perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a
doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. ‘ – The ‘law
of liberty’ is an amazing statement of the overall Oneness of God’s intent,
direction, and design.  It comes full
circle, encompassing everything and meeting itself at the other end; the
beginning of the perfect, seamless circle, which has no beginning nor end.  Consider how something can both contain,
guide, and define, while at the same time provide perfect, free liberty.  How is this possible??  It can only be possible because both are One
in the same, both of the same Substance, a part of and thus inherent of the
Perfection of God Himself.  And how does
He make It so?  It is so through the satisfaction
of His seamless Justice, by His Promise of Affection, in His Endless
Grace.  Amen!  Amen!!

‘…and continues in it’ is the qualifier of a
true saint by God’s provision of perseverance. 
God keeps His children in tow, compelling us forward in our growth, our
Sanctification.  This does not mean the
saint never sins, but that the overall direction of his life, covered by the
Forgiveness in the Lamb’s Blood, continues forward in the Father’s Will.  (1Jn 1:7)  God drives, compels, enables us on this
journey, and what a wonderful trip it is!

‘…and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the
work‘ – In this translation of the Bible (NKJV, KJV) as well as in the
original Greek, James has used ‘work’ interchangeably with the ‘doers of the
word’.  It takes work on our part to
fulfill our portion of responsibility in our Sanctification.  The desire, and later the ability and means
to do this is the direct result of the Father’s Election of each saint to be
included in His wonderful Salvation Plan – His Plan to transform us.

‘…this one will be blessed in what he does.‘
– The saint who follows through has much reward to enjoy now and later in
Glory. Our Lord illustrated His Law of Love in washing the Disciple’s
feet.  (Jn 13:5)  Jesus fulfilled the Law.  (Lk 24:44)  He shows us how He lived It out in faithful,
perfect obedience to the Father.  (Lk
22:42)  And in His act of washing
their feet, He showed us His Perfect Love, which embodies true fulfillment of
doing what the Word says.  Our Lord’s
actions testify to what it means to be doers, and on a higher level, proves
that His basis is of Love, which runs through and through Him, in a Holy Work
in which the Master, living out His Own edict, stooped to serve His
servants.  And if He does this for us,
then we have no choice but to do the same. 
‘If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’  (Jn 13:17)

On the other side of this faith, resultant in a
relationship with the Lord, is the test to try the relationship, seeing if it
is proven and true.  Anyone might have
faith, yet also in the wrong things or persons, and thus in the wrong way.  James will later point out that even the
demons have faith in God’s intent, willingness, and surety of carrying out His
Plan. (Jas 2:19)  But this is
their indictment, not their Salvation. 
So the same will prove true for one professing a faith in Jesus, yet who
does not exhibit a response in works which are a sure outcome of a real,
binding, saving faith in Jesus.

However, the resultant ‘building the house’ cannot be
likened to our Salvation.  The brethren
in v.22 won’t risk ‘deception’ ending their Salvation, but of the
treasure lost when the ‘house’ falls under the Test.  (Matt 7:27)  It cannot at all mean our own Salvation, for
we have no part in It to begin with, so how can we contribute to It’s
destruction?  God alone is responsible
for our Salvation, through all of It’s stages, from Foreknowing through
Glorification. (Rom 8:29-30)  It
is His Will which makes our Salvation assured. 
Our job is to do our best in faithful response to His undeniable
Will.  The ‘house’ must be viewed under
our responsibility of works, compelled by God, out of faith from God, for our
works will be tested on the Last Day for their worth.  And our ‘house’, our life’s works in response
to God’s incitation, must be built on a Solid Rock, on the foundations of the
Word and of sound Doctrine if it is to endure on the Day.  ‘Do not deceive yourselves’ beloved
brethren, for ‘If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he
himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.’   (1 Cor 3:15)  He has lost his reward, but not his
Salvation.  The one who is attentive and
‘a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does’ and will
be rewarded accordingly on the Last Day.

Key Summary

Merely hearing and embracing the Word is not an end
unto itself.

The Word convicts us in our sin and we are
changed.  We must expect works
accordingly, our behavior rooted in our changed heart.

This Passage is an issue of our reward for our
life’s works, not of our Salvation, secure in God.

Study Questions

If
you are following Jas 1:19-21, and are under the teaching of the Word, do you
see a response of change and thus works in your life?

Are
your works in correlation with the change in your heart, or are your change or
works out of balance in your life?

When
your ‘house’ of your life’s works is finally tested, will it stand up to the
Lord’s scrutiny?  Is it really of value
according to the Word?

Cited Scripture

James 1:19

So
then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath;

Matt
7:24-27
²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does
them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:and
the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will
be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:and the rain
descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
fell. And great was its fall.”

1
John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

John 13:5

After
that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and
to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

Luke 24:44

Then
He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was
still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law
of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”

Luke 22:42

“Father,
if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but
Yours, be done.”

John
13:17
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

James
2:19
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and
tremble!

Romans 8:29-30

For
whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He
also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified,
these He also glorified.

1
Corinthians 3:15

If
anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet
so as through fire.

Scripture (NKJV)

¹⁹ So then, my beloved brethren, let every man
be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;  ²⁰ for the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God.  ²¹
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with
meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Lesson

James again addresses the reader in his love as a brother in
Jesus.  He continues to encourage his
audience, perhaps realizing his writing will likely be a rebuke, and one in
love.  He cares so much for them (and us)
that he keeps us reassured of his heart for us, and also that he is subject
to the same Lord.

As God has promised, He has set out to transform each of us
into a new creature, someone who will become more and more like Jesus.  And why? 
Because it is for His Glory we would want to become like Jesus as much
as possible, because what He is is good, because in doing
so it furthers His Kingdom, and because we are in service to God.  James addresses all three defensive fronts
of our person, circling in from the outer perimeter, then revealing each layer,
to finally get to the heart.  This is
the goal of God’s Word, and only the Word can do it.

The change God promises is not easy or automatic, but
requires our work as well.  Dealing with
us as His children, He lovingly provides the means to make this happen through
the Word and It’s conviction in our heart. 
Our responsibility is to keep ourselves in the Truth as much as
possible (Mk 4:9), and once in It, to do everything we can to make the
most of It.  We must be always alert
to the opportunity to hear the Message.

Our first line of defense, for both the good and the bad
passing by us every day, is in choosing what we allow ourselves to hear.  To be brought next to our consideration,
we must first choose to listen.  As
for God’s Word, we must always be quick in opening our ears to hear His
Truth.  Always, ask the Holy Spirit for
understanding of the Truth as you consider every teaching’s value before
allowing it any closer to your heart. (Jn 14:16-18, Jn 14:26)  God always gives us the
opportunity to flee or embrace.

Choosing to hear, next we must contemplate what has been
presented, but not come to any premature
conclusions.  God has made us so it is
impossible to speak and listen in the same instant.  We should patiently consider the issue,
because it takes time to contemplate. (Ps 1:2, Josh 1:8)  The Truth is meant to be
meditated on, and a bridled tongue is an asset when confronted with a
conviction to change.

The Word is often offensive to our fallen heart because It
challenges the core of who we are when It reveals our sin, and It’s demands can
be difficult.  But this is exactly what
It is for!  (2 Tim 3:16-17)  Once Saved, we undergo a
transformation of our hearts and mind under the discipline of the Holy
Spirit.  Nothing else can get to the
bottom of the problem except God’s Word. 
The Word is special in It’s nature that It is ‘implanted’, grafted
into the believer’s heart.  Praise
God!  He provides us with the Word to
make that change.  When faced with
conviction from the Word, or in any means of God’s teaching you, don’t resist
in anger, but embrace the opportunity to learn and change.  A response in ‘wrath’ is a response of
rebellious denial of the Spirit’s Work.

So, in
following God’s direction by His Word, we must follow through with the
opportunity to change given to us.  The
sin, revealed to the believer, once confessed, must be repented of.  The outward behavior which once was rooted in
that sin should change, now that it’s root has been cut off by the Sword of the
Word.  (Heb 4:12)  And with this sin set aside, there is now one
less issue hindering the next opportunity to receive Truth from God.  When the next opportunity to hear the Truth
comes, it is in meekness we should approach It, again removing all of our
objections and obstacles, because this is the way that God will change us.  We must obey our new heart from God, the
Heart of Christ – our job is to obey this heart and live accordingly.  God does not take away the evil we might
practice from the heart, nor the opportunities to continue to exercise it
through trial and temptation.  Our
training is in learning to embrace the new parts of our heart, as the Spirit continues
to renew it, in the face of our flesh’s fallen nature.  Through the voucher of Jesus, who knows His
flock through a personal and real relationship, our sins are forgiven already,
and as of now God already calls us His children.  But this is all based on the Promise of Jesus
to stand in our place for payment on Judgment Day.  And there is no surer Promise to be
fulfilled!  But until then, there is much
work to be done, and God has promised to take us through it.  The Word, Jesus, in the Spirit, ‘is able
to save your soul.’  Our Sanctification
is directed by this alone.  The
Mighty Power of God, hidden from the world in seemingly mere text. (Mk
4:12) The world considers it all folly, for it hasn’t the key of Faith,
necessary to deliver It’s payload into our hearts.  It is our responsibility to do our part and
make the most of this opportunity as good stewards, while acknowledging it is
possible only through Him.

Cited Scripture

Mark
4:9
⁹And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!”

John
14:16-18
¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever– ¹⁷the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know
Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you
orphans; I will come to you.

John
14:26
²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.

Psalm
1:2
²But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he
meditates day and night.

Joshua
1:8
⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all
that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you
will have good success.

2
Timothy 3:16-17
¹⁶All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good
work.

Hebrews
4:12
¹²For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Mark
4:12
¹²so that
       “Seeing they may see and not
perceive,
       And hearing they may hear and not
understand;
       Lest they should turn,
       And their sins be forgiven them.”

Scripture

¹⁹ So then, my beloved brethren, let every man
be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;  ²⁰ for the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God.  ²¹
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with
meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Application Summary

James again
takes time out to address the reader in his love as a brother in Jesus.  He seems to want to continue to encourage his
audience, realizing his writing will likely be a rebuke, and one in love.  He cares so much for them (and us) that he
wants to keep us reassured of his heart for us, and also that he is subject to
the same scrutiny.

As God has
promised, He has set out to transform each of us into a new creature, someone
who ideally will become more and more like Jesus.  And why? 
Because it is for His Glory we would want to imitate Jesus as best as
possible, because what He is is good, and because in doing
so it furthers His Kingdom.  In this way,
His Kingdom might be expanded in at least two ways.  In us, as believers, our heart grows and
changes.  As we are renewed and strive to
set aside our sinful ways, the change in us shines out to the World as the
evidence of God’s reality.  Our shining
out will then capture the attention of people yet unsaved and cause curiosity
and conviction, and then make another instance for God’s Message to be
proclaimed.  Those chosen to be saved are
brought into the Kingdom by and through our Savior, they are transformed and
shine on in the same way, and the Kingdom grows.  In all cases, God is Glorified as the One
solely responsible.

The change
which God promises is not easy or automatic, but requires our work as
well.  Dealing with us as His children,
He lovingly provides the means to make this happen through the Word and It’s
conviction in our heart.  Our
responsibility is to keep ourselves in It as much as possible, and once in It,
to do everything we can to make the most of It. 
We must be always alert to the opportunity to hear the Message, then we
are to contemplate It well before forming our own opinion to oppose any
conviction to change.  Then finally, when
our sin or area to be changed is revealed, we must not resist It or make excuses,
but commit to obey the Truth and change accordingly.  This is because our anger, either towards
ourselves or others in sin, cannot change the heart ‑ only the behavior, not
it’s source in the heart.  Our outward
behavior, reflecting what is in our heart, can only be changed by God through His
means, and that is His Word.

So, in
following God’s direction by His Word, we must follow through with the
opportunity to change given to us.  The
sin, which was revealed to the reader, now confessed, must be repented of.  The outward behavior which once was rooted in
that sin should change, now that it’s root has been cut off by the Sword of the
Word.  And with this sin set aside, there
is now one less issue hindering the next opportunity to receive Truth from God.  When this opportunity comes, it is in
meekness we should approach It, again removing all of our objections and
obstacles, because this is the way that God will purify our souls from total
pollution.  Through the voucher of Jesus,
who knows His flock through a personal and real relationship, our sins are
forgiven already, and as of now God already calls us His children.  But this is all based on the Promise of Jesus
to stand in our place for payment on Judgment Day.  And there is no surer Promise to be
fulfilled!  But until then, there is much
work to be done, and God has promised to take us through it.  It is our responsibility to do our part and
make the most of this opportunity as good stewards, while acknowledging it is
all possible only through Him.

Commentary

‘To the brethren’ – note only of those who believe
and not the pagan; James exhorts us to stay prepared on all fronts so as to
make ourselves most receptive to the work of the Lord in our lives.  He addresses all three fronts of our person,
circling in from the outer then into the Holy Word’s target, the core of our
heart.

‘Everyone should be quick to listen’ – our first
defense, good or bad, to what we allow and bring into our consideration.  Concerning the Wisdom of the Lord, we must
always be quick in opening our ears to His Truth. (Mk 4:9)  Listen to what is being said, not from man’s
perspective alone, but tested to be as of the Lord’s.  Never take a man’s opinion of the Word
without considering it against the whole counsel of the Word, (Prov
15:22), against the intent of the Author of the Truth, nor without
petitioning His Holy Spirit for enlightenment. 
The Spirit is here for our counsel, our teaching, our comfort.  (Jn 14:16-18, Jn 14:26)  Pray to Him and ask to be shown the Truth as
you search the Scriptures yourself to test the conclusions for their value
before bringing them any further towards your heart.  (Acts 17:10-11)  The same is quickly seen in considering
things of a sinful potential we might have placed before our eyes.  At this point we face the decision to flee or
to embrace.  God, always offering an
alternative to temptation, allows us to escape such things unscathed.  The eyes and the ears are the first defense
for good or bad.  When under the Spirit’s
teaching, be quick to hear and do not pass on any opportunity to receive the
Truth.  To receive the Truth in your
heart, you must first hear It. (Rom 10:17)

‘Everyone should be…slow to speak’ – Our Creator
has made us so, that it is impossible to speak and listen at the same
instant.  Allowed past our ears, our intellect
must consider what is presented before it. 
Often the Word, sharp as any two edged sword, cuts to the heart in an
instant conviction so that we know exactly what we must do in response.  But even if so, there is always more to be
gleaned from the Word, and this takes time and contemplation.  (Ps 1:2, Josh 1:8)  The Truth is meant to be meditated on, not
just for the sake of our mind’s understanding of It, but too for our own heart,
the ultimate target.  In considering the
Truth, a bridled tongue is an asset.  (Job 6:24)

‘Everyone should be…slow to become angry’ – The
Word is offensive to our own fallen hearts. 
It challenges our beliefs and actions and core values, which make us who
we are.  It is usually difficult to face
the demand It may make of us.  But that
is exactly what It is for!  (2 Tim
3:16-17)  In our path to
Salvation, our time of Sanctification as our Lord prepares us, we undergo the
transformation of our hearts, the regeneration of our minds, under the
discipline of the Holy Spirit.  The
overall change of our hearts from hard, cold, and black as sin, to soft, warm,
and alive in God requires this very thing – the reworking and reshaping of our
core being which only the Word can accomplish. 
Nothing else has access to change our heart but God’s Word.  Nothing. 
God’s Word is a function of His Love in motion, cutting to the core of
the issues in any consideration.  No
rules of man can get to the bottom of the problem, the root of our outward
person.  (Col 2:23)  And as God is concerned for our inward heart,
expressing itself in our outward expression, He provides us with the Word to
make that change.  (Heb 4:12)  Outward action covering a deceitful heart is
rubbish to Him.  Rules can only change
our behavior, not the heart.

The challenge to our self, which the Word’s conviction
brings, should be ‘received with meekness’, not in ‘wrath’.  Don’t reject the yolk our loving Lord places
on you.  (Matt 11:29)  Don’t resist His loving instruction, but
rejoice in His Gift and seek to make the most of It.  ‘The wrath of man does not produce the
righteousness of God’ – A response of wrath is a response of rebellious
denial of the Spirit’s work.  It is a
rejection of His Good intent to reshape our heart.  Can the Spirit’s effort be honored if we
continue to oppose Him?  Instead, let us
place ourselves patiently under His teaching and care for our own good, and for
His Glory.

Having considered this, we must ‘therefore lay aside
all filthiness and overflow of wickedness’ in our lives.  Note whose responsibility this is.  God gives us our regenerate heart, the heart
of Christ – our job is to obey this heart and live accordingly.  (Jas 1:22)  God does not take away the evil we might
practice from the heart, nor the opportunities to continue to exercise it through
trial and temptation.  Our training is in
learning to embrace the new parts of our heart, as the Spirit continues to
renew it, in the face of our flesh’s fallen nature.  He promises to renew us; we must commit to be
good stewards and put it to use, persevering through the proofing of our faith
in Him.  (Heb 10:36)  Therefore, in reflection of your new heart,
ask God to reveal the sinful actions rooted in your heart, then confess and
repent; ‘lay (it) aside’.

In doing so, we benefit again
by removing one more hindrance of our regeneration.  The believer must then continue and ‘receive
with meekness the implanted word’, bringing us full circle in the cycle of
renewal.  Having shed his wrath, his
rebellion, the believer can now be humbled to be again under the Spirit’s
teaching in ‘meekness’, making the most of God’s effort and thus His
Glory.  The Word is special in It’s
nature that It is ‘implanted’, grafted into the believer’s heart.  Praise God! 
What else can change me, O Lord? 
How else might I be made like You? 
Only You can break and make a man’s heart.  Let us try to do so ourselves, and see us
fail, frustrated.  Praise for the Word of
God and the Word incarnate in our Jesus!

The Word, our Jesus, in the
Spirit, ‘which is able to save your soul’.  Our Sanctification is directed by this
alone.  The Mighty Power of God, hidden
from the world in seemingly mere text.  (Mk
4:12)  The world considers it all
folly, for it hasn’t the key of Faith, necessary to deliver It’s payload into
our hearts.  Faith from the Father, only
accessible through His Son Jesus, only to the Elect.  We cry out to God in thanks and in our need,
and He hears.  He lavishly blesses us in
all ways through His Word.  Open your
heart to His blessings, remove any obstacles in It’s way, place yourself at His
feet and drink in His Loving Teaching, and see Him change your soul.  See Him transform the dark heart into a
reflection of His heart, and all from His Love, for His Glory.

Key Summary

We are to seek to place ourselves obediently under
the Loving teaching of the Word, removing all hinderances and making the path
straight.

We must further set aside our evil ways which retard
our growth and resist the changes God seeks in the fruits of our outward
person. 

All of this is best realized with a meek heart.

Study Questions

What
are three perimiters which surround the heart?

What
can overcome all of these, and alone is able to change the heart?

What
are our responsibilities in the context of this passage?
Cited Scripture

Mark
4:9
⁹And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!”

Proverbs
15:22
²²Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors
they are established.

John
14:16-18
¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever– ¹⁷the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know
Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave
you orphans; I will come to you.

John
14:26
²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.

Acts
17:10-11
¹⁰ Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night
to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹These
were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether
these things were so.

Romans
10:17
¹⁷So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Psalm
1:2
²But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he
meditates day and night.

Joshua
1:8
⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all
that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you
will have good success.

Job
6:24
²⁴“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand
wherein I have erred.

2
Timothy 3:16-17
¹⁶All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good
work.

Colossians
2:23
²³These things (extra-biblical rules, regulations)
indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility,
and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the
flesh.

Hebrews
4:12
¹²For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Matthew
11:29
²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

James
1:22
²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves.

Hebrews
10:36
³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the
will of God, you may receive the promise

Mark
4:12
¹²so that
       “Seeing they may see and not
perceive,
       And hearing they may hear and not
understand;
       Lest they should turn,
       And their sins be forgiven them.”

Scripture

¹⁹ So then, my beloved brethren, let every man
be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;  ²⁰ for the wrath of man does not
produce the righteousness of God.  ²¹
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with
meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Commentary

‘To the brethren’ – note only of those who believe
and not the pagan; James exhorts us to stay prepared on all fronts so as to
make ourselves most receptive to the work of the Lord in our lives.  He addresses all three fronts of our person,
circling in from the outer then into the Holy Word’s target, the core of our
heart.

‘Everyone should be quick to listen’ – our first
defense, good or bad, to what we allow and bring into our consideration.  Concerning the Wisdom of the Lord, we must
always be quick in opening our ears to His Truth. (Mk 4:9)  Listen to what is being said, not from man’s
perspective alone, but tested to be as of the Lord’s.  Never take a man’s opinion of the Word
without considering it against the whole counsel of the Word, (Prov
15:22), against the intent of the Author of the Truth, nor without
petitioning His Holy Spirit for enlightenment. 
The Spirit is here for our counsel, our teaching, our comfort.  (Jn 14:16-18, Jn 14:26)  Pray to Him and ask to be shown the Truth as
you search the Scriptures yourself to test the conclusions for their value
before bringing them any further towards your heart.  (Acts 17:10-11)  The same is quickly seen in considering
things of a sinful potential we might have placed before our eyes.  At this point we face the decision to flee or
to embrace.  God, always offering an
alternative to temptation, allows us to escape such things unscathed.  The eyes and the ears are the first defense
for good or bad.  When under the Spirit’s
teaching, be quick to hear and do not pass on any opportunity to receive the
Truth.  To receive the Truth in your
heart, you must first hear It. (Rom 10:17)

‘Everyone should be…slow to speak’ – Our Creator
has made us so, that it is impossible to speak and listen at the same
instant.  Allowed past our ears, our
intellect must consider what is presented before it.  Often the Word, sharp as any two edged sword,
cuts to the heart in an instant conviction so that we know exactly what we must
do in response.  But even if so, there is
always more to be gleaned from the Word, and this takes time and contemplation.
 (Ps 1:2, Josh 1:8)  The Truth is meant to be meditated on, not
just for the sake of our mind’s understanding of It, but too for our own heart,
the ultimate target.  In considering the
Truth, a bridled tongue is an asset.  (Job 6:24)

‘Everyone should be…slow to become angry’ – The
Word is offensive to our own fallen hearts. 
It challenges our beliefs and actions and core values, which make us who
we are.  It is usually difficult to face
the demand It may make of us.  But that
is exactly what It is for!  (2 Tim
3:16-17)  In our path to
Salvation, our time of Sanctification as our Lord prepares us, we undergo the transformation
of our hearts, the regeneration of our minds, under the discipline of the Holy
Spirit.  The overall change of our hearts
from hard, cold, and black as sin, to soft, warm, and alive in God requires
this very thing – the reworking and reshaping of our core being which only the
Word can accomplish.  Nothing else has
access to change our heart but God’s Word. 
Nothing.  God’s Word is a function
of His Love in motion, cutting to the core of the issues in any
consideration.  No rules of man can get
to the bottom of the problem, the root of our outward person.  (Col 2:23)  And as God is concerned for our inward heart,
expressing itself in our outward expression, He provides us with the Word to
make that change.  (Heb 4:12)  Outward action covering a deceitful heart is
rubbish to Him.  Rules can only change
our behavior, not the heart.

The challenge to our self, which the Word’s conviction
brings, should be ‘received with meekness’, not in ‘wrath’.  Don’t reject the yolk our loving Lord places
on you.  (Matt 11:29)  Don’t resist His loving instruction, but
rejoice in His Gift and seek to make the most of It.  ‘The wrath of man does not produce the
righteousness of God’ – A response of wrath is a response of rebellious
denial of the Spirit’s work.  It is a
rejection of His Good intent to reshape our heart.  Can the Spirit’s effort be honored if we
continue to oppose Him?  Instead, let us
place ourselves patiently under His teaching and care for our own good, and for
His Glory.

Having considered this, we must ‘therefore lay aside
all filthiness and overflow of wickedness’ in our lives.  Note whose responsibility this is.  God gives us our regenerate heart, the heart
of Christ – our job is to obey this heart and live accordingly.  (Jas 1:22)  God does not take away the evil we might
practice from the heart, nor the opportunities to continue to exercise it
through trial and temptation.  Our
training is in learning to embrace the new parts of our heart, as the Spirit continues
to renew it, in the face of our flesh’s fallen nature.  He promises to renew us; we must commit to be
good stewards and put it to use, persevering through the proofing of our faith
in Him.  (Heb 10:36)  Therefore, in reflection of your new heart,
ask God to reveal the sinful actions rooted in your heart, then confess and
repent; ‘lay (it) aside’.

In doing so, we benefit again
by removing one more hindrance of our regeneration.  The believer must then continue and ‘receive
with meekness the implanted word’, bringing us full circle in the cycle of
renewal.  Having shed his wrath, his
rebellion, the believer can now be humbled to be again under the Spirit’s
teaching in ‘meekness’, making the most of God’s effort and thus His
Glory.  The Word is special in It’s
nature that It is ‘implanted’, grafted into the believer’s heart.  Praise God! 
What else can change me, O Lord? 
How else might I be made like You? 
Only You can break and make a man’s heart.  Let us try to do so ourselves, and see us
fail, frustrated.  Praise for the Word of
God and the Word incarnate in our Jesus!

The Word, our Jesus, in the
Spirit, ‘which is able to save your soul’.  Our Sanctification is directed by this
alone.  The Mighty Power of God, hidden
from the world in seemingly mere text.  (Mk
4:12)  The world considers it all
folly, for it hasn’t the key of Faith, necessary to deliver It’s payload into
our hearts.  Faith from the Father, only
accessible through His Son Jesus, only to the Elect.  We cry out to God in thanks and in our need,
and He hears.  He lavishly blesses us in
all ways through His Word.  Open your
heart to His blessings, remove any obstacles in It’s way, place yourself at His
feet and drink in His Loving Teaching, and see Him change your soul.  See Him transform the dark heart into a
reflection of His heart, and all from His Love, for His Glory.

Key Summary

We are to seek to place ourselves obediently under
the Loving teaching of the Word, removing all hinderances and making the path
straight.

We must further set aside our evil ways which retard
our growth and resist the changes God seeks in the fruits of our outward
person. 

All of this is best realized with a meek heart.

Study Questions

What
are three perimiters which surround the heart?

What
can overcome all of these, and alone is able to change the heart?

What
are our responsibilities in the context of this passage?
Cited Scripture

Mark
4:9
⁹And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!”

Proverbs
15:22
²²Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors
they are established.

John
14:16-18
¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever– ¹⁷the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know
Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave
you orphans; I will come to you.

John
14:26
²⁶But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.

Acts
17:10-11
¹⁰ Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night
to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹These
were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether
these things were so.

Romans
10:17
¹⁷So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Psalm
1:2
²But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he
meditates day and night.

Joshua
1:8
⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all
that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you
will have good success.

Job
6:24
²⁴“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand
wherein I have erred.

2
Timothy 3:16-17
¹⁶All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good
work.

Colossians
2:23
²³These things (extra-biblical rules, regulations)
indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility,
and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the
flesh.

Hebrews
4:12
¹²For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Matthew
11:29
²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly
in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

James
1:22
²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves.

Hebrews
10:36
³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the
will of God, you may receive the promise

Mark
4:12
¹²so that
       “Seeing they may see and not
perceive,
       And hearing they may hear and not
understand;
       Lest they should turn,
       And their sins be forgiven them.”

Scripture

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down
from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of
turning. ¹⁸Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth,
that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Commentary

 ‘Do not be
deceived’ – a continuation of James’ drive in the previous verses.  All of the issues of difficulty itemized
above, when viewed through the eyes of a child of God in faith, are in fact all
good.  Do not mistake these trials as
something to be scorned, but recognize our Father’s loving care in our journey
to Glory, including the testing of our faith. 
James illustrates he is standing among us as a minister of God’s Son,
and with us as a fellow sinner.  In this
he calls us his ‘beloved brethren’.

How wonderful His patience, how Merciful and
Beautiful His Name!  Our Creator, He Who
foresaw all of us and all of creation and time before there was any (Eph
1:4), Himself beyond even these unreachable bounds, has taken all of
this effort upon Himself so that He alone may be Glorified.  And as His children in Election, we enjoy the
benefit, though we deserve total banishment from everything He offers.
(Eph 1:5-6)  For His sake and
Glory alone, ‘Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth’.  He has brought us forth as His creation.  But through the mighty, saving power of His
Living Word, our Lord Jesus, the Word in the flesh and alive in our hearts, He
has brought us forth from our spiritual death, forgiving us into Eternal life.

So too is our Mighty Creator Righteous and True in
His course.  Above us all, beyond all
comprehension, Holy without fault, loving without bounds, giving without
restraint, solid, He is our unshakeable Rock and Salvation. (Ps 18:2)  Forever pure and trustworthy, in the One Who
made us ‘there is no variation or shadow of turning’.  In God’s creation, the sun above represents
in some ways our Father to us.  He is
above all things, the center of our existence, bringing forth light to reveal
what deep shadow of sin lurks in our heart. 
God, the ‘Father of lights’, is too the Creator of the heavens
above.  The stars fixed in the night sky
guide the captain across the sea.  So too
is our Lord steady and beyond being moved in Truth and Trust. (Ps 73:24),
(Mal 3:6)

The world and all creation was declared ‘good’
by God as He considered His work. (Gen 1:31)  Man’s rebellion loosed sin into the world,
and today we still suffer the effect of our inheritance. (Rom 5:12)  Our hearts are cold and hard, black as soot,
before meeting the Lord Jesus.  The
regenerate heart sings praises, bringing forth good fruit, to the Father’s
Glory.  In the miracle of Salvation and
in God’s Light in the world, truly ‘all things good and perfect are gifts
from the God above’.  His good,
perfect, loving nature, that Light from above, blesses and sustains us in every
way in this life.  From the beginning of
the existence of time, and from the beginning of our lives here, through the
End of Days and the end of our days, and then on to Eternity, everything
sustaining us comes from the Father. 
Everything.  And at every turn we
must recognize this and call thanks upward to our Provider in Heaven!

And all of this for what?  For the Glory of God. (2 Cor 4:15)  In this chapter of Creation, we in our
Salvation ‘might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures’.  The firstfruits of the harvest, that brought
forth in adoration as a sacrifice to God. 
As the Christian shines forth in his life, God’s Mercy and Work in his
life brings Glory to the Father.  In his
heart, as he reflects upon the Truths of God, and his heart fills to then sing
forth praises, this brings fruits in Glory to God.  When the Christ gathers the Elect, we will be
presented to the Father as firstfuits, a Sacrifice, for the Father’s Glory.

Jesus resurrected was the First, and is the Firstfruit
before the rest of us as believers. (2 Cor 4:14)  The Apostles were the firstfruits by way of
time and function in Christ’s Church. 
All of us as believers, following the Truth revealed in the Word, are a
firstfruits too.  In all cases the
believer is obligated to consider his life in light of these realities and
examine himself.  He must offer his
purest effort for the Lord that he might be the best sacrifice to the Lord, to
His Glory.

Key Summary

Do not be discouraged or deceived in the source and
intent of the difficulties in your life. 
As the Sovereign’s child, you are in training, under His sovereign care.

He is Good, and all things that descend from Him are
good as well.  This includes the trials
of life.

It is our responsibility to recognize His effort in
giving us birth in the Faith, and we must shine to the world as the Firstfruits
of His efforts.

Study Questions

Why or how might the Brethren be deceived in this
context?

Why does it matter that God does not change like
shifting shadows?

What is a Firstfruit and it’s significance?

Cited Scripture

Ephesians
1:4
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love

Ephesians
1:5-6
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will,to the praise of the glory of His
grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Psalm
18:2
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in
whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm
73:24
You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Malachi
3:6
For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of
Jacob.

Genesis
1:31
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the
evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Romans
5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through
sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned

2
Corinthians 4:15
For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many,
may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

2
Corinthians 4:14
knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus,
and will present us with you.

Scripture

¹² Blessed is the man who endures temptation;
for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord
has promised to those who love Him. ¹³Let no one say when he is
tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil,
nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴But each one is tempted when he
is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵Then, when desire
has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings
forth death.

Commentary

‘Blessed is the man’ is showing blessings now
upon this person, at this present time. 
‘Who endures temptation’ is an ongoing issue, not a problem dealt
with only one time.  His continued effort
to endure, brought by his own will, as buoyed by God, is his own responsibility
after Salvation. (Phil 2:12)  He
is blessed now, and he will enjoy too the reward when the Savior grants him his
Crown of Life.  The report is given in
his ability to persevere; because it is fueled by God above, it is an evidence
of his relationship with God in action. 
And in that God’s work through Jesus is seen playing out in the
believer’s life, one can also expect Jesus to be true to the greater promise of
Eternal Life with Him one day.  Salvation
is free, but our Sanctification, that Perfection of us in our faith by our Lord
so we may one day be presented to God as Christ’s Bride, takes work on our
part. (James 2:26)  This work is
pushed onward by Christ, and it still is our responsibility to respond with the
soft and obedient heart placed in us. (2 Cor 3:3)  On that Last Day the fruitful will be
approved.

‘He will receive the Crown of Life which the Lord
has promised’ – The same prize Paul speaks of in (1 Cor 9:25).  This is a token of victory, one worn in sweet
tears, through which the Saint will look back on the trials of this life for
only but a moment, instead now glad for receiving from the Lord what He has
promised.  Our Salvation, as of now, is
still yet a promise of the Deliverance to come on the Judgment Day, though we
still be sinners now in this flesh.  (Rom 5:8-9)  But it is the most trustworthy Promise from
our Creator, one we can no doubt count on. 
The whole of a Christian’s life and hopes are anchored on this one
thing.  It is of utmost value, and the
Crown of Life represents that Promise fulfilled.  Does anyone know by the sight of his eyes
that even Jesus exists?  Let alone that
He will keep His promises?  Have any of
us seen the LORD descend on Sinai?  Yet
what believer in our Lord can deny the reality of Jesus on his own heart and in
his own life?  This comes from a
relationship, through faith, given by God alone, in which we are called to
endure. Though we have not yet stood before the Lord to receive our Prize, in
faith, in one heart, in our mind’s eye, we can look forward to this day.

‘Which the Lord has promised to those who love
Him’ – There is one defining factor given by our Lord as to who will
receive the Crown.  There is no mention
of works, of knowledge of the Word, of Holiness or Piety, but instead the
overall governing factor under which all of the above are borne.  (Matt 22:36-38)  Love for Him is exemplified in our desires to
live obediently under His rule of Love, and in doing so, these fruits should be
expected.  (Eph 4:29-30)  All the Saints, both now and then Glorified,
are certainly a stew of very different souls, but the one true binding factor
which will be seen and is seen in the Saint, is a working Love of our Jesus,
even on to death.  Be bold, be sure, be
ever counting on His Promise and live in abandon of all things of lesser value
than His saving Love.  (Matt 13:45-46)

Looking back to ‘when he has been approved’,
notice this is in the future, not now. 
Our Lord and God, in our Salvation, has entered into a promise, a
covenant with each of the Elect.  He
promises to take us in and begin our Sanctification in the preparation of our
presentation to the Father, after we have been approved and shown Holy in the
Righteousness imparted to us in Christ. 
Why does Paul often write the theme of ‘working out your
Salvation’?  Because he knew it was
always best to be in full submission to the Lord’s Spirit, in His Will, under
the care of our Perfect Counselor. 
Anything less would risk impeding the Saving work of the Spirit.  Instead, recognize what God has promised to
do for us as His Children in Jesus’ name, and do everything you can to keep on
the yoke, to keep your neck from being stiff, to keep from frustrating the Holy
Spirit.  (Eph 4:29-30)  This is our responsibility in the training of
this life.

‘Let no one say when he is tempted’
illustrates a number of things, but first that we will be tempted, not we may
be tempted.  Every day as we are tempted,
we must recognize the consequences of our reaction.  Remembering that the Lord always gives us an
alternative to choosing sin, our response will either bring about Glory to God
or punishment for our sin upon the shoulders of Our Lord Jesus at the Cross.

‘Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by
God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.’  Our Father, His Son, and His Spirit are
Holy.  In this utmost sense it is not
possible for any stain to be upon Him. 
As a Holy God, He is above all things even and including the despicable
perversion of evil.  And as so, nor does
He taint Himself in it.  It has been said
that the Devil is God’s Devil, and this must be true.  Satan, as an instrument of God, is the only
one worthy of the dire title of the Murderer, in as it was he who enticed Eve
to put asunder mankind’s relationship with the Creator.  Recognize the difference between trials and
temptations, in their source, function, and intent.  God is the Author of our trials in order to
exercise us in our Sanctification; Satan is the author of temptation to try to
impede our growth, ‘hurt’ God, spoil and taint the fruit, and for the unsaved
increase and ensure their torment in damnation. 
In function, the trials usually come from the circumstances around us,
in this theatre God has created as our proving grounds.  Trials will have benefit if we embrace them
properly, employing our faith in God as we face them.  Temptation is an excitation of the seed of
evil in us from before we were reconciled. 
The flesh is capable of evil now, but will later be shed in exchange for
our Glorified body, free of this sin, to match our perfect Spirit given us by
the Lord as His own.  (2 Cor 5:5-6)  Temptation is Satan’s mechanism to incite
rebellion against God – the same filth he wallows in.  And the intent should be clear in light of
from who or Who these come – God, being Just, Love, Righteous, and Holy can
only bear these same fruits.   Likewise,
Satan, being rebellious, hateful, fallen, vengeful, defeated, and scorned can
also only bear likewise.  (Matt 12:33)

Everyone who sins ultimately has to look no further
than himself to blame.  (Matt 15:19)  The very seed from which sin begins comes
from within our evil hearts.  (Rom
5:12)  Satan has never physically
forced anyone, including Eve, to commit the act of rebellion.  His means are to ‘entice’ and convince us to
act on our depraved desires, and by any means possible.  He is the deceiver, the destroyer, the liar.  (Jn 8:44, Rev 12:9)  Under a fully Sovereign God, he too has been
brought into place in God’s plan with a purpose, not as an afterthought or
mistake.  He is our Lord’s fool in the
end, and for the sake of God’s Glory and to the end of separating the Goats
from the Sheep, he will be allowed to remain until God’s fullness of His time
is realized.

Our choice to follow Satan’s prompting is the
germination of our evil desires.  These
desires realized follow through to the sin itself.  The culmination of our life of sin ultimately
brings about the consequence of spiritual death.  (Rom 6:23) 
Those sinners not chosen will suffer the torment of Hell in the separation
from God.  Even now as they live, though
they may not realize it, they too enjoy the world’s benefit of God’s presence.  (Matt 5:45)  The Elect, also committing sin, must see
their spiritual death and separation from God realized on the Cross.  It is the unfathomable Sacrifice and Gift of
our Savior which makes this possible and ushers us into the presence of God,
fully reconciled and without debt.  Thus
so we may fail to recognize our rightful gratefulness to our Lord for His
immeasurable show of Love towards us, even as we were His enemy at the
time.  This gratitude must show forth in
the believer’s life.  For if it doesn’t,
it can only be for a lack of understanding of what has taken place.

Key Summary

Stay the course, endure the temptations and trials which
will face you for the rest of your life as a Christian.

Understand the Author of your trials and the author
of your temptations, all while remembering the consequences for your choices in
them.

Guard against sin, looking forward in your Walk,
your growth ultimately leading up to receiving your Crown of Life from our
Savior’s hand.

.

Study Questions

Why is this man who endures blessed?

What awaits him in being ‘approved’?

What
does the Lord’s promise include and mean?

What
is the chain of progression in sin?
Philippians
2:12
¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling;

James
2:26
²⁶For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works
is dead also.

2
Corinthians 3:3
³clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not
with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

1
Corinthians 9:25
²⁵And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable
crown.

Romans
5:8-9
⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, having now been
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Matthew
22:36-38
³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
³⁷Jesus said to him, “”You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This
is the first and great commandment.

Ephesians
5:8-10
⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth), ¹⁰finding out what is
acceptable to the Lord.

Matthew
13:45-46
⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking
beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Ephesians
4:29-30
²⁹Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good
for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ³⁰And
do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.

2
Corinthians 5:5-6
⁵Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has
given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
⁶So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in
the body we are absent from the Lord.

Matthew
12:33
³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make
the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

Matthew
15:19
¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Romans
5:12
¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and
death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned

John
8:44
⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father
you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from
his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Revelation
12:9
⁹So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the
Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him.

Romans
6:23
²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew
5:45
⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His
sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust.

Scripture

⁹ Let the lowly brother glory in his
exaltation, ¹⁰but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower
of the field he will pass away. ¹¹For no sooner has the sun risen
with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful
appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
(NKJV)

Questions

1. Is the rich man of the
   brethren in Christ, or of the world?
2. Is he taking glory or pride
   in his position, or gloating over the poor man?
3. Is the flower falling just
   referring to the outward beauty, which as a believer the rich man won’t miss,
   or is it very important to him, even his eternal life?
4. Is the poor man to rejoice in
   his position in light of what he shall one day receive, as opposed to what he
   knows will happen to the rich man’s temporary earthly splendor and ultimate
   demise?
5. Is this written to both the
   rich and poor brethren to help them deal with their station in life, keeping
   them in an eternal perspective?

Commentary

Commentaries are men’s opinions and therefore can be
fallible.  While they still might be a
clear revelation from a heart inspired by the Holy Spirit, they cannot be
leaned upon as Holy Canon.  They must be compared
to the whole council of the Word and against other’s thoughts as well.

The same must be said of Bible translations – this
has to be so, for there are discrepancies between them as we are seeing here in
this study.  The task at this point must
be to get as close to the source as possible for the literal expression, and on
a whole, a grasp of the true context and intent of the writer.  In the end, however, it may still be possible
to say one, the other, or a few interpretations are worthy.

Of the seven translations of James 1:9-11 considered
here, among them they allow for 3 possible scenarios:

1. Both the poor man and the
   rich man are saved, but a third man is present, who is rich and is not saved.
2. The poor man is saved, as
   well as the rich man.
3. The poor man is saved, but
   the rich man is not.

The notion that there is a third man is only
possible using the Worldwide English translation.  The rich man can be assumed to have been rich
first, then later saved, and now rejoicing because he recognizes his true
position before God and that his wealth will perish too on the Last Day.  In this case then, there must be a poor
brother, a rich brother, and a rich pagan. 
However, since the WE translation is not in agreement with any other
translation here considered, and also in v.10 ‘he will pass away’ is referring
to the first reference of the rich man who will later pass away in v.11, the
third person cannot exist.

The question then is if the rich man is of the
brethren.  There seems to be no question
of the poor man’s position; instead, who is the object of the humiliation
associated with the rich man, and in v.11, is the fate of the rich man good or
bad to him?

Across the translations considered here, everything
hinges on the inclusion of the word ‘glory’ or ‘boast’ in v.10.  This is important, because the only way the
rich man can be a believer here is if he is glad, in the bigger scope of
things, for the demise of his riches in v.11. 
If he is a believer, then in looking toward the Kingdom Eternal, he will
‘glory’ or ‘boast’ of the loss of his earthly stature in wealth.  If ‘glory’ is not included in the
translation, the text is not hindered and continues to flow and hold context –
so there is room, at this point, for both views.  The NIV, NASB, and WE are the only one of
those considered here to include ‘glory’ in v.10.  The KJV, RSV, YLT, and NKJV do not.

In this case it seems best to also look to the
‘original’ Greek.  I am using a literal
interlinear translation by Alfred Marshall, based on the 21^st
Edition of Nestle’s Greek New Testament. 
I do not know upon what the 7 translations are based, but here we’ll
consider Marshall’s to be the closest to the base original.

The literal here is as follows:  “⁹But let boast the brother humble in the height of
him,
¹⁰
and the rich one in the humiliation of him, because as a flower of grass he
will pass away. ¹¹rose For the sun with the hot wind and dried the grass, and the flower
of it fell out and the comeliness of the appearance of it perished; thus also
the rich man in the goings of him will fade away.”

Note that ‘boast’ is in v.9, but no mention of it is
made in v.10.  The question then must be,
who is the ‘him’ in v.10, the subject of the humiliation?  This must be answered with a question; from
where does this humiliation come?

If the humiliation comes from within the rich man,
then he must be of the elect.  As a
believer, in his clearer understanding of his place before God, he will see
himself in the truth of his humility. 
But consider the fate of the rich man in v.11, remembering there is no 3^rd
person here.  He is found to be concerned
of his ‘pursuits’, is ‘going about his business’, is shown ‘fading away in his
ways’, and he ‘shall wither in his goings’. 
If he is saved, then why does it appear that he is not pursuing anything
but his wealth?

These things are associated with the rich man in
v.10 through the flower, the image of beauty, which is shown as temporary like
all things of the world.  This man, in
the splendor of riches, is not watching for the Bridegroom.  Therefore, the flower of v.11, in being the
same one as in v.10, shows the backward association to the fate of the rich man
in v.10.

Further, why would the rich man, even as a brother,
take pride in his stature finally falling? 
Wouldn’t he instead be humbled in this? 
If James meant this, perhaps he would have shown the rich man being
mindful of his place in the Kingdom. 
Remember, the original text only shows the poor man glorying in his
position.

Therefore, I believe the humiliation of the rich man
instead is imposed from the outside of himself, from the Truth which will
reveal his true stature when the end comes and all is revealed.  Considering the concept of someone ‘made
low’, isn’t it true that all will be made low when Christ returns and every
knee bows?  Believing that Jesus/God is
to be bowed down to requires recognizing His position; recognizing His position
requires being ‘made low’; the separation of the wheat and the tares will hinge
on our timing of when we bow down, in a sense.

In this assumption of James’ intention, the frame of
context around this verse is still held intact. 
The lowly brother is shown suffering the trial of poverty, and under the
ridicule of the well off around him. 
Yet, he is assured that in the final analysis he will be held high in
Eternity, while the other’s stature will pass away on the Last Day.  These verses might also be seen as
encouragement to the lowly poor, a sentence on the rich pagan, and as a solemn,
loving reminder to the rich brethren of what awaits if he does not keep his
priorities straight in his life.

Finally then, I would paraphrase v.9-11 as this:

Go ahead,
let the rich man gloat in the humiliation of the poor man – go on, let him
think himself strong in his standing. 
For in the end, when the burning sun of judgment brings about this
world’s destruction, the rich man’s splendor and position will pass away as
flimsy grass, a delicate flower under the heat. 
And let the poor man rejoice in his future exaltation before the Host of
Heaven for his present lowliness.

Scripture references

New International Version (NIV)

James 1

9          The brother in humble circumstances
ought to take pride in his high position.

10        But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position,
because he will pass away like a wild flower.

11        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.

King James Version (KJV)

James 1

9          Let the brother of low degree rejoice
in that he is exalted:

10        But the rich, in that he is made low:
because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11        For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it
withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the
fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

New American Standard Bible
(NASB)

James 1

9          ^<*1>
But the ^[1]
brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

10        and the rich man is to glory in his
humiliation, because ^<*2>
like ^[2]
flowering grass he will pass away.

11        For the sun rises with ^{[3] <*3>}
a scorching wind and ^<*4>
withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is
destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

1. I.e. church member
2. Lit the flower of the grass
3. Lit the

1. Luke
   14:11
2. 1
   Cor 7:31; 1 Pet 1:24
3. Matt
   20:12
4. Ps
   102:4, 11; Is 40:7f

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

James 1

9          Let the lowly brother boast in his
exaltation,

10        and the rich in his humiliation, because
like the flower of the grass he will pass away.

11        For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the
grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade
away in the midst of his pursuits.

Young’s Literal Translation
(YLT)

James 1

9          And let the brother who is low rejoice
in his exaltation,

10        and the rich in his becoming low, because
as a flower of grass he shall pass away;

11        for the sun did rise with the burning heat, and did wither the
grass, and the flower of it fell, and the grace of its appearance did perish,
so also the rich in his way shall fade away!

Worldwide English (NT only)
(WE)

James 1

9          A Christian brother who is poor should
be glad: he is in a high place now he is a Christian.

10        A Christian brother who is rich should be glad: he is in a low
place now he is a Christian. A rich man will pass away like a flower on the
grass.

11        The sun shines and is very hot. Then the grass dries and its
flower falls off. It was nice at first, but now it is not nice any more. In the
same way, the rich man will die while he is going around trying to make money.

New
King James Version (NKJV)

James 1

The Perspective of Rich and Poor
⁹ Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, ¹⁰but
the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass
away. ¹¹For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it
withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So
the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

Commentary references

John
Darby

If
we only seek that which God wills and that which God does, we depend securely
on Him to accomplish it; and as to the circumstances of this world, which might
make one believe that it was useless to depend on God, they vanish away as the
flower of the field. We ought to have the consciousness that our place
according to God is not that which is of this world. He who is in a low station
should rejoice that Christianity exalts him; the rich, that it humbles him. It
is not in riches that we are to rejoice (they pass away), but in the exercises
of heart of which the apostle had been speaking; for after having been tried we
shall receive the crown of life.

The
life of one who is thus tried, and in whom this life develops itself in
obedience to the entire will of God, is well worth that of a man who indulges
all the desires of his heart in luxury.

John Gill

Let the brother of low degree…
By “the brother” is meant, not one in a natural, but in a spiritual
relation; one of Christ’s brethren, and who is of that family that is named of
him; of the household of faith, and is in church communion: and whereas he is
said to be of “low degree”, or “humble”, this regards not
the affection of his mind, or his conduct and deportment, he being meek and
lowly, and clothed with humility, as every brother is, or ought to be; but his
outward state and condition, being, as to the things of this world, poor, and
mean in his outward circumstances, and so humbled and afflicted. This appears
from the rich man, who, in the next verse, is opposed unto him, and
distinguished from him; see (Psalms
62:9) such an one is advised to

rejoice in that he is exalted;
or to “glory in his exaltation”; in that high estate, to which he is
advanced; for a person may be very low and mean, as to his worldly
circumstances, and yet be very high, and greatly exalted in a spiritual sense:
and this height of honour and grandeur, of which he may boast and glory, amidst
his outward poverty, lies in his high birth and descent, being born from above,
and of God, and belonging to his family; in being an adopted Son of God, and so
an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ, and of the heavenly inheritance
and kingdom; in the present riches of grace he is possessed of, as justifying,
pardoning, and sanctifying grace; and in the high titles he bears, as besides
the new name, the name better than that of sons and daughters of the greatest
potentate, even that of a Son of the Lord God Almighty, his being a King, and a
priest unto God, and for whom a kingdom, crown, and throne are prepared; and
also in the company he daily keeps, and is admitted to, as of God, and Christ,
and the holy angels: and this height of honour have all the saints, be they
ever so poor in this world, who can vie with the greatest of princes for
sublimity and grandeur.

But the rich, in that he is made low…
That is, the rich brother; for there were rich men in the churches in those
times, and which James often takes notice of in this epistle. Such an one
should rejoice or glory in his lowness, or low estate; in the consideration of
the low estate, out of which he was raised, by the good providence of God, and
was not owing to any merit of his; and in the low estate into which he may be
at present reduced, through the violence of persecution being stripped of all
his riches for Christ’s sake, of which he might make his boast, and count it
his greatest glory; or in that low estate he may quickly expect he shall be
brought into, either in the above manner, or by some calamity or another, and
at least by death, which will put him upon a level with others: or this may
have respect to the temper of his mind, which he has, through the grace of God,
and the station he is in, in the church of God, being a brother, and no more
than a brother, and upon an equal foot with the meanest member in it; and which
yet is matter of rejoicing, that he is one, and that he is so blessed with the
grace of humility, as not to lift up himself above others, not to mind high
things, but to condescend to men of low estate; and such a deportment the
apostle exhorts rich saints unto, from the consideration of the instability and
inconstancy of worldly riches.

Because, as the flower of the grass he shall pass away;
shortly, and suddenly; either he himself by death, or his riches at death, or
before, and therefore are not to be gloried in; nor should the possessors of
them be proud and haughty and elate themselves with them, but should behave humbly
and modestly to their fellow creatures and Christians, as knowing that in a
short time they will all be upon a par, or in an equal state; See (Job
14:2) (Psalms
90:5,6) (102:11)
(103:15,16)
. The metaphor here used is enlarged upon in the following verse, for the
further illustration of the fickleness, perishing, and transitory nature of
earthly enjoyments.

For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat…
As it is about the middle of the day, when it shines in its full strength, and
its heat is very great and scorching, especially in the summer season, and in
hot climates:

but it withereth the grass;
strikes it with heat, causes it to shrivel, and dries it up;

and the flower thereof falleth;
drops off from it to the ground:

and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth;
its form and colour, its glory and beauty, which were pleasant to the eye, are
lost, and no more to be recovered. This shows, that earthly riches, like the
flower of the field, have an outward show and glory in them, which attract the
mind, and fix an attention to them for a while; they are gay and glittering,
and look lovely, are pleasant to behold, and desirable to enjoy; but when the
sun of persecution, or any other outward calamity arises, they are quickly
destroyed, and are no more.

Geneva Study Bible

1:9 ⁷ Let the brother of ^h low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

(7) He returns
to his purpose repeating the proposition, which is, that we must rejoice in
affliction, for it does not oppress us, but exalt us.
(h) Who is afflicted with poverty, or
contempt, or with any kind of calamity.

1:10 ⁸ But the ⁱ
rich, in that he is made low: ⁹
because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

(8) Before he
concludes, he gives a doctrine contrasted to the former: that is, how we ought
to use prosperity, that is, the abundance of all things: that is, so that no
man pleases himself, but rather be humble.
(i) Who has all things at his will. (9) An argument taken from the very nature of the
things themselves, for that they are empty and unreliable.

1:11 For the sun is no sooner
risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof
falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich
man fade away in his ^k ways.

(k) Whatever he
purposes in his mind or does.

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown

9,
10. Translate, “But let the
brother,” &c. that is, the best remedy against double-mindedness
is that Christian simplicity of spirit whereby the “brother,”
low in outward circumstances, may “rejoice” (answering to James
1:2) “in that he is exalted,” namely, by being accounted a
son and heir of God, his very sufferings being a pledge of his coming glory and
crown (James
1:12), and the rich may rejoice “in that he is made low,”
by being stripped of his goods for Christ’s sake [MENOCHIUS]; or in that he is
made, by sanctified trials, lowly in spirit, which is true matter for rejoicing
[GOMARUS]. The design of the Epistle is to reduce all things to an equable
footing (
2:1, 5:13).
The “low,” rather than the “rich,” is here called “the
brother” [BENGEL].

10.
So far as one is merely “rich” in worldly goods, “he shall pass
away”; in so far as his predominant character is that of a
“brother,” he “abideth for ever” (1 John
2:17). This view meets all ALFORD’S objections to regarding
“the rich” here as a “brother” at all. To avoid making the
rich a brother, he translates, “But the rich glories in his
humiliation,” namely, in that which is really his debasement (his rich
state, Philippians
3:19), just as the low is told to rejoice in what is really his
exaltation (his lowly state).

11.
Taken from Isaiah
40:6-8.
heat–rather, “the hot wind” from the (east or) south, which
scorches vegetation (Luke
12:55). The “burning heat” of the sun is not at its rising,
but rather at noon; whereas the scorching Kadim wind is often at sunrise
(Jonah
4:8) [MIDDLETON, The Doctrine of the Greek Article]. Matthew
20:12 uses the Greek word for “heat.” Isaiah
40:7, “bloweth upon it,” seems to answer to
“the hot wind” here.
grace of the fashion–that is of the external appearance.
in his ways–referring to the burdensome extent of the rich man’s
devices [BENGEL]. Compare “his ways,” that is, his course of life, James
1:8.

Matthew Henry

The holy humble temper of a Christian, both in
advancement and debasement, is described: and both poor and rich are directed
on what grounds to build their joy and comfort, v. 9–11. Here we may observe,
1. Those of low degree are to be looked upon as brethren: Let the brother of
low degree, etc. Poverty does not destroy the relation among Christians. 2.
Good Christians may be rich in the world, v. 10. Grace and wealth are not
wholly inconsistent. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was rich in silver
and gold. 3. Both these are allowed to rejoice. No condition of lie puts us out
of a capacity of rejoicing in God. If we do not rejoice in him always, it is
our own fault. Those of low degree may rejoice, if they are exalted to be rich
in faith and heirs of the kingdom of God (as Dr. Whitby explains this place);
and the rich may rejoice in humbling providences, as they produce a lowly and
humble disposition of mind, which is highly valuable in the sight of God. Where
any are made poor for righteousness’ sake, their very poverty is their
exaltation. It is an honour to be dishonoured for the sake of Christ. To you
it is given to suffer, Phil. 1:29. All who are brought low, and made lowly
by grace, may rejoice in the prospect of their exaltation at the last in
heaven. 4. Observe what reason rich people have, notwithstanding their riches,
to be humble and low in their own eyes, because both they and their riches are
passing away: As the flower of the grass he shall pass away. He, and his
wealth with him,

People’s New Testament

9-11. Let the brother of low degree.
In the humble walks of life. Exalted. To be a child of God, a brother of
Jesus Christ. 10. The rich, in that he is made low. The one should
rejoice in exaltation; the other in humiliation. He is taught that his riches
have no power to save, and that his life is as uncertain as that of the grass
of the field. 11. For the sun. When the fierce sun of summer arises the
grass in Palestine dies. Thus shall the glory of the rich man fade.

Robertson’s

But (de). Return to the point of view in verse James
2. Of low degree (o tapeinoß).
“The lowly” brother, in outward condition (Luke
1:52), humble and poor as in Ps 9:39; Proverbs
30:14, not the spiritually humble as in Matthew
11:29; James
4:6. In the LXX tapeinoß was used
for either the poor in goods or the poor in spirit. Christianity has glorified
this word in both senses. Already the rich and the poor in the churches had
their occasion for jealousies. Glory in his high estate (kaucasqw en twi upsei autou). Paradox, but
true. In his low estate he is “in his height” (upsoß, old word, in N.T., also in Luke
1:78; Ephesians
3:1; etc.).

In that he is made low (en th tapeinwsei autou). “In his low
estate.” Play on tapeinwsiß
(from tapeinow, Philippians
3:7), like tapeinoß of verse James
1:9, old word in various senses, in N.T. only here, Luke
1:48; Acts
8:33; Philippians
3:21. The Cross of Christ lifts up the poor and brings down the high. It is
the great leveller of men. As the flower of the grass (wß anqoß cortou). From the LXX (Isaiah
40:6). Cortoß means pasture, then
grass (Mark
6:39) or fodder. Anqoß is old
word, in N.T. only here, verse James
1:11; 1 Peter
1:24 (same quotation). This warning is here applied to “the rich
brother,” but it is true of all. He shall pass away (pareleusetai). Future middle indicative (effective
aoristic future, shall pass completely away from earth).

Ariseth (aneteilen). Gnomic or timeless aorist active
indicative of the old compound anatellw,
used here of plants (cf. anaqallw in Philippians
4:10), often of the sun (Matthew
13:6). With the scorching wind (sun
twi kauswni). Associative instrumental case with sun. In the LXX this late word (from kausoß) is usually the sirocco, the dry east
wind from the desert (Job
1:19). In Matthew
20:12; Luke
12:55 it is the burning heat of the sun. Either makes sense here. Withereth
(exhranen). Another gnomic aorist
active indicative (Robertson, Grammar, p. 837) of xhrainw, old verb (from xhroß, dry or withered, Matthew
12:10), to dry up. Grass and flowers are often used to picture the transitoriness
of human life. Falleth (exepesen).
Another gnomic aorist (second aorist active indicative) of ekpiptw to fall out (off). The grace (h euprepeia). Old word (from euprephß well-looking, not in the N.T.), only
here in N.T. Goodly appearance, beauty. Of the fashion of it (tou proswpou autou). “Of the face of
it.” The flower is pictured as having a “face,” like a rose or
lily. Perisheth (apwleto).
Another gnomic aorist (second aorist middle indicative of apollumi, to destroy, but intransitive here,
to perish). The beautiful rose is pitiful when withered. Shall fade away
(maranqhsetai). Future passive
indicative of marainw, old verb, to
extinguish a flame, a light. Used of roses in Wisdom 2:8. Goings (poreiaiß). Old word from poreuw to journey, in N.T. only here and Luke
13:22 (of Christ’s journey toward Jerusalem). The rich man’s travels will
come to “journey’s end.”

John Wesley

1:9     Let
the brother – St James does not give this appellation to the rich. Of low
degree – Poor and tempted. Rejoice – The most effectual remedy against
doublemindedness. In that he is exalted – To be a child of God, and an heir of
glory.

1:10 But
the rich, in that he is made low – Is humbled by a deep sense of his true
condition. Because as the flower – Beautiful, but transient. He shall pass away
– Into eternity.

1:11 For
the sun arose and withered the grass – There is an unspeakable beauty and
elegance, both in the comparison itself, and in the very manner of expressing
it, intimating both the certainty and the suddenness of the event. So shall the
rich fade away in his ways – In the midst of his various pleasures and
employments.

Scripture

⁷For let not that man suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable
in all his ways.  ⁹ Let the
lowly brother glory in his exaltation, ¹⁰but the rich in his
humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. ¹¹For
no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its
flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will
fade away in his pursuits.

Commentary

The
doubting man will receive nothing from the Lord – He requires faith in
Him.  A double-minded man has competing
allegiances – a house divided cannot stand. 
Being double minded, how can he enter the House of the Lord and ask of
Him, if he in fact is a stranger there? 
His asking is out of selfish convenience, the opposite of a serving love
in action; how can the Lord but despise this? (Ps 51:17)

This doubting man has no relationship with God for he has
no faith; and by faith alone may we be saved in Christ Jesus; and by Christ
Jesus alone may we approach God as His child (1Jn 5:20, Gal 3:26, Jn3:16);
and as His child alone might we petition the Throne in the House of God for the
gift on our behalf (Jn 15:7-8).

And who may hope to be before God as His child?  A man proud of his collection of wealth?  But is it too not belonging to God?  The riches are not the problem, but the
steward’s elevation of self (Ps 10:4), as false as this may be
but yet so in his mind, which in the end is an exaltation of self in an attempt
to place one’s self first.  The casualty
is the Lord’s place in this man’s life, for there is only one first place (Ex
34:14).  And as the riches will
pass away, so will this man’s basis for his exaltation.  But the Lord will remain as the True King and
Sovereign Head.  Found not to be in first
place in this man’s life, he will be judged and punished accordingly (Rev
20:12).

It is the lowly brother who may look forward to his
approval as one with a realistic perspective of his standing before the Most
High.  With no illusions of his inability
to stand before a Holy God, he rightly sees himself (Rom 12:3) as
a lowly vessel.  But, in his redemption,
as a broken man, in the atoning Blood of our Lord, he, in this lowest state, is
of highest standing before God on the account of His Son (1 Cor 1:30).

The rich man, in his false sense of a righteous
self, must come to confess (Phil 2:9-11) in his humiliation for
his false stand before God.  As a broken
man in Christ will stand before God in pure white linens, all sins washed away,
so too will the self-righteous find themselves naked in shame for all their
sins upon them.  A person trying to
clothe himself in his false righteousness will be shown as a prostitute in
filthy rags, the stench of the filth overcoming him, but all the while she
thought she was beautiful.  Considering
Joshua the High Priest (Ezek 3) in his filthy rags:  is any man on his own able to achieve a
higher standing before God than His High Priest?  Yet this man was openly accused, and
rightfully so, by Satan of his filth in sin. 
Only the removal of his inequity by the Lamb of God would suffice; only
the humble and broken of self will ever bear the blood of the Lamb (Mt
18:3).

This false righteousness of the proud man will
quickly wither as the grass in the scorching heat of the Last Day.  How is it that this man, claiming to be so
secure in his position, has tried to cover himself in mere, flimsy grass?  Is the petal of the flower not tender?  How then can one hope to cover himself in
it?  Adam and Eve covered themselves with
leaves of the fig tree.  In their sin
they chose to try to cover it from each other and from God.  Our attempts will be just as much folly lest
we are covered in True garments.

Key Summary

As a child of God we may approach the Throne of
Grace in faith in Him and His goodness. 
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.  Sure faith cannot coexist with double
mindedness.

We must be sure to seek out our true standing in the
eyes of God, as at first under judgment and then after in redemption.  True realization of God’s grace bears upon
everything in our concern to God and our relationship with Him.

Beware false righteousness and false humility.  All that is not true and sure will pass away
in the end, leaving the truth to be seen and judged.

Study Questions

Why is a double-minded man considered unstable?

Is this same man considered unstable in all of his
ways as well?

What is the remedy for our double mindedness?

Is there any subtle self righteousness in your life
today?

Ps
51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken
and a contrite heart– These, O God, You will not despise.

1
Jn 5:20

And we know that the Son of God has come and has
given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him
who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Gal
3:26

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus.

Jn
3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.

Jn
15:7

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you
will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Ps
10:4

The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek
God; God is in none of his thoughts.

Ex
34:14

for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord,
whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God,

Rev
20:12

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing
before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the
Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things
which were written in the books.

Rom
12:3

For I say, through the grace given to me, to
everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

1
Cor 1:30

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for
us wisdom from God–and righteousness and sanctification and redemption–

Phil
2:9-11

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given
Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.

Mt
18:3

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are
converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom
of heaven.”

Scripture

¹ James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes which are scattered
abroad:  Greetings.

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall
into various trials, ³knowing that the testing of your faith
produces patience. ⁴But let patience have its perfect work, that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
and it will be given to him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the
wind.

Commentary

Bondservant -> Same as slave,
servant; doulos(N); in subjection without bondage.

Though the brother of our Lord, and as the leader of
the Church in Jerusalem, James identifies himself as one of the lowest order in
looking to both the Father and the Son. 
The Father and the Son will be exalted. 
The whole of Creation will be brought to honor the Son as the
Father.  James wisely acknowledges his
position in the Kingdom militant here on earth, looking ahead to his glorious
reward in the Kingdom Glorified, where those who were faithful are given more
and those who are least are the greatest.

The twelve Tribes scattered abroad might be seen as
those after Stephen’s death in Acts 8 who were then pushed out into Judea &
Sumeria.  As Paul was missionary to the
Gentiles, James is to the early Hebrew Christians.  So, he might also be speaking to those
dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. 
Or on a wider sense, in that he is addressing Jewish believers, he can
also be speaking to the whole of the Nation who have been dispatched by God
throughout the whole world known. 
Notably, as God’s people were dispersed in part to illustrate His Light
such as in Daniel’s life & work, so too is James’ Epistle sent out to the
Jews and the world in this early catholic circulating letter.

‘Count it all joy when you fall into various
trials’.  Right from the start James
heads into the core issue facing early Christians suffering under
persecution.  As a day to day thing, this
encouragement must be seen as central for us too if we are truly living outside
of our comfort zone for Christ’s cause. 
And not only issues of the direct association of being known as a
Christian which causes suffering at the hands of others, but also the interior
trials of life sent on us by God in order to test/prove/build our faith – all
for the ultimate use of the Lord for His Glory in both now and the Kingdom.

‘Count it all joy’ is referenced to the same joy
shared by all of the Apostles in Acts 5:41. 
Having been twice arrested in two days, then beaten before the whole
council & elders and commanded to desist, they left joyfully ‘rejoicing
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name’.  The seemingly inverse economy of God’s
Kingdom (as it might seem to those of the world) is recognized as profitable
service by the Apostles, who are joyous in serving the Lord and also in seeing
that store in Heaven added to.  It is
truly wonderful to serve the Lord in such a loving way, as a sacrifice for Him,
and for His sake.

‘When you fall into various trials’ is the tip of
such a huge ‘iceberg’ in Christian theology! 
Trials, testing of our faith by God, are not to be confused with
temptation, of and by the Devil.  From a
pagan then to a Christian, the issue of trials takes on a radically different
meaning, reality, and stance in one’s life. 
The pagan will always loathe the trials, from small to large, bemoaning
them as senseless, bothersome, or of no value except to cause them discomfort,
brought about by whatever means.  Be it
someone cutting them off in traffic or a life threatening illness, all are
despised to varying degrees.  A believer
however, in following the lead of the Word, will see the situation as an
opportunity of growth brought about by their loving Father, of Whom no detail
escapes, and Whom has promised to keep the interests of His children close to
His heart.  Recognizing our perfect God
is in total control of the test at hand changes everything if we believe in His
ability to do anything.  Our fear
should not be in His design of the outcome, but instead of our interference of
our own will as we might try to arrest control of the situation.  This response is ultimately rooted in a
disbelief in God, His ability, and His intent. 
Once adopted and our standing before the Lord restored, the believer’s
life is best viewed as a ‘boot camp’ in training us for service in God’s
Kingdom.  And considering our Perfect
example in our Lord Jesus’ life, the one overriding aspect He kept, and that we
must seek to emulate, is perfect obedience to God.  Trials are the mechanism by which our Lord
brings about the opportunity to ‘work out you own salvation with fear and
trembling’ (Phil 2:12); it is the process of Sanctification which our Jesus has
undertaken so that we may be made perfect and that when gathered, will be ready
to be presented to the Father as Christ’s Church victorious.  Trials truly are a blessing if you are a child
of God and can recognize His loving gift of opportunity where, if we hazard to
be faithful of Him, simply can’t lose. 
God seeks to build, establish, grow a faith in us – rooted deep down, to
which we cleave to, anchor to, in times of difficulties. All of this doesn’t
mean that God places false obstacles in our way as a faux exercise against
imaginary adversity.  These things are
very real, often quite painful and even threatening, but again in seeking His
Glory for Himself, the Anchor we lash ourselves to is always going to prove
greater than anything ever found in our path of Sanctification.  In His Mercy He strives to deepen and build
our faith if we would only obey and trust Him.

Therefore, in facing our adversity, we must need
appropriate tools.  Blind, foolish faith
is of no value and is dangerous.  To
clarify, having faith in God in the face of severe trouble, though all hope
seems lost, is not blind faith.  It is a
belief in the truest force that all of Creation can acknowledge.  However, a faith in something that can’t or
won’t come through for us is foolish. 
This might be a faith in self, riches, devices, other people, or
anything fallible in the light of it’s abilities to handle the task at
hand.  Or, faith even in God that He will
do something which in truth He has not promised or is not of His character is
foolish too.  But for the one ‘who lacks
(spiritual) wisdom, let him ask of God Who gives to all liberally and without
reproach’.  God wants us to succeed in
growing, for it glorifies and pleases Him. 
Phil 2:13 – “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for
His good pleasure”. If He Wills that we succeed in trials, then He will of
course make available to us the tools necessary to carry out our portion of the
responsibility.  If He seeks growth in
obedience through faith, by placing us lovingly in trials, then to root our
faith in Him as Someone solid, He will want to give us spiritual wisdom in
order to build our understanding of Him, building our faith.  In v.5 He has pulled all of the stops
concerning His Truth to us as believers. 
As Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds and plainly to His Disciples,
so too does the Lord offer full explanation to us, in greater order in fact, as
His children.  And more so, those who do
ask will not be reproached, turned away in shame, or ridiculed, but treated
well by the Almighty, though our request in His Light is so ridiculously
ignorant.

However, the person who asks must do so in faith and
without doubt in God’s willingness and ability. 
The picture of the sea tossing about is one of great instability.  How Gracious is our God for sparing us of
knowledge we are not ready to contemplate. 
Following the parallel of the wineskins, our Lord knows that a seeker
not yet stable in his existing foundations cannot gain from the weight which
more Truth would bear.  Know God and His
Person through His revelation of Himself through the Word, have faith well
rooted in Him and His Character, then again approach Him in Prayer seeking more
and He will grant it.

Key Summary

Trials were a pointed fact in the life of the early
Church believer, often at the threat of one’s life.  James writes to not only acknowledge the work
of God through trials, but also expose the deep blessings the Lord seeks to
bestow on us through them.

We are not typically taken Home immediately upon
Justification, but will spend the rest of our days here in training.  Jesus’ work in us is for His Glory when we
will be presented perfect to the Father.

God, willing that we succeed, also has given us the
Counselor to shape us.  He gives freely,
in abundance, that we may never want for lack of spiritual wisdom.

Study Questions

Can you identify your past and current opportunities
in trials?

Is your reaction to trials one of distain,
neutrality, or joy?  Should you reconsider
your response?

Are you being aware of the Holy Spirit’s involvement
in your life?  Do you ask Him for help
and teaching in the course of your prayers?

Some conclusions, expanded; 
an expansion of the conclusions I have arrived at in my past year of
Discipleship and in study with Steve Wolfe.

1. My loyalty must first be to God.
   
   How else can it be said?  God is a
   jealous God and will accept no less from His children.  If there is something else I hold higher,
   then I cannot say truly I worship Him as Jesus my Lord above all other
   things.  Considering His commands to the
   Apostles to “Follow Me.”, it seem clear He left them with little other
   choice.  Notice He didn’t say “Hey, if
   you would like, come on along.”, or, “This is everything I have planned for you
   and the rest of the world; maybe you would care to join me?”

   Jesus made it clear in that no kingdom divided can stand, and no one can serve
   two Lords.  You’ve got to make your
   choice, pick sides, make a commitment. 
   Otherwise, He will spit you out as lukewarm.  Throughout the day, I must pass through a
   hundred forks in the road where I must make a choice between the Way and my
   way.  Sometimes it is a plain choice
   concerning God v/s myself; more often, it is between myself and a God-directed,
   Bible-based principle.  Any other choice
   but to follow God is no less than rebellion and a selfish rejection of Him.

   Many situations arise in everyday life qualifying under this principle.  Actually, this is probably one of the first
   requirements of Christianity and being a child of God.  Situations arise throughout the day which
   call for a clarity of allegiance and a choice of priority.  Any time something stands questioning my
   choice of obedience, especially when it is something “small”, watch out!  It is more likely to be a “big” thing the
   Evil One has laid in my path to cause me to choose against God, even if it is
   only a minor infraction.  Then before I
   know it, each grain of bad reasoning has grown into a wall of inequity
   destroying my walk with a God, who refuses to force me to choose.

   The first step, as well as the ever ongoing task in the Christian life, is to
   strive to be ever faithful to God, just as Jesus did in full obedience as both
   our Savior and our example to follow. 
   Never allowing myself to waiver is my goal, and if I am true to God in
   this way, all other priorities in life will fall into proper perspective.

2. I must seek and learn the most effective ways of communicating my
   convictions of God’s Truth and how to apply it for my listener’s benefit.
   
   This is not necessarily the same as lovingly presenting a ‘fact’ of faith which
   may be distasteful to someone. 
   Nevertheless, this is a tough one for me. However, the Apostle Paul had
   quite a bit to say about it.  My
   experience as a Christian looking out to others, as well as looking in to
   myself as others might see me, tells me that the prideful ego is perhaps the
   one most leading hindrance to change in attitude.  The prideful ego comes in many forms too, and
   may be hard to recognize as at the root of the problem.  I know this due to my own heavy contribution
   to my knowledge of the subject.

   Paul wrote of visiting people of differing cultures and customs as he took the
   Gospel to the Gentiles.  Interestingly to
   me, he must have found himself in quite a number of strange cultural
   situations, especially to a strict Jew. 
   And the people he spoke with were from life’s whole spectrum.  Yet, he says he would find common ground with
   these people and convey the News in a way they could respond to, relate
   to.  As Linda has pointed out, what good
   is the Message if the other party can’t (or won’t) receive it?

3. The revealed Truth isn’t always intended to be presented in it’s ‘raw’
   form.
   
   One of my last in-depth interactions with God brought me a lesson in this and
   the preceding principle.  An inspired
   writing produced a pointed letter to a fellow believer who has seemingly gone a
   bit astray.  While the points of fact
   were probably on target, the letter also was a stinging indictment.  Sometimes I’m not sure if it was really right
   or wrong to present it in such a fashion, but I am sure it did not produce the
   results I would have hoped for.  However,
   I am not sure what God intended for her to do either.  I am sure, however, that I came away with a
   valuable (though perhaps not conclusive) lesson on relating insights I believe
   came from God.  I am also sure that I am
   not sure at all!  I guess the thing to
   focus on is the end result; perhaps sometimes a direct approach is the best,
   yet other times more tact is required. 
   In this case the Lord had a number of lessons bundled together for
   me:  Convey the whole Truth courageously;
   know that the way in which the Truth is revealed may not be the way it is most
   effectively presented; be courteous of other’s feelings, and do so in Christian
   love; keep the end result in mind, but remember that often, the end result is
   the Lord’s to worry about, not yours.

4. Always avoid the Sin of Omission

   My First Year seemed to be consistent in this:  I am to finish my current assignment before
   moving on to the next.  This is also a
   basic lesson of obedience too, isn’t it? 
   In procrastinating on God’s direction, I stand in opposition to His
   Will; this means I am not doing as He Wills; this means I am not in obedience
   as I should be in following Christ’s example, as His servant.  What a terrible thing to do!  What an indictment of my doubt in Him!  It sometimes brings tears to my eyes as I
   consider my willful neglect of a faithful response in service to Him who would
   never do the same to me.

   If I am to ever surrender to the Will of the Holy Spirit and do God’s bidding,
   I know I must come to respond to His call without any regard for myself.  I have a similar difficulty in our marriage,
   one of selfish response, lacking of a giving service to my spouse.  In both relationships, how might I expect
   either to work well if I do not show faithful service on my own part?  Granted, God is much more forgiving than any
   person might be, but the mechanics are similar in that we all have our
   responsibilities in our relationships.

   A willful neglect of God’s call is a grievous thing indeed; let me live the
   words of my Savior: “Not my will Father, but Your own be done.”

   My omission turned out to be a milestone in my First Year, in fact it marked
   the end of it.  Still today I wonder if
   it caused the end of my first close walk with Jesus, or if it just coincided
   with it.  It sure seems to be the first
   and not the latter at times.  Whatever
   the case, it is certainly a Sin to not answer the call of the Holy Master.  If not to follow His sure direction, then
   what is the discipleship about?

5. If someone exercises their faith in a different way, it’s not my place
   to be concerned – it’s between them and God
   

Loving your enemies – Luke 6:27-42

Jesus’ instruction to His disciples on dealing with those
against them, and even those with them who slip and fall, provides us with a
wonderful example of applying God’s love in our everyday walk.

The passage covers a lot of ground and can be broken into
three parts: dealing with those blatantly opposing us; dealing with those in
whom we share in some mutual way; and the consequence of our choice.

As a timeless God who is no respecter of persons (Act 10:34),
the word Jesus spoke will apply to us today just as it did to the original
listeners.  In the case of this
Scripture, it is easy to see Christ speaking directly to us, too.

On turning the other cheek.

Why would Jesus ask, no, command us, to treat people kindly
when they so openly abuse us?  As God’s
servants, He seeks to use us to convey and advance the Kingdom.  This is they reason He has provided us with
every tool necessary to address the world in a winning way.

At first glance, the persons described here deserve anything
we might level against them as an enemy. 
However, in seeing ourselves as the perpetrator against Christ, who God
wants us to follow in deed and action, we in turn get a vivid picture of Him
dealing with us despite our best efforts to treat Him as the enemy.  God’s character dictates He keeps coming back
with open arms regardless of our transgressions against Him time and time
again.

Remember, He was giving instruction to His disciples
on how to deal with others – and as disciples, He sought to have each be
‘perfectly trained (to) be like his teacher’ (v. 40).  No matter how we cross Him, He will turn the
other cheek and offer His tunic – exactly as He expects us to apply it in our
live in the same way.

On loving those who love us.

At first, God appears to be contradicting what we would
expect of Him throughout Scripture.  But
consider the context of the passages – again, as disciples we are invited to
the front lines of the Kingdom, where the warm loving embrace of God is behind
us and the frontier of the world is before us.

If we are in our right place to do the work of advancing the
Kingdom, we will be exercising Jesus’ command to act in love and turn the other
cheek.  However, if we find ourselves
only dealing with those we love and who love us, we can’t expect credit because
we are within our own friendly territory, not facing the challenges of the
frontier.  Dealing only with those whom
from which we expect a reciprocal deed is not facing the challenge.  Jesus expects us to throw ourselves into the thick
of it all, especially where we have no reason to expect a like kind return.

God’s movement in my life, and my subsequent growth, is
seldom in my ‘comfort zone’.  Since God
seeks to transform us, He ventures into the wilderness of our person, sets up
camp, and continues to wait in reassuring love for us to turn to Him.  And when we do embrace Him, where He stood
waiting where He had no Earthly reason to expect a return on His investment of
Divine Love, our Christian life takes one step further and there is no longer
frontier there but another advancement of His Kingdom (Matt 6:10).  And guess what happens next – He pulls up
camp and moves still farther out into the frontier again in selfless, loving
service to us!  That’s God’s best, God’s
love, His faith and trust in us, always faithfully hoping we will accept His
invitation to move further ahead into His waiting arms.  ‘Therefore be merciful, just as your Father
also is merciful.’ (v. 36)

On the consequences of
accepting the call of discipleship

Verse 38 promises an overflowing return from God as your
reward, still another example of His increase resultant of our faithful heed to
His command.  Our stores are in Heaven,
and God delights in rewarding His children. 
Following Christ’s example, an example put to us of perfectly obeying
the Father’s will, pleases God and brings His blessings ‘pressed down, shaken
together, and running over.’ (v. 38a)

Applying this in our lives

A friend of mine, vacationing in San Francisco walked with
his family through the Warf.  Among the
attractions many panhandlers tool the tourists for handouts as they pass
by.  His young daughter approached one
such man, who, quite wretched and foul smelling, snarled “Get the hell out of
the way, you’re standing in my light!!”  Nearly
moved to confront this man, he instead steered them across the street to see a
vendor.  As an artist sketched their
characitures, his daughter asked for a dollar so she might give it to not just
any panhandler, but to her father’s dismay the very one that dealt with her so
badly.  Anyone but him he demanded!  But, promising to repay, she reasoned
successfully that it was hers to spend, and this was the only man she would
give it to -–and she did just that.

Through the actions of a child, inexperienced to the world
and as a result unjaded, we get a glimpse of real love in action.  And action is the key.  The love God commands of us is not a warm
feeling, but an action of love, an action of service.

That mean, wretched beggar is any one of us in the sight of
God, as we all fall short of His Glory (Rom 3:23).  In an innocent approach, he answered with a
smart slap to her cheek, and she responded by turning the other to him.  Who of us has not turned Jesus away in a
stinging choice of something else above Him? 
And who of us has ever found Jesus to be anything less than ready and
willingly there when we repent and turn to Him?

She might have gone to any other beggar there.  Of the hundreds among the mean one, she could
have easily found a grateful soul who would have returned her effort in much
gratitude.  Yet instead, she pushed the
envelope and attempted to further the Kingdom into the uncertain and hostile
frontier.

She only gave him a dollar, yet she gave much more than
that.  She shared God’s love with someone
she had every reason to expect nothing in return from, perhaps even another
dose of abuse.  To the jaded world
foolishness; to our Lord a good job of discipleship.  A job well done, a job to be expected of a
Christian.

I Surrender

I could not understand why the
Lord had forsaken me, especially concerning issues He made clear in His
promises to us through the scripture. 
Why, God, have you abandoned me, I asked in earnest prayer?  I know God does not deny His children of any
of the things He has promised.  Then He
showed me; I had not yet surrendered myself, my self, my will, to Him.

I always knew there were parts of
me in reservation.  I’m sure my reason
for holding out was ultimately that I did not want to give up my choice or
control of the direction of my life.  It
secretly terrified me, in fact.  Seek to
give someone else full, absolute control of my life??  There are things I don’t want to give up or
answer for.  Worse yet, first I’ll be
releasing the daily control of my life, and the next thing you know I will be a
missionary sleeping on a grass mat in a hut. 
This is actually the sort of things I feared.

However, I also know that the Lord is purely good and
desires only the best for me.  Therefore,
if I believed this, how could I deny that he would ever steer me wrong, no
matter where He led me?  There is simply
no way around the fact.  Furthermore,
Christ is clear in stating we must live in Him and in His example of perfect subjection
to the Father.  This means letting His
Holy Spirit, in us as Christians, be our guiding will and not our own.  With that, I asked the Father to give me the
courage and faith to trust Him – and then I let go.

On short order, everything
changed by leaps and bounds, and it’s been quite a journey ever since.  I realize now that God wants people around
Him who want to be around Him.  He won’t
force anybody.  I believe that is why He
gave us Free Will.  With the gift of His
saving grace available to all, any that make the choice to accept and obey Him
suddenly have all of His gifts at their disposal in faith through Jesus.

Consider the parable of the Sower
in Mark 4:3-20 and ask yourself which patch of ground you are.  Trust God and let go if you haven’t; God will
move mightily in your life far beyond your expectations, as you fulfill your
duty in this life – to worship God and surrender yourself, your self, to Him.

The Elephant, the Shackle, and Sin

Have you ever visited a circus
and browsed around to see the animals lingering?  If so, chances are good you have seen an
elephant laying around, a shackle on its leg, secured with a chain staked to
the ground.  The pachyderm can move
about, but only as far as the restraint allows.

The irony, however, is that
despite its massive capacity, the elephant is conditioned, perhaps even
content, with the fact the chain and stake can somehow confine him.

So it may be for a Christian.
Before being saved by Christ, we all are guilty of entangling ourselves in
sin.  However, a true Christian,
following Jesus’ indwelling Spirit, is fully forgiven and no longer held down
by sin.  As true children of God, we
enjoy a massive capacity for freedom from the sin that would otherwise confine
us.  We only need to confess and believe
Jesus’ promise we are forgiven and free, and live accordingly.  We are made blameless in Christ’s
Righteousness, so in turn we may commune with the Father Himself, praying in
His very presence.  This is the highest
privilege afforded to us through Christ’s atonement, for our primary purpose as
beings is to worship God.

That elephant’s chain can no more
really hold him than can sin in a Christian’s life, unless either is willing to
accept the deception it can.  In
recognizing who you are as God’s child, through Christ, you can shed the
constraint which really can’t constrain, and live and serve as who you really
are – a blameless child of the Mighty Lord.

Father, you are mightier than anything in my life.  I am a sinner, who without Jesus’ forgiveness
am condemned and harnessed in my wrongdoing. 
Please continue to remind me of who I am as your child, in a blameless
state, thanks to your Son who I accept as my Master and Savior.  It’s in His name I pray.  Amen.

Watching my son play, at the tender age of a few months, exploring, I thought about how he was establishing how the fringe on his blanket felt and behaved.  He really likes to touch things, pointer finger extended, ever so gingerly, to see how it reacts to being moved or touched.  As the weeks go by, and his motor skills develop in leaps and bounds, and he is able to do and understand much more than just a few mere month ago, he still approaches new things with that same inquisitive yet cautionary curiosity at the end of his pointer finger.

I have been studying the relationship between grace through
faith.  God’s word has shown me that His
unboundless grace is extended to us despite our utter inability to be worthy of
it.  That is the meaning of the concept,
charity and forgiveness beyond anything deserving or required.  The Lord has already granted every blessing
anyone will ever receive, through Jesus. 
This well of blessing is there for the taking, we need only to tap into
it and receive what is ours.

This requires our faith; our faith in the Lord to provide
what He has promised us.  There for the
taking, any of our needs, wants or desires, in agreement with the will of
God.  His grace is received through our
faith, and this grace is boundless.  I
imagine myself going to someone, whether stranger or closest of closest family
or acquaintance, and asking them for a bounty beyond any of my wildest
expectations, while they have not even the slightest of reasons to respond to
my request.  Not only is the scenario
total nonsense, but the though of asking anyone for something, let alone
something of immeasurable value,