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A life of faith
A life of faith
A Christian is a brother or a sister of Christ
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings.
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,
Blood family
Through thick and thin
(We don’t just give up!)
We are interconnected to our life source! - Our source of Strength, no less!
we are the branches, Jesus is the vine!
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
We once were slaves, but now we are free
The story of Amazing Grace
(Hymn book)
((Illustration!))
(Through trials and temptation)
Give it to the Lord in Prayer
(Hymn book)
Two sets of “Do’s!”
Do endure!
Do be quick to listen
Do be slow to speak
Do be slow to anger
We have also come across ...
At least two “don’ts!”
Don’t diminish God!
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.
But!
The prodigal son
14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.
Control your Tongue (Don’t talk without thinking)!
The perfect law of Freedom!
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Be obedient to God!
No If’s and But’s ...
Let’s expand that thought a bit
Doers of the word will love God; love their neighbour
They/we will be quick to listen - but not be listeners only!
They will not deceive themselves, blaming God for tempting them
This is the perfect law of freedom!
As a first exercise:- Don’t show favouritism!
Within favouritism
is contained all the elements of opposing the Perfect law of Freedom
Example:
- Favouritism points to division
Favouritism points to dislike/hate
Favouritism points to anger
No!
Love your neighbour!
A new law I give to you
34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.
So … how are we travelling …?
NB! UP TO NOW, IT IS ALL A QUESTION OF FAITH!
SAVING FAITH!
James, in this letter, is taking stock of his own life,
and a survey of the lives of those who with him claim to be Christian
and he is asking the question:
how can we know that we are truly saved
having made a confession that we believing in Christ
As he looks around himself
as he remembers his own faith journey
he notices:
that people are quick to declare their faith
that people are quick to boast
that many are fast talkers of the word, but slow doers of the word
And so he asks the question:
WHAT GOOD IS IT THAT I HAVE MADE A CONFESSION OF FAITH
WHICH CALLS US TO OBEDIENT, HUMBLE LOVE
FOR THE SAKE OF GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOUR
BUT THERE IS NO FRUIT TO SHOW THAT WE BELIEVE WHAT WE SAY WE DO!
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
One can imagine the scene: (Maybe you have experienced it ...
Someone comes up to you and says;
You call yourself a Christian?
You quote bible verses till the cows come home
but look at the way you ...
((is that what faith looks like?))
You see?
Now, to be sure!
Whoever is accusing James of whatever here
is offering good works in the place of faith ...
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.
Two moments in this speech:
One claims to have faith (but shows no works)
One claims to have works (but obedient faith takes a back seat!)
Notice how FAITH is at the centre of the immediate passages
Verse 18 (above)
Verse 17
17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
Verse 14
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
Faith! is the starting point!
We are saved by faith alone, but faith is not alone
(it manifests itself in a whole life,
just as a whole life includes that what we believe
and that what we do because of what we believe!)
It is possible to claim to have faith - but have no coinciding works
(make a profession of faith - but live the life of a sinner)
That is not faith!
It is possible to have works - but have no faith
(He is was such a good man - we believe that he will deserve a spot in heaven)
That is works, but not faith!
But it is not possible to have faith - but not works
(That is not faith, either!)
In all of this ...
JAMES IS SAYING NO MORE OR NO LESS THAN PAUL WAS SAYING!
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
What test can we have to see whether we are growing in lfaith?
Two examples:
Abraham
20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?
21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete,
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.
Rahab
25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Having received faith
it shows in what we do ...
growing in strength to endure trials and temptations - by faith alone
taming our tongues - by faith alone
showing no favouritism - by faith alone
growing from the vine!
And we do this as we grow in faith!
Like branches, ingrafted into the Vine!
(You are the branched, I am the vine!
Grapes grow from the branches of a vine - it is fruit!
And you get good fruit
and bad fruit!
17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit.
18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
It is by our works, that we can tell our faith!
Will we together take stock of our faith this week, B&S? Fellow fruits!
If we do, we will do so because of faith!
And there is the answer to our test?
How can I know that I have a saving faith?
Show the world your faith, by your works // let your works, be a sign of your faith!
By the good works that I long to do
because I truly believe in God!
Amen