Good Thursday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
I assume most of us see a wide variety of people every day. Have you given yourself a ‘soul check’ recently? What do I mean? What wells up inside your heart when you see someone in a chauffeured limousine or driving an extremely expensive car? And what wells up in your soul when you see a homeless person on the street, or someone dressed in very ragged clothes?
Join me again today in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago as James, the 1/2 brother of Jesus, is writing a letter to the first-generation Christians, especially the Messianic Jewish Christians. He’s calling them to give themselves a “soul check”!
Yesterday we looked briefly at chapter 1 and today let’s look at chapter 2 of James’ powerful letter. James writes: “Religion the God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)
May I ask, what wells up in your soul when you see a widow or an orphan? How does your social group or your church respond to the needs of widows and orphans in your community? In the first century Roman empire those two groups of people were overlooked, disregarded and often viewed as a burden to society, thus the Holy Spirit led James to challenge God’s people to treat them with compassion and care!
James continued writing with these words: “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in…” (James 2:1,2) It’s not difficult for us to put ourselves in that situation, is it? And what do you see in yourself when you give yourself a ‘soul check’, looking at the attitudes which rise up in you at what James has described?
In the second half of James 2, the issue of faith and deeds is dealt with masterfully by the Holy Spirit leading James to write great wisdom. “What good is it my brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action is dead!“ (James 2:14,17) Oh my, what does that powerful statement mean?
James is declaring that the inward transformative work of God in forgiving our sin; adopting us into His family; giving us a new identity by new birth in Christ; reconciling us back to the Father…and so much more, is confirmed and validated by our words, attitudes, choices and actions as we honor God with our lives! Conversely, the work of God in our lives can be invalidated or denied or mocked by our words, attitudes, choices and actions when we DIShonor God! Pause. Did you get that? Do you see it in people, including yourself?
As you read further in James 2, you’ll see James used the very well-known Jewish story of Abraham fully trusting God by bringing his miraculous son Isaac to the mountain and preparing to sacrifice him, as he believed God had instructed him. (James 2:21-23) James writes: “Abraham’s faith in God was made complete by what he did.”
Years later the apostle Paul also wrote about Abraham’s great faith in God’s promise for a son in his old age: “Without weakening in his faith, Abraham faced the fact that his old body was as good as dead – since he was about 100 years old – and that his wife Sarah’s old womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but he was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He promised.” (Romans 4:19-22)
Now wait a minute. We know the Gospel of Jesus clearly proclaims that our salvation is by God’s grace extended to us as we repent of our sin. Are James and Paul saying our faith in God to save us is not enough? Are they saying we must somehow do certain deeds to confirm our salvation or fully accomplish the salvation God has begun in us? Oh NO my friends, and Paul made that very clear when he wrote to the Ephesian Christians: “It is by God’s grace we are saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9)
Do we see that both James and Paul challenge us to look closely at our ourselves, to see how our lives validate practically, and give evidence to what we claim God has done in our souls through our salvation experience? James brings his powerful argument to a close with this statement: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead!” (James 2:26) Pause. Think about that.
Why did the Holy Spirit lead James to use that metaphor of a dead body when calling us to consider faith claimed without deeds done? In part, may I suggest, it’s because the words, attitudes, choices and actions that you and I do, which provide the practical evidence that we are genuinely saved by God, are Holy Spirit initiated and empowered words, attitudes, choices and actions! Right?
It’s the Spirit of God alive and working in us that leads us to live God honoring lives. Of course that causes us to ask the unspoken question: ‘Then what does it mean when a person claims to be a forgiven sinner, a follower of Jesus, but their words, attitudes, choices and actions are NOT God honoring and are no different from a pagan?’ I wonder what your answer to that question is, my friends?
While James’ chapters are fairly short, they are power packed, thus I’m going to call us to pause here today and I urge you to take that same pad of paper you hopefully used yesterday, when you asked the Holy Spirit to lead you through James chapter 1, and I urge us to continue, now reading all 26 verses of James 2. And asking the Holy Spirit to speak into your heart and mind as you read.
Jot down on that paper what inspiring thoughts the Holy Spirit gives you. Consider the “lessons learned” notes at the link below and then take time to worship and pray with the worship song I’ve found for us. And of course, James and I will be here, waiting for you tomorrow!
Today’s Scripture: James 2.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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