Is this works or fruit? Or both?
If you read very much of what I write in this blog, you will probably guess that I am a King James man KJV or NKJV. But I am not opposed to some of the newer versions of the Bible either and one in particular that I sometimes like is the New Living Translation or the NLT. However the KJV is still the benchmark for me.
This entry today asks,”is this works or fruit? Or both?” I want to give you an example from the same verses that I used last entry. (At least some of the verses.) And I’m quoting from the NLT. James 1:19-26
James 1:19-26 (New Living Translation)
Listening and Doing
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger[a] does not produce the righteousness[b] God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
Then there is another portion here in James’ epistle James 3:11-18 (New Living Translation)
11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.[a]
True Wisdom Comes from God
13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 but the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness .
Over in the letter that Paul writes to the church in Galatia we see the works of the flesh contrasted by the fruit of the Spirit, again reading from the NLTGalatians 5:13-26 (New Living Translation)
13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[a] 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
Living by the Spirit’s Power
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
18 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Paul describes what is meant by the works of the flesh, that being our sinful nature and also lists what the fruit of the Spirit consists of. Keep in mind that this is not the sum total of these fruits, there are more than just these nine but they all fall into these categories, at least that is my belief. I believe James is really talking about fruit when he refers to works…our good works or deeds are accomplished because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us producing a harvest in us. Just look at verse 22 of Galatians 5 again, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives” It is the work of the Spirit within that helps us to do these works that James refers to. So, James says……”faith without works is dead?” You betcha…it takes the Spirit of Almighty God within cultivating and working us into a spiritual kind of garden that produces good works or good fruit. If you believe this why not send me a comment on the comment form or even an e-mail saying whether you like what I write or tell me if you don’t like it if that is the case. My e-mail is atlmiss@nbnet.nb.ca
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About Me
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
in the time of trouble it helps
When troubles trouble us it helps to know God, As a matter of fact it makes a world of difference. And to know what His Word says as well you can depend upon .Here in the book of James chapter 1, verses 19 & 20 it tells me ho w to avoid trouble,; trouble that we can get ourselves in by our own actions. Some folks have even stopped going to church altogether because of imperfections they see in other people, but that too is not right. So let me read these two verses from the epistle of James.."So then, my beloved brethren, ( what a beautiful title to be called, beloved brethren ), let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. ( perhaps the most important of all ) verse 20 says, "for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." Think before you speak; later in the epistle we will see what Pastor James has to say further about the tongue. In fact James writes a lot concerning the tongue. "Again from verse #20, "THE WRATH OF MAN equals 0 % of God's righteousness. So let us once again as the epistle admonishes us. "be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath." It will save us a whole lot of trouble and heartache if we apply this formula when we feel anger rising up within us...
Saturday, August 22, 2009
More from James, Pastor First Pentecostal, Jerusalem, Israel
Part 2: be a doer.
I’ve often had a struggle with this word from James’ epistle, this part that tells me to be a doer not just a hearer. After all does Paul not say in Ephesians 2: 8 that it is by grace that we are saved through faith and it is not works that saves us?
The old hymn writer penned it so well “nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling” What is it about humans, they want to have a set of rules so that they can work out their salvation by themselves. Oh they say that it is all of grace but they or should I say we still try to live up to some kind of creed or some law and that word is the key….law. James said “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. He is talking about a law of liberty, not a bondage but freedom, not creeds or rules but liberty. We do because we love, not because we have to but because we want to and another part of the key is the word continue…saved by grace, yes! Kept by the continual process of prayer and the reading f the Word and by doing what the Word says.
Being a doer is not a chore buy rather a joy where Jesus is,,,once again the words from James “count it all joy” you can do that if you are a doer. Salvation is a free gift from God, it's true however if you are truly born again by the Spirit of God you need to continue in His Word to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Another hymn declares "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus , but to trust and obey." The verse says "when in fellowship sweet, we will sit at His feet, or we'll walk by His side in the way, what He says we will do"..."doers, not hearers only."
gned to change your
life and mine as well. He talks about a whole range
I’ve often had a struggle with this word from James’ epistle, this part that tells me to be a doer not just a hearer. After all does Paul not say in Ephesians 2: 8 that it is by grace that we are saved through faith and it is not works that saves us?
The old hymn writer penned it so well “nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling” What is it about humans, they want to have a set of rules so that they can work out their salvation by themselves. Oh they say that it is all of grace but they or should I say we still try to live up to some kind of creed or some law and that word is the key….law. James said “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. He is talking about a law of liberty, not a bondage but freedom, not creeds or rules but liberty. We do because we love, not because we have to but because we want to and another part of the key is the word continue…saved by grace, yes! Kept by the continual process of prayer and the reading f the Word and by doing what the Word says.
Being a doer is not a chore buy rather a joy where Jesus is,,,once again the words from James “count it all joy” you can do that if you are a doer. Salvation is a free gift from God, it's true however if you are truly born again by the Spirit of God you need to continue in His Word to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Another hymn declares "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus , but to trust and obey." The verse says "when in fellowship sweet, we will sit at His feet, or we'll walk by His side in the way, what He says we will do"..."doers, not hearers only."
gned to change your
life and mine as well. He talks about a whole range
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
be a doer
“Fret not thyself” or be a doer
I am approaching this study in James’s epistle from a some what unorthodox angle…but then I have always done that in any study I suppose. Rather than a verse by verse, I feel to apply the epistle to our life struggles and perhaps that will mean running around a little through this epistle. Anyway here goes my thoughts for this entry.
When I read this first chapter it seems as though James jumps from topic to topic as well.and a thought came to me from Psalm 37. Verse 1 says, “Fret not thyself”
If we were writing this to a friend say, we would probably say it like this: “don’t sweat the small stuff.” That’s the modern saying. Now James isn’t talking about small stuff, however. He’s discussing some pretty big issues. For example in verses 19-27, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters; (I am reading from the New Living Translation) You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.” Wouldn’t we save ourselves one pile of trouble if we approached our problems with this attitude? Sort of a carry over from verse 3
This time from the New King James; “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” Now back to the NLT and verse 20 “Human anger does not produce the righteousness, God desires. 21: So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the Word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
22 But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the Word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget What you look like. 23 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are only fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless “ You can read the rest for yourself. James says be doers, David in Psalm 37 says “don’t fret” And you and I if we follow their advice can truly say “don’t sweat the small stuff.”Let your faith be unwavering. Proverbs 3, 5,6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path."
I am approaching this study in James’s epistle from a some what unorthodox angle…but then I have always done that in any study I suppose. Rather than a verse by verse, I feel to apply the epistle to our life struggles and perhaps that will mean running around a little through this epistle. Anyway here goes my thoughts for this entry.
When I read this first chapter it seems as though James jumps from topic to topic as well.and a thought came to me from Psalm 37. Verse 1 says, “Fret not thyself”
If we were writing this to a friend say, we would probably say it like this: “don’t sweat the small stuff.” That’s the modern saying. Now James isn’t talking about small stuff, however. He’s discussing some pretty big issues. For example in verses 19-27, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters; (I am reading from the New Living Translation) You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.” Wouldn’t we save ourselves one pile of trouble if we approached our problems with this attitude? Sort of a carry over from verse 3
This time from the New King James; “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” Now back to the NLT and verse 20 “Human anger does not produce the righteousness, God desires. 21: So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the Word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
22 But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the Word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget What you look like. 23 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are only fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless “ You can read the rest for yourself. James says be doers, David in Psalm 37 says “don’t fret” And you and I if we follow their advice can truly say “don’t sweat the small stuff.”Let your faith be unwavering. Proverbs 3, 5,6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path."
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The epistle of James
The epistle of James has inspired my blog writing over the past few entries and it is this book and these thoughts that will be the foundation of my portion or contribution to the home group study at the church house. This will probably start in late October.
However if you wish to get a head start, you will find it all here. That is not to say that this blog will be just about the epistle of James. I will discuss other subjects as in the past from time to time. But for today, it is the book of James.
James puts faith into action by proving the old saying “ actions speak louder than words.” He says “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” Yes, James is saying that faith without works is useless. And it is true that we can believe for God to answer prayer but unless we act on that faith what is accomplished? Mental assent to a truth is not real faith just by itself. There needs to be a balanced walk of faith. In the salvation of a soul, until that person takes a step of faith and asks God to save them and truly repents and casts their burden on the Lord, nothing changes. That is the key word…change. When a man or a woman truly repents and is born again by the Spirit of God, there will be a change in that person’s life and it will reflect in their lifestyle. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and said “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new.”
Once again we see James and Paul in total agreement.
James discusses a whole list of things that Christians and non Christians face and they are detrimental to our Christian walk and he gives us directions on how to avoid these pitfalls, if you will. He says that you ought to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. This epistle or letter to those Christians who were driven from Jerusalem and dispersed throughout the world of that time is also for our benefit today and the list includes wisdom as well as pride, discrimination, greed, lust, hypocrisy, worldliness and slander to name a few. He talks about drawing nearer to God and that is an area that we always need to strive for. We will take our time with these subjects as long as the Lord directs us to.
I have touched on the subject of joy in trials and wisdom through faith that is unwavering and a few other areas, I think, however we will come back to these subjects as we feel led to do so. This portion today is a kind of belated introduction to my thoughts on the book of James. As always, I welcome your comments, which by the way have been sparse of late.
However if you wish to get a head start, you will find it all here. That is not to say that this blog will be just about the epistle of James. I will discuss other subjects as in the past from time to time. But for today, it is the book of James.
James puts faith into action by proving the old saying “ actions speak louder than words.” He says “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” Yes, James is saying that faith without works is useless. And it is true that we can believe for God to answer prayer but unless we act on that faith what is accomplished? Mental assent to a truth is not real faith just by itself. There needs to be a balanced walk of faith. In the salvation of a soul, until that person takes a step of faith and asks God to save them and truly repents and casts their burden on the Lord, nothing changes. That is the key word…change. When a man or a woman truly repents and is born again by the Spirit of God, there will be a change in that person’s life and it will reflect in their lifestyle. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and said “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things become new.”
Once again we see James and Paul in total agreement.
James discusses a whole list of things that Christians and non Christians face and they are detrimental to our Christian walk and he gives us directions on how to avoid these pitfalls, if you will. He says that you ought to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. This epistle or letter to those Christians who were driven from Jerusalem and dispersed throughout the world of that time is also for our benefit today and the list includes wisdom as well as pride, discrimination, greed, lust, hypocrisy, worldliness and slander to name a few. He talks about drawing nearer to God and that is an area that we always need to strive for. We will take our time with these subjects as long as the Lord directs us to.
I have touched on the subject of joy in trials and wisdom through faith that is unwavering and a few other areas, I think, however we will come back to these subjects as we feel led to do so. This portion today is a kind of belated introduction to my thoughts on the book of James. As always, I welcome your comments, which by the way have been sparse of late.
Friday, August 7, 2009
A world without faith
A WORLD WITHOUT FAITH
Without faith it is impossible to please God. That is a fact. There is no way, it is utterly impossible to please Him without faith. You can’t bribe Him, you can’t coax Him and you absolutely cannot coerce Him, though some have tried and failed. Some folks have tried to please him on their own merits, like a kind of resume to offer to him. “I have worked for such and such organization, as though our good deeds merited us favor with God. Perhaps someone may be heavily involved with humanitarian aid groups or even involved in missions or the church in worship leading and all this is good, but it don’t impress God not even a little bit. You can do all that and still not have faith. Hebrews 11:6 states it thus, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is , and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
You see in the previous verse the writer had just given an example of a guy by the name of Enoch of whom it was said that he pleased God. Let me share the verse with you, verse 5. “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and he was not found because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. And James says, “let him ask in faith” Now James is talking about asking God for wisdom and it is in that context that he says “let him ask in faith, nothing doubting.” Do you think it is any different if you ask for healing for example or for the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit? No, because he brings it all in to context in verse 17 of James chapter 1 when he says that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning.” Surely we would not ask God for something that is not good and perfect, would we?
We live in a world without faith, a world that is cynical, logical, where seeing is believing, instead of the other way around. Jesus said that if we had faith as a grain of mustard seed that we could say unto a mountain, “be removed and cast into the sea” And it shall be done! “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone, laughs at impossibilities’ and cries it shall be done”
Remember Bill Clinton when he was called before the impeachment tribunal? When asked to explain his actions, one of his statements went something like this: “it depends on what the meaning of the word is, is.” This coming from the President of the United States. The writer to the Hebrews knew what the meaning of the word is, is, when he said “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”…God is always present tense Is, means present tense.
It is noteworthy to read Genesis 5:24. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not for God took him” and as we read in Hebrews 11:5, he pleased God. It is more than a one time event, faith is, it is a daily walk with God, a lifestyle if you will, it is a walk of faith…every day.
You can walk in a world without faith if you want to, but I choose to walk in faith that is centered in a Person, that being God Almighty embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what this epistle is all about. Faith that is active, faith that works.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. That is a fact. There is no way, it is utterly impossible to please Him without faith. You can’t bribe Him, you can’t coax Him and you absolutely cannot coerce Him, though some have tried and failed. Some folks have tried to please him on their own merits, like a kind of resume to offer to him. “I have worked for such and such organization, as though our good deeds merited us favor with God. Perhaps someone may be heavily involved with humanitarian aid groups or even involved in missions or the church in worship leading and all this is good, but it don’t impress God not even a little bit. You can do all that and still not have faith. Hebrews 11:6 states it thus, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is , and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
You see in the previous verse the writer had just given an example of a guy by the name of Enoch of whom it was said that he pleased God. Let me share the verse with you, verse 5. “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and he was not found because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. And James says, “let him ask in faith” Now James is talking about asking God for wisdom and it is in that context that he says “let him ask in faith, nothing doubting.” Do you think it is any different if you ask for healing for example or for the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit? No, because he brings it all in to context in verse 17 of James chapter 1 when he says that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning.” Surely we would not ask God for something that is not good and perfect, would we?
We live in a world without faith, a world that is cynical, logical, where seeing is believing, instead of the other way around. Jesus said that if we had faith as a grain of mustard seed that we could say unto a mountain, “be removed and cast into the sea” And it shall be done! “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone, laughs at impossibilities’ and cries it shall be done”
Remember Bill Clinton when he was called before the impeachment tribunal? When asked to explain his actions, one of his statements went something like this: “it depends on what the meaning of the word is, is.” This coming from the President of the United States. The writer to the Hebrews knew what the meaning of the word is, is, when he said “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”…God is always present tense Is, means present tense.
It is noteworthy to read Genesis 5:24. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not for God took him” and as we read in Hebrews 11:5, he pleased God. It is more than a one time event, faith is, it is a daily walk with God, a lifestyle if you will, it is a walk of faith…every day.
You can walk in a world without faith if you want to, but I choose to walk in faith that is centered in a Person, that being God Almighty embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what this epistle is all about. Faith that is active, faith that works.
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