Transforming Your Faith From Dead to Living

      "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." - James 2:14-17 (NASB)

In the last post, we talked about how James is calling us to live in a holy way before God, not because this earns our salvation, but because it's the only reasonable response to the salvation we have been given. Keep in mind, that during these passages, James' focus is on urging believers, because of the love of Christ, to serve Christ. 

The first thing that we must notice about this difficult passage in James is the statement "What use is it." In other translations, it may say, "what does it profit." This is the first and most important key to understanding what this passage is really talking about. However, I myself haven't fully decided what I believe about this passage so I want to present the two interpretations that I know of and hopefully you will be able to discern better than me. 

The first and most popular interpretation of these verses is that James, by the words, "can that faith save him," is asking a rhetorical question to which the answer is no. Not only that, but this position would say that the question James is asking is a question of salvation; a question relating to a persons final destination: heaven or hell. However, this position does not go as far to say that salvation is through works, but merely that right actions, repentance of sin, and good works, are evidence of one's salvation. The basic idea is that when one becomes a believer, the Holy Spirit is given to that person and from that point on, it is not possible for that person to act the same as they did when they were an unbeliever; the Holy Spirit is faithful to change that person. If no change has occurred, than they must not have the Holy Spirit, which means they must not actually be saved. This is the first position and the principle here is that the Christian needs to examine his/her self to make sure he/she is really in the faith. 

Position two, the position that I slightly favor over position one, holds that, when James says, "can that faith save him," he isn't talking about salvation in terms of heaven or hell, but instead in terms of saving from unrighteousness, bondage to sin, and in general, things that make it difficult to build a relationship with God. This position rests highly upon the statement "what use is it," or "what does it profit." From the very beginning, James' focus isn't on faith that sends a person to heaven or to hell, but on the usefulness of one's faith; the profitability of one's faith. This position would argue that James isn't saying that "dead" faith isn't saving faith, but more-so that "dead" faith is unprofitable and useless for the body of Christ. Have you ever wondered why James never comes and says "this kind of faith will send you to hell" or anything along those lines? He seems to beat around the bush with this idea of a "dead" faith sending someone to hell; to the extant that it seems this isn't actually his point. 

Either way, there is a principle to take from these verses and to apply to our lives. And I believe its this: One's faith must be living in order to grow in relationship with Christ. What does living faith look like? Well think about these verses. James says that a dead faith is a faith that doesn't help people in there need, so a living faith must have something to do with loving people and helping people when they are in need. Think about it this way. People grow differently in different relationships. For example, you are going to grow in relationship with your boss differently than you are going to grow in relationship with your best friend. Both relationships can grow, but they must be treated differently in order to grow. So the question is, what kind of relationship are man and God in and what is our role in that relationship. Man is in a servant-master, creature-creator, child-father, wife-husband relationship with God. In all of these relationships, the lower-status person (us) is in submission to the higher-status person (God). Therefore, in order to grow in relationship with God, we must firstly submit our lives to him, and secondly do as he says. You want to grow in relationship with God? You want to transform your relationship from a dead faith to a living faith? Tell someone about Christ, feed the poor, love the lonely. This is what living faith looks like. 

Set Free by the Law of Liberty

"If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,'
you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.' If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." - James 2:8-13

We are now going to conclude the section of James titled "The sin of partiality" in many Bibles. This entire thirteen-verse section emphasizes the importance of loving everyone equally and not basing one's love for others on material possessions.

It's important to remember at this point that "the law" refers to the Mosaic law given to Moses in Exodus. This is what the Jewish people of the time were resting their salvation upon: works of the law, sacrifices, and donations; rather than on grace. If they were resting their salvation upon themselves, than they have contributed to their own saving and God doesn't get all the credit; that proposes a serious problem. The Bible tells us that "salvation is by grace alone through faith, which is a gift of God so that no man may boast." Clearly, God is meant to get the glory in this plan, but if man is doing something, than he gets some of the glory too.

However, the problem James was addressing was actually the issue of laziness rather than legalism. The Jews James wrote to were lazy in their faith because they once had to work for it, but now that they heard that salvation was through grace alone, they began to not worry about what they were doing. After-all, their works couldn't save them, so why work? This is the problem James is addressing.

He starts off by telling the Jewish Christians that if they really fulfill the law given by God to Moses, they are doing well. In fact, they are doing so well, they don't need grace. If they can accomplish the commandments given by God without any fault, they are perfect and can stand before God (without considering the doctrine of original sin). However, James continues, if you break one of the commandments, you are accountable for all of them. What? Why are we not only accountable for the one rule we broke? Because the problem isn't ultimately with the breaking of a rule, but the severing of a relationship. James says, "For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not murder.'" James is hitting on the point that the big problem with breaking one rule isn't in the mere breaking of a rule, but the separation from God that is a consequence of that broken rule. That is the real issue; a fallen man cannot stand before a perfect God.

What are we to do? James has told us that if we break a law, we are "transgressors of the law," and if we are "transgressors of the law," we cannot stand before God. Now that James has done a thorough job of explaining man's depravity, he goes on to tell of the great hope in Christ. He says, "so speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty." James now transitions from the "law," to the "law of liberty," or the "law of freedom." A saved child of God is no longer bound by the Mosaic law, but he is free'd by the law of liberty; the law which was given through Christ: the law of love. This is the law, that because we are free, draws us to serve God more, even though we are free. It is the law which binds us to that which free's us.

Lastly, judgement of the "law," not the "law of liberty" is without mercy to those who show no mercy. In other words, if you trust in the "law" rather than the "law of liberty," you must be merciful if you expect mercy; or you must do good to expect good. A lot like Karma. But with the "law of liberty in place," mercy trumps judgement. Those who trust in the blood of Christ are under a merciful law while those who have not are under a law they can't live up to.

Why does any of this matter? James is telling his readers these greats truths of the "law of liberty" to lead them to loving and serving without partiality. He is not trying to condemn them, but he is using the gospel of love in an attempt to light a desire in their souls to serve Christ. We cannot be prompted to serve God by a desire to acquire salvation, for such serving is not truly directed towards God, but ourselves. A Christian is only prompted to serve God and love God by the truth that we have been set free from sin by the blood of Christ. I urge you to allow this truth to change you. Meditate on it, savor it, enjoy it, love it, and proclaim it. This is the truth that sets us free.

Unprejudiced Love

“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?” - James 2:5-7

At this point in this epistle, James is exhorting believing Christians to not show favoritism, particularly towards the rich rather than the poor. This was a serious problem in James’ time. We notice at the beginning of the book that James mentions the “twelve tribes of the dispersion.” This was referring to Jewish Christians who had spread out because of the constant persecution they were facing. However, once the Christians split, disagreements amongst the split sections were notorious. Hostility between the churches of the dispersion and amongst new believers trying to enter the church were growing.  

People didn’t want to accept new people entering the church for fear of persecution from inside the church, and they didn’t want to associate with other churches of the dispersion because of disagreements concerning theology and religious practice. It actually became somewhat common for subtle competitions to arise between the different churches. Wealth was one of these competitions. 

As a result of all of this, Christians were especially friendly to rich people trying to enter the church because of the possibility of further wealth within their church. The opposite was true when a poor person would come into their church; not much care or love was shown to these people because they were seen as being more of a burden on the church than anything else. James lovingly corrects the churches of the dispersion, encouraging them to not show partiality towards rich people, but to treat rich and poor people equally. In order to drive his point home, he points out that the rich are the very people persecuting the church: “Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?” Furthermore, he explains to the church that the rich people are the “ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called.” That is, Jesus’ name. 

Many of the people in the first churches were actually poor themselves and they were beginning to reject other poor people. In essence, they had forgotten who they were. They were once poor and once lost; they just had Christ in their life now. The poor man had found wealth in Christ, but the churches which James is writing to had forgotten that their wealth in Christ was only truly wealth if resting upon Christ. And Christ loved the poor; poor in spirit, poor in ability, poor in wealth, poor in love. That is not to say that Christ didn’t love the rich as well, but the rich didn’t love him (obviously thats a generalization that doesn’t always hold true). The rich were able to find wealth in something else: their possessions. But the poor had no wealth, and only found wealth in Christ, and they clung to that truth. 

Christians today need to remove prejudices from their views

 of people. A person is a person and their is nothing more to it. You were lost, they are lost; you were poor, they are poor; you were ill-tempered, they are ill-tempered. How dare we Christians judge others for what we were once guilty of ourselves? Should we not show abundant grace, similar to that which Christ presented to us through his death? If we cannot learn to love those who wish to become part of the body of Christ, or those who already are, how will we ever love those who want no part in our religion? Christ told us to love our enemies but I truly believe this is impossible without first learning to love our brother and sisters. One cannot love your enemies without first loving your family. May we be disciplined, encouraged, and content to love whoever God should bring to us, and may we treat them with unprejudiced, undying love. 

Measuring Up

"My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' while you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there,' or, 'Sit down at my feet,' have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" - James 2:1-4

I apologize for not having written a post in a while. High-school to college has been quite the under-taking, but God's wisdom has guided me safely through this step in life. Let's continue our study in James.

It is important to recognize the correlation religious leaders of the day saw between financial success and holiness if we are to understand this passage. For example, think back to Job for a moment. Job was successful in almost every possible way, including financials. When God allowed the devil to remove his success from him, what do his friends do? Read one of their responses:

"Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities. For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed. Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you, or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you." - Job 22:5-11

They blame the tragedies occurring in Job's life on his own sin. They say that the poverty, the death, the illness, the meekness, is God's wrath being poured out upon Job because of his many sins. A quick glance at the beginning of the book of Job tells the reader this is not the case:

"And the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?'" Job 1:8

It wasn't only the Jews of Job's day who held to this strict idea that successful people were blessed by God and unsuccessfulness meant you were cursed by God, it was also the Jews of Jesus' day. This is why, as we read through the gospels, we see Jesus putting such a large emphasis on "blessed are the poor," or, "the poor shall inherit the kingdom of heaven." Financial success, to the Jews, was the equivalent of a salvation receipt; it meant you were actually saved.

We see, in this passage in James, James exhorting Christians to not distinguish between rich and poor, but to treat everyone with love. Many Jews would have thought this absurd; to treat someone "cursed by God" with love. Many Jews would have treated poor people exactly how James is telling them not to:

"while you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there,' or, 'Sit down at my feet.'"

Why did Jewish religious leaders treat poor people this way? Because if they tell them to sit down at their feat, that secures their own superiority. It's not so much just to be mean, or because the religious leaders thought that God looked at the poor as less (although they did), but it was more-so their belief that if they have someone sitting at their feet in submission to them, God must be looking at them proud of their position of superiority they have secured. It's not a problem of hate, it's a problem of pride.

And we struggle with it today.

Do you measure yourself up to other people? Do you look at others and say, "well, at least I'm better than them?" Do you feel most spiritual when others around you are less spiritual? These are all indicators that you are too focused on yourself, and not focused enough on Christ. The point is this:

Compare yourself to others and you'll forget you need a savior. Compare yourself to Christ and you won't lack the savior you need.