By what WE do, as well? (part 6)

James is a practical man. He’s writing to “the twelve tribes of Israel scattered among the nations,” James 1:1, who believed they were God’s chosen people, and God was setting up his kingdom on Earth through them. But here they were, just like us Christians today, dotted in little groups all over the place, not making much impact at all, and being “faced with trials of many kinds,” verse 2. 

It didn’t make sense. If God truly loved them, why was he letting them suffer? If they really were his chosen people, “the first fruits of all he created” (verse 18), why was he making life so difficult for them? And especially since they were true “believers in the glorious Lord Jesus Christ” too (2:1). 

How, then, could James convince these people that what was happening to them was for a good reason? Or that the trials they were facing were perfect gifts from a loving Father (1:17)?

James the practical gets down to basics in verse 12: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial.” Ah, so first of all, there is a process going on here that will bring blessings. But only through “persevering under trial,” because “when you’ve stood the test,” believing wholeheartedly that God could surely only have good in mind, that’s when you “receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” That’s the blessing, the “crown of life,” which in context is “the righteous life that God desires” for us (verse 20), the life that makes us “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (verse 4). It’s a blessing to be experienced in the here and now. 

Because when Abraham stood his test – believing wholeheartedly that God could only have something good in mind for him – that’s the blessing he received as well. He was “credited with righteousness.” He too experienced the righteous life of maturity and wholeness God had in mind through trials. He was credited with it, given the chance to experience it. 

So in answering those who wondered why a loving God would put them through severe trials, James explains the purpose of the trials, and the blessing that awaits those who accept the process God set up…(more on this tomorrow)   

By what WE do, as well? (part 5)

James was writing to people who were feeling sorry for themselves for how hard their lives were, which had soured their view of God. They blamed God for purposely making their lives miserable (James 1:13), as though he was quite happy doing evil things to people and tempting them into sin, when in fact it was their own evil thoughts and desires they’d been “dragged away and enticed” by (verse 14). 

The result for them was a wishy-washy relationship with God; flat, flavourless and watery, like cabbage that’s been boiled too long. So when they asked God for anything, they didn’t really expect an answer. The idea that “God gives generously” (verse 5) was met with “doubt,” which to James was so sad, “because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (verse 6). Their thinking was all over the place, never sure or certain about God at all (verse 8), so no wonder their view of him was sour when, with their ‘down in the dumps’ attitude, how could they expect to “receive anything from the Lord”? (verse 7). 

So James sets about patching up their view of God, to add some real flavour to it – with a reminder, first of all, that it was by “God’s own wish he gave us new birth as his children through the message of the truth, to become what you might call ‘the pioneers’ of his new creation,” verse 18. In other words, they were very special to God.  

Unfortunately (verse 16), their view of God had deceived them into thinking God didn’t love them and they were just victims of his odd whims. But that’s not true “my dear brothers,” James writes in verse 17; God isn’t like that at all, “he’s the Father of light, not dark and evil, and everything that comes from him is always good. Unlike the sun that affects the shape of shadows on Earth’s surface, God does not vary at all in his nature.” And where our lives are all over the place with him, he is utterly steady and unchanging with us. 

So big hearted James is really piling on the good news about God and his unchanging love for us, so wherever his letter was read to “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations” (verse 1), they’d be hearing an inspiring message. 

But how could they know that God really loved them and they were special to him? Did James have an answer to that?…(more on this tomorrow)

By what WE do, as well? (part 4)

James makes the point that Abraham was credited with righteousness for obeying what God said, even when it sounded crazy. And the reason James brought the subject up was people in his day who also thought what God was putting them through was crazy.  

They were “facing trials of many kinds,” James 1:2, their faith was being severely tested (verse 3), and they weren’t reacting well. They were doubting God (verse 6) and blaming him for their difficulties, claiming “God is tempting me” (verse 13), as though God was purposely trying to trip them up and make life miserable for them. And they were angrily voicing their upset at God too (verses 19-20). 

So James reminds them of what they already knew, “that the testing of your faith develops perseverance,” verse 3, that we’re all a work in progress, so let “perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything,” verse 4. God’s in the process of fully developing us – making us whole and complete – so that morally we’re perfect, faultless and blameless (the Greek meaning of “complete”). So ‘hang in there’ – God’s cleaning us up, to help us “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent,” verse 21.     

That’s what they’d been taught. So, James continues, “humbly accept the word planted in you,” verse 21, no matter how crazy it sounds or how tough it is to do, because it “can save you.” That’s what God’s word was designed for, to bring about full salvation, the full and complete maturing of the new humans Jesus is creating in his church. So, verse 12, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” So what God says in his word may seem crazy at times, but accept it and live it – because God has only blessings in mind. 

And, verse 5, “if any of you don’t know how to meet any particular problem, just ask God – who gives generously to all, without making us feel foolish or guilty – and rest assured the necessary wisdom will be given.” So James is saying, “Come on, you know the process. God gave you faith in his word so that you’d want to give it a whirl,” because in “not forgetting what you’ve heard, but doing it- you’ll be blessed in what you do,” verse 25. Blessings promised, but does James tell us what those blessings are?…(more on this tomorrow)

By what WE do, as well? (part 3)

James makes the point from Abraham’s example that belief in God and his word is empty if it isn’t lived (James 2:17). And he’s got a point, because why would anyone believe in God in the first place if they didn’t know what living by his word actually did for them? 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. You only know if a pudding is good or bad by eating it. Up to that point it’s an unknown. Is it good or bad? Well, pick up a spoon and dive in, then you’ll know. And the same with Christianity. Is it good or bad? Who knows? It’s only a theory until proven true by experience. 

So is that what James meant by Abraham doing what God told him to do and being credited with righteousness because of it – that you only find out by doing? Imagine being Abraham, though. He’s told by God to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2). But why on earth would God tell him to do that? Killing his son was weird enough, but kill the only means of continuing God’s promise through his descendants as well? God was clearly up to something, and it had to be good because God was God, but what good could it be? 

The proof of the pudding was in the eating. It must have seemed totally crazy, but Abraham took the road that you can only figure out what’s going on by running with it. And faced with a similar unknown as to what God’s up to in what he says for us to do, what else can we do? As one author wrote: “All we can do is come to as good an evaluation by reason as we possibly can, and then plunge in and try it – test it, leap out on it, put our weight upon it.” Hold your nose at the deep end and jump in. 

And this is included in salvation? Well, how are we going to find out what salvation even is, or what it means, and what it results in, unless we give it a whirl? And God’s all for us doing that too. It’s why he credited Abraham with righteousness. But first of all, he gave Abraham a good reason for diving in. He said things to Abraham that really got his attention. And he does the same for us. He says things in his word that awakens faith in us too (Romans 10:17). It just rings true.

So his word sounds good, and trying it will prove it, but why try it? What’s the point of trying it? What is it supposed to result in? Well, James covers that too…(more on this tomorrow)  

By what WE do, as well? (part 2)

So, following on from yesterday, let’s take the situation James was faced with and why he used the example of Abraham to deal with it.

James is dealing with people who “considered themselves religious,” James 1:26, but they weren’t acting very religious. For instance (same verse), “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” And on that point I remember driving home after a jolly time at church and feeling very religious, but in the car yelling angrily at our kids. I haven’t forgotten it, the total disconnect between what I’d been hearing in church and my actions afterwards. 

And the same with those James was writing to. What they were doing, and how they were behaving, wasn’t tied in with what they’d been taught from God’s word. And that was sad, because “the word planted in you is what can save you,” verse 21. That’s because Scripture (“the word”), verse 25, is “the perfect law that gives freedom.” So the person who sets about “doing what he’s heard will be blessed in what he does,” because it “brings about the righteous life that God desires (for us),” verse 20. God designed his word to help us live a good life, and free us, or “save” us, from a bad one. 

But here were “brothers” and “believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ,” James 2:1, who knew that “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself,’ you are doing right,” verse 8, but they were fawning all over the rich people coming to their meetings while shabbily treating the poor. A total disconnect again between what they were learning and how they were behaving. 

Which explains why James wrote in James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” For instance, if they really believed it was right and good to love a neighbour in need, then don’t just wish warmth and food on them, do something about it (James 2:15-16). Because all that faith they had in God’s word was completely empty if they weren’t living it in real life, right (2:17)?  

Which is why James used the example of Abraham, because Abraham’s faith in God’s word led him to living it too…(more on this tomorrow)   

By what WE do, as well?

So if we’re saved by the Holy Spirit (yesterday’s title), why does Scripture talk so much about what we do? 

Like the example of Abraham and the blunt question in James 2:21, “Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” The implication being verse 22, that “his faith was (only) made complete by what he did.” So is believing that we’re saved by the Holy Spirit only half the story, or not the complete story? Because it sounds like action on Abraham’s part was what made him righteous.  

But Romans 4:2 comes back with: “If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about – but not before God.” So according to Paul, Abraham wasn’t “considered righteous” (or justified) by his actions – the opposite of what James wrote. 

But James comes bouncing back with: “But what good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” James 2:14. “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead,” verse 17. It was Abraham’s action, the willingness to sacrifice his son, that credited him with righteousness. So, verse 24, “a person IS justified by what he does,” right?  

But Paul quotes King David, who spoke “of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works,” Romans 4:6. To Paul, “righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe,” Romans 3:22; and we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” verse 24. So NO action of ours, or work we do (including “observing the law,” verse 28) leads to, causes, or makes us righteous. That’s Paul’s reason for using the example of Abraham.

But James’ reason for using Abraham is quite different. He’s not dealing with Paul’s people who thought faith wasn’t enough to be righteous and they needed their own works as well. James is dealing with people who thought faith was enough and they didn’t need works as well.   

Two different situations. But we’re still left with the question: “So where does what WE do come in?”…(more on this tomorrow)

By the Holy Spirit    

Christianity in our Western culture puts a lot of emphasis on OUR acceptance and belief, our choices and decisions, our growth and responsibility, our free will and how we use it, and on us being good enough on Judgment Day to go to heaven, not hell. 

It creates a problem, then, when not much is happening. Perhaps our church isn’t growing, or it doesn’t feel like we’re growing much personally either. And what if people aren’t impressed enough with our Christianity to ask us about what we believe? It may even feel like we’re going backwards rather than forwards if “we don’t bring anyone to Christ.” Oh dear, we’re not doing our part very well, are we?

But what of Romans 8:28 that says the Holy Spirit works everything out for good for those who love God? Isn’t that saying the Spirit has everything under control, despite appearances to the contrary? But shouldn’t there be an “if” in there somewhere – that the Spirit works things out for our good IF we love God? If so, do we love God enough to warrant the Spirit’s help? Oh dear, another thing to worry about.

But Scripture says it’s the Spirit that gives us the love. It’s the Spirit in our hearts that calls out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6), and Paul said it was “Christ’s love” that compelled him (2 Corinthians 5:14). So it wasn’t his own love, or love that Paul had to come up with by himself. The love that drove Paul came from Christ through the Holy Spirit, and there wasn’t anything Paul had to do to get the love flowing either. He simply found himself with it, and he couldn’t stop it coming either (Romans 5:5).

It didn’t mean that Paul was on an endless high of love and devotion, or that his focus was totally on God and off himself. It wasn’t. Life was extremely worrying at times, especially when people wanted him dead, or a health problem threatened his effectiveness. He learned through those experiences, though, that even when it seemed like nothing was happening, or it looked like things were going backwards, the Holy Spirit was still on the job.

No wonder he said, “I press on” (Philippians 3:14), believing to the end that his salvation was totally being taken care of by the Spirit…(more on this tomorrow) 

Part 20 – To make hope real   

Built into suffering is the promise of “hope,” Romans 5:4 – the Greek word elpis meaning confident expectation. But also built into hope is the promise, verse 5, that it “does not disappoint.” The Greek word Paul used for “not” was very strong. He meant we will NEVER face the embarrassment or shame of our hope turning out to be a horrible mistake. 

And what a promise that is, that the hope we have is way more than wishful thinking, or hoping for the best but with no certainty it will happen, or finding out what we were hoping for was just an illusion. Paul wants us to realize that we have a hope that’s real, where we “know in all things that God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose,” Romans 8:28.

But how do we know God is doing that for us? Paul explains back in Romans 5:5; it’s because of “the love of God flooding through our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.” It’s because a miracle happened to us. We were given the Holy Spirit who keeps on making sure we know God loves us, so our hope in him never fades.

Which is where things can get sticky, though, because when we’re hit with suffering and frustration, where’s God’s love? Maybe this whole Christian thing is a fake, because it offers no certainty after all. And logically speaking, Romans 8:22, “It’s plain to anyone with eyes to see that at the present time all created life groans in a sort of universal travail.” So how can anyone truly have hope in a world like this? Or hope in a God of love being real too? 

But of course he loves us, says Paul in Romans 5:8, because “he demonstrated his love for us by Christ dying for us when we were utterly powerless.” We were in a hopeless state, with no idea that God loved us, no idea he even existed, and no idea what he created us for. So it’s not surprising that life for so many people turns out to be a disappointing,  frustrating, “What’s the point of it all?” existence. 

And it could have been like that for us too, but a miracle happened, the result of which is hope that does not, and will not, ever disappoint…

Part 19 – To suffer (series continued)   

So Paul gives us reason why we can “rejoice in our sufferings,” Romans 5:3. It’s because suffering was designed by God to make three things real in our lives, and since they’re purely the work of “the Spirit of glory resting on us” (1 Peter 4:14), then if they are becoming real in our lives “we know that Jesus is living in us. We know it by the Spirit that he gave us” (1 John 3:24), and by what the Spirit is producing in us. 

The three things the Spirit produces in our sufferings are hypomeneo, dokime, and elpis, with the first leading to the second and the second leading to the third. Hypomeneo is the ability the Spirit gives us to “abide under” anything the world throws at us, rather than try to avoid it or get out from under it, or hope it goes away and leaves us alone. Instead, the Spirit helps us when we come under fire to not shy away from it. He gives us the power to dive in and go for it, come what may. 

Because that’s what leads to dokime, proven by testing. Survive a steady barrage of trials and tests with the Spirit’s help, and there’s our proof that we are the real deal. We’re not fake Christians into Christianity for what we can get out of it (like a free ticket to heaven). God set things up in this life of ours “to see if we’ll stand the test and be obedient in everything,” as Paul phrased it in 2 Corinthians 2:9. God proves us by testing, which is wonderful, because if we can stand up to tests again and again with trust and obedience, thanks to the Spirit’s willing help, it leads to elpis, confident expectation.  

But confident expectation of what, exactly? Peter answers that in 1 Peter 1:7-9, “This proving of your faith is set up by God to bring you praise and honour and glory in the day when Jesus Christ reveals himself.” But it’s also confident expectation of joy in the present too, because in “trusting him without being able to see him, he brings you a joy that words cannot express and which has a hint of the glories of Heaven,” so that “all the time (now) you are receiving the result of your faith in him – the salvation of your souls (the ongoing restoration of what God created us humans to be).”

So God built three things into suffering, that understood and experienced would give us joy…(more on this tomorrow) 

Part 18 – To suffer (series continued)   

In Romans 5:4 there’s a third blessing the Spirit of glory resting on us does for us when we’re suffering. It’s to give us “hope,” elpis in Greek, meaning confident expectancy.

Peter gives us reason for such hope too: “Thank God,” he writes in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “that in his great mercy we’ve been born again into a life full of hope, because of Christ’s rising from the dead. We can now hope for a perfect inheritance beyond the reach of change and decay.” So, verse 13, “set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 

That’s our reason for hope, isn’t it, that because of the risen Jesus “our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever,” 2 Corinthians 4:17. 

Our present troubles, then, have a glorious eternal purpose. But how does that relate to our everyday lives now? We’re in the middle of a trial, for instance, that’s burning up our energy, leaving us exhausted and emotionally drained, and no matter what we say or do to try to ease the pain, nothing works. So if someone was to say, “Tell me the reason for the hope you have” (1 Peter 3:15), what could we say in reply?

But for all our troubles we’re not giving up on God, are we – so what caused that? It’s the hope caused by the glory our troubles have already produced. When, for instance, we were “pushed to our limit by problem after problem,” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “we never got so frustrated we gave up. Or when we hadn’t got a clue what was happening to us and why, we didn’t despair. Or when everyone was turning against us, we never felt abandoned. Or when hit hard we always bounced back again.” And for one simple reason, that “we experience something of the death of the Lord Jesus, so that we may also know the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours,” verse 11. 

It’s his life in us now, making us more thoughtful, compassionate, loving, wiser and calmer, that gives us hope – that the Spirit really is at work in our everyday lives producing the stuff of eternal life in us. And hopefully the person who asked us the reason for our hope has noticed it too…(more on this tomorrow)