STAND STRONG
STAND STRONG
7.4 - James 2, Seeing God
We continue our Journey Through James as we enter chapter 2, again asking the question "What can we learn about God?"
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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/
Well, welcome back to the Stan Strong podcast. I'm glad to be here today looking at James chapter two. This is our first episode on James chapter two, Paul and James chapter two bleeds very well out of James chapter one, they flow together in a lot of ways. So I'm glad that we're able to kind of ride on the heels. of our discussion last week, jump right into James chapter two.
Yes, if you notice how he starts Noah in chapter two he, he starts with the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. And since we had decided kind of in this journey through James, we wanted to look at the God side, we call it, you know, we want to see God in this text first so that we can then see ourselves. He talks about faith. But he refers to it as the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, so we've got deity here, Jesus as Lord. What is that faith? The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ? That's going to deal with the our side, the us side, you know, but he's just, he just kind of is, we've called him an in your face. I've called James an in your face. And he is I think he's, he's, he's just not pulling any punches and he wants to make sure that what he's relating to them, that they needed to keep in check and work on it. It's the compass here is God.
Noah:Yes. And that is, that is exactly what he's reminding them of. As he, he's kind of nonstop, you know, one, two, one, two. Hitting them through james chapter one and we get into james chapter two and that's continuing but he's he's bringing to mind even as he brings up this issue of partiality or favoritism depending on your translation he's reminding them that They are holding to this faith in jesus christ. This is this is what's anchoring them This is what's directing them and this is ultimately what's going to guide Their actions and action was a big emphasis in chapter one. It's something that he talked about and that's gonna come up in chapter two as well, that God's people are active in, in certain specific ways. We looked at that at the end of chapter one, the pure unfiled religion to care for look after visit orphans and widows. And here in chapter two, he immediately says, Hey. Here's an action. You shouldn't participate in partiality favoritism as you hold to the faith in Jesus Christ.
Yeah, you know it. It's in, when you consider what Jesus did, when you consider what Jesus taught, especially when you consider how Jesus behaved, and I know we're talking about Jesus while on the earth, but see if you've seen me. You've seen the Father.
Noah:Yeah.
So what James is doing is, look, you say you have faith. in Jesus as Lord. You, you say that you, you are, your faith is driven by, your actions are motivated by, are rooted in God. All right. Well, let's just go look at this. Would Jesus view this person this way? Would Jesus treat this person this way? Would Jesus be involved in this? Well, the obvious answer is no, because that would be showing. Partiality. Right. Favoritism. That's why if you drop down Noah to verse 5, he says, listen my beloved brethren, I've got the new King James Version, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him? Hey, who has God chosen? How does God see this person or these kinds of people? Well, that's the way you should.
Noah:Right.
So since the, since our compass is God. I think that's where James is going in this.
Noah:Yes, absolutely. He, when he's in these first few verses, we have this idea of not judging based on external appearance or on status, this showing of partiality and favoritism towards those who. We value, for one reason or another, and the clear distinction here is one of kind of socioeconomic status in these external appearances. But we can, I mean, when we think of judging by external appearances, we probably all automatically think back to like 1 Samuel 16. When God does not see as man sees, he looks at the heart. And so, this James chapter 2, we're supposed to see how God sees. Like you said just a moment ago. And God doesn't look at these external adornments. He looks at the heart. And so, humanity might value the show. You know? The big personalities, the opulent wealth, the having all the right friends. That might be the value that the world has. That might be what the world sees. as valuable, but God values what's going on inside a person, regardless of what the show is. And so we're supposed to see how he sees, but you mentioned just a moment ago that it says God chose the poor in this world to be rich in faith. So a consequence of humanity valuing the wrong things is that many people find God unappealing. When in reality, the people that see him for who he is and the value and the appeal that serving the one true God has, well, that's the poor of this world. That's who sees God as he's meant to be seen and values him as he's meant to be valued.
Yeah. Oh, I like that. You know, James is very blunt. He's direct. He's to the point. He's taking them back to, you need to see God this way. You need to see God this way. In seeing God this way, you will see his law this way. And then he refers to it at times as a royal law. He's very specific. That'll come up probably in the next podcast. What is this royal law? What does he want to call to their mind when he refers to it as a royal law? Well, it's according to scripture, who's the author of scripture. So James keeps going back to, look, you need to see God the way that you should see God, who has God chosen? How does God manifest this mercy? How does God demonstrate his love? How does God see this person? You need to see them the same way, because here's the thing I'm stating the obvious. We all know this. Probably should come up more in the second podcast on the side of this. But there are times when I am guilty of something, and I don't see that I'm guilty of something. I could have been that guy in the group, and James is writing, and I say, I'm not showing partiality. I'm not guilty of this. Now, I could ease, or more easily, I should say. I could more easily see myself guilty, transgressor of the law in the area of murder or adultery, but being, being partial, playing favorites based upon external and appearances, I don't, I'm not guilty of that. So James is not just going to tell them they're guilty and how they're guilty. He's going to make sure they understand you're not seeing God the way you should.
Noah:Right. Ultimately. Everyone has to humble themselves before Jesus, but the observation that we see here and what we kind of learn about God here is that because of his nature, because of his demand that we humble ourselves before him, he is more difficult. It is more difficult for the mighty and the powerful and the rich to humble themselves before God than it is the poor. And we don't like to hear that. No, we do not. But we see it. The thing is we see it in Jesus ministry. That's not, this is not unique to the book of James. This is not unique to James teaching. Kings hated the fact that Jesus claimed to be a king. We see that before he's even, you know, when he's barely old enough to walk. We see a king hate his claim to kingship. Rabbis feared his influential teaching. Who was it that followed Jesus? It was the poor, it was the outcast, it was the downtrodden, it was the overlooked. That was his main following. Why? Because he chose those who were willing to humble themselves before him. And so he's chosen the poor and the outcast. And so if we find God unappealing it may be that we actually just haven't humbled ourselves enough yet to appreciate what it is that is so appealing. about him and his ways.
Yeah, later on in the text, since we're dealing with the God side in chapter 2, faith is a big subject. Really, in James overall letter, the chapter 2, if you're going to tell somebody, hey, we're going to have a Bible study in James chapter 2, what are they going to think about? Faith.
Noah:Right.
What kind of faith is it? How do I know I have a faith? And what, because I say I have faith. I say I believe. Okay. You may not be a whole lot different than the demons, but there's a reason why Abraham comes up. And he mentions Abraham, Abraham as a great example of, of an obedient faith, of a faith of practical use. It's doing something. So as he mentions Abraham, he just kind of says, Oh, by the way, remember that scripture that says Abraham believed God, it was accounted to him for righteousness sake. Abraham had faith in God. How do I know he had faith in God? So he's just bringing up Abraham as an example, but what does that faith, what does that belief in God look like? So we're going back to God. We're not having faith in faith. We're having faith in God. Faith in God is such that God looks at us in this relationship and says, I account to you because your faith, you're, you're righteous. And then he says, Abraham was called a friend of God, of all the things in scripture. What would it be like if Noah or Paul was called a friend of God?
Noah:Right. That, I mean, that's the ultimate compliment, in my mind. That's right up there with the things that we read, you know, along the lines of, you know, Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. You know, those are the kinds of things that you read it and you just go, what must that have been like? To live that kind of life and, and the fact is James is pointing to Abraham here to say, well, what it looks like is living in faith. Not just believing something for the sake of believing it, but living like you actually believe it's true. So, that's what Abraham's life looked like. That's what it looked like to be a friend of God and to have your faith counted as righteousness. You know, we've gotten into the second part of James 2 here already. I want to touch on something just a couple verses earlier. There's so much in James 2 that's going to fall into the seeing ourselves and making application to ourselves side of things. But, Those applications flow out of who God is and how he's revealed himself. And when we get to the, kind of the conclusion of that discussion regarding the royal law and, you know, you are a lawbreaker whether you murder or commit adultery or do something else, he says in verse 12, speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom. Which, pause there for a moment. Earlier in the chapter, he says if you make distinctions and show favoritism, you've become judges, but with evil motives. Here he says, how you should speak and act is those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. This is the law from God. God's the ultimate judge. For judgment, verse 13, is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. So. There's a lot that could be talked about on our side of things, but when it comes to what that reveals about God is that God ultimately is the source of both judgment and mercy. He is the one that will show, that will render judgment, and he will not have evil motives. He will do it with righteous motives, perfect motives, in contrast to what we so often do. But then this, triumphs over judgment, God wants to show mercy. God wants to show mercy, and his judgment without mercy is reserved for those who refuse to be merciful. That's, that's what James is revealing about God here, is that God enacts both judgment and mercy, but what he wants to show is mercy.
I love that. I love that. You know, again, it's not a disconnect from how he starts chapter two. Do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality or favoritism. So what does my faith, if I confess, if I acknowledge that Jesus is my Lord, I have this relationship with God through Christ and he is on the throne of my heart. He is, he is Lord of my life. All right, how do you see other people? How do you treat other people? Where is the mercy? Where is the compassion? I mean, if you give deference, then who and to why? To what extent? You can't hold faith like that. And so, yeah, I just, there's, there's so much, I mean, you could, since we're talking about the God side, I mean, there is one God, verse 19. Mm hmm. Okay? Everybody that James would be writing to, speaking to, they'd be like, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And we believe in that one God. Well, so do the devil. So do the demons.
Noah:Yeah.
But again, what is true, genuine faith? What is belief? So I think we can get wrapped up into a whole bunch of belief in laws. Rather than faith in the law giver, rather than a trust, a relationship with the law giver, how we see the law giver determines how we see the law.
Noah:Yes. God values this true belief, this true faith. That's not, it goes beyond what the demons believe. He values this true faith, the kind of faith and belief we see in Abraham. But that faith is not a faith that trusts in its own action. It's not a faith that trusts in its own ability. It's a faith that trusts in, as you said a moment ago, the lawgiver. Or the one who, from whom judgment and mercy proceed. That this, this faith, you said this earlier and I think it bears repeating. Faith cannot be in faith. Faith has to be in the one who is faithful. That's who we're putting our faith in.
Yeah. So, I mean, it's going to come up in the next podcast. I mean, what kind of faith do you have? Right. You know, is it a dead faith? Yes. Faith without works is dead. Really, that's, that's no faith at all. Yeah. Yeah. Man, you know, the noble name. I, I, I wish I had all the answers to exactly why James brings it up when he does in the text about the noble name in verse 7. I mean, he, he had mentioned you have dishonored the poor man. But do not, the rich will oppress you. So you know how they viewed the rich? Well, the rich people were the ones that were causing him as Christians. Some of the most problems,
Noah:right?
Difficul they had in life. And yet they were getting all excited if they had this rich person come in through their assembly or into their present. And he just mentions in verse seven about the rich, aren't they? The ones that bla name? The noble name. Noble name by which you're called that noble name by which you're called, I think it's the name Christian. Which is reflective of a relationship with God, which is an indication of God's mercy, which is an indication of grace. You know, Jesus became poor for your sake, even though he is rich, that by his poverty, you might become rich. I mean, Paul said that to the Corinthians, it keeps coming back to. This, when there's something that needs to be purged out of me, when there's something that God needs to make sure I work on in my life, He's going to tell me something about Himself. He wants to remind me something about Himself. His nature, His character, how He looks at people, how He responds, has already responded to everyone, to me. Why, why should I be any different if I say I have a relation with God, I want to imitate Him and be like Him? How am I treating people? How am I seeing people?
Noah:Right.
And that, that name, if you call yourself Christian. What does that say about the God that you're trying to honor through that name? Well, then, okay, let's get practical. How are you treating people?
Noah:Yeah, which is exactly where James goes with it. And we'll, we'll talk about that more next week. I think chapter two, if I were trying to just kind of generally summarize a connecting thread that goes through all of this, it goes back to something we mentioned in passing earlier, and that is There's a clear distinction between what God values. And what humans value and that can be seen in how we treat other people and how we show favoritism versus how God judges that can be seen in how people respond to God versus how they respond to other people that can be seen in the fact that God values mercy. And is merciful to the merciful and how so often the world is consumed with vengeance and violence. We we see this clear distinction between the values of god and the values of humanity on their own, left to their own devices. And God's values consistently come out as, as what's true, as what's, what's substantive, what's, what's real. And of course, when we interact with God, and we appreciate these things that He values, the things that are true and substantive, that's gonna change how we live.
Yeah. Well, I, I think about, I mean, even though I'm going back into chapter one, I mean, sometimes if we miss things because we have chapter divisions, right? And I get that if you erase the chapter division, you're reading this, you're hearing this like a letter. He had just referred to in the last part of chapter one, when he's going to get them to think about widows and orphans and what is really, truly pure religion, which he's connected that to their faith that has to do with how you see people, how you treat people. He refers to God as the father. And I think about as a father, Noah, you can relate to this as a father of three, I think about. How I view my children, they are my offspring, they are a part of me, they're radically different, completely different in a lot of ways, but I don't love them any less. They are a part of me. God has a family, and I know he has a spiritual family, and that's important, but we are, in a sense, humanity, we are the offspring of God. How do we see people? And I don't know. I, if someone were to press me about, okay, this, this, This poor person that was coming into their presence or in their assembly was he or she a Christian or not? I don't know that we can be dogmatic about that. I would tend to say probably not a Christian But either way they're a person. They're the offspring of God, right? He's a father. He has children They're a part of his creation. How are they to be loved?
Noah:Yeah,
what does the royal law teach? Where does that royal law emanate? Who's the edict of this law?
Noah:Yeah.
So anyway, I just, if we just raise chapter divisions, we've, we've, we've, he's been said, he's been shown to us as a father.
Noah:Yes. Yes, absolutely. We we can certainly get ourselves into trouble. Well, I'm, I'm glancing at the time. I'm seeing that we've somehow already. We're pushing up against the boundaries of our time. I have enjoyed getting to look at trying to see God a little bit more, a little bit more clearly here in chapter two, chapter two, in a lot of way, bridges the concepts of chapter one and helps transition into the later part of the book. So sometimes that can be a little bit tricky, but I, I definitely benefited from our discussion today. But next week, Paul, we're going on to. Seeing ourselves, the man side of things.
Seeing ourselves. I mean, it's not enough for us to just say, okay, we've got God in this. How do we see God? What's the application? What's the so what of this? And so Lord willing, we want to move to that next week. To those thank you for listening, by the way. We're still early in this journey. We're in chapter two but we're still fairly early in this journey of five chapters going through the book of James. We want to hear from you. If there's something here. Let us know. that we're missing, or there's something here you think we ought to talk about, or you've got a question about, reach out to us at any point, but we're just thankful that you're joining us in this journey of James. Again, this is just an opportunity for us to get closer to God closer to one another. start our days or sometimes end our days with some thoughts about God and about ourselves. So thank you for joining us in this journey. Our, our intent is that we'll continue to use what we have in this to help us to stand strong.
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