STAND STRONG
STAND STRONG
7.5 - James 2, Seeing Ourselves
James 2 is one of the most application-heavy sections of this epistle. What can 21st century Christians learn from 1st century problems? The answer is largely found in two words: "Love" and "Faith."
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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, hello and welcome to all today moving into chapter two, looking at some application that applies to us. We are in our journey through James. We were talking last week, Noah, about God in this text and how we should see God and how that's going to affect and influence how, how we see what James is wanting us to see in chapter two, how we make the practical application to our own lives. So today we're dealing with us, the, the, the us side of this here in James chapter two.
Noah:Yeah, gotta see ourselves. If, if we see God in all his majesty and all his power, and as we talked about last time, in, in his mercy and, and in his fatherhood but then we fail to do anything with that information, well, that's pretty that's pretty sad and it's pretty pointless, which James. Again, a blunt writer gets to later in this chapter that having all of that understanding, but not doing anything with it. That's kind of a sad place to be, but that's not, that's not where he starts this section.
Paul:No, he's, he is, James is in your face and the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ don't hold that with partiality. Well, what was wrong? They were doing that. They were showing favoritism. They were manifesting partiality. I think they didn't realize it. And James has got to get in their face about it. And what he says is, look, when you show this kind of partiality or favoritism, it doesn't come from the right kind of heart.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:Motives. Motives are early on in this chapter. If you're going to address, if you're going to talk to the me side, sometimes you've got to deal with motives. And I don't know about you, Noah, motives are hard for me to see in myself.
Yeah.
Paul:Attitudes that affect actions motive intent is all over this. Yeah. So, well, I didn't mean to, I didn't intend to, well, because you've got some, you've got some. Something going on in your heart that's not good,
Noah:right?
Paul:How you're seeing people is wrong.
Noah:Well, and that, that is when it comes back to motives. What we also can start to talk about is the, the foundation of our interactions with other people. You said how you look at other people, how you see other people is, is really what the problem is. And I think that James draws that contrast out when he says, you know, he gets down to verse eight. He's he's already kind of at the tail end of this discussion on partiality and favoritism, but he says if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. If however you show favoritism, you commit sin. And he goes on to talk about being convicted by the law. What he's talking about is fundamentally how we see one another and how we, how we are willing or unwilling to love. And so he's putting a premium, he's putting an emphasis on loving your neighbor. And if we do that, if we have that fundamental foundational perspective, then that will naturally, ought to naturally, exclude this problem of partiality and favoritism that he talks about.
Paul:Yeah, I don't have to, I don't have to be guilty of breaking every law to be a transgressor of the law. Right. So. He mentions too, Noah, you talked about this, this adultery and murder, which both stem from, you know, whether I'm loving my neighbor as myself, I'm loving my neighbor as myself, I'm not going to covet my neighbor's wife, I'm loving my neighbor as myself, I'm not going to do any harm. Love does no harm to his neighbor. So he's, he's bringing up two specific points of law. That James, the James audience would have readily recognized, I can relate that to the royal law, love your neighbor as yourself. But James says, but I'm trying to tell you you're guilty of sin. Right. Who wants to say, Oh yeah, okay, please tell me more. You just called me a sinner, now tell me more. But that's what James is doing, why he's doing what he's doing. You're guilty of sin.
Yeah.
Paul:You're transgressing the law. You've got sin. Where is the sin in their heart? How do we know that? He says you've got evil motives. How do we know that? Because he says here's how you're treating this person. Yeah. You get all excited about the rich person that comes in because of the way he's dressed and you're making all these assumptions and you're paying attention to this person, but then the poor comes in and you're like, yeah, I mean, it's, and it, look, here's, I wish James would have said more, but he doesn't. I don't know that it would be fair for me to say to somebody, if I'm making an application today to us at Cedar Park or whatever local church you're a part of and you're hearing this, I don't think we mean to. I just think we're, I can be influenced by the culture around me, I can, I can get jaded somewhat. And so someone comes in to the assembly and it would be easy for me to miss them because I think, Oh, I, I've, I've, this, they've really caught my attention. They've really gotten my attention and people that come into our assemblies, people that come into our lives. How does God see them? How do I need to see them? What is a practical, pure, and undefiled religion causing me to do? What is genuine faith, like Abraham had? How will it cause me to see people and treat people? There's just so much here in chapter 2 that is very practical. I, I love this about favoritism, Noah. Kent Hughes says this, Favoritism is an indication of a heart that at best is in need of spiritual help. At worst is a heart without grace.
Hmm.
Paul:And you know, that's, that's pretty deep. But if I'm overlooking the image of God in a person, why am I doing that?
Noah:Like you said, you can, you can see in James Flow of thought, how you can kind of walk it back and see, okay, where, where are we getting this idea that there's a sin being committed? Well, it's because he's saying you are being convicted by the law, just like you would be if you were a murderer or an adulterer. It's just, you're violating the Royal law. And I know that, like you said just a moment ago, because of how you're treating these people, and I, I think that the difficulty for ourselves sometimes is that there are some areas where it's very easy to see when we are violating the will of God, right? I mean, like, he brings up murder and adultery. There's no, there's, there's no way that you can, you know, do one of those things and still try to argue. Yep. That was the. I'm just following the will of God. I'm following, following his law. So it's very clear there. There's a clear cut nature to that. And that's not the case with loving your neighbor as yourself, because like you said, that's going to come back to motivations and where the heart is. And so James. I'm thankful for this passage in James because he's an inspired author that even to this day confronts us to take a look at ourselves. Because you might not be able to see in my heart. Now you might see some external things. So maybe I'm showing some favoritism that indicates I've, you know, I'm violating this law. And you could come to me and say, hey, I'm concerned and here's why. But James. He doesn't have to do that. He shoots straight for the heart and he says, Hey, look, if you are, if you're becoming a judge with evil intentions, if you're failing to love your neighbor as yourself, you have violated God's law. And just right in your face with it. So this is a, this passage is an opportunity for ourselves to reflect on our own hearts and how we view other people.
Paul:Yeah. You know, he mentions in verse five, James is not saying, when he says, has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith airs his kingdom. He's not saying that everybody who's poor in purse right, poor in pocket w would just naturally be rich in faith. And then. And, and heir of everlasting life. There are poor people that don't love God, don't care about God. Just like there are rich people that don't love God or care about God. But he's saying, the point he's making is you're making assumptions based upon externals.
Right.
Paul:God doesn't do that. So back to what James says in verse five, who, who is he promised the kingdom and heirs of the kingdom, this eternal life it's promised to those who love God.
Mm hmm.
Paul:How do I know I love God? And that's James two,
right?
Paul:It is. That is James two. You say you got faith. I don't want to hear what you say.
Noah:Right. I want to
Paul:see it. You say you love God. I don't want to hear what you say. So James isn't in your face. Very, very loving, tactful, but he's in your face with this, right? Sometimes that's the best approach when you're trying to get people to see what is. Sometimes trying to get me to see, sometimes what is hard for me to see. We hadn't even talked about it, so I don't want us to get through this podcast, Noah, because my, James chapter two, what, what is genuine faith? He has two rhetorical questions, Noah, about faith without works or faith without deeds. In verse 14 of chapter two, he says, he asked the question, what good is it? What good is it? And can it save? What's the answer to both of those?
Noah:No. Right.
Paul:A faith without works, a faith without deeds, it's, it's of no value and it can't save anyone.
Noah:Right, right. This, it's interesting because this comes on the tail of We so often, I think, think of this section of James all on its own, and it is a commentary on faith in general, like it is a very effective commentary on faith in general, but in the context, we see that this is going to be borne out in all of these areas that we've talked about in chapter 1 and chapter 2, about hearing the word and doing the word, and how we, do we love our neighbor as ourselves, or do we not? It's going to be borne out in all of these areas, and in the end what the picture that we get is sincere faith acts.
Mm hmm.
Noah:Sincerity acts, and I think that his example in verses 14 and following is just I mean, it's so potent at making this clear. We would not say someone is sincere if they have the means to help this person who needs, you know, to be warmed and filled and clothed. But they say, you know what, I feel so bad for you. Go. Be warmed. Be filled. You know, Without giving them the needs for the body, clearly what they said was not sincere, because sincerity acts. And that's where, that's where James goes with this when it comes to faith. Sincerity acts, and that means sincere faith works. It does things.
Paul:Man, I hope y'all are listening. If you didn't get that, you need to push the rewind button for about One minute because Noah just went really deep on y'all Look, it's possible to have educated emotion and still not have genuine faith.
Mm
Paul:hmm Okay, and oh man I'm gonna lose my man card. I've already done that in multiple podcasts. I've been told so that's okay I growing up we watched Little House on the Prairie. Oh, yeah How do you watch some of the episodes on Little House on the Prairie and not cry? What is wrong with you? Even if you're not a crier, you gotta, you gotta cry on some of the Little House on the Prairie episodes. Look, I can have all sorts of good, strong emotions. being produced in me when someone talks about widows and orphans, and someone talks about the, the poor person or the person that walked in and, and has been to six other churches and, and treated like an outcast and got ignored in six other churches, and they walk in, and you hear those real stories, and your emotions are stirred, like, who, I can't believe someone would do that. I can't, oh man, how could you see this? How could you see this? And just walk away. And James is talking to Christians here. Again, I'm not saying we're just trying to be that guy in James 2.
Mm hmm.
Paul:But sometimes I am. Sometimes we are. And like you said about the faith, that's why I said Noah went deep on y'all. He did. James says a faith that really believes and trusts. How do I know my faith is, is different than the demons? Because this is a faith that believes so strongly that it does what God wants done without reservation or regret. What is the next right thing? What, what responsibility do I have based upon my ability as it connects to opportunities? Responsibility is faith. It, faith plus something else is not faith that saves. And I know people hear that and like, Oh, I can't believe you said that because you're saying baptism is not necessary. I didn't say anything about baptism not being necessary. The faith of Romans four and Abraham and the faith of James two of Abraham is not a contradiction,
right?
Paul:He's just telling us two sides of this. He's got two different audiences.
That's
Paul:why he brings up Rahab. here in chapter two. He had a Jewish audience. Abraham and Rahab, you're going to, but man, opposite ends of the spectrum here. What's the commonality? Faith. So what difference does my faith make in my life and the life of others?
Noah:And that question that Paul just asked is a probing question because there could be an uncomfortable silence after that. If we ask ourselves that question. What difference is our faith making in our lives and in the lives of the people around us? If, if we hear crickets after we ask ourselves that question, then James would say, Where's your faith? What faith? If it's not making a difference, If it's not accomplishing, if it's not being utilized, knowledge on its own is not the useful thing. It's knowledge when it's applied, when it's used, when it's, when it's worked with. Faith, if we're, like you said just a moment ago, it cannot be its own. It, it, it must be useful. It must be used. And and so if we ask ourselves, well, what difference is my faith making, and we can't give an answer, then James says, well, maybe, maybe your faith is not true faith. Maybe your faith is not the faith of Abraham.
Paul:If anyone is a hearer of the word, but he's not a doer, what's he like, James? A man observing his natural face in the mirror. He observes himself, he goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But, he who looks into the perfect law of liberty continues in it. He's not a forgetful hearer, he's a doer of the work. This one will be blessed. James really hasn't changed his discussion about the difference between saying and doing. Claiming to have faith versus how practical is it? And so again, my mind can be enlightened and my emotions can be stirred in a good way. Right. But I can still go away and be like that man in chapter one. James says, I can forget what I'm like. I can forget what I'm supposed to do. I'm not changing. I'm, I'm, I'm, I know God, but in works, I deny him. Titus 1. 16.
Noah:Yeah, yeah. I'm really glad that you brought it up early and you brought it up again just now. The, the emotional reaction, right? That it goes beyond knowledge, but it also goes beyond simply an emotional reaction to that knowledge. And I think that that's an important distinction because I think a lot of times we think that, okay, going beyond knowledge means it has to get beyond just the cold clinical understanding of, well, there are this many, you know, Orphans in the world or this, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And so then we have the emotional reaction and we go, okay, there it is. I've, I have loved, I have, I have experienced what I'm supposed to experience when in reality, faith is not simply about what we experience, but then what we do. Yeah, what experience we well not just what we happens to us, but what we then Do in response to that. And so going not only beyond the knowledge, but then beyond the emotional reaction to what does that motivate? And ultimately in this context, James is still talking to some extent about loving your neighbor as yourself.
Paul:Oh, to a
Noah:big extent. And so there's, that's why, yes, this is a commentary on faith. But the specific contextual application is in the words of Paul, if I have not love, I am a, you know, clanging symbol, or if we were to go to Matthew 22, the greatest commands on the all on these, all the law and the prophets hang, this is a consistent theme of scripture is that there is this love that we are to have, and it must be Motivate. It must change. It must work. It must act. And if it doesn't, then it's not a love that stems from faith.
Paul:Yeah. And, and then I don't, I may say it, I have this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I may say I have this relationship with Jesus. And James would say, I, I disagree with that. And here's, and here's why. One of, Jesus had such a difficult time, Noah, as you. know with a particular segment of society, we call them the Pharisees, those who were teachers of the law, considered themselves experts in the law, and they were trying to impart that standard upon others and failed miserably. And Jesus, because he loved them, He would go to the heart of the matter, which is the heart. That's what James is doing here. He's going to the heart of the matter, which is our heart, and he's connecting our heart to this royal law, love your neighbor as yourself. So when Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, he was trying to purge some things out of them. evil motives, some things in their heart that were causing them to judge others wrongly, that were causing them to teach the law in a wrong kind of way. When Jesus would say, I want you guys to go learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And then you've got the good Samaritan.
Noah:Yeah.
Paul:Who is my neighbor? There's so much that Jesus does in a masterful way in his teaching to connect people back to the heart of God. I think that's why James calls it the royal law.
Yeah,
Paul:he says, love your neighbor as yourself. That helps us out. Right. But it's a royal law. It's the law of love. He mentions the law of liberty in chapter one and he talks about the law of love. What is true freedom? And I'm talking about the, in our relationship with God, I pillow my head at night and have peace. The true freedom is I walk with God with the kind of faith that says, God, I just want to love the way you want me to love. And so I can't see somebody in need and I have an opportunity and ability to help meet that need. And I just say, be warmed and filled.
Yeah.
Paul:That's not faith.
Yeah.
Paul:Now who's going to go to heaven? Read the end of Matthew 25. Jesus gave us a pretty good commentary on that. At the end of Matthew 25. What is that? It's practicing the royal love. Royal law, sorry. Who are his sheep? Who are his people?
Noah:Right, right. End of James 2 says, For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. There's a rhythm to James writing here where This is very similar to what he said in Chapter 1. We observed that. And then he talked about some specific ways in which we see that at the beginning of James Chapter 2, the partiality and the favoritism. And then he repeats some of the principle and some of what really strikes at our hearts. And going into Chapter 3, which we're not going to cover right now, but going into Chapter 3, he's going to give another specific example of controlling the tongue. And I, I think it's important, like you said a minute ago, to remember the broader context of what James is writing here, and pass those chapter boundaries to remember that James is not writing in a vacuum, but he is, he's pushing his, his readers, he's pushing his, pushing his listeners to embrace this. Thank you. The law of love and embrace this faith that acts in every area of their lives. It doesn't matter how small it may seem. We don't have to be murderers or adulterers to be failing in the law of love. It can be something as simple as the tongue, which is what we're going to talk about in chapter three.
Paul:Yeah. Okay. This, this is going to sting a bit. I hate, I hate to end with this, but I end with this. You know not, not to be unnecessarily harsh, but to just have something that people can turn over in our minds. Look, I'm a, I'm a preacher I'm a shepherd. One of the last things you're going to hear me say is we, we, we need to stop studying the Bible together and having dialogue and communication with just the book of God open and say, okay, God, we want to learn from you. We want, we want your wisdom. We want you to teach us through your word. We know it's perfect. You're the law giver. We've got your word open. We want to have a Bible study and just pull everything out of the text we can. I think we have lots of Bible studies that are intended to equip us to defend our faith. And those are good things. But if we're not careful, we can get imbalanced. I can become imbalanced as a leader and a preacher. We've got lots of people out there who have the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ and they're able to defend it, they're just not demonstrating it. And James says that's of no value. It's dead. Don't just defend your faith. demonstrate it. And I would add that I think that's a powerful way that God works through his people to make the gospel attractive, is how we demonstrate our faith.
Noah:Yes, that is an excellent point. It's a challenging point, and not to disagree with you, but I think that's an excellent point. A fantastic point on which to end this section of our discussion. Because, in the end, James encouragement is to live out our faith. To demonstrate our faith. And if we can't swallow that pill, then we're not going to be getting much out of the book of James. So as we journey through James our rhythm so far has been that we look at God's side of things, we try to see God in each chapter, and then we look at ourselves and we see application for ourselves in each chapter. And then Paul and I get to try to pick out a couple of the most high impact points for us as we studied that chapter. And chapter two is so rich, full of high impact points, that I'm sure next week in our no more than four section on James chapter two, we'll have, we might have trouble staying No more than four. Yeah. Whatever. But, but next time, hopefully there will be no more than four high impact, high application points that Paul and I will bring from James chapter two. And then it'll be on to James chapter three, and we'll be about halfway through the book at that point. Thank you for joining us today. We've enjoyed getting to spend time in God's word together. We want to help one another, not just know God's Word, but to live God's Word. And not just to, to defend our faith, but to demonstrate our faith. And if we can do that from day to day, finding strength in Christ as we do that, we will find that together we can stand strong.
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