Old Jerry

I think that grumbling and complaining says that we are not in the love of God. We have removed ourselves from his protection. If we truly loved God then most of the grumbling and complaining would go away. We just need patience and as a rule things will work out.

The things that can happen if we Christians lack the patience to eagerly expect Christ’s return is that we will start to follow the ways of this world. If we start to follow the ways of the world then we will be lost also. Patience is really vital because we don’t know when Jesus is going to return and it could be at any moment.

The spiritual danger of our demand for comfort and luxury is that we will forgo our Christian outlook on the world. We will start to endorse the worldly values. The demand for low-priced goods and services causes to oppress our own employees and the workers in this country and abroad to be underpaid or oppresses because they are trying to make a living also and if we don’t pay a fair price for the goods then they will be deprived.

The danger that James is warning us about is being arrogant. We think that we have the future in our hands when we don’t. We need to rely on God to do the good things that we are planning on doing. We need to be sincere that we are sincere in our plans by saying the “Lord willing”.

The way that bad-mouthing a neighbor causes you to be a judge of the law is because you don’t know all the circumstances that the person is facing. So that person maybe within the law but now you have just judged against him and the law. It is tempting to bad-mouth others because it get the focus off you sins and onto his.

These actions are so vital so that we can humble ourselves before the Lord. We need to be getting all that sin out of us. They go against our nature because our sins feel so good to us. If something feels good we don’t want to get rid of it. I think that the commands that most difficult for me is the one that ways “10Humble yourselves before the Lord”. When I have thrown out all the sins that I have but I have saved one, it is very hard to humble myself before the Lord.

James refers to church members as “adulteresses” because they are to be married to Jesus Christ and they should not chase after the things of this world. Jesus our husband gets very angry when we chase after the things of this world and forget about him. If we are friends with the world then we do not have the love of Jesus on our hearts.

God is not against pleasure. That is why He has put everything on this earth. When we look at what He has done that will always bring us pleasure. It isn’t wrong to increase one’s pleasure as long as it doesn’t get it from someone else pleasure. We need to be looking out for our neighbor. When we do, that will bring us pleasure.

The tool that peacemakers use to sow peace is love. This produces a ripening crop of righteousness because love is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. These things will grow in us.

The way that “bitter envy” and “selfish ambition” is direct opposites of “humility” is that humility we are trying to do things for the other person. Bitter envy and selfish ambition is doing something to other just to get even with them or to beat them is some kind of competition. The denial of “bitter envy” and “selfish ambition” prevents us from seeing that we really do have this problem and if we can’t admit to it then we will not be able to correct it. And if we are boasting about this then we are proud of what we are doing and we will never be able to be healed.

The tongue is untamable because it says the things that are in the heart. Therefore we have to change what is in the heart to change or to tame the tongue.

The teacher knows the truth and there for can’t say that they didn’t know what was right and wrong. Therefore they should be judged more strictly. I don’t know if I set higher standards for my pastor then myself but I do expect him to have high standards. He is the one that is in the limelight and should always, to the best of his ability, setting the standards of Jesus Christ.

I think that James’ point about the necessity of works jive with Paul’s emphasis on salvation by grace without works is in perfect harmony. James is saying that if we have Jesus in our hearts then the natural thing would be to do good works. It has nothing to do with us receiving the grace of Jesus Christ. Paul is saying that the only way that we can receive that grace the Jesus has put in us has nothing to do with the works that we had performed.

The difference between the “belief” of a demon and the “belief” of a practicing Christian is that intellectually the demon knows that there is only one God but he does not put his trust in Him. Where the practicing Christian not only believes that there is one God but he also put his trust in Him. If a non-practicing Christian believes in a God then his belief system would be the same as the demon. He has not put his trust in God.

The degree that we are responsible for the poor and needy in the church community is to help them where we can. They should be our first concern. Then we should also look after those in the community at large but our first concern should be the members of the church.

The sense that faith is dead if it is unaccompanied by action is that it is just a bunch of words. You have to bring it into reality and mix it into you daily lives to make it alive. Faith is believing in Jesus Christ and doing the things that he did with the best of your ability. That is what makes it alive.

The way in which of showing regard towards the wealthy a denial of mercy is that we have already accepted their way of life and there is no mercy in that. I think the way that mercy “triumph over” judgment is that we can see that the person has sinned but that we are still in fellowship that that person to help persuade that person to change.

I think that James referred to the Great Command as the “Royal Law” is because it is the most important law that there is. If you keep this law you are abiding in all the commandments. The law is more “royal” than the Mosaic Law because if you keep the royal law then you are keeping the Mosaic Law. The way that showing favoritism toward a rich person break the “Royal Law” is that you have pre-judged that person. You are looking down at the poor and not treating them with respect.

The way that favoritism makes one judge is that you have already decided that the one that you are pouring your favors on is one that is going to like you and accept you into their fold. The way that favoritism makes one a judge with “evil thoughts” is you are always hoping or wondering if that person might give you some kind of reward for the favor that you poured out to them.

I tend to discriminate against people that try to impress me with whatever they have. I don’t know if I discriminate or I get irritated with them. But either way I don’t want to be in their company. I don’t think that our church is trying to make a good impression on anybody. We accept them all with open arms and try to integrate them into the church.

I think that James make taming the tongue and caring for the poor the prime tests of pure religion because it is by works that we show our faith. He has said that we can’t show our faith if we don’t have works.

The “perfect law” that James mentions is that of love your neighbor as you love yourself. I would define this as one who is trying to help his neighbor or do things for them when they don’t even ask for help. It relates to the “royal law” which is to love your neighbor. The sense that it does bring liberty is that you don’t have to remember a bunch of laws. You can act on the things that God has put on your heart.

I think that we are so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living our righteous lives because we know what the bible says. The same thing is true in going to church. We go to church and listen to the word but it is hard to go out into a godless world and put into action the things that we heard. The nature of self-deception is to compare ourselves with others and say that we are not as bad as that other guy so then I am doing what is right.

We are given spiritual birth by the “word of truth” because if we hadn’t read the “word of truth” then we would have no idea about God. That is the only way that we could be given spiritual birth. The spiritual life is what keeps us in contact with God. Without that we wouldn’t even know how to pray. Our sprit moans for us when we don’t know how to put our feeling into words.

The promise to claim in verse 5 is that if we lack wisdom we are to ask God for it and it will be granted. But when we ask we are not to doubt that we are going to receive it. If we doubt we are then double minded. Trials help us receive this wisdom because we will see the mistake that got us into that situation and we will have the wisdom not to do it again.