This past Sunday, we looked at the second half of James 2. Summed up, James says, “Don’t just tell me what you believe. Show me what you believe.” He must have been from Missouri, the Show-Me State.
What I wanted to do was to let James speak with James’ words. Too often I’ve heard James (and Jesus) read through the Apostle Paul, something that makes evangelicals feel a little bit more comfortable. We also read Paul through Martin Luther (who wasn't too fond James, Sunday's passage in particular). With these many layers of “filtering,” the real James might get lost, especially when he has something important to say that we may not want to hear. My goal was to intentionally turn that around and let the words and language of James simply stand as gospel truth without having to filter them through a separate theology or a wording that is usually used to explain James. I knew this might not sit well with some, but then again, how would you feel if James wrote this letter to ECC? How do we take James’ words seriously? Nevertheless, what I don’t want to do is create confusion about where works fit into our relationship with God. So here are some explicit statements that we should all believe as truth:
- We do not earn right standing with God on the basis of what we do. (Eph 2:8-9)
- We do not earn right standing with God on the basis of what we believe. (James 2:19)
- We are only brought into right standing with God because of the cross and resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:17)
- What God asks of us is to respond to the good news of salvation by turning towards God in a loving, trusting faith through Jesus Christ. (Rom. 10:9)
- When we respond in faith, we are incorporated into Christ, and essentially, our old, rebellious self is crucified with Jesus and our new God-centered, neighbor-loving self rises again to new life by the Holy Spirit (Rom 7:7)
- The Holy Spirit, who testifies to the person and ministry of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (John 14:26), produces a life that is liberating, not just by throwing off constricting rules, but by working out a life that fully loves God and loves our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Gal. 5:13-18)
- Throughout our life, unlearning the selfish life and learning the life of love is not fully automatic. It takes effort on our part in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God. (2 Peter 1:10) But those with true faith do grow into this. (Phil. 2:12-13)
- Jesus, James and Paul would doubt the salvation of someone who said they believed but whose life did not change to a life of increasing holiness, a holiness that is not based on keeping a list of rules but a holiness that walks in true love for God and neighbor. (1 John 2:3-6)
- Pastor Bo Bannister
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