Our church have been working through the book of James recently through Sunday sermons and discussions at our life groups. We recently came to James chapter 4 and the strong instruction not to judge one another because that is to place ourselves as judges over God’s Law. This led to a good question “If we… Continue reading The answer to judging
Tag: James
Who judges?
God’s grace is seen as our pride is removed and we are brought to a place of humility? So what does this humility look like in practice? James now answers that question. All of this links in to the theme of being slow or cautious to speak. A look at the text (Read James 4:11-12) … Continue reading Who judges?
True repentance
How does grace work in the life of the believer? The answer is that it does in pretty much the same way as in the life of a new convert. God’s grace by bringing down the proud and lifting up the humble starts by working repentance in our hearts A look at the text (Read… Continue reading True repentance
Who is your friend?
We don’t like to choose sides. As I write, the BBC have got into a spot of bother whilst reporting on conflict between Israel and Hamas. The BBC have studiously refused to call Hamas a terror organisation because they see this as going against a duty of impartiality. This begs the question though, “Can you… Continue reading Who is your friend?
Friendly fire
What is the cause of suffering amongst the Christians James writes to? Sometimes suffering is caused by external persecution because God’s enemies want to attack us as we seek to live godly lives. Sometimes our suffering is simply down to our circumstances, we live in a fallen world. Both of those factors may have been… Continue reading Friendly fire
Two types of wisdom
Wisdom is a central theme in James letter but what is true wisdom like and where does it come from? A look at the text (Read James 3:13-18) This section begins with a call, an invitation or challenge. Those who are truly wise are invited to step forward and demonstrate their understanding. The evidence or… Continue reading Two types of wisdom
Two ways to speak
James now addresses the duplicity of our speech. What kinds of things do we say? What impact do our words have? A look at the text (Read James 3:9-12) The same person, with the same tongue or mouth can both praise God and at the same time curse other human beings. Yet, this shouldn’t be… Continue reading Two ways to speak
Rahab
To illustrate what he means by faith and works going together, James points to two Old Testament characters. The first and perhaps obvious one is Abraham (James 2:21-24). James reminds us of the statement that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness” from Genesis 15. He argues that this was particularly… Continue reading Rahab
James’ issue is not with a bias against the poor
In James 2:3, those who leave the poor person standing and neglected are spoken to sternly. However, the problem James has identified is not so much, or not just that believers are neglecting some because they are poor or because they have taken a disliking to them. Rather, the reason that the bias is there… Continue reading James’ issue is not with a bias against the poor
Where is Jesus?
One of the strange things about James’ letter is that Jesus doesn’t seem to be particularly prominent in the epistle. It is perhaps this, as much as discomfort with his take on faith and works which has tended to make it one of the less popular books of the Bible to study or to preach… Continue reading Where is Jesus?
Faithroots 