Know

In this section we see the most potent treatment of the concept we are calling ‘trust translated’.  James has already hinted at this concept in chapter 1 while calling for the doing of the word.  In that context James contrasted hearing with doing.  One should not simply hear the word, and be deceived into thinking that one is doing it as well.  Rather, one must hear it and do it.  It is the doer who is blessed by God.

            In this section James contrasts faith and deeds.  In the history of the Church this section has been difficult to understand, because James seems to be contradicting Paul regarding faith and works.  But this could not be further from the truth.  In fact, it is most likely that James wrote this before Paul wrote any of his letters, and rather than contradicting Paul, James is fleshing out to his people something similar to Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:36-37,

³⁶ But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.  ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

            James’ words are especially important for our culture, which by and large believes that ‘faith’ is a personal matter, and that it ought not have any influence on the rest of life.  This belief is the theology of demons.  James here is arguing that mere mental grasp or assent to biblical ideas is the theology of demons.  This type of faith is not saving faith.  If it were, then all demons would be saved for they believe there is one God.

            James forges a link between faith and deeds.  Faith and deeds are distinguishable, but not separable.  The one who simply has a mental assent (‘faith’) to God will not be justified by God in the last day.  This type of faith is worthless.  Unfortunately it is this type of faith which most Americans possess.  They believe that there is one God, but that belief is not translated into life.  Simply talking about God and saying one believes in God is not the type of faith that honors God. Those who have this type of faith are deceived, and will receive the punishment of demons.

            The faith that honors God is a faith that is translated into life.  It is a faith that produces coherence between belief and action.  It is this type of faith that brings about a declaration of righteousness for a repentant prostitute.  This type of faith lives.

 

Do

First, examine yourself.  Does your life reflect an allegiance to Jesus in all areas of your life?  If so, be of good cheer and persevere in this faith.  But if you simply see faith as something that can be boxed up and contained, only to be let out on Sunday morning, and it does not affect your speech, your marriage, your parenting, your working, your resting, your entertainment, your sporting, your loving, then be filled with dread, and repent, because your faith is not different from that of demons.

Second, use the connection between faith and deeds as a starting point for talking to others about Jesus.  In a non-offensive manner, show them how a belief in God should transform life.  Gently show the inconsistencies between their belief in God and their life, and then lead them to see the true faith, the faith accompanied by deeds.

Third, remember Jesus’ words, “If you love me, you will obey what I have commanded” (John 14:15, NIV).

Verse 12 is the linchpin that holds vv. 2-11 and 13-15 together, and because of this connection, we have a more complete view of trials, temptation, sin, and God.  First, what James discussed in vv. 2-8 regarding trials is in keeping with what we know of God in the life of Old Testament saints.  God tested Abraham (Genesis 22), he tested Israel (Judges 2:22), and even Jesus tested Philip (John 6:6).  But while in a time of testing or trial, a subtle shift can take place in the thoughts of the believer under trial.  This shift is to see God as not only the one bringing the trial (which the Bible endorses) but also as the one doing the tempting (which the Bible condemns).

 

You see trial/testing is intended by God to make us mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4).  But trial/testing is also the time when we are tempted to sin.  With financial trials, we are tempted to disobey God or doubt his provision.  With untimely or even timely death, we are tempted to abandon God.  With a difficult marriage, we are tempted to leave, forsake, cheat, etc.  With testing comes temptation.  Because James knows this he wants to be clear about God and his authority over the trial, while insisting that God is not tempting us in the trial.  In other words, God’s goal in testing is not for us to sin, but for us to mature.  If this is the case, from where then does the temptation originate?

James is clear that the temptation originates in us.  We are tempted by our own desire.  Now this is instructive for us on many levels, but there is one which I would like to highlight today.  What is the highlight?  It is that we tempt ourselves.  Read that again, we tempt ourselves!  Has it sunk in?  You see we tend to think that we are tempted by other people or things.  In other words, we tend to follow the pattern of Adam and Eve and blame something other than ourselves for our temptation and sin (Genesis 3:12-13).  But James will not let us blame-shift.  How are we tempted?  By our own desires, which lure and entice us.

 

While in a time of testing, then, we must remember that God is on our side, that he is good, and that he does not do the tempting.  Why did James include this bit?  It seems because he knows that one way in which we can be tempted is to think that God is against us, and that he wants us to fail.  In other words in the midst of testing we are tempted to believe that God has left us, that he planned evil for our misfortune.  But this couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Why?  Because God is holy; he cannot be tempted, nor does he tempt anyone.  God’s desires do not lead him to sin, they cannot, they will not.  In fact, it is because of God’s desire (‘he chose’ in the NIV) that we experience birth through the word of truth.  God is good, and all that he does is good.  He cannot do any other.  To think other than this is to form an idol.

 

If you want to persevere under trial, and receive the crown of life, then what is called for is a vigilant controlling of your own desires.  Sin and eventually death are birthed from an affair with desire.  So if you seek to persevere, you must understand and control your desires.  The testing will reveal your desires, and you will be tempted to follow those desires to get them satisfied with ungodly means.  But the desires must be kept in check, so that they do not lead to sin, but obedient living to God the Father of heavenly lights.

The Problem with the Pharisees

 

            The Pharisees were many things.  First, they were one of three major Jewish sects (The other two were the Sadducees and the Essenes).  Second, they were teachers of the law of Moses, and thus a major religious influence in the day.  Third, they liked the praise of men, and Jesus condemned them for it.  Fourth, and most importantly, though they were teachers of the law (they knew the Scriptures), they failed to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, the one promised in the very Scriptures they memorized and taught.  Jesus reveals this with the first of seven “woes.”  He states, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.  You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matthew 23:13, NIV).

            How is it that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees shut the kingdom of heaven?  First, they do not recognize who Jesus is.  He has revealed himself as the promised Messiah, and they rebel against his statements.  Not only do they rebel, but they lead others away from Jesus, and ultimately they have their hand in Jesus’ death.  These “shepherds” of the people of God, have rejected God’s Messiah, and they have led the sheep farther away from God in their rejection and rebellion against Jesus’ Messianic role.

            What does this mean for us?  First, the future kingdom of heaven promised in the Old Testament, has broken in to our present reality.  The kingdom is already here—it is inaugurated—but it is not yet consummated.  Second, the way we enter the kingdom of heaven is by aligning ourselves with who Jesus says he is.  We must agree, obey, and swear allegiance to Jesus’ rule.  Third, we must tell others of the kingdom of heaven, and the primacy of Jesus, who is the king.

There is a temptation which all Christians face, but it is faced most by those who lead.  The temptation is to love the notoriety of the Christian life.  What notoriety is there in the Christian life?  Well,  because of certain actions many can observe your life and think you are more mature than you really are.  For example, there are many people in churches across America, who break out the big Bible, who use the Christian jargon, and raise their hands in worship, while they are at the worship center.  Once they leave the worship center, then they go back to a normal godless life, not thinking much about anything Christian, until next Sunday rolls around.  Now observing such people at worship, or CE, or worldview conferences, etc., one would think they are what a Christian is supposed to be.  But truth be told, it is all for show.  There is no life, there is no conviction, there is no love for God, they simply like other people to think highly of them.

            Jesus’ words though warn against seeking exaltation in this life.  He states, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12, NIV).  Jesus does a few things with these words of warning.  First, he is making an allusion to his life as the model for the Christian life.  Jesus was humbled and led a humble life culminating in death on a cross.  Once dead, God raised him from the dead, and gave to him the place of great honor, to sit at his right hand.  This is the model for Christian life.  Paul picks up on it in Philippians 2.  In this chapter Paul encourages the Christians to follow the example of Christ by putting others before their own interests.  This is the mark of the Christian, serving others.

            Second, Jesus warns against seeking notoriety in this life, for if you seek for man to think highly of you, then you forsake God.  In other words, one who seeks notoriety in this life, will cut themselves off from eternal life.  This is what Jesus means by “humbled.”  One day those who seek exaltation in this life, will be condemned for they did not follow the way of Jesus, who first was humbled, then exalted.

Here is the Word Interact for James 1:9-11---

There are realities beyond our sight that are more lasting and real than the things we can see with our eyes.  For example, the Bible teaches that there are angels and demons, but we are not able to see them, yet they are just as real as the things we can touch and feel.  In the previous section of James, James called on us to see beyond the trials, no matter how heinous and difficult, to see that the trials are God's tools for making us more mature and complete.  Just as we were called upon to see beyond the trials to their true purpose, we are called upon to see beyond the temporal reality of wealth and poverty, to perceive our true standing in the gospel.

The gospel is the great inverter.  The gospel does not promise a redistribution of earthly wealth, rather in the gospel God distributes grace to all, so that the poor brother should glory in his exaltation before God.  The one who is poor in this life, will rule with Jesus the King in the life to come.  Because of this, the poor one should not define himself by his poverty in this life.  Rather, the poor brother should see this life for what it is, it is transitory, and the life to come, the life of exaltation, will be forever.  Thus, the poor brother should base his life now on the fact that one day he will be exalted.  The poor brother may be poor in earthly wealth, but in the last day when Jesus returns, he will inherit the earth.

The temporal nature of this life is also instructive for the brother who is rich.  The Bible is clear that wealth is not evil, but wealth is a particular difficulty, because the wealthy one is tempted to trust in his wealth for security.  James reminds the wealthy in this passage, that wealth will secure no one from death.  The important and powerful ones in this life are nothing more than the beautiful blossoms of the field, they are beautiful for a time, but their beauty is destroyed by the heat of the sun.  The wealthy and the important in this life are only wealthy and important for a time, so because of this the rich brother should not base his assessment of himself on the transitoriness of this life's wealth.  What is the rich brother to do?  The same thing as the poor brother, assess himself in light of the gospel. 

The gospel did not come to the rich man because he was rich, it came to him because he is sinful.  The antidote for pride in this passage is to see the cross with all of its humiliation.  By trusting the gospel the rich brother says implicitly, "God did in Christ, what I could not do on my own."  In other words, in the gospel grace comes to the rich man because he is a sinner, not because he is wealthy.  Thus, the rich man should remember his true standing, and base his life on it.

Here are some thoughts I wrote for a 'devotional' for our church called the Word Interact.  I have introduced this before, but right now we are going through a series on James, and these are some thoughts on this passage that I published for the people involved to consider regarding this passage.

Why do we endure the pain of surgery?  Isn't it funny that we pay doctors to do to us, what we would call torture given a different circumstance?  I once asked a friend why he waiting so long to get a hip replacement.  He replied with a smirk, "Because they cut your leg off, lay it on a table, and then reattach it.  That just didn't sound pleasant to me."  So why would we ever pay someone a great deal of money to put us through such horrible ordeals?  How is it that we got tricked into paying doctors to do us pain?

 

Well, we really didn't get tricked, we came to realize that sometimes to heal one point of pain, we must create pain in another area.  The pain that an expert physician causes is similar to God's pain.  We don't consider physicians to be barbarians, though we pay them to do some seemingly barbaric work.  In a similar way, we are called on by James to consider the pain in our lives as pure joy.

 

James reminds us that trials, sufferings, and pain are useful tools in God's hand.  The pain and trials in our lives are not outside of God's control, rather it is God who is using these hurtful people and painful events, so that those who bear the name of Jesus will become ultimately mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

Thus, the appearance of trials and sufferings mean for the Christian that God is not yet done with his work of perseverance.  When a trial comes our way we tend to believe that God is against us, we doubt his goodness, we believe we are abandoned.  But James reminds us that our trials cannot be used as evidence for the non-goodness of God.  Rather, trials mean that there is some area in our lives that is not yet complete or whole.  What God is doing, then, is using trials to form us, purify us, to grow us up.

 

This is why Christians consider trials as pure joy.  We are not masochists, loving pain in and of itself.  Rather, we consider our trials pure joy, because God is a good surgeon, who will use the difficulties to make us 'mature, and complete, not lacking anything' (v. 4).

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: ² a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, ³ a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. ⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³ That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-- this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. ¹⁵ Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account (NIV).

Tension is a wonderful word used to describe much of the theology in the Bible.  For example, there is tension between Jesus being human and God.  There is tension between God being sovereign and humans having responsibility for their actions.  Another tension is found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.  Our teacher begins this section emphasizing the constraint of time on humans.  There is a time for every action, and the wise person knows which action is appropriate for the designated time.  But this is not the tension.  The teacher introduces the tension in verse 11.  He writes, “He [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” (NIV).  Here is the tension!  Humans are constricted by time, but God has placed in us a sense of eternity.  Our lot as humans is to live within time and crave eternity.

 

How do we live with this tension?  First, be reconciled to the God who controls our eternity.  This life is a shadow, and how we live today echoes into eternity.  Will you live eternally with God as your delight, or will you be eternally under the wrath of God?  All people will exist forever after physical death.  Therefore, be reconciled! 

 

Second, follow Paul’s command and “make the most of every opportunity…” (Ephesians 5:16).  In the spirit of this passage Jonathan Edwards, pastor in the eighteenth century and one of America’s finest theologians, wrote, “Resolved: Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.” 

 

An exercise:

Make a detailed account of your time for one week.  Record how much time you spend sleeping, playing, working, praying, watching television, etc.  Then consider how you spend your time.  Do you redeem it, as Paul commands?  How can you continue to improve your use of time?  Do you approach each day seeking to make the most of your time on earth?  What would your calendar look like, if you redeemed the time?  What would you increase?  What would you decrease?

 

Passages for Further Reflection:

James 4:13-17

 ¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. ²⁴ A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind (NIV).

Much could and should be said today about the virtue of diligent working, for each generation must be reminded that laziness is a sin (Proverbs 10:26; 12:24; 12:27; 13:4; 15:19; 19:15; 19:24; 20:4).  But there is another sense of “work ethic” to which today’s passage speaks: one’s motivation for work.  In other words, our motivation for work is a moral issue.

 

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 causes us to wrestle with our perspectives on work.  Do we work so that one day we will have enough to get more?  Or do we work so that we please God?

 

Verses 24-26 give some motivation indicators.  What does the one who pleases God receive from God’s hand?  What is the lot of the one who does not please God?  Into which category do you fall?  Are you able to eat, drink, and enjoy your work?  Or are you vexed at night by fears and anxieties about what will happen with your wealth and how to get more of it, so that you may have more stuff?  How you answer these questions may indicate your motivation for work.

 

Some other questions concerning motivation:

·         Do you work quickly and efficiently, so that you represent God well in your workplace?

·         Are you dependable (e.g., Are you on-time for the start of the day and appointments?), so that you represent well God who is trustworthy?

·         How do you talk about your job in the presence of your children?  That is, do your children see your job as a necessary evil or as a calling from God?

·         How do your children approach their chores or job?  Have you taught them to do their work to please God or simply to receive an allowance or a paycheck?

 

Passages for Further Reflection:

Matthew 6:19-34; Luke 16:19-31

 

Every now and again, I will post some little devotionals that I have written on certain passages of the Bible.  These devotionals were first written for Faith Community to accompany the weekly sermons.  Today's devotional is on 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6 and concerns questions regarding suffering and the Christian. 

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Is there a time when you saw God deliver someone from suffering?  How did the deliverance influence your faith in God’s goodness?  Did it build your confidence in God’s ability to care for you? 

 

Paul found that intense pressures and suffering caused him to depend more on God (2 Corinthians 1:9).  How do intense pressures in your life affect you?  Do you find courage in God or despair?  Do you try to make it on your own or trust in God who raises the dead?  What does (or would) trust in God look like under intense pressure?  That is, what are some steps you can take to trust more in God than in your own power, while you are in the midst of suffering or intense pressure?

 

 

Realistically, what do you expect the Christian life to be like?  In other words, do you see suffering as an anomaly or oddity in life?  Read 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6. 

So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. ² We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. ⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.       ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless. ⁶ But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you (NIV).

Paul says in verse 4 that Christians are destined.  For what are Christians destined? 

 

In these same verses Paul describes his concern for the Thessalonians.  What is it that gave him most concern?  What do you think is the link between suffering and wavering faith?  How can reflecting on God’s faithfulness to Abraham, Joshua, David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, and ultimately Jesus sustain our faith in the midst of suffering?

 

Related Biblical Passages for Further Reflection:

Psalm 4, 27, 62, and 121.

Hebrews 11-12

 

Further Reading on Related Themes:

Bridges, Jerry.  Trusting God.  Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1988.

Carson, D. A.  How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering and Evil.  Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990.

Schreiner, Thomas R, and Ardel B. Caneday.  The Race Set before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance.  Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001.