~ Why Faith? ~
Faith Produces Patience (1:2-4) ~ “My brethren, count
it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that
you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James
1:2-4). …
Faith Opens the Way for Prayer (1:5-8) ~ … “If any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let
him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the
sea driven and tossed by the wind. For
let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James
1:5-8). …
Faith Causes Humility (1:9-11) ~ … “Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich
in his humiliation, because as a flower of
the field he will pass away. For no
sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its
flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his
pursuits” (James 1:9-11). …
Faith Reaps Rewards (1:12) ~ … “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive
the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James
1:12).
Faith Produces Works (2:1-26) ~ “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works? Can faith
save him? If a brother or sister is
naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in
peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are
needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith
by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I
have works.’ Show me your faith without
your works, and I will show you my faith by my works”
(James 2:14-18).
Faith Controls the Tongue (3:1-18) ~ “Indeed, we put
bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole
body. Look also at ships: although they
are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small
rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and
boasts great things.
See
how great a forest a little fire kindles!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The
tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on
fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile
and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly
poison. With it we bless our God and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and
cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not to be so” (James 3:3-10).
Closing Comment
~ It is well to know the facts
about God and His Word—but to trust Him and depend on His Son for salvation is
quite another thing.
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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