Living a Faithful Life (Part 2)
a commentary on James 2 (Interpretation)
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome to this week’s Biblit part 2!
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This week we are going to try a new approach. Slightly different from the Biblits in the past.
The context, as you saw yesterday, was more focused on what James was teaching. I tried to do my best to summarize his teachings and his main points.
In the interpretation, we are going to dive a little deeper. We are going to explain why he said these things, where James may have learned this wisdom, and just go deeper into it all.
Let’s jump in!
Interpretation
I am going to literally copy/paste the headers from the context section.
Why?
Well, first of all, repetition of headings and main points helps solidify them into our minds better. This is one thing I learned in my Biblical Hermeneutics class when creating lessons.
But second, I want to break down each section a little more. So this gives a good starting point.
Show No Favoritism
In yesterday’s Biblit I said that favoritism was breaking the greatest commandment. But what exactly does that mean?
I have a few passages of scripture to justify this stance starting with the Laws of Moses and leading to the words of Jesus Christ Himself:
“Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18 CSB).
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5 CSB). (That section of scripture is even entitled: “The Greatest Commandment”).
“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-39 CSB).
James is making the claim that when you choose favorites, you are enacting your own judgment without love.
Loving your neighbor as yourself means treating everyone as they are: an image bearer of the Lord Almighty. Every single person was created equal in that way.
I’ll also take this time to remind you of a classic tale of favoritism: Jacob and Esau. Remember them?
Isaac loved Esau. Rebecca loved Jacob.
And what happened?
Isaac was going to give the blessing to Esau because he liked him better. Rebecca usurped Isaac’s authority and instead of speaking in love, deceived him and split the brothers up for decades because of it.
Jacob then learned from his mother’s bad example and chose Joseph as his favorite. This of course led to an arrogant son whom his brothers hated so much they sold him into slavery!
Favoritism does not produce good works of faith.
Ok, ok…we get it, right?
To go back to James’s example, when we choose the rich man over the poor man, we’re probably doing it for our own selfish gain. Having a rich person as a friend could come with cool perks…maybe a free plane ride in their private jet to some Caribbean island?
But I’ll throw this thought out there too.
In Jesus’s day, tax collectors were very wealthy individuals. Jesus…not so much.
Not in the earthly material sense anyways.
But which of those two people would you have rather sat down to a meal with? Which of those two would have been more beneficial for you truly?
Wait…there’s more!
What about Jesus’s other teachings?
James draws on those too. In James’s example, he’s telling you not to choose favorites among two people coming to your dinner party. However, both of these people seem to be welcome into the party.
But what about favoritism of a friend vs an enemy?
We may not have distinct enemies as they did back then. The perfect example for them would be like choosing the rich friendly vineyard owner vs choosing a Roman soldier.
For us, it might just be someone that rubs you the wrong way, someone you don’t get along with, or someone who has polar opposite views as you do politically.
Well, Jesus talks about this too:
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:46-48 CSB).
I mean…I don’t think I can top Jesus’s words.
All I can say is that the topic of loving your neighbor and loving your enemy segues great into our next point.
But I’ll leave this section with this. Judgment and favoritism do NOT produce good works of faith. They come from the roots of sin, selfishness, and judgment. And those that do it are lawbreakers.
Faith vs Works
Ok, so faith vs works.
The age-old question. Battling the reality that we can’t get to Heaven on our works alone. We need faith in Christ. That’s it. He is the ONLY way to God. And yet, we also know that faith without works is dead.
How do we reconcile that?
Before I tell you my own thoughts, this is what Jesus had to say on the matter:
“‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’
‘Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.’” (Matthew 7:21-27 CSB).
Now, that whole passage itself could be its own Biblit. But I think that Jesus is drawing a line between people who simply profess faith and those who truly do God’s will. And He clearly says that one will enter Heaven and the other will not.
Jesus goes on to say how important it is for us to hear what He is saying and act on it. That those who commit to His words will be like a house on the rock.
Life is full of wind and storms. And if our faith is not rooted in action, it will float away and crumble like a house built on the sand.
So, Jesus preached that there is a difference between professing faith and having true faith. I particularly love how true faith in Christ is talked about in a relational way.
It’s all about whether we truly have a relationship with Christ or just faith that He exists.
Even John chimes in on this one too:
“Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 CSB).
I could even keep this trend going. Paul talks a lot about love in particular in 1 Corinthians 13. I won’t dive into that because it’s off the topic of faith. But even love is talked about as action, not mere emotional highs.
So, the question still exists.
We know there is a difference between expressing faith and having true faith (or a relationship with Christ). We know that having a relationship with Christ requires no work on our end. But we know that if we don’t work, we have no relationship.
How can we still reconcile this?
Well, let’s use James’s 3 examples to shed some more light.
A Hypothetical Example
I thought James’s hypothetical example was pretty great. And it’s a hard truth to swallow sometimes.
We are called to work for God’s will.
And we know that God’s will is to take care of the poor and needy. It’s riddled all over scripture. Yet, when someone in need comes to us, what do we do?
Often, we dismiss them. Or…if we are indeed “in the faith” we will take the time to sit and pray with them.
I’m not knocking prayer, don’t get me wrong. But if you pray for God to provide for someone in need, just remember, you might be the answer to that prayer.
I think praying for the homeless in general is great and we should do it more. I think praying with homeless people one on one is great and we should do it more. But how much more will our words be received if we do the will of God first and actually take care of them?
A Harsh Reality
Let’s talk about the harsh reality James lays out too.
He basically calls us all demons. Most of those religious people who believe in the one true God…demons.
The reality is, he might not be calling us demons. He’s making a stronger point. What makes us better than a demon?
If we believe in God, but do not do His will, are we furthering His kingdom or tearing it down?
The demon’s goal is to thwart God’s plan. God wants His elected to come to faith and dwell with Him forever.
So if we “believe” but never act on our faith, what good is that? If we continue to live as the world lives but declare we are Christians, does that not taint what life in Christ really is? Do people not see that and question why would I ever believe in that?
Does that not fall right in line with the demon’s plans? Most of the demons can probably take a break, take a long vacation.
The truth is, the differentiator is our actions.
If we have true faith, we will have a true relationship with Christ, and that will produce actions in line with God’s will.
Will we still sin? Absolutely! Paul talks all about that. Sin does not dismiss us from the faith. Christ cleared those sins. I just wanted to make that clear.
Again, our relationship with Christ is solidified by Christ’s works and blood, not our own.
Once we have faith in that truth, we can’t help but continue to get to know He who saved us. And as we do, He naturally sanctifies us to do His will.
A Historical Example
The last example James used was with Abraham and Rahab.
I wanted to break these down a little bit more too.
What exactly did Abraham have faith in that gave him the confidence to sacrifice his own son?
Well, the author of Hebrews dives into this a bit more:
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.” (Hebrews 11:18-19 CSB).
See, Abraham had faith that God would raise Isaac from the dead. That was the only way God could keep His promises, and Abraham knew God would keep His promises.
And thus, Abraham committed to what God asked. God stopped him before Abraham had to. And the beautiful thing in this story is that God did what Abraham didn’t have to do. He sacrificed His one and only son.
Through Abraham’s faith, He was counted as righteous. His confidence and power? It all came from His faith in God and God’s promises. That is what fueled his actions.
Rahab was the same.
She heard of the wonderful things God did for Israel, and she had faith that God was to deliver Jericho to Israel.
Because of that faith in God, she was fueled to save the spies. As it is written in Hebrews:
“By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.” (Hebrews 11:31 CSB).
Both Abraham and Rahab were counted as righteous because of the actions they did. And both Abraham and Rahab did those actions because of their faith. They were empowered to act because of God, not their own will.
Conclusion
And perhaps that is the answer to our question.
Faith, true faith, fuels actions.
When we know God, like truly having a relationship with Him, it will empower and inspire us to live according to His will.
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