James
Lessons
for Life
James little letter is a great one to help us as we try to live our
lives as Christians. Many people will ask, “Now that I am a Christian, how do I
go about living my life?” James answers many of those questions by giving us
guidance on how to live out that faith that we have been given. It is for that
reason that this series of studies is entitled “Lessons for Life.”
Come along and join us as we learn some of these lessons. Do you have
questions? Do you have comments? Be sure to post them so that we can discuss
them. This is by no means the end to all the questions that we have in our
lives of faith.
James 2:14
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not
have works? Can that faith save him? 15: If a brother or
sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16: and
one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving
them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17: So
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
1. Who is James writing to in this
letter? What difference does this make in how we interpret his writing?
2. Social ministry is considered to
be taking care of the needs of those less fortunate while also sharing the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Examples: homeless shelters, food pantries, etc.) How does
what James writes help us to understand how to go about social ministry?
3. James tells us in vs. 17, “So
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” How would you
apply this in to your daily life? What does this help you understand about your
walk of faith in Christ Jesus?
James 2:18
“But someone wills say, ‘I have faith and I have works. Show me your faith
apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
4. This really gets to what James is
saying to the Christian. What is he saying to the Christian here? What is he
saying to you?
1A. James is writing to fellow Christians. He says, “My brothers.”
These are people who have already been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
This is important to understand because of what he is about to write. If you
understand that he is writing to Christians, then you can avoid the false teaching
of works righteousness. If you feel that he is writing to non-Christians, then
you will begin to think that one must do works in order to be saved. James is
firmly teaching the proper distinction between justification and
sanctification. He wrote, “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word
of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
(James 1:18) We are already made new, brought to life by the Word, living as
His sons and daughters. What he is addressing here is our life of
sanctification, how we live as children of God.
2A. While we are called to assist in the needs of those less fortunate,
we are also called to share the message of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.
All too often, we feel that we are to be content with one or the other. We tell
people, “Jesus loves you,” but don’t do anything to help them out in their
lives. James tells us, “That is wrong! You haven’t helped them at all.” But at
the same time, James would tell us, “If you give them food for the body but no
food for the soul, what good have you done?” Jesus would say to us, “What
does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark
8:36) James would have us do both – take care of the body and the soul.
3A. This is really a personal question. For too many Christians, they
feel that it is enough to believe in Jesus Christ. They don’t have to live the
faith. What I mean, is that they do not feel that their faith actually affects
the way they go through their daily life. Their faith in Christ is
compartmentalized into one little section of their lives. It is only used when
necessary.
4A. Faith is a matter of the heart. Paul writes, “With the heart one
believes and is justified…” (Romans 10:10a) We cannot see into the heart.
Only the Lord sees the heart of the person and knows that he/she is a
Christian. For us, the way that we show our faith is not by what we say, which
is easy, but by what we do. This is seen also in Matthew 25 with the judgment
between the sheep and the goats. Works is brought forward not to show that one
is justified by works by to show that faith shows itself in works. When I did
prison ministry, we would often use the phrase, “Anyone can talk the talk. The
Christian walks the walk.” This is to say that a person can say they believe
but it is really shown by how the person lives. This is not to say that a
Christian is perfect. Paul talks about the two natures of the Christian, saint
and sinner, in Romans. We are saints in Christ through the righteousness of
Christ. We are sinners through our continued sinful actions. The sinful actions
do not invalidate our faith in Christ. That is why we continually return to the
waters of our Baptism.
Here, James is telling
us to live the faith we profess. How? By what we do. Our works show the faith
that resides in our hearts. The life of sanctification, live of faith, is shown
each day by what we do, our works.
