Living Out Our Faith: Actions Reflect Beliefs

"We do as Jesus says, because of what he has done. And we're going to have two points this morning. Matt did two points last week. I'm doing two points again. We're setting a trend here. Two points this morning. Point one, our attitudes, which is verses 19 through 21. So point one, our attitudes versus 19 through 21. And point two, our actions versus 22 through 25." [00:02:17]

"quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Now, there are a couple of important things to notice here. First, James is talking to Christians. Okay, James is talking to Christians those who are brothers and sisters, as he says, and those who have already had the word planted in them." [00:05:56]

"To James, these three attitudes are meant to be like the fertilizer that allows God's word to nourish the soil of our souls. But if you're not listening, are quick to speak, and are hasty to anger, it's like putting a tarp on top of the soil. The rain can't reach the soil because the tarp of our attitudes. So James is calling us to change. Otherwise, our growth in Christ will be stunted and may even die from lack of water." [00:08:55]

"Alright, two things to notice. First, James says human anger. By which he means sinful anger. That doesn't mean there isn't a place for righteous anger. The Bible has a category for righteous or godly anger. This is why Ephesians 4 .26 says, Be angry and do not sin. So there is an exceptional category for righteous, non-sinful anger. But remember, James is concerned with attitudes that block the reign." [00:11:21]

"God is love and his anger is a response to when what he loves is mistreated or threatened. And his love is a holy, perfect love. So when his love is mistreated, he's a holy, perfect love. When his holy, perfect law is mistreated and broken, he is angered because he loves what is good. He also loves whom he chooses to love, like his people. So when his people are mistreated or threatened, he is angered because he loves them." [00:16:29]

"Instead of ignoring anger and bottling it up, we're engaging it. In Alasdair Grove's book, Untangling Emotions, and I recommend this to all of you all, Untangling Emotions, he discusses the need to engage our emotions, not to bottle them up or seek to just remove them altogether. You see, so many of us think that we can stop undesirable emotions if we just turn the faucet off and then the leak will stop." [00:18:10]

"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Here, James is drawing from the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, 24, which was our scripture reading. I'll read it again. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. According to Jesus, wisdom isn't just hearing, it's doing." [00:22:56]

"Now, it sounds pretty logical, but it is deception, friends. Just as legalism, trying to earn grace, trying to earn grace, trying to earn grace, trying to earn grace, trying to earn God's favor by your works is deception, so antinomianism, justifying a lawless life because of Jesus' word, is deception. If anyone tries to teach you this, you got James 22 in your tool bag, or 1 .22 in your tool bag, same with Matthew 7 .24, and then especially Romans 6 .1 and 2." [00:24:42]

"Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it, it will be blessed in what they do. The point he's making is nestled into these little dashes in verse 25, not forgetting, but doing. That's the point. The first character in verses 23 through 24 looks and forgets. The second looks and remembers and does." [00:25:52]

"Well, most likely James is referring to the law of Christ, the law of Christ, or in other words, the law of Moses as it's interpreted and fulfilled by Jesus. Let me, let me repeat that. The law of Christ, which is the law of Moses as it's interpreted and fulfilled by Jesus. So let me explain that. In the old Testament, God gave the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, his law and this law called the mosaic law reflected God's perfect character that all of humanity was meant to live by, but failed to do." [00:30:21]

"for sabbath or when he shows the true extent of the law showing how it's applicable to the sins of the heart like lust and anger so christ has freed us he's fulfilled he's freed us from the condemnation of the law by faith in christ alone but he also teaches us how to obey god and therefore experience freedom to enjoy life the way it was designed to be enjoyed and this is what james has in mind friends we have been freed by the law and its demands but there is also freedom in following christ in his commands" [00:31:50]

"Now, these guys may sound like unrelatable religious zealots, but really, they've just internalized what James is saying here. There is joy. There is delight. There is fulfillment. There is freedom in God's commands. And you see, it's only when we believe that, that we actually begin to remember and do what he says. In verse 25, James says, you'll be blessed as you do. Now, this doesn't mean you're going to start living the hashtag blessed life as represented online." [00:35:58]