Hello and thank you everyone for all the wonderful feed back yesterday. Today we will be doing James chapter 2.
1-7
James begins with loving thy neighbor like thee's self. He talks about how people judge all the time and how we're very bad at it. He brings up the example where your hosting a party and a well dressed man with bling bling walks in and a poorer looking man walks in. You would offer the well dressed man a nice seat but you would give the poor fellow a worse seat when compared to the rich man. You judged them by how they looked and then acted on it. Rich people are rich in money while God made poor people are rich in faith.
8-13
God's number one rule is love your neighbor as you would love yourself. James says that if you treat someone as more important then someone else then you are breaking all of Gods law. The best metaphor that I could think of for this is a ribbon, like at the end of a race. The ribbon represents Gods law and all the individual laws are written on the ribbon. Now say you break one of the laws and where that law was written on the ribbon is now broken. What happens to the ribbon? It breaks. It doesn't matter which rule you break, sin is sin and sin is equal.
13-20
Faith with out works is dead. If a fellow Christian walks up to you in need of food a clothes and you tell them be safe and stay warm, without actually giving them anything then your words were worthless. What you say ani't gonna help this guy out, he needs action and aid or 'works'. You wanna know something else interesting? Demons have more faith then some people. It say in verse 19 that demons believe in God and shake with fear, so what makes faith good is action witch is why demons are bad and not good because of their faith.
21-26
James goes and proves the faith that does nothing is worth nothing. He brings up Abraham and how he had the faith to sacrifice his son. Because of his faith plus actions he not only saved his son but also was made right with God. He was called a friend of God. James also talks about Rahab and the spies but the point is still the same, faith that does nothing is dead.
That concludes chapter 2 of 5 of James and tommarow will be chapter 3 of 5 of James. Take care, bush your hair, I'll see ya when I ya, hopefully down below;) (winking face).
This blog is for the youth at Impact Church, or anyone else that wants to join us to read through the Bible together.
6 comments:
That was a great analogy Matt!
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (James 2:9 ESV)
I think James also was saying showing partiality is just as bad as murder and adultery since it is also a sin. If we don't show partiality in our highschool group then cliques will never happen. Cliques really mess things up because they make it hard for new people to get plugged in and learn about God. If we pay more attention to rich people at church then the poor people won't come.
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24 ESV)
I think of this like a sick person. If someone is really sick they will show signs of being sick, but someone who is not sick can fake signs. If you have great faith in God you will do great things for Him. Also people that are just a little bit sick with a small cold or something still can have a few signs they are sick, so someone with small faith in God will do small works. I think the greater your faith is in God the greater the works you will do are.
Thanks for praying everyone! I feel a ton better. Great blog Matt. See you guys 2morrow if you can make it.
10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:10-13
I love this verse because it keeps me in check. If my pride ever gets too big all I have to do is read this verse and I realize I'm just as guilty as anyone else in this world.
19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! James 2:19
I love this verse because it points out the fact that even the demons believe in Him. So what is there to separate the demons from us??? That's when works comes in.
26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James 2:26
Faith without works is dead.
Great job today Matt. Really like these posts.
Glad you're getting better Nathan. I'll continue to pray for you.
Great job Matt and great points Nathan and Joe. I love reading the comments and looking at all the different perspectives on these verses. I love this chapter becuase its humbling while still encouraging.
James 2:5 says, "Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" I love this verse because it shows me that God can use anyone to further His kingdom. Even me. Sometimes I struggle with am I good enough? Or could God really use me? But what I'm learning is that God can use ANYONE to further His kingdom and as long as I will trust Him to guide me, I can share God's word and I don't have to be scared.
James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." No sin is worse than another. I often convince myself that I'm not doing anything wrong because I'm obeying most of the law but thats not right. God wants us to obey the entire law.
Finally, James 2:18 says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith with deeds." The best way to show someone your faith is with your actions. When I was a little girl and would get in trouble I would always say, "I'll do better next time" and my mom would tell me, "Okay we'll see, just remember that actions speak louder than words." I use to hate that saying when I was a little girl but now I understand just how true it is.
I hope everyone is feeling better and I will continue to pray for everyone! -Taylor Rayborn
I love what you guys said:)
Verses 10-11: For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, " Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
These verses really help us to see that we do fail and sin. But i like how it says if we fail in one point we become accountable for all of it. That is really humbling because sometimes i think " yeah i sinned but at least i didn't do this" or "well i only did this but they did this so it's ok." But this verse points out that we are accountable for our sins.
Verse 14: What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? Verse 17: So also faith by itself if it doesn't have works, is dead.
This verse shows us that just having faith, although it is good, won't help us in the long run. It's not ok just live by works though. You have to have both faith and works so that God can use you to reach others.
Verse 19: You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe- and shudder.
Even demons believe in Christ. I like what you said about this verse Joe. We have no excuse not to believe.
I am praying for everyone still and praising God that y'all seem to be a little better. I have a prayer request for Gracie Sisk. Some of y'all know her she is a kindergartener at impact church and fell today they took her to the hospital and think she broke her arm:( i will keep y'all updated as i learn more!~abby<3
James 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
I really love this verse because when my dad wasn't making enough money and our friends would go to sky high, etc. My younger brothers and sisters would say, "I wish we were rich" and my mom would say, "We are rich because Christ lives inside of you.
James 2:22
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
Also this verse stuck out to me because a lot of people and some that I know claim they are Christians but don't walk on the right path with God. If they didn't tell me they were Christians I would never know because of their actions. what this verse is saying is that its kind of a package, you need to except Jesus as your savior and show that you love him by your actions!
Wow Matt I really liked your metaphor for how the laws of God work. I thought it was really cool that you explained it as a ribbon at the end of a race.
I really liked verse 17:
So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.(NLT)
I like this verse because it talks about how yes, our faith in God is very important and good, but if we never do anything with it how can we continue to grow and how can others find him? It says that if we don't do anything then we are just wasting our self's because we should want to tell everyone about God!
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