James: Faith for daily living.

John Farley
Pastor-Teacher
Sunday,
November 13, 2016

Practical Christianity:

James: faith for practical daily living

Faith
and works.

Jam 2:1

Faith in James 2:1 is NOT faith in Christ for eternal salvation.

The Lord of GLORY.

Our faith here is directed toward the GLORIFIED CHRIST, at the Right Hand of the Father.

Faith with regard to salvation is faith in Christ: faith in Christ as Savior.

It is faith in the death , burial and resurrection of Christ. By the way, none of these events is referenced in James.

The glorified Christ is our advocate on a daily basis now.
1Jo 2:1; Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34

And one day He will return to judge the living and the dead.
Act 10:42; 2Ti 4:1

So our faith directed toward the glorified Christ is the faith of people who are already believers.

It is faith like the faith of Gal 2:20, rather than the faith of Gal 2:16.

Gal 2:20

At different stages of God’s plan for us, faith is exercised for different purposes.

We believe in Christ as our Savior first.

Then after that we exercise faith in Christ as our glorified Lord and Advocate, the Head of the Body.

The faith of Gal 2:16, like the faith of Rom 3:21-28 and Eph 2:8-9, is faith for eternal salvation.

This faith is directed toward Christ as Savior.

But the word “savior” is not found anywhere in the letter of James.

No mention of Christ’s death, burial, or resurrection either.

All of the references to the Lord in James are to the Lord in glory.

They have to do with either His present ministry to the believer, His second coming, or His office as judge.

The faith of Gal 2:20 is for our daily life after salvation.

James addresses faith in the realm of practical daily living.

At the judgment seat of Christ, believers will recompensed for deeds done in the body.

2Co 5:6-10

Notice here that Paul talks about his WALK. This is his forward progress after salvation. And it is by faith.

We believers will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

We will be judged according to what we have DONE, whether good or bad.

At the judgment seat of Christ, we will be vindicated by works – not by faith alone.

It is the faith of the believer that is the issue in the letter of James.

We have been declared righteous by God; but are we living by faith? That will be revealed by our walk, by our deeds.

We get our information about the judgment seat of Christ, which is for members of the body of Christ, from Paul.

James got his understanding about the judgment from the
Old Testament, as well as the sayings of Jesus.

Mal 3:1-6

Mat 12:36-37

Oppressing wage earners, and widows and orphans. The tongue as a restless evil. Jam 1:26-27; Jam 3:1-12; Jam 4:11-12; Jam 5:1-6

Jesus revealed the rapture to Paul alone, as a mystery.
1Co 15:50-58;
1Th 1:9-10; 1Th 4:13-18

Paul is the only one who speaks of the judgment seat of Christ for the church.

In all likelihood James is thinking of the judgment of the nation of Israel at the Second Coming of Christ.

When James talks about faith, he is referring to our faith as it is practiced in our daily lives after salvation.

So next, let’s prove this out by examining each of the references to faith in the letter of James.

 

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Thanksgiving schedule

● Thanksgiving service- Wednesday, Nov 23rd

@ 6:30 PM.

● No Bible study Thursday

Christmas Week Schedule

● Christmas “eve” service - Thursday, Dec 22 @ 7 PM.

● Next service after that –

Sunday Jan 1, 2017 @ 10 AM.


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