From James 1:19-27

The order of key concepts in our faith matters.  The Holy Spirit works in us creating faith.  Faith in Jesus Christ and in His work for us saves us from sin, death, and the devil.  Faith then leads us to act in the ways He taught us to.  Sometimes we get confused and reverse or mix-up that order.  Sometimes people put the actions first, saying that we have to do the right thing and be good enough for Jesus to save us.  That’s impossible, because we can never be good enough on our own.  Sometimes people put faith first, but they put action before salvation.  They say “you have to believe, but then you have to prove you believe with your actions before Jesus will save you.” That’s not consistent with what Scripture teaches at all!  We see this illustrated really clearly in John 8:1-11 where Jesus forgives and spares a woman caught in adultery, and after that tells her to “from now on sin no more.” Our salvation never rests on us, from beginning to end it relies on Jesus Christ.  In response to that incredible gift, as an expression of genuine faith, we go out into the world and do good works.  The order is of supreme importance.  The Holy Spirit gives faith, faith saves, and faith drives us to do good works.

With that clarified (hopefully as clear as crystal), we get back into our reading from James today.  He writes to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” He challenges us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, and to distance ourselves from wickedness.  He is talking about the application of our faith.  We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has our best interest at heart when He commands us to love our neighbor and to serve those around us – so we would expect that our believe would drive us into love and service of our neighbors.  We are called to not just talk about it, but to be about it.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously gives us the Word that is able to save our souls.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to live out our faith in action.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

  • Thank Jesus for perfectly living out the will of God during His earthly ministry.
  • Confess to God the times where your faith doesn’t shape your present reality.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to conform you to Christ.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious