ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHRIST
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST
THE BOOK OF JAMES CHAPTER 1 (Part Two Study)
Qualities Needed in Trials
19 [c]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Doers—Not Hearers Only
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and [d]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone [e]among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Notes James 1 (vv. 19-27)
1:19-20: THE WRATH OF MAN is unjust, ungracious, and severe … It proceeds from uncontrolled anger, not from God’s judgement … For us to discern THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD requires these three things – (1): PATIENCE; (2): GRACIOUSNESS; AND (3): CONTROLLED PASSIONS …
1:21: While the WORD was IMPLANTED in baptism, Christians continue to RECEIVE Him throughout our lives …
1:25: James takes the Jewish notion of freedom – OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW- and applies it to CHRIST’S LAW, His Commandment to LOVE OTHERS AS HE LOVED US … James uses the OT form – (see James 2:8) …
James 2:8: If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
“THE LAW OF LIBERTY”
1:26-27: THREE EXAMPLES OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND WORKS: (1): Mastery over speech: What proceeds out of the mouth flows from the heart, one way or the other our tongues will reveal the quality of our faith in God … (2): Ministry to the needy: Faithful Christians must be the guardians of the poor, especially of those ORPHANS AND WIDOWS who have lost their natural guardians … “Do not let the widows be neglected; after the Lord, you must be their guardian” – (IgnAnt)” Ignatius of Antioch” … (3): Moral purity in thought and deed: A traditional indicator of a working faith … “Let us make haste to wash away through fasting the filth of our transgressions, and through the acts of mercy and compassion to the needy let us enter into the bridal chamber of the Bridegroom Christ, who grants to us great mercy” – (Vespers, week before Lent) …
PSALM 143 (144) STUDY
THIS STUDY WILL BE READ AND BROKEN DOWN FROM ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE … TO LISTEN & TO PARTICPATE IN THIS STUDY PLEASE TUNE INTO MY VIDEO CONTENT THAT IS POSTED WITH MY DAILY WRITEUPS … JEHOVAH SHALOM, BE BLESSED AND FIND PEACE IN THE LORD …