James: Faith and Works
James: On The Religious Life
James: Trials of Faith
The Meaning of Baptism
In this audio sermon/lesson I explain the true meaning of baptism as given by Paul in his description found in Romans 6:1-12. Please leave comments so that I can continue to provide quality audio and video material on subjects that are of interest to you.
Perfect Love
According to the letter of 1st John, love is perfected by loving those who have the spirit of God.
1 John 4:12-13 (KJV)
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
This is a key to how we know who is truly from God and who is a false believer. Many can recite and sermonize scripture to the point that discerning the imitations from true believers can become very difficult, especially for the new Christian. I have seen fast-talking evangelists use scripture to charm potential believers into their flock like a modern-day Pied Piper. As a matter of fact, let me remind you that it was the Devil who quoted scripture to Jesus during his temptation as recorded in Matthew 4:1. The early church also faced the same problems with false prophets who saw an opportunity to obtain power through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit (Acts 18:18-19). But sooner or later the false prophet reveals himself and his true motives, whether it be power, wealth, or fame.
God’s love is not some Hallmark saying that simply sounds poetic to those who hear it. If it were, there would be little difference between truth and deception. God’s love, however, is a moral love and a desire for a moral life in Christ. One cannot love Christ without loving who Christ was, what he did, and what he taught. Jesus was not and is not an abstract concept of God that exists only in the minds of men. He is a personalized revelation of God. So, when John tells us to love one another he is telling us to love this moral image that we have of God as we see him revealed in Christ and in our brothers and sisters. Likewise, it is this moral love that dwells within each of us that transforms us into the image of Christ and helps us to recognize this image in others. This is the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now I once heard someone say that once they learn how to imitate sincerity that they’ve got it made. Unfortunately, I do believe that it is possible for someone to imitate sincerity because I have actually seen people do it. So, looking and sounding sincere is not what makes a person a true believer; it is their love for God, for Christ, and for the believer as shown in their behavior and attitude that is critical as evidence of true belief.
Jesus said:
Matthew 6:19-23 (KJV)
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
No matter how sincere or heart-warming a person can quote or preach the word of God they cannot hide where they keep their real treasure. So, watch carefully where others keep their treasure and watch out for yourself as well.
If you love God and are transformed by that love, then his love is perfected in you. And where love is perfected fear is cast out. For there is nothing that a believer ought to fear since all things are working out for good.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
All sorrow and pain are temporary, but love is eternal. So, there is no need to fear for fear comes from uncertainty and uncertainty is a product small faith.
1 John 4:18 (KJV)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Paul taught us that perfect love will produce both perfect faith and perfect hope. So, meditate upon perfect love and everything else will follow.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (ASV)
13 But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
The Name of God
THE NAME OF GOD
Many times I listened to sermons of pastors or read books that are meant to enlighten us about Jesus and the role he played in the revelation of God to men, but I always seem to come away feeling disappointed. I realize that one cannot preach or teach on something that they themselves do not fully understand and probably no one truly fully understands the intimate relationship between Jesus and God. But this is not an excuse for us to not search scripture for the fullness of truth on the matter.
In some cases the further we develop our knowledge the better our understanding becomes, but sometimes the more knowledgeable we become the less that we truly understand. In my own personal search for truth I thought it might be better to try to understand Jesus from the point of view of a contemporary Jew who made up Jesus’ intimate audience. What would a Jew think about Jesus when he said the things he said about himself? What would they think when he performed miracles and even forgave sins? Now I’m not talking here about the self-righteous Jews called Pharisees, but about those who really wanted to follow Jesus and understand him. I think that if we can get into their mindset of such a person, we will able to understand Jesus’ relationship with God in a much deeper, meaningful manner than using old theological terms that were developed much later by those trying to justify their spiritual understanding with philosophers.
To begin our study we accept that God has always revealed himself to man from the moment of creation. Even creation itself is an act of revelation. But what is important here is not a general knowledge of God, but an intimate one. When God wanted to reveal himself personally he did so using the name “Yahweh.” Some of you may better recognize this name in another form “Jehovah.” Most theologians today believe that Yahweh is a more accurate translation of the name of God so I’ll stick with that one. Many Bible editors chose to use LORD in all uppercase as a substitute for God’s name to avoid controversy. You can, however, find Jehovah used in the American Standard Version. The main point that I want to make here is that there was an actual name associated to God.
If we take the time to study how God revealed himself using this name, we can see that there was a progressive development that took place according to the scriptures of the Old Testament. These names reveal some very interesting qualities of God. Some revelations of God under this name are Provider, Healer, Banner, Sanctifier, Peace, Righteousness, Shepherd, Presence, and LORD of Hosts.
So, the Jews during the time of Christ were very much aware of the importance of God’s name and what it revealed. Once we understand this we can see how through this name God developed a profile of himself that was to be later fulfilled in his revelation of Christ.
The final revelation of God’s name is found in the name JESUS, which means “Yahweh (Jehovah) Our Salvation.” So in the person of Christ we have the culmination of all the previous qualities of God revealed in his name fulfilled in the final revelation of Yahweh as Jesus.
Why is this important and what can we gain from this understanding? It is important because it teaches us that the name of Jesus is a derivation of the name Yahweh (Jehovah) and therefore, the name of Jesus must be given the same respect and authority as the name Yahweh. We can see this when we read through the New Testament and observe how the disciples used the name Jesus with that same authority as well as how the Pharisees negatively reacted when the disciples called upon the name of Jesus for healing and salvation.
Romans 10:13 (KJV)
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Interestingly, we can see this exact same verse applied in the Old Testament to the name Yahweh:
Joel 2:32 (NKJV)
32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD (Yahweh) Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
It is very clear that Joel’s prophecy predicted a time when people would call upon God’s name for salvation. And according to Peter there is only one name, Jesus, that has the authority to save.
Acts 4:10-12 (KJV)
12 “. . . .for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
And if you are not convinced by those verses compare Isaiah 45 to Philippians 2
Isaiah 45:22-23 (KJV)
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Philippians 2:10-11 (KJV)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What we can gain from this is an understanding that God has become all things to us. When we call upon the name Jesus we are calling upon God in the form of the most intimate revelation of him that exists.
Because of the unity of the name of God between Yahweh and Jesus the identity of Jesus cannot be separated from God himself nor can God be separated from Jesus. This means that the God of the Old Testament is not a different God in any sense, but an unfinished revelation that would finally be fulfilled in the birth and death of Jesus. So now you know why the name of Jesus was so very important to Peter, Paul, John, and the rest of the disciples. I hope that now it will be more important and meaningful to you as well.
Forgiveness
Did you ever ask yourself why God forgives us? Well, Scripture tells us that it’s not because of us or anything that we did and it’s certainly not something that we deserve. It’s because of who God is. God is a holy being who desires to share his holiness with us so that he might be glorified. He shares this by his forgiveness as an expression of his holiness. So, when people think that God couldn’t possibly forgive them because of what they did or even Christians who have fallen away for a time, the answer is that God will always forgive you because it is the nature of his holiness.
Jesus makes this very clear in several parables such as the lost sheep where the shepherd leaves his 99 sheep to save the 1 who is lost and the prodigal son who runs away from his family only to return to a forgiving father. God receives great joy when he forgives us because it allows him to express himself so that all can see his glory. When we forgive others in the name of Jesus, we are also expressing God’s forgiveness to the glory of God our Father. How beautiful is forgiveness in that we can offer others the holiness of God that they also might see and believe in his glory.
Beyond Faith
Most of what we hear today from pastors is about having faith in God or in Christ. Even Luther and other reformers spoke almost exclusively about faith and how this was our primary means of salvation. We haven’t come much further from this message although it might surprise you that both Paul and Christ did not consider faith to be the ultimate goal.
For years Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 13 troubled me as to how faith was not the greatest way to perfection. But even Jesus gave us a clue that we needed to look deeper into the gospels and the letters to find the perfect way beyond faith.
According to Paul it was love and not faith that was the greatest thing to seek after (1Cor 13:13) and Jesus taught that the greatest commandment was not to have faith in God, but to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind, which was recorded in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27).
Why is this distinction so important? I have seen over the years that many believers struggle with their faith. “Faith alone” has created many ethical conflicts in people’s lives as well as in my own. I have also seen people who appeared to have great faith but were missing something that prevented them from growing spiritually and becoming more Christlike. What was missing in them was love, but this is not some ordinary love. It was divine love (Agape Love). It is the love that binds God to man and man to God. This is why 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us that love is greater than both faith and hope. Love is what actually transforms us into Christ. This is not to say that faith and hope are not necessary, but as Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:21, one might have great faith and still not make it into his kingdom. How is this possible?
Faith enables us to do mighty works, i.e., healing, miracles, conversions, etc., but these are not our works, they are the works of God. It is love that transforms us by allowing us to take God’s love and give it to others. It is this process that God’s love flows through us like a mighty river, transforming us into his sons and daughters.
How then do we transcend faith and reach divine love? I do not believe that we can simply create love for God. The source of love is not actually in the lover, but in the beloved. It is the quality of the Beloved that draws us towards him. Have you not heard the scripture that says, “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19)? God loved us by giving us the life of his only Son. This is a two-pronged love; for the Father gives us his Son, but the Son gives us himself. The two are inseparable.
But it is not just this act of God’s selflessness that draws us to love God. It is the very character of Jesus that completes our love for God. It makes it possible to love God in the fullness of his personal character as seen in Christ. But where do we see this character? In the Sermon on the Mount. It is here that we get insight into the very character of God in Christ. This is the Christ that we must love and we do this by loving everything that he teaches. If we exclude these teachings, we diminish the very source of our love.
So, why is love greater than faith? Because love transcends faith. Faith cannot take us where love can because love fulfills faith.
Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV)
36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38This is the first and great commandment.
39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Read this carefully and notice the order of love. We must first love God before we love our neighbor. Why? Because we cannot love our neighbor with God’s love unless we are first filled with His love. It is a misunderstanding to think that we love God by loving our neighbor. Although many today believe that self-love is necessary for divine love, this is not the message of Christ.
So, the whole teaching of Jesus is that you must have faith in order to enable you to come to a fullness of love for both God and men. For you cannot have divine love without first having divine faith and you cannot fulfill divine faith unless you also have divine love.
Summary of the Sermon on the Mount
After reading the Sermon on the Mount you might be thinking to yourself that no one can achieve the perfection that Jesus teaches here, but if you are thinking this, you are missing the point. We are not here to judge ourselves or others as to whether we are perfect or not, but whether we really love the one who is perfect. Paul understood exactly what Jesus was teaching and reflected it in his writings to the Philippians:
Philippians 3:12-14 (KJV)
12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
We are called to strive toward the upward call of God in Christ. The truth remains that we cannot accomplish the goals set for us in this sermon by our own willpower nor achieve it by the use of self-help books. But such weakness is not an excuse for our failure. Realizing this brings us much closer to understanding Jesus’ teaching. What Jesus expects from us is to love the character that he just described in his sermon. This character is, in fact, a profile of Jesus himself. If we say that we believe in Jesus, this is the Jesus that we must believe in. This is the true Jesus who lifts us out of sin by his own character through love.
The Sermon on the Mount cannot and should not be reduced to one idea or simplified into a cliché. It is complex and speaks to us differently at different levels at different times in our lives. Today, many have taken Jesus’ teachings and transformed them into a behavioral psychology in order to satisfy man’s psychological needs. We see this frequently when pastors take the words of Jesus and conform them into motivational techniques in order to publish best-selling Christian self-help books. These are mere imitations of the true teachings of Jesus. We must understand that what started out as divine teaching has now been transformed, conformed, and finally adapted to the needs of humanity as a technique to improve the quality of life and not the divine teaching of God that brings eternal salvation.
PHILOSOPHY & CHRISTIANITY 