Presentation Transcript

1. Studies in James Presentation 08
2. The Structure of the Book Introduction and Trials in the Christian Life (1: 1-8) Happiness in our Circumstances(1: 9-11) Trial, Temptation and Gift (1: 12-18) Hindrances to Fruitfulness(1: 19-21) Doers and Hearers (1: 22-25) True Religion (1: 26-27) Favouritism (2: 1-7) The Royal Law (2: 8-12a) Showing Mercy (2.12b-13] Faith and Works (2:14-26) Teachers and the Tongue (3: 1-12) True and False Wisdom, (3: 13-17) Peacemakers (3: 18) Defeat Through Lack of Submission(4: 1-6) Victory Through Submission(4: 7—10) Judging One Another (4: 11-12) Boasting of Tomorrow (4: 13-17) The Misuse of Wealth(5: 1-6) The Need of Patience (5: 7-12) Appropriate Responses (5:13-16) Restoring the Wanderer (5:17-20) Presentation 08
3. The Royal Law Chap 2v 8-12a Presentation 08
4. Introduction The early church had a constant stream of visitors coming along to their meetings. James was concerned that these visitors, no matter who they were, should be greeted with equal warmth and courtesy. In v1-7 James has taken the church to task for their social discrimination. Some had foolishly used wealth as the standard for measuring a person’s worth. In v8ff James further develops the theme of discrimination, showing it to be a violation of God's law. Presentation 08
5. The Royal Law “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture -love your neighbour as yourself- you are doing right”. Only here in the New Testament is the term ‘royal law’ used. What is its’ significance? James reminds us of the SOURCE of the commandments. During the coronation service of a British monarch, the monarch is handed a Bible with the words- "We present you with this book, the most valuable thing this world affords. Here is wisdom; this is the royal law. These are the lively oracles of God." The law is ‘royal’ because it comes from the King of Kings. The commandments are not the products of an inventive human mind, they reveal the mind of God. The law is not just one of many systems of human moral philosophy. It reveals the moral nature of God. It is not a set of man-made rules it is God’s guide for living. Therefore, our attitude towards God's law will illustrate our attitude towards him. Presentation 08
6. The Royal Law Secondly, the gospel provides us with incentive for law-keeping by changing our attitude towards it, so that we are able to say with the Psalmist, “O LORD, and your law is my delight” Ps 119v174. The gospel does this by making it clear that our salvation is not dependent upon how well we keep the law. Many people, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, feel they can only get to heaven under their own steam, by making themselves "good enough". When people live like that, the law becomes a dispiriting thing. It appears as a cruel taskmaster. It is the author of strain. It constantly demands what human nature cannot produce - a perfect life. Presentation 08
7. The Royal Law However, when the gospel makes it clear that salvation is free, because Christ has satisfied the law on our behalf and died in our place, then we approach the law in a different manner. Keeping it becomes our way of expressing our love to God for all he has done for us. Only the gospel enables us to fulfil the law and to truly love our neighbour. It was therefore abhorrent to James that some in the church should favour one particular group at the expense of others. To behave in this way is to sin against love and to break the most royal of laws. You might think that James is making a mountain out of a molehill by focusing upon favouritism and discrimination. But favouritism is not trivial it is intolerable to God. Presentation 08
8. The Fragile Excuse How well James understood human nature. He immediately anticipates the kind of excuse that his readers would use to justify their discrimination. They would argue something like this, “Look at us, we are law abiding people. We do a great deal of good. We aren't thieves, murderers, or adulterers. We help old ladies across the street. Our social discrimination can be overlooked in the light of the good we do. We have surely earned the right to maintain this little vice”. Does that sound familiar? What happens when God’s Spirit puts his finger on something in our life that is not right? Perhaps it’s our reluctance to speak to someone we consider our social inferior or our impatience with someone in our congregation, or our unwillingness to give ourselves to others? Do we say, ‘This is a small thing. I should be allowed to live with it for it is more than outweighed by all the good I do’. Presentation 08
9. The Fragile Excuse James points out a major flaw in this reasoning. He says, ‘You have failed to understand the true nature of the law. The law is a unity, if you break one part you've broken the whole’. Imagine a ship anchored at the quayside by a chain. How many links in the chain need to break in order to put the vessel in danger? Only one! The chain like the law is a unity, break one part and you have broken the whole. How many punctures do you need to get in your tyre in order to make it unsafe? Only one! The tyre, like the law, is a unity a small pinprick means that the whole tyre is damaged. God’s law is not like the examination paper that says, ‘Only six out of ten questions need be attempted’. The Christian is not allowed to pick and chose what laws he will keep. Presentation 08
10. The Fragile Excuse James says we can’t claim to keep the royal law if we are selective in the bits we choose to observe. We cannot say, ‘I will do this, this and this but not that!’ We cannot say, ‘I will express my love for God for all he has done for me by keeping his law’, and then qualify our love by saying, ‘There are one or two bits I wont give attention to. God will surely be happy as long as I take the bulk of the law seriously’. To think that way, says James, is to fool yourself. To break one part of the law is to break the whole law. The whole tyre is punctured. Presentation 08
11. The Fragile Excuse You might think it strange that James, whose purpose is to denounce favouritism should illustrate lawbreaking by citing both murder and adultery. Surely the people, whose conduct he is challenging would heave a sigh of relief and say, ‘Well we are O.K. for we are not guilty of those sins’. But James’ choice is not strange. The commandments forbidding murder and adultery were precisely those chosen by Jesus in the sermon on the Mount in Mt 5.21-30 where Jesus is intent upon shattering the thinking of those who felt they were good at law-keeping. Jesus’ purpose was to drive the commands inward. He equated anger with murder, and lustful thoughts with adultery. Presentation 08
12. The Fragile Excuse James shares Jesus’ concern. He asks, ‘Is there, among the members of the church fellowship; anger, bitterness, resentment, impure thoughts, provocative behaviour, unwise associations. Have you played your part in souring and destroying relationships through things you have said or done? Then you must line up beside the murderer and the adulterer.’ The poison of discrimination and the bitterness of gossip can harm the health of the church family as much as adultery can wreck a home. Why? It is a sin against love. Presentation 08
13. The Fragile Excuse We must not misunderstand James’ instruction. He's not teaching that a man's salvation rests upon his ability to keep the law. None of us would ever enter heaven if that were the case! It is faith in Christ that saves a man. James is however, concerned, throughout his epistle, to challenge the genuineness of his readers’ faith! He is intent upon showing that a desire and willingness to keep the whole law without qualification and exception is one of the evidences of genuine faith. What then is the standing of the person, whose love for his neighbour is missing or qualified? What does James say of those who are determined, despite the instruction of God’s law, to indulge in favouritism and discrimination? Their behaviour is not simply a minor irritant like some annoying fly. It is a major problem for it is not consistent with a genuine profession of faith. Presentation 08
14. Conclusion How do we view God’s law? If you see it as brutal taskmaster lashing you on to earn God's favour then have yet to experience the liberating power of the gospel in your life. Salvation is dependent on God's grace and not on our performance. If on the other hand we claim to have faith but see the law as a heavenly selection box allowing us to pick and choose those parts you will obey, then we have misunderstood the nature of God's law and call into question the genuineness of our faith. However, if you see law-keeping, without any qualification as a means of expressing your love and gratitude to God for the forgiveness he has freely bestowed in Christ, then James says, ‘you are doing right!’ Presentation 08
15. Conclusion But what if you are genuinely concerned to show your love for God by keeping his law, but you regularly fall short of his commands? The it is important to remember that God’s smile on your life is neither earned nor maintained by your law-keeping. It flows from his grace. Of course God does not excuse our failure but he has made abundant provision for the forgiveness of believing men and women through the death of his Son on the cross. This rich forgiveness is there for those who grieve over their failure and like the prodigal come to the Father in repentance and faith. Presentation 08