About the Tongue and Wisdom
The Power of the tongue
1. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
2. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
3. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
4. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.
5. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
7. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.
8. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.
10. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
11. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?
12. Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
Personally, the bulk of the early part of my ministry was missionary evangelism. Of course, besides evangelism, it involved Bible teaching and discipling new converts. But I did not concentrate, particularly, on a teaching ministry. I often say that the first five years on the Costa Chica of Oaxaca, Mexico, was my Bible school training. I gained practical experience in Christianity on hostile foreign soil, saw evidence of the Providence of God, and read consistently time and again the sacred pages of God’s word. Doctrines formed, as I watched the word play out in the circumstances of people, who were not different than the people, along with their stories, as those in the Bible.
Many years later, the teaching learned from those years and experiences transformed into something that I could share with the body of Christ. Doors opened in teaching conferences from Argentina to India and many places in between. My “heroes” in the faith have always been those, who have battled on the front lines in mighty conflicts against spiritual forces. I have often wondered how young students can put so much faith and trust in teachers, who have gained most of their theology, sitting in warm offices, studying from commentaries and volumes of hermeneutical works, written by superior intellects.
The Faith and Works Package
James 2:14-26
14. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16. and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18. But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
20. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22. Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS." And he was called the friend of God.
24. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
An ineffective faith. Let every critic of James, no matter who he may be, examine carefully his teaching, and he will see that his doctrine is very constructive and positive concerning faith. He does confront an ineffectual faith, unable to save, but also presents a true faith. We could say that James shows that works are the fruit of true faith. Speaking of faith without works, I notice that the English Standard Version, the American Standard Version and the Amplified Bible, add the word that to faith in verse 14, asking the question, “Can that faith save him?” These translations would indicate that there are different kinds of faith and we will learn that they come from different sources.
The Royal Law of Liberty
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| Where's the piccolo? |
The sin of partiality
1. My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
2. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
3. and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool,"
4. have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5. Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
6. But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7.
Do they not
blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
We are seeing that James is a firm believer in “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ”, as surely as is the apostle, Paul. However, in this chapter we will see that James is concerned with a faith that is tainted by partiality. He deals with it first and then goes on to deal with an incomplete faith… a faith that is not completed by God-ordained works in verse 14. In Ephesians 2:10 we read, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Yes, Paul also believed in works.
The faith of Jesus Christ is not compatible with worldly standards, a practice of giving preference to the affluent. It is not a worthy representation of “the Lord of glory.” His glory is seen in the Gospels, as He points favorably to the good Samaritan, who attended the fallen traveler, whom the Levite and priest ignored (Lk.10:33). He conversed with the Samaritan woman, even though “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (Jn.4:9). It was a Samaritan leper, who returned to Jesus to give thanks, after he was healed (Lk.17:6).
Christian practice was demonstrated by Philip, “who went to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them” (Ac.8:5). Peter and John followed, praying that the Samaritans would be wonderfully baptized in the Holy Spirit. On their return to Jerusalem, they preached “the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans” (Ac.8:25). The glory of Jesus Christ continues to shine in the book of Acts, as the gospel opens, step by step, to the Gentiles, despised by the Jews.
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