Search the Scriptures

Search the Scriptures: Wait for Me!

1 Cor 11:17-34 The Lord's supper

I think it's about inclusion. No believer should be excluded from the Lord's supper because of social status, age, race or anything. When we don't 'recognize the body of Christ' - i.e. reckon everyone that is in Christ to be part of the body, we eat the Lord's supper unworthily. V27 Then we will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of Christ.

V 28 says: A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
What are we to examine ourselves for? I think V 29 gives us the answer: "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself." The key phrase seems to be "without recognizing the body of the Lord". Some take it to mean: to recognize the element as the body of Christ. My gut feeling is, from the context: to reckon everyone that has faith in Christ to be a part of the body of Christ and therefore must be included and honored as such. When we dishonor any member of the body (people) of Christ, we dishonor Christ and therefore eat and drink 'judgement on himself'.

Perhaps the warning here had given rise to precaution practiced in many churches today to restrict the partaking of the Lord's supper to the baptized and those above 12. Just in case!

If no one should be excluded, how about believers who are not baptized or under 12? There was probably no unbaptized believers in the NT time, probably due to the fact that they didn't have to wait for baptism class or ordained minister to do it. Often we saw that they were immediately baptized after they showed faith. Not that baptism class or baptism by ordained minister alone are undesirable, but it goes to show many things we do in church are not even based on the biblical pattern or teaching.

The supper they ate together was a full meal, everybody brought some food for all to share. Poor people probably came late from labor, or even had nothing or not much to offer. Some of them came hungry and unfed because the rich who came earlier did not wait for them. Thus the Lord's supper brought about a division rather than bringing the body of Christ together. Thus to take the Lord's supper in a worthy manner would be to love and honor all whom Christ had died for without prejudice.

V 30 "that is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep(died). 31 But if we judge ourselves, we would not come under judgement."

One prominent pastor had used this verse to mean that if we take the Lord's supper in a worthy manner we would not be weak or sick when we recognize that Christ's body was broken for our healing. "By His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah) But could it be implied from verse 30 that they became weak and sick, and some died, as a result of God's judgement for their unworthy treatment (not their unworthiness) of their brothers and sisters revealed in the way they took the Lord's supper? The "But" at the beginning of verse 31 is surely connected to the previous verse. V33 also shows that this is the case.

The Christian lifestyle is a healthy lifestyle. Health lifestyle leads to a healthy body. We cast our anxiety to God, we rejoice in the Lord always. In suffering trials we are exhorted to "count it pure joy" - (For what reasons, please read James or 1 Peter). We enjoy fellowship and love, in words of encouragement and in practical help. Christians are supposed to take care of their bodies. We pray for one another when we are sick, God heals in proportion to our faith and His sovereign will. (Always the tension there) All these are God's blessing and provision for a better health. But I fear that we are at risk of damaging another's faith when we proclaim that health is guaranteed to us as long as we exercise faith (in this case faith in the Holy Communion to bring us health). Before Christ comes again, one day we will all die physically, many will die of sicknesses. And some will die younger than others, perhaps by car accidents. Do we know for sure God meant for all to live a long life on the earth?

V33 "So then my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgement."

God takes seriously how we treat one another as members of Christ's body. Judge ourselves, so we would not come under judgement. That's the exhortation of V31.

I may be wrong, and probably am on many counts. I believe no one is infallible. Only God's word is. That's why we need to check, correct and rebuke one another, from the Scriptures. God's word is truth. His Spirit will lead us into all truth. Along the way, we may make mistakes, even serious ones. But God always gives second chance. Yeah! Amen?

P.S. At this point of my journey, I am still trying to figure out what is the meaning of "By His stripes we are healed." Is it for now? Or is the promise of a new body? What does 'heal' mean here? Until next time, all believers have a duty to search the Scriptures and ask God to reveal to us His truth personally. Look at the traffic light and not at the driver in front, unless he also observes the traffic light.

It’s a fine thing to talk about living, but dying - is hardly something you want to talk about. In Chinese culture it’s a taboo to mention the word ‘death’. Why? Because death is the greatest fear of all mankind whether one cares to acknowledge it or not. I think one of the reasons is: because we don’t know what exactly happens after physical death, it remains a mystery to many.
And secondly, when you time comes there is no escape.

A hundred year old tombstone reads:

Pause, Stranger, when you pass me by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be,
So prepare for death and follow me.

An unknown passerby had read those words and scratched this reply below them:

To follow you I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went.

He was right, the important question about death is: Where are you going?

Someone came up with this saying: “The only constant in this universe is - change.” But in the history of mankind there is one thing that remains unchanged – everyone dies. (Except Enoch and the prophet Elijah.) Death does not show partiality. It comes to both the young and old, some even before birth, it visits men and women, black and white, yellow and chocolate. Heb 9:27 “Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment.”

Confucius said, “We do not know enough about life yet, how can we know about death?”
‘未知生，焉知死？’But if we don’t know the truth about death, we will be living with a shadow hanging over us. We need to settle the question of death before we can truly get on with our living.

What does the bible say about death and living?

Consider these paradoxes of life and death:

You have to be born, lived, in order to die.
Yet, we are all born dead, needing to be born again in order to have true life - eternal life. Truer still, we have to die first in order to truly live.
From the moment we were born, the dying process began.
Some of the living are dead, some of the dead are not truly dead. Having something to die for give us something to live for. (If you have nothing to die for, what are you living for?)
In a battlefield a general said to the soldiers before the battle, “Everyone dies, but not everyone lives!” They had something to die for!

In the light of these paradoxes about death and life, how are we to understand death?

We often say, so and so died of cancer/sickness, of accident, natural disaster, of murder, but in fact we all die because of sin. God said to Adam and Eve,
“In the day that you eat of it, you will die.”(Gen 2:17) The rest is history.
The question is, did they die the day they ate from the forbidden tree?
My answer is yes. God’s words have to remain true, because he is the God of truth. They did die on that fateful day. On that day, ‘they hid from the Lord among the trees of the garden.” The fellowship between God and man is broken. Satan is speaking half-truth when he said, “You will not surely die.”

It is written in Romans 5:12 “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”

Death is unnatural. Death came as a result of sin.

A few more passages would help us understand the meaning of the word death.

Eph 2:1 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,” Paul was talking to the Ephesians Christians who were still living. And he said ‘you were dead.’ And-
why did Jesus say to his potential disciples, “Let the dead bury their dead”? The first ‘dead’, I believe was referring to the spiritually dead. The second, the physically dead.

In John 5:24 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Meaning, you were dead before you believe. Spiritually dead.
True death is spiritual death. For if we are made alive in the spirit, though we die (physically), yet shall we live – these are the very words of Christ who said, “ He who believes in me though he dies, yet shall he live.”

Now consider a plucked leave from a tree; is it living or is it dead? It may look alive and well, though it eventually will wither and die, but it is really dead, because it is separated from the life-giving tree. We are all born outside the Garden of Eden. No matter how hard we try, on our own we can never get back to God. We are all separated from the life giver – God himself, because of our sin. When you are separated from the source of life, you are dead.

When Jesus uttered, “it is finished” he had not died physically. It was just moment before he breathed his last. Something had happened before he said those words. We know He came to die for our sins, but when did the ‘death’ occur?
I think Jesus died a spiritual death when he anguished and cried out, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” as he carried the sins of the world on the cross, he was separated from his heavenly father who has always been one with him.

In our text, Romans 6:1, a question is being posted. To understand what lies behind the question in the right context we must go back to Romans 5:20, where Paul says, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” God has justified me freely by his grace; if I sin again I shall be forgiven again by His grace. As in Paul’s day, we face the same objection today by some people - against the gospel of justification by grace alone, through faith alone.
You may have heard many times the comment; ‘how can it be true that you confessed your sins and are forgiven, then as you walk out of the church you sin again and ask to be forgiven again and amazingly God forgives you again. So if this were true, I might as well go on sinning so that God will have the chance to show his grace to me again and again.’

The answer to the cynical objection, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” is an emphatic “By no means!” Paul answered it with another question;
“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” If you think like that, you have totally misunderstood the gospel - the good news that we can be forgiven through faith in Christ.
Let us examine verse 2 again:

“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
What does it mean – ‘we died to sin’? Who are the ‘we’ who died to sin?
How have we ‘died’ to sin? When did it happen?
What does it mean to have died to sin?

First of all, does it mean that we are dead with regard to sin? That is, we are totally irresponsive and unable to sin? I think not, or else what would be the sense for Paul’s exhortation in verses 12-14: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body…”

Next, let us look at the tenses. We ‘died’, it is in the past tense – it describes an event, something that happened at a given point in the past. It does not describe a condition.

Here the phrase “how can” must mean ‘how shall we’, a moral inconsistency for the justified believers to continue to live in sin, rather than an impossibility to sin.
It’s like, you’ve just been saved from drowning, how can you jump back into the water?
You can still jump back in, but how can you? Why should you? It doesn’t make sense.
You’ve just vomited the contaminated food, how can you swallow it back? It’s not logical.

We shall let the apostle Paul answer the above questions.

Vs 3,4 “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new a new life.”

Sometimes a question is the most powerful answer to another question. My son does that to me a lot. Why, even God answered Job’s question with questions, questions that Job was unable to answer. Ok back to Paul’s question.

Firstly, we gathered that
1. Christian baptism is baptism into Christ. And baptism signifies union with Christ. How have we been united with Christ? By faith. In the NT time, faith in Christ is almost always followed by water baptism. Faith and baptism is considered as one event in the NT. There was probably no such thing as an “unbaptized” Christian. Baptism is the visible sign of our faith in Christ, besides signifying the washing of our sins and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Though baptism itself does not secure that union with Christ, it is faith that does it.

If baptism signifies union with Christ, it must mean union with him in all that he is and in all that he’s done - in all phases of his work as a Mediator – between God and man.

Therefore,
2. Baptism into Christ is baptism into His death and resurrection.

Though this passage is not chiefly about baptism, it does present a pictorial symbol of baptism. Just as the baptismal candidate would go down into the water, he would seem to be buried and then to rise again, whether fuller or partially immersed it doesn’t matter, we were not told. If baptism means union with Christ Jesus in his death, then believers died with Christ in His death.

“A Christian, by faith inwardly and by baptism outwardly, has been united to Christ in His death and resurrection.” – John Stott. The Christ that we identified with is the one who died and rose again, the one who came in the flesh, as a true human, the one born without sin through the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise he would also be in Adam, spiritually dead in sin, unqualified to be the spotless Lamb of God. He is the one who lived a perfect life yet experienced temptations in all its power and kinds, and resisted to the end, even death. He is not the one who allegedly appeared in the United States, or the one who failed in his mission to be married, or the one buried in Japan, or the one who is merely a god, without the capital G, as in the bibles of the JW. We’ll be amazed how many Christs there are out there in the market.

So what does it mean to have died to sin?
To understand a phrase we must look for the same phrase in the immediate context.
We learnt that it is a fundamental principle of biblical interpretation that the same phrase recurring in the same context bears the same meaning.
The phrase ‘died to sin’ occurred three times in this passage: Verses 2,11 refer to Christians and 10 referring to Christ. So what is the meaning of this ‘death to sin’ which Christ died and which we have died in Him? Death in the bible is always talked of as the just penalty for sin. Rom 6:23 “The wages of sin is death.” Sin and death are always linked together. Death is spiritual in nature as we discovered earlier. It describes our spiritual condition as a rebellious people – separated from God, hostile toward God.
In verse 10 it says: “The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” From the rest of the Scripture it can only mean that Christ died to sin in the sense that he bore sin’s penalty. The death he died is the wages of sins – our wages.

And by his resurrection, we know that his sacrifice was accepted in God’s sight, it counted. So it must be that we have died to sin in the sense that in Christ we have borne its penalty. We have received the gift of God in Christ Jesus – eternal life.

So let’s now attempt to answer the questions of the who, when, how, what and why.

So who are the ‘we’ who died to sin? “We” are the ones who put their faith in Christ, signified outwardly by baptism. When did it happen? When we believe and are baptized.
How have we ‘died’ to sin? We have died to sin through our union with Christ in his death. What does it mean to have ‘died to sin’? It means that in becoming one with Christ through faith and baptism, we have truly died to the penalty and power of sin just as Christ has died for the penalty of sin, and are thus justified - forgiven, debt settled.

Without faith in Christ, we are all living dead, and will die in our sins. With faith in the one who died for our sins, we have died to sin as our faith unites us with Christ, even his death and resurrection.

What is the purpose? Verse 4 tells us the answer: ‘in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.’

The purpose for the dying is for the living. New living. A new life that is not characterized by sin, but showing forth in increasing measure: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. A life that Jesus describes as abundant life – free to worship God and free to say no to sin. Before, we had neither the choice nor the power to say no to sin and to live for God.
In Christ we are able - by the power of His Spirit.

In verse 5 it says ‘we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.’ What about his resurrection? Verses 8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” With him who cannot die again – verse 9. If we are living with him who cannot die again, then we cannot die again, we have past from death to life – remember John 5:24? And verse 13. If death no longer has mastery over him (Verse 9), it no longer has mastery over us who are in Christ. As Jesus lives to God (verse 10) we also shall live to God. We are no longer slaves to sin, but slave to God. We have a new master, just as the Israelites was set free from slavery to the Pharaoh to worship God in the promised land.

We must now turn back to verse 6, which speaks of our death in 3 stages.
“For we know that (1.) our old self was crucified with him so that (2.) the body of sin might be done away, (3.) that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
The crucial terms to understand are – ‘old self’ and ‘body of sin.’
The New living translation may help us here:
“Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
The old self here refers to the ‘old unregenerate self’, our life before conversion. It is not our old sinful nature – which is still with us. That’s why we struggle with sin. (Romans 7)

This old self was crucified with Christ. It died. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” – II Cor 5:17
Again in Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me.”

The ‘body of sin’ here means the sinful nature which belongs to the body. John Murray takes it to mean ‘the body as conditioned and controlled by sin.” This is the purpose of the ‘crucifixion of the old self’. The verb translated ‘done away’ means to be defeated and deprived of power, not to become extinct – “kaput”. Otherwise how can we account for the numerous exhortations in the bible that command us not to sin, included in this passage too in verse 12 and 13, and 1 John 1:9 would be unnecessary. The New living translation here is easier to understand. “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. The sinful nature is still alive and kicking, but it can no longer enslave us to sin.
To summarize the 3 stages, let me quote from John Stott’s commentary:

“First, our old self was crucified with Christ; that is, we were crucified with Christ. We became identified with him by faith and baptism, and so we shared in his death to sin. We were thus crucified with Christ, secondly, in order that our sinful nature might be deprived of its power. And this took place, thirdly, in order that we should not longer be enslaved to sin.”

The question is – how can this be so? How can this crucifixion lead to the sinful nature being deprived of power and our deliverance from bondage to sin? The answer – verse 7: “because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” We who are in Christ have been freed from the penalty and power of sin, because the wages is paid and the debt settled. (Jesus' last word on the cross was: 'It is finished' - orginal greek word meaning 'paid in full'.)

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming he said, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
How does Jesus take away our sin? Yes, we know that He died for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, but did we die for our sins? To be clear of our debt, we ourselves have to die for our sins, just exactly how does Jesus death result in our being forgiven? He was punished, but I wasn’t. So how can his death count for me?
For the wages of sin is death. To be justified from sin we must receive our wages. Something has to happen for Jesus’ death to be beneficial to us. The answer is; when the two shall become one, so that my sin was actually punished in Christ.

With that we turn to the last portion. In verse 11 we are asked to “count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God.” This is the first step toward victory over sin in Christian living. We are asked to reckon, to consider, to realize, and to live in the light of this truth. The battle is in the mind; the secret of holy living is in knowing the truth as the Spirit guides us. Because the truth will set us free. In many other passages we are asked, “to be transformed in the renewal of our mind”, “to set our mind on things above”, “to prepare our mind for action”, because we are what we think. It is written; “ As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” We are asked to become in experience what we already are in position – dead to sin (5-7), and alive to God (8-10).
Here in Romans 6, we are asked to meditate upon the truth and the fact that, having been united with Christ in his death and resurrection, we have died to sin and are to live to God. We are not asked to close one eye and pretend that our sinful nature is dead, but to know that our old life, the chapter one of our life has ended, we are now living in chapter two, where in true freedom we can now live for God our new master. And chapter three is yet to come. And we are asked to put in hard effort not to sin but to offer ourselves to God as is fitting for people who have been brought from death to life, who are living under his grace. This will only be possible as we live by the Spirit. (Chapter 8)

So here are the three steps toward victory over sin in Christian living:
The first step – Vs 11, consider, count, ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.
The second step – Vs 12, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
The third step – Vs 13, to offer ourselves to God.

Vs 14. Why must we yield ourselves to God and not to sin?
Because we are alive from the dead! Sin is no more our master. Before, sin was my master when I was dead in sin. Because we are not under law but under grace.

In Christ, the penalty for my sin is paid; the demands of the law are met. I have a new status. I cannot possibility go back to the former life which has been crucified with Christ when I put my trust in Him.

You know the nursery rhyme that goes;
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

In Adam we all fell like Humpty Dumpty. Nobody could do anything to restore the image of God in us, until God became a man, lived a perfect life, died our death and rose again in victory, ascended in glory. That is the good news.

We may have come to church services for years, but have we come to Christ and put our faith in Him? Someone once said, “An unexamined life is not worth the living.” Let’s examine ourselves and see if we have lived up to the truth of His words.
How’s our relationship with Christ?
Are we feasting with Him at the table?
Are we living in slavery to sin or in obedience to Christ?
Are we dying to sin and living to God?
By our own strength or in the power of the Holy Spirit?

When I tried to live for God with my own strength I failed miserably. When I surrendered everything to God, every thought life and hidden sin, even sins I still cherished in my heart, I was set free and was filled with His Spirit, and the joy of the Lord became my strength. A new power took over, prayer becomes easy, desire for the other’s good took over selfish thoughts, I was able not to let the ‘bird’- (temptation) build a nest on my head, but it flies by more quickly than before. Without the working of the Holy Spirit in us, no amount of teaching could change our lives or give us adequate assurance that we are indeed loved by God. How can we be filled with the Spirit? That's what every Christian need to find out.

What did the disciples do during this waiting period?

Firstly, they obeyed Jesus' command to wait. They prayed and obviously searched the scripture together. Peter preached. He ascribed the prophecy of Judas' betrayal and replacement to the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas.." (v16) Does He still speak through the mouth of men? Granted that nothing we say carry the same weight as the Scripture, but does He still use people to bring a message across? I think so. Nowhere in the Scripture says that He will stop doing that after a certain time. Well, Elijah the greatest of the prophets were referred to by James to be 'a man just like us'. If the Holy Spirit can speak through Elijah, He can certainly speak through us. Didn't Jesus said we will do 'greater things than these?' But how are we to discern if anything spoken is from God? When Paul preached about Christ to the Bereans in Acts 17, they 'searched the scripture daily to see if these things were so.' As a result many believed. We should do the same to test the validity of any teaching.

They deemed it necessary to choose someone to replace Judas in the light of the prophecy in Psalm 109:8 in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled. The qualification of the one chosen is that he must have been with Jesus from the time Christ was baptized by John, marking the beginning of his public ministry, to the time of his ascension. The reason given was "for one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."-v22
Jesus' charge to them was :"You shall be my witnesses." Witness to what? Among all other things, it must be to his resurrection. Everyone in Jesus' days knew what he had done and taught. But not all had witnessed his resurrection. We are called to be witnesses to a living Lord. In our proclamation, we must include Christ's death on our behalf as well as his resurrection. We are exhorted to be ready at all time to give the reason for our hope. The choosing of Matthias tells us that we can know that the records we have in the New testament about Jesus' teaching and deeds were reliable because it was handed down to us by first hand eye witnesses, many of whom died for their proclamation.

In the background to the left two men can be seen who let the wounded man lay on the road when they passed him by. They were a priest and a man from the house of Levi; obviously they were not as righteous as there reputations would suggest. Only the Samaritan helped the wounded man.
Van Gogh was staying in an institution for the mentally ill when he painted this work, in May 1890. It is a mirrored copy of Eugène Delacroix' Good Samaritan. Van Gogh also made a copy of Delacroix' Pietà.

The Return of the Prodigal Son (1662)
This piece is the most monumental of Rembrandt’s paintings and stands above the achievements of all other Baroque artists of the time in its evocation of mood and human tenderness. Rembrandt painted this masterpiece towards the end of his career, but it is obvious that his skill in realism had not faded. Critics of this piece remark that age had only brought Rembrandt a heightened sense of psychological and spiritual insight. The artist’s use of expressive lighting and coloring in this painting along with the most simple of settings help the audience to feel the full impact of the event. Wanting to depict a tired and defeated son returning home to his father, Rembrandt compassionately painted the outstretched arms of a man happy to see his son return to him. The painting is symbolic of homecoming and illuminates the human willingness to offer shelter to those who have experienced darkness.

http://www.rembrandtprints.org/paintings.html

Meditation from Acts 1:1-11

What did Jesus do in between his ascension and resurrection? V3 - He gave convincing proofs that he was alive. Why do they need proof when they can see him? After Jesus was crucified, the disciples were not ready, even reluctant to believe that He was alive again. They thought that was the end. They have retreated to the life before they became Christ's followers. They needed some convincing. Perhaps Jesus needed to show them he was not a ghost or spirit, that he indeed had been raised from the dead - a fact crucial to the Christian faith, for Paul says that if this were not so we are to be pitied of all men. (In fact one of the facts that proves that they have met the risen Lord is the 180 degrees change before and after they saw the risen Christ; from disheartened cowards to fearless martyrs.) We must be ready to give convincing proofs of Jesus' resurrection too to all who question our faith. As Peter puts it in 1 Peter 3:15: 'But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.....' Are we ready? Always ready?
Verse 3 tells us that Jesus also continued to speak about the kingdom of God after he rose from the dead. From Jesus' teaching throughout the New Testament we see that Jesus' preoccupation and central teaching is the kingdom of God. Think of all his parables and his teaching on prayer - ‘thy kingdom come’. The good news we tell must include the bigger picture of God's kingdom, which we are to seek first above all else - 'seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness' - not our self righteousness, but the righteousness that comes from faith in Christ, whereby Christ’s righteousness becomes ours as we put our trust in him who has come to fulfill the prophets and the laws as testified by the transfiguration event where Moses - symbolizing the law, and Elijah- representing all the prophets, stood by his sides on Mount Olive.
Jesus commanded his disciples to wait for the gift which the Father promised - the Holy Spirit. The giving of the Spirit is given as a gift, therefore we cannot demand it; but it is a promise, therefore we can claim it by faith. Verse 6 reveals that the priority of the disciples is not the same as God's, all the kingdom talks only seemed to strengthen their desire for the restoration of the earthly kingdom - Israel. Their understanding of the Messiah and the kingdom of God is still narrow and confounded. Is our priority the same as God’s? What should it be?

Jesus' answer shows us that God the Father has full authority over the direction of history. What we must be concern now is to be his witnesses, starting from where we are, to the ends of the earth. And our witnessing will have power because Jesus also promised his disciples that they will receive power when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. But they were to wait until then.

Elsewhere it is written: 'Not by might, not by power but by your Spirit, says the Lord' The power for holy living and effective service comes from the Holy Spirit. Thus it follows that it is crucial for believers to live by the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is a command. Thus we must make it our priority also to find out what it means to live by the Spirit and how can we be filled with the Spirit. Alas, so often we read God’s word with the lenses of our prejudices and our human traditions when we come to things we don’t quite understand! We don't need to be afraid of talking about the Holy Spirit and His gifts just because some Christians had abused and taught wrong teachings about it. We all need to be Christ’s followers who are both Bible believing and Spirit-filled!

While entrance into the kingdom of God is by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone as we are born again by the Spirit, to live the kingdom life we need no less than the power of God's Spirit too, until Christ comes again as promised here in V11.

("We" includes me)

Text:
1 Peter 1
1 'This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia.'

Reflection:
Are you a foreigner? Do you sometimes feel that you don’t belong? If you want to live out your faith you will at some point feel that you don’t fit in.

Text:
2 'God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.'

Reflection:
Who are being mentioned in this verse?
This verse mentions all three members of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. All members of the Trinity work to bring about our salvation.

What is the order of things in our salvation story?
1. The Father chose us before we chose him (Ephesians 1:4).
2. Jesus Christ, the Son, died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:6-10).
3. The Holy Spirit brings us the benefits of salvation and sets us apart (makes us holy, sanctifies us) for God’s service (2 Thessalonians 2:13). By our faith in Christ, we are made holy/righteous before God, “made you holy” - something that happened in the past, a definite point in time; it results in us obeying Jesus Christ and our sins forgiven because of his death (blood always refer to death).
Here in is the good news, the gospel.

What do you wish and pray for people?
What do you pray for others? How do you decide what to pray for?
When you don’t know what to pray, look to the bible for clues.
May you have more and more of God’s special favor and wonderful peace.

Text:
The Hope of Eternal Life
3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.

Reflection:
The order: The Mercy of God – our rebirth - we live with hope of resurrection – Glory to God. Being born again is a privilege, because it is not earned or deserved, it is by the mercy of God. A privilege that should cause us to 'live with a wonderful expectation'. What wonderful expection? Eternal life in Jesus Christ who rose from the dead! He has conquered death for us! We shall not be eternally separated from God, from whom all blessings flow! Am I living with this wonderful expectation? All these is so that God will receive all honor. As we were taught how to pray by Jesus :" Hallowed be thy name!"

Text:
4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

Reflection:
What are the things you treasure the most?
What will happen to them eventually?
What does ‘reserved’ imply? Think about parking, 1st class seats, place of honor, highly priced, the things that are specially meant for you…
What is the value of our inheritance reserved for us by God?
What is the chance of losing it? Have you lost anything precious? What is its nature?

Our inheritance from God is kept in heaven safe and sound! IT will never be lost or stolen! It's value will never go down! It is priceless because it cannot be bought!

Text:
5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.

Reflection:
What is the promise? Positively and negatively?
Who will protect us from reaching our inheritance?
Remember that the inheritance belongs only to those who endure to the end, those who are kept in God’s mighty power because they are trusting in him (cf. Luke 8:13). God himself is our only guarding power (Jude 1; Philippians 1:6; 4:7).
through faith — We should not think that we will be guarded by God if we are not walking by faith. We receive salvation through faith, by trusting Him. Our salvation is also kept by our faith. True faith is a lasting faith. True faith withstands the test of trials.
What are trials? - Persecution and suffering for Christ’s sake. Situations that put our faith to the test.
Have you been tested?
When will our salvation be revealed?
Salvation will not only be ours by title because of what Christ has done, but it will be expressed and demonstrated, finally and completely, in our lives. It will be revealed in the last time—When Christ is revealed, that salvation will be revealed.

Refiner’s fire
For Christmas, anniversaries or birthdays, jewelry is always a popular gift item. Gold jewelry is made from 14-karat, 18-karat, 22-karat, or 24-karat gold.
The content of gold alloys is expressed in 24ths, called karats; a 12-karat gold alloy is 50 percent gold, 18 karat is 75% Gold and 24-karat gold is pure.

Do you know that:
1 ounce (28 g) can be beaten out to 187 square feet!
What do you know about the metal refining process that brings about such beauty and quality? - Burned over 1000 degrees, to remove impurities.

Text:
7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Reflection:
Why does God allow trails? What is its purpose?
The trial of your faith which is more precious than gold that perishes — If gold, which will eventually perish, is tried with fire in order to remove the dross and test its genuineness, how much more does your faith, which will never perish, need to pass through a similarly fiery trial to remove whatever is defective and to test its genuineness and true value ?
God allows trials (cf. with James 1:2) in order to prove by testing the eternal quality of the believer’s faith.
How can you tell if your faith is real?
What happen when you burn a lump of metal with intense heat when there is no gold in it?
Nothing will be left behind.
As fire distinguishes true gold from the counterfeit, so trials distinguish genuine faith from superficial profession.
“When we suffer, God is looking to see how we respond. For we all suffer, but we don’t all grow as a result. Crises can drive us away from God or towards Him.
We can become bitter people or we can become better people. (Don't know where I heard that) The choice is ours, for it is not through the suffering itself that makes us mature, it is through our response to it that we mature and develop.
"It’s bad enough to go through suffering, but it’s worse to do so and not profit from it.” (Read from somewhere)
What is the future outcome of a believer’s faith?
Andrew Murray’s "formula for trial" provides a good basis for our response in times of difficulty:
1. He brought me here. It’s by His will I am in this straight place. In that fact I will rest.
2. He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.
3. Then He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn.
4. In His good time, He will bring me out again — how and when He knows.
We are (a) Here by God’s appointment. (b) In His keeping. (c) Under His training. (d) For His time.


Remember, trials and testing of our faith does not come from listening to sermons or reading the Bible. It comes from being exposed to difficult situations and enduring affliction.

What do you do when you undergo trials?

Remember these verses:
1 Peter 1:6,7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

2. Pray that you recognize the hand of the Refiner in difficult situations.

True faith is enduring faith. Has your faith been tested lately? Are we trusting Him today?

What sets us apart from all the other animals is not only that we possess opposible thumbs, but also that we have the capability to think and ask deep questions. Decarte said: "I think therefore I am". Pascal said, "we may be feeble as a reed, but we are a thinking reed." It is written in the Scriptures: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." In other words - we are what we think.

God is so sanguine towards sinners that he can forgive and forgive, regardless of the nature of our sin, accepts us just as we are at the point of our new birth, so seemingly phlegmatic that he can be silent towards his people enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, and letting us crucified His only begotten son on the cross without coming to his aid, letting sinners curse Him and abuse His name on a daily basis, so melancholy that he planned our salvation before the foundation of the world to make us his people, (how melancholy? He prepared a whole nation through thousands of years for the arrival of His Son, our saviour, foreshadowed in the old temple worship system he specifically instructed; the high priest, the sacrifice, the inner sanctuary etc, so that when Christ came, all these things are fulfilled in Him - our high priest who can understand us, having been a human and tempted just as we are, who was God from God, showing us what God is like, was our once for all perfect sacrificial lamb, being without sin from Spirit conceived virgin birth, and also by virtue of having lived a sinless life, our temple where we meet God, where perfect excess to God was provided through his death and resurrection so that we can come to his throne of grace anytime and anywhere), so choleric that His soverign will will always be done according to His marvelous plan to bring us to Himself to the praise of His glorious name!

Mountains of Edom

Reflections on Obadiah

How does God look upon Edom? Why?
God looked upon Edom with despise and disdain because of his pride, his inaction while his brother is plundered, his participation over the ruin and misfortune of the house of Jacob by gloating and rejoicing over their calamity, even handing them over to their enemy.

The things in which the people of Edom put their confidence:
Their ‘lofty dwelling’, allies, their wise and mighty men.

What will be their punishment? On what basis? (Gen 25:19-34)
The punishment of Edom will be that they will be completely obliterated, even by their own allies! God had already foretold before their birth and declared his love for Jacob, and that Esau (Edom) will serve Jacob. As it turned out, it was Esau who despised his birthright as the eldest son and lost his inheritance over some bread and stew. Edom (descendants of Esau) was going against God’s expressed will by participating in the violence against the descendants of Jacob.

What should be your attitude toward the disaster of other people (even those who have wronged you) and other nations?
Do not stand aloof and do nothing (v11), do not gloat, rejoice or boast over their ruins(v12), do not loot - take advantage of the situation and make some quick money (v13), do not assist in making their suffering worst (v14).

Contrast Edom’s future with the promises given to God’s people.
Following the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Edomites totally disappeared from history.
In contrast, God’s people shall inherit no less than the kingdom of God!

List the attributes of God which Obadiah’s vision revealed.
God will avenge his people eventually, His words will stand, He is faithful to his people, His kingdom will one day come in its fullness.

“the kingdom shall be the LORD’S”—The prophecy of Obadiah ends on this note of triumph. The final kingdom of peace under the Messiah will come to Jerusalem (Daniel 2:44; 7:14, 27; Zechariah 14:9; Luke 1:33; Revelation 11:15; 19:6). (Illumina)

James 5:13-20
The Prayer of Faith
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Reflections:

When we are suffering - we should pray.
When we are happy - we should sing praise to God.
When we are sick - we should call the elders to pray over us and anoint us with oil. (Why oil?)
“In the name of the Lord” - It is Jesus who heals and forgives; it is the prayer of faith in Jesus that will make us well and our sins forgiven.
Christ heals through the elders of the church by prayer and anointing with oil. ~ Who are the elders of the church? One thing we can infer from verse 16 – he must be a righteous person, not self righteous but one who exhibits holiness in life, having been declared righteous through faith in Christ by the grace of God, and pursuing a life a holiness by the power of the Spirit. Elijah was used as an illustration of the power of prayer who through his faith stopped the rain for three and half years. And James says he was a man just like us! The power of prayer, even like that of Elijah’s, is ours if we exercise faith. But the condition is that we must be righteous.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”.

Ancient painting of Job

James 5:1-12
Warning to the Rich

1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering
7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9Do not grumble against one another, brothers,so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Reflection:

The outstanding fact underlying James’ warnings to the rich is this:
Their wealth is perishable; their injustice to the poor and to their workmen will have an eternal consequence – God’s judgement.

The fact underlying James’ counsel (Be patient, stand firm and persevere) to the oppressed is this:
The Lord who is full of compassion and mercy is coming again with justice.

Particular warnings:
Do not store up treasures that can perish, and avoid living luxuriously and indulgently. To the employers: Don’t fail to pay wages!

Don’t grumble against each other because we will be judged.

Grounds for joyful peace of mind:
Perseverance will have its reward. Remember Job?

Above all, do not swear. (Matter of the tongue again) State a matter plainly; do not in any way manipulate the truth. We must speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Scripture James 4:11-17 NLV

Warning against Judging Others

11 Don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. 12 God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?

Reflection

Q: Why is criticizing others equated with condemning God’s law?

It’s God’s law that points out our sins, in a sense its God’s law that should do the criticizing. When we criticize others by slandering or gossiping we put ourselves in God’s position as judge and we violate God’s commandment to love one another. We are also commanded not to testify falsely against our brothers/sisters. Our disobedience to love shows our disregard for God’s law and therefore ‘condemn’ it by setting ourselves above it.

Scripture:
Warning about Self-Confidence

13 Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Reflection

Our attitude about tomorrow should be that of – “God willing”. God holds our future, we simply can’t and don’t know what tomorrow holds. When we boast about tomorrow and our plans as if we are in control, it shows that we are not depending on and trusting in God completely. Pride might be lurking! Such boasting is in James’ word – evil.
V17 – Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
If we took seriously the definition of sin here, it would mean:
Every time we keep quiet and remain unaffected about evil, injustice, sin, and all that is in contrary to God’s expressed will, we sin.
Every time we refrain from helping when we can, a helpless person in our path, we sin.

If I know what I ought to do, I must do it.

The difference it would make if we take seriously this definition of sin – We’d be all doers of the word and not just hearers only!

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife; Guido RENI; c.1631; oil on canvas; Pushkin Museum, Moscow

James 4 (English Standard Version)
Warning Against Worldliness

1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? 6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Reflection:

One of the reasons we don’t get what we ask from God is because we ask with the wrong motive – selfish motive.
What does ‘friendship with the world’ mean?
From verses 1-3: Being materialistic, jealous, envious, violent, selfish, and living for own pleasure.
“Friendship with the world is enmity with God” – v3
Worldly-mindedness makes us enemies of God: if by ‘worldly’ we mean an anti God world view and Godless attitude. “Enemy can be reconciled, not enmity.” God can forgive sinners, but he cannot condone sins.
“Natural corruption shows itself by envying.” - M.Henry
Verses 4-7 gives us the Seven steps to spiritual recovery:
1. Submit to God – set our mind to do His will
2. Resist the devil – say ‘no!’ and he will flee!
3. Draw near to God – and He will draw near! Pray and read His words.
4. Cleanse our hands – “Go and sin no more.”
5. Purify our hearts – Look inside, examine, confess our sins and be assured of His forgiveness.
6. Repent and mourn for our sins – joy comes in the morning, for his mercy is like new every morning! We either mourn now or mourn in eternity!
7. Humble ourselves before the Lord –
The process of the steps to spiritual recovery can be painful but let the truth of verse 10 encourage us – “and He will exalt us!” He will empower us with His Spirit to live a new life as we draw near to Him in humility.

Christ and the woman caught in adultery by Pieter Bruegel 1525?-1569

Scripture: James 3:13-18

Wisdom from Above

13Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Reflection:

The marks and the results of the two kinds of wisdom contrasted:

1. The marks of wisdom from above are:

Good conduct, meek, pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere–resulting in harvest of righteousness.

2. The marks of the earthly, unspiritual and demonic wisdom are:

Bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, boastful and false to the truth –resulting in disorder and every vile practice.

What kind of wisdom did Christ show? What marks of wisdom do I exhibit in my life?

James 3 (English Standard Version)

Taming the Tongue
1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Meditation

Verses 1-12
James actually discouraged undue eagerness to take up teaching God’s word because teachers are judged more strictly. It is so not easy to be consistent with words. Our tongues have the power for both good and evil.
The power of the tongue is clearly shown in that it cannot be tamed, it is liken to the bits in horses’ mouth, the rudder on the ship, a spark that causes the forest fire, and it cannot be tamed! “Hell knows no fury like a woman’s scorn”, so goes the saying. To be fair similar things can be said of men’s violent words when they are enraged.
The malignity of the tongue is also clearly shown by the fact that both lies and truth can come out of the same tongue, so are cursing and blessing. We bless and praise God with the same tongue that curses people who are made in God’s image. James shows that this is ‘monstrously unnatural’ by posting the questions in verses 11 and 12:
“11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”
I must be careful in what I say lest I allow it to be the ‘deadly poison’ that corrupts the whole body. God cannot be mocked. I must not grieve the Holy Spirit in me by my careless words.

"Slander is worse than cannibalism."
- St. John Chrysostom

The Sacrifice of Isaac by Andrea Mantegna 15th c




James 2:14-26 ESV

14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Reflection:

Empty faith is: Words without action, profession without performance.
True faith is revealed when it is put in action.
Mission and social charity works must accompany each other, especially when ministering to the poor and needy. We must take care of the whole person - body, mind and soul.
The examples of Abraham and Rehab show that faith is obedience in action, not in words. Interestingly they should be mentioned side by side, one is a great patriarch to both the Jews and the Muslims, father of faith to the Christians, and the other was a prostitute – one among many in the hall of fame for their faith. (Hebrews 11)Both are regarded as righteous on account of thier obedient faith.
The relation between faith and work is just like that of the body and spirit, without the spirit the body is dead, likewise without work our faith is dead and useless.
How does my faith differ from that of the demons’?
Demons’ ‘faith’ does not result in good deeds. My faith in Christ should result in good deeds with pure motives, seeking to please God in gratitude to His saving grace and to show to whom we now belong. We can do good deeds without faith, but we cannot have true faith without good deeds.
Demons may promote good deeds as long as they can convince us that good deeds alone will result in our salvation or promote us to the next level or a better next life. They would want us to think that God can accept us on account of our good deeds apart from our faith, that they somehow will cancel our debt of sins. It is in their nature (fallen nature) to contradict God.

Paul says we can be saved by faith apart from work – i.e. not by obeying the law.
James says we cannot be saved by faith that is not accompanied by good works. (Unless we die right after we believe – like one of the thieves on Jesus’ side on the cross. Well, he did reprimand the other unbelieving thief if you can call that faith in action.)
There is no contradiction between Paul and James. Good work is not the reason but the result of our salvation - that which is by grace through faith in Christ alone.

James 2:1-17 (English Standard Version) 1/4/09

1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honourable name by which you were called?
8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Reflection

James condemn the snobbish conduct in verses 2, 3 on these grounds:
We make distinctions between the rich and poor, dishonouring and humiliating the poor when God has chosen them to be rich in faith and heirs of His Kingdom and honouring the rich whom God has humbled.
We judge people on what they wear and possess instead of who they are, people who love God and are loved by God.

Why is partiality a serious sin?
We take the seat of judgement which rightfully belongs to God when we show partiality, especially that which is based on people’s appearance and social status.

We are not set free from obeying God’s law, but are set free to fulfil it.

“Mercy will finally triumph because when the merciless are condemned, the merciful will be forgiven.” Note from "Search the Scriptures" IVP

ESV
James 1:19-27
19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Reflections
What are the possible hindrances and dangers which may prevent God’s word from taking root and bearing fruits in our lives?
• Our unrighteous anger;
• Not putting away sinful deeds and thoughts in our lives;
• Not receiving humbly God’s word - spiritual pride;
• Being hearer and not doers of God’s word – deceiving ourselves;
• Forgetting who we were without Christ – look into the mirror/word and walk away without being effected by it;
• Does not control what we say- gossip, slander and lies.

Meekness is not inactivity.

Jame’s illustration of “Mirror, mirror on the wall” teaches us that we must not fool ourselves by just being hearers and not obeying God’s word that is implanted in our hearts. It will be like looking into the mirror and walked away forgetting what we look like. Else where it is written: "Like a dog who returns to its vomit!" Yuk! Yet that is precisely what we often do - letting sin take control of our lives. Sigh!
God blesses those who humbly accept His word and are doers of His word – the implanted word that has the power to set us free and save our souls.

The control of our tongues is so crucial that James said that without it, our religion is worthless.

We must be champions for the orphans, widows and I trust it includes those who can’t speak for themselves, like people with special needs. It is a command to take care of them without ulterior motives.

James teaches us to refuse letting the worldly (that which is anti God) thinking and attitude corrupt us. Remember the phrase: "Be in the world but not of the world." In Jesus’ words “be the light of the world and the salt of the earth” –be different!

Hearing God's word alone without doing it is self deceiving: James exalts us to put away sinful deeds and thoughts and to receive God's word in humility. The 'putting away' and the recieving must go hand in hand; don't get angry; control our tongues and take care of orphans and widows and the defenceless.

Search the Scriptures: James 1:1-18

1 This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written to Jewish Christians scattered among the nations. Greetings! Faith and Endurance 2 Dear brothers and sisters,* whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. 5 If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do. 9 Christians who are* poor should be glad, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should be glad, for God has humbled them. They will fade away like a flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and dries up the grass; the flower withers, and its beauty fades away. So also, wealthy people will fade away with all of their achievements. 12 God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. 14 Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. 15 These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. 16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights.* Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. 18 In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.

Reflections:

Verses 2-7,12
Our attitude to trials/troubles should be: Rejoice! Because:
The purpose of trials is: They test our faith and produce endurance which builds our character and make us ready for anything.
The Goal of trials: Know that God blesses those who endure testing patiently, expect a reward for loving God-Crown of Life – whatever that is! (V12)
In trying situation we need wisdom, how can we obtain it?
Ask God for wisdom and believe that He will answer, and do not doubt!

Verses 13-15
The origin of temptation: The lure of our own evil desire/lust.
The inevitable products of yielding to it habitually without repentance: Evil actions/sin and death.

How to avoid being deceived and gain strength to overcome:
Don’t take it as from God. Know that God will not let us be tempted beyond our strength. (1Cor 10:13) Be aware of the consequences of yielding to it. Rely on God,(Prov.3:5,6) ask for wisdom, look for God’s provision for a way of escape (1Cor10:13)
.
Verses 9-11, 16-18
What is God’s will for us? How did He fulfill it?
His will is to make us His children by giving us His true word. We become his children by faith in Jesus, and faith comes from hearing of God's word. (Somewhere in Romans 10 i believe)

You and I who believe and remain in Christ have and will become His choice possession/first fruit!

Rejoice! Rejoice always, even in the midst of trials and temptation!