The NEW In Defense of the Faith

Sunday, August 27, 2006

James 4:13 - The Boast

13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"

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Okay, so the merchants are laying out a business plan, right? What’s wrong with that? I mean, we all plan for the future. We all plan for school, the type of career we want to have after college, and what type of life we want to live. What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that just something that we have to do since we don’t know the future?

Unfortunately there is a problem. What’s wrong with the way that I’m thinking? Or, more importantly, what was wrong with what the merchants planned to do in the city that they wanted to visit?

First, as creature we are very limited in our knowledge of what’s going to happen next, we find ourselves always planning to do things that are not for certain to us because we do not know what the future holds. That is James’ first response to these merchants.

Now, I’m sure they might readily admit that they don’t really know the future. But James wants them to realize that they are doing something when they speak the way they speak. They are thinking a certain way and it isn’t good.

So, what is the merchants’ problem? Read 1 Timothy 1:8-10

Just like Paul reminds Timothy, James is seeking to show his readers that some of them do not have sound doctrine. Even more, I want us to realize that these letters in the New Testament mean to tell us that life and doctrine are one. They are a not two separate things. If one is wrong, so is the other. If one is right, so is the other.

We can’t be people who say things like, “Oh, doctrine isn’t important, we just need to be good to each other and love each other.” Well, not only is that a doctrinal statement, but that person is telling us that our lives can somehow be honoring to God without the truth of God radically infecting our lives through power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, I understand that plenty of people who are asked specific questions about God can spout off the right answer. But during the rest of their daily lives their speech and actions do not line up with their answer in any way. They might comprehend something that is true Biblically, but their heart and life have not been changed by it. This poses a serious problem.

Take one man I know… If I ask him things specifically about Jesus and what Jesus did on the cross, he can tell me that Jesus died for peoples sins. Okay, that’s all well and good, but the rest of the day I hear him saying Jesus this and Jesus that, and it’s not very reverent… if you catch my drift.

This person does not have sound doctrine. In a similar, though different situation, these merchants that James was speaking to did not have sound doctrine. Why? Because their actions were not in accordance with the Gospel they had been told.

For all intents and purposes these merchants were acting like 'practical atheists' in the way they spoke about what they were going to do with their lives. [A practical atheist is someone who lives their life as if their was no higher being or authority such as God] This is just as bad as the people that James was addressing before this passage who were slandering their neighbor. (James 4:11-12) But the merchants aren’t doing something against their neighbor here; they are doing something against God. They are failing to love God with all their mind, heart, soul and strength. They are forgetting that God created and sustains the universe by the word of His power. These merchants are acting like they didn’t know what Paul told the men of Athens - for “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

But, if we are Christians, as I believe these merchants were… then we are suppose to know this!

So, how does James correct this bad doctrine? Where does he start? Check back for the answer in the next post.

In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,

Saturday, August 19, 2006

James 4:13-17 - Verses

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:13-17 - Intro

Now, before we talk about the passage, some things should be clear... Within the direct context of this portion of James, I think we have the best warrant to say that James transitions into primarily addressing people in the Church. He's not talking to people ignorant about Christ or the ways of God.

James' letter was written to Christians, but sometimes the groups or types of people he is talking about are not people in the Church. Thus, my conclusion about this specific passage is that these are a group of people in the Church who know the good they should do, but James has heard that they are doing something else.

Specifically, James refers to a group of merchants that will go from town to town and set up camp to make their living. Now obviously James had heard them say something in the past and is using what they said to get his point across. We read it in the first verse of this passage.

In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,

What is repentance?

How often do we come to God expecting Him to forgive and so we don't recognize our sin and take the great gift of forgiveness for granted?
How do you ask for forgiveness?
What is repentance?
remorse or contrition for past conduct or sin

J. I. Packer "Repentance is a fruit of faith, which is itself a fruit of regeneration... it is inseparable from faith... having at its heart a serious purpose of sinning no more but living henceforth a life that will show one's repentance to be full and real. Repenting of any vice means going in the opposite direction, to practice the virtues most directly opposed to it."
Repentance is a command of God. (Acts 3:19-21, Luke 13:5, Mark 1:15) It is not just to have a change of mind.
What is the difference between repentance and asking for forgiveness?
Can you ask for forgiveness and not be sorry?
Can you repent and not be sorry?
How do we repent?

Spurgeon
- There must be a sorrow for sin and a hatred of it in true repentance. A discovery of iniquity and a hatred of it, without which there can be no repentance. Thinking more about the consequences of the sin instead of the sin itself is not true repentance. False repentance could lead to your heart being hardened more.
Do you confuse repentance with emotion?
Emotional grief does not guarantee real repentance. Repentance is an act, not an emotion.
It is not about how you feel but what your actions show. 2 Corinthians 7:9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

How often do you go to God and just say- forgive me for my sin?
Is that honoring to God?
Are you looking at you sin, being full of sorrow- hating it, and asking God to change your heart?
If we are all honest, that is not the way we come before a Holy God. Why???
Why do we think that being repentant is not that important?
Are you taking the blood of Christ for granted?
Do you think that because your sins are forgiven that you do not need to hate your sin and be repentant?

Repentance and faith are inseparable. We cannot manufacture repentance; it comes from God's enablement. 2 Timothy 2:25 Sin is so rooted in us and we cannot turn from it on our own. Repentance is turning from our sin and turning to Christ. This is the same as when we come to a saving faith in God. We should have a repentant spirit as believers. Ephesians 4:22-24
When we confess our sin, God forgives and restores us. 1 John 1:9

Let's look at David's plea for repentance and forgiveness.

Psalm 51:1-17

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Welcome!

Hello Everyone,

This is the new BETA Blog for In Defense of the Faith Apologetic Ministry. I decided to go ahead and get things started on this web site and see what kind of new features Blogger.com was offering. I hope you enjoy the reading!

In Christ and In Defense of the Faith,