You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (Jas. 2:24 ESV) James begins this section (2:14-26) with a rhetorical question, “What does it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has trust but does not have works? Is that trust able to save him?” (2:14). Previously, James had asserted that believers are to be not only hearers of the word, but doers of the word as well (1:22-25). In addition, “religion that is pure and undefiled” is caring for those in need, such as orphans and widows (1:27). In connection with his description of “true religion,” James now considers how showing favoritism does not cohere with having trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He sketches an incident where a person professes to trust in Jesus but then fails to live according to the law of love taught by Jesus. Such behavior is inconsistent and hypocritical. […]

In the preface to God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper, in writing about a certain time when he and Lewis were reflecting on the issues facing Christianity in the modern culture (specifically reception with younger people), says, “One day we were speculating as to what would happen if a group of friendly and inquisitive Martians suddenly appeared in the middle of Oxford and asked (those who did not flee) what Christianity is. We wondered how many people, apart from voicing their prejudices about the Church, could supply them with much in the way of accurate information. On the whole, we doubted whether the Martians would take back to their world much that is worth having. On the other hand, ‘there is nothing,’ Lewis argued, ‘in the nature of the younger generation which incapacitates them for receiving Christianity.’ But, as he goes on to say, ‘no generation […]

Psalm 5:1-3 NLT O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. Prayer isn’t a “cash in your lottery ticket” and “get-whatever-you-want” enterprise. We often see only one side of prayer—the part where we ask God for something. We tend to come to God in prayer with our list of requests, filling our prayer time with asking for things. We come hungry for what we desire to see God do. Is that wrong? No, certainly not. We ought to come and lay our requests before God. “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6 […]

Over the course of the past several decades, a movement throughout the evangelical Christian community has become increasingly popular and in-demand. It is not surprisingly so. This movement, often called the “Prosperity Gospel” (PG), caters to the desire of every God-believing Christian…the desire to see a kick-back in their wallet, lifestyle, or profession because of their faith. I mean, come on…who doesn’t want to mix the American Dream into their Christian ideals? You can get two birds with one stone! (…joke) This movement has marched under the banner of many names, such as “Name it and claim it”, “Health and wealth”, “Positive confession theology”, but as David Brunette aptly states, “The good news of Jesus Christ is not a magic spell that secures for us a healthy and prosperous future.”[1] Actually, the good news of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with our homes, cars, bank accounts, job promotions, peer […]

“Pseudo faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God fails it. Real faith knows only one way and gladly allows itself to be stripped of any second way or makeshift substitutes. For true faith, it is either God or total collapse. And not since Adam first stood up on the earth has God failed a single man or woman who trusted Him. The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day. For […]

“God being who He is must always be sought for Himself, never as a means toward something else. Whoever seeks other objects and not God is on his own; he may obtain those objects if he is able, but he will never have God. Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the Maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures. He will be all in all or He will be nothing! His mercy and grace are infinite and His patient understanding is beyond measure, but He will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help man to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He by every right should hold in their interest and affection. Yet popular Christianity has as one of its […]

“Too many people consider Jesus Christ a ‘convenience.’ We make Him a lifeboat to get us to shore, a guide to find us when we are lost. We reduce Him simply to a Big Friend to help us when we are in trouble. That is not biblical Christianity! Jesus Christ is Lord, and when a man is willing to do His will, he is repenting and the truth flashes in. For the first time in his life, he finds himself willing to say, ‘I will do the will of the Lord, even if I die for it!’ Illumination will begin in his heart. That is repentance—for he has been following his own will and now decides to do the will of God. Before the Word of God can mean anything inside of me there must be obedience to the Word. Truth will not give itself to a rebel. Truth will […]

“What is overlooked in all this is that faith is good only when it engages truth…For it is not enough that we believe; we must believe in the right thing about the right One. True faith requires that we believe everything God has said about Himself and also that we believe everything He has said about us.” ~A. W. Tozer, Of God and Men I have heard it long said that “You just need to believe!” What I ask in return is, “What do I need to believe?” What we believe is just as crucial as the fact that we do believe, but the two cannot be divorced from each other. You cannot have empty faith; your faith has to be in something. Knowing what you believe defines the content of your faith; it is the brick and mortar that gives substance to your convictions. If you don’t know what […]