How are we not believing the Gospel?

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

(Matthew 23:5-7 ESV)

When we, like good religious people do, perform good deeds for others to see, or when we desire to be honored in front of others, we are failing to believe the amazing news of the Gospel. Most of us need to repent of our "righteous" works because they are done out of a motivation that is not in line with the truth of the Gospel. When we do good things so others will see us, or so that we will receive honor and a pat on the back we are fundamentally misunderstanding the truth about who Jesus is and what he has done.

When we do good works so others will see us or so that we will receive some kind of honor we are giving others the position of savior in our lives because we are looking to them for our worth and validation. We are fundamentally believing that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough for us and that we need the approval of others to give us the approval we desire.

The good news of the Gospel is this: Jesus did EVERYTHING necessary for your approval and salvation by living a life of perfect obedience to the Father. Sin deserves death. Since Jesus never sinned death was not required of him. But because of his love for you he exchanged places with you. He died for you in your place for all of your sin, past, present, and future so that it is forgiven. He also gave you his perfect righteousness so that NOTHING else would be required of you. Everything God requires of you has been done in Jesus. Because of what Jesus has done God now sees Christ's perfect life when he looks at you. You do not have to prove yourself to anyone ever again!! You don't have to put up a front so that others will think highly of you. You don't have to fake your way through life so other Christians will think you are holy or approve of you. You have the approval of GOD through the person and work of Jesus. All the worth and validation you ever need or desire is found in the amazing news of the Gospel!

Next time we find ourselves doing something to gain the approval of others let us be reminded of the good news of the Gospel and rest in what Jesus has done for us.

James 1:1-4

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. " (James 1:1-4)

James first identifies himself as a servant of Jesus and addresses his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered throughout the world because of persecution. He then gives a short introduction: Greetings. James then wastes no time in getting to the meat of his letter. What he says next is shocking and counter-cultural to us as Americans:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you experience trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

How many of us get excited and joyful when we think about the trials that lie ahead of us in our lives? I certainly do not. I can't imagine the tribes to whom this letter was addressed were very excited or joyful about the persecution they were most likely enduring when James wrote this letter. How can we make sense of the command James gives us?

Let's first identify some key terms James uses in these verses. What does James mean by trials? More often than not the Bible interprets itself and that is the case we find here. In verse 3 James uses “the testing of your faith” synonymously with the word “trials”. So we can say that a trial is anything that tests our faith or would cause us to question any aspect about who God has revealed himself to be or what he has commanded us to do. Eve experienced a trial in the garden when the serpent raised the question “Did God really say...” The serpent got Eve to question a command that God had given to Adam. Oksana and I recently went through a period of about a week when we thought we had a miscarriage. This was a trial for us because it caused us to question certain aspects of who God has revealed himself to be, namely a good, loving God. When we are tempted to gossip so others will think highly of us we are experiencing a trial and faced with the question of whose approval we seek more, man's or God's. So we can safely say that trials are tests we face in which we have a decision to believe or disbelieve God.

Another key term in these verses in the term “steadfastness”. I'd like to define steadfastness as a perseverance which has faith or hope for its basis.

James says that steadfastness or perseverance is a product of trials or the testing of our faith that comes every day. As we experience trials we are faced with the decision to either trust in God or to trust in something else. James is clear in saying that the test or trial is what produces the steadfastness, not our decisions in the face of those tests or trials. In Psalm 1 David compares the man who delights in God to a tree planted by streams of water. That tree is a great picture of steadfastness. That tree will persevere through storm or hardship but only because it is planted by the streams of water. If we go back to our definition that steadfastness is a perseverance which has faith or hope for its basis we can see that just as the streams of water were the tree's source of perseverance in Psalm 1, who God is and what He's done, also known as the Gospel, is where our hope for perseverance and steadfastness comes from. Our steadfastness is rooted in the Gospel, not in our right decisions.

Why then should we follow James' command to “count it all joy” when we experience trials? Because when we experience trials God reveals to us the truth about who He is in very real and tangible ways. When we see God reveal to us that he is a perfect loving father who in all things is working for our good we become less dependent on our own strength and more dependent on His. As a result we are able to persevere through trials when they come because our strength is found in who He is, what He has done, and what He continues to do, and not in ourselves. This ever-growing dependence on God is process is called sanctification. God uses trials in our lives to sanctify us.

So how does steadfastness lead to us being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”? When we experience trials we inevitably become more dependent on the Gospel for our strength. God shows us through trials that we cannot live our lives on our own strength much less rely on our own strength and good works to reunite us with Him. Steadfastness has its “full effect” when we realize and trust that every time we face a trial, our hope and strength is found in the person and work of Jesus and not in ourselves. The result of this trusting in the Gospel with each trial is that you are now being made perfect or sanctified through the work of Jesus.

Paul gives us an explanation of how we are made perfect through Jesus' work of dying on the cross: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21). We have all sinned. We have all turned from God and chosen to worship other things. But while we were in the midst of this rebellion God sent his son to live a life in perfect submission to Him, the life we were meant to live. Jesus lived a perfect life. He is the perfect man. When Jesus was crucified on the cross he took the sin of all of God's people on himself. He was punished for our sin. That is what Paul means when he says “he made him to be sin who knew no sin.” Not only did Jesus satisfy God's wrath against sin by going to the cross, he also gave us his righteousness. Martin Luther called this the great exchange. Jesus took our place on the cross and gave us his place with the Father. He took our sin and gave us his perfection. That is how it is possible for us to be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”, by trusting in what Jesus has done for us and continues to do in us.

As followers of Jesus are able to then “count it all joy” when we experience trials and hardships in our lives because of the amazing news of who God is, what He has done and what He continues to do. Through trials we realize that God is revealing to us in personal ways the truth about who He is. Through trials God shows us that He is all that we need. Through trials we see that He is a God who keeps His promises. Through trials God shows us how insufficient we are and how sufficient He is. Through trials we realize that God is deepening our dependence on His work and not ours. This dependence on the person and work of Jesus means that we can truly "count it all joy" when we experience trials because we know that we are made "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" not through our decisions in the face of trials but in and through the person and work of Jesus.

If you'd like to listen to more on this topic here is my friend and pastor Brent Thomas talking about joy in the midst of trials: http://bit.ly/gBcbyY

James Intro

Some background information on the book of James before I dive in to the text:

Author:
The author of this letter is Jesus' half brother James. After Jesus' resurrection James went on to become a leading figure in the early Jerusalem church being mentioned several times in the account of the early church, the book of Acts.

Date:
James died in A.D. 62 so this letter was certainly written before then. It is likely that James would have mentioned the meeting of the apostolic council in Jerusalem in 48 A.D. had he written this letter after that. This puts the most likely date for this letter in the mid to early 40's A.D., certainly within a lifetime of Jesus.

Addressees:
In the opening of his letter James addresses it to "the twelve tribes in the Dispersion". These were Jewish Christians living outside of Jerusalem scattered about because of the persecution facing the early church as mentioned in Acts 11:19

You Don't Save Yourself

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
(John 5:5-9 ESV)

It's not what we do, how we behave, what rules we keep, what music we listen to, what movies we watch, how much we pray, how much we give, how much we know, how clean our language is, what political party we belong to or whether or not we believe the correct doctrines that saves us.

We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone. This is not your doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Everyday Faith: A Study in the Book of James

The community of believers I worship with, Church of the Cross, is starting a new series this Sunday on the book of James. We practice expository preaching at COTC, which just means that we preach through entire books of the Bible. Since we are beginning our study in James this week I thought it would be helpful for me personally to study the book a little bit more in depth than we are able to go on a Sunday morning and share my thoughts and questions here.

If you are interested in going through the study of James with our community we would love to have you on Sunday mornings at 10:30. You can get more info on the website here. We also have community groups, the heart of who we are and what we do at COTC, which are smaller gatherings that meet weekly. Currently we are going through "The Story of God" which is an amazing retelling of the Bible from Genesis, the beginning, through Acts, the start of the church as we know it. Oksana and I have a community group that meets in our home every Wednesday night at 6 PM for dinner and then the telling of a portion of the story. Again, we would love if you would join us.

Matt Chandler / CJ Mahaney on Suffering

T4G 2010 -- Special Session -- Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Suffering & Acts 23:11

“The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome."

Paul, after two days in Jerusalem was exhausted, undoubtedly feeling as David, and later Jesus did:

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
-Psalm 22:14-15

Granted he had been saved once again from death by the Romans but he was still confined and under arrest. Over the past two days Paul had survived two beatings. The first took place just outside the temple after Paul had been seized and dragged outside after being falsely accused of “teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place (the temple)” and of bringing Greeks into the temple (Acts 21:28). The Roman soldiers literally had to carry Paul away “because of the violence of the crowd” (Acts 21:35). The next day before a meeting of the chief priests and the council Paul was punched on the mouth for claiming to have a clear conscience then had to be taken away again by the Roman soldiers because they were “afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them” (Acts 23:10).

So here Paul is, back in the barracks in Jerusalem, physically battered, discouraged and uncertain if he is even going to survive. Then Jesus Himself shows up at Paul's side and says “Take courage, for as you have testified to the acts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” Read what Jesus says carefully and understand what He is saying to Paul.

At first glance we may read Jesus' words and be relieved that He is finally going to step in and rescue Paul from the suffering and beatings he is having to endure. Much of the theology of today teaches that as Christians we will be rescued from all suffering and hardship. We are wrongly taught that if we believe in Jesus He will provide us with health, wealth, and prosperity and that if we aren't seeing those things come to pass in our lives then we just need to have more faith. We like to believe in a God that will serve us what we want, when we want it. We are told that if we pray enough, read our Bibles enough, and give enough of our time, money and resources God will give us the stuff we've always dreamed of having. This, of course, is a complete lie manufactured by sinful men who desire a god who will serve them. This is not the God of the Bible.

Read again what Jesus says: “Take courage, for as you have testified to the acts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” Jesus tells Paul to “Take courage.” Why does Paul need to take courage? Because Jesus tells him “as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” What has just happened to Paul over the last two days in Jerusalem? Two beatings and imprisonment! Jesus is not coming to take Paul's suffering but to tell him to get ready because what he just endured in Jerusalem he now has to go do the same in Rome!

It's not like this should be any surprise to anyone. Recall what Jesus said to Ananias about the conversion of Paul:

"Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my
name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
For I will show him how much he must suffer
for the sake of my name" (Acts 9:15-16)

Jesus is doing what He promised He would. He is using Paul to carry His name to the world amidst “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (2 Cor. 6:4-5). As Christians, should we expect any different?

The point of Christianity is Jesus, not us. That means we suffer, even to the point of death so that the good news of who He is goes out to the world and He receives all the glory. As Christians, we should all say with Paul “For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

Devastation in Haiti Video by Churches Helping Churches