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Tag: Epistle of James

Teachers judged more strictly

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in James, What’s new?.

What does it mean that teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3:1)?

James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” This verse is sandwiched between James’ instruction about the kind of faith that produces good works and his warnings about our words, so we should view it within that context. Those who aspire to leadership within the church are held to a higher standard than other believers because of the great influence teachers wield. Their works and their words carry a greater weight than those who are not teaching. If teachers fall, they can take many people with them; therefore, God will judge teachers of the Word according to the kind of impact they had on those they aspired to lead.

First Timothy 3:2–10 sheds more light on God’s expectations for those who would lead by teaching. That passage gives a list of qualifications that elders must possess before being entrusted with the care of God’s church. One of those qualifications is that he is “able to teach” (verse 2). Elders are teachers, and God says that they will be judged more strictly due to the seriousness of their responsibility.

The “judgment” spoken of in James 3:1 refers to the various levels of rewards teachers will receive. While a believer’s salvation is guaranteed through the grace of God, future rewards are earned through faithful service (Luke 12:33). All Christians will stand before Christ to have our works tested with fire (1 Corinthians 3:11–15). Christ will reward us according to what we’ve done for Him (Matthew 10:41; 16:27; Ephesians 6:8). Teachers who have been faithful to proclaim truth and demonstrate godly living will receive rewards accordingly. They will hear their Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Luke 19:17). But those who desired to become teachers because of selfish motives or those who used their positions as a source of manipulation will realize they’ve already received their reward on earth—fleshly gratification (see Matthew 6:2–4). Such teachers will be judged more strictly and will stand empty-handed before their King.

On the judgment day, every secret thing will be brought to light (Luke 8:17–18). The motives of our hearts will be exposed, and there will be no more pretense or spiritual deception. Teachers of the Word will be judged more strictly. Those who have not been faithful in their calling and have led others astray will be exposed. Sadly, many of those teachers will be found to be lost themselves. Their desire for influence and power motivated them to pose as pastors and Bible teachers while denying the very Christ of whom they spoke (see Romans 1:21–22). Paul speaks of false teachers who view “godliness as a means of gain” (1 Timothy 6:5). Their judgment will be harsher because of the people they led astray. Many of these false teachers populate the airwaves, spreading lies and flaunting ungodly, selfish lifestyles. They would do well to look closely at James 3:1.

God has blessed the church with many teachers, and He expects those teachers to develop and use their gift to advance His kingdom (1 Corinthians 14:3; 2 Timothy 4:2). Teachers should voluntarily hold themselves to a higher standard, knowing that they will be judged more strictly. Teachers should follow the counsel of Galatians 5:13, which says, “Through love serve one another.” Faithful teachers willingly give up personal rights in the “gray areas” in order to set themselves apart from anything questionable. If we are unwilling to limit our own freedoms out of love for those we teach, we may not be ready to assume the role of teacher (see 1 Corinthians 8:9–13).

Given that teachers will be judged more strictly, there are probably many who have assumed a teaching role within a church who have no business doing so. They are neither gifted to teach nor morally qualified. It is those teachers to whom James 3:1 is addressed: “Not many of you should become teachers.” Before anyone aspires to the role of teacher, he or she should ask themselves the following questions:

  1. Am I continuing to learn? Good teachers are good learners. Those with the gift of teaching also love to continue learning. The best teaching arises from the heart of someone who is passionate about what God is teaching him or her (2 Timothy 2:15).
  2. Has God called me to teach? Many churches, desperate for volunteers, will place anyone who doesn’t say no in a teaching position. While everyone should pitch in at times in a variety of serving positions, such as the nursery, serving meals, or collecting the offering, no one who is not gifted and called by God to do so should accept the role of a Bible teacher. We can recognize His calling by an incessant nudging in our hearts toward a particular ministry. That calling will be confirmed by leaders who recognize that gifting.
  3. Is my personal life free from besetting sins? While none of us will be completely free from sin while in these bodies, we should have victory over besetting sins—those faults that stem from overt, overwhelming, and ongoing temptations. Alcohol or drug abuse, sexual immorality, and anger problems are examples of besetting sins that need to be dealt with before a teacher assumes the role. Besetting sins are those that can easily cause another to stumble (Luke 17:1). A teacher with ongoing, besetting sins will be judged more strictly because of the influence of those sins.

“We must all stand before Christ to be judged” (2 Corinthians 5:10, NLT), and our rewards will be based upon how faithfully we persevered in this life to the glory of God. The Lord knows what He has entrusted to each of us and expects a return on that investment (Matthew 25:14–46). Teachers will face a stricter judgment on that day of reckoning. Those who abused their position or distorted the gospel message will be judged accordingly. Those teachers who persevered in truth and love and served where God placed them will receive His blessing, reward, and the joy of hearing from Jesus Himself, “Well done, good and faithful servant. . . . Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).

Resist the devil

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in James, Spiritual Warfare, What’s new?.

What does it mean to resist the devil?

The phrase “resist the devil” is found in James 4:7 where the apostle James exhorts believers to resist the devil in order to cause him to flee or “run away” from us. To resist means to withstand, strive against, or oppose in some manner. Resistance can be a defensive maneuver on our part, such as resisting or withstanding the temptation to sin. Or it can be an action we take to use the only offensive weapon in the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18), the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Using the Scriptures to expose Satan’s lies and temptations is the most effective way to strive against and defeat them.

It is important to read the whole verse: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Resisting the devil must be accompanied by submitting to God. A disobedient or unsubmissive believer will not see victory.

The apostle John records Jesus saying about Satan, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). As Christians, we have full life when we are aware of the reality of the presence of evil. As we struggle to stand firm in our faith, we must realize that the enemies we are up against are not merely human ideas, but real forces that come from the powers of darkness. The Bible says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Why will resistance cause the devil to flee? Because he knows he cannot have victory over us if we are prepared to do battle against him. As mentioned before, the Bible assures us that we need only put on the full armor of God to be fully protected from evil and to actively resist it. There is nothing more frightening to Satan than a believer who is fully equipped with spiritual armor, beginning with the “helmet of salvation,” which protects our minds, and the “breastplate of righteousness,” which protects our hearts because it is the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Only a true believer wears these because only those who have received God’s forgiveness by grace through faith have eternal salvation and the righteousness of Christ imputed to them.

Once fitted with the helmet and breastplate (literally, “chest protector”), we are then to take up other defensive weapons with which to battle Satan: truth, the readiness to proclaim the gospel, and the faith that shields us from all the flaming arrows of the evil one. The final piece of armor is prayer. We pray for strength to resist evil and to actively battle against it. We pray for wisdom in the conflict, and most of all, we remain steadfast in our prayers, both for the ability to resist the devil and also for other believers who struggle in the same battle. When the church, the body of Christ, stands united against evil, fully equipped with the armor of God, we present a formidable foe to the evil one and we will see God get the glory for the victory.

As a side note, the Bible never gives Christians the authority to “rebuke” the devil, only to resist him. Zechariah 3:2 tells us that it is the Lord who rebukes Satan. Even Michael, one of the most powerful of the angels, did not dare to accuse Satan, but rather said, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 1:9). In response to Satan’s attacks, Christians should redouble our efforts to clothe ourselves in the spiritual armor, wield the Word of God, and rely on His power through prayer. Instead of focusing on “rebuking” the devil, we should focus on resisting him with the full armor of God.

Faith without works is dead

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Questions about Salvation, What’s new?.

Why is faith without works dead?

James says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). Faith without works is a dead faith because the lack of works reveals an unchanged life or a spiritually dead heart. There are many verses that say that true saving faith will result in a transformed life, that faith is demonstrated by the works we do. How we live reveals what we believe and whether the faith we profess to have is a living faith.

James 2:14–26 is sometimes taken out of context in an attempt to create a works-based system of righteousness, but that is contrary to many other passages of Scripture. James is not saying that our works make us righteous before God but that real saving faith is demonstrated by good works. Works are not the cause of salvation; works are the evidence of salvation. Faith in Christ always results in good works. The person who claims to be a Christian but lives in willful disobedience to Christ has a false or dead faith and is not saved. Paul basically says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. James contrasts two different types of faith—true faith that saves and false faith that is dead.

Many profess to be Christians, but their lives and priorities indicate otherwise. Jesus put it this way: “By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:16–23).

Notice that the message of Jesus is the same as the message of James. Obedience to God is the mark of true saving faith. James uses the examples of Abraham and Rahab to illustrate the obedience that accompanies salvation. Simply saying we believe in Jesus does not save us, nor does religious service. What saves us is the Holy Spirit’s regeneration of our hearts, and that regeneration will invariably be seen in a life of faith featuring ongoing obedience to God.

Misunderstanding the relationship of faith and works comes from not understanding what the Bible teaches about salvation. There are really two errors in regards to works and faith. The first error is “easy believism,” the teaching that, as long as a person prayed a prayer or said, “I believe in Jesus,” at some point in his life, then he is saved, no matter what. So a person who, as a child, raised his hand in a church service is considered saved, even though he has never shown any desire to walk with God since and is, in fact, living in blatant sin. This teaching, sometimes called “decisional regeneration,” is dangerous and deceptive. The idea that a profession of faith saves a person, even if he lives like the devil afterwards, assumes a new category of believer called the “carnal Christian.” This allows various ungodly lifestyles to be excused: a man may be an unrepentant adulterer, liar, or bank robber, but he’s saved; he’s just “carnal.” Yet, as we can see in James 2, an empty profession of faith—one that does not result in a life of obedience to Christ—is in reality a dead faith that cannot save.

The other error in regards to works and faith is to attempt to make works part of what justifies us before God. The mixture of works and faith to earn salvation is totally contrary to what Scripture teaches. Romans 4:5 says, “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” James 2:26 says, “Faith without works is dead.” There is no conflict between these two passages. We are justified by grace through faith, and the natural result of faith in the heart is works that all can see. The works that follow salvation do not make us righteous before God; they simply flow from the regenerated heart as naturally as water flows from a spring.

Salvation is a sovereign act of God whereby an unregenerate sinner has the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” poured out on him (Titus 3:5), thereby causing him to be born again (John 3:3). When this happens, God gives the forgiven sinner a new heart and puts a new spirit within him (Ezekiel 36:26). God removes his sin-hardened heart of stone and fills him with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit then causes the saved person to walk in obedience to God’s Word (Ezekiel 36:26–27).

Faith without works is dead because it reveals a heart that has not been transformed by God. When we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our lives will demonstrate that new life. Our works will be characterized by obedience to God. Unseen faith will become seen by the production of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22). Christians belong to Christ, the Good Shepherd. As His sheep we hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:26–30).

Faith without works is dead because faith results in a new creation, not a repetition of the same old patterns of sinful behavior. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Faith without works is dead because it comes from a heart that has not been regenerated by God. Empty professions of faith have no power to change lives. Those who pay lip service to faith but who do not possess the Spirit will hear Christ Himself say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:23).