LESSON 4 • The New Life of Christians
James 2: 14-26

In chapter 2 He reminds us that our unchanging God chose to give us new life so that we will be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. James gives specific advice for specific sins—unbelief, mistreatment of others with words or with deeds, lack of submission to God, self-dependence and pride. James inspires us to lead good lives of active faith, full of humility, compassion, love, mercy, peace, perseverance and patience. In chapter 2, James addresses the sin of an inactive faith.

Scriptures to consider from James 
1:17-18 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

1:2-8 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

1:22-25 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

3: 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

Themes from James 2:14-26
• For those who are alive in Christ, faith is not an intellectual or emotional exercise.
• A life of firstfruits is a life of action.
• Faith that does not actively seek to do God’s will is useless.
• We are made right with God by deeds of faith.
• Salvation is God’s work—not man’s work by faith or by deeds.



STUDY OUTLINE 

James 2:14-17 Faith is more than an intellectual or emotional exercise.

James 2:18-19 As men and women who have been given new life by God, we are called 
to be firstfruits—to be more and do more than the demons. 

James 2:20-26 The stories of Abraham and Rahab teach us that in order to be right with
God and to be a friend of God, we must grow in faith and mature spiritually. Our new lives in Christ must yield good deeds.

Lessons to be learned

Salvation is God’s Work

James 2: 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you [as His firstfruits] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Titus 3:4-8 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Romans3:21-26 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.




The Miracle of Life

This miracle is something that from conception, birth and throughout the years that follow, has recognizable signs of growth, maturity, and, yes, LIFE.
Christ used this concept of LIFE in many of His teachings. The gospel of John teaches us many things that increase our understanding. 
1:4 In Him was Life.
3:3-8 We must be born again to get into Him.
3:14-20 The process is based on belief.
3:21 Live by truth.
6:34-69 Christ is the bread of life; those who eat will not die.
10:10 Christ came to give us abundant life.

Throughout many of the epistles the concept of maturing is very evident. One example is 2 Peter 1: 1-11. There is a very obvious growing process listed here. Note verses 10-11 about making our calling and election sure. Peter says, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 

James 2 presumes a state of life baptism, so using this passage as an answer to how we come to a saved condition is not even in the context. The whole of the book of James is discussing the LIFE of a Christian. James tells us that we are chosen by God, that He gives us a new life so that we might become the firstfruits of all His creation. (James 1:17-18). As Christians we are reconciled to God and are to lead new lives as Christ’s ambassadors—thus we become righteous in God’s eyes (James 2:23-24). In 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Paul says it like this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
God not only saves us, He prepares us to do His good works—He transforms us into His own image if we humbly submit to him through faith. 

In Acts 2 we see a picture of the early Christians humbling themselves and yielding to God and His will. God’s Power at work in them turned their hearts toward Him and gave them the emotions/feelings of awe, devotion, love, and gladness which prompted service and unselfishness and submission to God and others. The world around them looked upon them with favor because they saw them as a devoted, loving and caring group. . .and God blessed them. You might notice the “heart” evidence in this passage—not simply look at the actions of the group. 
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” And in Ephesians 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are saved and become a new person, created for good works. As one of our godly college students put it, “God does not call the prepared, He prepares the called.”
Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians found at the end of chapter 3 and his teachings on living a new life in Christ found in chapter 4 are rich sources for us as we realize the power of God working within each of us giving us strength to live this new life described in James 2. 

Conclusions

God saves us by grace through faith—but faith without deeds is dead.
As Christians, we are called to live a new life of love and service. 
We must submit to God and grow spiritually.
God gives us the strength for this new life and prepares us for good works.

Discussion

1. Is it possible to have belief in God without this belief impacting our daily life?

2. Describe the phrase SO WHAT? (think back on the sermon preached by Steven Hovater in early August.)

3. Are we working in order for God to save us? What can WE do to earn our salvation? 

4. Do we convey the belief that God saves and not our works when we compare ourselves to each other?

5. Do you feel a responsibility to do good works?


Other scriptures to consider 

Romans 8:5-10 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 

Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

Ephesians 4 1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says: 
"When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 
14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 
25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin" : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. 
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Philippians 3: 8-9 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 
1 Peter 1:23 - 2:3 (NLT) “Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said, The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, God's Word goes on and on forever. This is the Word that conceived the new life in you. So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God's pure kindness. Then you'll grow up mature and whole in God. You've had a taste of God." 





Jimmy Cone 

My family started attending Pulaski Heights/Pleasant Valley in the fall of 1964. Other than one year while working in Dallas and the times spent away in schools I have worshipped at PH/PV. I have been involved in some teaching ministry almost continually since 1981. In addition, I have served as a deacon and as an elder. I am married to Andee and we have two sons, Patrick and Alex that have grownup at PV.



Steve Stevens

Kathy and I have been at PV since 1978. I've served as a deacon and elder. I have two daughters, Andrea Tappe, and Julianna.