Just Do It
James 1:13-27

Review & Catch-Up

James is about the maturing process of the believer, and how through maturity, they are conformed to the image of Christ.

“It’s one thing to read the textbook, but we really learn when we go to the lab of life.” 

R.P.

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” 

--C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

This Trial I’m Going Through

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord  has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, " I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

James 1:12-13

Trials are given by God to mature us, to perfect us, to complete us.

Temptations are Satan’s enticements to rebel against God. 

Holy God did not create sin. 

God doesn’t tempt us. 

How Sin Works

Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

James 1:15-16 (NASB Update)

The heart is hardened by the lust, and if not dealt with before leads to sin.  Sin has deadly consequences.

Sin is continually at work.

Our sinful nature deceives us.   (Jer. 17:9)

Moving Beyond Just Talk

Two weeks ago when Kyle asked to describe the body of Christ in a physical way showing our diverse qualities and spiritual gifts, Michael Wallace poetically responded, “We are like a really strong jawbone!” 

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

James 1:19-20 (NASB Update)

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

James 1:22-24 (NASB Update)

“I have no photograph of her (Joy) that is any good.  I cannot see her face distinctly in my imagination.”

C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Doing God’s word prevents unnecessary pain and frustration.

How Sin Works (1:13-18)

Who’s To Blame?

• What’s the difference between a trial and a temptation? 

• Read Genesis 3:12-13, who do Adam and Eve blame their sin on?

• What does James say to the age-old question of “Is God the author of evil?”  After all, He created Lucifer didn’t He?  Is evil part of His design? 

Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

James 1:13  (NASB Update)

• Then who, logically, is to blame for sin? 

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

James 1:14 (NASB Update)

• Why you think we refuse to take the blame for our sin? 

Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

James 1:15-16 (NASB Update)

• How does James describe the process of sin?    

• Explain how this works in your own life.

• Do we ever enter sin unwillingly? 

• How do we harden our hearts in advance to the lust of the flesh?  (God, I know you want it this way, but I’m going to do it my way….)  Once our hearts are hardened, is there hope for turning back? 

• Name a Biblical example of a man who was tempted, enticed, and carried away by his own lust.  One thing led to another, and sin stacked up on each other.  (ex. King David, Judas Iscariot, etc.)  Discuss them. 

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

James 1:17-18

·        What does James mean when says that in God there is “no variation or shifting shadow”?  (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8)  From this, what can we understand about His character? 

All Talk

This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

James 1:19-20 (NASB Update)

• What does verse 19 have to say for the collegiate ministry at Walnut Street? 

• According to James, what is the right response to God’s word?

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:21 (NASB Update)

• If we want to hear God speak to us through His word, what must we do before we prepare to receive it?  (v. 21)

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

James 1:22-24 (NASB Update)

• What is the difference between someone who merely listens (and knows) God’s word and someone who knows it and carries it out?

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25 (NASB Update)

• What do you think James means by calling God’s word the “Law of Liberty?”

• How can we be blessed by carrying out “the law of liberty?”  (v. 2)

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.  Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:26-27 (NASB Update)  

• What’s the difference between someone who thinks that they are religious and someone that really is?  (v. 26-27)

• How, individually, could your religion become more “pure and faultless?” 

• What could we do your church to move beyond talk?