The faith that works trusts God in the midst of temptation...

For the past several months at the church where I serve, we have looking at what we believe as a church as contained in the doctrinal statement of our church. But just because we know all the right things about doctrine; just because we know what we believe about God and the things of God, that does not mean that we know God and are living out what we know about God in a genuine and authentic way. 

You can know a lot about Jesus and not know Jesus or live a life that follows Jesus. You can know a lot about Jesus but not live a life that reveals and reflects Jesus. Now a natural question that could arise here is "well Dave, how should what we know about God and the things of God impact how we live out our day to day lives? How should what we know about Jesus impact how we live our lives as we follow Jesus? In other words, how should our faith in Jesus work itself out in our day to day lives in a way that results in us living lives that look like Jesus?"

To answer these questions, we are going to spend our time together looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of James. And as we go through this letter, my hope and my prayer is that we would be able to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around several timeless truths that occur in a life of faith that works itself out in a way that results in us living lives that look like Jesus. So, as we launch into this series, let’s begin where the book of James begins, in James 1:1:

 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

James begins his letter by introducing himself to those who would be reading this letter throughout history. James, the author of this letter, was the half brother of Jesus. And throughout Jesus earthly life, James repeatedly doubted Jesus claim to be God. I mean, think of it this way: if you have brothers and sisters, what would it take for you to believe that your brother or sister was God?

Yet James, who repeatedly doubted Jesus claim to be God, became a follower of Jesus who was the pastor at the church in Jerusalem and who was ultimately killed for believing that Jesus was God. So what caused James to turn from being a doubter in Jesus to being a martyr for Jesus? What caused James to turn from being a doubter in Jesus to being a pastor of Jesus church and an author of a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible?

What changed is that James saw Jesus after Jesus was raised from the dead. You see the transformation that occurred in the life of James is one of the strongest evidences of the resurrection of Jesus. And as a result of recognizing that his half brother was God in a bod who was raised from the dead never to die again, James viewed himself as a "bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ". Now a bond servant was one who was solely committed to the service of another, in this case God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. James had placed Jesus as large and in charge of his life was solely committed to serving Jesus and the kingdom mission that he had been given by Jesus.

After introducing himself, James then discloses the original recipients of this letter to us. When James refers to the twelve tribes who were dispersed abroad, he is referring to early followers of Jesus of Jewish ethnicity who had been scattered throughout the world as a result of the persecution of followers of Jesus by the Roman Empire, who was the dominant military and political power in the world during the first century. After briefly introducing himself to the readers of his letter, James jumps right into his letter to early followers of Jesus in James 1:2. Let's look at it together:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

To which we say "what? Really?" And what makes this all the more strange is that James here is not suggesting that we consider it all joy when you encounter various trials. Instead, James is commanding that we consider it all joy when you encounter various trials. When James uses the word consider, this word conveys the sense of engaging in an intellectual process so as to regard something in a particular way. In addition, the word joy is not a word of emotion. The word joy is an attitude, a mindset that results in us experiencing an attitude of gratitude and gladness about something. 

And what we are to regard with an attitude of gratitude and gladness is not if you encounter various trial. What we are to regard with an attitude of gratitude and gladness is when you encounter various trials. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we should expect to be involved in trails of various types and kinds and when we become involved in those trials of various types and kinds we should engage those trials intellectually in a way that regards those trials with an attitude of gratitude and gladness.

Now that leads us to what James is referring to when he uses the phrase various trials. Is James here referring to trials that we encounter or is James referring to temptations we encounter? The word trial here, in that language that this letter was originally written in, was used to refer to both temptations and trials. In addition, this word conveys the sense of something happening to you.

James here is referring to something that comes upon us that reveals that nature and character of what is within us. You see, character is like toothpaste; you never really know what is inside until it is squeezed. I believe that James here is referring to the temptations what we face when it comes to responding to the various circumstances we face. You see, the temptations that we face internally are the result of circumstances that we can experience externally.

The issue that James is addressing here is the issue of our response to the temptation that arises from circumstances because while we are not necessarily responsible for the circumstances we face, we are responsible for our response to those circumstances. And when we become involved in a circumstance or situation, there is a temptation to respond to that circumstance and situation in a way that is against the message and teachings of Jesus.

There is a temptation to say "I know that Bible says, but". There is a temptation to say "I know what would Jesus do, but I don't want to do what would Jesus do".  James point is that we are to engage the temptations that come about as the result of being involved in various circumstances intellectually in a way that regards those temptations with an attitude of gratitude and gladness. Now a natural question that could arise here is "well Dave why would I want to regard the temptations I face with an attitude of gratitude and gladness?" Great question. And we see James answer that question in James 1:3-4:

knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. and let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Now to fully understand what James is communicating here, we first need to understand what James means when he uses the phrase "the testing of your faith." When James refers to testing here, this word refers to the process of determining the genuineness of something. In addition, when James uses the word faith here, this word is that same word that is translated trust in our English Bibles and refers to a state of confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

James point here is that we are to regard the temptations that we face with an attitude of gratitude and gladness because it is our response to those temptations that reveals the genuineness of our confident trust in Jesus. And it is our response of confident trust in Jesus in the midst of the temptations that we face that produces perseverance. Now perseverance is the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty. In other words, the temptations that we face that reveal the genuineness of our trust in Jesus produce in us the ability to bear up in the face of those temptations in a way that places our confident trust in Jesus and that does not give into the temptation.

Then in verse 4, James encourages followers of Jesus throughout history to let endurance have its perfect result so that we would be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But what does that mean? James point here is that as we bear up in the face of temptation by trusting in Jesus, the result is that we become perfect and complete. The word perfect conveys the sense of being fully developed in a moral sense. In addition, the word complete conveys the sense of wholeness and integrity.

In other words, as we bear up in the face of temptation by trusting Jesus, the result is spiritual maturity. A spiritual maturity that is marked by a life of integrity and that does not fall short when it comes to revealing and reflecting Jesus in the world. And it is here that we see James reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the faith that works. And that timeless truth is this: The faith that works trusts God in the midst of temptation.

As followers of Jesus, the faith that works trusts God in the midst of temptation because trusting God in the midst of temptation results in us becoming more like Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are to respond to temptation with an attitude of gratitude and gladness because our response to temptation reveals the genuineness of our trust in Jesus. And as followers of Jesus, we are to respond to temptation with an attitude of gratitude and gladness because our response to temptation produces spiritual maturity.

You see, our response of trust in Jesus in the midst of temptation produces the ability to bear up in the face of temptation. And our response of trust in Jesus in the midst of temptation produces a spiritual maturity that reveals itself by our lifestyle. A spiritual maturity that becomes fully developed and a spiritual maturity that meets all expectations and does not fall short when it comes to revealing a reflecting Jesus to those around us.

Now right about now you might be thinking to yourself "well Dave that sounds easy in principle, but that is so hard in practice. Trusting God in the midst of temptation is easy to talk about but so difficult for me to do. So how can I get to the place where I do a better job at trusting God in the midst of temptation?"

We see James address this issue beginning in James 1:5-8. Tomorrow, we will look at how James answers these questions…