DETAILING OUR LIVES FOR JESUS
JAMES 1:21-27
INTRODUCTION: Up to this point in the text James has been sharing issues regarding how we are to respond to trials and temptations. With trials, we are to embrace them as being from God and for our benefit. With temptations, they are the opposite, not from God and dangerous at best. Ultimately the key both to responding to trials and resisting temptation is to be found in one’s reaction to God’s Word.
RECEPTIVITY TO THE WORD, RESPONSIVENESS TO THE WORD, AND RESIGNATION TO THE WORD ARE ESSENTIAL TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
One must accept God’s Word, act on it, and abide by it.
RIDDING OUR LIVES OF MORAL FILTH – 1:21a
Getting rid of filth in our lives is an individual decision.
We are not dealing with failures in this area
We are not dealing with repentance in this area.
We are dealing with the core value of deciding that we will not harbor filth in our lives
Getting rid of filth in our lives is an important decision
Sometimes we take off clothes that are filth slowly because we do not want to get anymore of that yucky stuff on us.
Sometimes we take clothes off because to keep them on is more dangerous than to take them off.
Getting rid of filth is a global decision
Filth is EVERYWHERE!
We can’t go anywhere without being exposed to filth.
What will we do when we are exposed to the filth that is all around us?
WE NEED TO BE ……
OPENING OUR LIVES TO GOD’S WORD – 1:21b-25
Author Bruce Barton has written, “Passive Christianity is morally wrong.”
Pastor Glass says, “Passive Christianity is BIBLICALLY wrong.”
We need to listen to the Word of God
Reason we do not listen to the Word of God
We simply will not listen.
We are too distracted to listen.
We have no accountability for listening
We are insensitive to our need to listen.
We need to accept the Word of God as BINDING on our lives
We have to stop patting ourselves for knowing God’s Word.
We need to pat ourselves on the back for doing God’s Word
We need to accept the Word of God as part of our being.
For too long we have got excited about the amount of Scripture we know.
Knowledge should preclude action
The true measure of effective Bible Study is the effect our study has on our behavior and attitude!
We need to be more steadfast and less casual
A casual attitude towards the Word of God does not allow us to recognize our own flaws
A steadfast attitude towards the Word of God gives us freedom.
We understand God’s Word cannot be improved.
We understand God’s Word works towards an end.
FIVE WAYS TO OPEN GOD'S WORD IN OUR LIVES
1. Read the Bible aloud to yourself with expression.
2. Whenever a verse includes a command, think of at least three ways you can put that command into action that same day.
3. Ask for an explanation when someone mentions a verse or passage you do not understand.
4. Memorize sections of God's Word.
5. Meditate on the parts of God's Word you have memorized.
DIRECTING OUR ACTIONS TOWARDS TRUE RELIGION – 1:26-27
Isaiah 1:16-17 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
It is foolish to deny the relationship between Christian belief and Christian action
It is foolish to deny the relationship between Christian belief and what we say
What we choose to talk about
The way we choose to talk about what we talk about
Christian conduct should be seen in the way we treat others
Christian character should be seen in the way we treat the world.
What is our relationship to the word of God?
How do we express the Word of God?
