Bible Discussion Thread

INTRODUCTION TO JAMES (Part 4):

NOW WE HAVE THE INTRODUCTION TO JAMES:

I. JAMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:

The Book of James is part of a collection of books in the New Testament that are called the Jewish Literature. The Jewish Literature begins with the Book of Hebrews and continues through to the end of the Book of Revelation.

II. THE THEME OF THE BOOK:

The theme of the book is found in James 2:20, "Faith without works is dead."

Let me just give you a small explanation of where I'm going with this. In the book of Hebrews, there is so much to study about faith. From a language standpoint, from a biblical standpoint, the word faith, PISTIS in Greek, means persuasion. It is a word that describes the influence and the ministry of God's Spirit over our lives. He's persuading us. He's ministering to us.



And so, when James says faith without works is dead, and you might pencil in there if you are a note taker that the word "works," when we see it in Chapter 2 means activity. Faith without activity is dead. He'll even say in Chapter 2, if you say you have the faith but there's no activity, can that faith save you?

And the answer is no. He even includes the answer in his question. He says no, it can't. That's just human faith. That's just an intellectual belief and agreement.

Since faith is a word that describes the presence and activity of God's Spirit in a person's life, faith without activity is a dead faith. With faith being the moving and ministering of God's Spirit, if God's Spirit isn't there and active in your life, you have a dead faith.

That's from a biblical perspective. That's not religious, and especially here in America, where faith is being promoted as coming from man, human beings, that we produce the faith, that we have to believe in order for God to bless us. Faith without works is dead.