WORKING HARD OR HARDLY WORKING? (5 OF 12)
by Keith Krell
Scripture: James 2:14-26
This content is part of a series.
Working Hard or Hardly Working? (5 of 12)
Series: Put Your Faith to Work
Keith Krell
James 2:14-26
Have you ever made a commitment to diet and exercise? Well, imagine that a wealthy relative gives you a lifetime membership to an excellent gym. Upon receiving your membership, you set up an appointment with a personal trainer by the name of Hans. As you begin your appointment you say, ''Hans, I want to get into shape and I will do anything you tell me except eat right and exercise.'' What do you think Hans would say to you? He would probably say, ''Get out of this gym, you flabby couch potato! You're wasting my time!''
Sadly, many Christians want to be spiritually strong, but they aren't willing to work out. This leads to Christians that are pathetically useless. They come in two varieties: puny, pencil-necked weaklings. These Christians are malnourished or anorexic because they haven't fed on the Word. As a result, they have no spiritual strength or stamina to work out. Other Christians are obese, overstuffed pew potatoes. These have feasted on God's Word, but they are biblically bulimic, gluttons who have taken in so much Bible, they are almost throwing up. Unfortunately, they are so intellectually stuffed they can't work out either. James 2:14-26 addresses these problems and teaches: A workless faith is a worthless faith. In this classic passage James offers two workout tips to get your faith into shape.
1. Utilize your faith (2:14-17). James argues that we must put our faith to work in order to have a useful faith. This passage is one of the most disputed New Testament texts, so we need to pay careful attention to James' language. In 2:14 he raises two rhetorical questions demanding a negative answer: First, ''What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?'' The answer to this question is obvious: Faith without works is useless. To have the talk without the walk accomplishes nothing. Note three key observations: ( ...
Series: Put Your Faith to Work
Keith Krell
James 2:14-26
Have you ever made a commitment to diet and exercise? Well, imagine that a wealthy relative gives you a lifetime membership to an excellent gym. Upon receiving your membership, you set up an appointment with a personal trainer by the name of Hans. As you begin your appointment you say, ''Hans, I want to get into shape and I will do anything you tell me except eat right and exercise.'' What do you think Hans would say to you? He would probably say, ''Get out of this gym, you flabby couch potato! You're wasting my time!''
Sadly, many Christians want to be spiritually strong, but they aren't willing to work out. This leads to Christians that are pathetically useless. They come in two varieties: puny, pencil-necked weaklings. These Christians are malnourished or anorexic because they haven't fed on the Word. As a result, they have no spiritual strength or stamina to work out. Other Christians are obese, overstuffed pew potatoes. These have feasted on God's Word, but they are biblically bulimic, gluttons who have taken in so much Bible, they are almost throwing up. Unfortunately, they are so intellectually stuffed they can't work out either. James 2:14-26 addresses these problems and teaches: A workless faith is a worthless faith. In this classic passage James offers two workout tips to get your faith into shape.
1. Utilize your faith (2:14-17). James argues that we must put our faith to work in order to have a useful faith. This passage is one of the most disputed New Testament texts, so we need to pay careful attention to James' language. In 2:14 he raises two rhetorical questions demanding a negative answer: First, ''What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?'' The answer to this question is obvious: Faith without works is useless. To have the talk without the walk accomplishes nothing. Note three key observations: ( ...
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