West Valley Bible Study (9-23-2005)

Title: "Beware of the Bling"
Text: James 2: 1-13
You must receive the whole assembly without favoritism.

Introduction

1. Update on Daniel.

2. Update on Men's Group

3. Update on Possible Ladies' Group

4. Introduce the Text:

The Book of James

Author: James the Brother of Jesus (Pastor of Jerusalem Community Church--Acts 15:13)Original Readers: Jews spread all over the world because of persecution.

Theme: Tests to determine the life that is fitting to the gospel of Christ.

Outline of the Letter so far:

• Test of Perseverance in Suffering (1:1-12)
• Test of Purity in Temptation (1:13-18)
• Test of Response to the Word (1:19-25)
• Test of Pure Religion (1:26-27)
• Test of Impartial Love (2:1-13)

Primary Point: Favoritism is Forbidden for the believer (v. 1-4).

In 2:1, James calls the believers to a life and ministry of impartiality. He gives us a clear imperative for the life of the body of Christ:

• Literally: "Do not with partialities hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory."
• Favoritism or partiality is PLURAL. That will be important to the remainder of our study.

Favoritism is antithetical to the saving faith of the true church.Favoritism is easily illustrated:

• Rich man enters in Gucci and gets choice seat.
• Poor man enters in rags and gets to stand or sit on the floor.

The reader may ask why favoritism is wrong, since it is such an excepted part of life and culture.

Proposition: James provides us with three reasons that favoritism must be rooted from the heart, mind, and life of the church.

I. Favoritism is anti-God (v. 5-6a).

God chose the poor and stupid to put His power on display.

• 1 Cor. 1:18-31
• 2 Cor. 4:7-12

God has provided a new understanding of true wealth.

God promises are to anyone who will love Him.

God will honor the poor, while favoritism dishonors them.

II. Favoritism is anti-Reason (v. 6b-7).

Rich people dominate the poor.

Rich people punish the poor.

Rich people slander the poor.

III. Favoritism is anti-Christ (v. 8-13).

Christ commanded impartial love to all men (v. 8).

Favoritism rejects Christ command (v. 9-11).

• Favoritism is sin.
• Favoritism brings condemnation.
• One sin brings the wrath of God.
• Cf. Gal. 3:15-29--the fruit of the Law of Christ!
• Christians must live their impartial forgiveness (v. 12-13).
• Speak and act like a forgiven sinner.
• Fear the judgment of the partial and merciless.
• Remember, mercy will triumph over judgement.

Application questions:

1. How am I living a life of favortism?
2. How can I eradicate this sin from my life?

Cravings and Consequences

I wanted to share the basic outline of the Sunday morning sermon that CJ Mahaney delivered here at Grace Community Church. It was a potent reminder of the underlying reality of all relational conflicts within the church of Jesus Christ.

CJ placed before us three crucial reminders from James 4:1-2:

1. Conflict is worse than you think.
2. Conflict is simpler than you think.
3. Conflict is easier than you think.

"Craving underlies conflict; under every conflict you will find an unfulfilled craving."

This has been a transforming reminder for my own life. Each and every relational conflict (and the possibilities are endless) is the fruit of selfish cravings that have been unmet. I desire, and I do not have, so I am in conflict.

Think about it. Test your relational conflicts. I believe you will be found guilty before the perfect law of liberty.

Grace and peace.

Welcome...

This site is dedicated to the pursuit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is foolishness to those who do not believe. I welcome your opinions and comments, though I will not promise a response to every comment. I will use this site to display Bible Study notes, articles concerned with Biblical subjects, and blogs regarding my thoughts and convictions from the Bible.

So, that being said, welcome to Foolishness.

Grace and peace.