04/16/24 JAMES IS GOD'S WORD TOO

04/16/24 JAMES IS GOD'S WORD TOO

Sinning Religion hates the Book of James; at the least, it denies what it says concerning true salvation.

Consider some of the great truths, just in this short passage. 

James 2:8-11
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Christians live by the Royal Law, which is the Law of Love, which is also the Law of Liberty. Christians are not lawless, but we love God and His rule and His law. This truth is as Old as the Old Testament, but it became more obvious and better understood in the light of the New Testament.

Also note that God condemns those who, "have respect to persons," in other words, favoritism that ignores justice and mercy. In fact, God calls such an attitude, "sin." God does not save people because of favoritism and He does not condemn people by unilaterally reprobating them. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, yet He does rejoice in His unfailing mercy and justice. Don't be surprised if your mind does not grasp the wonders of God's nature.

God condemns all sin and will judge all men according to their own sins, yet...
God loves the whole world and does not want any to perish, but to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
God, through His mercy, has made atonement for all men, by the Sacrifice of His Son, for the entire world, satisfying Divine justice.
God knew that all men would sin, but God made provision for the salvation of all men through the sacrificial death and the physical resurrection of His Son.
God is justified in condemning all men, but God is justified in redeeming all men who believe in His Son.
God made it possible for anyone who chooses to call on the Name of the Lord, to be saved.
God is no respecter of persons.
All are lost because of personal sins.
All are provided atonement by God's grace, through faith.
Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.

It does not take an ongoing life of sin to separate man from God: remember Adam?
It does not take a plethora of sins or a combination of sins. One sin of any kind separates us from God.
Breaking one command is the same as breaking all of the commands.

We do not save ourselves by keeping the Law of Moses or the Law of Works or the Moral Law. However, when a convert trusts and loves God, we keep the moral law of God, not as a payment but because we love God. Love is the fulfilling of the law.