Author Archive: Pastor Mark

Friendship world hostility

Friendship with the world is hostility towards God

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James has been building up to a point where he can confront these Jewish believers in their sin.

In chapter 3 he told them that if they were self seeking, envious with bitter jealousy then they were a child in the faith and carnal with character that is both unproven and unapproved.

So when James begins chapter 4 he starts with the statement that is essentially saying…
“All of these things being true you tell me where are all of your fights and Wars and jealousies and outbursts coming from?”

Of course he points out that their friendship with the world is violence towards God.

Furthermore, if they – even as Christians – are determined to maintain that worldly alliance, they are making themselves God’s enemy!

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Clog Spout Life

Don’t clog the Spout where the Life comes out!

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Proverbs 4 has everything to do with the heart. Its receptivity, its hunger, its trust, its purity, its treasures & how well it is guarded!

We established a very clear line between the teachings of this chapter (especially the later part), the teachings of James and the words of Jesus in Matthew 12 & Mark 11. Taken all together these teach a very well rounded lesson on the heart, the importance of treasuring God’s word and guarding the heart, trust and our words.

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Heart mouth believe

The Mouth reveals what the Heart believes

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James began his letter by addressing how to deal with temptation when it comes. He offers an example of asking God for wisdom, he explains that hearing God’s words without living them is to deceive yourself and then tells us that if someone cannot control what they say, their worship of God is empty and in vain.

He then goes into detail explaining that faith without correlating works is also dead, empty and vain.

Now in chapter 3 James revisits all of these truths in order to address sin in the midst of these Christians in chapter 4.

This letter of James is highly structured and makes some very well developed points towards success in Christian living, each of which build on each other so long as you do not neglect to follow the trail of thoughts he lays down.

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Proverbs 3 Promises

The Promises of Proverbs 3

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Though it is not unusual to find peppered throughout the Old Testament, Proverbs 3 has some promises which Christians truly need to view in light of established New Covenant theology. The differences are made by the New Testament authors themselves and so they aren’t hard to discover and reconcile.

These issues deal with understanding & application of verses dealing with abundance, sowing and reaping & even God’s grace as first debuting with Noah before even the Old Covenant. The New Testament can only be understood through a robust knowledge of the Old Testament. There IS however, a huge difference between the Old Testament and the Old Covenant. Understanding this is crucial!

I hope this helps you in your study of not only chapter 3, but all of Proverbs and the greater Old Testament at large.

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Dead Faith James works

Dead Faith

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James introduces the concept of “dead faith”, a wording which is entirely unique in all the Bible.

Now James is not saying there is a different “type” of faith, but rather a different condition or expression of faith. Or as in this case, a lack of expression!

Paul also introduces a novel expression of his own which is very similar. He called it “sincere” or “non-hyprocritical” faith.

Then Peter comes along and indirectly mentions the same by telling us that one of the benefits of temptations and trials (unintended by the enemy of course) is that it reveals the “genuineness” of our faith. 

So the existence of “genuine” or “sincere” or “non-hyprocritical” faith requires the existence of its opposite which would be faith that is “insincere”, “ingenuine” or “hypocritical”.

So the question is – Is “insincere” faith the same thing as “dead” faith? I believe it is, albeit they are nuanced in slightly different direction.

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