The Bridge Commentary is a running verse by verse breakdown of the Books of the New Testament including word definitions, significant historical background and comments.
There is nothing you can to do make God love you more! There is nothing you can do to make God love you less! His love is Unconditional, Impartial, Everlasting, Infinite, Perfect! 1 Impartial is the word for today. It’s the concept which the Word of God addresses and yet one in which the world constantly struggles to achieve. Prejudice and impartial behavior are headline news almost daily in our nation. It doesn’t have to be. Just look at your heavenly Father and emulate Him.
On June 1, 1976, in a television interview with Reverend Adrian Rogers, then president of the Southern Baptist Convention and George Otis, director of High Adventure Ministries, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States spoke these words. “I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t call upon God, and hopefully thank Him as often as I called upon Him. And, yes, in my own experience there came a time when there developed a new relationship with God and it grew out of a need. So, yes, I have had an experience that could be described as “born again.” 1 Knowing where your faith and confidence lies is vitally important in these ‘darker days’ in which we live. This knowledge should not lie just in a ‘one time’ experience with God but in a day to day, situation by situation lifestyle. The believers James writes to, in his epistle, had their faith somewhere else. It’s helpful to be reminded of his counsel.
The entire second chapter of the book of James addresses two areas: the hypocrisy of prejudice (James 2:1-13) and the life-altering alliance between faith and works (James 2:14-26). Prejudice, bitterness, segregation, hatred, disturbance, hurt, anger, and division rage between people. They rage in the hearts of husbands and wives, children and parents, students and teachers, neighbors and workmen, races and religions, denominations and organizations, neighborhoods and nations. Division in all its various forms is one of the greatest problems confronting the world. It is the most serious problem confronting men, for as long as men are divided from God and from each other, there is no hope of man’s ever being reconciled to God. God’s eternal purpose has been to create a new body of people, a people who will love Him and each other supremely. Note that this is what is known as the great mystery of Christ. 1 Using the rich and poor as an illustration, James disassembles the sin of prejudice, as it existed in the congregation.
There was a man who lived a life of gross sin. After his conversion, one of his old friends said to him, “Bill, I pity you—a man that has been such a high-flier as you. And now you have settled down; you go to church, or stay at home and read the Bible and pray; you never have good times any more.” “But, Bob,” said the man, “you don’t understand. I get drunk every time I want to. I go to the theater every time I want to. I go to the dance when I want to. I play cards and gamble whenever I want to.” “I say, Bill,” said his friend, “I didn’t understand it that way. I thought you had to give up these things to be a Christian.”
“No, Bob,” said Bill, “the Lord took the ‘want to’ out when He saved my soul, and he made me a new creature in Christ Jesus.” 1 What does it mean to not have the ‘want to?’ What does it mean to walk after the Spirit and not the flesh?
You’ve probably heard it said, “It doesn’t matter what you believe; it’s how you live that counts.” Is this true? A. J. Gordon encountered this philosophy one time as he talked with a fellow passenger on a train. The man believed he could get to heaven by his good works. Pointing to the conductor who was making his way through the coach, Gordon asked his new friend, “Did you ever notice how carefully he always examines the ticket but takes no pains whatever to inspect the passenger?” … “You see,” continued Gordon, “the passenger and the ticket are accepted together. If [the passenger] doesn’t have [a ticket], or has the wrong one, he will be asked to get off the train—no matter how honest he might appear to be. Just as the ticket stands for the man, faith stands for you.” 1 You have to have the right ticket to make it to heaven. Keeping the law is not it.
Years ago when slavery was officially abolished in Jamaica, some of the slaves in the remote areas did not know of their freedom. Years after their release had been announced they still continued to serve their masters, oblivious to the fact that they were legally free. Their owners kept the news from the slaves as long as possible, hoping to extract every ounce of work from their captives. These people put up with these conditions for only one reason. 1 They didn’t know they were free. In Rom. 8:2 Paul says For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. You’re totally free because of Jesus if you only know it.
In the second century, a Christian was brought before a pagan ruler and told to renounce his faith. “If you don’t do it, I will banish you,” threatened the king. The man smiled and answered, “You can’t banish me from Christ, for He says, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ ” To this the king angrily retorted, “Then I will confiscate your property and take all your possessions.” Again the man smiled and said, “My treasures are laid up on high; you cannot get them.” The king became furious and shouted, “I will kill you!” “Why,” the man answered, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it.” In desperation the king turned to his advisers and asked, “What can you do with a fanatic like that?”1 The answer to this is nothing. You can do nothing to a man who knows his position in Christ. To this end Paul, in Romans 8:1 gives us a phenomenal ‘In Christ’ truth. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Many, when they think of Romans, think of the Roman Road, the road to salvation as this unknown quote reveals. There is a Romans Road that leads to Heaven! But, it is not one of the roads that was built by Caesar’s workmen. It is not posted on any of the 53,000 miles of roads that the Romans built. You will find the “Romans Road to Heaven” clearly marked in the Book of Romans, starting in Romans 3:10. Romans is the sixth book of the New Testament. This small book of sixteen chapters was written by the Apostle Paul while he was at Corinth. He sent it to the Christians at Rome by the hands of Phoebe, servant of the church at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1.2). But there are many other roads to walk on in this book. Today we’re going to look at some of them and why they matter.
The gospel of Mark is the action gospel of the New Testament. It is fast moving gospel filled with the doings of Jesus. Four key ideas permeate this gospel. The ideas are housed in the words, Ministry, Miracles, Opposition and Passion. The following is an outline of the gospel using these four words.
James begins his letter with instructions on tests and trials encouraging the ‘scattered’ of the Diaspora to ‘hang in there’ and respect the journey understanding that blessings in development and heavenly rewards await the victorious. Verses five through eight address the wisdom component necessary to be able to count it all joy when enduring tests and trials.
This is a revision of the original post published in February of last year. It was rewritten to make the writing clearer and the flow of the document smoother. It was sectioned off so you may skip a section, like Definitions, if you wish. A block flow diagram was (click on the link right below) also added to help give clarity to the thoughts expressed.
Click on this link for a flow diagram of this passage.
The great believers have been the unwearied waiters 1. They have stood in the face of delay and denial. They have stayed with their eyes fixed on Jesus. Their heart set on His mission. And, their faith grounded in His love. They have come forth as witnesses that you too can become a mature believer and inherit God’s promises (Heb. 6:12). In his letter, James gives us the secret to real growth in God (James 1:2-4).
This is a revision of the original post published in April of last year. It was rewritten to make the writing clearer and the flow of the document smoother. It was sectioned off so you may skip a section, like Definitions, if you wish. A block flow diagram was (click on the link right below) also added to help give clarity to the thoughts expressed.
We often hear discussed in church circles the concept of growing spiritually. What does that mean exactly? What does a spiritually mature believer look like? The first verse of the first chapter of James contains some powerful truths which help us build an understanding of this question.
This is a revision of the original post published in February of last year. It was rewritten to make the writing clearer and the flow of the document smoother. It was sectioned off so you may skip a section, like Definitions, if you wish. A block flow diagram was (click on the link right below) also added to help give clarity to the thoughts expressed.
