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FROM THE PASTOR'S STUDY

Topic: James 2 (Include Audio)

James 2:2-4

by Darrel Cline
(darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)

Study # 36
May 13, 1998
Harlingen, Texas
(Download Audio)

Thesis:Our treatment of others will be an almost automatic extension of three more basic issues.

Introduction:Last week we did a brief overview of chapter 2 and then looked into verse 1 at some length. We focused upon the problem of "buying the ranch" [a metaphor for coming into the faith of Jesus Christ in all of its vastness and complexity]. The main problem is this: bringing our behavior, our confidences, and our loves, into harmony with the truths of the faith. The biblical solution is this: as we discover the various details of the terrain of the ranch, we are to make adjustments to our values, faith, and actions. These adjustments are supposed to spring out of a fundamental loyalty that was implanted at the point of regeneration, but which is constantly subject to apostasy. And we saw that our major point of contact with the ranch is the concept of Jesus Christ as our Lord and the Sovereign over Glory. In other words, we are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ without escape or relief, and we are subject to the sovereign principles of the dispensing of glory to men. We are to give glory to whom Jesus would give glory and we are to refrain from giving glory to whom Jesus would refrain from giving glory. This evening we are going to pursue these issues a bit further. We want to look at the clues in the text to see if we can find an answer to the "why" of believers' mistreatment of others.


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This is article #036.
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