Men's Workout #59 - September 15, 2018

OPENING SONG AND PRAYER

We started our time together by singing hymn #102 "Jesus Is Lord."

MEMORIZATION, RECITATION, & DISCUSSION

James 2:1-7 (4 minutes)

  • Believers must never show discrimination and favoritism. We must not show preference toward someone simply because they are rich. We ought to show consideration toward all men, and aim to not stumble anybody.

James 2:8-13 (5 minutes)

  • Loving your neighbor as yourself is the summary of the law. All men will know we are Christ's disciples when we have love for one another and show mercy to others. We are all held accountable to God and His law.

  • Practical ways to love others:

    • Meet others' needs

    • Greet one another

    • Pray for one another

    • Speak truth to one another

James 2:14-17 (4 minutes)

  • What is true saving faith? The first example James gives has to do with carrying out our faith by practically obeying the law in practically loving others.

  • James talks about the quality of the kind of faith which saves, not that any sort of works produces salvation. The kind of faith that saves always produces corresponding works.

James 2:18-22 (4 minutes)

  • Faith is evidenced by real works in our lives. For example, Abraham acted out in faith and executed what God commanded in (almost) sacrificing Isaac on the altar. True faith and trust in Christ, paired with repeated patterns of obedience, can give us deep assurance that our faith is real and that we are genuinely saved.

James 2:23-26 (4 minutes)

  • If we claim to have true saving faith, then it will also have the corresponding actions of works by necessity. Verse 24 must be taken in context; James is speaking of the kind of faith which saves; he is NOT separating faith from its works.

  • Feelings of sincerity or profession of faith are not enough to save us.

  • Real faith produces a life of obedience to God. Even the demons acknowledged and factually believed Christ to be the Son of God, but they were not saved and did not obey Him. Their kind of faith, being without works, is useless.

  • We can consider saving faith as an active faith. Biblical faith is not passive, but it actually does something. Works are a fruit of real saving faith.

  • Our active faith is not merely an obligation, or worked out of a fear of assuring and proving to ourselves that we are genuinely saved. We ought to be live out our faith as an outworking of joy and worship to God.

  • Active faith produces works; works by themselves do not produce faith.