Title: Living Faith (James 2:21-23) 1999...
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Living Faith (James 2:21-23) August 22, 1999
When a girl's high school teacher asked her classmates, "What is love?", each female student passing through puberty came up with their own definition of love and felt, "Love is a beautiful thing, a noble thing, a sweet thing." , painful things, tears of tears, hot things,” he said, explaining the sentimental definition of love in his own way.
The teacher, who was listening to this, said, "Love is a feeling you feel when you give rather than when you receive it, and love is not a word, but something that can be known when you fall in love."
Whereas students defined love in a spiritual and sentimental way, teachers defined it in a living, practical, and confrontational environment.
When we "believe" we try to define it in some ideal world, in a spiritual world, in a futuristic world, or in a sentimental world, that is, in another world.
But James reminds us that faith is not so abstract, but living. That is exactly what is recorded in the book of James. In particular, James 2 talks about the practical content of faith and the practice of faith.
Depending on what all humans living in this world believe in and live, their lives and actions will be different.
The book of James says that our faith becomes complete only when works appear in it. It is not just confessing with words, but only when actions are shown in our lives to become a mature faith.
If faith is the cause, then the action is the result, and if faith is the root, then the action is the fruit. A tree without fruit is useless. A good tree is bound to bear beautiful fruit. The life of faith is not just about confessing your faith with your mouth, but only when you have the fruits of your life to become a complete faith.
If my faith does not create the values necessary for the present life in my life, it cannot be right faith.
James introduces the living faith and the dead faith. Faith that is only spoken without action and only understood by the head is a dead faith, and when one can prove what one believes in action, it is a living faith.
basis of faith
The basis of belief can be roughly divided into three categories. We can speak of a faith based on knowledge based on the head, a faith based on feelings, and a faith based on action, which emphasizes the will, or practice.
(1) Faith based on knowledge
The intellectual tendency to interpret faith and understand religion. What we know is the most basic and very important in any field. It is also true in terms of faith. If we do not know and believe in God, we cannot establish our faith properly if we do not know the Bible. Even in the Christian faith, the intellectual aspect cannot be ignored. When religion turns away from its intellectual side, religion itself cannot escape its primitive side, and it will bring chaos.
In order for religion to be immediately understood and accepted, it must be aided by knowledge. When it is rationally explained and convincing, it can be classified as a cultural modern religion, and it becomes a religion that can contribute to society more soundly and morally.
Nor should knowledge be above religion. It is also not correct to accept pure religion only when it is intellectually convincing by breaking it down into knowledge, classifying it, and analyzing it.
As Europe emerges from the dark ages, rationalistic science shines. As the so-called intellectual power that advocated rationalism came to life, it finally began to scan the Christian world of faith with an intelligent prism, and by the 20th century, it began to decompose every corner of the Bible with a scientific eye.
However, many of the members of the European church who emphasize this rationalistic and intellectual-centered faith came to an empty state, and as James said, a dead church, a dead faith, and a dead historical well.
In terms of knowledge, our faith is like a cold dead corpse.
(2) Faith based on emotions
Just as knowledge-based beliefs are detrimental, so too can emotional beliefs. However, we cannot ignore the emotional aspect of our religious life at all. When we can feel the fact that we have understood in our heads and feel the heat, we will know the true taste of faith and lead a passionate life of faith.
Faith without such a burning heart experience or emotional joy is dead faith and cannot be called true faith. All of the great believers have experienced this burning sensation. The content of faith that you receive with your head must come down to your heart and feel it warmly.
But if we place too much emphasis on our emotions, we can easily misunderstand the momentary excitement or feeling as if we have fully attained salvation through faith itself. We have strange experiences that warm our hearts at special times. It could be the experience of the Holy Spirit. But you shouldn't think that feeling is all about faith.
(3) Faith in Action
We speak of faith in action as faith based on the will. We need knowledge and passion, but above all we need a strong will to do what we believe, know and feel. So, James said, faith without works is dead.
Jesus Christ gives the whole life.
A paralytic came to Jesus.
It makes no sense to expect him to walk straight.
The same is true for the people of the world to live righteously and live holy.
It's like telling a paralytic to walk straight and gracefully like a fashion model.
In order for a paralyzed person to walk, run, and perform well, the body must first be fundamentally healed.
Likewise, people need to be healed of their souls.
Jesus heals the soul of a paralytic. It has forgiven sins.
Then he commanded, "Get up, pick up your mat and walk."
The paralyzed man may have been healed of his soul, but his appearance was still paralyzed and weak.
But the paralytic obeyed him.
And then I realize. The power of healing and health was given...
It is experienced when we obey the Word and rise up.
Believers are those whose souls have been healed by Jesus.
However, there is no change in appearance.
If you believe in Jesus, you may feel energized, or you may not prosper in whatever you do, such as making more money.
Everything is the same as before.
But in the spirit world, great changes have come.
It is as if the paralyzed person is still lying on the bed with a distorted appearance, but in the spirit world, it is like a complete recovery.
So Jesus commanded the paralytic to get up. Not only that, I was told to pick up a seat and walk. This is a terrifying change.
And it's an exciting change. He doesn't need awards or compliments. All he needs is a full life.
And that life gives you indescribable joy and reward.
four kinds of people
Wesley divided people into four groups.
A natural person, a legal believer, a born-again believer, and a believer full of love.
A natural person is an ordinary person. Legal believers are those who do good deeds in order to receive blessings, and they do so because they are afraid of punishment. In any case, if you expect a reward from your actions, you are a legal believer. Pharisees also belong to this class.
Those who are born again are those who have received forgiveness of sins and have received the Spirit of God. Outwardly there is nothing different, but spiritually, it is a new birth. These are people who are determined to take the works of Christ as their own and to live on their own. Of course, even those who are born again can be caught up in legal thinking and their good deeds can be worse than those who are legalistic.
A person full of love is the goal of believers.
This person is a great joy in itself because the love of Christ is in him. And the greater joy is that this love grows. How is this possible? Believe in Christ in yourself and it becomes a movement. It is like a paralyzed person who gets grace and gets up with unstretched limbs and runs away with his bed. A person full of love is always willing to do good. Even legal people always try to do good. A person who has been born again belongs to this side and sometimes belongs to that side. What is the difference between the two good deeds? Is it the same as good deeds? It's not like that. The starting points are different. Legal thinking begins with one's own strength. So, we expect God's blessings, and we expect people's praise and rewards. So it's like a paralytic trying to walk like a model.
On the other hand, a person of love knows that he has already received God's grace and blessing. And we know by faith that the power of God is within us. So I love to use that power. And God's work gives us so much joy. God's grace and blessings are felt more clearly in that person, and they grow in love. So we are more zealous for good deeds. Then God gives more power to the strong. Of course, this life is not always that easy. Because it is not fixed as a person of love, there is still a legal element in it. And by gradually reducing this element, we are becoming more like Christ. To do this, the believer constantly prays and sees himself in his weakness, relying entirely on the power of Christ. That is how he trains to live by his strength.
Living faith must act.
The paralytic got up when he couldn't get up. You have done the impossible. Because God did it. Those who are born again are given the power to do good. Motivation and emotion to carry out the mission are given. You just need to be brave and take one step. Had the paralytic remained seated, he would have lived the rest of his life unchanged. When he got up, he could run on the bed.
Christ comes into us with all grace and blessings. What we need now is to follow Christ's example. In doing so, he becomes full in us. As such, we worship God, pray, obey, and sacrifice. You can love and be humbled like that and have the joy of serving. You can rule with love like that, and be happy like God.
Anyone who is born again can grow into a person of love. And taste the amazing life that only people in love experience. Living faith never works. Actions are not all beliefs. But faith must act. There are cancer bacteria in love, which is doubt, and there is anticancer drug in love, and that is only faith.