Playing Favorites – James 2:1-13
Playing favorites is a human trait that affects every area of our lives. We make judgments about people on a daily basis. Those that we perceive to be favorable to our lives we approve of and those we perceive to be unfavorable we push aside or ignore. When we choose a plumber to work at our house we practice a process of discrimination in order to choose the plumber we favor. However, James decries this practice in the church saying that we make such judgments on our own “evil thoughts.” (James 2:4) “Ism’s” such as racism, ageism, sexism, ableism, antisemitism, sizeism, elitism, tokenism, and religionism have no place in the church. All are equal at the foot of the cross.
And all are equal at the foot of the cross no matter their social or economic status. “God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?” (James 2:5) “Ism’s” have no place in our treatment of people in the church and money (or lack thereof) is no measure of a person’s status in the church.
Rather that practicing favoritism we must practice the “Royal Law” that James describes as loving your neighbor as yourself. (James 2:8; also see Mark 12:29-31) The Royal Law includes loving others and showing grace and mercy to others in the name of Christ. Your loving and giving mercy and grace to others – especially those who you may not like, those who are different from you, those who have nothing to give you – is a measure of your love for and your relationship with your heavenly Father.
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, September 10, 2023. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is The Making of Authentic Faith. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at:
gc2press.org/the-making-of-authentic-faith-james-study-guide/ .
Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .
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Breaking Down Barriers
The Main Problem and the Thing that Unites Us – Our Sin (Ephesians 2:1-3)
All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
There is no one who is righteous. (Romans 3:9-18)
When it comes to our human nature we are totally depraved – not one of us has measured up to the perfect standard of God. We’re all in the same boat and that boat is sinking and it is sinking in the middle of shark-infested waters.
The Hope We have in Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-10)
“But God” – sweet words when your boat is sinking and all seems lost. We were sinking as individuals and as the human race, but God sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin and bring us from death to life – from shipwreck to safety. Jesus did not come to make bad people good but rather to make dead people live.
It is fait accompli. It’s a done deal – Jesus paid the cost with His perfect life and subsequent perfect sacrifice on the cross and then sealed the deal with His resurrection providing us not only eternal life now but also eternal hope for the future.
The Unity We Know In Jesus (Ephesians 2:11-22)
Verses 11-13 highlight the problem Paul was addressing – that the uncircumcised Gentiles were on the outside looking in. They weren’t even in the boat. And so are all who have yet to accept Christ as Savior.
Verses 14-22 highlight the solution for the problem – that in Jesus all are made one. Those who believe in and put their trust in Jesus become fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family and a temple in the Lord, a dwelling place for the Spirit of God.
Because of the saving grace of Jesus, the barriers of the Jewish law and today, our American moralistic code, have been broken down. We are free to live in the grace of our Lord and enjoy fellowship with all who believe – all in the same boat. Hallelujah!
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, October 16, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@texassongweaver
The Rule of Law is the system under which we live in America. We press for law and order. If something doesn’t seem right we want to pass a law or at least a rule to fix the problem. We live daily with thousands of laws and rules and guidelines and procedures – some of which we can live with and some of which cause us great irritation.
When Paul addresses the Galatians he actually calls them foolish for following the law. But specifically he was saying that the law was given to show us our transgressions, but that it was incapable of saving anyone. Salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The Galatians and we, by extension, cannot be good enough to earn our way into heaven. To accept the grace of God as found in the atoning work of Christ and then decide we are going to try to be good enough for God to accept us is nothing more than a slap in the face of God. It’s not just foolish – it’s ungratefully rude.
Jesus said in John 14:15 that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. He did not say that if we keep His commandments we will love Him. We must do the things He wants us to do, but not because it’s some kind of fraternal initiation to get us into heaven, but because we truly love Jesus and want to honor Him in all we do.
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, September 18, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
God is righteous. He is perfect in every way and His justice is perfect. He does not need to submit to the laws of man, because He alone is the law-giver.
People are sinful – unrighteous. While God is the perfect law-giver, humans are the imperfect law-breakers. Every one has sinned and fallen short of the perfection of the perfect law-givver.
Just as in physics, no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time, neither can righteousness and unrighteousness occupy the same space. Therefore we, the imperfect, are separated from the perfect God.
God loves us. Even in our deplorable condition as sinful law-breakers God loved us and offered us a way to return to Him – to live with Him and occupy the same space as Him for all eternity.
As a just judge, He had no choice to pronounce judgment on the sinful actions of humans. However, Jesus lived a sinless life and offered Himself up in our place to take our judgment. The precious gift of salvation was purchased with the blood of Christ Himself on our behalf.
The righteous God pronounced judgment on sinful man and gave him the death penalty.
The penalty of death was paid by Jesus on the Cross.
The gift of salvation from God’s wrath and the penalty of sin is offered to all.
And now the gift must be accepted by trusting the One Who paid the price and offers the gift.
May we accept the gift and lead others to know the truth of this gift, so that they, too, may be saved by God’s Amazing Grace.
Next week we will look at the beginning of the book of James to see the proof in pudding.
This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, May 8, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
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