Not By Works

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
Yeah, I am aware of that....I have heard men stand and say that this book was written unto the Jews scattered by Titus in 70 and that is an impossibility if the book was written by the half brother of Jesus which was martyred in 62.........and this raises all sorts of questions like the one raised by Stones........
I had neverhear people thought that, thats good to know
 

stonesoffire

Poetic Member
Nov 24, 2013
10,665
1,829
113
Am glad I'm not the only one now to see this. ;)

To Dcontroversal, and EG....sorry, didn't hit the reply...
 

FlyingDove

Senior Member
Dec 27, 2017
1,260
431
83
Hey!

I have a problem with the book of James.

I can't find anywhere in the book where he mentions the power of Holy Spirit working in the life of believers.

It says in the beginning of the book that he is writing to Jewish Christians who have been dispersed after the temple is torn down. So he is giving them comfort during their time of struggles of persecution, and how one should be while being persecuted.

But, nothing about Holy Spirit. Or praying in the Spirit.

Why?
Hello stoneoffire,

1st, I'm not dismissing your opinion, I'm simply sharing mine.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(NOTE: I see no mention of Christian or believer. The 12 Tribes are the Nation of Israel as a whole. Believers & non believers alike)

2ndly, No one can say with absolute certainty what year the Book of James was written. Having said that most scholars say before AD50.
So, James is writing to Temple going Jews still practicing Mosaic law.

Paul, is the only apostle preaching salvation without the law, until the Council at Jerusalem, after AD50. It's when the Temple is destroyed in 70AD the transformation from Mosaic law to grace is completed.
 

stonesoffire

Poetic Member
Nov 24, 2013
10,665
1,829
113
Hello stoneoffire,

1st, I'm not dismissing your opinion, I'm simply sharing mine.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(NOTE: I see no mention of Christian or believer. The 12 Tribes are the Nation of Israel as a whole. Believers & non believers alike)

2ndly, No one can say with absolute certainty what year the Book of James was written. Having said that most scholars say before AD50.
So, James is writing to Temple going Jews still practicing Mosaic law.

Paul, is the only apostle preaching salvation without the law, until the Council at Jerusalem, after AD50. It's when the Temple is destroyed in 70AD the transformation from Mosaic law to grace is completed.
Makes sense to me. :)
 

TruthTalk

Senior Member
Jul 17, 2017
2,904
2,262
113
Our responsibility is to obey all that is within our ability and to continue walking with our Lord.
So God does not have a massive bottle of Tipex?
Here's the handy dandy pocket model so that God can blot me outta the book when my obedience falls below my normal abilities. On the other hand God can conveniently reach down and pull Tappex out of His pocket in order to rewrite my name into the book of life as soon as I repent.]

Obedience is an unreliable tool to measure whether we are saved or not; in addition to that true believers are sealed and saved for the day of redemption and you cannot "undo" a true believers eternal salvation

Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

 
U

UnderGrace

Guest
Hey!

I have a problem with the book of James.

I can't find anywhere in the book where he mentions the power of Holy Spirit working in the life of believers.

It says in the beginning of the book that he is writing to Jewish Christians who have been dispersed after the temple is torn down. So he is giving them comfort during their time of struggles of persecution, and how one should be while being persecuted.

But, nothing about Holy Spirit. Or praying in the Spirit.

Why?

It mentions God several times. :)
 
Mar 28, 2016
15,954
1,528
113
Hey!

I have a problem with the book of James.

I can't find anywhere in the book where he mentions the power of Holy Spirit working in the life of believers.

It says in the beginning of the book that he is writing to Jewish Christians who have been dispersed after the temple is torn down. So he is giving them comfort during their time of struggles of persecution, and how one should be while being persecuted.

But, nothing about Holy Spirit. Or praying in the Spirit.

Why?
The power of the Holy Spirit wrote the book of James as a encouragement from the Spirit of Christ coming from the faith of Christ the power of God by which we can believe Him unseen..

Verse 3... knowing this as the work or power of Christ tries our hearts it work patients in us as the fruit of his love, the first work. In those way we can see the power or authority that works in us to both will and do His good pleasure.

James 1 King James Version (KJV)1:4 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

The dispersal came at the time of reformation. Signaled by the renting of the veil which represented the flesh of the Son of man Jesus. It rendered the temple worship useless .Restoring the government of God to a previous time period when there was no outward representative for the King of kings.

God had given over the faithless Jews in their jealousy of the surrounding pagan nations to do that which should not of for a temporal time period. Using that time period as a parable for the time then present.

Not sure where the idea of 70 Ad came from?

If its literal stones as that which signaled Christ came there remains a remnant as wall of stones left that men use in idol worship (wailing wall) to cry for in vain the Son of man, Jesus who left 2000 years ago. . Not recognizing the veil is rent in unbeleif

The passage does not say. There shall not be left here one stone upon another as the qualifier. but continues with that shall not be thrown down, a work in the process.

The renting of the veil at the time of reformation brought about new kind of lively stones in that way the church is the temple of God.

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.





.
 
U

UnderGrace

Guest
Actually a bit of both, smoking cigars is bad for my whiskers, it changes their colour.....hehehe
 

Budman

Senior Member
Mar 9, 2014
4,153
1,998
113
Each Christian should aspire to endure in walking in and obeying God's Word until their time of Earth is through.
That's not what I asked. I asked how do you know you'll endure until the end? How do you know you aren't actually a false convert? If you point to your works as evidence, I could easily point to people from cults and other religions who do the same kind, and even more good works than most Christians.

Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc., spend enormous amounts of time doing good works - are they Christians?
 

VCO

Senior Member
Oct 14, 2013
11,972
4,587
113
Hey!

I have a problem with the book of James.

I can't find anywhere in the book where he mentions the power of Holy Spirit working in the life of believers.

It says in the beginning of the book that he is writing to Jewish Christians who have been dispersed after the temple is torn down. So he is giving them comfort during their time of struggles of persecution, and how one should be while being persecuted.

But, nothing about Holy Spirit. Or praying in the Spirit.

Why?

Why do you critique the BIBLE, like every Author should have EVERY SUBJECT COVERED. DO YOU REALIZE how MANY VOLUMES THAT WOULD MAKE THE BIBLE ? ? ?


John 21:24-25 (HCSB)
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one,
I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.



It is a book of the HIGHLIGHTS THAT GOD WANT US TO KNOW. Nothing More!


THEN PEOPLE WANT TO ABBREVIATE IT EVEN MORE.

Have you ever heard people that want to believe that James 2:14 justifies that that we must complete our SALVATION, who will quote verse 13 also ? ? ?


James 2:13-14 (HCSB)
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him?


THAT verse 13 is a parallel to one of Paul's verses:



Titus 3:5 (HCSB)
5 He saved usnot by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.


All JAMES is saying, is IF YOU WERE REALLY BORN AGAIN when you FIRST GENUINELY BELIEVED, there WILL be EVIDENCE of that Born Again experience was REAL, when the Holy Spirit Poured GOD's LOVE in your Heart (human spirit) Rom. 5:5. In other words YOU WILL WANT TO LOVE GOD BACK, with the same Kind of LOVE that the Holy Spirit Poured into Your heart.
 

TMS

Senior Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,572
1,074
113
Australia
Hello stoneoffire,

1st, I'm not dismissing your opinion, I'm simply sharing mine.

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
(NOTE: I see no mention of Christian or believer. The 12 Tribes are the Nation of Israel as a whole. Believers & non believers alike)

2ndly, No one can say with absolute certainty what year the Book of James was written. Having said that most scholars say before AD50.
So, James is writing to Temple going Jews still practicing Mosaic law.

Paul, is the only apostle preaching salvation without the law, until the Council at Jerusalem, after AD50. It's when the Temple is destroyed in 70AD the transformation from Mosaic law to grace is completed.
When was the new covenant ratified? and How?

You can't say that the change happened in 70 AD
Jesus preached the law, The gospels preached the law and the mosaic law was an issue that Paul needed to deal with among the Gentiles but the moral law is the same from Start to Finish.

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
 

lightbearer

Senior Member
Jun 17, 2017
2,375
504
113
58
HBG. Pa. USA
Hey!

I have a problem with the book of James.

I can't find anywhere in the book where he mentions the power of Holy Spirit working in the life of believers.......
Why?
It is worded differently stonesoffire
Jesus said in John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.


James spoke of the Engrafted Word, the New Covenant. GOD's Law's, HIS Word, HIS Spirit in our hearts and minds, the Mystery which is now revealed, the Gospel. Christ in us the hope of Glory.

We need to believe the Word, GOD's Spirit is nigh unto us, in our hearts and in our minds that we may do it. We need to believe that God has written his Laws in our hearts and in our minds; so that out of our heart we speak and do according to his will through the Faith that He established in us through Christ.

In James 1:18 God says, Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Paul writes through The Spirit in Colossians, "Having put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him. Therefore he reasons, put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds".

This is what James is alluding to. That we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. Please listen carefully as we continue in James 1:21, "lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word."
The engrafted Word, His commandants, GOD's Spirit written in the heart and mind, the Law of Liberty. The Law of freedom, freedom from the slavery of sin through engrafted Word, THROUGH HIS SPIRIT. For God had said through Jesus, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant ( the sinner) abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.


Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

For He has said, the Word is nigh thee (engrafted) in thy mouth and thy heart that we may do it This is which is able to save your souls. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass, but forgot what manner man he was. Which is now the new man which is after the image of Him who created him through GOD'S SPIRIT. For of His own will begat He us, to do by nature the things contained in the law, showing the work of the law written in our hearts, being partakers of His divine nature, HIS Word through HIS Spirit.

But whoso looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty, that which is begotten of Him, the new man after the image of Him that created him. The first fruit of His creatures, renewed through the law; His Word engrafted in the heart through GOD's Spirit and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (Col 3:8-10;Rom 2:14-15; 2Pe 1:3,4; John 8:34-36; 1Pe 2:24-25; Rom 6:6-7; Col 2:11-12; Jas 1:18, 21-25; Heb 8:10; Rom 8:10 KJV)