CREC 10- E2- Practical Theology

CREC E2- Practical Theology

Sermon Notes

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James 1:13-25

December 24, 2017

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

This sermon is titled, Evangelical 2- Practical Theology. What do I mean by practical theology? I mean theology that acts like it believes in God. It does something. It works. We are saved by faith alone but our faith is never alone.

        

Listen to the Westminster Confession of Faith on this point.

         Chapter 11- Of Justification

         11.2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification:⁴ yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love.

       Did you hear that? Faith is the alone instrument of justification but it is never alone. It is always accompaniec with other saving graces. It works by love. Otherwise, it would be a dead faith and not a living faith.

         It is Reformed Evangelical doctrine that sanctification naturally and necessarily accompanies justification. Again, hear the Westminster Confession of Faith.

      

Chapter XIII: Of Sanctification  WCF 13

WCF 13.1

13.1. They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection,¹ by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them:² the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed,³ and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified;⁴ and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces,⁵ to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.⁶

This states clearly, with Scripture proofs, that the elect are effectually called, that is, they respond to the gospel. Having done so, they receive a new heart and a new spirit. And because they have a new heart and a new spirit, they are sanctified. That is, they grow in their faith, put to death the deeds of the flesh, learn to live like Christians and practice holiness, without which no man will see the Lord.

WCF 13.2

13.2. This sanctification is throughout, in the whole man;⁷ yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part;⁸ whence arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.⁹

           

The confession is excellent on this point. We are renewed and walk in sanctification, but this is never the ground of our salvation. Abiding sin is still with us and corrupts every part of our wills and actions. There is a war within us, the Spirit against the flesh as mentioned in Galatians and Romans.

Thus, while we do grow in grace and real sanctification and holiness, we never trust in our sanctification or holiness as meritorious. We never earn our way to heaven. It is always by grace through faith.

We can say this while at the same time affirming that those who lay claim to Christ but do not grow in grace, sanctification, and holiness, are not in Christ. They are lost.

WCF 13.3

13.3. In which war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail;¹⁰ yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part does overcome;¹¹ and so, the saints grow in grace,¹² perfecting holiness in the fear of God.¹³

It should not cause us consternation to know that we will not get the complete victory over sinful actions in this life. Since our justification is based on Christ’s work, we trust in His work for our salvation, not our works.

But we also know that if we love Him, He began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. This doctrine, far from causing us discomfort is a comforting doctrine.

EXEGESIS

Jesus speaking, Luke 8:21 And He answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

Luke 11:27   And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. ²⁸ But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Jesus teaches that the blessed are those who both hear God’s Word and keep it, or do it. It is not enough to simply hear, or even to hear and respond by trusting the Lord. If we really trust the Lord, if we belong to Him, we will do what He says.

         Luke 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

         These are some scary words from Jesus. If you know the Lord’s will but don’t do it, there will be punishment.

James 1:13-25   Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Our own lusts are enough to tempt us to sin and turn away from God.

¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

He begat us. We were birthed as His children. That is the new birth. That is our evangelical faith, repentance unto life.  He did this so that we could be the first fruits. He wants us to produce fruit!

James 1:19   Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: ²⁰ For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

A new man is a changed man. The old mas was slow to hear, quick to speak and quick to anger and wrath. If that is you, then you may not be that man birthed into Christ. Or, take the warning from James. Such a man is laying up wrath for himself.

The Christian man and woman produces godly fruit. What does that look like?

Quick to Hear- You are eager to hear someone’s concerns, their troubles, their side of the story. You listen first before you make judgements.

Slow to Speak- This does not mean that you speak slowly, although you might. It means that you deliberate before you answer. Since you were quick to hear, you ruminate on what has been said before you give an answer.

A fool answers quickly without thinking, like a Facebook Comment poster. But a wise man considers his words carefully and articulates them clearly.

Slow to Wrath- Also, a wise and godly men is slow to wrath or anger. He might get angry but is not easily angered. Furthermore, because he carefully considers a matter, he judges rightly and therefore is not prone to be angry when he should be calm. Level heads prevail.

How many times have you seen this at sports games? The parents and sometimes the players, make such rash decisions. They get instantly angry at the referee or the players or the coach. Well, it seems to me that the umpire is not purposefully trying to do a bad job. I wish more parents would go to Basketball games with Jesus.

²¹ Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

What does it mean to be a Christian? No filthy talk. No filthy behavior. Be done with being naughty. Apparently, some were super abundantly naughty. There is an element of Christian edginess that now revels in such matters.

What is the opposite Christian virtue of such behavior? Humility, particularly humility of receiving God’s word, here called the engrafted word. The picture here is seed planted that springs up and grows within. The Word is to be like that for those who have been born of the Spirit. We may begin to live by the Word even before we are great students of the Word. The Spirit makes us alive to want to do His will. There is conviction of sin when we do wrong or act in ways inconsistent with the implanted Word.

Of course, another aspect of this is that the humility grows. This means that we become more and more students of God’s Word. When we have to make moral decisions, we humbly seek God’s will through His Word.

The world may call this arrogance. You Christians judge us by refusing to do what we think is good or wise. But the Bible calls submission to the Word, humility.

²² But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Self-deceit is a great problem. Many of us suffer from it in varying degrees. We think we are kind and others think we are harsh. We think we are wise when others think we are foolish. Of course, everyone is susceptible to self-deceit.

What is the anti-dote? It is not listening to yourself as the final judge of these things. Who gets to decide? Well, to some degree you can trust older or wiser or more mature people. You see that they have wisdom gained from the Word and life and experience. You can be humble and listen to them. This prevents self-deceit.

But another way is to commit from the beginning to submit to the authority of God’s Word. When the Word speaks, you listen and obey. This does at least two things.

First, it corrects you when your own thoughts, or feelings or the culture around you is telling you one thing and the Bible is telling you another. You have made a primary commitment to submit to the Word when God brings it to mind. And more than that. You do not simply have to wait for the Holy Spirit to bring it to mind. You read and study the Word so that when situations arise, you already think like a biblically minded Christian and easily discern good and evil, right and wrong, and therefore make biblically choices submissive to the Word.

Second, it enables an objective standard for someone else to correct you. You are not alone with your thoughts or convictions. You own biases can even lead you astray as you study God’s Word. Committing to the authority of Scripture enables others, a friend, a parent, a pastor, to point to God’s Word to tell you the will of the Lord.

This process is a great part of our protection in correction. This is the process outlined in Matthew 18. The goal there is to get us to be obedient to the Lord. A brother may admonish us, two brothers, the church. They point to God’s Word and expect us to submit because His Word is always true.

²³ 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: ²⁴ For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

Can you hear my voice? Do you affirm the things that I am saying? Well and good. But what good does it do you if you forget as soon as you leave the worship service?

Forgetting is the great problem, after all. Godly discipline improves memory. Did you know that? Have you ever given your child a spanking for forgetting? If not, you should. It would improve his memory. In fact, it might enable him to have perfect recall. Wouldn’t you like that?

We are not that different. We need discipline to remember. We need to discipline ourselves to read the word, to pray, to go to church, to hear God’s promises, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

This is why some Christian disciplines are so helpful. Church attendance, tithing, bible reading, prayer, hospitality. These things remind us of God’s promises. They remind us that we belong to Him. They remind us of our duties to be obedient to His revealed will. These things do not save us but they remind us that we are saved and that we ought to act like it.

EXHORTATION

²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Do Christians do good works? Yes.

Do Christians obey God’s law? Yes.

Must Christians obey God? Yes.

         Are our good works or obedience the ground of our salvation? Of course not. The only ground of our salvation is the good work of our Savior Jesus Christ. What then? Shall we continue in sin that grace might abound? God forbid! We are adopted by God and then we learn how to act like His children. If we refuse to act like His children, we prove that we are not.

         Those who obey God are blessed. Those who refuse to obey God are not blessed and are in danger of the wrath of God.

         Our God is longsuffering. He is slow to anger and quick to forgive sins. But He is also willing to hold accountable.

         This blessing is two-fold. We often tend to think only in terms of the afterlife. Am I saved? Will I go to Heaven when I die? Of course, that is the ultimate blessing and should be greatly considered. How do you answer such a question? Are you trusting in Jesus, now? Then there is the promise of life hereafter.

         But there is another kind of blessing and one that is much closer to us. Are you blessed on the earth? Are your relationships good? Are you meeting your financial needs? Are you happy? The Bible is clearly talking about these sorts of blessings, as well.

         I will make a qualification. We should not assume that Christians will have a happy go lucky life. There will be much suffering, even for faithful saints. But God’s general principles of earthly blessing work.

If you are obeying Him, you are accruing a lifetime of wisdom that results in great blessing. These blessings flow to your spouse, your children, to those friends and family in your midst. They are tangible and visible.

So, obeying God is not like being a child who is forced to obey a tyrannical father against the child’s wishes. It is more like being obedient to a good and gracious father, whose only desire is to have the child grow up to these abundant blessings in maturity. Our God wants to shower blessings on us but unless we are obedient to Him, we will not handle them very well.

So, our job is to obey Him and to grow in our maturity so that we can rightly handle His blessings. We do so when we use them to His glory and the advance of the kingdom of Christ.