| By Andy Moyle | 58 secs | 0 Comments
Keeping control of what comes out of your mouth is one of the hardest parts of living the holy life! James uses three illustrations to make the point: A horse needs a bit in its mouth to allow the reins to bring it under control; A ship has a tiny rudder to steer the whole […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 4 secs | 0 Comments
Luther called the book of James ‘an epistle of straw’ because of the way James talks about justification, faith and works. He was wrong, because James is using the second of two meanings of “justified” and is actually saying the same thing as Paul in the book of Romans. We will get to that. Firstly […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 33 secs | 0 Comments
The book of James is a very practical letter that Martin Luther disliked, calling it an epistle of straw. That was because James uses the words justified, faith and works in different ways than Paul, and Luther was fighting to regain Paul’s teaching to the whole church. It reads like a sermon with a careful […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 21 secs | 0 Comments
The end of New Testament letters typically comes with staccato instructions, boom, boom, boom, about living out the good of the doctrine that has come before. Jesus has given us the best way, grace, so…. Be welcoming The first two sentences employ a Greek wordplay: Brotherly love = philadelphia, which means love the brothers, love […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 11 secs | 0 Comments
Therefore, because of all that has been written before, don’t give up on Christianity. Jesus is the best. Lift your drooping hands, strengthen your weak knees, make straight paths. Keep going! Strive for peace with everyone – Mr & Mrs sandpaper weren’t sent by the devil, they were sent by Jesus to rub off your […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 3 secs | 0 Comments
I love the picture at the start of this passage. Imagine you are an athlete in a stadium. The stadium is full of ‘a great cloud of witnesses’ – those heroes of faith who have already run their race well, cheering us (athletes) on. Now, to run the race well, what do you need? Well […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 36 secs | 0 Comments
The greatest model of faith is Abraham and the story of Genesis 22. Abraham was tested before he got the greatest blessing of his life. The test involved a threat to the promises he had been given. The nation that was to come from him was only one Son to that point – Isaac. Sometimes […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 27 secs | 0 Comments
We have been encouraged and urged to persist in faith – we can boldly approach God for help, so to not do so is a serious mistake leading to loss. Now the author shows us what persistent faith means. He starts with some explanation and then he goes through some Old Testament characters to illustrate […]
| By Andy Moyle | 6 mins 3 secs | 0 Comments
We are at the turning point of the letter. The previous nearly ten chapters have been showing us the greatness of Jesus Christ. He is the One who has made cleansing for our sins and brings us into the presence of God. Now the author makes an appeal… So there are three things we have: […]