2025 Bible Study Group

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 2

14 What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself.

Here, James makes a contrast between a vain, spoken faith and a faith that produces good works.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Since there are many who like to take the ending of James 2 and pit it against Paul in Romans 4 and Ephesians 2, these earlier verses are vital for context. Whereas Paul is not concerned about justification or vindication before men in his chapters, but Justification before God, here James is talking about justification before men: "I will show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Apparently, there are some who are so blasphemous that they equate faith in Christ to the "faith of demons" in order to thrust forward works, all in a bad misreading of these verses. When we agree with Paul that faith alone is sufficient to save you, we are not saying, "merely assent to the fact that God exists and is one." Which, as James says, the demons also believe and it avails them nothing. What we are saying is that, "Jesus Christ's death atones for sinners, and thus it atones for me" which the demons could never believe since Christ did not die for them, as they are not members of His New Covenant. Like Hebrews says, He certainly does not give help to angels but He helps the seed of Abraham.

20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. 23And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. 24You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Here, James gives commentary on Genesis 15 and 22. He commentates on the same passage that Paul does in Romans 4. If you read Genesis, which we did, then you recall that Abraham was declared righteous, Justified, as soon as He believed in God's Word concerning His Son: "count the stars if you can, so shall Your Seed be." That is, Abraham was accounted as righteous as soon as he believed in the Gospel promise, even in it's seed form. Then in Genesis 22, many years later, Abraham did not hesitate to offer Isaac upon the altar when God commanded him. How was it that Abraham accomplished this? Through faith in Christ. When did Abraham place his faith in Christ? Genesis 15. So when was he Justified? In God's eyes, Genesis 15. How do we as men, who cannot see the true nature of a tree without seeing it's fruits, know that Abraham was justified? By looking at his work in Genesis 22.

When you realize that James nowhere appeals to God's need to see works, but appeals to men to see them, then you know that this chapter has been badly misinterpreted and abused to overthrow Paul's doctrine of Sola Fide.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

To add onto James 2, Calvin makes an astute point: that many faithless men perform what many would consider to be good works.

I knew some Catholic men who supposed that Jordan Peterson, though not a believer, would be saved because he has pointed men to the Bible. I told them that unless Jordan Peterson places his faith in Christ, he will not be saved. Good works are not a cover for a faithless heart, and since Peterson is not necessarily encouraging men to put their faith in Christ either, I do not understand how his works could be deemed as good by any true believer. As Romans 14 says, whatever that is not done in faith is sin. God's Word must go deeper.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 3

1 Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment. 2For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the entire body as well.

Here, James gives a warning that comes with a teaching ministry: you will be judged to a higher standard. All Christians are called to evangelize and spread the Gospel, in this sense, they take on a partial role of a teacher, but I believe that James is chiefly referring to the Espicopacy, that the Elders of the Church will be judged by a higher standard. Those who by crook or by hook finagle themselves into a leadership position in the Church would do well to remember this.

5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our existence, and is set on fire by hell.

As Jesus said, it is not what goes into a man but what comes out of him that defiles him. Out of our evil hearts comes all kinds of slander, lies, blasphemy, unbelief, vanity, sin. Let the Lord make our hearts new and bridle our tongues so that we may proclaim His Word with a clear conscience.

14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. 18And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace aby those who make peace.

I am continually amazed by how many grifter and false teachers have made a name for themselves as stewards of the Word when they are so clearly wolves in sheep's clothing. All the signs are there. Being slanderous to promote controversy, controversy to stir up interest, interest to pursue recognition, recognition to feed pride. There needs to be more discernment, and discernment comes by going to God's unfailing standard.

 

[Tippy]

James 3:
Controlling the tongue

The tongue is "restless, evil, full of deadly poison."

"Wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind."

Some sage advice here. I still sometimes use language that has been normalized to me from movies and TV such as "damn" or "oh God," and I do so flippantly without always considering the sacrilegious aspect of this.

"Jealousy" I sometimes think I'm not too troubled by. However, sometimes I have a kind of extreme humility that is almost its own arrogance, which contrasts a little with this idea of "doing good works with humility that comes from wisdom." There is sometimes this secret selfish ambition that comes with humility that I am often on watch for and trying to keep in check.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 4
Favorite chapter in James

1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

Whenever I hear people present the Church as a monolith with absolute unity, I know they are ignorant and have been misled. Why? One, the history of the Church is rife with contentions. Two, that goes all the way back to the Apostles as clearly seen in the Scriptures, which is why the Apostles went to great lengths to promote unity. Nothing on earth will match the perfections of heaven as long as sin is still in the world.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Love this flip of the classic "Ask and ye shall receive." You ask and do not receive because your hearts are still seeking to satisfy the passions. You must ask in faith, with a clear conscience, doubting nothing.

4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.

In New Testament terminology, fornicators, whores, sexually immoral, adulterous people, while retaining their literal meanings, are also used in a spiritual sense to refer to idolatry. This is also true in the Old Testament. By turning to idols instead of God, you have become whores. Since God will not share His Glory with any other, He will be our enemy if we turn to all the idols of the world. One of the more prominent idols of the day is the sexually degenerate, LGBT ideology. If you want to be friends with that, God will be your enemy. I would rather be a friend of God and an enemy to all the world than be a friend to all the world and an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

James is not directly citing any Bible passage in particular. Rather, he is drawing out the truth that the Scriptures as a whole teach: that God both wants to see us in the Spirit, and that He uses the Spirit to change our will and work for His purpose.

6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Let the Spirit do His work. Like the bully he is, the devil is a coward and will flee if you resist him. But you can only resist him if you have the Spirit. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

The story of the Tragedy is of self-important people who have all their works crumble despite their best efforts, they go from laughing to crying. The story of the Comedy is of ill-deserved dummies who receive a happy ending despite not earning it, their tears turn to laughter. If you want to experience God's comedy, then you must pass through the tragedy. You must give up your self-exaltation and place yourself in a state of humiliation. From your place of humiliation, God will raise you up and be the one to exalt you.

12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you who judge your neighbor?

When James says do not judge your neighbor, he is not saying to not warn people to turn away from their dead works. He is saying to not place yourself in God's position and declare someone's judgement. God will do that, has done it, will continue to do it.

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17Therefore, to one who knows to do the aright thing and does not do it, to him it is sin.

People arrogantly presume that they will live forever, that they can do anything, that all opportunities are in their hands. All such boasting is evil. Only if the Lord wills does anyone do anything. You could die in your sleep tonight, so why will you not thank the Lord for your life first thing in the morning? You complain about your work, God gave it to you and He can take it away in an instant, why not thank Him instead?

 

[Gazza]

I used to have a REAL problem with jealousy. I’m still fiercely jealous over my wife of 30 years should any moron try to make an advance towards her (however this hasn’t happened for a while and I’m learning to curb my temper). I feel this way and I also used to with ex girlfriends because I loved them and wanted to guard them. Now to think the God of the universe, God almighty, is jealous for me!! Wow, that blows my mind.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

James 5

3 Your gold and your silver have rusted, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up such treasure in the last days! 4Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields—that which has been withheld by you—cries out against you; and the outcries of those who did the harvesting have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

It seems that in this world, to become rich you have to be willing to take advantage of someone else. Many rich people even boast about this, calling it a killer instinct. This is why Jesus said that is exceedingly difficult for a rich man to enter heaven. If you are successful, then remember you have a duty to those beneath you.

10 As an example, brothers, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we count those blessed who persevere. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

On the flip side, you who have been victimized and long for retribution and justice, you are called to wait on the Lord with long-suffering and patience. You saw in Job that God will come through for His saints, but it will be according to His time and His timing is perfect.

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

Matthew 5:33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ 34But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of the evil one.

Let your yeses be yeses and your noes be noes. Stop being wishy washy. Give a straight answer. Be an honest man. Commit to your word. When people know you to be an honest man then you will not have to swear on anything at all, your word will be good enough.

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

16 is taken out of context by some to refer to the sacrament of confession. But James is not referring to those of the priestcraft. He is not limiting the power of confession to the Elders of your church. There is mutual confession and mutual intercessory prayer in his address to the congregation as a whole.

In his epistle James gives much practical advice, it is Wisdom literature. Live according to the Word that you've read and studied and may the Holy Spirit write it on the tablets of our hearts.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Brothers. I would still like to do 1 John and Jonah. I am open to other suggestions too.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 1

1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us

What I love about John's works is that they are consistent with each other. They cover many of the same themes and it's easy to tell that they are written by the same author. Every Apostle has a polemic to their arguments, some more pronounced than others. Paul was opposed to the Judaizers and legalists. James was opposed to the licentious, essentially what would come to be known as the Antinomians. John is opposed to the pre-gnostics, even the Docetists, who did not believe that Christ had a real human body but that it was essentially a spiritual illusion. This is why John emphasizes Christ's physical manifestation, such as saying that the Disciples touched Him with their hands.

3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

You might recall Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17. Jesus prays that the disciples would be one, even as Jesus and the Father are one. There is Love that binds the Trinity together. You could almost visualize it as a current flowing through. That Love has redeemed the Church and grafted it in so that the same current passes through it as well. Here in verse 3, John is inviting you to be part of that community, the fellowship. Let God's Love bring you in and flow through you as well.

4 And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.

The Apostles could not be everywhere, so how did they exercise their authority in the Church? By their writings, the Scriptures.

5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

This is significant, especially against anyone who would deny the divinity of Christ. In John's Gospel, Jesus is called the Light of the world. Here, God is Light. It is beyond any doubt that the Apostles considered Jesus to be God incarnate.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; 7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Here, John warns against hypocrisy in the Church. You cannot say you have fellowship with God but continue to follow the devil. These are mutually exclusive.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

No one is without sin. All men should confess that they are sinners. Those who do confess their sins, God forgives them, and not forgiveness only, but God also cleanses them, He takes the sin out of them.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

How do we make God a liar by denying our sinfulness? Because He has already testified that we all are sinners, many times over. He says that we are all sinners in Psalms. Read the 10 Commandments, if you are honest, you will admit that you've broken them all. If not outwardly then certainly inwardly. I know where the Word of God is and is not. It is not in those who maintain their own righteousness, but it is in those who confess that they have broken God's Law.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

1 John 2

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

Do not sin, but when you do, remember that Christ is interceding for you. John does not give us up to sacraments or good works to make ourselves righteous again. He never takes the focus off of Christ. Bundled in this concept of Christ's intercession is His atoning work on the cross. He intercedes on the basis of what He accomplished in your place on the cross. Your sins are already forgiven if you are in Him. So you needn't be given over to fear when you sin, but it is good that you should feel conviction and the desire to change for the better when you sin, since that is the Holy Spirit at work in you.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, He is called the Parakleton by Jesus in John 14, the Advocate, Helper, Comforter. John calls Jesus the Parakleton here, the Advocate. I warn you to not go beyond the Apostolic example by calling anyone else your Advocate as many have done. You saw how patient Job in his distress longed for the Advocate to mediate between him and God. In Christ, you have that Advocate revealed. Blessed are your eyes for they see what the prophets longed to see. Do not blaspheme Christ by turning to another advocate, there is no other. There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

As I said above, Christ's intercessory work as the Advocate is always coupled with His atoning work on the cross, the propitiation. Many have tried to water down the Atonement by turning it into an expiation rather than the propitiation that John says it is. What's the difference? Propitiation means that Jesus really did satisfy God's Wrath and Justice on the cross and thus forgave sinners. Expiation means that God merely forgave sinners without regard to His Justice. The fact that you need an Advocate in the first place to mediate between you and God cements the case for propitiation. Why is this controversial? Because fallen man hates the concept of a Lawful and Righteous God who is Wrathful against sinners. They have a very low, unbiblical view of God's Justice and their own sin. They would rather that God wink at our sin and call it forgiveness.

When John says "not for ours only, but for those of the whole world," I see very little reason to believe he means "every single individual," which would lead to Universalism and the denial of Hell. Rather, John is wishing to emphasize something else. The fallen world trusted in many trinkets and superstitions to be their atonement. John is wishing to emphasize that only Christ can actually be anyone's propitiation, no other atonement will save them.

As for the extent and effect of the propitiation, John in Revelation 5:9 makes it clear that "God's people have been purchased by Christ's blood (redeemed) out of every tribe, language, people, and nation." Not that everyone in every tribe, language, people, and nation has been redeemed. Christ's propitiatory death on the cross is not universal, it is covenantal.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.

John reechoes Jesus' words in John 14:15: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

5 but whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him

John will revisit this theme in chapter 4: perfect love casts out fear. It is not those who are afraid of God's punishments that do His Word, but it is those who recognize that God loved them all the way to the end.

7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

Here is John's way of expressing the law of liberty as James calls it, or the New Law as Paul called it. The Apostles are not throwing away the Old Testament and introducing a new set of laws, as if God made a mistake in ratifying the Mosaic Covenant but is amending His mistake with the New Covenant. No, the Law of the Mosaic Covenant is God's Law and it is perfect. The New Commandment fulfills the Old Commandment. The New Commandment is the Law of Love. If you love Jesus, as Jesus has loved you, then you will have fulfilled all the Law which is summed up in these commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength." and "Love your neighbor as yourself."