“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.” James 1:1-4
And also——-
“But 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:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
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.
If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:21-27
Then also ——-
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Gen 15:6 Romans 4:3 Galatians 3:6 Isaiah 41:8
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:14-26
As we were reading the book of James and contrasting faith and how works are interconnected as a result of faith, The Lord gave me the title of the message: “Cause and Effect.”
This morning I thought: Well, I think I will just type that phrase into my search engine and get a little more information before I use it. To my surprise I found something I did not know. The phrase, “Cause and Effect,” is actually a Biblical term and comes from a verse that most believers are very familiar with.
“We reap what we sow.”
So with that, I understood why He gave me the title in the first place.
When reading the book of James, it’s sorta like holding a porcupine, every time we touch it, we get a painful quiver. Should we ever think we have arrived to any level of perfection, reading the book of James will take the wind out of our sails.
Walking in the light of God’s word as found in, Proverbs 4:18, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
If you have ever, and I’m sure you have, been in a room where the sunlight is coming through a window and you standing more off in the shade of it, the light will expose all the lent and dust particles floating in the air. At that moment we are almost afraid to breathe due to what we see. Thing is, the stuff we see in the air is and was there all the time. It took the sunlight to expose it.
That’s the way it is when our Lord says, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18
The closer we chose to walk with Him day by day, the light of His word will expose “things,” “sins” in our life we have not seen before.
So James points these “things,” “sins” out to us. James speaks of the “Cause” and the “Effect” of being saved. The “cause” is of course, Christ Jesus by faith and by faith alone saving us, while at the same time points out the “effect” as shown by the works that follows faith.
James simply put’s it this way, salvation is not of works but salvation works. A profession in Christ that does not produce works is dead. Just like anything that is broken, it simply does not work.
Like James says of Abraham, his faith produced the work of offering up his son Issac on the mountain. His “cause,” the faith, then
the “effect,” offering up.
The same with Rahab, the “cause”, faith, the scarlet thread, representing the blood, the “effect” “hung” the scarlet thread out the window. Joshua 2:18
James simply says if our faith never shows in fruit or produces any outcome that would show the Lord Jesus working in our heart and lives, we may need to reevaluate our standing in Christ. Like I said earlier, reading after James is like holding a porcupine, we will hear the ouch, ouch, ouch, and it’s not coming from the porcupine.
Someone will say, well Paul and James contradict each other. No, they do not contradict each other.
James uses Old Testament scripture. Abraham and Rahab to show faith and the works as a result of that faith. Hebrew chapter 11 records manifold instances of this truth.
Also remember who his message is directly to.
“Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.” James 5:6
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. James 1:1 The Jew.
And James is preaching to those that are still somewhat connected to the law and using the law to open their eyes to their lifestyle and pointing them also to the “Perfect” law of liberty they have in Christ. Notice he really is tearing into their lifestyle.
“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
Lev 19:18 Matt 5:43 Matt 19:19 Matt 22:39 Mark 12:31 Rom 13:9 Gal 5:14
But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Deut 27:26 Gal 3:10
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. Exodus 20:14-13
So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:1-16
“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.”
James 1:2-4
At the end of the day. Does the faith we profess show the life we live? Sorta like the saying, do not tell me you love me unless you show me you love me. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son……” John 3:16
Love is not love until it is a giving love. “Cause” and “Effect.”