Peggie

This makes the 3rd or 4th Bible studies I've done with Pastor Ralph, and they were all excellent. I have to say that the study of James is the best yet! The book of James gets down to easy to understand, common sense teaching for the Christian.

Q2. (4:4) Why does James refer to church members as "adulteresses"? Because they seek pleasure outside of Christ. What does the adultery consist of? Putting God on a back burner and taking pleasure in outside pleasures of the world. Who is the aggrieved husband? Christ. What is wrong with friendship with the world? Friendship with the world leads us outside of what God wants for our lives and down the path of destruction.

Is God against pleasure? What wrong in living to increase one's pleasure? No, God is not against pleasure, and I believe that is well pointed out in Matthew 6:30-32 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Seeking pleasure is only wrong when, as our lesson this week teaches, we ask with the wrong motives. We must seek God FIRST and not let things of this world come before that.

Q3. (3:13-16) In what ways are "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" (3:14) direct opposites of "humility" (3:13)? Envy and ambition show concern for ourselves, especially selfish ambition. When we are humbled and have humility, we begin thinking outside of ourselves, and toward the good of others. How does denial of "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" prevent healing? Because to rid ourselves of those 2 things, we first have to admit we have them. Once we admit the problem, we can begin to heal, not only ourselves but those around us who have been hurt by us. How does boasting about these prevent healing? Boasting shows we don't think we have a problem when in fact we do.

Q2. (3:7-8) Read Matthew 12:34 and 15:18. In light of these verses, why is the tongue untamable? What has to happen before it can be tamed? The tongue is untamable while we still belong to a "generation" or "offspring" of vipers. When we accept Christ, and we become His, we no longer are of that generation instead we are now God's child.

Q1. (3:1-2) Why does James discourage people from aspiring to be teachers of the Word? James discourages people from teaching because they are held to a higher standard than others. Not only do teachers of the Word have to be careful to live up to their teachings, but also have to be very careful that what they are teaching out of God's Word is exactly the way GOD means for it to be. Why is greater strictness appropriate? To hopefully keep teachers from teaching God's word in a careless and irresponsible way. If a teacher knows he/she is being held to a higher standard, they will hopefully be more careful. Should you set higher standards for your pastor than you do for yourself? Yes! We should all be very careful of the examples we set before the unsaved. But when a pastor shows a poor example, it tends to alienate the unsaved just that much more if they see it.

Q4. (2:20-26) How does James' point about the necessity of works jive with Paul's emphasis on salvation by grace without works (Ephesians 2:8-10)? What I was going to say is almost word for word what Troy said, so I'll just say a hearty AMEN for his answer:)

Q3. (2:18-19) What is the difference between the "belief" of a demon and the "belief" of a practicing Christian? To me, a demon has an intellectual belief, they "know" God exists, but they shudder......which I think that means they fear because they do not believe the way a Christian believes, their faith and hopes are not hanging on Jesus Christ to save them. A practicing Christian has a belief to the point of dedication in Christ, to do His will and delights in doing so! The "belief" of a non-practicing Christian? To me, the belief of a non-practing Christian is just as James said, their faith is dead.

Q2. (2:15-16) To what degree are we responsible for the poor and needy in the church community? We are responsible to the poor and needy as far as God enables us to help them. When I say "enables" I mean that in the truest sense of the word, in that it does not just mean to the extent that we "feel" like doing something. There is only so much any of us can do, so we should do all we can and leave the rest to God, continuing to pray for His provision for the poor, then help out again when He enables us to do so. Once in church when we were taking up a special missionary offering, our pastor made it very clear that this was to be above our normal giving. As he so clearly put it, "If we can't keep the lights on here, we can't continue to do for others." How about our responsibility for those outside the church, in the community at large? There is a song that says, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one anyday." I believe that when we reach out to those outside the church, and they see our outpouring of love by DOING instead of yapping about it, that is a great example and testimony of our faith. Jesus said, "When you have done it to the least one of these my bretheren, you have done it also to me".

Q1. (2:14-18) In what sense is faith dead if it is unaccompanied by action? In what sense might (if that were possible) it be alive? Here is one Biblical dictionary's definition of faith: Saving faith is a moral act, as it proceeds from a renewed will, and a renewed will is necessary to believing assent to the truth of God (1

Q4. (2:13b) In what way is showing regard towards the wealthy (2:2-3) a denial of mercy? Because when showing regard toward the wealthy at the expense of the poor, we show a lack of mercy and compasssion toward the poor. Extra credit: Read Hosea 6:6; Matthew 5:7; and 9:13. In what way does mercy "triumph over" (NIV, RSV, NASB) or "rejoice against" (KJV) judgment? What does this mean? If we were judged according to our sins, we would be going to hell because it's what we deserve. BUT, praise God that He is merciful! So much so that He sent His OWN son to bear our sins. What a small thing it is to show mercy to others when we think of the mercy Christ has given us!!!!

Q3. (2:9-11) Why does James refer to the Great Commandment as the "Royal Law"? Because it is the highest law that there is. Paul tells us that if we don't have love, we have nothing. How is it more "royal" than the Mosaic Law? Because the Mosaid Law stems off of it. If we go around stealing, murdering, etc. it shows we have no love. How does showing favoritism toward a rich person break the "Royal Law" towards that rich person? Because if we show favoritism toward a rich person just because they are rich, we are not loving them at all. How does it break the "Royal Law" in regard to a poor person? Because it's not loving the poor person.

Q2. (2:4) In what way does favoritism make one a judge? Because it shows in our minds that we believe one to be deserving of favor more than another, deeming ourselves worthy to make that call. How does favoritism make one a judge with "evil thoughts"? Because when we show favoritism, it is usually with selfish motives whatever they may be.

Q1. (2:1-3) What kind of person or what kind of sinner do you tend to discriminate against? What kind of people are you (or your church) trying to make a good impression on? If I tend to discriminate, I'd have to say maybe it would be someone who drinks excessively because I don't have alot of patience for that, even though I know it is no worse of a sin than many things I've done and still fall into from time to time. Also, if I'm going to be really honest I'd have to say I discriminate against those who think they are better than everyone else. God is working with me on that one and showing me to always be kind to them regardless. I really cannot think of any type person that I am knowingly trying to impress.

Q4. (1:26-27) Why does James make taming the tongue and caring for the poor the prime tests of pure religion? Why not the quality of our quiet time or worship? Jesus said that the tongue is sharper than any two edged sword. Words can be and often are some of the most painful things one person can inflict on another. Many times when we care for the poor, we have to get our hands dirty...so to speak. This shows humility, which is what Jesus showed when He came and died for us.

Q3. What is this "perfect law" that James mentions? How would you define it? How does it relate to the "royal law" (2:8)? In what sense does it bring liberty? The perfect law is simply love. It was out of love that the perfect Lamb of God died for us. The perfect law brings liberty because when we truly love God, we will certainly want to do His will. The perfect law sets us free from sin!

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception? Because once we have acquired knowledge in something, we tend to think that is enough. For example, when we learn in school all we have to do is use that knowledge to pass a test, we write down the correct answers and all is well. This in turn makes us look good when we have aced an academic test. Self deception comes easily to us because we don't like to think that what we are doing is wrong, or that what we are are NOT doing is wrong. If when we looked in the mirror, we saw our inner self instead of the outer, I doubt we'd like what we saw.

Q1. (1:18) In what sense are we given spiritual birth by the "word of truth"? What does spiritual life have to do with the Word? Because we are given spiritual birth when we receive Jesus as Lord and saviour.....when we place our faith and trust in Him. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God". We do this from what we have learned in His word.

Q4. (1:5-8) What is the promise to claim in verse 5? What is the condition attached to this promise in verse 6? How do trials help us receive this wisdom? We are promised wisdom if we ask, but we must ask in faith...knowing that God will deliver to us what He has promised. Trials help us receive this wisom because they give us a greater understanding of God's ways and what He wants from us if we will but give these things over to Him.

Q3. (1:5-8) How do trials help cure us of "doublemindedness"? How do trials help us grow in faith? So often we try to go about solving things on our own instead of calling on God to begin with as He wants us to. He allows us to stumble and fall as we weakly try to solve things "our way". When we finally reach the point of turning to Him for help, therefore seeing what wonderous things He will do when asked, only then do we completely trust Him. Again, it is only through trials that we see how God will work in our lives if we will only surrender to Him.

Q2. (1:13-15) Why do people blame God for evil? Does God tempt us with evil? I think people blame God for evil because they know He is powerful to stop it, so they wonder why He doesn't. What they don't understand is that while he certainly is all powerful and can indeed stop the evil in the world, He also gives us each a free will, and in doing so, innocent people often get hurt from those who are evil. God wants us to come to Him, love Him, and obey Him by OUR OWN FREE WILL....not because He forces us to. If He did not give us a free will in which we make the choice to follow or reject Him, what would that say, if He forced us to be good?

Q1. (1:2-4) What value have trials had in your life? It is during the trials, while we are deep in the valleys that we grow. If we did not have these trials, would we ever THANK God for any of His blessings? No, we would take them all for granted. Have you let Satan destroy you with those trials? We have all sinned and come short of God's glory. Satan may have won a battle or two in my life (temporarily) but the final victory in my life belongs to Jesus Christ! Or allowed God to refine you? How have you changed? I've learned, with maturity as a Christian, patience and have a deeper trust in the works God is doing in me during the trials.

Hello Everyone, glad to see so many signed up for this Bible Study. This is my 4th or 5th online Bible Study with Pastor Ralph, so if you're new here, let me say that you are in for a great study....Pastor Ralph always has some great teachings. I'm looking forward as usual to the study, God bless!

On what ground does Abraham so boldly address God? On the grounds of trying to save his own family. Do you think God desires us to do the same? Certainly. Why or why not? Because God always wants us to come to Him with whatever is in our heart at the time, He wants us to make Him part of everything. Why do you think Abraham's intercession pleased God? Because it showed God that Abraham was being molded in the way God wanted him to be. What will it take for us to please him in our prayers? Perhaps by asking of Him the kinds of things Jesus would pray for. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread, so we should ask for our daily needs to be met for one thing. But Jesus would not have prayed for something like a pink cadillac. In other words, we should pray for things that would please God. Our prayers though should first and foremost reflect honor and praise to God!

In your own words, describe what a lifestyle of "keeping the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just" looks like in the twenty-first century. It's keeping the way of the Lord the same way it has always been, God never changes. In what ways is this difficult? It's difficult because although we are not of this world, we do live in this world. In what ways is this easy? It's easy when we keep in the forefront of our minds that God is always there, ready to help us, always leading when we let Him. What are the special challenges? I think the special challenges are that as time moves on, it becomes more and more difficult to raise children in a Godly home because of the outside influences they see. It's a challenge to stay married as so many Christian marriages are even breaking up as satan attacks our families. And, the world's goals are all about monetary success, whereas a Christian's goal is to please God and spend eternity with him.