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  • Jerry on James 2 - 3 years ago
    Faith without works is dead. Does the works include what Jesus is asking us to do the way we led our lives? In other words is works considered like: If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: Is that works??
  • Bob - In Reply on James 2 - 3 years ago
    Yes we are to do what the word of God instructs is to do .

    But first we must realize that not doing it is sin .

    So we repent and ask the Lord to empower us to do it by His spirit .

    The first step is why are we not doing it ?

    The Lord will help us do it , ask Him for wisdom .

    The hardest part is owning up to the reality we are not doing , and can't without His Spirit .

    When truly repentant in a matter or salvation , we then will be able to be led by the Holy Spirit and enjoy our obedience . I hope this helps .
  • Jesse - In Reply on James 2 - 3 years ago
    Jerry,

    The word faith in James Chapter 2 is talking about Spiritual faith. There are two types of faith, human faith, and Spiritual faith. Spiritual faith is only produced by God's Spirit. We can't produce it. The word faith literally means persuasion. And the word works literally means activity. And if you put faith (persuasion) and activity together, you realize that it is God's Spirit in you that is doing the work.

    James 2:8 says if ye fulfil the royal law, and this is the same as the law of liberty. It's called Torah or Kingdom Law. Royal means belonging to the king. But if you fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, and this is found Leviticus 19:18, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, and then he says you do well:

    In Matthew 22:37, Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. I'd like to point out two things. Number one, the term "Thou shalt love" is not in command form. That is a Future Active Indicative in the Greek text. It is it is not a command. It is a factual statement. You will love! Secondly, believers are supposed to love one another. But, neither in the Old Testament, nor in the New Testament, is it in command form.

    As a matter of fact, the command in the Old Testament is (YOU WILL) love the Lord your God, and (YOU WILL) love your neighbor as yourself. It's a factual statement, not a command. Jesus is not commanding us to go out and to love. He's stating fact, that if we have His Spirit, WE WILL love. It's His Spirit in us that produces Agape love. We cannot produce Agape. That's why we have to understand that if we have His Spirit in us, WE WILL love. Factual statement!

    It comes from Deut. Chapter 6, the chapter that has the SHEMA, the prayer that's prayed every morning and evening by Orthodox Jews. In that prayer, they recite the fact that God says that I will put my Spirit in you, and I will put my laws on your heart, and you will love the Lord your God.



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