James Chapter 1, Part 2

James Chapter 1, Part 2 | I Don't Get The Bible by Yeshuans

Transcripts:

Hi everyone, I don't really understand the Bible. We're in James chapter 1 and we start at verse 13, which is supposedly a good verse. So let no man say, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, neither does he tempt anyone. God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. We just said that.

That every man is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Okay, stop. Not a word about Satan. Oh, wow. Yes, and this is the same thing that Eve requested. It was her own desire. Which made her fall, because she had not fallen yet. So everyone thinks it's Satan, but even James doesn't mention Satan there.

Oh, that's interesting. You are carried away by your own desires. Yes, yes. It also says that God cannot be tempted. Was Jesus tempted? Yes. So what should we do with that? Yes. Look, and so you have to say, well, and I say that man was not God. He was tempted. Got it? Yes. And then he doesn't seduce. So when people say yes.

No. Like God, that thing we were just talking about. What was that again? What was that story we were talking about that shows that it is not God who tempts anyway. EHM, every person is tempted when he is distracted from himself, lost and enticed. So what, because at that time Satan was a thing. So what did Satan do to them? He seduced, but they still could not be seduced or enticed if their lusts or their pride were under control.

So he played to what was inside them. Okay. Yes. So seduction, like, you can try to seduce me. Yes, but I am only tempted by myself. Right? Is that what you're trying to say? For there are things with which I would tempt you. Right? Is that what you're trying to say? Because there are things I could tempt you with and you just will.

Yes, and I'm not tempted. I'm only tempted when it's something I care about. Yes, your weaknesses, your tendencies. And that's why he writes it that way. Oh, that's interesting. It gives you insight into how this all works. Oh, that's interesting. It gives you insight into how this all works. So just as the darkness, Satan existed then, the darkness exists today.

And both do things like offer and accuse, but... The offer, the temptation and the accusation can only have an effect if you consider it to be real. Is that correct? If you have that in you. Yes, yes, yes. Someone might try to seduce me with certain things. There are things I just don't have the inclination to do. I have a lot of other things.

So, you know. What does that mean for our relationship with God? I believe it means we are human. We are flesh and blood. We have all temptations and we all succumb to them in one way or another. And God has provided that, through his Son. But he is speaking to the believers there and he is speaking about something that could exclude them from the Holy, pure Bride.

At that time they were under different protection than we were. Because they were under the law. Satan was still there. He was an accuser of the brethren. There was play... So there are all kinds of aspects that don't apply to us. So... they really had to brace themselves. And... That's why all the apostles writing, especially in the last books, say, hang in there.

Hang in there, you can do it. Citation stings, because they are so firmly determined were holding on, and so people say, I have to brace myself today too. Only in a certain way, but not so that you can be saved by Jesus when he comes back. It's so interesting, because the fulfillment makes me see the flesh in a certain way, and this is true, as in the previous conversation about the disagreement, the literal interpretation of unclean meat could not be in the presence of God.

No. That was the economy. No. That was the economy. There are different economies and I almost feel like we're at a point in society where I can't even fathom that. Yes, I can do it. Don't suggest it, even though Christians emphasize it so strongly. That's why people think Christianity is so ridiculous, because it's like they think, I can't be with God because that's who I am.

Yeah, it's such a ridiculous thing. It's completely ridiculous. But then... Is there anything about God that is ridiculous now that wasn't ridiculous in another time? Still, what do you mean by that? We now find it so ridiculous that my love for food and my gluttony keeps me from God. And God is greater than that.

We think that now, but at that time God was no bigger than that. That's how God worked. At least that is how He worked in the Old Testament. That's why everyone went to hell. That. I know. And I think I try to say that it is really difficult to comprehend. How God was like that. Yes, okay.

The question is, why was he like that? I understand the whole development and how everything came together so that we could be today. But that's why it becomes a metaphor for some people, because it's happened in the past and it's hard to imagine it literally being that way. Right? But I don't want to dwell on this for too long.

But it was not as extreme as the Jews made it out to be. Okay, that's why. When Jesus appeared, they ate things on the Sabbath and accused him of it. He said, you guys don't even understand what he said from the beginning. Okay, so the common thread is that maybe they were weak in the flesh, like David or something.

He had a perfect example. Okay, but why the bride? Why that perfection of the bride's flesh was confusing is a strange question. It wasn't so much about perfection in their flesh. Rather, it was about uniting and following the spirit, which brought abundance. They had living apostles, the support of the law, the history of their forefathers who had given them the law and the prophets.

Okay. They had many reinforcements for themselves as brides. They knew people who had seen Christ risen and had testified of it. They had many things that would help them in their flesh. But most importantly, the accuser, Satan, tried to lead them away from faith in Christ. The most important thing, because if they made a mistake, it was possible.

That was probably, they were people. But they couldn't live in it. So they couldn't just do that. Living that way, because that day proved that they were not listening to the double part of the spirit, the apostles, the body, the bride. They all ignored it. And their actions showed that they were there actually didn't believe in. And that's why it's not easy to understand.

And that's why you choose people just side with religion. You have to be perfect. Okay. I understand that a little better now. It is confusing that Jesus had to perfectly unite flesh and spirit. For us. If. The law would do that, as I now understand. David was fine, but his meat wasn't perfect. Right? His flesh was far from perfect.

And are there examples in the bride of the flesh of someone who is not perfect, but is perfect in the faith? Are they? I think most, I can't remember a specific story, but we do have stories where their flesh is imperfect and they're not good enough. Well, I find that confusing. I know, okay, yeah. But it comes down to motivation, intention, and proof that you truly believe in and follow Christ.

It's like that man in Corinth who slept with his father's wife. Paul became angry with them for allowing him grace. You're free, it's okay, you know. And he said, no, put it away. He should not be a part of this until he repents and turns around. Quotation mark. Okay, so repentance and conversion were essential to show that they had faith.

But they could make a mistake. You could commit adultery or sleep with someone or do something wrong. But if your heart was contrite, you were forgiven. But that was if they put it into practice. The word is in practice. Putting it into practice. Okay. I think it's just, I think the bride seems to have a very different level of demands than even the Jews.

If you think about it, they were probably doing a pretty good job. I'm going to talk about that today at the funeral. When Christ came to show the Jews that their way of life would not get them into heaven, he said, it is said that you should not kill. I say, if you are even angry with someone, it is said that you should not commit adultery.

I say, if you even look at a woman, it shows that the bride had to have Christ in her to bring her to a level of holiness that the law could never reach. had to have Christ in her to bring her to a level of holiness that the law could never reach. Quotation mark, so you're right. They had a much higher standard back then.

Yes, but it was all by the Spirit, and it wasn't about failing as a person. It was about your intention and your heart when you failed. Do you understand that? Yes. Yes. Well, okay. That's a... A lot of time to process in your head. But it will be fine. Point. It's just so manipulated. This is, as it were, the core of what good...

or goes bad in one's faith. I think these types of topics are the form the core. Yes, and if we took the time to really understand it, we would do better understand and we wouldn't have all these problems. But people don't take that time because they actually don't care. Yeah, and the people who do take the time still hold on to certain things that I don't understand why they hold on to.

That's a mystery to me. You say you don't understand why they hold on to it, because they read the Bible as if it were meant for them. If they could see the context of the Bible, they would see the finished work of Christ in a different way than they did in apostolic times. But they don't. Yes, and then there are the people who may recognize that the Bible was not written for us and those are atheists.

Yes, it's like they're disconnecting from it. Yeah, which means, okay, there's a way to make it work. Okay. Okay, there's a way to make it work. Okay. So, or rather, when lust is fertilized, it produces sin. So everyone is tempted when he is carried away by his own lust. Yes, when lust is fertilized, it produces sin.

And sin, when consummated, brings death. So the desire itself is not sin for them. No, it is the act that indulges it. Yes, it is the act. Yes, that seems to contradict what Christ said. Well, it's the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. As if it takes away their faith.

It is the desire to this world. Okay, I am was fed up with nonsense about faith. I want to live, enjoy it. Your desire has been fertilized. She is committed. And then it produces death, because then sin takes place. But Christ tried the Jews to show that they should not think that they could obey the law and that that was them would make righteous before God. He didn't do that to them, he showed them the opposite.

The law gets you nowhere with God. What we are talking about is very complex. Okay. Do not inherit, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above and descends from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no change, yet shadow of turning. That means it is clear. This means that there is no ambiguity.

He gives gifts and things that bring enlightenment, brought forth. By his own will. He created us with the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits creatures would be. Yes, that is a truly remarkable sentence. Yes, you're talking about firstfruits.

Yeah, so what he's saying is that we are the will be the bride, the firstfruits of the harvest of this earth. And we will be the firstfruits of what Christ came to do, bring forth his bride. The firstfruits were always the best fruits of the harvest that came into the world old testament were given to God. And he compares them to the firstfruits of the harvest of souls.

Yard. Not. Okay, so in all of this he is encouraging them not to fall into temptation. He says... Don't listen, because God is clear and out. By his will he brought forth the word of truth with us. We should be kind of the firstfruits of His creation, like, period, okay, yes, to be part of that Bride, okay, okay, okay.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. That's something your father has to learn over and over again. Point. Me, too. Me, too. Therefore, put away all filthiness and superfluous wickedness. Even has just spoken her first word. And receive with meekness the Implanted Word, which is able to save your soul.

That is like a word implanted in your heart. Yes, and it's just like when Christ said, I am the vine, you are the branches, you are connected to me. Quotation mark, the Implanted Word comes through you. Wow, okay. Okay, EHM. That is able to save your soul. It's strange to me, as an aside, that that word isn't capitalized there.

Shouldn't that be Christ with a capital letter? Yeah, I bet that word there is written with a letter, graffa, and not a letter, logos. Yes, implanted word. So what is graffa? What is the graffa they are talking about? The writings in the Old Testament that were written. And who are received with gentleness.

Those scriptures are able to save your soul. Yes, because they were Jews. They had the law, but they all talked about Christ. They didn't need an apostolic book. They didn't need a new will. They had the Old Testament to learn who their Messiah was. Okay. So for them, Scripture, the Old Testament, was a kind of saving power.

Oh yes. Okay, that's interesting. That's why Christ said, you read to the Pharisees, you read the scriptures and think you have eternal life. They talk about me. Yes, yes. And of course there were Jews who could read the Old Testament and see him as its fulfillment, but the rest were blinded. Okay. Yeah, so the scriptures of the Old Testament were really important to that bride at that time. Okay.

Yes, so the scriptures of the Old Testament were really important to that bride at that time. Okay. So another reason why Christians get that mixed up. Yes. It is not just that they see logos and call it the Bible, as if it were something they had to do read. Yes. But what matters is what the scripture was and why. Paul says to Timothy, search the scriptures that you have known from your youth.

Well, he wrote that at the time Timothy didn't know there was a New Testament. Okay. And then there is the comment about anything that can be considered writing. And that's part of it. So Paul's words were recorded in scripture. Peter adds Paul's words to scripture by saying that they are difficult to understand, but we still regard them as written texts.

However, he calls them written texts. So, yes, those who had access to Paul's writings, who were in that church, they viewed them as supplementary to the scriptures. those in that church considered them an addition to the Scriptures. But do you remember when Paul taught the Scriptures to the Jews and had to explain to the Gentiles how this miracle that the Jews had experienced now also applied to him, without them ever having had the law? Is it possible that this is why Christians call Paul word writing?

Of course, because that's what it is. It's called written. It is a translation of the old. It is still part of knowing Christ. Yes, that's it. And, as we say, God has allowed everything. I am convinced that Paul's words have been a gift to humanity. Because if we didn't have them and we only had the Gospels and Acts up to chapter 10.

As a Gentile, would we never understand what all those things meant without Paul's explanation? Yes. So yes. Okay. EHM. That is why scripture is important and why we study it. Yes. But okay, I understand now. That's why scripture is important and that's why we study it. Yeah, but okay, I get what you mean now.

Okay, EHM. But be doers of the word, not hearers only, or you will deceive yourselves. Wow For if anyone hears the word and does not act on it, he is like someone who sees his own face in a mirror. Oh, like a mirror. Like, wow, so beautiful, wow. That's what people think we do. I think so. At least. Don't you, or critics of us, think that we are hearers and doers? Yes.

Don't you think so? Yes. And the problem is that they can't know what someone is doing in their life. Of course. But... Because we promote the lack of doing, we don't, you know, there's so much to do. If you preach faith and love, you don't promote lack of doing.

Yes, the problem is that this is the favorite book from the Old Testament of the Mormons. And they use this book to show Christians that they are saved by grace. And they quote James to prove otherwise. And therefore hate Luther James. The book of James, yes, because Mormons say, we do, you, and you will find some intense passages here from James about doing.

Wow, well, it's indeed about doing, it's, as if it were the same coin. Faith and love are the two sides of the coin of salvation. You cannot have faith without love. Love is an action. It's a verb. It's doing. Okay, but whatever. So the real problem is not that action comes from faith. Because Christians then say okay, you go to church. You've been going to church for so long.

You should be doing something now, but you're not. What's wrong with you? You must come and sit with us. Quotation mark, this continues and we are critical of that. But the problem isn't that they do. The problem is that they... assess the misconduct. They judge the misconduct and promote the wrong course of action. Because it is the mind that makes one do it. They use programs. Yes. Yes.

Okay, I get it. So what they are doing and what the Mormons are doing is going back on the law. And the use law to enforce the misconduct. While a Christian knows that if you have real faith, you will do it. Yes. And that is the coin with two sides. Okay. So judging someone's actions is only relevant. For that person himself, because even someone who does something, we don't know whose heart it belongs to.

Okay, so it's really just for ourselves. The rating and... growth practice... subjective. Yes, yes, therefore judgments and condemnations are excluded. Ten... First, we don't know someone's heart. They can work their way around and Christ will say, I never knew you. attack in anger, or at least they look like it.

That's just their nature that they struggle with, yes. We've had people call over the years asking, what do you do, you just sit there and talk. Quote, they have no idea what we do in our private lives. Yes. How can they say you're all talk when you don't show what you're doing? They think you, that's the internet. That's just okay.

Well, it's probably always been that way, but... Okay. Because he sees himself as a mirror, he sees himself and goes his way and immediately forgets what he was like. He falls in love with his beauty, his vanity and forgets his depravity, okay. But whoever examines the perfect law of liberty and keeps it, but deceives his own heart, his piety is vain.

And this is where I get into trouble, right? And ul, and I have learned that my flesh will never, as Paul said, be righteous. So even he speaks to the bride and he talks about restraining their tongue, even to have that level of self-control. But it's a Bible verse and he says, you know, love is controlling your tongue. But read again what you just read. Yeah, so uuuh.

Yours, but who looks at the perfect law of freedom? And what is the perfect law of liberty? Constantly, okay. Not and he and, constantly, in the sense that he is not a forgetful listener, but a doer of the work of love. That's right. This man will be blessed in his actions. Yes. EHM. And that's clearly our perspective on what the work entails.

Yes, and just wait. You will be amazed at what he does. He. Proves it's love. You mean? Okay, that's good. E.H.M. So he explains that we must do the work to receive freedom. The perfect law of freedom, I've never heard that before. It is a unique expression. Yes. Yes, and the perfect law of freedom is love. That's why we preach love, because that's how you become free.

Love is a verb. He also talks about looking into a mirror, or looking into the law of freedom. Look twice, it says that I am not through, strange, yes. Yes, you can look at your own body and think, I'm doing this, wow, I'm like this, and you forget about it. Or you can look at the love you have been commanded to do.

And then you will do those things and be blessed. Yeah, it's like, who do you blame? What is your God? Why does it become the law of the called freedom? Is that term used elsewhere? No, it's the only place where that term is used because love is a law. He said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.

But he calls it a law of freedom. That's strange, I thought the connection between freedom and love was something abstract... ...was. That's really bizarre. Yes, that's how I learned the meaning of love, through James. Wow, I didn't know that. And okay, about something you said earlier, about the religious aspect, you think, I can't do that.

So I guess this is what it means. And that's what people are critical of when we bring experience to it, it's impossible. I'm trying my best, but I can't. Show how it's possible. Give me one example. It's also backed up by the fact that no one else can do it. That's right, except for one. Yeah, if anyone thinks they're doing a good job, that's just crazy.

Yes. So, but anyone who criticizes that would say, you're just not doing a good enough job, you know. And just to be clear, my daughter, that is what Mormonism teaches. Okay. They literally teach that they think, wink wink, that their apostles have achieved perfection. Wow, yes. It makes sense that you appeals to your experience as a Mormon, right? It really proves what works and what doesn't, because I tested it.

Whether it's true or right for everyone, I don't know, but I'm just saying I'm taking this to God. Can I maybe ask a side question? We're going a bit long. That's it. And let me read the rest. There's one more. This man's religion is vain, pure religion and spotless before God. Read that out loud. And the father is this. To visit the orphans and widows in their distress and keep themselves unspotted from the world.

That's it. And that is pure religion. For God. Radical. Is that the work he's talking about? Could that be interpreted as the work you do? He says that was pure religion at that time. Go and visit the widow, the fatherless, and the widow, and keep yourself unspotted from the world. Well, that's quite something, isn't it? But, yes.

That's the work, it's all about the work. And that sums up funny love in your life. You will serve others who are humble, lost and in need of help. That's a challenging list, yes. But how that applies to love is worth talking about. Uhm, I want the questions. Worth talking about. Uhm, I wanted to ask. From what I just learned about how the Methodists...

were originally organized. Do you know anything about those four? There's a little diagram. It's a square. Square. Square, yes. And there are those four parts that really impressed me, because that's the response. Chuck Smith was square before he started Calvary Chapel. Oh, what is that? Tradition, experience.

Some of those four things, or something like that. It's more than just. Yes. Experience is clearly one of them. And... I was wondering if you had anything to say about that. It's so funny because when I went to Calvary Chapel, everyone said, yeah, Chuck is from Forest Square. And then you asked, what does that mean? Then they said, it's something like this or that.

Nobody. So no one can remember things, right? Yes. Since we're on the subject, let me look it up. Wesley and quadrangle. Is that the same? I think that's what I'm talking about. The quadrangle. But is that the same as a square? It is a four-part framework for scripture, tradition, reason and experience. Wow, well, I agree with three of them. You can throw tradition away.

Yes. So I was wondering, but I don't know if that applies to you too, because you open up the concept of tradition, you look at ancient philosophers, you take input from a lot of people who... Look at ancient philosophers, you get input from a lot of people who... Have done things, but what I mean by that is I've stuck my foot in the pool of tradition and I haven't seen a single example where it's helped us.

I just see examples where it has harmed us, ever since the last apostle died and Jesus took his bride. I just see that people's traditions do nothing but distract us. I think that applies to Christianity too, yes, but... Oh yeah, I'm not talking about life. Yes. When you say people think you... I guess people think you... You say that...

You exist in a vacuum. Oh, and? I really think that is the core of the criticism of tradition, but you're actually saying that tradition is distorted and involves more than just that one input. Oh yes, yes. I love tradition in terms of philosophy, history and other aspects involved. I'm just talking about the Christian tradition of how to be a Christian.

I have never seen a concrete, tangible structure that has contributed anything to that. And that's usually what Christians are talking about when they say they... ...sticking to traditions. They are talking about the Peter Fathers. Well, I think you... ...have described a new economy... ...that... ...don't throw these things overboard.

It just changes, you know, it doesn't come out of nowhere. None of it comes from nowhere, none of it. Scripture, reason, experience, and tradition are all elements in the Jesuwa model. Absolute. But they are very different. So it's unfair when people say, I'm not doing well, as if they're thinking, oh no, I'm just doing better than you.

I'm doing better than you. Quotation mark, honestly. Show me how what you do is better. That's what I was trying to say, okay? I get it now. Well, that's a good point. I need to make that clear. No, you don't have to explain anything. I'm just still trying to figure things out. So, um, and was there one last thing to say? Oh, love is...

Keep yourself uncontaminated. That is love. Yes. Maybe we can start with that next time. That would be good. Okay, thanks everyone. Thank you.