“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” -James 2:19

Here is a challenge from James to those that merely claim in a vague sort of way to “believe” in God. We may even “believe” in the entire gospel, and assent to its truth: yet there is a great chasm between this generic and safe believing, and true and genuine spiritual rebirth.

If we merely believe in God with our minds, and in our thoughts we think that Jesus is the Savior of mankind—and we do not trust in Him—are we no better than devils and demons? Satan and his angels are well aware of the existence of God, and they know that Jesus is the Son of God; of this truth, they surely “believe”. In the gospels, there are several instances where demons testify of this truth about Jesus: “I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34).

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” -Matthew 7:21

In order to be made a true child of God, we must submit ourselves to God’s will, and recognize that we are sinners in need of the Savior’s cleansing blood. When we truly ask God into our heart, we receive His Holy Spirit of promise, and we are made a new creation.

“Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” -2 Corinthians 1:21-22

In this new creation, we will do the works of our Father in Heaven, rather than the dark deeds of our old father the devil in the depths below. We will not merely confess to believe in a vague sort of way, but with God’s own Spirit in us bearing witness—along with our godly works done in His will and His strength—we will be assured that we have passed from death unto life.

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” -Colossians 3:1-2

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” -James 1:22

Many times, we read a passage in Scripture, and we think of someone else. Or we think how nice or poetic it sounds, or consider how morally upright Jesus’ teachings were, but we never truly take the overall message to heart.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” -Luke 6:46

Far too often, we as Christians may encounter powerful preaching, or life-changing verses in the Bible, or hard-hitting teachings from God’s word, and we are only amused. It brings our minds a little tickle. We may smile, and think how noble such things are, but we do not let these seeds of truth penetrate our hard hearts.

“Let these sayings sink down into your ears. . .” -Luke 9:44a

We ought to stop and think of the consequences of our actions, our attitudes, and our lifestyle, and see if it is truly pleasing to God. If we call ourselves Christians, and we claim to be children of God, we ought to examine ourselves, and let God’s words sink down into our hearts and allow God to work in us.

An example

Consider this astounding, life-changing portion of Scripture:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” -Romans 12:1-2

What does this mean to you, personally? Do not think of how nice it sounds, or how noble or philosophical its principles are, but ponder this: what does it mean for me?

What does it mean to present my body to God as a living sacrifice? What practical ways will this effect my life?

What does it mean to not be conformed to the world? How will this change my life, my everyday living, because of this truth?

Change, nobody likes to do it

Nearly every hard-hitting or profound truth found in Scripture has one thing that people naturally hate: change. People hate to change. They do not want anything in the Bible to change the way they live, and they don’t want God to impinge on their selfish happiness. Yet God commands us: be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only.

Why do we so quickly forget the things that we need to hear the most? Why do we so quickly disregard the teachings of the Bible that would seek to change us for the better? When we see mirrored in God’s word our darkened state, and our tendencies to sin and selfishness, and ignore the ugly images of ourselves that we see, and we choose to forget them, we become hardened in our hearts, and are hypocrites.

“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.” -James 1:23-24

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” -James 1:5

Here is a small gem that ought to be tucked safely away in a Christian’s heart, and brought to remembrance when needed. It is a promise in Scripture, that God will freely give wisdom to those that would ask Him.

The verse above states that God is willing to bless us with wisdom, if we would only ask Him, and not endeavor to go about life on our own smarts. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Scripture says that God gives to all men liberally, (or freely/generously), and does not upbraid—in other words, God does not take back the gifts that He gives us. If He gives us wisdom, He freely gives it to us and will not take it from us.

Yet there is only one listed requirement for God to answer us, and that is faith. The passage about asking for wisdom continues with these verses:

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” -James 1:6-7

“Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” -Ezekiel 18:31-32

Here in Ezekiel, God pleads with His people to repent and be saved. And an interesting comment is made towards the end of the passage: that God has no pleasure in those that die in their sins.

In discovering that God is not pleased when He must send a soul to hell, we gain insight into how God views evangelism and missions. Look at man’s very purpose for coming into being:

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” -Revelation 4:11

If we know that our purpose is for God’s pleasure, and if we know from Scripture that God does not have any pleasure in sending a soul to hell, then this should teach us that part of our purpose is to save souls from hell.

If we truly love God, and want to please Him and bring Him honor and glory, then we ought to see the value in redeeming a human soul. Not that we, in and of ourselves, have the power to redeem a soul, but that we bring others the good news that Jesus Christ has already paid the terrible price to redeem them. So we ought to endeavor to spread this message, as Christ has commanded us, for the glory of God, and for His pleasure.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” -Matthew 28:19-20

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” -Ezekiel 18:20

Here we see a teaching in Scripture that shows that each person is to be held accountable for their own actions, and the consequence ought not to fall on others. If a father has done evil, and committed terrible crimes, then only the father ought to be punished, and not his son.

In the same way, we are each to make a decision as to where we will spend eternity. Each of us must come to the decision on our own—whether we will accept Christ’s atonement on the cross, or whether we will ignore it and/or reject it.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is sometimes called the strait and narrow gate, while the way of the world is the broad gate: this implies that we each choose a path for our life. With the narrow gate, it seems that God has made it so narrow that only one person may squeeze through at a time—that we are each responsible on our own for passing over from death onto the path of life. We each must make that decision on our own.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” -Matthew 7:13-14

“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” -Ephesians 5:3-4

In the verses above, we see two condemnations: one is recognized as sin by the church, while the second is frequently ignored.

First, Paul condemns immorality and sexual impurity. He says that those who call themselves Christians ought not to be caught up in such uncleanness. On this point most will agree, that fornication and its related sins are self-destructive and ought not to be practiced by anyone in the church of Christ.

Second, the apostle Paul condemns even the speaking of these same sins. It is not to be named even once among the church, and quite bluntly, Paul states that we ought also to avoid any type of joking or foolish talking about the subject. On this point, Christians break this command all the time, and with willing happiness.

Yet the Bible condemns the unclean acts of the world, and repeatedly warns against even speaking of unclean things. “For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Ephesians 5:12).

Jesus Himself warns against many inward sins that make one guilty by association. For instance, not only are we to avoid murder, but we are not to be even angry with our brother without cause. And when we are angry, or lustful, or covetous, it is as if we had been a murderer, or an adulterer, or a thief.

God raised the bar in include our inward thought life, and the things that we think about or enjoy. We may never commit the filthy things that we hear about in the world, but do we secretly love them? Do we secretly take joy and find humor in them? Do they entice us? The Lord Jesus has said that in God’s eyes, our heart has already committed such abominable acts, and we are guilty.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” -1 John 2:15-17

“And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” -Matthew 5:41

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression that someone has “gone the extra mile” for someone or something. But you may not be aware of it source of origin: it was originally spoken by Jesus Christ, as seen in the verse above.

Some background

In Jesus’ time, Israel was under the authority of the Roman Empire, and there was a law that stated that any Roman soldier, when passing through a Jewish city, could force any Jewish boy to carry the soldier’s heavy pack for him for a mile.

So when Jesus told the people that if anyone forced them to go a mile, they were well aware of its implications. They despised such a humbling experience as to have to be made a virtual slave to a “foreign” soldier at a moment’s notice.

Yet our Lord said that if someone were to force us to go one mile for them, we ought to go two miles instead. This was the true meaning of the saying, “go the extra mile,” since the Jews were only required to go one mile, they would be going above and beyond their necessary requirements to go two miles.

Victory in love

Yet there is a much deeper lesson that Jesus was teaching in this saying than simply to go above and beyond what is required of us. He was teaching us to love our enemies.

When we simply go the first mile, and do what is expected of us from our enemies, we are perhaps humbled and embittered. Yet, we may find, that in going the second mile, it is there that we choose to love and bless our enemies. No one is forcing us to go that second mile, but we are free to make the choice, and we choose to show God’s love to our enemies.

The benefits of loving our enemies are then threefold: 1) we bless them materially by our physical act of going the extra mile, 2) we bless them spiritually by demonstrating God’s love for them in a living and tangible way, and 3) we ourselves our blessed by God, and we gain victory over anger and bitterness by making the choice to love our enemies.

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” -Matthew 5:44-45