THE EFFECT OF GOOD DEEDS

I Pet. 2:15 ... "For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."

      Christians must live in a world that is not friendly to them. Our Lord foretold that this would be the case and also gave the reason for it when He said, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you," (John 15:19).  In other words, discipleship to Christ means being appointed to a lifestyle that is in marked contrast to that which characterizes the unregenerate. And it is only natural for people to speak against those who differ from the norm. The more someone varies in his values and manner of life from whatever prevails, the more he subjects himself to censure. This phenomenon of human nature perhaps more than anything else drew the disapprobation of Judaism upon Christ. He was fully aware of this and, knowing that it would later shift upon his disciples, He warned them, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you," (John 15:18).

      The world's animosity toward Christians takes many forms, but that under consideration in Peter's statement (above) is verbal abuse. Irreligious people often resort to spoken attacks against the lives, the convictions, and the institutions of those who are religious. Perhaps many of them feel they are right in their unbelief and owe it to society to expose the errors of the religious, although one may wonder about their resort to an ad hominem approach. For the most part, however, it is more likely that their verbal abuse is a diversionary maneuver to distract attention from their own lost and undone lives.

      One way or the other, Christians must learn to cope with it; and to do that successfully they must first look to their own lives. If any inconsistency exists between our doctrine and our conduct, we expose ourselves to the charge of hypocrisy. If we become careless and allow our confidence to run ahead into self-confidence, then we are setting ourselves up to be accused of arrogance and self-righteousness. If we are harshly critical of the irreligious and can speak naught to them but rejection and condemnation, we will be categorized as Pharisaical bigots. And if we neglect the business of the routine functions of life to breathe only the rarified air of withdrawn sanctity, we will be proclaimed as fanatics.

      Correcting these faults, all of which are so easily committed by the religious, we go a long way toward silencing the critics. But a great deal more is required, and our text (above) shows us what it is, namely, we must be diligent in doing right. Three verses earlier we also read, "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." The ungodly may debate the faith vs reason issue, but they have no grounds for arguing against feeding the starving, clothing the ragged, and relieving the suffering of the orphan, the widow and the infirm. The ungodly may ridicule worship, Bible teaching and confidence in prayer, but they cannot help but respect the works of beautification, construction and public utility which Christians promote in the environment. Worldly people appreciate the courtesy, kindness, forebearance, cooperation in beneficial community projects, and patriotism of Christians even though they may want to show contempt for the idea of church organization and membership, and submission to a religious standard.

      When Christians diligently correct their lives until they accord with the doctrine they teach, and then go beyond that to devote themselves to good works that promote discernible improvements in the lives of people other than themselves, it will indeed "silence the ignorance of foolish men."

      

BE HOLY AS GOD IS HOLY

I Pet. 1:15 ... "Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior."

      This text presents one of the greatest words of the Bible, the word holy. Translating the Hebrew qadosh in the Old Testament and the Greek hagios in the New Testament, it is here applied first to God and then to men. This is to be expected since God is holy in a primary and independent way while man's holiness is secondary and dependent upon God's grace. The essential meaning of the term involves two connected ideas: (1) separation from all that is defiled, and (2) devotion to all that is divine and pure. To achieve the first of these requirements only is insufficient, for unless the love and longing for holiness is maintained, sin will eventually filter back into one's life and contaminate him again. This is the lesson Jesus teaches in the parable about the man who, being cleansed of evil and set free from pollution, feels strange and invites seven wicked spirits to enter into him, (Mt. 12:43-45).

      God is certainly holy in the sense that He separates Himself from everything unclean. An Old Testament prophet worshipfully said to God, "Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness," (Hab. 1:13). This observation is complemented by the statement of God's response to man's indulgent evil, "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God , and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear," (Isa. 59:2). In fact, God is exalted so high above all wickedness that He is immune to its enticement. We are assured that "God cannot be tempted by evil," (Jas. 1:13). That God is pure is evident from His absolute separation from and utter disgust with defilement. To be holy, those who serve God must separate themselves from the defilements which permeate our environment. In a vision, the prophet Zechariah saw Joshua the high priest clothed in filthy garments standing before the angel of the Lord. He was then commanded to remove these garments and replace them with clothing that was pure and clean. The Lord then said, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you," and told him he was now fit to enter into his priestly services. The filthy clothing represented sin, and Joshua was not allowed to minister to God until he was purified, or made holy, (Zch. 3:1-7). And so it is with Christians today who are also priests unto the Lord, (I Pet. 2:9).

      In our efforts to please God and draw near to Him, (Jas. 4:8), we must strive to be conformed to His state of being holy. We have just seen something of what it means for God to be holy, and therefrom  we can understand something of what we must do to "be holy in all (our) behavior." We must first learn to withdraw from everything that is defiling in our mental, verbal, and behavioral experiences. The New Testament abounds in passages which deal with the specifics of this kind of personal exodus, but one especially pertinent quotation to be inserted here is this: "'Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord,' and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you'," (II Cor. 6:17).

      As we disengage ourselves from "the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," (II Pet. 2:20), we must devote ourselves to the purity and uprightness of the Christian life to which we have been redeemed. The "defilements of the world" will always be around us, enticing us and sometimes even making ugly spots on our souls. But "hating even the garment polluted by the flesh," we must "keep (ourselves) in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ," who will remove those defiling pollutions, for "He is able to keep (us) from stumbling, and ... make (us) stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," (Jude 21, 23-24). Being holy as Christians is therefore not an unattainable ideal but an expected reality as God looks down upon His people.

DEALING WITH PERSONAL SIN

Jas. 5:16 ... "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

      The Scriptures assure us that everyone commits sin and thus defiles his soul. Most of the third chapter of Romans is devoted to developing this point, but we note particularly these three statements: -1- "There is none righteous, not even one," (v.10); -2- "All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one," (v.12); -3- "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (v.23). Beyond these sobering declarations we are further humbled by I John 1:8, which proclaims, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."

      How should we react to the sins these Scriptures attribute to us? There are three possible responses, and people variously resort to one or the other. First, there are those who deny that they actually commit sin. Although it is hard to imagine how anyone could believe such in the face of the above-quoted Scriptures, there are nevertheless those who feel themselves invulnerable to sin for one reason or another. As support for their utter confidence they often use I John 3:9, where the apostle wrote that "no one who is born of God practices sin." This, however, is an abuse of the text. The verb "practices" ("commits" in other versions) is in the present tense, which in the Greek original denotes continuous action more than the idea of time. John is really saying that the Christian, by his adherence to God's word, does not continue in a sin that has been committed. He does not here deny that Christians do sometimes sin, for he has already affirmed that in v.8. Second, some people attempt to hide their sins, ignore them, or belittle their importance and the danger of their consequences. This attempt, as well as the first, is ultimately futile, for it is written in II Cor. 5:10 that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." The third response to sin is that urged in Jas. 5:16 (above). Unless a person has "seared" his conscience "as with a branding iron" (I Tim. 4:2) through self-deception, hypocrisy, and denial, it will signal to him, by the pain of guilt, that he has sinned.

      Guilt is a destructive force within the human psyche, operating relentlessly to reduce one's ability to function normally in life until, at last, it produces the collapse of his personality and mental health. Guilt can only be removed through the assurance of being forgiven. And forgiveness is available in obedience by faith to the blood of Christ, for it is written: "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14). A little further we find this appeal: "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water," (Heb. 10:22).

      To receive the removal of guilt through the forgiveness of sin, however, one must honestly face up to his sin and confess it, first to himself and then to God. And if he is a Christian, he must confess it to his brethren so that they may assist him in praying. There is a great cathartic effect in confession. Just to tell someone about your failure, provided the person is sympathetic and benevolent, relieves a great deal of the pressure imposed by guilt upon your mind. And to have that fellow Christian join with you in laying your faults and weaknesses before a truly kind Savior, and to plead His forgiveness and the renewal of your virtue, will build resolve against falling to the same sin a second time. Jas. 5:16 looks, therefore, beyond the immediate problem of sin and guilt to the essential unity of Christians and their fellowship in the Lord in all aspects of life.

DRAW NEAR TO GOD

Jas. 4:8 ... "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."

      This exhortation consists of two parts, the second being the consequence of the first. That is, when a person commits himself to seek the Lord, the Lord sets forth to meet that soul. Jehovah once sent His prophet Azariah unto Asa, the third king of Judah, with a word of advice on how to succeed in the administration of God's chosen people. "The Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you," (II Chr. 15:2). This statement is as true for us today as it was for King Asa, who himself took it to heart, (see II Chr. 14:2). It assures us that whoever will make it his sincere, steadfast ambition to seek God and come into His wonderful presence will not suffer failure. To this writer the saddest condition that can come upon a person is the resolution that God does not exist, that He is nothing more than a product of human imagination. Those who do not perceive the real and imminent existence of God surely have not made the effort, for the quest for God does not extend inordinately far nor expend considerable time. 

      One does not have to go far to begin to "draw near to God," for in the sermon to the people of Athens, Paul urged them that "they [sh]ould seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist," (Acts 17:27-28). God is, in fact, just beyond the limit of our physical senses. We cannot quite see, or touch, or hear Him, but He is nonetheless very close and very much present. Nature eloquently expresses His constant presence, as David by inspiration so beautifully proclaimed: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands," (Psa. 19:1). So God is ever near to us, just beyond the veil of nature which testifies to His presence, something like the swaying of trees indicates the passage of the unseen wind through their boughs. To a limited, but very significant extent, we can "draw near to God" by beholding and admiring the order and beauty of the material world about us, and showing it due respect and appreciation as the masterpiece of God.

      There is, however, a higher and more essential avenue of approach to God, one which was revealed by Jesus when He said, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father," (John 14:9). By coming unto Christ, therefore, a person may also "draw near to God." Our Lord made this even more emphatic when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me," (John 14:6). Not only can you "draw near to God" through Jesus, but His last-quoted statement unequivocally says that it is utterly impossible to come to God otherwise.

      We must further observe that this Godward approach is one of faith. In Heb. 11:6 it is decreed that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Therefore, to "draw near to God" one must bring with him a true and stable faith. The true God cannot be approached as an impersonal abstraction, which is the only image in which many people do see Him. One must not think of God as a spirit which fills the meetinghouse on Sundays, but rather as an omnipresent Spirit who fills the factory, the department store, the home, the schoolroom, and the athletic field all seven days of the week. The promise is that if in faith you will "draw near to God," God will in turn "draw near" to you. He will then support you and lead you in the path of life that is best. He will also protect you like a mighty shield day by day. God will listen to your prayers and answer them in your best interest according to His own will and perfect wisdom. And, in a way that the infinite human mind cannot comprehend, He will cause "all things to work together for (your) good," (Rom. 8:28).

BLESSING AND NOT CURSING

Jas. 3:10 ... "From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing, My brethren, these things ought not to be this way."

     The story is told that during World War II in France a staff officer entered the tent of a prominent general to deliver a message. To his surprise, he found the man on his knees by the cot with his head bowed. Never having seen this highly aggressive, self-assertive commander in such an humble posture, he asked, "General, what are you doing?" Looking upward, but without rising, he replied with a blasphemous oath, "----!!! What does it look like I'm doing? ----!!! I'm praying!"

      Such contradictions, though perhaps not so dramatic, are not rare in the lives of many who consider themselves, and are also esteemed by others, to be religious. We exalt the apostles of Christ, who in Eph. 2:19-20 are called "the foundation ... of God's household (the church) ... Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." We especially admire Peter, who made the great confession to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," (Mat. 16:16). The same Peter, however, on the night Jesus was arrested, denied Him three times. The third time he even "began to curse and swear, 'I do not know the man!'" (Mat. 26:74). In his confession this apostle blessed Jesus as God's annointed Son, but when accused of being His disciple, when it looked dangerous to be so, he cursed and swore his denial. Out of the same mouth came forth both blessing and cursing, to Peter's shame and humiliation. Since he was basically a sensitive and conscientious man, "he went out and wept bitterly."

      This is not a rare problem peculiar to Peter and a few others, but one which occurs frequently and to which any of us may easily fall victim. Let us not say, "Had I been in Peter's place, I would not have done it!" An inspired writer has stated, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless," (Jas. 1:26). One wonders about the conscience of a person who can speak to God in an humble spirit, with gracious speech and in imploring tones, only to arise and address his fellow man in the spirit of harshness, with rough words and terrible imprecations and curses. The idea of some sort of schizophrenia is strong, but Jas. 1:26 labels it "self-deception" as indicated by the phrase," but deceives his own heart." However the state of such a conscience is to be analyzed and labeled, the just-quoted verse declares that "this man's religion is worthless." In other words, the blessing is canceled by the cursing issuing from the same mouth.

      Nature suggests the absurdity of extracting a valid blessing from the very mouth that acidly spews forth cursing. Can you expect sweet water to bubble out of a bitter spring? or a fig tree to bear olives? or a grape vine to produce figs? The mouth that utters harsh speech and curses betrays a venomous spirit within, for Jesus said in Mat. 12:34, "The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart." When someone who projects himself as religious also resorts to harsh, censorious, vindictive speech toward others, it is proper and just to mark him as being mentally corrupt, self-deceived, and vain in his religion, if he really has any. Though he must be treated with politeness and kindness, no quarter should be given him within the fellowship of the church.

      At the same time, every Christian should always be guarding himself lest he fall into this very practice, being guided by the direction of Col. 4:6, "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Just as we apply salt to food to make it pleasant and palatable, we should apply grace to our speech to make it pleasant, pure, and wholesome to any who hear it.

THE INTEGRITY OF THE LAW

Jas. 2:10 ... "Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."

      Statistics have risen to a position of importance, and often even authority, in the current world. We tend to quantify most of the things in life in an effort to discover their basic nature, the degree of their influence upon us, and what they may portend for the future. This is doubtless our attempt to cope with the complexity and confusion of the mass society into which we have moved during the past century. We also use statistics to evaluate things and compare their worth in relation to other things. If a baseball player's batting average is .400, we say he is an excellent hitter. If the mechanical efficiency of a device is 80%, it might indicate it is performing rather well. If a new drug cures 95% of the cases of a disease that was formerly untreatable, we rejoice over the medical breakthrough.

      When we begin to consider the matter of our performance in obeying the will of God, however, statistical measurement becomes irrevelant. The precise number of commandments that constitute "the whole Law" is known only to God. It is sad that ancient Jewish scholars counted 615 commandments in the Mosaic Law. Using that number for illustration, if someone "offended in one point," he also obeyed the other 614. This fixed the measure of his rate of obedience at 99.8%, and by human standards this would be quite acceptable, even admirable, laudable, and exemplary. But, according to Jas. 2:10, it is tantamount to total disobedience. We wonder why.

      The explanation must involve the attitude in which the isolated transgression is committed. The person evidently chose to set aside God's Law in one instance to follow his own, and this constitutes an act of rebellion. A case in point might be King Saul in I Samuel 15. The Lord commanded him to attack the Amalekites and put to the sword both man and beast. For the most part, Saul did exactly what he was instructed to do, but in a few cases he chose to make exceptions. He spared Agag, the Amalekite king, to bring back as a trophy, and he spared the best of the flocks and herds to offer up as a grand sacrifice to God when he returned home. But when the prophet Samuel met Saul, he said to him, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams," (v. 22). Because the king set aside one point in God's law to do what he thought better, God told him that he had rebelled. Rebellion, in turn, changes entirely a person's relation to God. In Saul's case, it meant being rejected as king, (v.26); in our case, it means being held guilty of breaking the whole Law and becoming a sinner before God.

      Yet another factor involved is the concept of God's Law that a person holds. Some people have been reared in such a way that they "do instinctively the things of the Law," (Rom. 2:14). Their obedience to the Law is not particularly based upon respect for it and reverence toward Him who gave it, but rather upon the subjective relation to the law which they acquired in their training. One's transgression of a solitary statute might betray his actual independence from the Law. When he confronts something in it that displeases him, perhaps for the first time in his experience, he feels no compulsion to obey. It is important as we are teaching God's will, especially to youth, that we base the training upon knowledge and understanding so that their response will always be rational. We do not want to turn out products who "have a zeal for God but not in accordance with knowledge." For such are those who, "not knowing about God's righteousness," then seek "to establish their own," (Rom. 10:2-3). In other words, when their will differs from God's, they feel quite justified in setting aside His law to institute their own. This attitude is perhaps the most prominent characteristic of contemporary "Christianity." The "form of godliness" is still there, but it has come down to us as part of our culture, and "its power" is all too often denied, (II Tim. 3:5).

      

THE ORIGIN AND PATH OF TEMPTATION

Jas. 1:14 ... "Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."

      Temptation is a crisis in human experience. A complex of factors, such as one's state of mind, emotions, and natural instincts, other people with their influence, and various other conditions in the person's environment, all converge to demand a decision in his life. The results that follow operate to change the person's life, alter his relations with other people, realign his life with respect to external things and conditions, and above all, affect his relation with God. 

      What is the source of temptation, which has such an impact upon one's life? Is it sent by God to test the individual's personal strength and loyalty to Him? The verse preceding our text (Jas. 1:13) denies this explanation most emphatically and even forbids a person to entertain such a suggestion. We are shown throughout the Bible that God's intention and effort is always to enable us to avoid temptation when possible and defeat it when avoidance is impossible. If temptation is not God's work, then is it an activity of Satan to snatch souls out of the hand of God to make them his own servants? When a person yields to temptation and commits sin, it is a fact that he becomes a servant of sin, which is tantamount to being a servant of Satan, (Rom. 6:16). Although there can be no doubt that it is Satan's desire for people to sin, serve him, and seal their fate in his own destiny, our text does not credit the devil with being the real source of our temptation. If it is neither God nor Satan who bring temptation upon us, then what is the source? The only thing left is man himself, or more specifically human desire. To live is to desire something, and Jas. 1:14 posits desire as being the fertile ground in which the seeds of temptation can be planted and take root, grow lushly to maturity, and then flower forth as sin in full and deadly bloom.

      Temptation therefore begins with a person's will to possess something, do something, or experience something that presently is not within his grasp. The object of the desire does not have to be something evil per se; in fact, it is very often something good, proper, and constructive. However, the object of much human desire is indeed evil and forbidden from its beginning. It must be admitted that desire is unavoidable, for it is inseparably a part of the human constitution. But it can be controlled by nurturing desires that have good objects and extinguishing those with forbidden objects by substituting better things in their place. Desire as such is neither evil nor forbidden unless it is directed toward something evil, as, e.g., hurting someone, (Mt. 5:22), committing adultery, (Mt. 5:28), defrauding someone, (Mt. 15:3-8), or taking vengeance into one's own hands, (Rom. 12:17-21).

      Temptation springs forth in the presence of desire to offer a way to fulfill it. And by its very nature, the way it offers is contrary to the way God would have us follow. For every legitimate human desire there is a way to satsify it with God's approval. This is "the way of escape" which I Cor. 10:13 assures us that "God is faithful" to provide. This is where the decision must be made in the temptation crisis. Within the heart is a desire with a goal which (we shall say) is legitimate. On the one hand, God offers a means of fulfillment that is good and constructive. On the other hand, Satan "entices" the person, i.e., he strongly encourages him to achieve the desire in a way that offends God, usually via the carnal senses without regard for the spiritual. Yielding to Satan is sin, but having the wisdom to turn into the course  marked out by God is an act of righteousness. The best place to defeat sin, therefore, is at the point of desire before temptation begins. Diminshing and then extinguishing forbidden desires remove one huge area of temptation and the sin that follows. And being prepared to look for and grasp God's "way of escape" completes the victory, leaving the devil with his bag of enticements standing empty-handed in failure.