.
While I can appreciate this statement in theory as being a motivation speech to push beyond caring for our families. I’m curious what group of people could be labelled as having faith but zero works. How does James distinguish between those who are struggling and those that have no works; therefore no faith?
.
The cycle of sinning and repenting, then turning back to sin and repenting again, is a constant reality for all Christians. In other words, this happens because they have not escaped from the fundamental cause that makes sin inevitable. Because they serve God while mingling with the world and material gain, they teach and learn every kind of corruption, heresy, and falsehood—this is the lamentable reality of Christianity today.
The faith of Christians who despise the love that gave even the life of Christ and who disregard the holy will of God is nothing more than faith for their own blessing, happiness, success, ideals, and smooth prosperity. Such faith can only stand as an enemy and adversary of the life of Christ. But for those who deny even their own lives, forsake all, take up the cross of Christ, and make the hope of Christ—the hope that follows the love of Christ—their goal, God’s love is poured into their hearts, and through that hope they receive the power of God.
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.(Romans 5:2~10)
In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.(Titus 2 : 7~14)
Truth is to lead us to receive the power of God that is revealed within His love. Yet in order to abide in that love of God, one must cast off the life of the flesh that continually produces sin and desire. For in the flesh there is only death and sin. All sin arises from the desires of the flesh, and as the sins produced by those desires accumulate, the end can only be judgment. Scripture says that everyone who sins is a child of the devil. Yet far too many Christians mistakenly believe they are children of God. The children of God do not commit sin; they are also set free from sin.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.(1 John 3 :6~10)
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Romans 6 : 17~23)
Because they cast off the flesh that follows the desires of the body, which inevitably produces sin, and because they also receive the love of God and thereby establish the foundation to do good works that are fitting to the practice of love. When the power of God works within His love, goodness and righteousness are truly beautiful. But in the meaningless repentance of Christians, where sin is continually produced, the goodness and righteousness carried out by their own will and determination is merely human righteousness. It is not the righteousness of God. In other words, it is a righteousness that cannot lead to salvation. As it is written, “Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you,” such works cannot become merits that reach to heaven.
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets…..For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.(Luke 6:26~33)
The ordinary love, kindness, and social service that even worldly people naturally practice is not the love of the cross—a love that gives even one’s own life. Because such ordinary acts of kindness and love are treated as though they were the love of the cross, it has turned into a so-called “love of the cross” that draws the criticism of other religions. Contrary to outward appearances of being holy, compassionate, gentle, and kind, the reality within many Christians is different: their behavior inside and outside the church is inconsistent, their outward show and inward reality do not match, and their words and actions are divided. With such duplicity and cunning ways of conduct, they make it appear as if it were love, as if it were faith. This has become a pretext that calls forth judgment.
If you continue to repeat sin and repentance, then you have not been born again, nor changed, nor transformed. In other words, you are only putting forward your own fleshly claims and ambitions, while sin continues to repeat until death. As a result, your conscience inevitably becomes increasingly desolate, leading you to live a life of continual lack, emptiness, and anxiety. Yet people who cannot even feel the pangs of conscience call themselves “spiritual.”
The life of the spirit is the life of a true Christian. For those who do not live a spiritual life to call themselves “spiritual” is an outright lie. Faith built on emotional values, theoretical values, and intellectual values denies, distorts, and rejects the love of the cross. If you truly wish to live the life of a true Christian, visit the Moses’ Burning Bush website(https://mosesbush.com). There is also an e-book(Author : Yo Han Lee) available for your reference.
The fundamental reason why God created man with a body of flesh that cannot help but repeat sin is to bring forth humility through that sin. The humility that engraves upon the heart that one is a sinner becomes the way to seek God. The command to repent is given so that we may realize the limitation of the flesh—that with a faith belonging to the world and to the flesh, one cannot help but repeat sin until the day of death. The word that “in the flesh there is only sin” means that man, who lives according to the desires of the flesh, will inevitably fall again and again into sin through the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and the pursuit of his own desires and ideals.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.(Romans 7 : 21~25)
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.(Romans 7 : 14~18)
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)
All Christians who repeat the cycle of sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting, are for the most part treating repentance as if it were nothing more than the reflection a child writes in a diary. The true purpose of repentance is to prevent sin from being repeated. Yet the repentance of Christians inevitably consists of sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting until the day they die.
This is because their awakening, determination, and resolution come from sermons that emphasize only words and theories, relying on their own will. Thus, according to their interests, they always abandon the very awakening and determination they once made. Their greed comes first, their interests come first, their feelings come first, and their desires come first—so they cannot be changed. No matter how much they realize or feel, they always turn back to their circumstances and fall into sin, for such limitation is precisely the limitation of man. In other words, the limitation of Christian doctrine reveals nothing other than the limitation of man. This does not point to the power of God, but merely exposes the weakness of human limitation. The truth of God is to teach man how to receive the power of God that transcends the human limitation of continually awakening, determining, and resolving while yet falling again into sin. But there is not a single shepherd who teaches people to obtain that power. The reason is that they themselves do not possess the power of God that surpasses human limitation.
That power is the power of God revealed in the love of God. To live a lifetime repeating sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting, is proof that one is chasing heresy, falsehood, and corruption that serve God along with the world and with material gain. Today’s Christianity is man-made. It was neither made by God nor by the disciples of Christ. Therefore, it cannot escape the limitation of man. In other words, the fact that sin is continually repeated proves that through such a religion one cannot be born again, cannot be changed, cannot be transformed, and thus is neither truly religious nor truly a Christian. A true Christian is one who, following the love of God, bears the cross and lives the life of Christ with the hope of Christ as his goal. But the faith of Christians today is centered only on their own happiness, blessing, and success in the flesh. This is not the center of a true Christian’s life.
Even if one spends a lifetime being awakened, determined, learning, and enlightened by the inspiration of words and theories, once they turn back they inevitably repeat sin again, unable to escape the entanglements of their own interests. Such faith of Christianity is a dead faith. Most people are like this. Yet the very fact that you can feel even a little is because God is touching your conscience. Repent. That repentance is the only way to live, and to repent you must deny yourself completely, take up the cross, and follow after the love of God.
The children of God do not commit sin, but are set free from sin to obtain the fruit of love that leads to God’s holiness, and by prayer they receive the power of God in order to partake of His divine nature. Yet today, within the faith of the flesh, prayer is nothing but an automatic pursuit of happiness, blessing, and ideals that belong to the world and to the flesh, according to one’s own lusts. Thus, all faith that is of the flesh inevitably becomes an enemy and adversary before God. The faith of Christians, who live their whole lives in the vicious cycle of sinning and then turning back to sin again, is such that they continually heap up sin; and worse, many of them gradually treat their sins lightly, then become bolder, until at last they are brazen and shameless about their sins, even taking pride in such disgraceful faith. This is because their conscience has been seared or has become increasingly desolate, and so they are left to live with deprived hearts, empty hearts, anxious hearts, and hearts that wither away. Because they teach and learn according to their own tastes and claims, all manner of delusions and assertions have been turned into “the Word,” turned into “faith,” and even turned into “God” itself. When their distorted selves are exposed in the light of Scripture, their confession before God amounts to nothing more than empty repentance, since in the end, they fall back into the same repeated sins. Thus the faith of the flesh, which lives by the sins of the flesh no different from worldly people, is a faith destined for judgment. It is a faith that despises the holy will of God and mocks the love of the cross, no different from the Judaism that rejected Christ.
God gave us prayer so that we might abandon the flesh, which cannot help but repeat sin, and live the life of Christ—the life of the Spirit—pursuing the love of the cross to the point of laying down even His life. In other words, we are not to live a worldly and fleshly life that endlessly repeats sin born of lust and desire until death, but instead to live the life of Christ, pursuing the hope of Christ in which the power of God works through His love. The divine power is given to those who live such a life. The outcome and fruit of faith differ entirely depending on whether one lives for the world or according to the will of God. Whether one pursues the love of the cross according to God’s will, or pursues lust belonging to the world and the flesh, becomes the measure of salvation or judgment. For those who chase after the flesh and their own desires cannot possibly pursue the love that sacrifices even their own lives.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.(Titus 2 : 11~15)
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.(Ephesians 4 : 15~16)
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.(Romans 6 : 16~18)
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Romans 6 : 20~23)
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.(1 Timothy 4 : 6)
Whoever continues to repeat sin is a slave of sin and a child of the devil. The form of Christians who mistakenly believe themselves to be children of God is far from being an example or model like the light and salt; rather, their faith consists of a lifetime of only teaching with words and only listening with ears. They all alike pretend to be holy, pretend to be kind, pretend to be good, pretend to be humble, and pretend to be gentle, yet their actions inside the church and outside are different, their outward appearance and inward reality are different, their words and their deeds are different. It is a duplicitous and cunning faith, filled with hypocrisy, pretension, and the polished tactics of pretense. No matter how much they awaken, resolve, and determine, they cannot be reborn, changed, or transformed, for they always turn back to pursue their own interests according to personal gain. Thus, they become enslaved within the habit of repeating sin throughout their lifetime. Such awakenings, resolutions, and determinations of believers cannot bring about true renewal, but only remain bound in the limitations of the flesh that cannot help but turn back to sin. Their faith is like squirrels running endlessly in a wheel, spinning in circles without ever escaping. A shepherd of God leads people beyond the limits of the flesh that can only keep repeating sin—guiding them to obtain God’s power within His love, to receive the authority that puts to death the evil habits and the very members that otherwise make them repeat sin—so that they may be set free from sin.
I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.(Jeremiah 23 : 21~22)
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.(James 5 : 19~20)
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.(1 Peter 4 : 1~2)
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.(Daniel 12 : 3)
My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.(Malachi 2 : 5~6)
If you wish to know more, read the book titled Moses’ Burning Bush(Author : Yo Han Lee) and visit the Moses’ Burning Bush website(https://mosesbush.com). There you will find many of your questions answered.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.(2 Timothy 3 : 16~17)
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works…(Titus 2 : 11~15)