MONDAY
Read James 2:14-16.  Obedience in the book of James is relational. So, how do you relate to a brother or sister in the church who is in need?  Words are not enough. We cannot simply say, “Go in peace. God will provide,” when God has provided us the means to help that brother or sister.  How do you define a “real living faith?” Read James 2:5, 6. How does James explain what he wrote in the first four verses of chapter 2? Judging from James 2:5, 6, it would seem that there were big problems in the church among the rich and the poor. God chose the poor who were “rich in faith.” And the rich used their wealth to make the poor suffer. This problem of the rich taking advantage of the poor was very realat that time. Even worse, Roman law made it possible for the rich to do this to the poor.


TUESDAY
Read James 2:17. How can we learn to better express our faith through our works while protecting ourselves from the deception that our works save us?


WEDNESDAY
Read James 2:18. What is the main point James is making?  How do we  show our faith by our works?  The key point is that not just any faith will save. Genuine faith, saving faith, is characterized by good works. Likewise, works are only good works if they spring from faith. Faith and works are inseparable.


THURSDAY
Read Ephesians 2:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Timothy 5:25, and Titus 2:14. Why are good works so important? Paul was not against good works per se. He was against works as a means of salvation (see Gal. 2:16). In fact, Paul said that those who rely on works of the law to be saved are under a curse, because no one who tries to be saved by keeping the law actually succeeds in keeping it (Gal. 3:10). Obedience is possible only through the gift of the Holy Spirit.


FRIDAY
Read 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Timothy 2:4; James 5:19, 20; 1 Peter 1:22; and 1 John 3:18, 19. What do these verses tell us about how important knowing truth is? There is no question that an intellectual knowledge of truth has its place, a very important place. Yet, that knowledge, in and of itself, is not sufficient to prove that a person has saving faith. What warning is given to us in James 2:19 about a false concept of what true faith is?

Presented by Jeff Rosenthal, Lead Pastor
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