" Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. -- Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.--
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: -For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.-
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and -receive with meekness the engrafted word-, which is able to save your souls.
But be ye -doers- of the word, and not -hearers- only, deceiving your own selves.
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.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. " - James 1:17-25
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REPENTING - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
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Last week, our studies showed us that there are righteous people, and then there are the wicked. These two kinds can NEVER be reconciled, and their fates have been defined from birth. We further saw, all those that are born of the will of God, (the righteous) , there are 'lost' souls that -will- be found. We are told that these are sinners that repent.
Amongst our readers, we are sure that you are of the righteous, as we see God's Word resonate with His Spirit in you! You may also be among the "lost", or know and love people that you may consider to be "lost". What does "lost" and more importantly, what does "repent" mean in that context? We are told that repenting gives great joy to angels in Heaven - might we be able to see and understand what that means on earth?
A classical definition of repent is "turning from <sin>, and turning -to- God. A volte-face. A 180. A turnabout. A change. Change from what? For example, does repent mean turning from substance abuse?
Our Lord tells us (in the context of eating without ritual washing of hands) , it's not what goes IN to you that DEFILES you, it is what comes OUT!
"Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." - Matt 15:17-20
You will receive real-world consequences for whatever you put into your body - drugs, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sugars, carbs,additives, etc. etc. ... but Christ is not concerned about our mortal bodies, but what is INSIDE - our very souls and character. Repenting/turning from substance abuse will cleanse your body and mind, but that is not a result of salvation - it is common sense. Even the wicked will check themselves into detox, rehab, work out, etc... but that is not something that is going to make angels rejoice! No, we have to dig deeper....
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. " - Matt 23:25-28
Yeowch! But its clear. The outside can be all bright and shiny, but the inside can be filled with rottenness! By repenting, you can be trying to just make the "outside" work - Go to church, say Amen and applaud the sermon in all the right places, , live cleanly, be known as a leader in your congregation --- but deep inside you and God know who and what you truly are!
Don't despair, God knows that the heart of man is desperately wicked, and fallen - He wants you to get real with Him to have Him start to work at the inside too!!! (BTW keeping up false appearances is very stressful and doomed to failure - STOP! 
:-) Its not what He wants!)
Lets look at repenting in depth to make sure we are focused on the right things....
A. Repenting is initiated by the Grace of God.
The Lost Lamb has to be found, the house swept to find the coin, the realization that servants in the Fathers house are treated better than sons in the house of Men has to dawn on the Prodigal, the light of the Gospel must create an Aha! moment in your heart.
B. Repenting is required by God's Holiness. Be ye Holy for I AM Holy.
"Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God." Lev 20:7, also 1 Pet 1:15,16 refer to the same passage and concept.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. " - 2 Co 6:14-18
C. Repenting is enabled by the Grace, and Knowledge of God.
We have to look at the world as divided into things that are God-pleasing, and God-hating. We must seperate ourselves from things that God hates/are foreign to His Nature, and begin to cleave to God Himself (above all else), and then the things He likes/are in alignment with His Nature.
And that brings us to our text this week. We have previously seen the precious promise nugget hidden in this book "Submit yourselves to God. --Resist the Devil-- and he will --FLEE-- from YOU" James 4:7 !
This week we will look at the very practical advice contained here as it pertains to repenting! James was the elderest elder (:-)) in Jerusalem ... and we can see why!
-For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.-
That is it right there.
The world is divided into two -- Love (God), Hate/Wrath (from the Devil). Now to be clear, there is GOD's RIGHTEOUS hate and wrath against WICKEDNESS which is HOLY, but that is not the hate and wrath we are talking about here - it is specifically described as the -wrath of MAN-! We have pointed out what the apostle John has said. Walk in Love, and you will not Sin! The apostle James is working as a signpost to show us the direction back to God - putting away the wrath of man.
The book then goes on to describe at great length (and we highly recommend reading the entire book!) the specifics around abjuring wrath and its associated manifestations - envying, strife, slander, cursing, boasting/pride, riches, adultery - and the issues of life - sickness, affliction, mercy/forgiveness, wandering from the truth.
In Chap 2, James starts out with the issues of "preferential treatment of the rich" and "despising the poor". He says that showing "partiality/favor" is sinning, because we are not loving our neighbor as ourself!
"But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." 2:9
Wow! Are you beginning to see the difference between the OUTSIDE of the cup, and the INSIDE? The apostle was definitely thinking in this direction because the VERY next thing he talks about is Faith and Works.
True repentance, True Faith, WILL ALWAYS produce Fruit/Works, but the reverse is NOT ALWAYS TRUE...doing outside stuff is no guarantee that the inside is clean ----- however ------ having NO OUTSIDE CHANGES AT ALL is ALWAYS a reflection that a true INNER change has not yet happened.
There is no disconnect between James/Paul/Abraham and Justification by Faith, just a fallen understanding of what they REALLY mean!
In Chap 3, the elder talks about the tongue. Words have power. The Word of God has power, and our words have power. Control of the tongue is important - but the root issue is in the heart.
"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." - Luke 6:45
"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. or where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." - Jam 3:13-18
Out of the same tongue we should not have blessing and cursing, and to be wise, let our words be few -
"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." - Ecc 5:2
In Chap 4, the elder continues on the topic of strife - pointing out that wars and fighting are a result of our fleshly desires.
"Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? " - He is saying that Scripture TELLS you that you have a FALLEN HEART!
" But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
We are not to do what WE LIKE, but are to SUBMIT to what GOD likes! To get grace, THEREFORE, we must humble and submit ourselves to God to get GRACE - which will enable us to RESIST THE DEVIL IN GOD'S STRENGTH - NOT OUR OWN - Hallelujah!!!!
He then concludes by giving us some VERY PRACTICAL advice. Draw near to God, and He WILL draw near to you.
Spend more time with Him -whether that is thinking, praying, singing, reflecting, meditating- let His Words and His peace cleans away the dirt and stains, and begin to slowly and gently cleanse you from the INSIDE OUT!
"Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. "
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
CONCLUSION
We want to take 2 well known texts and put them together :
"But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.(James 5:12) " AND...
"But be ye -doers- of the word, and not -hearers- only, deceiving your own selves. 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. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. " - From our text this week.
Here's the bottom line on repenting. Its a walk in the other spiritual, character-building direction. The best way to do this is put ONE foot in front of ANOTHER, rinse and repeat.
A> Stick to Grace and Truth. Mercy not Sacrifice. Don't say too much lest lies come out of your mouth. Let your YES be YES, and NO be NO (which means - think VERY VERY CAREFULLY before comitting to ANYTHING! - Haste is often a sign of a TRAP!) and
B> ... hearing, doing and mirrors. This text has often been explained as the Law being a mirror that shows us our true selves, but we walk away and forget about it. This is INCORRECT.
The text actually shows the CONTRAST between looking into a mirror - and - looking into the Law of LIBERTY and CONTINUING THEREIN.
Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God, and we Christians may be batting 100% when it comes to HEARING. We go to church, we read posts like this on Facebook, repost Memes, listen to worship music... thats 50% of repenting and we don't want to belittle it. But the other 50% --- doing --- we get all confused about!
Are we to do ministry? Are we to do service? Are we to discover gifts? What are we to do?
Answer: Be dedicated to changing yourself. The mirror can show you what you look like, but how often do you look at it (Ladies don't answer this one!) Its usually a brief checkup, but as we go through LIFE, we often do not understand how our physical presence, behaviour, words/actions are PERCEIVED by others!
Contrast that with looking at, and keeping the Law of Liberty (Love God/Neighbor). That will change your inner attitude and behaviour, thus changing your LIFE! Your outside will not matter that much any more - in fact - there is an inner glow, confidence and peace that we see shining out of the faces of those that Like/Share/ Love the posts on this page.
That is what REPENTING means. It's a process of discovering who God is, what He really wants, discussing our hangups with Him, and being real, truthful and honest in our relationships with our fellow man!
Hallelujah!!!