What is Legalism?

August 25, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Law and Gospel, Meditations, Principles and Methods

James 4:11-12 (NKJV)11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

The modern church tends to devote a lot of attention to the problem of legalism. And with good reason. Legalism is a nasty sin. It packages idolatry in nice wrapping paper and pawns it off as the worship of the true God.

But for all the opposition to legalism out there, one would think that the problem itself would be well understood. Instead what one finds is a general fogginess. What exactly is legalism? “Well,” responds our fuzzy friend, “it means putting too much emphasis on the law.” Too much emphasis on the law? What does that mean? “It means,” responds another even further out on the branches, “that once the Spirit of God has taken residence in our hearts we aren’t required to keep any written codes any more.” We aren’t required to keep written codes? Why did God give us His Word? The definitions of legalism offered by most people are foggy at best and smack of anti-nomianism, opposition to all written law, at worst.

So what is legalism? James tells us today that legalism is hatred of God’s law. Did you catch that? Legalism is hatred of God’s law.

Legalism takes the law of God, which is good, holy, delightful, and life-giving through the Spirit of God, adds its own restrictions and regulations on top and then uses that to grind others to powder and speak against them.

Legalism is not paying too much attention to God’s law. Listen to the psalmist and tell me – is this legalism? “Oh how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all the day.” “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testmony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth.” The law of God, the psalmist tells us again and again, is good, delightful, a source of light and salvation when empowered by the Spirit of God. Love for God’s law is not legalism – it is life itself.

You see the Pharisees were legalists, not because they understood the law of God but precisely because they misunderstood it and misconstrued it, applying it in ways that were oppressive and destructive. They hated God’s law and loved their traditions instead. They set themselves up as lawgivers and became, as James says, not the doers of the law but judges of the law – putting themselves in the place of God Himself.

Notice then what James is and is not doing in this passage. He is most certainly not forbidding his audience from evaluating behavior based on the law of God. How do we know this? Because he has been doing this throughout his letter! What then is he doing? He is rebuking those in his audience who were tempted to make all the people of God obey their personal whims and opinions. Whether those opinions were like the Pharisees’ restriction on washing all one’s utensils carefully or whether they are more modern restrictions like complete abstinence from alchohol, or opposition to trans-fatty foods, or hatred for marmalade. There is, James tells us, but one lawgiver and judge. Who are you to judge your brother?

And so listen – learn to distinguish between principles and methods. The Word of God is given to direct us in the way of obedience and provides us with a full and complete resevoir of wisdom and instruction for life. As we apply these laws in our lives in specific ways, we will be required to utilize methods that will enable us to fulfill the principles. When your brother uses a different method, leave him alone – whether the issue is private Christian dayschooling versus homeschooling, eating twinkies or multi-grain muffins, consuming steak or cooking up a veggie burger. God’s law grants a great deal of liberty to each household in the methods they choose to implement biblical principle. So who are you to judge your brother?

Reminded that we often hate God’s law by judging our brothers based on our own opinions rather than his word, let us kneel and ask God to forgive us through Christ.

Let Your Joy be Turned to Gloom

August 25, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Ecclesiology, Meditations

James 4:8-10 (NKJV)8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Two weeks ago we remarked that there are critical places where the modern church draws contrasts between the Old Testament and the New Testament but the Scriptures themselves make a parallel. The practical implications of this parallel come to roost in our text today. Many an earnest Christian has read the verses from James today and imagined that the proper Christian demeanor is one of sour gloominess, that laughter is not fitting for someone who is really spiritual, and that the safest course in life is to walk around with a frown.

But we must remember that for James the Church of God is composed not only of earnest Christians who hunger and thirst for righteousness and desire to please and honor their Lord but also of hypocrites who abuse the grace and mercy of the Lord. It is to these tares among the wheat that James addresses his exhortations today. “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

In reading James’ words, it is imperative to recall the life of Israel and the words of the prophets. To recall that there are those who claim the name of Christ and live in a way that defames him and causes the enemies of God to blaspheme. It is to these folks that James issues his exhortation – much like the words of the prophets Joel and Zephaniah years before – Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! For what benefit will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light. Put away your laughter, put away your insipid joy, repent and seek the face of God.

Notice then the way James responds to grievous sin in the Church. He does not deny that such folks are Christians in any sense of the term. Rather, he exhorts them for their unfaithfulness and their lack of genuine devotion to the Lord. He treats their hypocrisy seriously, viewing their fawning deception as a blot on the Church of God. The sin of hypocrites and apostates is far more grievous than that of an unbeliever in the same way that an adulterer is committing a far worse sin than a fornicator. One who has been baptized into the Name of the Triune God, covenantally bound to Him and identified with Christ, and who rebels and rejects this word is in far worse condition than he who never heard the word at all.

So give heed to the words of James all you who bear the Name of God. You children particularly, growing up in the midst of a Christian home, hear the word of James. Greater revelation brings greater responsibility. Do not reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not imagine that merely going through the motions of religiosity is a sufficient hedge against the coming judgment. Your only escape – even as it is the only escape of us all – is to throw yourself on the mercy of God in Christ and ask Him to deliver you. Shun hypocrisy. Shun worldliness. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Reminded of the need to seek the face of the Lord and to shun hypocrisy and worldliness, let us kneel and seek His forgiveness.

We are at War

August 5, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Biography, Meditations, Monasticism

James 4:7 (NKJV)7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Recently I have been reading biographies of Christians in the early church written by other Christians in the early church. The Life of Antony written by Athanasius; The Life of Paul of Thebes by Jerome; The Life of Hilarion also by Jerome. All three of these men were instrumental in the foundation of the movement known as monasticism – where men and women separated themselves from society in order to pursue wholeheartedly the presence of God.

For all their faults – and there were many – one thing shines bright and clear throughout their lives – they knew they were at war with the evil one. They knew that Satan was out to destroy them, out to undermine virtue, out to corrupt and taint and distort whatever vestiges of righteousness he could find. And not only did these saints know they were at war – they knew which side they were on. Read the life of Antony – here was a man who hungered and thirsted for righteousness. Read the life of Paul of Thebes – here was a man who sought first the kingdom of God. Read the life of Hilarion – here was a man who panted for the living God and for streams of living water. Years and years they would wrestle and strive and fight. Why? To overcome sin and in so doing to overcome all the wiles of the evil one.

So let me encourage you – read of our fathers. Read of the monastics. Read of the martyrs. Here was faith. Here was abandon. Here was striving in the fight against sin and vice. They understood that the stakes were high. They understood that the war with the evil one was raging constantly. They understood that constant vigilance was imperative. But what of us? I fear that we are too patient with our sin. We fail to perceive the nature of life.

Brothers and sisters, we are in a war. The evil one would like to take us down. He would like to destroy us. He would like to see us corrupted. He would like us to be complacent. Do you see it? When you are tempted to ignore your wife – that’s the battle. When you are tempted to be bitter toward your husband – that is the battle. When you are tempted to yell at the kids – that is the battle. When you are tempted to disrespect your parents – that is the battle. When you are tempted to despise your sibling – that is the battle. A war is raging and many of us are playing with the little tinker toys in the corner. A war is raging and many of us are keeping uncommon close company with the enemy. A war is raging and many of us are consumed with whether we are happy rather than whether we are holy, equipped for the battle.

So listen – let us get our eyes off our navels and get to war. Let us get rid of our selfishness, get rid of our greed, get rid of our bitterness, get rid of our lust, get rid of our idolatry. Let us heed the exhortation of James – Submit to God, resist the devil. And then listen to the promise of God. He will flee from you, from little old you. Listen to the Word of God through the Apostle John, “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” You have overcome the evil one. Have you?

Peter tells us that the Spirit of God has come to give us all things necessary for life and godliness – did you hear that, all things necessary. And this is written by a man who believed firmly in total depravity. So what excuses have we made for failing to achieve it? The monastics didn’t make excuses – they did whatever was necessary to please the Lord. In this let us imitate them.

Reminded that we are in a war and that many of us are playing with the dollies in the attic, let us kneel and let us confess our sin to God.

Contrasts versus Parallels

July 31, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Old Testament

James 4:4-6 (NKJV) 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

One of the persistent problems that nags the modern church is the tendency to draw contrasts where Scripture draws parallels. We pit portions of the Word of God against one another and soon end up endorsing a version of the faith that bears little resemblance to the faith introduced by Christ.

James’ stark language in our text today highlights a couple areas where the modern church has gone astray in this regard. As a result, his words make us uncomfortable.

Take, for instance, James’ sharp contrast between being a friend of the world and a friend with God. One of the practices that our Church has embraced with all the abandon of a football fan when his team wins the Superbowl is the singing of the psalms. And one of the things that happens when you start singing the psalms is the frequency to do double takes. Here you are singing along merrily with narry a thought for what’s on the page when – pow! – the words leap up and smack you in the face.

“Treat them like Midian, like Jabin’s army. Treat them like Sisera at Kishon’s brook.”

Sisera? Wasn’t that the fellow who had the tent spike stuck in his head? Treat them like Sisera? Who’s that “them”? Oh – it is the enemies of God. Enemies? God has enemies? I thought God loved everyone. Hasn’t all that nasty stuff changed with the coming of Jesus? God doesn’t actually have enemies anymore, does he?

These questions and comments reveal how far removed we are from a biblical mindset. But notice how well the stark language of the psalms meshes with the language of James in our text today. “Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Consequently, he who desires to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” An enemy of God? Yes. James draws a parallel where the modern church draws a contrast.

And notice, as a second instance, that James draws this parallel in the Church of God. There is a tendency in some pietistic circles to imagine that the historic church is composed only of those who have been regenerated – whose hearts have actually been transformed by the grace of God. These folks argue that whereas ethnic Israel, the people of God in the OT, consisted both of people who were personally saved and of others who were unsaved, the church consists of only those who are actually saved. As a result of this teaching, some churches frequently go to great lengths to make sure no bad apples ever get in the bunch. “Yes, in order to be a member of Praise the Lord Church, we require you to write a ten page essay describing your wretched, sinful condition prior to your supposed conversion and, if we judge that you’re really converted, we’ll let you join.”

But note how James’ words don’t mesh with this perfectionistic doctrine of the church. To whom is James writing? To the Church of God – saints dispersed throughout the Roman world. And what does he routinely call them throughout the letter? Brothers. And what does he call some of them now? Adulterers and adulteresses. In other words, James is poignantly aware that bad apples do get in the bunch – and the job of leaders in the church is to exhort and discipline such folks as necessary. There are personally saved and unsaved folks in the historic or visible church even as there were in ancient Israel. Once again, where the modern church draws a contrast between Old and New Testaments, James draws a parallel.

And so James’ words serve as a wake up call to all of us who are in the Church of God. Whose side are you on? Are you trying to be friends with the world, friends with the system of belief that sets itself against God? Then beware! No amount of kneeling in confession, listening to sermons, or eating the Supper will save you from the wrath to come. Repent, turn from your sin and acknowledge that you have been unfaithful to the Lord. No man can serve two masters – for he will love the one and hate the other.

Reminded by James’ words that we stand in constant need of the grace of God to deliver us from our duplicity, let us kneel and confess our sin to Him.

Covetousness

July 21, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations

James 4:1-3 (NKJV)1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Much speculation ensues in the modern world as to the cause of strife and warfare. Listen to the pundits analyze world affairs, and you’ll hear numerous reasons proposed for why the latest firestorm has lit up the night sky. The folks are just so poor. These folks are religious zealots. The high price of food is causing riots. If only they were better educated.

What is the basic problem in the world? Where do wars and fights come from? The question that James poses is a question that the modern world continues to ask. Unfortunately the answers given are rarely helpful, usually only partial truths. Consequently, our solutions are impotent. We put a band-aid on the visible wound but fail to stop the bleeding within.

So where do wars and fights come from? James tell us plainly – they come from covetousness, envy, desiring the good things that God has given to others. How does James describe this for us?

First, he says, “we lust and do not have.” We look around at all the good things God has given our neighbor and, rather than rejoice for them, we lust for ourselves. Whether what we desire is their Tonka truck, their mp3 player, their nicely proportioned body, their spouse, their car, or their mansion on the lake– we hunger for what they’ve got. And this hunger, this lustful desire, is the source of wars and conflicts.

How so? James tells us. “You murder and covet and cannot obtain.” In other words, having eyed your neighbor’s car, his intelligence, or his new sneakers and having desired them for yourself, you proceed to wish ill for your neighbor. “Oh, if only he would die and leave his money to me.” “If only his wife would die suddenly and I’d come comfort him and he’d marry me.”

And then, having wished this evil upon our neighbor, it is simply a small leap to perpetrating the evil. Imagine you’re envious of a new game that your sibling received but won’t play with you. “Oh, I’m sorry brother, I didn’t realize that was your game I was stepping on.” Imagine you want that promotion at work but Jenkins stands in your way. “Boss, I thought I should let you know, that I’ve observed Jenkins playing games on his computer during work hours.” Imagine you’re Hitler during World War II. “The Czechoslovakian people have repeatedly harassed the Germans living within their borders, and so now I am justified in taking the Sudetenland like I wanted to do all along.”

“Wrath is cruel,” Solomon informs us, “and anger is a torrent, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Pr 27:4)

What is the solution to this type of lustful desire? To turn one’s eyes to God and trust Him to supply all one needs. “You do not have,” James declares, “because you do not ask.” But beware. Why are you asking? Are you asking for the glory of God and the good of His Kingdom, or are you asking simply to satisfy your lusts? Because if the latter James declares, “You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Reminded that covetousness is a sin and that it is the source of quarrels and conflicts in marriage, in the home, in the workplace, in the church, and in the world, let us kneel and confess that we have coveted our neighbors’ goods.

Wisdom from Above

July 7, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Wisdom

James 3:17-18 (NKJV)17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Having described the nature of earthly wisdom, characterized as it is by envy and self-seeking, James goes on to describe heavenly wisdom. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by imitating, not the wisdom of the world, but the wisdom that comes from God. And what does this wisdom look like? It is this that James tells us today.

And note if you will the complete contrast that exists between the wisdom of man in his sin and the wisdom that comes from God. The wisdom from above is not envious, but pure; it is not contentious – seeking its own – but peaceable; it does not create confusion, but is gentle and willing to yield; and instead of producing “every evil work,” it is full of mercy and the fruits of benevolence. And what are these fruits? Kindness toward all, being without partiality, as well as absolute integrity, being without hypocrisy. In short, wisdom from above imitates the One Who is above, the Lord Jesus Christ.

James informed us that the wisdom from below is full of self-seeking and envy. It looks out for number one and, when number two has something special, seeks to co-opt it for number one. The wisdom from below is never content. It is grasping and resembles the heart of the miser – ever greedy, never full, never satiated, but seeking more and more for oneself – whether the thing sought be money, glory, thrill, respect, pity, or fame, the goal is always to get more.

The wisdom from above, however, is not this way. Since it resembles the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who is full and has been full from the foundation of the world, the One who Created the world out of the overflow of His joy and fullness, the wisdom from above is likewise full to overflowing. It is peaceable – content, well settled in the mercies that God has bestowed and thankful for the bounteous goodness He has displayed. It is full of mercy and good fruits – the peaceableness and contentment manifests itself by bubbling over, sharing with others the grace that has been shared with it. And precisely because it is sharing what has already been shared with it, the wisdom from above is not shrill, not anal, not apoplectic but gentle and willing to yield. It is willing to consider the wisdom that others possess, willing to acknowledge superior views, willing to live with minor differences – rather than stubbornly maintaining its own way and demanding compliance.

So what of us? As parents how are we doing exhibiting the wisdom from above in the training of our children? How patient are we with them? Is our correction proceeding from the overflow of a heart filled with love for God and love for our kids, or is our correction flowing from our irritability and desire for respect? Are we looking out for our children’s best interest or ours? Mind you, the end product, the goal we are achieving may be the same. We want our children to be obedient, respectful, joyful – but how do we get there? With the wisdom from below or the wisdom from above? James tells us – get there with the wisdom from above.

As young men and young women, how are you doing manifesting the wisdom from above in the way you treat your siblings and your parents? Could the fly on the wall describe you as gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits? Or would he instead describe you as envious and self-seeking, looking out for your own good regardless of the consequences?

Reminded that we often fail to be wise and understanding, let us kneel and confess our sin to the Lord.

Who is wise and understanding among you?

June 30, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Wisdom

James 3:13-16 (NKJV)13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

On one occasion the disciples were debating among themselves who was greatest in the kingdom of God and how to become the greatest. They were concerned to get ahead of their brothers; to be known as those who really served the Lord. And so they came to Jesus on one occasion and asked him, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus responded by calling a little child to himself and seating the child in their midst. He urged them, “Unless you are converted and become like little children, you won’t enter the kingdom. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” In essence, Jesus reversed their paradigm. To get ahead, Jesus told them, you must get behind. The greatest among you will be least of all, he will be the servant of all.

James’ question in our text today is intended to press forward this same point. “Who is wise and understanding among you?” Whether or not any hands were raised, we can imagine that the response of James’ audience is similar to our own. We may not reckon ourselves wise and understanding, but we certainly want to be so. And so James follows his question with an exhortation – manifest your wisdom in works of humility. Get ahead by getting behind. Serve. Look out for the interests of your brothers and sisters more than for your own.

James contrasts this type of wisdom with earthly, sensual, demonic wisdom. Wisdom from below says – “Hey, you’ve got to look out for yourself. You’ve got to pursue what’s best for yourself. The only way to get ahead is by pushing that fellow out of the way.” This type of wisdom, James tells us, is based on self-seekng and envy – it looks out for oneself and when anyone else has something good it endeavors to grab it for oneself.

Contrast this with the character of our Lord and Savior. Jesus came, not seeking His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him. Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Jesus came, not to take from others what was rightfully theirs but to give to others what was rightfully His. This is our Savior – and it is this conduct that James calls us to imitate in our own lives.

Why? Because if we don’t, if we persist in pursuing our own ideas of what is wise and enlightened, then confusion and wickedness will follow in the wake of our folly. Rather than witness righteousness and peace in our midst, we will observe warfare and sin. Not exactly a recipe for the happy life.

So what of us? How are we doing? You children, are you imitating Jesus in your relationships with your family and friends? When you play a game, are you determined to win at any cost or do you compete honestly according to the rules and with grace toward your competitors? You adults, what of you? When you associate with others, are you consumed with worry about what so and so thinks about you or do you consider instead how you can be a blessing to them no matter what they think? Because if we are all looking out for others, considering them more highly than ourselves, then we will have the fruit of that in joy and peace and righteousness.

Reminded of our propensity to be selfish and envious, let us kneel and confess our sin to the Lord.

What’s in Your Glass?

June 25, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Heart, Meditations, Tongue

James 3:9-12 (NKJV)9 With [the tongue] we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

Today we close our exhortations from James regarding the tongue. James offers a stirring rebuke of hypocrisy and asks a series of rhetorical questions driving home the same point again and again – we must control our tongues. Simultaneously his comments illustrate the point he has already made – that this control of the tongue is not something we can conjure up by mere will power but that it must proceed from a heart that has been transformed by the grace of God. By nature we are full of cursing and deceit. We need the Spirit of God to come and transform our hearts in order that we might use our lips to bring glory and honor to our Savior.

Our Lord Jesus explained the source of sins of the tongue in this way:

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” [Mark 7:21-23]

Note carefully that Jesus states that sins of the tongue – deceit and blasphemy as examples – come out of the heart. And James, with his series of illustrations in our text today, makes the same point. “Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.”

So here’s the important question – what is coming out of our lips? Because whatever is coming out of our lips reveals what is in our heart. That which comes out of our lips doesn’t emerge willy nilly. Rather, it reflects what is inside.

Some years ago I illustrated this point with my children by having them fill a glass full of water – so full that the water was cresting at the top – and put it on the table. Then I told them, “Bump the table,” which, of course, they were only too happy to do. Then I told them to bump it again and they did. Then I asked a simple question – “When you bumped the table, what happened?” “It spilled,” came the intelligent reply. “Good! But what came out of the glass? Did dirt come out? Oil? Shampoo?” “No,” they reply, “water – because that’s what was in the glass.”

So James is challenging us – what is in your glass? Is it joy, gratitude, thankfulness, and contentment? Or is it cursing, bitterness, and deceit? What comes out of our lips is a reflection of what is in our heart. And so Solomon urges us, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Reminded that we are often full of cursing and deceit, full of blasphemy and complaint, full of slander and lies, let us kneel and confess our sin to the Lord.

No Man Can Tame the Tongue

June 25, 2008 in Bible - NT - James, Meditations, Responsibility, Tongue

James 3:7-8 (NKJV)7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

The last number of weeks we have considered various sins of the tongue – ways in which we can abuse the gift of the tongue and so cause not only others to stumble but ourselves to falter in our pursuit of righteousness as well. The tongue, James tells us, is world of iniquity, and our brief survey of gossip, slander, lying, flattery, and complaining has only scratched the suburbs of one of the smaller cities. Beware the tongue, control the tongue.

But today we move on a bit in James’ text only to be confronted with a quandary. For James has been warning us about the dangers of the tongue presumably so that we will alter our behavior, control our tongue and so bring glory and honor to our Savior. But his declaration in our text today seems to undermine this whole objective. Note what James says.

7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

If we read this passage carefully we should find ourselves asking, “No man can tame the tongue? Well if no man can tame the tongue what are we doing having this discussion? Why the exhortations, James? If I’m not able to tame my tongue then I’m not responsible to do so, right?” Wrong.

Here we find the biblical authors cutting across the grain of our expectations. The Scriptures simply do not equate ability and responsibility. James holds his readers fully responsible for the use of their tongue – but here we see that he doesn’t assume they have the ability to do what he’s calling them to do.

Well how can that be? How can James hold us accountable for something we can’t even do? The answer is that God created us with the ability to do these things but we rebelled against Him and lost the ability we once possessed. But this does not make us any less responsible.

Imagine, if you will, a father who gives his son a command to mow the yard. But this yard has a special feature. In the midst of the yard is a large pit that, once one falls into, he cannot get out. The father shows his son the yard and exactly how he wants it mowed. He also points to the pit and warns his son to stay away from it. Then the father leaves and the son immediately leaps into the pit prior to mowing the lawn. Is the son still responsible to mow the lawn? Yes. Is he able? No. Is that the father’s fault? No – the son jumped into the pit of his own accord.

This, brothers and sisters, is our state. In our father Adam, we spurned the command of our Lord and ate of the forbidden fruit. Consequently we were plunged into sin and lost the ability we once possessed while still being responsible.

What then is the solution? Is there hope? The only hope is that the Lord himself return, lift us from the pit, forgive us our sin, and restore us to the liberty we lost. Praise be to God that this is the very thing He does when he touches our hearts and calls us to Himself through Christ our Lord.

And so reminded that by nature we have forfeited the ability to do that which God commands and yet remain completely responsible let us kneel and confess our sin to the Lord seeking His forgiveness through Christ.