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• Faith must work; faith must produce; faith must be visible

• Verbal faith is not enough, Lk 6:46• Mental faith is insufficient, Jno

12:42-43• True faith provokes action, Gal 5:6

3

“Trials come and go; faith meets them head on and develops endurance.”

•The discipline to remain joyful, Jas 1:2; Jno 16:22, 33– Faith looks beyond the moment to

eternity, 2 Cor 4:16-18– Testing of faith produces patience,

Jas 1:3-44

•The discipline to continually pray for wisdom, Jas 1:5-8– Humility to admit our lack and

need, 1:5– Faith to ask God for wisdom, 1:5

Prov 2:6-9; Psa 119:98– Faith that God answers, 1:5; Prov

8:17; 1 Jno 5:14-15– Ask in faith without doubt, 1:6-8

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•The discipline to know that possessions test faith, Jas 1:9-11– The poor brother: Glory in the

exaltation of Christ, Lk 1:52; 1 Cor 3:21-23 (Eph 1:3; 2:6)

– The rich brother: Glory in the humiliation of Christ, Phil 3:7-8“The Cross of Christ lifts up the poor and

brings down the high. It is the great leveller of men.” (A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures) 6

•The blessing of resisting temptation, Jas 1:12– Approved: Tested, tried and

shown to be genuine, Rom 5:3-4– Crown of life, 2 Tim 4:7-8

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•Temptation is common to us all, Jas 1:13-16; 1 Cor 10:12-13–God is not the source of temptation, 1:13–Temptation: Internal (his own desires), External (enticement), 1:14–Outcome of yielding to temptation is sin and death, 1:15 8

•Temptation is common to us all, Jas 1:13-16; 1 Cor 10:12-13–Warning, 1:16. Avoid temptations to

sin by…• Remembering the gifts of God, 1:17• Remembering our birthright, 1:18• Controlling the heart, 1:19 (Col 3:8)• Producing righteousness of God, 1:20

(Titus 2:12) 9

•The person of faith lays aside sin, Jas 1:21; 1 Pet 2:1; Col 3:5-9–Moral filthiness and naughtiness (malice)–Faith does not find pleasure in sin, Eph 5:6-11–Deliberate decision of faith to meekly receive and implant God’s word, Rom 12:2; Col 3:16

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•The person of faith is a doer of the word, Jas 1:22 (Matt 7:21-27)–Vanity of hearing and not doing, Jas 1:23-24–Blessed by doing the work, Jas 1:25–Must combine knowing with doing, Jno 13:17 11

•The person of faith lives pure religion, Jas 1:26-27–Not one who thinks he is religious due to “the external observances of public worship, such as church attendance, almsgiving, prayer, fasting”

-Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek, 55-57cited by Robertson, op cit.12

•The person of faith lives pure religion, Jas 1:26-27–A doer of the word who practices pure and undefiled religion (fears God)• Inspects the needs of the helpless and

helps (compassion, kindness and love) Micah 6:6-8• Inspects himself and guards himself from

sin (2 Cor 13:5), Matt 6:1-413

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