Tag Archives: James

To Whose Voice Are You Listening?

Posted on by
1

James 3:13–18, Who is wise. In this passage, James discusses heavenly versus demonic wisdom. Did you ever wonder how to tell the difference between the voice of Elohim speaking to you, and the voice the world, the flesh and the devil? This passage gives us some guidelines on how to differentiate between the four voices that are trying to influence our minds and hearts.

14683169

Let’s first establish the fact that Yeshua wants to talk to his spiritual sheep. In John chapter four, Yeshua declares that he is the Good Shepherd, and that his sheep hear and know his voice, that he calls them by name, and that he leads them spiritually and they follow him (John 10:3–4). At the same time, someone else is vying for his sheep’s attention—the thief. Yes, the thief wants to lead Yeshua’s sheep astray, for his  intention is to kill, steal and to destroy (John 10:1, 8, 10), while the Good Shepherd wants to save and protect the sheep (John 10:9, 11, 14).

Throughout the pages of the Bible we read the record of YHVH Elohim speaking to his servants and leading them. Yeshua makes it clear that he is still speaking to and leading his sheep, and the Book of Acts and the Epistles confirm this.

So how does this passage in James help us to hear and to follow the voice of YHVH-Yeshua, the Good Shepherd? When we get thoughts and impressions that we think are the leading of the Holy Spirit, we must first determine their origin by putting them to the spiritual test. Is what we are hearing wisdom or knowledge that is from above, or is it wisdom or knowledge is from below—that is earthly (of this world), sensual (from the carnal mind of man) or devilish (from the demonic realm, James 3:13–15)? How do we know its origin? James tells us. The wisdom that is from below is envious, selfish or self-seeking, engenders confusion, and produces evil, while that which is from above is pure, peaceable, gentle,willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and hypocrisy, and it produces righteousness (James 3:16–18).

 

How to Test Heavenly Versus Demonic Wisdom

Posted on by
2

James 3:13–18, Who is wise. In this passage, James discusses heavenly versus demonic wisdom. Did you ever wonder how to tell the difference between the voice of Elohim speaking to you and the voice the world, the flesh and the devil? This passage gives us some guidelines on how to differentiate between the four voices that are trying to influence our minds and hearts.

15090964

Let’s first establish the fact that Yeshua wants to talk to his spiritual sheep. In John chapter ten, Yeshua declares that he is the Good Shepherd, and that his sheep hear and know his voice, that he calls them by name, and that he leads them spiritually and they follow him (John 10:3–4). At the same time, someone else is vying for the sheep’s attention—the thief. Yes, the thief wants to lead the sheep astray, for his intention is to kill, steal and to destroy (John 10:1, 8, 10), while the Good Shepherd wants to save and protect the sheep (John 10:9, 11, 14).

Throughout the pages of the Bible, we read the record of YHVH Elohim speaking to his servants and leading them. Yeshua makes it clear that he is still speaking to and leading his sheep, and the Book of Acts and the Epistles confirm this.

So how does this passage in James help us to hear and to follow the voice of YHVH-Yeshua, the Good Shepherd? When we get thoughts and impressions that we think are the leading of the Holy Spirit, we must first determine their origin by putting them to the spiritual test. Is what we are hearing the wisdom or knowledge that is from above, or is it the wisdom or knowledge that is from below—that is earthly (of this world), sensual (from the carnal mind of man) or devilish (from the demonic realm, James 3:13–15)? How do we know its origin? James tells us. The wisdom that is from below is envious, selfish or self-seeking, engenders confusion, and produces evil, while that which is from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and hypocrisy, and it produces righteousness (James 3:16–18).

 

“Faith Without Works is Dead”—Is James Contradicting Paul?

Posted on by
Reply

James 2:20–24, Faith without works is dead. James here is referring to the works of faith, not the works of the law. No man can live a good enough life to be saved by his Torah-obedience—the works of the law (Rom 3:20, 28; Gal 2:16; 3:11).

James

However, faith in Elohim is more than just mental ascent—“a knowing in your heart.” It has to be backed up by action (and we’re not talking about the works of the law). For example, when Elohim told Abraham to leave Babylon or to sacrifice Isaac, he obeyed. Many were healed in Yeshua’s ministry because they had faith in the Master and backed that faith up with corresponding action, which was the evidence of their faith.

This faith-action continuum had nothing to do with Torah-obedience, but had everything to do with “putting your money where your mouth is” so to speak.

This is what James is talking about here, and this in no wise contradicts the teachings of Paul who said that no man is justified by the works of the law.  When Paul declares in Ephesians 2:8–9, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Elohim, not of works…,” he was correct and not opposed to James.

What’s more, Paul goes on to say in verse 10, “For we are [Elohim’s] workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works…that we should walk in them.” These good works (i.e., obedience to the Torah) are the fruits, evidence or proof of our salvation—the works that back up our faith.

So, in summary, the Bible teaches that we need the works of faith to lead us to salvation, as well as the works of faith after we have received Elohim’s free gift of salvation as evidence that we are saved. This fact in no way contravenes the reality of salvation by grace through trusting belief in Yeshua the Messiah, which is apart from the works of the Torah-law.

 

All the Men Named “James”

Posted on by
2

James 1:1, James. The Testimony of Yeshua records five men with the name James/Jacob/Ya’acov. They are:

Twelve Disciples 25481685

James the Greater (Elder), the brother of John and one of the twelve apostles. He was a son of Zebedee and Salome. James was killed by King Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1–2).

James the Less was the son of Alphaeus. He was one of the twelve apostles (Matt 10:1–3, Mark 3:14–19; Luke 6:13–16; Acts 1:13)

James is also the name of one of the half-brothers of Yeshua, and probably the author of the book of the Bible that bears his name. He was most likely the apostolic leader of the Messianic community in Jerusalem (Matt 13:55; Acts 1:14 [i.e., Yeshua’s “brothers”]; 15:13; 21:18; Gal 1:19) whom history calls James the Just and whom the Jews martyred in Jerusalem in 62 AD (see Josephus’ Ant. 20:9). (Galatians 1:19).

James, the father of the Apostle Judas (not Iscariot, Acts 1:13).

James who was the brother of Joses and the son of Mary (Matt 27:56).

 

Was the Epistle of James Named After King James?

Posted on by
2

James 1:1, James. This name is the English form of the Old French variation of James from the Late Latin name Iacomus, which was derived from the Greek New Testament name Iakobos, which in turn derives from the Hebrew name Ya’aqov. This was the name of five men recorded in the Testimony of Yeshua.

The Testimony of Yeshua/The New Testament

The Testimony of Yeshua/The New Testament from my 1790 KJV Bible.

It is speculated that the development of Iacobus to Iacomus is a result of nasalization in the French language of the o and assimilation to the following b followed by simplification of the cluster mb through loss of the b.

The notion that the name James derives from King James of England, who ordered the translation of the Bible version (published in 1611) that bears his name, is erroneous. This is because earlier English versions of the Bible (the Geneva Bible published in 1557 and the Wycliffe Bible published 1382 to 1395) used the name James (the English equivalent name Jacob) long before King James was born.