James: Chapter Three-Review

(1)

James: Chapter Three-Review JAS3-90/351

Mark 12:30

and you shall love the Lord your God with all

your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and

with all your strength [ Deuteronomy 6:5 ].’

v. 31

“The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor

as yourself’

[ Leviticus 19:18 ]. There is no other

commandment greater than these.”

22. It is from these two commandments that the believer is able, under the filling and

teaching ministries of the Holy Spirit, to grow in grace and obey these two

commandments.

23. These are the starting points for developing rapport with God from which emerges

rapport with people. Here are a few definitions of the noun, “rapport”:

1. Rapport: relation marked by harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity.

(Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.)

2. Rapport: a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or

groups concerned understand each other’s ideas and communicate

well. (The New Oxford American Dictionary.)

3. Rapport: Relationship, especially one of mutual trust. (The American

Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, fifth edition.)

4. Rapport: relationship; especially, a close or sympathetic relationship;

agreement; harmony. (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary:

Unabridged, second edition.)

5. Rapport: Relation of harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity;

especially in an intimate or harmonious relation. (Webster’s New

Collegiate Dictionary, second edition.)

24. The collection of works that define “rapport,” reflect the developing relationship

the believer accrues throughout his spiritual growth.

25. God’s relationship with the believer is always available to the believer and is

accessed through rebound followed by consistent spiritual growth.

26. Positive volition is the key to the advance whereby consistency develops rapport

within the soul by means of doctrine. This relationship is based on spiritual growth

aggrandized by facilitated wheel-tracks of doctrine in the eleven categories of

systematic theology and their application into the scrum of the angelic conflict.

27. Once rapport with God becomes one’s daily modus operandi, then the believer is

prepared to efficiently develop rapport with others. The key doctrine for

developing rapport with people is the Royal Law.

(2)

28. The spiritual advance reaches its summum bonum at spiritual maturity. During the

advance is the consistent accumulation and facilitation of wisdom.

B. The Inculcation of Wisdom into the Soul

1. To understand Who God is and how the human race is incorporated into His

overall plan requires us to review a few of His divine attributes:

(1)

sovereignty,

(2)

righteousness,

(3)

justice, and

(4)

omniscience.

2. When these attributes are incorporated, they become composites that make up the

Love of God or the Integrity of God. When understood, the believer incorporates

them for application to life and circumstances.

Sovereignty:

God’s sovereignty is expressed in the divine decree.

The decree of God is His eternal, holy, wise, and

sovereign purpose, comprehending simultaneously all

things that ever were or will be in their causes,

courses, conditions, successions, and relations and

determining their certain futurition.

1

3. God’s decree includes a multiplicity of policies and events including His policy of

grace toward mankind. He decreed the standard by which a person is saved

through faith alone in Christ alone. He also decreed the events that led up to the

Lord’s crucifixion.

4. God’s divine decree makes it possible for mankind to function with volitional

freedom so that a person may choose to accept or reject the provision of salvation

by means of faith.

5. Therefore, the principle: The sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist

in human history by means of the divine decree.

Righteousness:

6. The love of God expresses the integrity of God which consists of His

righteousness, justice, and omniscience. Therefore, the love of God and the

Integrity of God express the same thing.

7. The righteousness of God is one of the composites of divine integrity. It is the

standard regarding things He approves or disapproves.

Justice:

8. God judges mankind with perfect fairness. Justice is the source of both judgment

and blessing. What the righteousness of God approves, the justice of God blesses;

what the righteousness of God rejects the justice of God judges.

(3)

9. The two composites of righteousness and justice form two-thirds of the integrity of

God which expresses the love of God.

Omniscience:

10. God knows perfectly, eternally, and simultaneously all that is knowable, both

actual and possible. Total wisdom as well as total knowledge belong to God’s

omniscience.

11. His wisdom is the application of His omniscience in accomplishing His plan and

purpose. Before the creation of the world God knew everything about angelic and

human history.

12. He permits human free will to function through human self-determination.

Although God never interferes with free will, He may influence human choices by

His gracious actions, for example, through His control of the variables of life that

are beyond human control.

13. Therefore, the omniscience of God and the free will of man coexist in human

history by the divine decree.

Composites:

14. To

understand the love of God, the divine attributes of righteousness,

justice, and omniscience should be viewed as composites which function in

harmony to

establish the Integrity of God:

The integrity of God is the synchronized operation of

two divine attributes—righteousness and justice.

They form one consistent, indivisible system through

which God deals with the human race in grace and

establishes an eternal relationship with those who

believe in Jesus Christ by faith alone.

(p. 6)

Related to man, however, there is almost unlimited

opportunity for compromise. Man violates God’s

character at almost every turn. Here God must guard

His righteousness first and foremost. Thus, God’s

point of contact with us can only be His justice. (p. 8)

Everything God does toward us from any of His

attributes goes through His justice. Justice is the

ultimate safeguard of all divine action related to

mankind.

Psalm 105:7

He is the Lord our God; He carries out

judgment throughout the earth.

(p. 8)

(4)

God’s justice is our point of contact with Him;

therefore, when we come to God, His absolute justice

is the attribute to which we must adjust.

2

_{(p. 9)}

15. This brief synopsis of three particular attributes of divine essence that form the

Integrity of God provide the foundation for the development of wisdom in the soul

of the believer.

16. These three attributes combine to form the three composites of the love of God

which is also the Integrity of God. When we function within that environment, we

are able to develop within our souls the ability and the power to fulfill the Royal

Law with which we are then enabled to love our fellow man with the same respect

that we do ourselves.

17. If the love of God is the integrity of God and that integrity consists of the

composites of righteousness, justice, and omniscience, then we must aspire to

utilize these attributes in our dealings with others.

18. The ability to apply this system requires us to devote requisite time for the

inculcation of absolute truths from the Word of God into our souls. The more

doctrine a person knows the more powerful his applications become.

19. Jesus Himself gives us the formula for this advance:

John 8:31

Jesus was saying to those Jews who had

believed

[ (1)

pisteÚw

(pisteúō ): transitive verb whose

working object is ]

in Him, “If

[ 3d-class condition of (2)

™£n

(eán): maybe yes; maybe no ] you continue [ (3) mšnw (ménō ):

remain steadfast ] in My word [ (4) lÒgoj (lógos): Scripture ],

then you are truly disciples [ (5) maqht»j (mathētḗs): “imbued

with doctrines” ] of Mine;

v. 32

and you will know

[ (6) ginèskw (ginṓskō ):

epígnōsis ]

the truth

[ (7) ¢l»qeia (alḗtheia): the content of

divine policy ], and the truth will make you free [ (8) ™leuqerÒw

(eleutheróō ): from the power and punishment of sin ].”

(

NASB

)

20. In this passage from John, the Lord uses eight Greek words that provide the

conversion that occurs when a person believes in Him for salvation. They used

their free will to “believe” in Him:

(1)

pisteúō. As such they have the volitional

option to change the way they think: the 3d-class condition of

(2)

eán refers to the

“volitional freedom” to pursue truth or not.

(5)

21. If positive, then

(3)

ménō enables the believer to continue his spiritual advance by

his inculcation of

(4)

lógos, “Scripture.” This process results in being truly

(5)

mathētḗs, “disciples” of Jesus imbued with doctrines.

22. Under these conditions, the result is the buildup of

(6)

ginṓskō, “knowledge” of

divine

(7)

alḗtheia: “absolute truth.” It is this accumulation of truth that will make

the positive-volition believer become

(8)

eleutheróō, “free" from the power and

punishment of sin.

23. The result is that if the growing believer consistently pursues truth, he will advance

to the summum bonum of the spiritual life through the ultimate accumulation of

wisdom in his stream of consciousness.

C. Wisdom Is Advanced Knowledge of the Word of God

1. The possession of wisdom is the Christian’s resource for sharing the happiness of

God. Wisdom is defined as:

The sphere for the application of facilitated doctrine to

experience. The absolute principles designed for the

believer are available to him for inculcation and

application. Doctrine is designed to isolate all of our

problems along with all their solutions. These are

found only in Scripture. When known and applied the

resolution results in happiness whose source is

wisdom.

2. We refer to God’s wisdom as omniscience: He knows all that is knowable. That

portion that we need to know is contained in Scripture. We are able to acquire

these concepts through Bible study.

3. The ability to utilize doctrine to resolve problems, circumstances, and situations

from a resource of absolute truth results in the development of problem-solving

device number 9, sharing the happiness of God:

Sharing the happiness of God is the highest of all

problem-solving devices. Suffering, which would

normally be difficult, becomes relatively easy through

residual happiness in the soul.

Happiness is a mental attitude which equates

adversity and prosperity, living and dying. Maximum

capacity for happiness enables the mature Christian to

face every challenge in his experience.

(6)

God strengthens the believer through resident Bible

doctrine and suffering for blessing so that His own

shared happiness may be tested, developed, and

completed in the believer’s soul in adversity as well as

in prosperity.

God shares His happiness with the believer for the

believer’s own benefit; therefore, happiness is the

problem-solving device directed toward self.

3

4. Everything we need to navigate the exigencies of the devil’s world are provided for

us in the Word of God. The Word of God has existed since eternity past. Its

presence in time is made available to believers who have the good sense to acquire

its guidance through Bible study.

5. This passage that summarizes the importance and impact of the problem-solving

device of “happiness’s” and the soul’s stream of consciousness called “wisdom.”

1 Corinthians 2:7

But we communicate the wisdom

[ sof…a (sophía) ] of God in a mystery [ must»rion

(mustḗrion): divine revelation ], which God ordained before the

world began in eternity past resulting in our glory;

v. 8

this wisdom none of the rulers of first-century

Palestine understood, for if they had known they would not have

crucified the Lord of glory;

v. 9

but just as it is written in Isaiah 64:4, “Things which

the eye has not seen, nor ear heard

[ empirical sources of

evidence are incapable of revealing divine viewpoint ], and

neither have they entered into the stream of consciousness of

mankind, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

v. 10

But God revealed them to us through the teaching

ministry of the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit explores all things,

yes, the deep things of God yet future. (

EXT

)

6. Wisdom is the summum bonum of the spiritual advance and is the ultimate base of

operations to resolve the four major battles in the soul which are managed by being

able to think from an inventory of advanced doctrines.

7. The four major battles are sin, stress, false doctrine, and wrong solutions.

Everybody has sin trends that develop during times when behavior patterns are

facilitated. A believer can be ignorant of sin or passive to the problem of sin.

Doctrine exposes sin’s trends into the clear light of day.

(7)

8. Poor decisions limit future options that usually result in stress. Adversity describes

pressure from outside the soul whereas stress occurs inside the soul.

9. Adversity is what the circumstances of life do to you. Stress is what you do to

yourself. Adversity is inevitable while stress is optional.

10. The inability to handle stress occurs from a weak inventory of doctrinal ideas.

This weakness is the result of human viewpoint, false doctrines, and cosmic

concepts that form the

mataiÒthj

(mataiótēs)

vacuum that sucks satanic

propaganda into the stream of consciousness:

Ephesians 4:17

This I communicate and make an

emphatic command together with the Lord, that you no longer

continue

1

_{walking [ peripatšw (peripatéō ): facilitated}

wheel-tracks of wickedness ] as Goyim, in the

2

vacuum [ mataiÒthj

(mataiótēs): sucking cosmic concepts into the soul] of their

3

_{mind [ noàj (noús) ],}

v. 18

having become

4

_{darkened in their thinking}

[ skotÒw (skotóō ): scar tissue of the soul: no objectivity ],

caused to become

5

estranged [ causal perfect passive participle

of ¢pallotriÒw (apallotrióō )

4

]

from the life of God because of

the ignorance which keeps on being in them, because of the

6

_hardness

_{[ pèrwsij (pṓrōsis): callousness ] of their}

7

_heart

[ kard…a (kardía): blackout of the soul ];

v. 19

while being caused to become

8

past feeling [ causal

perfect active participle of ¢palgšw (apalgéō ): insensible to

shame ], having given themselves over to

9

_unrestrained

lasciviousness

[ ¢sšlgeia (asélgeia): the insatiable desire for

sexual excesses ] for the practice of every kind of

10

_lewdness

[ ¢kaqars…a (akatharsía) ]

with

11

_{insatiable covetousness}

[ pleonex…a (pleonexía)

]

.

(

EXT

)

11. These two passages from 1 Corinthians 2:7–10 and Ephesians 4:17–19 expose the

dichotomy that presently exists between advancing believers versus unbelievers

and believers who function in cosmic systems 1 and 2.

12. They provide a dramatic contrast between biblically oriented believers and the

cosmic environment in which the Dark Side functions. The latter passage above

presents a stark analysis of the inversion of thought which has been indoctrinated

into the souls of a growing number of our citizens.

4_{Apallotrióō has three meanings: estranged, alienated, and excluded. They are all applicable here depending on which stage}

(8)

13. The tip of the spear of this indoctrination has been the Federal schools which have

supplied media with proponents of the New Normal described by the Ephesians

passage above.

14. This New Normal is in the process of transforming the society away from the First

Corinthians passage over to the one in Ephesians:

15. Here is a summary of this conversion of thought:

1. The last word in the Ephesians 4:17–19 is the noun, pleonexía, and is

defined as having covetousness or greediness, a lust for more and

more debauchery but without total fulfillment.

2. This mind–set causes a person’s soul to engage in a frantic search for

happiness during which his lust patterns are never satiated.

3. The things desired include sex, drugs, money, fame, recognition, or

authority, but in Paul’s context is the insatiable lust for sex with the

end result of reverse-process reversionism:

The total influence of evil and the substitution of

Satan’s plan for God’s plan. Satan’s cosmic system is

so powerful and devious that the reversionistic

believer becomes divorced from reality.

In reverse-process reversionism all true values are

pushed aside and priorities are inverted. The

reversionist spurns that which he should love and

loves that which he should spurn.

Personal love for God and occupation with Christ is

replaced by love of self and preoccupation with the

lust pattern of his sin nature. The reversionist pursues

false lovers instead of his spouse.

5

4. This soul environment causes the believer to reject all systems of

biblical authority. Negative to the teaching of the Word of God, he

rejects the teaching authority of his pastor, and opts for the

allurements of the cosmic systems.

5. Reverse-process reversionism is summarized by Paul with his

negative rebuttal of its characteristics in the expanded translation of

the Ephesians 4:17–19 passage above.

6. Paul sums it up in verse 20: “But you did not learn Christ in this

(9)

16. Pastors, who are loyal students of the Word of God, exegete its contents from the

original languages, organize its text in association with systematic theology, and

communicate the results, fulfill the objective for resultant spiritual growth among

assembled, Spirit-filled believers. This system can never be rightly accused of

being the source of reversionism in the soul of any believer.

17. Quite the opposite is true for those who with positive volition possess biblical

wisdom that results in an honorable manner of life.

James 3:13

Who among you is biblically wise with

advanced understanding of doctrine? Demonstrate

[ IM #25 ]

[ praäthj (praǘtēs)

6

] characterized by wisdom

[ sof…a

(sophía) ]! (

EXT

)

James 3:14

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish

ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the

truth. (

NASB

)

1. James 3:13 presents a positive analysis of a believer who has advanced to the

summum bonum of the Christian way of life.

2. Wisdom speaks of the content of the believer’s stream of consciousness when he

has attained spiritual maturity.

3. James indicates in verse 13 that such a level of spiritual growth is demonstrated by

a person who has an “honorable manner of life of a gentleness characterized by

wisdom.”

4. The word “gentleness” is the Greek noun,

praäthj

(praǘtēs)

. It is a good

translation; however, the word’s impact is revealed by these excerpts that

positively contrasts this character trait to the negative ones in verse 14:

An inwrought grace of the soul, and the expressions

of it are primarily toward God (James 3:13). It is a

condition of mind and heart which demonstrates

gentleness, not in weakness, but in power. It is a

balance born in strength of character.

7

The quality of not being overly impressed by a sense

of one’s self-importance, gentleness, humility,

courtesy, considerateness, meekness (James 3:13).

8

6_{“The diacritical mark dīaéresis ( ̈ ) is placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable”}

(Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (2014), s.v. “dīaéresis.”

7_{Spiros Zodhiates, “praΰthj,” The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, 1210.}

8_{Walter Bauer, “praΰthj,” in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3d ed.,} rev. and ed. Frederick William Danker (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), 861.

(10)

Gentleness is a mark of the true righteous who are

inspired by divine wisdom (James 3:13). It is

demonstrated in the whole walk of the righteous and

stands in pleasing contrast to bitter zeal and

contentiousness, 3:14.

9

5. Before we get into the exegesis of verse 14, we need to indicate that the translation

provided by the King James Bible is pretty much off plumb:

James 3:14

But if you have bitter envying and strife in

your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. (

KJV

)

6. This verse is correctly introduced by the adversative conjunction,

dš

(dé

)

, which is

used instead of the expected conjunction,

¢ll£

(allá

)

, and translated, “but.”

7. James wants to immediately establish a stark contrast between what he has stated

before in verse 13.

8. The particle,

allá

, is used to mark opposition or an antithesis to what went before.

The particle,

dé

, is “strictly adversative, frequently denoting transition and serving

to introduce something else that is quite the contrary;

10

_{a “marker of heightened}

emphasis.”

11

9. James’s use of dš goes beyond the opposition or antithesis of ¢ll£; instead, he

heightens his opposition by stressing the stark adversity that exists between verse

13 and verse 14.

10. Verse 13 presents the character traits of a believer who has acquired wisdom by

which he maintains an honorable manner of life. James 3:14 returns the reader to

the way things really are.

11. He immediately identifies those who are his present subjects with the present

active indicative of verb,

œcw

(échō )

, and is correctly translated, “you have.”

12. In this context, the better translation is, “to have and to hold” since this attitude has

facilitated behavior patterns that follow paths of least resistance in the soul’s status

of reversionism.

13. The behavior patterns are stated next beginning with the phrase, “bitter jealousy.”

The adjective “bitter” is,

pikrÒj

(pikrós)

, but is intensified to include such

emotions as harshness and cruelty.

(End JAS3-90.Rev. See JAS3-91.Rev for continuation of study at p. 361.)

9_{Friedrich Hauck and Siegfried Schulz, “praΰthj,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, eds. Gerhard Kittel and} Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968), 6:650.