Show Notes
In his book, Beyond Personality, C. S. Lewis explains what it takes to become what God originally intended for us to be all along, like Him. “Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you’ll save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep nothing back. Nothing you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay in the long run. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him, everything else will be thrown in.”
What does it mean to be a ‘follower of Jesus Christ? What does spiritual maturity look like? Interestingly, James uses the term ‘religious,’ as it is only used five times in the entire New Testament, and James uses it twice, both of which are found here in chapter one. Religion is best understood as the outward expression of our faith. How does the inward transformation of grace work itself out into our daily lives? Are we doing God’s will or our own will? Jesus warns us that there will be people who think that they are saved but are not.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
Paul challenges us to examine ourselves to determine if we are truly in the faith. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
Warren Wiersbe points out: “There are true believers who are fooling themselves concerning their Christian walk. They think they are spiritual when they are not. It is a mark of maturity when a person faces himself honestly, knows himself, and admits his needs.”
James gives us three criteria to measure the reality of our faith. He asks: Do we have pure religion, or are we living a life of self-deception?
