Faith Produces A Genuine Piety That Is Acceptable To God ...



Pure and Faultless Religion

James 1:26-27.

Preached by L Going at WACC – February 11, 2001

I think that we would all agree that the word religion is a fairly loose word in terms of what it means. It is a generic word that is applied to the major belief systems of our world. It can also be used to describe a passion one might have for collecting butterflies. I can remember when I was a new Christian reading a book entitled “How to be a Christian without being religious.” The thesis of the book was that Christianity was not a religion but it was a relationship with a living person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet Christianity or belief in Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord is in fact a religion.

I found some quotes concerning the value and idea of religion. Listen carefully.

A cosmic philosophy is not constructed to fit a man; a cosmic philosophy is constructed to fit a cosmos. A man can no more possess a private religion than he can possess a private sun and moon.

G. K. Chesterton

Give us a religion that will help us to live—we can die without assistance.

Elbert Hubbard

Religion is doing; a man does not merely think his religion or feel it, he “lives” his religion, as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion but fantasy or philosophy.

George Gurdjieff

Then there is James.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The word religious has to be understood in the context. James is not using the word in some general sense, in that what is important is that a person be religious and “Oh, by the way, any religion will do!” Rather James uses the word in relation to one who proclaims that he/she believes in Christ and is a practicing believer. The word stresses the outward aspects of Christian worship. A religious person is one who is dutiful in outward acts of worship and practice.

You may consider yourself to be religious because you attend church services, financially support the work of the church, teach Sunday school or serve on a church board. James, while not necessarily devaluing these matters, gives three examples of genuine piety. One commentator puts it this way the religious observances that our heavenly Father welcomes and accepts involves keeping your tongue in check, getting your hands dirty helping people in need and keeping yourself clean from the filth of this world.

James is not debunking formal worship. All he is saying is that if that is all that marks our religious life then before the presence of God our religion is worthless. So we need to at least briefly this morning look at the particular examples James gives of what marks pure and undefiled religion before the face of God our Father.

First we need to keep a good solid rein on our tongue. The one who does not do this deceives himself and makes his religious observance void of any meaning before the fact of God. One Greek lexicon states that this verse can be rendered as “one who does not tell his tongue what to say or one who can not tie his tongue down or one who can not stop his talking.” Genuine piety entails keeping a tight rein on your tongue.

Well, James continues to have this concern about the tongue. Either we use it too quickly and rashly or here the implication has to do with being a gossip, saying hurtful things, off colored jokes, swearing etc. Again it is probably an example of the more general principle don't be a mere hearer of the word, be a doer. Well, James what do you mean by be a doer? You are a doer of the word when you keep a tight reign on your tongue.

Notice how James says with both the general principle and the example that the negative result is deception. To think that merely hearing the word is acceptable (or too confuse hearing with doing) leads to deception. Likewise to consider yourself to be pious, but to carry on with gossip and related sins of the tongue, means you are deceived.

Genuine piety that springs from saving faith enables you to bridle your tongue. I want us to listen to a few verses from Scripture on the kinds of sins we can commit with our tongues.

Scripture admonishes us against speaking harsh words.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

The Scriptures urge us not to harm others by gossip and careless talk.

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. 12 He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, But a man of understanding holds his peace. 13 A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. Proverbs 11:11

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. 28 Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. Proverbs 17:27

The Scriptures call us to think before we speak and not to be hasty with our words.

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 29:20

He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him. Proverbs 18:13

So if you think that you are pious but you do not hold rein on your tongue your piety is worthless.

Rather James says that the piety which God our Father accepts as pure and faultless (genuine as opposed to worthless) is keeping your tongue in check but also includes: (James gives two examples.)

1. To care for the poor and helpless.

2. To keep yourself from being morally polluted by the world.

Mercy and holiness are marks of genuine piety. James appeals to the idea that, as believers, we are part of God's family. The religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is that which most closely conforms to his concerns and values. It should be evident to you, if you have spent any time in the Scriptures, that God our Father has a concern for the needy.

DEU 10:18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.

PSA 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

PSA 146:9 The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

In fact there are clear warnings in Scripture that to mistreat the stranger, the defenseless is grievous to God and he will punish those who do so. Remember the words from Micah:

MIC 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

If we are to imitate God our Father then we must visit widows and orphans in their affliction. The word visit suggests that first there is mercy and compassion in your heart. You indeed care for those who are afflicted and stressed by their external circumstances. In fact you care so much that you take the initiative to uncover needs. You look for those who are in need. You do not simply wait for them to show themselves. You go on a mercy offensive. Finally in means that you get involved with them in their troubles in order to bring them relief. To visit the needy in their affliction means that you relieve the needy of their affliction.

Now though James mentions widows and orphans, he does not exclude others who are in want. John Calvin writes “To visit (those) in necessity is to extend a helping hand to alleviate such as are in distress. And as there are many others whom the Lord bids us to succour, in mentioning widows and orphans, he states a part for the whole. There is then no doubt but that under one particular thing he recommends to us every act of love, as though he had said ‘Let him who would be deemed religious, prove himself to be such by self-denial and by mercy and benevolence towards his neighbors.’”

It should also be clear from Scripture that we are called to be imitators of God. We do this by caring for the needs of the poor, weak and defenseless. The ministry of mercy is not optional for the church. It is a mark of true religion, which God our Father accepts as pure and faultless.

One of the texts I quoted from the Old Testament combines the themes of God's concern for the poor and His holiness.

PSM 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

Showing mercy to the poor is part of what it means to be holy. However it is not all that in means. We can not separate a passion for social justice from and commitment to personal holiness or integrity. Personal moral integrity and concern for the needy are welded together by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both matter and matter extremely.

The second example of true religion that James gives is that of personal holiness. This too is connected with knowing God as our Father. He is holy. He therefore, calls you to be holy.

1PE 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. IPE 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 1PE 1:15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; IPE 1:16 for it is written. - "Be holy, because I am holy."* -* Lev. 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7 .

Purity is really conformity to the character of God through the grace of Jesus Christ.

TIT 2: 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

TIT 2:12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

TIT 2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

TIT 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

What is holiness? James defines it negatively: to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. It is often defined this way, because we come into a relationship with God in the context of sin and rebellion. To violate God's law leads to both guilt and contamination.

We are to keep from being polluted by the world. Now we need to stress a few things here. First you are to keep yourself from being polluted by the world. This requires of you continual vigilance of heart, soul and mind. You keep yourself from being polluted or contaminated by the values, affections and actions that the world esteems by being clear on the danger here and paying careful attention to where you are vulnerable. Our hearts though made new still harbor plenty of potential and latent love for the world. But what is the world? One commentator describes it this way. “It is the whole human scheme of things organized in terms of human wisdom to attain a human goal, without reference to God, his laws, his values or his ultimate judgment. This world is, in fact anything and everything that is at odds with the Lordship of Jesus over our lives” (J. A. Moyter).

The danger is not only that of spiritual defilement but of spiritual poisoning. Pollution is not only dirty it is hazardous. To keep from being polluted by the world is to refrain from those activities, thoughts and motives, which are so prevalent in the world and which God says doesn't please him. Such matters as dishonesty in our business dealings, engaging in what we think is innocent gossip, engaging in sexual impurity in thought and deed. Such practices pollute our spiritual lives defiling and poisoning our spirits.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

To what James is referring is the grace of sanctification or the process of becoming more and more holy in your thoughts, attitudes, values and behavior.

Let me read you an abridged definition of sanctification taken from the Savoy Declaration:

Believers are further sanctified really and personally through the power of Christ's death and resurrection, by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them; thus the dominion of sin is destroyed and the many passions and desires of the flesh are more and more weakened and killed (mortified), and believers are more and more empowered and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of all true holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.

Let me give you another definition of sanctification. This one comes from Louis Berkof:

Sanctification is that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit by which He purifies the sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God and enables him to perform good works.

This definition really fits in with the overall theme of James. Notice the connection between purification from sin and the performance of good works.

James is an epistle that deals mainly with the call to sanctification and personal holiness.

Faith is necessary, however. While sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit, you are called to cooperate. The same faith with which you are justified is the same faith by which you are further sanctified. It is only as you place your trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you will find the help you need to “keep yourself” from being polluted by the world. It is only as you are increasingly ravished by the love of God for you in Christ that your love for the world will grow (as the chorus states) strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Richard Lovelace expresses quite well how it is faith in the Gospel that is the power to help us overcome the world.

It is an item of faith that we are children of God; there is plenty of experience in us against it. The faith that surmounts this evidence and is able to warm itself at the fire of God's love, instead of having to steal self-acceptance from other sources, is actually the root of holiness. It is a fatal mistake to think of holiness as a possession, which we have distinct from our faith... Faith is the very highest form of our dependence on God. We never outgrow it... Whatever other fruits of the Spirit we show, they grow upon faith, and faith which is in its nature repentance... Every Christian experience is an experience of what we have not. We are not saved by the love we exercise, but by the love we trust.

That love, may I remind you, is the love of God our Father. It is the love of God in Christ that enables you to control your tongue, extend merciful relief to those in need and aggressively keep yourself from being polluted by the world. May these virtues along with our formal times of worship be the vital and genuine marks of our religion!

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