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CHAPTER 9
Words of James and Jude,
brothers of Jesus
The Need for a Sincere Faith
James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the twelve tribes who
are scattered over the world. All good wishes.
Be assured that the testing of your faith leads to power of endurance. And
if any one of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives with
open hand to all men, and without blaming, and it will be given him. But let
him ask in faith and have no doubts, for he who has doubts is like the surge of
the sea, driven by the wind and tossed into spray. A person of that sort must
not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
My brothers, you must not make distinctions between one man and another while
you maintain faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our glory. For suppose a
man comes into one of your meetings wearing gold rings and fine clothes, and
there also comes in a poor man wearing shabby clothes, and you pay court to the
one who wears the fine clothes, and say, "Sit here, this is a good place;" while
to the poor man you say, "Stand there, or sit on the floor at my feet", is it
not plain that in your hearts you have little faith, seeing that you have become
judges full of wrong thoughts? Just as a human body without a spirit is
lifeless, so also faith is lifeless if it is unaccompanied by obedience.
Which of you is wise and well-instructed? Let him prove it by a right life
with conduct guided by a wisely teachable spirit. But if in your hearts you
have bitter feelings of envy and rivalry, do not speak boastfully and falsely,
in defiance of the truth. That is not the wisdom which comes down from above.
It belongs to earth, to the unspiritual nature, and to evil spirits. The wisdom
from above is first of all pure, then peaceful, courteous, not self-willed, full
of compassion and kind actions, free from favouritism and from all insincerity.
What causes wars and contentions among you? Is it not the cravings which are
ever at war within you for various pleasures? You covet things and yet cannot
get them; you commit murder; you have passionate desires and yet cannot gain
your end; you begin to fight and make war. You have not, because you do not
pray, or you pray and yet do not receive, because you pray wrongly, your object
being to waste what you get on some pleasure or another. You unfaithful women,
do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity to God? Therefore
whoever is bent on being friendly with the world makes himself an enemy to God.
Submit therefore to God: resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and
make your hearts pure, you who are half-hearted towards God. Afflict yourselves
and mourn and weep aloud; let your laughter be turned into grief, and your
gladness into shame. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will
exalt you.
Jude calls for the defence of the faith
Dear friends, eager to begin a letter to you on the subject of our common
salvation, I find myself constrained to write and cheer you on to the vigorous
defence of the faith delivered once for all to God's people.
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, ungodly men, who pervert the
grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our
only Sovereign and Lord. These men are those who share the pleasure of your
love-feasts, unrestrained by fear while caring only for themselves; clouds
without water, driven away by the winds; trees that cast their fruit, barren,
doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame;
wandering stars, for whom is reserved dense darkness of eternal duration. These
are those who cause divisions. They are men of the world, wholly unspiritual.
But you, my dearly loved, building yourselves up on the basis of your most
holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,
waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him who is able to keep you
safe from stumbling, and cause you to stand in the presence of his glory free
from blemish and full of exultant joy, to the only God our Saviour, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, be ascribed glory, majesty, might, and authority, as it
was before all time, is now, and shall be to all the ages! Amen.
Verses used to construct this history:
Chapter 9: James 1:1,3,5-7; 2:1-4,26; 3:13-15,17;4:1-4,7-10. Jude
3, 4, 12, 16, 19-21, 24, 25.
> Click on Next to move on to Chapter 10 or Back to go to
Chapter 8.
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