We are about to embark on a journey that will not be easy, but is necessary for us to BE THE CHURCH God has called us to be. The Book of James will be our roadmap as we press into the Biblical priority of an active faith. We have entitled this series ‘FORGED’, because it is in the activity of a disciple of Jesus where our Good Shepherd leads us to depend on Him more deeply, resulting in His melting away our own self-sufficiency, and, in turn, hammering the character and nature of Jesus into our very make up. James will argue that “a faith that works is a faith that works.” Yet let me be clear: we do not work for our salvation, but from the salvation already accomplished for us by Jesus on the cross and evidenced in the resurrection. So the fruit of our activity simply comes as a byproduct of being connected to Jesus Christ through the guiding and empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Book of James was not written by one of the twelve disciples, but by the half-brother of Jesus, one who knew Jesus better than anyone. It is interesting to note that James was skeptical that his brother was the promised Messiah and questioned Him throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matthew 31:53-56). But all of this changed with the resurrection of Jesus. This single event impacted James so profoundly that he would become the leader of the church in Jerusalem, having a powerful voice in the practices of the early Church.
The Book of James is often referred to as the Proverbs of the New Testament, demonstrating a faith at work in everyday life, highlighting subjects we can all identify with: trials, temptation, anger, judgmentalism, decision-making, money, the power of the tongue, favoritism, prayer, confession, sharing faith, and healing. It is our prayer that this guide will help to train and encourage you in learning how to “mine for gold” in the Scriptures, helping you to become self-feeders with the help of the Holy Spirit.
