Bible Study - Wednesday 1st August
Wednesday 1st August
BIBLE STUDY
Wisdom from James
This Bible study is based on the Letter of James and is intended for group discussion after an initial talk by the minister. The questions set out in each session of the study are intended to stimulate discussion and need not be kept to rigidly but all the questions arise from what is written in this Letter.
Session 7
My Priority - “What I Need” or “What I Want”?
Passage for Study: James 4: 1-10
Outline of Talk:
• The worldly way of looking at life is both specified and countered here by James. The individualism of today is no different to what James dealt with here, so this teaching is of direct relevance to what we face as we try to live a consistent Christian life. The study this week makes us re-examine and re-evaluate the relationships, people, objects and activities that we regard as of most importance.
• James begins by referring to fighting among Christians. Your first question will involve looking for and listing the various causes of this fighting as these are mentioned in the whole passage (there are at least 8). Note how James brings up the matter of internal conflict within the individual Christian as well as conflict between Christians.
• Notice the conclusion James arrives at in verse 4 – the people he was writing to had lost sight of the fact that their behaviour in such a self-centred, individualistic, world-friendly way was enmity with God. Note that James uses the word “adulterous” here. For a Christian to be in friendship with the world is like spiritual adultery – being unfaithful to God.
• In verse 8 James describes them as being “double-minded” (see also 1:8). This is likely to refer to trying to “keep a foot in both camps” as we often refer to it – ie combining worldly ends and methods with God’s ends and methods, hoping to gain from each. The outcome is instability (1:8). You will need to discuss the effect(s) this would have on a congregation.
• In verse 7 James tells us that the alternative to the worldly way is that of submission to God. Notice that James then immediately mentions resistance to Satan. The two ways are mutually contradictory – if we are friends with the world we are enemies to God but are also friends with Satan. The opposite is also true. Hence in verse 8 we learn that drawing near to God and resisting Satan are essentially the same action – as we draw near to God, he draws near to us; as we thus resist Satan he flees from us.
• In verses 9-10 James urges the kind of attitude and actions that will not fit into the worldly way but are essential to friendship with God and its restoration when we have been unfaithful. They are actually aspects of repentance.
Questions for Discussion Session:
1. What causes fighting among Christians? From the passage (v. 1-10) see how many you can find. Which words in verses 1-2 show the intensity of this fighting? How might one Christian murder another (apart from physically killing them)?
2. How are the people in verses 1-4 showing a desire to be friends with the world? How might a Christian end up being an enemy of God? How does friendship with the world differ from being on good terms with people for the gospel’s sake?
3. Read again verses 6-10. Contrast in as many ways as you can those described in verses 1-3 with those in verses 7-10.
4. The alternative to friendship with the world is submission to God. From verses 7-10, what does this involve?
5. What attitude and actions does resisting the devil involve? How is resisting him different to ignoring him?
6. What is it to “draw near” to God? According to verses 8-10 what should we expect to happen when we draw near to God?
7. For private use afterwards:
What have I learned about God from this study?
What have I learned about myself from this study?
Next session 5th Sept- Do My Plans Fit with God’s Plans? – James 4: 11-17
