With No Doubting

James 1:5-8 ESV

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

So many people are quoting verse five out of context and they are leaving out the rest of what this says. And so they are giving their listeners the impression that they can ask God for wisdom and it will just be given to them, unconditionally. But that is not what this says. It says we have to ask in faith without doubting or we won’t receive anything from the Lord.

So, what is faith? Well, the word means “persuasion,” and in this case “divine persuasion.” And what is God going to persuade us to do? From what we read in the Scriptures, he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to follow him in obedience in living holy lives, pleasing to him.

But faith is also believing God and his Word, and belief involves putting that word into practice in our everyday lives. For if all we do is just give lip service to God, then that is not genuine faith which saves. For by faith we die with Christ to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to his righteousness.

So, if we doubt God, what does that mean? It means we don’t believe him, for we are questioning his Word and his wisdom. And those who do this while they profess faith in Jesus Christ are called “double-minded.” And that is a person of two minds and souls, who continually vacillates between opinions, one moment saying he believes God and the next moment not.

And if we are double-minded, and we keep vacillating between following the Lord and not following him, and if we go back and forth between obeying him and obeying sin, then we do not have salvation from sin. And I am not saying here that we must be absolutely perfect! This is about someone who professes one thing with his lips but who lives the opposite.

So, don’t be double-minded. Be people of faith who stay the course and who stand on the truth and who do not go back and forth in opinion and belief as though changing like shifting shadows. Be who God called you to be and stay there. And then be faithful to the Lord and to his calling on your life, and don’t allow yourself to be easily swayed by the opinions of man.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76LrWK2ZTmQ

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Walking in The Light  

An Original Work / November 16, 2011

Based off 1 John 1-2

When I lift up my voice, and

Sing praise unto God,

I will fellowship with my

Lord and Savior, King.

In Him there is no darkness.

He is in the light of truth.

If we walk in His light,

From sin He purifies. 

If we repent of our sins,

He’ll forgive us now,

When we humble ourselves, and

Before Jesus bow.

The man who says, “I know Him,”

But does not obey His truth,

There is no truth in him.

In darkness still he’s found.

Do not love the world of sin,

For it is hell bound.

If you follow the world, you’ll

Not in Christ be found.

The world and its desires 

Will not last; they’ll expire.

The one who does God’s will,

Receives eternal life.

See that what you have heard from

Christ remains in you.

Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and

In His Father, too.

This is what He promised us –

His eternal life with God.

So, continue in Him, and

You’ll receive a crown.

https://vimeo.com/114160122