James, the
“servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” told the
people within the “twelve tribes scattered abroad” that if
“any among” them “seem to be religious, and bridles
not his tongue, but deceives his own heart” that person's
“religion is vain”. In chapter one and verse twenty-seven
of his letter, James shared about “pure” and “undefiled
religion” where we read:
Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and
to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The
verse begins, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and
the Father is this,...” James
began with the word, “Pure”
which means “clean, ethically free from corrupt desire, sin,
falsehood, blame and stain” “religion”
or “worship and religious discipline” “and undefiled”
which means “unsoiled, free from debasement, impairment and
deformity” “before God”
or “at, near or beside the Godhead bodily and trinity which is
comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”
“and the Father”
or “the title of honor to the originator and transmitter of
creation, intellect, Christians and Jesus Christ” “is
this” which refers to “taht
which James is going to state”. James told his readers what “clean
and ethical worship” before “God and the Father” was to be.
The
verse goes on to say, “To visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction,...” James
continued, “to visit”
which means “look upon or after, inspect and examine with the eyes
in order to help or benefit” “the fatherless”
or “those bereft of parents or orphans” “and widows”
which refers to “one who has lost or lacking a husband” “in
their affliction” which means
“pressing, pressure, oppression, tribulation and straits”. Two
charges are given by James; “look after orphans” and help women
who have lost their husbands through death.
Finally
the verse says, “...and
to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James
ended his words with, “and to keep
himself”
or “to attend to carefully, guard, reserve and preserve a person's
self” “unspotted”
which means “free from censure and vice, irreproachable and
unsullied” “from the world” or
“the ungodly multitude and the aggregate of earthly goods,
endowments, riches, advantages and pleasures”. In addition to
helping “orphans and widows”, those who desired “pure
and undefiled religion”
were to “guard” against being “marked and reproached” by
“worldly things”.
When
we think through these words of James, we see how clearly James marks
for us how to practice “pure and undefiled religion”. When
we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are to “look
after” children who are “orphaned” and seek to help “widows”
who have lost their husbands. In addition, we are to “guard
against” being “soiled” by the world and it's attractions. Too
many who call themselves Christians have disregarded these directives
and find themselves belonging to “vain religion” that has
no traction with God. May the Lord Jesus help us to “hear”
His word, “learn” from it, “keep” it and “do”
it as we seek His idea of “pure and undefiled religion”.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see James share about not having the
“faith
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of
glory, with respect of persons”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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