"Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves." — James 1:22

We talk ourselves out of what we know to be the truth about our situation, because it’s easier to just convince ourselves that we’re ok because we understand* certain things about God’s Word. We can explain the doctrine of salvation, we can draw charts about the end times, we can reference theological terms and formulas… We might even know God’s requirements and what He expects of us. But we’re deceiving ourselves if the Word of God isn’t actually transforming the way we think, the way we speak, the way we live, the way we respond to life’s trials and perplexities.

This call continues into chapter 2, as James beseeches believers not to waste their faith in silence and stagnation, but to bring it to life through obedient action.

The question to ask yourself (and maybe another mature believer) is: am I actually obeying the truth I’ve received thus far? Many believers who think they’re safe because they can recite biblical principles and truths need to wake up.

Ask yourself: given the biblical understanding that I have, how has it affected my life? How are you purposefully applying biblical truth to specific situations in your life? Be concrete. Search out the ways in which you have learned (or failed to learn) to put truth into practice… Then confess any sins there, and pray for the Holy Spirit to motivate and enable you to put those biblical truths that speak to your circumstances into action.

There is many a Christian who is fascinated by the exposition and study of God’s Word, but who has assimilated very little of it into his everyday life. And the deceiving of oneself is often seen in rationalizing one’s inaction by simply collapsing the Christian life into a set of principles and doctrines as opposed to a way of life. That’s what the early Christians referred to the faith as, you know — Christianity was referred to as The Way. In becoming a Christian, we have been recruited — initiated — into a new way of life. And what does it mean to be a follower of the Way? We often think of the word "disciple" as basically a synonym for student. But a disciple is not simply a student who learns information from a teacher; a disciple is someone who is learning *a new way of living* from the master.

Back to my point: We often justify our lack of transformation and maturity by appealing to our knowledge of the Word. I reiterate: knowing the Bible is frightfully important. But if you think that studying up on theology will automatically result in wisdom and maturity, you are sorely mistaken. Those who are hearers only are guilty of rationalizing their pious inaction away.

Mere hearers deceive themselves.

We see in the rest of the passage that growing in wisdom is the result of looking to God and trusting what He says to be true, and then acting in line with that knowledge. When we read/hear the Scriptures, they reveal something that calls for action. So then, a call to action:

1. Commit yourself not just to learning Scripture, but to living it out. Ask yourself: "Where in my life am I hearing God's Word clearly but resisting putting it into practice?" (Are there areas where I am content to know the truth but slow to obey it?)
2. Examine your life honestly. Don’t assume that understanding doctrine equals spiritual health. Regularly ask: "How is the Word of God actively transforming my thoughts, my speech, my relationships, my habits?" Be humble enough to let God's Word (and other mature believers) reveal blind spots you might prefer to ignore.

James is urging us: don’t walk away and do nothing. Allow the Word of God to transform your attitudes, words, and actions, by purposefully and prayerfully putting into practice the truths you find in the Word.

Don't waste your faith. Live it.

1st Peter is a letter terribly pertinent to the context in which we find ourselves today. The apostle Peter writes to instruct believers on how to maintain hope and holiness in an increasingly hostile culture. Peter wrote his two epistles to Christians in the Roman provinces of Asia Minor who were facing rising hostility because of their faith in Christ—because their faith makes them different. They’ve been transferred to a new society, they no longer belong to the world, and the world recognizes that. They are experiencing an uncomfortable shift in social status. They face suspicion, distrust, social displacement. They’re being shamed by their neighbors and fellow countrymen; and Peter writes to encourage them that while they face dishonor and disgrace in the view of the world, their trust in Christ will result in their future vindication. Their faith and hope in Christ will not disappoint. Ultimately, “the honor is for you who believe” (1 Peter 2:7).

A very good and important book on this subject is called “Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity,” by David deSilva. Below, I want to share a few quotes in which deSilva explains the way the New Testament authors encourage Christians facing the dishonor of the surrounding culture by reorienting the believers to their new society, their new family, and their new primary court of reputation. I hope you find these snippets as encouraging as I did. And then I hope you go buy the book—it’s really quite phenomenal.

Standing in the ancient Christian tradition, and committed to the doctrinal standards and supremacy of the Holy Scriptures, Fairview Bible Church affirms our religion’s principles of liberty of conscience, honoring and preserving human life from fertilization to natural death, as well as the sovereignty of individuals and families in medical and healthcare decision-making.

Therefore, we state our unequivocal support for the right of refusal of mandatory medical procedures, in the event that an individual sincerely believes his or her life, health, wellbeing, or morality is potentially threatened by such procedures or products, or in the event that a parent has the same concern for his or her child.

Furthermore, we affirm that a Christian’s conscience can properly and validly submit to medical procedures, such as in the taking of tested and proven medications and vaccines, giving thanks to God whose ordering of His creation has allowed such wondrous advancements. At the same time, we affirm that many sound bases may exist for a Christian to refuse similar treatments, and we affirm that our Christian religion protects the liberty of individuals and families to refuse any medical procedure or product on the basis of sincerely held concerns for known or unknown side effects, experimental or emergency uses, potential involvement in fetal cell lines whether in development or testing, or medical and/or political corruption or coercion. We additionally affirm that parents, and parents alone, have the right and responsibility to make such decisions for their children as well, without external interference.

Most foundationally, it is the historic teaching of the Christian church and the holy Scriptures that it is sinful for a Christian to violate his conscience (Romans 14:23). To violate one’s conscience is sin, and to attempt to coerce another to go against conscience is also sin.

By the very nature of a religious objection, it is not expected that an employer or civil magistrate who does not share the religious or conscientious views of the individual objecting will be able to understand and thus to properly evaluate, pass judgement on, approve or disapprove of one’s sincerely held religious beliefs. Rather, the principle of liberty of conscience being enunciated and protected in the U.S. and state constitutions, it is the responsibility of said employer or civil magistrate to make proper accommodations for the religious objections of the individual. However, in the spirit of transparency and collegiality, we offer the following, non-exhaustive, summary explanation of the primary concerns a Christian may variously hold concerning this matter.

First, all human beings having been created in the image of God, and, as Christians, our bodies being temples of God the Holy Spirit, we are taught by our Lord not to knowingly, irresponsibly, and recklessly do something (to ourselves, our children, or others) we believe will inflict serious harm or degrade the body—particularly when it seems the risks far outweigh any potential marginal benefit. This certainly applies when one is persuaded that a procedure could threaten the life, future health, future fertility, and/or well-being of themselves, their children, or others.

Second, Christians are forbade by our Lord from participating in idolatrous activity. Many Christians believe the issues, practices, and responses surrounding the COVID-19 crisis have become matters of public idolatry—of worshiping false gods. The state has positioned itself as the ultimate entity demanding our supreme and absolute allegiance—an allegiance a Christian can only rightly render unto God. The response of the general populace has also betrayed a worship not only of the state, but of self—of physical comfort, health, and safety—and a concurrent reliance on and trust in the state to provide for, justify, and sanctify. Moreover, Christians are urged by the Scriptures to resist such idolatry and statism as fundamentally wicked and demonic (Revelation 13:4-18). Therefore, a Christian’s conscience may reasonably prevent them from partaking of an activity or procedure they believe to be indistinguishably linked to, or a result of, idolatry.

Third, the plain connection these vaccinations have to fetal cell lines derived from aborted human children is undeniable and wicked. It is well-known that Christians have ancient and profound religious objections to the practice of abortion, and are deeply concerned about any potential complicity in such evil. We condemn as a blatant act of rebellion and murder the destruction of the lives of unique pre-born humans in the womb (Exodus 21:22-23; Luke 1:41- 44). Therefore, a Christian may reasonably hold a conscientious objection to receiving a vaccination which resulted from, or in any way benefited from, the fetal cell lines derived from abortions. We furthermore recognize a legitimate distinction between common medicines that have variously been tested with fetal cell lines, but which did not depend upon the abortion industry for their discovery, development, or production, and vaccines which are dependent upon the immoral use of fetal cell lines for their development, approval, or ongoing production.

Moreover, as Christians, we are not scofflaws. We worship a king, Jesus Christ, who not only saved us from our sin by His grace, but also instructs us to obey His rule and command. We furthermore believe that civil government is not simply a necessary evil, but is rather a good and God-given institution. We believe the civil magistrate is a minister of God to punish the wrongdoer and praise the good. We are, therefore, eager to obey the lawful orders of our civil rulers, and to honor them, as the apostle Peter urges us (1 Peter 2:13-17).

Consequently, however, when the requirements of man are in conflict with the law of God, Christians have the right and duty to obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29). To do otherwise is flagrant idolatry. Furthermore, it has been the historic teaching of Christianity that when a civil official seeks to exercise authority which has not been lawfully delegated to his office, he wrongly reaches beyond the scope of his jurisdiction and acts as a private individual, without the authority of office, and thus may be disregarded in that instance (2 Kings 11). Christians, therefore, must not obey rulers when they command that which Scripture forbids, or forbid that which Scripture requires, and moreover are free to use prudence and wisdom when magistrates otherwise seek to reach beyond their lawful jurisdiction (Acts 9:23-25; 1 Peter 2:14).

To reiterate, however, the foundational issue is that it is sinful for a Christian to violate his conscience. If a Christian believes that partaking in any activity would cause him to sin or to be complicit in sin, then he must abstain from such activity (1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Corinthians 10:14-33). Moreover, it is forbidden to coerce or otherwise pressure another to violate his conscience (Romans 14:14 ff.), whether or not their particular reasons are understood or agreed upon. As Martin Luther put it, until the Christian is otherwise convinced “by Scripture and plain reason,” “to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.” In short, a person who is conscientiously opposed to receiving a vaccine is bound by God not to do so. To violate one’s conscience is sin; and to attempt to coerce an individual to go against conscience is also sin.

Therefore, we affirm that Christians have the right and the responsibility to research fully the issues relevant to all such medical matters; that free flow of information must be guaranteed and protected; and that we have the right to make responsible medical decisions for ourselves and our children, including refusing experimental and/or mandatory procedures, vaccination, or gene therapies upon sound religious grounds. We likewise call upon all governmental agencies, businesses, schools, and employers to respect these deeply held religious convictions, and to honor our religious liberty and freedom of conscience by granting religious exemptions as requested.

Download a PDF of this statement here.

As aliens and strangers, the Christian’s standing duty is, first, to abstain from fleshly desires. As a separate people, belonging to God (vv. 9-10), believers are to abstain from (not indulge in) fleshly lusts—those powerful desires that arise out of the flesh. “Flesh,” of course, is a word very commonly used in the New Testament to refer to our fallenness, and thus our proclivity, our natural tendency, toward sin. So Peter’s not talking about neutral desires; he specifically says “fleshly desires.” Now, the term “desire” is sometimes translated as “lust,” but it’s not necessarily a negative word. Desire, in and of itself, is not wicked. But desire turns sinful in one of two ways. You can desire too strongly something that is not evil in itself. And the other way that desire turns to lust is if the object of desire is in itself sinful. If the thing itself that you are desiring is sinful, then the desire itself is sinful, because sin is a heart issue before it is ever a physical act (Matt. 5:28). Entertaining the desire to commit a sinful act is itself a sin, because you are wanting to sin. So, desire can be fleshly lust by being a sinfully strong desire, or a sinfully directed desire.

Peter says these fleshly desires “wage war against your soul.” Paul talks about this battle in Romans 6 and 7 as his mind and his flesh struggling against each other—the inner man desiring to serve Christ, but the outer man being lured by sin. The figure of waging war that Peter uses here is not actually that of hand-to-hand-combat, but of a planned military expedition. These fleshly desires we have are like an army engaged in an ongoing campaign against us, aimed at capturing the believer and making him useless to God—a theme Peter picks up on more in his second letter.

There are two very important points to note here that I want to emphasize today. The first is that Peter is talking about your desires—the desires arising out of your fallen nature, that wage war against the soul. We tend to give way too much credit to Satan. Satan is not omniscient. He’s not omnipresent—he’s probably never personally, directly, bothered you… although his forces might. And he, and his demonic forces, are not omnipotent either—Satan can’t make you sin. And when we blame Satan for every sin in our lives and every temptation we face, 1) we give him far too much credit, and 2) it’s also a form of blame-shifting. If I can blame the devil for my sins, I’m also removing the responsibility from myself, and falling right back into the error of Adam and Eve when God confronted them about their sin. We need to remember that we have three enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil; and the most destructive, pervasive, and ever-present of those is the flesh. We’re quick to blame demonic activity for things that are actually just our own sinful flesh. James explains that temptation happens when we are lured and enticed by our own lusts (James 1:14). Additionally, even if there perhaps is demonic input at any given point, it’s still your choice. The devil cannot make you sin—that’s all you. When you sin, you are giving in to the flesh, rather than submitting to the Holy Spirit and obeying His Word. That’s it.

Now, that leads to the second reminder to take serious note of: your body cannot make you sin. The fact that we are not yet resurrected with our glorified bodies is why sin still has access to us. We have a regenerated spirit, but our physical flesh has not yet been redeemed—it’s where Paul gets the language of the inner man and outer man, and that’s why our sinful tendency (our proclivity toward sin) is often called “the flesh.”

(Don’t let that foster a sort of Gnostic dualism where the physical is bad, and the spiritual is good—that’s not what’s going on there.)

But the point is that we attribute an incredible amount of sin to the organic workings of our bodies. Whether it’s chemical balances, hormones, hunger, tiredness, headaches, or anything else, we think that explains, or at least excuses, our sin. But, guess what? My body cannot make me sin. Every single time I sin, it’s because I made a choice between submitting to the Holy Spirit or submitting to the flesh, and I chose to follow my flesh rather than the Spirit. And when we hear that, we tend to then begin rationalizing that these thoughts or words or actions, these outbursts I’m having, are not actually sinful then, because, again, some kind of organic thing explains it. But the test to apply—to determine whether something is really just excused because it’s an organic issue, or if it actually is a matter of sin that I have to make a choice to submit to Christ in—the test is to ask whether Scripture forbids or commands it. For example, does Scripture forbid forgetting things, losing your memory? No. So, as you get older and more forgetful, or as you get Alzheimer’s and get really forgetful… that’s not a sin issue. God doesn’t command us to have a good memory. Now, the way you respond to that trial might be a sin issue, and a very important issue to address.

Here’s a common example. People are quick to excuse whining in their children if their kids are hungry or tired. But what does the Scripture say? “Do everything without grumbling and arguing” (Phil. 2:14). Complaining is a sin for children just as much as for adults. The list of sins doesn’t change the older we get. Hunger or tiredness may be a contributing stressor, but we can’t address the physical stressor to the disregard of the spiritual response of disobedience.

We often we excuse someone’s anger because of hormones, or someone’s despair because of a chemical imbalance. We need to remember—and keep at the front of our minds every day—my body cannot make me sin. It sure can make things difficult; and we can address the organic matters as we also address the matter of my sinful or righteous responses, but my body cannot make me sin; and Satan cannot make me sin. My own desires tempt me, and so I must be diligent and vigilant in abstaining from them, because they are on an ongoing campaign to keep me from honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ.

In 1 Peter 2:11, the apostle Peter gives his appeal to believers as foreigners and sojourners to abstain from fleshly lusts. 1 Peter 2:12 gives the positive component to Peter’s exhortation: Keeping your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that although they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

We tend to read this as saying that Christians should keep their conduct honorable in the eyes of the gentiles (unbelievers). But that’s not what Peter is saying. Not here. Remember the broader context of 1 Peter, the apostle urging us as Christians to reorient ourselves toward God and God’s people as the only court of reputation we care about. But look even in the immediate context. We are to keep our conduct honorable “so that although they accuse us of wrongdoing…” Clearly, our conduct is not honorable in their opinion! In fact, they’re accusing us of being evildoers, in part, because of our honorable conduct. Peter reiterates this in 4:4, when he mentions the astonishment and maligning that unbelievers will respond with “when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery.” But, he says in 4:5, “they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

What Peter is saying is that we are to keep our conduct honorable according to God’s standards—honorable in the estimation of God, and of our brothers and sisters who reflect and reinforce the same values and standards. Keep your conduct among the unbelievers honorable, so that although they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. The “day of visitation” is best taken to refer to Christ’s second coming, or, I think, more specifically, the Great White Throne judgment. And the crucial reminder is this:

First, the standard of our estimation is God’s, not the world’s; and, second, the timing of our estimation is yet future, not immediate. Peter is reiterating his comfort and encouragement to the Asian believers, that no matter what disgrace and dishonor and humiliation they face from the world, although unbelievers will speak against Christians, calling them evildoers, they will still observe their good works. And God will use that for His glory one day. Although they accuse and malign you now, God will use your honorable conduct in the face of hostility to bring about honor and glory and praise to His name—and that is to be our ultimate goal anyway.

Philippians 4:6–7 is an oft-misunderstood passage. It’s almost become cliché. It’s one of those portions of Scripture easily utilized as a bumper sticker, or seen on a coffee mug, or overlaid on a stock image of mountains or flowers in the local kitsch store. It’s numbered among those verses that have become so familiar as to be considered banal, tacky, trite. But Philippians 4:6–7 is a tremendously comforting passage when understood correctly.

“Do not be anxious about anything…” And the opposite of being anxious, or, rather, the way to not be anxious, is to “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The word for “requests” refers to a plea or petition—to entreat a sovereign Lord who has the ability and the good will to help us in our time of trouble and worry.

And verse seven gives the result: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is a promise. If we bring our cares and worries and concerns before the Lord in prayer and supplication, He promises to give us peace to guard—to ease and protect—our minds.

The reverse implication is that if you do not have peace, you have not yet truly given God your worries through prayer and thanksgiving. Because—the promise is—if you had, the peace of God would keep your hearts and minds. What a comforting promise indeed!

Everyone seems to be talking about the need for churches (and other entities) to stay up with the times… to adapt to new technologies and new strategies, new philosophies and new methodologies. Change with the times, offer more online options, be more immediately accessible (don’t do anything the world won’t understand), revisit your marketing/growth and outreach strategies, or your church will suffer.

Do you want to know what will not only never be out of style, but also will never cease to be absolutely necessary, essential, and timelessly relevant?—Gathering with Christ’s people, singing with one another, hearing God’s Word preached in person, praying together, celebrating the Lord’s supper—all of which can only really be done in person. The space matters; physical presence matters; embodied fellowship and togetherness matters.

As churches continue to try to convince you that being online is just as good as in person, and that staying away from the assembly is what the Assembly (church) should be doing… and that when the author of Hebrews says that assembling together is essential for our mutual encouragement and edification, he really means we can forsake the assembly sometimes and it will be just as edifying and our church can be “stronger than ever!”… Well, time will tell. But I believe time will tell (and has told) that this is not so.

Christians will realize that it actually is crucial to continue doing what Christians have done for the past 2,000 years—gather with our fellow believers on the Lord’s Day, in the face of all opposition and risk, to corporately declare, uphold, and proclaim the Word and worth of God, and to officially affirm, equip, and edify one another’s faith in Christ through discipleship, corporate worship in song, the teaching and preaching of God’s Word, and the observance of the ordinances.

Assembling together is the most fundamental and foundational thing Christians do.

The calls to “adapt,” and “change,” and “keep up” will last for a little while… but I believe 2021 will see churches beginning to realize the need for a “back to the basics” approach—a strategy of steady faithfulness in the ordinary means of grace—because the “basics” are absolutely critical. Gathering together on the Lord’s Day to pray together, encourage one another, sing together, and sit under the teaching of God’s Word together is foundational to everything else.
If you are looking for a church dedicated to:

• The simple verse-by-verse exposition of the whole counsel of God’s Word,
• Singing songs that exalt the Word and worth of Jesus Christ, are theologically rich, musically appropriate, and designed to be sung by a congregation,
• Upholding grace as the motivation for how the local church functions and for living the Christian life,
• Affirming that God alone is the Lord of the conscience, and thereby protecting the individual’s conscience from being bound by the commandments of men,
• Practicing meaningful hospitality, fellowship, and discipleship,
• Becoming (and helping one another become) committed and competent disciples of Christ in every area of life,
  
  

I invite you to consider Fairview Bible Church.

My hope, to borrow wording from a fellow pastor, is that, in an historical sense, Fairview Bible Church is a boringly normal, biblical church. We have no interest in reinventing the wheel or creating a “new kind of church.”

Our church from its conception has been rooted in the conviction that the Bible is our absolute authority and rule of life as God’s true and unfailing Word. It is through the faithful teaching and application of the Word of God that we can grow to better know, obey, and love Christ. And we’re committed to having no problem passages—where the Scriptures speak, we speak.

You’ll find when you spend time with us that we are far from perfect—but that we want to point you to the One who is. I hope you’ll join us as we seek to know Christ more deeply, follow Him more faithfully, and love Him and others more fully.