Triple Play
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. James 3:17 NASB
Pure – James, Paul and John agree. They each use this rather rare Greek word for the same thing – moral purity. Paul uses it in 1 Timothy 5:22. John uses it in 1 John 3:3 and James rounds out the triple play. But it is more than we commonly think of when we consider moral purity. In the case of each of these Jewish men, hagnos is related to the purity that is expected within the practice of the Way. That’s why we find the same Greek term in the LXX (Proverbs 20:9 and 4 Maccabees 18:7-8). In King James English, this would be translated “chastity.”
James strikes a discordant note for our generation. He places moral purity at the head of the list with regard to wisdom from above. It is first (proton) in the characteristics of godly competence and mastery. James’ order isn’t accidental. Hs provides the building blocks of a truly Spirit-sensitive existence and the very first building block is exact alignment with God’s view of morality. In fact, James allows no deviation, no excuses, no exceptions. If you and I want to experience the full range of God’s sweet presence in living, then we must conform our lives to His moral code.
When it comes to the big ticket items, most of us don’t see any real problems here. We maintain a fairly high moral standard simply because we were brought up that way. We know stealing is wrong. We try not to lie. We would never murder another person. We do our best with honoring parents. We keep our sexual desires under control. But, of course, that isn’t’ quite what James has in mind, is it? James isn’t talking simply about conformity with the law, and in this case, the law of the land, the government’s rules for proper social behavior. He’s talking about our heart motivation. He’s talking about how much we long for God’s ways no matter what the cost. He’s looking for purity – that sense of absolute conformity with the character of God that comes from deep inside and that directs all of our actions so that we are transparently holy. He’s talking about Leviticus 19:2 (just as his brother did in Matthew 5:48).
First, holiness! Everything else follows from this. And without it, nothing else matters. Certainly there is no sense of God’s wisdom without Leviticus 19:2. There is no possibility of fulfilling God’s purpose for His chosen ones without Leviticus 19:2. One might even wonder if there is any real community without Leviticus 19:2. Hagnos might be a rare word in the New Testament, but it is not a rare concept. The entire plan of redemption drives to this one goal – holiness, purity, blamelessness. And some great heroes of the faith knew precisely what it meant. David, Samuel, Joseph, Hosea, Isaiah, Elijah. Maybe even you.
Topical Index: hagnos, pure, holy, James 3:17, Leviticus 19:2
If you and I want to experience the full range of God’s sweet presence in living, then we must conform our lives to His moral code.
Keeping a code (a creed) or coming to Christ? Religion, rituals, rules or relationship?
Christianity is not a code or a creed- it is Christ!
It is Christ in you, (and Christ in me) – the hope (a glad certainty) of glory!
Unbelievers see pastors as professional salesmen, but they see you as a “satisfied customer.”
“Holiness is not the way to Christ.. Christ is the way to holiness”.
~This is the Way, walk in it.. ~
~ I AM the Way..~
Fill with Thy Spirit, till all shall see.. Christ only- always, living in me.
~He must increase, but “I” must decrease ~
~ not “I,” but Christ..~
~ “I” have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me ~ (and to me!)
Blessed assurance! Jesus is mine!- O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation! Purchase of God! Born of His Spirit! Washed in His blood!
~ Ask and you will receive..~ Seek and you will find..~ Knock and it shall be opened unto you ~
~ Come now, let us settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool ~ (Isaiah 1.18)
~ But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear ~ Isaiah 59.2 (sin separates)
~ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ~ (I John 1.9)
~Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin ~ (Psalm 51:2)
~ Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good? ~ (Titus 2:14)
Up Calv’ry’s mountain, one dreadful morn,
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn;
Facing for sinners death on the cross,
That He might save them from endless loss.
Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer!
Seems now I see Him on Calvary’s tree;
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading,
Blind and unheeding—dying for me!
“Father forgive them!” thus did He pray,
E’en while His life’s blood flowed fast away;
Praying for sinners while in such woe—
No one but Jesus ever loved so.
Oh, how I love Him, Savior and Friend,
How can my praises ever find end?
Through years unnumbered on heaven’s shore,
My tongue shall praise Him forevermore.
LORD Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul;
Break down every idol, cast out every foe—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
LORD Jesus, let nothing unholy remain,
Apply Thine own blood and extract every stain;
To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies,
And help me to make a complete sacrifice;
I give up myself, and whatever I know—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed LORD, at Thy crucified feet,
By faith for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait;
Come now and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee Thou never said’st “No”—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
~There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in (blood-covenant) union with the Messiah Jesus ~ (Romans 8.1)
~ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me ~ (Revelation 3.20)
I do not think there is any indication here that one could be holy by keeping rituals, rules, laws, as you call them. This is referring to our hearts. Its what’s inside that counts. Our hearts are changed at Calvary and is what purifies us and creates the desire to be like our master which results in keeping the instructions for holy living.
Consider a few more verses before you conclude that it was all changed at Calvary. First, think about what the prophet Micah said (6:8). While it is certainly true that inner and outer must be aligned, do you think that what is inside ALONE is sufficient? Then why all the instructions in Torah? And if Calvary did it all, then why does Hebrews 13:8 tell us it happened before the foundation of the world?
I only meant that our hearts are changed because of Calvary. That is not the end of it but rather the beginning. Even before the actual death, burial, and resurrection took place in the physical, it was the condition of the person’s heart/relationship with God that made the sacrifices at the temple and obedience to Torah of any value at all. I do not think that I meant what you think I meant. I was trying to indicate that because of our hearts’ change, we follow the Torah and want to be holy as YHVH is holy. I thought Carl was indicating that simply believeing is what makes us different. I know it is through faith by grace. That is the beauty of it and that which makes us desire holiness at all.
OK, got it. As I have written many times, God pours out grace. When we respond, we create a relationship with Him that entails all the elements of hesed, obedience being primary. James is right. Faith is nothing unless it is expressed in action.
Carl, that scripture CHRIST IN ME THE HOPE OF GLORY has been brought to me quite a bit lately. I am on Facebook and have done something up on there about HIS HOLINESS and the absolute wonder that HE IS IN ME and I AM IN HIM.
This is a long read but it is lovely as you uplift the CHRIST OF CALVARY..
Keep up the faith and as you know we are one day closer to HIS PROMISED RETURN.
Dear Skip,
As I consider the lesson for today, particularly with Leviticus 19:2; Matthew 5:48 and Micah 6:8 in mind, together with Lori’s comments, I gave pause to think about behavior modification/heart transformation. I am reminded of an instance where I had occasion to visit my daughter and grandchildren recently. On the day of my arrival my oldest grandchild – then six – was being disciplined for behavior she had exhibited in school that day. She was given parently justification for the reason that she was about to receive a sentence of time out. I asked for a chance to speak with her before she served her sentence and appealed to her in a manner that I knew would touch her heart, to think about while she was in time out. She has not displayed that particular behavior since. Oh how I wish I could been a grandmother first, LOL. In my experience, behavior modification = being obedient just for the sake of being obedient because you have to and heart transformation = being obedient because your heart is in it and you want to. When I meditate on how merciful God has been to us, my heart is touched and I want to express that through being obedient. I am so thankful that He allowed me to get to this point!
I was listening to a pastor on the radio the other day. He was explaining to his parishioners how Christianity is supposed to work. It went something like: We feel the sting of our sin, we realize God’s sacrifice on our behalf – so then we experience regenerative thankfulness which transforms our lives. But as I listened to this pastor try to get excited an excited “Amen!”, from his listeners, I wondered why someone would have to TRY to get their church excited about Christianity. I wondered why the pastor seemed to have to use THEORETICAL grammar to explain Christianity. It was as if he had to explain how it worked – because it wasn’t working! A salesman must work harder to sell an inferior product.
I think it’s safe to say that we have more marriage books and experts in our country than we ever have before — but it’s because the sickness necessitates the physician. Marriage is broken in the U.S. (and of course, elsewhere), so the marriage experts proliferate. Similarly, Protestantism has never before emphasized a ‘relationship with God’ as strongly as it has now — but maybe that only means we are more seperated from God than ever before. We have NOT discovered a beautifully new theological emphasis (“It’s all about the relationship”), we have lost the relationship (covanent) — so we talk endlessly, emotionally, and vainly in an effort to manifest what has been lost.
Thanks Skip for the faithfulness of the LORD upon your life and being effective.
May the LORD grant you what ever is needed in this NEW YEAR to be the man that HE Has destined you to be. I always look forward in reading what you have brought to the table each day and of course the comments that follow.
“If you and I want to experience the full range of God’s sweet presence in living, then we must conform our lives to His moral code.”
While I would give this statement a heartly AMEN! I can’t help but wonder if James isn’t pushing us a little deeper, even than this. He speaks of purity in contrast to bitter jealousy and contention/striving.
If one were to seek to “operate” in this wisdom from above, James seems to call us to weigh our motivations (tough buisness!!). Are we seeking to gain something, even something as simple as recognition? Or are we doing our work/worship out of a pure love for those who are the recipients of our efforts, as well as our love for God. I think, elsewhere, it’s translated as “unfeigned love”. (king James english) The Messiah called it, “having a single eye”.
“let him show his works by his good behavior, “in meekness of wisdom”. Amen James, the calling is high, perhaps too high, but we’re made able through the Messiah and in His strength.
YHWH bless you and keep you…….
This is an excellent observation. We are not to judge other’s motives but we NEED to review our own, and often. And, yes, this is difficult and actually painful if we can be honest with ourselves. We oftentimes think of lying and bearing false witness in light of our relationship and interactions with others. But do we allow us to lie to ourselves?
I believe there is hebrew terminology for this: kavannah (*spelling?*)
You don’t have to post this as I am not allowed to participate in posts, but I have something I have noticed. Hognos is from the word hagios (G40 most holy thing or SAINT). A friend of mine pointed out to me G40 is most likely a Feast keeper as it seems to use chag (H2287). To me there seems to be a connection with Feast keeping and hognos. What do you think?
“The entire plan of redemption drives to this one goal – holiness, purity, blamelessness. ” Amein!
Exactly so! This is the walking out of our salvation part.
Being saved, through repentance, which is the acknowledging of transgressions in our lives, and turning back to YHWH’s Word, from Genesis to Revelation, and His ways, is only the first ‘baby’ step.
Then through trials, we are proved and refined, to show forth the fruit of our salvation and the true returning from our ways TO His.
It would not be the narrow and strait way if it is an easy path, for sure, to first desire to reach that goal, or mark of perfection. Blamelessness, as perfection, would be one of the final character assessments, to be free from transgressions of presumption, a false witness intentional or otherwise.
“holiness, purity, blamelessness” is our main goal and focus in this race of eternity, really!
But, what a reward ahead of that, a life of corruption for incorruptibility, mortality for immortality!
HalleluYAH!!!!!!!!!
Blessings, Skip, thank you!
My first post here. I have read three of the posts on this verse. Thought they were great! Our actions can close the door to El’s presence and cut off communion with him. Right living is simply living the way he is. If we say we are His disciples and live another way, are we telling the truth? We are to be followers of Mashiach as he was a follower of his father. He never told us any different. His death paid the requirements of our breaking the covenant, it did not do away with the covenant. The agreement is still in force and his commandments are not grievous.