Warren Wiersbe - Be Mature - James: Growing Up in Christ (Be Series Commentary)

BE MATURE
Published by David C. Cook
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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,
no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form
without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; WMS are taken from The New Testament in the Language of the People by Charles B. Williams, 1966 Moody Press, Chicago, IL; NIV taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved; PH are taken from J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English , revised editions J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers; and TLB are taken from The Living Bible , 1971, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60189. Used by permission.

LCCN 2008924754

ISBN 978-1-4347-6845-2
eISBN 978-1-4347-6586-4

1978 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Mature by Warren W. Wiersbe published by Victor Books
in 1978 SP Publications, ISBN 978-0-89693-754-3

The Team: Gudmund Lee, Amy Kiechlin, Jack Campbell, and Susan Vannaman
Cover Design: John Hamilton Design
Cover Photo: iStockPhoto

Second Edition 2008

Dedicated with love and appreciation to some pastor friends who
have been a help and an encouragement to me:
Mark Bubeck
Jerome DeJong
William Larkin
Erwin Lutzer
Douglas Stimers

C ONTENTS

: An Introduction to Be Mature by Ken Baugh

1. (James 1:1)

2. (James 1:212)

3. (James 1:1318)

4. (James 1:1927)

5. (James 2:113)

6. (James 2:1426)

7. (James 3:112)

8. (James 3:1318)

9. (James 4:112)

10. (James 4:1317)

11. (James 5:16)

12. (James 5:712)

13. (James 5:1320)

T HE B IG I DEA

An Introduction to Be Mature
by Ken Baugh

Did you know that every carpenter and construction worker has one primary tool that they use more than any other? They use it dozens of times a day and would be lost without it. This tool doesnt require electricity or batteries for it to work, its not sharp like a saw, and requires very little effort to use. Have you guessed what it is yet? Its a tape measure . Im a carpenter myself and have experience building furniture, framing, and remodeling houses, and I have even built a photography studio, so I know firsthand the importance of a tape measure. Without this simple little tool, you wouldnt be able to make exact cutspeople would have to estimate and make trial cuts that might be close, but never exact. To build anything with any precision requires some type of measuring device like a tape measure.

Did you know that God is a construction worker also? Right now He is building you into the person He wants you to be, using the mold of His Son, Jesus Christ. The theological word for this process is sanctification . Others might also refer to this process as spiritual formation, and that phrase is okay too, but it can be a bit dangerous these days when almost any belief can fall into the category of spiritual. Therefore, I prefer to use the phrase Christ-formation so there is no confusion about the goal of the process. In fact, I believe that Christ-formation is Gods primary goal for our lives as His followers, and we see this emphasized over and over again in Scripture: God wants us to be transformed into the image of His Son.

For example, Paul refers to the Christians in Galatia as,My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Gal. 4:19 NIV ). This verse clearly implies this expectation of Christ-formation. Then in 2 Corinthians 3:18 ( NIV ), Paul emphasizes this fact again by saying, And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into his likeness. Christ-formation is Gods ultimate goal for every follower of Christthat slowly, over time, we will begin to think like Jesus, see things as Jesus would see them, and treat people the same as Jesus would treat them. Now dont get me wrong, I dont think that any human being in this life will ever become fully transformedthat wont happen until we get to heaven. But this transformation process is supposed to be progressive, meaning that every day we should be more like Jesus than we were yesterday. So heres my question: If God wants us to become more and more like Jesus, which He clearly does, how does this happen? The answer is simple: Scripture. God uses Scripture as a tape measure for the Christ-formation process. The apostle Paul outlines this for us in Romans 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Let me briefly unpack what Paul means here.

When Paul tells us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, he is assuming that we are conforming, and he is commanding us to stop. The phrase be transformed is an imperative in the Greek text, which means that it is a command. Now, it wouldnt make sense for Paul to command us to do something that we couldnt do, would it? Of course not. Therefore, there must be something that we are able do that facilitates this Christ-formation process. What is it, you ask? Simply this: to study, meditate, memorize, and apply Gods Word to our lives.

Think of it like this: Bible study is kind of like going to the gym and working out. When you study your Bible, you are exercising spiritually. We see this analogy over and over again in Scripture. Paul told Timothy: Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit (1 Tim. 4:7 TLB ). The Greek word used here for spiritually fit is gymnasia , which is obviously where we get our English word gymnasium . Paul is telling Timothy to exercise himself spiritually, the implication being that spiritual exercise will help him grow strong in his faith and character. Paul goes on to say in verse 8: Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually , and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too ( TLB ). Peter says the same thing: grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ(2 Peter 3:18 TLB ).

Spiritual exercises need not be limited to Bible study, as you could also include prayer, fasting, solitude, silence, and a host of others. But the primary activity for transforming the mind is time spent in Gods Word. The bottom line is this: If you want to become more and more like Jesus Christ, study, meditate, memorize, and apply the Scriptures to your life. When you begin to take the initiative for this Christ-formation process in your own life, then you will know that you are on the path to spiritual maturity.

Now you might be wondering, what does all of this have to do with the book of James? Here it is: The central theme for the book of James is maturity. God wants us to grow up in our faith, and James tells us how to do it. In fact, about half of the verses in James contain verbs in the imperative formthese are not options, suggestions, or even good ideas, but requirements for Christlike living. For example: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds (1:2 NIV ); Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (1:22 NIV ); dont show favoritism (2:1 NIV ); Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil (4:7 NIV ); Humble yourselves before the Lord (4:10 NIV ); do not slander one another (4:11 NIV ); Be patient , then, brothers, until the Lords coming (5:7 NIV ). The spiritually maturing person takes responsibility to read and follow these commands themselvesthey dont need to be spoon fed what they are to do, and they dont blame others when they falter. So, if you want to become strong in your faith and more Christlike in your behavior, you need to take responsibility for your own spiritual growth.

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