Daily Bible Verses for 3/15/2017

Daily Verse(s)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Reading Notes
As we enter a new section of chapter one James through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about true Christianity and its practical application. James tells us we are expected to be doers of God’s word. James then contrasts this with what we would call in our world today as “arm chair” Christians. Those who only listen to the word of God, they never act on the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As James speaks on this subject he really makes evident to us the signs of genuine Christian faith. The logic is really pretty straight forward. Someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus, a person who has placed their faith in Christ Jesus and calls Him Lord and Savior is a new creation. When we place our faith in Jesus, by the grace of God, we receive a new spirit that is alive to God and the things of God. This is a free gift of salvation because of the shed blood of Christ, which has cleansed us from sin.

Through faith in Jesus, His righteousness has been credited to us and through Him, God has renewed are spirit. We are now a child of God, adopted into the family of God by our faith in Jesus. And with our salvation comes regeneration carried out by the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers and begins God’s process of changing our lives from the inside out. And as a result of the process of regeneration we are born again as a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sanctification, which is a lifelong process carried out by the Holy Spirit starts by giving us a new heart sensitive to the things of God and the needs of those around us. We are no longer our old selves, we have become a new person. We have become a child of God adopted into the family of God because of our faith in Christ. And with the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in us, our “old self” has died, we are now alive in Jesus. And we now have new life in Christ. And here’s the point, a natural byproduct of regeneration, a result of genuine faith and being born again is it changes our character. And because of that it therefore changes our behavior. And this is a change which is evident in our character and how we live our day to day lives.