James draws on the common biblical theme of God's generosity to all creatures, but particularly to His people.

We discuss how the emphasis is placed on the giving attitude of God, and to the universal extent of this giving. He highlights how God's giving is pure and simple, and that He will not scold us for not already having the wisdom we request.

The purpose behind bringing up this attribute of God is to motivate his readers to more prayer. If God does not hesitate to give, then we should not hesitate to pray.

For more biblical studies, check out my blog: In the Last Hour, or give a listen to my other podcast that I do with my friend Preston: The Informal Reformers.

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The logic seems to be that joy through trials is so counter-intuitive, that such an attitude must have a divine origin. James draws on the common Old Testament theme that God is the source of all wisdom.

We point out that "let him" is too weak to convey the force behind this imperative, and prefer the translation "he must ask." We further discuss how James stresses the divine origin of this wisdom.

For more biblical studies, check out my blog: In the Last Hour, or give a listen to my other podcast that I do with my friend Preston, The Informal Reformers.

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We discuss how this wisdom must be that which relates to trials, and look to the Puritan Thomas Manton for help.

We then see that this is not open to any human being, but only to the community of believers. Yet at the same time, this is a command for any and all believers, because even mature Christians lack wisdom at times.

Until next time, for more biblical studies you can always check out my blog: In the Last Hour, or give a listen to my other podcast: The Informal Reformers.

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We examine these dangerous doctrines in light of Scripture, particularly John 6, which shows us that "eating My body" and "drinking My blood" means to believe in Jesus' incarnation and atonement. We prove that Jesus was not speaking literally at the Last Supper. We hold firm to the foundation of the Bible, that salvation is by faith alone.

For more biblical studies, check out my blog: In the Last Hour, and my other podcast: The Informal Reformers.

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So the divine design behind our suffering that believers are to keep in mind if we are to be filled with joy is that God is making us perfect. James expresses this utilizing 3 different terms. This variety of synonymous terminology sums up that our Christian character will have everything good we must have, and none of the bad we are forbidden to have. Through the process of progressive sanctification, our endurance leads us toward a well-rounded Christian character.

In the next Studies with Steve, we will start in verse 5. James had just said that we will be lacking in nothing. This starts him off on a tangent about when we lack wisdom regarding how to properly respond to trials. Until then, if you are interested in more biblical studies, check out my blog: In the Last Hour, or my other podcast: The Informal Reformers.

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This question comes to light because of the popular teaching in the church called Dispensationalism. This theological system is overly literal in its interpretation of the Bible. To them, the promises in the Old Testament that were for "Israel" are for Israel only and cannot be applied to the church.

We examine several key passages from the New Testament that prove that Christians indeed are Jews spiritually. The Bible says on several occasions that we are sons of Abraham and are blessed with Abraham the believer. Other passages specifically label all believers, regardless of heritage, as "Israelites" and "Jews". Jew and Gentile alike are united into one body, the church, by faith in Christ.

For more biblical studies, check out my blog In the Last Hour, or listen to an episode or two of the other podcast I do with my friend Preston: The Informal Reformers.

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We are continuing down the chain saying that James started in verse 3. We see that endurance is not the end goal! There is so much more God wants to do in us. The goal is not a stronger form of endurance, but it has a job to do.

We examine the structure of the sentence to see that James is not giving the next step in the chain (e.g. "perfection"), but rather shows that endurance has a product that it must yield. A better translation, then, would be "And this endurance must yield/bring about a perfect product."

In the next episode we are going to find out what that final step in the chain is. Until then, for more biblical studies, you can always check out my blog, In the Last Hour, or give my other podcast a listen: The Informal Reformers.

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Some preacher long ago must have been the first to come up with these ingenuous interpretations, and since that day just about every sermon is a copy and paste of these major misunderstandings.

In this episode we go over the real reason why Jesus "had to" go through Samaria, as well as the real reason that Jesus asked the Samaritan woman to fetch her husband.

For more biblical studies, check out my blog (https://inthelasthour.com) and my other podcast (The Informal Reformers).

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While joy and humility are major themes in the epistle, neither are the main reason Paul wrote it.

Actually, Philippians is a Thank You letter written by Paul to a suffering yet generous church that has supported him on several occasions during his missionary journeys. He thanks them for a recent monetary gift from the church delivered by Epaphroditus, and updates them on what's going on in his life. This epistle is comparable to a missionary update letter your church might receive from one of your missionaries.

Understanding the background, we can now dig into the text itself in the coming episodes.

In the meantime, you can always check out my blog: In the Last Hour, or give my other podcast a listen: The Informal Reformers.

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Now before you throw me out of the church as a heretic, let me state that I agree with everything in the Apostles' Creed! Don't worry; no heresy here! This episode simply goes over aspects of the Creed, or things about the Creed that rub me the wrong way.

Basically, I feel that it does not say enough to embrace all of the essentials of the faith... and with the doctrines it does affirm, it is so vague that even a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness could recite it.

For more biblical studies, you can always check out my blog In the Last Hour, or give a listen to my other podcast, The Informal Reformers.

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First we discuss the meaning and nature of "testing." God is putting us through a refining fire to purify us, but what exact sort of trials is James talking about?

Next, with just the one word "produces," James sums up both the process and the finished result of this refining fire.

Finally, we look at the character trait of "endurance." This is not merely a white-knuckled, passive response to suffering, but the attitude of steadfastness and fortitude.

In the next episode we will continue on through the next steps in James' "chain saying," to discover the final product of God's sanctifying work, using our trials to make us more Christ-like.

For more biblical studies, you can always check out my blog In the Last Hour, or give my  other podcast a listen: The Informal Reformers.

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First we discuss the connection with the previous verse. We appreciate the attempts of the ESV and NIV to bring out the logical connection, however, we prefer the NASB, which properly treats "knowing" as a participle, and keeps the connection with "consider" from verse 2 in tact.

Next we discuss the Christian sense of "knowledge" as a conglomerate of moral and intellectual. We find it inappropriate to draw too sharp of a distinction between the two most common Greek words for knowledge. James employs both words throughout this letter interchangeably.

Then, with the word "that," we learn what the content of this knowledge is.

In the next episode we will finish off the verse and examine the first step in the "chain saying," which fleshes out the process God uses to shape us through trials which sums up the theological understanding that fills Christians with joy through suffering.

For more biblical studies you can always check out my blog In the Last Hour, or my other podcast The Informal Reformers.

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At the end of a sermon pastors will have everyone bow their heads and close their eyes, give some cheesy, watered-down version of the Gospel, and then ask those who want to respond to raise their hands and/or walk down the aisle, and then pray the Sinner's Prayer.

Here we expose the emotional manipulation involved in altar calls that often lead to false conversions.

We also discuss the unbiblical foundation behind altar calls. These preachers deny the sovereignty of God in salvation, so they think that it is up to them and their man-made tactics to lead the un-churched to Christ.

The Bible never condones such practices. Instead, we are to preach Christ, and invite men and women to Christ.

For more biblical studies, you can always check out my other podcast that I do with my friend Preston: The Informal Reformers, and my blog: In the Last Hour.

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First we discuss why, "Whenever," would be a better translation.

Then we explain how James is casting the net broadly to encompass all sorts of trials that a believer may face. "Whenever" generalizes "encounter," and "various" generalizes "trials". So James is talking about the great joy a Christian can experience under tribulations of sundry times and sundry manners.

We then discuss the other uses of the Greek word for "encounter" in the New Testament. James is talking about unexpected trials that take us by surprise.

For more biblical studies, you can always check out my other podcast that I do with my friend Preston: The Informal Reformers, and my blog: In the Last Hour.

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In our exposition we discuss how the word order proves that James is emphasizing the theme of joy.

Next we explain how the word "all" has an intensifying function, so that "all joy," becomes, "great joy"!

In order for suffering believers to reach this condition of bliss, we must use our minds. To convey this, James uses a word which calls on believers to reckon, deem, or consider their trials in light of God's will. We are to make a mental judgment call about our times of persecution that is biblically informed.

Finally, we go over the threefold function behind the word, "Brethren." James uses this endearing term to address his audience several times throughout this short epistle, so it is important to know his intent behind it. In a side note, I challenge the modern notion that it is inappropriate to address mixed company as "brothers."

For more biblical studies, you can always check out my other podcast that I do with my friend Preston: The Informal Reformers, and my blog: In the Last Hour.

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In our exposition of this text we discuss:

1. The identity of the author: Was it one of the two disciples named James? Was it James the brother of Jesus from Acts 15? Was it somebody in the post-apostolic era writing under the name of the apostle?

2. Who were the recipients? Does the reference to the Twelve Tribes necessarily mean that these were Jewish Christians? Is the "dispersion" the same one mentioned in Acts?

3. What does it mean that James is a slave of God?

We then give an overview of the passage from verse 2-12, which we will cover in the coming weeks. James has one consistent thought: A Christian's multi-faceted response to trials.

For more biblical studies, you can always check out my other podcast that I do with my friend Preston: The Informal Reformers, and my blog: In the Last Hour.

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