By Sam E. Stone Today’s lesson is based on three passages of Scripture. Psalm 89 affirms God’s faithfulness in keeping his amazing promise to David (2 Samuel 7) that we studied last week. There he assured David that he would have a place of greatness, that his offspring would succeed him, and that his […]
By Sam E. Stone God made covenants with various individuals in Old Testament times, as well as with the nation of Israel as a whole. Before Samuel died, he anointed David as king of Israel. Shortly after returning the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, David was troubled by how things looked. While he […]
By Sam E. Stone In today’s text, James returns to a subject introduced earlier in his letter—proper use of the tongue (see James 1:19, 26). He identifies himself as a fellow believer with his readers. When he warns that teachers will be judged more strictly, James does not mean just “official teachers” (apostles, prophets, […]
By Sam E. Stone Some Bible teachers suggest that Paul and James disagree with each other about the place of faith and works in a person’s salvation. They don’t, however. In today’s text James did not attack Paul’s teaching that a Christian is saved by God’s grace. Instead he corrected what A. T. Robertson […]
By Sam E. Stone Edwin Markham once said, “We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; now let’s commit it to life.” That is James’s point. In this chapter he insists on consistent Christianity. Spiros Zodhiates observed, “Whenever James is about to scold the believers of his day, he likes to preface the scolding […]
