Bible Study

The Gift of Eternal Life Berean Bible Study Course

PART III--The Way Of Serving God In Christ Jesus

E. Lesson 17--We Serve By Persevering

1. READ: JAMES 1:2-4 AND JAMES 1:12

c. What is the work of perseverance in our lives?

Answer: The work of perseverance in our lives is so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything, (verse 4). Thus, having persevered under trial--having stood the test, having met the standard of God, having proved our "staying power"--we will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him, (verse 12).

MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

• What is the meaning of "Perseverance must finish its work" so that you may "be mature and complete, not lacking anything"?

The King James Version of the Bible translates "Perseverance must finish its work" as "Let patience have her perfect work." Another way of saying this would be: "Let perseverance--patience, endurance--keep on working in you. Continue faithful, and the reward will be a perfected work, as in money invested being rewarded with interest, planting and tending a crop being rewarded with the fruit of the harvest, working at a job producing wages earned, or being rewarded for services performed." Perseverance produces her own perfect work.

• Perseverance must keep on working in the Christian so that he may "be mature and complete, not lacking anything." "Mature" means "perfected at the end of the task." "Complete" means "to be complete in ALL parts."

One cannot be mature until the task is finished--maturity is not gained by leaving work unfinished. We must continue faithful until death. God does not reward "half a job."

While living the Christian life here on earth, one cannot be mature and complete if all parts of his Christian life are not complete, leaving immaturity as a result. As in all things, God loves unity, and one cannot be pleasing to Him if he carries around only "parts" of the Christian life, remaining immature--an infant still requiring the milk of the Word. God wants His children to be ONE--to be a WHOLE--to be UNITED, becoming individually COMPLETE, and becoming ONE as the body of Christ. God KNOWS that Christians who are only "half Christian" (or anything less than the WHOLE) will not, when they come together as the body of Christ, form the ONE church for which His Son died.

Thus, we see the completeness of the pure joy of facing trials of many kinds that tests the faith, that develops perseverance, that completes her work of developing mature and complete children of God--children who are not lacking anything. This is why Paul could say: "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:11-13).

And this is also why Paul encourages us and affirms that NOTHING OUTSIDE OURSELVES can separate us from the love of Christ--the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

• If the Christian is mature and complete, he lacks nothing. James 1:5 points to one of the most basic "lacks" in a Christian's life, and that is "wisdom." James immediately says that if the Christian lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault. Wisdom enables one to face "trials" with "pure joy." In the world, wisdom has been described as the practical and common-sense application of knowledge. In the spiritual realm, wisdom is not just acquired information, but practical insight with spiritual implications.

In Proverbs 1:7, Solomon says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

Just before this verse, in Proverbs 1:2-5, Solomon gives guidance on the proper use of knowledge: "for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young--let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance."

Follow this up with what Paul says concerning true wisdom, spiritual Truths and having the mind of Christ, and you will see the reason that the child of God, who perseveres with pure joy under many trials, is truly mature, complete, and lacks nothing. He knows, believes, lives and clings to "Words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual Truths in spiritual Words:"

1 Corinthians 2:6-16: "We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him'--but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in Words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual Truths in spiritual Words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

• So, what and where is the message of Wisdom, the revelation of His Spirit, the Words taught by the Spirit, the spiritual Truths in spiritual Words, and the mind of Christ? How may we understand what God has freely given us? As always, HE has the answers:

John 1:1-2: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."

John 14:6-7: "Jesus answered, ‘I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.'"

John 17:13-23: [Jesus praying to His Father,] "I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them. I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me."

Romans 10:17: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ."

Ephesians 1:13-14: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory."

Colossians 1:3-6: "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints--the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the Word of Truth, the Gospel that has come to you. All over the world this Gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its Truth."

2 Timothy 2:15: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth."

2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

James 1:17-18: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created."