Faith In Jesus Christ: That Perfect Understanding

"James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:1-8)

First off, I presume the faith that James mentions is not just anything that comes to mind; but is revelation from the Father, regarding his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we can believe in Him! I presume that this is the template for all of the body of Christ. Once the revelation of Jesus Christ dawns on you, the Father expects you to devote yourselves to it so He can continue to build. It is the joy of the Lord to walk just a He walked; to be conformed to His image. This gives answer to why God gives liberally and without reproach yet when you don't devote yourselves to His wisdom (doubting), He gives you no more until you repent to this faith in the Son. 

Through this process, double-mindedness is swallowed by single-mindedness. Single-minded faith in Jesus Christ is the righteous fruit of "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints..."(Ephesians 1:17,18). It is perfect understanding because it provides strength to remain and become complete in it! Glory to God on earth in the name of Jesus Christ! 

Born of God, He Did Not Sin

"Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."  (Luke 1:34,35)

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Romans 8:29,30)

"And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:5-9)

The devil had sinned in departing from the Highest. Those who are being born (made) of God understand that departure from the gospel of Jesus Christ is sin. The power of the Highest overshadows the body of Christ so that no flesh should glory in His presence; His seed remains in them.

Let No One Deceive You

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house not greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." (2 John v.7-11)

What is the doctrine of Christ and how could this elect lady (2 John v.1) and her children transgress? Certainly the doctrine of Christ is His life lived as the Son of God, which we are called to as His body. Satan tempted Jesus to use His anointing from the Father to help Himself; to test the Father's faithfulness to protect maliciously; and to worship Satan himself (Matthew 4:1-11). In essence, seeking to fulfill any carnal or prideful consideration (veiled as 'good' or 'reasonable' things) is the way Lucifer became Satan. To this elect lady and her children, who seem to be representative of a body of Christ, they should recognize any other doctrine and resist unyieldingly, because some other doctrines sound pleasing, but universally cause departure from Jesus' testimony.

"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was CLEARLY PORTRAYED AS CRUCIFIED?" (Galatians 3:1)

Clearly portrayed by whom? These Galatians were not around when Jesus Christ was crucified. The Truth was portrayed by Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ!

The Gift Of Righteousness: God’s Trust Fund

"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we SHALL BE SAVED FROM WRATH THROUGH HIM. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled, we SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God THROUGH our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation." (Romans 5:6-11)

A trust fund is set up by an entity that has something, wants to give it to someone but places qualifications for the receiving of it, usually age, which may be considered an indication of maturity. It is a free gift as without the funder the funded would have nothing to receive. The receiver did not provide the fund for themselves; the funder did. The free gift of righteousness from God is His fund, through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ it is allotted."For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have in abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness." (Matthew 25:29,30)

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of FULL AGE, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  

(Hebrews 5:12-14)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, who are kept by the power of God THROUGH FAITH FOR SALVATION ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

God's trust fund is allotted through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is allotted by our adherence to His testimony.

Shrewd, Yet Not Accepted Luke 16:1-13

"He also said to His disciples: 'There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." ' Then the steward said within himself, "What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they shall receive me into their houses."

"So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'

"So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that WHEN you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give to you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

So we have a steward who was wasting his master's goods. When he is found out, he "resolves" to approach "debtors" rather than his master to make a place for himself. The steward's "shrewdness" has a short-lived benefit: a place of temporary comfort with the debtors. Friendship along these lines will fail. It would have been better for that steward had he repented toward his master and done all he could to rectify his wastefulness, no matter the cost.

"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." (Genesis 4:7)