Published!

Published!

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I wrote this a while back for a LifeWay Sunday school curriculum piece...it just came out and is being used for Spring 2005, so I thought I'd share.

What do you look like?  James says that, if a person genuinely applies himself to the Word, he will see just what kind of man (1:24) he is.  The Bible is just like the mirror James talks about, for whoever “looks into” God’s Word will be able to see himself in the light of God’s truth.  And what do Christians look like to God?  They are sinners who have been saved by grace through faith, people deserving of His wrath but reconciled to Him through Christ.  They are wretched and blessed, weak and victorious, living in the world but seated in the heavens, weak in the flesh yet temples of the Holy Spirit.  After a person sees his spiritual “face” reflected in the mirror of the Bible, humbleness results; and that humility alone can bring the life James describes, a life of obeying God’s Word.  Godly living results only from a constant awareness of a saved person’s position, or spiritual “appearance.”  Submission to God’s perfect law gives the Christian a life of blessing and joyful freedom—freedom to demonstrate authentic faith through his deeds.  Only the Bible can show you what you look like.  Christ’s searing light of glory can and will reveal your human condition and true spiritual appearance; and you can then say with Peter, “I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8).  Don’t simply walk away and forget what kind of person you are.