March 14 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 73—James 4:6–10

⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Devotional:

Notice that God gives a series of commands: "submit," "resist," "draw near," "cleanse," etc. He by no means gives a recipe for instant, easy sanctification. On the contrary, he summons you to fight! In other words, God calls you to make war against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Shorter Catechism
Q. 33. What is justification?
A. 33. Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. 35. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

Larger Catechism
Q. 77. Wherein do justification and sanctification differ?
A. 77. Although sanctification is inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in that God in justification imputes the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his Spirit infuses grace, and enables to the exercise thereof.
In [justification], sin is pardoned; in [sanctification], it is subdued.
[Justification] equally frees all believers from the revenging wrath of God,
and that perfectly in this life, [so] that they never fall into condemnation;
[sanctification] is neither equal in all, nor in this life perfect in any,
but grows up to perfection.

And so there's no quick fix for "victorious Christian living." From the start, God through James warns you that you are still in the world—"to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion..." (1:1). He says that you will be subjected to endless pressures—"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…" (1:2). But he calls you to rejoice because by undergoing and resisting these pressures, you are walking his appointed path to Christ-likeness—"for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (1:3–4).

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.