The blessings of faithfulness to the Father is for those who are saved. Therefore, Apostle James focused the address in this epistle to “beloved brethren,” that is, Christians, saved from sin, life transformed and patterned after that of Jesus Christ. The inspired writer, Apostle James also emphasised the nature of the Almighty God (James 1:17), genuine, godly Christians (James 1:18,25) and those who claim to be believers, but are not (James 1:26).
All over the world, people practise religion. However, the most common practices of many that in one way or the other, express belief in God, is the religion that is vain. It is practised without redemption from slavery to sin, repentance from all evil conducts, regeneration of the heart, remission of sin, righteousness and reverence for God. Such is the religion with robbery (Isaiah 61:8), retaliation, rebellion, revelry, reproach and resisting of the truth (Acts 7:51; 2 Timothy 3:8). The Lord’s command to us is, “be not ye therefore partakers with them” (Ephesians 5:7). Such people wrongly see God as distant and mostly unconcerned by the way men live on earth. But God is not just the Creator of all things, He is our Father, and He is concerned in all the affairs of mankind.
As Father, God gives His children good, perfect, profitable and essential gifts to help them realise His purpose for their lives, and to fulfill their divinely ordained destiny. The fatherhood of God is not peculiar to the New Testament. People of the Old Testament also enjoyed that privilege. All who truly turn away from their sins and believe in the atonement God provided for the salvation of mankind, whether in the Old or New Testament, became children of God, and He became their Father.
The Pharisees, Sadducees and religious people of Christ’s day believed that since they were Israelites, God was their Father by default, regardless of their lifestyle and indulgences. The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, had to pointedly correct this false assumption that could lull them into complacency, refusing to change their ways, and be damned in all eternity. He minced no words in categorising people who practiced such things, telling them: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do… When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
In the new covenant cemented by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we are made children of God when we come out of our sinful practices and are no longer estranged, but reconciled to God. He receives us and becomes “a Father unto (us), and (we, His) sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” Those who go to church, or profess faith in a religion, but fail to live in obedience to God’s word, are not different from the people Jesus condemned as practicing vain religion.
They are doomed to spend eternity in hell with their father, the devil, while true children of God have their heritage in heaven. This is because they are connected with God by righteousness, and are “delivered from this present evil world.” They not only fail to partake of the evil practices of the world, but are entirely separated for God, to fulfill His purpose and live “according to the will of God and our Father.” It means then that sinners and backsliders, unbelievers and disobedient worshippers, religious hypocrites and reprobates, irrespective of how active or religious they may appear, cannot in good conscience refer to God as their Father.
• Further reading (King James Version): James 1:17-27,2,16,19; 2:1,5,14; 3:1,10,12; 4:11; 5:7,9,10,12,19. James 1:17,18; Isaiah 63:8,16; Jeremiah 3:4,19; Deuteronomy 32:6, 29; Malachi 1:6; John 8:41-44; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Matthew 13:40-43; Galatians 1:4; 4:6; 1 John 3:1-10. James 1:19-22; Esther 3:5,6; 7:9,10; Job 5:2; Psalm 37:8; 2 Chronicles 25:6-10,13; Proverbs 19:19; 25:28; 29:22; Ephesians 4:30-32. James 1:17,25; Romans 6:23; 5:15-19; Ephesians 2:8; 2 Corinthians 9:15; Romans 8:32; 2 Peter 1:3,4; Acts 2:38,39; 1 Corinthians 2:9,10; 12:4-11; Ephesians 4:7-14; Matthew 7:7-11.
