Living by faith
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Dr. J. Vernon McGee turns to the Epistle of James to present very practical lessons on Christian living. The subject of James is faith. The Epistle of James “pinches,” says Dr. McGee. It “hurts you because he gets right down to where we are living-or, more accurately, to where we’re not living.” He challenges believers to a faith that works and walks in shoe leather. Because James emphasizes the ethics of the Christian faith, Dr. McGee uses the metaphor of “God’s University.” When life presents us with “quizzes” or “tests,” Dr. McGee explains, the believer need not worry because James has provided us not only with the test questions, but also the answers.
Chapters cover such relevant topics as: gossiping, worldly versus heavenly wisdom, the testing of faith through trials, God's condemnation of class distinctions, confession and forgiveness of sins, effective prayer, faith versus works, resisting the devil, and finding the meaning of life.
Top Highlights
“you are not reconciled to the will of God until you can rejoice—not for the trials, but because of them.” (Page 7)
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (Page 117)
“The Book of Proverbs is not just a series of sayings strung together like beads on a string. Rather, a story is told.” (Pages 2–3)
“The lessons, first of all, are contrary to the thinking of the natural man” (Pages 2–3)
“The reason He was tempted was to prove that there was no sin in Him.” (Page 69)
J. Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. As a student pastor, Dr. McGee's first church was located on a red clay hill in Midway, Georgia. After completing his education (earning his A.B. from Southwestern University in Memphis, Tennessee; his B.D. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; his Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas), and after pastoring Presbyterian churches in Decatur, GA, Nashville, TN, and Cleburne, TX, he and his wife came west, settling in Pasadena, where he accepted a call to the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church. He recalls this period as the happiest in his life, with a young family and a young congregation whom he loved.