Daily Bible Nugget #175, James 1:18

The Nugget:

James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

My Comment:

The Scriptures are designed for regenerating. In plain English, the Bible by the will of God Himself is designed to bring us to actual spiritual birth, to saving faith in Christ, so that we know we have been born from above (John 3:3, 5, 7). This has nothing to do with church rituals or sacraments. It has nothing to do with ritual water baptism, whether (as some churches teach) one is baptized as an infant by means of sprinkling, or whether (as some other churches teach) one is immersed as an adult. The water of ritual baptism does not save anyone; it does not produce a transformed life; it does not produce regenerative change. Regenerative change (Titus 3:5), being made a new creature in Christ (1 Corinthians 5:17) takes place when we believe and receive the message of the Bible, which “is able to save” our souls (James 1:21). One must not depend upon participation in the sacraments of a church to either be saved or to stay saved. Our Lord Jesus Christ indeed ordained two so-called sacraments, ritual water baptism (Matthew 28:19, a command that has not been revoked) and the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:15, 17, 19). Some churches practice more than two sacraments. A third sacrament practiced by very few churches is foot washing (John 13:14). The grace of God that brings salvation for all men (Titus 2:11) is nowhere in the Bible said to be received by partaking in the sacraments of the church. The grace of God that brings salvation is applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who enables us to receive the truth (1 Corinthians 12:13; Philippians 2:13) as we either hear or read for ourselves the Word of God (Romans 10:17; Ephesians 2:8, 9).

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1447 for James 1:18.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on pages 1465-1466 or in Logos 5 Bible software for James 1:18.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

James 1:18. Of his own will. or, Having willed. Gr. boulemai (S#1014g, Mt 1:19). Je 31:3. Da 11:3. Mt 20:15. **Jn 1:12, 13. **Jn 3:3-5. Ro 4:17. +*Ro 8:29-31. 9:15-18. 12:2. +1 Cor 12:11. Ep 1:5, 19. 2:4, 5. Phil 1:29. Col 1:20, 21. 1 Th 4:3. *2 Th 2:13, 14. Titus 3:5. He 6:17. 8:10. *1 P 1:3, 23. 4:2. 1 J 4:10. begat. Gr. apokueō (S#616g, ver. 15). T#1114. Nu 11:12. Dt 32:18. Ps 7:14. 22:9. 80:18. 87:4-6. 89:26, 27. +*Ps 119:50. Mt 13:38. Mk 4:8. Ro 8:14. 1 Cor 4:15. Ga 4:19. *Titus 2:14. *Titus 3:5, 6. *1 P 1:3, 23. 2 P 1:4. 1 John 2:29. 3:9. 5:1, 18. with. ver. +*Jas 1:21. *Is 55:11. 1 Cor 4:15. Ep 1:12. **1 Th 2:13. +**2 Tim 3:15. **1 P 1:23. *1 John 3:9. the word of truth. ver. Jas 1:21, 22, 23. 1 S 9:27. Ps 17:4. +*Ps 119:43, 160. *Ec 12:10. Da 10:21. Mt 4:4. Jn 6:63. 17:7, 8, 17. **Ro 10:17. 2 Cor 6:7. Ep 1:13. 5:26. Phil 2:16. **Col 1:5. 2 Tim 2:15. *He 4:12. 10:26. 1 P 1:23, 25. that we. Ep 1:12. firstfruits. Ex 4:22. 22:29. 34:26. +*Le 23:10, 17. 27:26. Nu 15:20. 18:12. 28:26. Dt 18:4. 26:2, 10. 2 Ch 31:5. Ne 10:35. Je 2:3. Ezk 20:40. 44:30. Am 6:1mg. Ro 8:19-23. 11:16. 16:5. 1 Cor 15:20, 23. 16:15. *He 12:23. *Re 14:4. of his creatures. Nu 8:17. Ps 8:5, 6. Ro 8:16-21. 1 Cor 6:2, 3. 1 Tim 4:4.