Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 2 Chapter 2, Verse 1  “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” Christians have had several centuries to correct this wrong behavior but occasions suggests that they have not really done so. In spite of all the…

Symbolism “As we attempt to follow the contours of the story the Bible tells, we must understand the symbols the biblical authors use as they tell the story. If we do not understand the symbols, we will fail to understand key parts of the story.” James M. Hamilton Jr. What…

The blog will be closed for two weeks. Everyone needs a few days off. See you in April. Celebrate the risen Lord.

Chapter 1, Verse 26 “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” Not sure what could be worse than a worthless religious practice. It is obvious that James has an issue about the use of the tongue…

Chapter 1, Verse 25 “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” James uses ‘perfect law’ the same as he uses ‘word’ in verses 18, 21,…

Chapter 1, Verses 23-24 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” Have you…

Salvation Parts “…there has never been a genuine conversion unless man had a part in it. In John 3:16, all three of the parties concerned in the case of conversion are represented. Now watch: ‘For God so loved the world [that is God’s part], that he gave his only begotten…

Chapter 1, Verse 22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James gets to the heart of the matter and speaks directly to us. It doesn’t matter if you are a daily Bible reader if you are not a daily Bible doer. You do well…