James 2:19

"You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder."You believe that God is one" -"there is one God". One of the basic truths which one must accept, is that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). In the Jewish religion, the confession that God is one was repeated twice each day. This was one of the basic distinctions between Christianity and all the surrounding pagan religions. Let us remember, that the statement "God is one" was never meant to imply that "God" is only one person (Genesis 1:26; John 1:1; Acts 5:3). "In the plural form of the Hebrew word Eloheem (God) appearing in Genesis 1:1. 'In the beginning God ( Eloheem. the plural form of El. God), created the heavens and the earth'" (Woods p. 139). The "oneness" under consideration is. oneness of purpose, belief and unity (John 10:30)."You do well" -Immediately James makes it clear that he isn't downplaying the importance of believing the right doctrines. But rather, doctrinal soundness is meaningless if we don't practice what we believe. One can believe everything about God, Jesus, the Bible, what to do to be saved, the church---and still be lost because they have put none of it into practice. Believing the truth about baptism doesn't save you---salvation happens when you act upon that belief (Mark 16:16 "and is baptized")."the demons also believe, and shudder".

Points To Note:

1. First of all we must reject the idea that demons are mythical beings. Various religious and non-religious writers have tried to explain away the New Testament references to demons and demon possession as being. popular superstition among the Jewish people. But Jesus charged, rebuked, commanded and cast out demons (Mark 5:9). 2. Kent notes, "Jesus frequently encountered persons possessed by demons during His ministry and they always recognized deity and spoke respectfully (Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24; Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28; Acts 16:17; Acts 19:15)" (p. 97). 3. Various ideas exist concerning the origin of demons. One of the more popular ideas is that they are of the same class as the angels that sinned in 2 Peter 2:4. During the ministry of Christ we find an incredible amount of demon possession. It would appear that God allowed such because it would only further His purposes and glorify His Son, specifically when Jesus demonstrated His power in casting them out. Which clearly demonstrated that even the devil himself is no match for God. We find some demon-possession in Acts, but very little if any spoken of in the epistles. If would appear that as the miraculous gifts ceased, so did demon possession. If demon possession was going to be with mankind until the end of time, it is strange that in the instructions to preachers, christians and congregations-this topic is never discussed. "also believe" -also believe that God is one. So much for depending upon mental acceptance of the truth. The demons are very orthodox and sound in their beliefs! They realize fully that Jesus is the Son of God, they don't have any doubts about what their fate will be (Luke 8:31; Mark 1:24). They realize that God isn't going to change His mind. Unlike some denominational leaders---the demons believe in hell! "and shudder" -"struck with extreme fear, to be horrified" (Thayer p. 658). "to be rough, to bristle. then to shiver, tremble, indicating. cognizance of their appointed doom' (Vine p. 26). "The problem was not that their faith was insincere. On the contrary, they believed so completely in the coming doom that God has promised that they shuddered at the prospect" (Kent p. 97). This word rendered "shudder" is an interesting word. It means "to bristle". "It pictures one's hair standing up on end. The devil believes in God so strongly that his hair stands right up on end!" (Draper p. 89). Once again let us be impressed with the fact that without application, believing all the right doctrines will not save us!