The Book of James - Introduction
Introduction
The Epistle of James is grouped with first and second peter, first, second and third John, and Jude which are customarily called General Epistles,. They are designated as general or “catholic” in the sense that they are universal, not addressed to any particular individual or church, but to the church as a whole.
The author is James, but which James? There were at least three James identified in the new testament.
1. James, the brother of John and one of the sons of Zebedee. These two men were called “sons of thunder” by our Lord (see Mark 3:17). He was slain by Herod who at the same time put Simon Peter into prison (see Acts 12:1–2).
2. James, the son of Alphaeus, called “James the less” (see Mark 15:40). He is mentioned in the list of apostles, but not much else known about him.
3. James, known as “James the just”. Is that helpful? In Acts 15 James seems to have presided over that great council in Jerusalem. At least he made the summation and brought the council to a decision under the leading of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 13:54-58, we read that Jesus came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
So, it seems from Matthew chapters 12 and 13 that Jesus’ brothers and sisters didn't originally accept Him as messiah, until after his crucifixion and resurrection.
This is the James that church tradition ascribes authorship of this epistle. This epistle was written about A.D. 45–50. James is all about what faith produces. Both James and Paul speak a great deal of faith and works. They give us the two aspects of justification by faith, both of which are clear in the writings of Paul:
Faith is the root of salvation – works are the fruit of salvation—that is the thing James emphasizes.
two key verses of this epistle.
Chapter 1 verse 22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
And chapter 2:20 “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”
The Epistle of James deals with the ethics of Christianity, not doctrine. James is really practical, but he stays focused on the subject of faith. Tradition says that James was called “Old Camel Knees” because he spent so much time in prayer.
Just a brief summary of the book goes something like this:
James argues that justification by faith is demonstrated by works; faith is tested and proven by works (ch. 1–2),
Faith is shown by our words (ch. 3),
Lack of faith is exposed by worldliness (ch. 4),
He gives a warning to the rich (ch. 5).
What did Martin Luther say about the book of James? “St James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.” —Martin Luther
James 1
By the way, The name James is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Jacob.
Verse 1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
James makes this declaration about himself as a “bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ”. When you and I come to faith in Jesus Christ, when we commit our lives into the Lord’s hands, we become “bond-servants”. We willingly, of our own volition, enter into the service of Christ. We come under His lordship. We submit ourselves to Him and as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus our life more fully reflects His character and nature. When the Bible says we are created in His image and likeness, that image was marred by sin, but can only be restored when Jesus is in us and we’re in Him. When it says we’re created in His image, it means we were meant to represent Him. I remember when I became of an age where I could get myself into real trouble, my dad told me to live in a way that I wouldn’t bring shame on the family name. In other words my actions could either shine a good light on my mom and dad, or cast a shadow on them. This is the same with us and God. We can either represent Him or misrepresent HIm. The only way we can represent Him is when Jesus is our Lord and savior and His Spirit is in our lives.
Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
So if you came into this kingdom seeking to be in charge, you came for the wrong reason. We come to the lord to be His servants, and we’ll see throughout this book, how that plays out practically.
We see the intended audience here is the “twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad”. In other words, the jewish people who were spread across the globe, who had become christians. The people of Israel had been scattered all over the world since 722 BC, when the Assyrians conquered Israel and took many people with them as captives, back to Assyria. Cyrus the Persian allowed the Judaeans to return to their homeland in 538 BC. This book of James was written before the Romans sacked Jerusalem and literally wiped Israel off the map for almost 2 millenia. The fact that this book wasn’t written to a specific church, categorizes it as a “General Epistle”. It’s meant for all christians throughout all time, so we’re going to see how practical this book is. Some have said this book is kind of like the Proverbs of the new testament.
Verse 2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
When we’re in the midst of a trial, do any of us really count it as joy? You really better mean it if you pray for patience or endurance. God will take you up on that. Endurance == patience – greek Hupomone “to remain under”. As if you were under this heavy weight, and you stayed with it; you patiently endured. We think of ourselves as exercising patience when we have to wait a little extra in the grocery store line or when we’re waiting in the line of cars for our fast food. But it’s more of being under the pressure of trials (afflictions, difficulties). Patience is the proof of our faith. Trials do seem to build our faith, but the Bible says “Faith is a gift” in Ephesians 2:8 and 9. So trials, just bring to the surface that patience which God planted in our lives. Trials and afflictions are really God’s way of showing us our lack of control over things in our lives. When we truly express our faith in God, we’re acknowledging God is in control; He’s sovereign. Here’s a silly illustration of what faith can look like. Don’t take this little story too far; it’s only meant to illustrate an aspect of our faith in God. A couple months ago, Julie and I took a trip down to California to visit my Julie’s sister. We rented a car, and we drove around and did some sightseeing. As we were driving on the freeway, I noticed the car seemed to kind of pull and fight me a couple times, and I thought it had gotten stuck in one of those gaps in the concrete and the car was just following a rut. Then I realized we had a car with this self-driving capability, and the car thought I wasn’t staying in my lane, so it helped me by steering itself. Later, we were out in the desert, driving along a two lane highway and no one was around, so I told Julie, “How much faith do you have in this car?” She’s like what? And I took my hands off the steering wheel, and the car did pretty well just keeping us where we ought to be. I’ll ask you; How much faith do you have in God? Do you fight against Him or do you let Him control your life?
Honest question; you don’t have to answer, but how many of you are perfect and complete? we all have some growing to do. don’t be surprised when the trials come. We can rejoice in trials, or maybe as we look back after the trial and rejoice.
Verse 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
To be quite transparent here, I used to think I had wisdom and discernment. Then I lived life for a little while as a christian. I ask for wisdom almost daily. A week ago, I saw a silly example of what wisdom looks like when I was helping Shane and Shawnie pack their furniture and belongings into a POD. At one point I think Joel said, “there’s no way everything’s going to fit in there”. Shane just kept going. At some other point I think Andrew said the same thing, “there’s not enough room for everything”. Shane kept going and he stacked and arranged everything ever-so meticulously. He wasn’t unstable or double-minded. I mean we did rearrange a few things, but guess what? Everything fit just fine.
We each have lots of different things that make up our life. Do we go to the Lord in prayer and say, “Lord, give me wisdom with this or that aspect of my life?” Wisdom might say, “this has to go, it doesn’t fit with my life as a christian.” Wisdom might say, not now, come back later for that. Point is, we need to ask the Lord and listen to Him for an answer. Proverbs 9:10 says The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. This is one of my harping points, without God you will not true wisdom.
Verse 9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
Faith itself is not the end-goal of our lives as Christians. Now it Sounds like I’m contradicting myself here. We’re talking about faith. But faith is an objective, but the end goal is to be faithful. If I ask you, “are you a believer? Or are you a person of faith?” The right question you should ask me back is “a believer in what?” Or even better, “faith in whom?” Faith in your circumstances will let you down. Faith, for faith’s sake, is useless. Faith in the God of the Bible, well, that’s life, that’s joy, that’s peace. So you may be rich and of high position, but like anything in this world, it can be taken away.
Verse 12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
The Lord is not the source of any temptation. He does not dangle sinful things before us to see if we’ll fall. We’re tempted by our own desires that would lead us down the wrong path. Really, we have desires that may even be good and natural, but if they’re either overemphasized or misused they can cause us to fall. Temptation given into leads to sin. Sin, taken to its natural conclusion, leads to death. You and I have this conflict in our lives. If we sin (and we do according to 1 John 1:8) what do we do? Thankfully, the answer is in the very next verse 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
There’s this contrast in this section; God is not the source of temptation, but He is the source of every good and every perfect gift. When people are gifted, whether in sports or entertainment or some other high-paying occupation, it’s incumbent upon them to recognize who gave them those muscles or voice or skills. It’s God. It’s all God, and when people receive accolades and take the glory for themselves; we see the worst case scenario of what can happen in the story of Herod in Acts chapter 12 starting in verse 21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Verse 19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
This is great advice for married couples; really everyone. Think before you respond. If we bath our lives in prayer and bath our minds in the Word of God, and stay in fellowship with other believers, we’ll be more inclined to follow this advice. As we grow in our relationship with God, and live by God’s Spirit, we won’t forget how we ought to live. When it says to “look intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty”, for me, that means I preach the Gospel to myself first and then to others. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and the life of one who is truly saved, will truly look like it. We can all find grace when we stumble though. In my personal reading, I just read Psalm 145:8, which says The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. So we live our Christian life by God’s grace.
Verse 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
I used to correct people if they said something to me like, “you’re religious”, or “your religion”. I’d say, “not religion, relationship”. Now, when someone uses the term “religion” or “religious”, I try to take it as an opportunity to see where they are with God. I ask questions like, “do you believe in God?”, or “what do you think happens after someone dies?” Most people are not offended by questions like that. Sometimes the Lord has been close at hand, when I take that step, as uncomfortable as it can be to start those conversations.
Last thing and we’ll close, the body of believers here at Calvary Chapel Lake Stevens are living out this “pure religion” in many ways. There’s a food bank ministry, there’s a diversion center ministry, there are short term mission trips, there are any number of ways where we fulfill the Lord’s will in visiting widows and orphans. If the Lord is stirring your heart to reach out to those in need, I would just encourage you to say yes to the LORD.
