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CHAPTER 59 – James: Approx. 46 A.D.

The Epistle of James is the fifty-ninth book of the Bible. The title of the book in Greek is Iakobou Epistole meaning “Epistle of James.” The title in English Bibles is “The Epistle of James.”

Authorship

James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, is believed to be the author of the book, The Epistle of James. It was probably written about 46 A.D.

Summary and Analysis

The book of James is actually a letter (epistle) that was written by the James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, apparently to Jewish Christians scattered throughout the world.

The book opens with James sending a greeting to the twelve tribes of Israel dispersed throughout the world. The Jews are encouraged to have joy and patience when tempted to sin, to ask God for wisdom with unwavering faith, and to rejoice in God’s dealings with them whether they are rich or poor. For those who overcome temptations to sin will receive a crown of eternal life from God. They are to know that God does not tempt anyone but that the inborn sinful nature entices every human being to sin. Therefore, do not err, James says.

James then states that every good and perfect gift comes from God who causes the person to be spiritually born again. Therefore, put away all wickedness and meekly receive God’s implanted word which is able to save the person from eternal death (annihilation). For only those who hear and are doers of God’s words, judging themselves by God’s perfect law of freedom from bondage to sin and Satan, shall be blessed by God. Also, says James, the religion of those who are careless in speech deceives them and their religion is to no purpose, that is, it cannot lead to eternal life. Pure religion in God’s sight is to care for the unfortunate, and to keep oneself unstained by the sins of the world.

Next, James declares that as Christians they should not show favouritism in how they treat people. For God’s royal law requires that they love others just as they love ourselves. Therefore, James says, speak and act accordingly, knowing that you shall be judged by this law of freedom. He then states that faith in Christ that does not result in the doing of good works is dead, in that, it cannot save them from eternal death (annihilation). Why? Because repentance accompanied by faith in Christ, leads to the person receiving the gift of love in their heart through the Holy Spirit. Only then can the person do good works, otherwise the good deeds of a person arise from sinful “thoughts and intents [purposes] of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12) and are, therefore, counted as sin by God.

James then says let not many of you seek to be teachers, for in many ways we human beings err. And teachers who err shall receive the greater condemnation from God, for they ought to be godly examples. But they that do not sin in their speech are able to keep their whole body in subjection to their godly minds. For the tongue is naturally evil-speaking and is controlled by Satan. That is, out of the same mouth comes blessings and cursing, which ought not to be so.

Those who are wise and have a knowledge of God should demonstrate this by their holy conversation, deeds, and meekness. For those with bitter envying and strife in their hearts have a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and satanic. But the wisdom from God is pure, peaceable, gentle, easily entreated, full of mercy, good deeds, without favouritism, and without hypocrisy.

James then says the strife and contention among them arise out of their own lusts. They are not prospered by God because they do not pray to God. And when they do pray, they ask God wrongly for things to satisfy their lusts and, hence, they receive nothing from God. For whosoever is a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

Next, James urges them to submit to God and resist the devil, to draw near to God and not be doubleminded, which is to be divided between the call of earthly pleasures and the call of unswerving loyalty to God. Also, they are not to speak evil of one another. Further, those who say they will go to a city to stay there, buying and selling to gain wealth, should consider that their life is like a vapour that appears and soon vanishes. Instead, they should say that, if God permits, they will live and do this or that thing. For their rejoicing and boasting in anticipation of future gain is evil and, those who know the right thing to do but do not do it, sin.

After this, James says that the rich men should weep and howl because of the miseries that will come upon them. For God has heard the cry of the labourers who have reaped their fields and whose wages they have withheld by fraud. Further, these rich men have lived in pleasure, lewdness, extravagant luxury, and have condemned and killed the righteous, who offer no resistance to their mistreatment.

James then urges them that as God patiently waits for the spiritual harvest of the earth, they should patiently wait for the soon coming return of Christ to the earth. Also, they are not murmur and complain against each other, but follow the example of the prophets and Job who suffered affliction patiently, for God is compassionate and merciful. Neither are they to swear an oath but rather simply say, Yes or No, in every circumstance.

James urges them to pray for the afflicted and the sick, to confess their sins against each other to the ones they have wronged, and to pray for each other, so that their own sin-sickness may be healed by God. For the effective, fervent prayer of the righteous has power with God just as the prophet Elijah’s prayers did. Lastly, James closes his letter by saying that, if any of them turn away from the truth and one of them turns the sinner back to God, he or she has saved the sinner from eternal death (annihilation) and caused a multitude of sins to be blotted out by God in the coming judgment of the world.

Themes

• Joy and patience necessary in the Christian walk with God.
• Encouragement to overcome temptations to sin.
• God’s royal law of freedom.
• Christians to have love for one another.
• Faith always accompanied by good works.
• The tongue that is controlled by Satan.
• Wisdom from God as against the wisdom of the world.
• Worldly lusts, strife, envy, contention.
• Ungodly plans and boastings regarding future gain.
• The rich who defraud their labourers and kill the righteous.
• Prayer.
• The doubleminded and doubtful.

God as Revealed in the Book

• God who is compassionate and merciful.
• God who gives perfect and good gifts to humanity.
• God who shows no favouritism towards persons.
• God who does not tempt anyone and who cannot be tempted.
• God who gives wisdom.
• God who does not hear sinful prayers.
• God who hears the cry of the those who are mistreated.

Connections with the Rest of the Bible

James wrote, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” James 2:14. “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” James 2:24. And the apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28. Paul also wrote, “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.” Galatians 3:12. Again, Paul says, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:6.

Thus, in comparing the writings of Paul with the writings of James some people see a contradiction and conflict in their teachings. But is this so? Well, here are two instances where Paul agrees with James: Jesus Christ is He “who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity [wickedness], and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14. “(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Romans 2:13. So, how do we reconcile all these statements and others in the Bible?

The answer is quite simple and clear if we have a correct understanding of the relationship between faith, the law, and good works. First of all, “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20), that is to say, the law tells us what is sin in God’s sight. Now the aim of God’s plan of salvation is do away with the sin in every human heart. That is, God will save to eternal life only those people of whom God can say in truth, “Ye [are they] that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law [God’s law of love].” Isaiah 51:7.

For God’s aim in the plan of salvation is that every human being is “be conformed to the image [character of love] of his Son [Christ].” Romans 8:29. So, what is Christ’s character like? God wrote of Christ who said, “Then said I [Christ], Lo, I [Christ] come [to the earth]: in the volume of the book [in the Scriptures, the Bible,] it is written of me [Christ], I [Christ] delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law [God’s law of love] is within my heart.” Psalm 40:7, 8.

The question then is, How does God put His law in human hearts? The answer is that when any person has “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21), they are justified by God, that is, declared righteous by God. How can this be seeing every human being is naturally a sinner? Well, we are justified by God, because God immediately upon their meeting these two conditions, forgives us our past sins and “the love of God is shed abroad [supernaturally poured] in our hearts by the Holy Ghost [Holy Spirit] which is given unto us.” Romans 5:5. This gift of love is “the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17) from God that enables the us to stop sinning.

We see then that faith in Christ is one of the two requirements to receive the gift of righteousness from God in our heart. And this gift enables us to stop sinning, which is to say, to do only good works. So, if righteousness, that is to say, if love is in our heart, what then does this have to do with having God’s law in our heart just like Christ? Well, God says, “All thy [God’s] commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172. Thus, So, righteousness, which is love in our heart, means that we have God’s commandments in our heart.

Now God refers to “the ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28) as “I [God]…give thee [Moses] tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I [God] have written.” Exodus 24:12. Thus, having God’s commandments in our heart means that we have God’s law in our heart. In other words, with the ten commandments, known as the Decalogue or Moral Law, in our hearts we are justified, declared righteous by God.

But Paul wrote, “now we are delivered from the law” (Romans 7:6), What does this mean? The meaning is that we are delivered from “the works of the law” (Romans 9:32), which is to say, delivered from “the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28. In other words, we are delivered from our own attempts to cleanse ourselves from sin. For God says, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” Job 14:4. Thus, God is saying that it is impossible for any human being to cleanse themselves from their own sins. We see then that there is no contradiction or conflict regarding these teachings in the Bible, or with respect to any of the many teachings of the Bible.

One further point to note in our discussion is that, when we are justified, we do not instantaneously become sinless, which is God’s requirement for anyone to receive eternal life from God. Instead, we now have two natures in constant conflict with each other—the natural sinful nature and “the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), which we received from God when the Holy Spirit poured God’s love into our heart.

And so, we immediately on our justification, enter into the School of Christ where we are to learn to overcome all temptations to sin. That is, we are to become like Jesus Christ who “was in all points tempted like as we [human beings] are, yet [He, Christ, was] without sin.” Hebrews 4:15. When this lifelong process of testing is completed and we gain the victory over every sin, we are “sanctified” (Acts 20:32) and, hence, we will receive eternal life from God.

Now having considered these things we can have a good understanding of what God means when He says, “For by grace [God’s unmerited favour] are ye saved through faith [in Christ]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his [God’s] workmanship, created in [a spiritual connection with] Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10.

Spiritual Applications

Pray to God sincerely and ask God to help you to do His will, believing that God will help you, and thus you will be enabled to make the spiritual applications noted below:

• Have joy and patience in your Christian walk with God.
• Labour in God’s moral strength to overcome temptations to sin.
• Understand God’s royal law of freedom from sin and Satan.
• Have love for your fellow human beings.
• Understand that your faith in Christ must always be accompanied by good works.
• Pray and put forth earnest effort so that your tongue that is not controlled by Satan.
• Ensure that you receive wisdom from God and not the wisdom of the world.
• War prayerfully and earnestly against the worldly lusts, strife, envy, and contention, of your sinful nature.
• Make no ungodly plans and boastings regarding future gain.
• Be not like those who defraud their labourers and kill the righteous.
• Pray to God with a sincere heart and your prayers will become fervent and effective so that you have power with God.
• Do not doubt God’s God compassion and mercy.
• Do not be doubleminded.
• Believe in and anticipate the blessings of receiving God’s perfect and good gifts to humanity, especially, as Christians who are those prepared by God to benefit spiritually.
• Show no favouritism towards persons. Treat the rich and the poor alike.
• Understand that your temptations to sins come from your natural sinful nature and from the world, as well as Satan and his evil angels, for God tempts no one.
• Know that God does not hear sinful prayers and study the Bible to know what makes our prayers sinful.
• Make sure that you have a correct understanding of the relationship between faith, the law, and good works.

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