James 1 - "Faith Without Works is Dead, Or Maybe It Was Never Alive!"

Click Here to Read or Listen to James 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

From verse 1, we get key details about this New Testament letter. First, the writer is James, who could be the brother of John, the two sons of Zebedee. Or, he could be James the half-brother of Jesus. Most scholars favor the latter. It is written to Jewish Christians, who were scattered among the nations due to persecution. This is commonly called the "diaspora". It also served God's purpose of spreading the gospel to faraway nations. 

In Acts 17, we see that James was a key leader when the church met in Jerusalem to discuss some major issues. This makes James a very early letter in the New Testament. I.e probably before 49 A.D, the date when the council meet. So the dating is probably from 45-48 A.D. Only like 15 years after the resurrection. 

Luther called James the "straw gospel". He didn't like the letter because he thought if focused too much on works and not enough on faith. Since Luther was battling the works righteousness of the Catholic church it is understandable he would be hyper aware of this. But James has been a valuable letter in the church's history to keep it from the "cheapening of God's grace".  Works flow from grace. So, if there are no works one has to wonder if the person has receieved grace. That's why James will says, "Faith without works is dead!" Or, maybe it was never alive. 

For more info about the letter of James click on this link.

Insight for Living Commentary Chuck Swindoll

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Verses 2-4 are great to put to memory. They have been one of my "go-to" verses when being tempted. The other one being 1 Corinthians 10:13. The trials may be related to the persecution these Jewish believers were facing for their newfound faith in Christ. James says to, "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds". What does he mean by this?

Trials are not joyful in and of themselves, but James says to "consider it joy". Consider is an attitude word. We choose joy in the midst of the various trials we face. Note the term "various", as we all face different kinds of trials. Why can we have joy? 

Because if we persevere in faith, we will become mature and complete and lacking in nothing. Trial purify our faith when we endure them. They make our faith stronger. They make us rely on the Lord more intentionally. They show us the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.  

Next, James tells us to ask for wisdom if we lack it. Wisdom is "seeing things from God's perspective". We often rely on human wisdom, but James tells us to ask for God for it. God is generous in giving wisdom. God is not stingy he wants us to have his wisdom. But James give us a proviso. If we ask for wisdom and God grants us wisdom, we must believe that it is the right way to go. If we don't trust in God's wisdom, we are like a wave in the sea. We are controlled by everything but God who is our anchor. 

9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

James seems to stereotype the rich and the poor. The poor should be happy in their position and rich should take pride in their humiliation. Since we know that God is not categorically against riches what does he mean by this/ 

This commentary helps somewhat. 

The riches of this world will certainly fade away – but James says that the rich man also will fade away. If we put our life and our identity into things that fade away, we will fade away also. How much better to put our life and our identity into things that will never fade! If a man is only rich in this world, when he dies, he leaves his riches. But if a man is rich before God, when he dies, he goes to his riches. - Guzik

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James goes back to the subject of trials, which shows that this is a big issue he wants to teach on. In addition, James adds another motivation to persevere though trials. He tells them they will, "Receive the crown of life that will never fade away". In contrast to riches, these crowns will last forever. 

There are five crowns described in the New Testament, which are rewards for faithfulness. They shouldn't be confused with works righteousness. We are saved only by faith in Jesus, but we also will be judged for the grace we have been given in Christ. See the Parable of the Talents. 

Explanation of 5 Crowns - Enduring Word

Importantly James says no one should say they are  tempted by God. Temptation comes from the evil one, but we never "have to sin". We are dragged away due our own engagement and enticement with sin. We choose to sin. In the moment we think it will give us greater relief than choosing to avoid it. Sin is dangerous. When we allow sin to take over our lives there are no guarantees. James describes the progression of sin from desire, to birth, to being full grown to death. 

If you look at addiction and the 12 steps programs, this is the same progression for an alcoholic or addict. Then begin by choosing alcohol and in the end it chooses them. Eventually it leads to death literally or spiritually.  Surrender is the antidote to addiction. We are all powerless over sin, but we can admit our powerlessness and turn to the one who is all powerful. In a sense we are all "sin addicts". 

Is there sin in your life that is growing and beginning to take hold of you? After initially choosing it, is it now choosing you? 

We all sin every day and need forgiveness, but when sin has become addictive and destructive, one needs to surrender their life once again to Christ. This can take many forms, but we know God is always more than willing to welcome us back to the fold. I.e. The Prodigal Son. If we feel far from God, guess who moved! 

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James says, "Every good and perfect gift comes from God above". This verse has come in handy many times in my ministry and life.  God is not stingy and rejoices in giving good gifts to his kids. 

There is nothing I enjoy more than shopping at Christmas for my family. I try to find something I think they will like and receive great joy when they open their gift and it is just what they wanted. The good and perfect gift. If we feel this way with the people we love, how much more does God enjoy giving his children good gifts. 

And we know the greatest gift is His Son, Jesus, who gave us the gift of eternal life. The gift that keeps on giving! 

istening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Another great verse to remember, "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger." 

Can you imagine how much hardship and calamity would be avoided if we heeded this verse? We are usually slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to anger.  This is something I struggle with. I get really anxious to get my view heard and to be endorsed. After all, I have the best insights and answers right? 

Nope. I think the root of this is pride. How many times have you been making a point and someone cuts you off? Or, how often do you do it? This reality is you stop listening and start thinking about what you are going to say. It is no longer a conversation but a monologue. When people don't listen to each other they can keep on getting more angry. Have you ever watched two people talking over each other arguing endlessly?  

Let's be good listeners. It shows we care and are more interested in otthers than ourselves. As Paul said to the Philippians, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests but to the interests of others." Philippians 2:4

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

As you can see this letter written by James is very practical. James turns to the spiritual discipline of how we respond to God's Word. We not only read God's Word for knowledge, but true knowledge comes when we experience the truth we are studying but obeying it. When we apply God's Word by first applying it to ourselves, we will see the perfect law that gives freedom. 

Whenever I preach I try to summarize the message and give some thoughts about how to apply the message. Though we can only obey through the Holy Spirit, we still need to at some point step in faith to acuate the truth for ourselves. 

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

One of the reasons Luther might not have liked this letter and thought it should not have been included in the bible is verses like this. We usually associate religion as doing things to earn our way to be accepted by God. It also says God accepts religion which is pure and faultless as evidenced by good works like helping widows and orphans staying pure. 

So what do we do with a passage like this? 

One way to interpret it is in lieu of the previous passage which talks about hearing the word but not applying it. 

Here is another explanation. 

The New Testament never uses this ancient Greek word for “religious”in a positive sense (Acts 17:22, 25:19, 26:5; Colossians 2:23). James used it here of someone who is religious, but is not really right with God, and this is evident because he does not bridle his tongue. - Guzik

He could also be referring to the tendency of unbelieving Jews to be legalistic, especially the Pharisees who tied heavy burdens on others but did nothing to lighten their load. 

“This seems to reflect upon the hypocritical Jews, whose religion consisted so much in external observances, and keeping themselves from ceremonial defilements, when yet they were sullied with so many moral ones, Matthew 23:23; John 18:28; devoured widows’ houses.” (Poole)

As you can see the James' letter is chock-full with challenges to the Jewish Christians, as they are living out their faith all over the world. Most of all it seems that they need to "walk their walk" and "talk their talk". Meaning their lives need to be in alignment with God's Word if they are going to preach about it.

This is a very relevant for us today, as believers we are challenged to be "in the world but not of the world". And to get out of our "holy huddles" in order to be the light in the world by caring for those who have no one to care for them. When we do this, Christ shines through us and it gives a lot more credibility when we preach the gospel.