Chapter 1
2022 - This should be called "James' Standardized Test of Christian Maturity" It is a self-evaluation, but in many ways, it also reveals us to others.
MSB intro to James is only one real page and an outline. However, the notes that go with the chapters themselves take up about three times as much space as the text of the book does. Surely this means that James says a lot more in a few words than we can really imagine. It says a lot in just five short chapters.
MSB says James is named after it's author. TCR says the author is uncertain, but "probably" James, the brother of Jesus. MSB goes on to say four men in the NT are named James. Two are considered highly unlikely as authors, the third - John's younger brother - was killed by Herod before the book was written - which leaves only Jesus' brother James as a viable choice. Josephus tells us James was a pillar of the Jerusalem church. James was later martyred in 62 AD. He wrote a letter preserved in Acts 15, and textual similarities between that letter and this book called James corroborate him as author. I also see that Jesus' other named brother - Jude - is believed to have written that book. I didn't know that.
2023 - There is a "cross-reference" table in the MSB intro to James comparing specific sections of the letter we know James, Jesus' brother, wrote in Acts 15 to specific chapter and verse in the book of James, so it is easy to compare the two and reach one's own conclusion about it.
James personally knew Jesus and saw him after the resurrection. This goes a long way towards having your writing canonized. There is no mention in the book of James about that letter in Acts 15 which was the result of the Council of Jerusalem. Surely that means this book was written before the Council took place. That puts is it in the range of 44-49 AD, and makes it the earliest writing included in the NT.
This book was written mostly to Jews scattered by the persecution of Herod Agrippa I - who also killed the apostle James and would have killed Peter. Much of the content is "Jewish". James has more than 40 allusions to the OT and more than 20 allusions to the Sermon on the Mount.
James is like Proverbs in that - per MSB - "It has a practical emphasis, stressing not theoretical knowledge, but godly behavior."
The outline per MSB is based on 13 tests that measure the genuineness of a person's faith.
2022 - Do these tests measure the strength of one's faith, or are they more about whether the switch is on or off - whether you have any or none? I have never heard James talked about as a good study if you are having doubts about your salvation. But that doesn't mean it won't work for that. What if you are just miserable at almost all these tests? Like a D- overall? Should you be worried? I plan to read it with these questions in mind this time. Before I start this time, I note that all previous times, I read the entire book on a single day. That's a lot. I also note that the chapter indicators are left out. On this plan, I will read only 1 chapter the first day...but have 3 chapters of Ezekiel to read afterwards. So still cramped, but much more time, and a much fresher mind, as I read chapter 1. The tests are clearly shown, each in turn.
2023 - So the 13 test locations are from the MSB outline, and that is how I approached the book.
First verse makes it clear that this is written to dispersed Jews. Makes sense that followers of the law might be less than enthusiastic about continuing to do works. Might have exulted a bit too much in being released from feasts and sacrificing and daily prayer requirements. This might introduce doubt in their own minds or the minds of outside observers - especially other Jews still holding to Mosaic law until 70 AD - that they were devout in ANY sense of that word.
2024 - To the twelve tribes...so this far back they believed that they had remnants even of the northern tribes taken by Assyria. This matches up with Jeremiah and Ezekiel both discussing Israel and Judah separately at some future time. The 10 tribes are not, and never were, lost, at least not to God.
First Test, 1:2-12, Test of Persecution in Suffering
2022 later...or Test of growing wiser in suffering.
Starts off with count it all joy. Encouragement to ask for wisdom, believing it will be given. The doubt here is not doubt about the wisdom that comes, but doubt that God will answer this, or any other prayer. Faith needs to be headlong and in full confidence. Anything less is "double minded". I will pray for this, but have a plan B. Vs 12 is like Proverbs also, saying what the outcome of "counting it all joy" will be: the crown of life.
2022 -I think the real test is about whether or not we are steadfast in our faith. Trials will come - but to saved and unsaved alike. Do our trials make us stronger in faith, do we recognize them as tests of our faith, and do we grow in faith as a result of having endured those trials in Jesus' name? This is the test. Do trials help you grow stronger, or do they set you back to square one each time? Does it take more to knock you off course than it used to, or is nothing changed? Make the devil try harder if he wants to upset your course. The harder he has to work on you, the less he can bother someone else!
2022 - Then it turns to wisdom. This seems to connect wisdom with faith. If, through trials, we become better able to endure trials, it is because we learned from the trials, as we ought. This learning to deal with trials is wisdom. So when we ask for wisdom, what we might get in abundance are the trials that teach us wisdom. But do we really want to grow wiser in this way? Are we sure we want to pray for the trials that make us wise? Wow. I think I finally understand what this means. Could be we want to be stronger...but not do the lifting. Double minded in a nutshell. Opposing goals rattling around in the same nut.
2022 - Vss 9-11 seem to say that the trials a poor man goes through will expand his options. He will have "more". Perhaps this means that his preoccupation with what he doesn't have will be replaced with a sense of abundance in what he already has. And for the rich, it is the opposite. The rich are pretty happy with their lot, and might be made wiser by looking the fool now and then, so they might not think so very much of their accomplishments but appreciate that they are the same as other men but for God's blessings given for His purposes and not because they were earned. AND, so they will appreciate spiritual riches above their worldly riches. So in both cases, wisdom is focusing on God's gifts rather than the world's gifts.
2022 - And here is a crown, the crown of life, promised to those who love him. Where is this crown promised? Has to be in the OT, since James is the earliest book. We shouldn't look for this promise in the NT, but in the Old. Hmm...MSB does not go to the OT for this. He says it is best understood as "the crown which IS life. The promise of eternal life that believers obtain at death or at Christ's coming. Not a literal crown worn in heaven, but eternal life itself. He says it is like the wreath a Greek athlete might receive. I really think they totally over do this whole Greek athlete crown/wreath and bema thing. Why should the NT writers all end up in a sort of OCD athlete worshiping metaphor for all things spiritual? Sometimes it is, yes. Paul makes that clear in places that he is referencing athletic events. But why do we run there so often in interpreting these verses when they don't really say that's what they mean? I can go with the "crown, which is life" here. But I would also look to promised crowns in the OT and see what I find. There are 57 uses of "crown" in the ESV OT. Worth a look, and might get additional useful information from such a study.
2026 - We see dichotomy again used as a sort of touchstone for Christian living. The poor, whom the world looks down upon, are to glory in their high position. The rich, whom the world worships, are to glory in their humiliation. Here is the first meaning of Strong's G5014, translated humiliation in ESV: "metaphorically, spiritual abasement, leading one to perceive and lament his (moral) littleness and guilt". So the idea is that the poor ought to think more of himself, and the rich ought to be ashamed of their near uselessness. Both of these are aimed at breaking down worldly, physical perceptions and to value human life as God sees it. All in his image. All capable of acceptable worship. The poor man should rise to worship, the rich many abase himself to worship.
Second Test, 1:13-18, Test of Blame in Temptation
God doesn't bring temptation into our lives. Temptation comes from within, from fleshly corruption. The progression is from desire to sin to death. We want something that is of the flesh, as in sex outside marriage, or as in another helping of that cheesecake. Anything that is outright sin or beyond what is good for us. Once we want it, we indulge ourselves and go ahead and have it. And then it is easier to indulge the next time, and still easier after that, and eventually indulgence in sin is a way of life for us, not an occasion of failure that hurts us and leads to repentance and prayer.
2022 - I think that last sentence is key. There is a big difference between telling ourselves we're only human, that a little lie is ok, that circumstances required sinful behavior. All of those say "God set things up that way, so I am not to blame." Contrast that with contrition and repentance, with a desire for strength against the desires of the flesh. So the question is - the test is - how do you counsel yourself when you do wrong? Excuses or repentance?
At this point, the sin has brought us to death. And we can be sure at this point, when we no longer have even the desire to repent, that the faith we thought we had was not genuine in the first place. We were never really converted, and we are in no state of mind to repent at this point. We will find ourselves avoiding thinking through what has happened in our lives to bring us here because dwelling on it will bring conviction.
2022 - Vss 16-18 seem to say that, as firstfruits, we have a high standard to meet. Men are in His image, men should follow His example. "No shadow of turning..." There are no exceptions hidden in His rules. There won't be a loophole there where there wasn't one before. Don't "debate" yourself into making something ok today that was clearly a sin yesterday. Oh my!!! Look at how much we do that today - abortion, homosexuality, wine, social drinking, office flirting, retaliatory pornography! In all these cases, we find self-gratifying justification for what we ourselves would rather do, instead of looking to the word as final arbiter of our options! God's opinion of these has not, is not, and will never be changed! Internal debate about whether something is sin just promotes personal desire as justification for moderation of God's clear commands.
Third Test, 1:19-27, Test of Response to the Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. [Jas 1:19-20 ESV] I thought this verse was about interacting with other people. That's not at all what it is about. It is about how we react to convictions that come to us while reading the Bible or listening to a sermon. This is about saying "I'm not going to stop doing "this" just because that preacher said so, he's never been in my shoes, and has no standing to correct me!" This is being slow to hear, quick to speak, and immediately angry that some "sin" we cherish has been called out for us to give up. We are "offended" that this little thing is getting attention at all. Or we read a verse that makes us think of some behavior that we think of as just "a natural reaction" not an affront to the Word. Quick anger and dismissal of the lessons of the Word is NOT the way to do God's will. THAT is what these verses are about. Then 22 on reinforce/restate this principal by telling us to DO what the Bible says, not rail against it as unfair, fun-killing, or boring. Listening to truth and dismissing it without applying it is to deny who we are inside. And if it goes on long enough, it indicates that we are NOT who we think we are.
2022 - This is also about developing a different understanding of our emotional reactions. If we hear or read something spiritual, and there's this surge of "NO! That cannot be right, I won't do that, and I won't think about that", then we are being guided not by God but by some gut reaction - almost certain to be worldly in nature, and rooted in desire rather than in faith. We should train ourselves to slam on the brakes when we feel a shockingly intense emotional reaction to something, instead of doing what is usual and removing all mouth filters, jamming the pedal to the floor, and saying whatever comes to mind quickly and loudly. Instead, it is better to react to this emotion as klaxon, flashing lights, or sirens rather than as "fight or flight". F or F are fine in a physical confrontation, but they are rarely if ever correct in a spiritual confrontation between right and wrong. Vss 22-25 confirm this. Do not let quick emotion - denial out of hand rather than deep consideration - dim the mirror of self-examination that the Word often prompts. To do so is to forget what you might be and embrace what you already are. This is stagnation, not progress. So perhaps this "be ye doers and not hearers only" is not about good works wrt others, but is about responding energetically to correction by the word instead of just a quick, thoughtless dismissal. This is quite a test, and one we can really only give ourselves. How do we handle Godly correction, whether the spoken word of pastors or the written word as we read it? Over the long haul, some get more like Jesus - obvious even to others - and some stay the same. So we can apply this to others also, AFTER we've looked to ourselves.
2023 - These verses:
23 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. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [Jas 1:23-24 ESV]. This says that hearing the word won't make you a better person. It says that reading your Bible every day won't make you a better person. It is only in application - in physically doing what the word says, in behaving as the word says to behave, in living as the word says to live - that we are changed into the image of His Son. Looking in the mirror and then going about your day won't improve your looks. But if we look in the mirror and then wash our dirty face and comb our messy hair - if we ACT on what the mirror shows us - THEN there is change. Soon, washing our face and combing our hair becomes automatic. It becomes who we are, not an occasional flash of good hygiene. The mirror is a metaphor for God's word. If we just read it, or just hear it, no matter how much we nod our heads and say amen, if all we do is read and hear, nothing will change. We have to look intently into the word, identify our sinful ways and laziness and then go WORK on them or they will not change.
Possible FB post - in a series. A really good practical series. Put it together and then start posting.
2022 - But....vs 26. Keep your mouth shut if you're religion is real. Perhaps this refers back to the "slow to speak", as I understood that above. Don't talk back to the Spirit but be attentive and aware and thoughtful.
2022 - Then, vs 27 seems undeniably physical - it is about putting shoe leather on the road. IF we are listening to the Spirit, we will do for others? Or is it that continued thoughtful self-evaluation in light of revelations of the word will lead inevitably to the outward manifestations that exemplify a true faith and trust and ongoing sanctification. I don't think this is phrased the best it could be, but leaving it here for now.
2022 - I thought of an example. Say your 8 YO can throw 82 mph, and is on a team that is undefeated through the first half of the season. You're bragging about this boy to a church friend and mention that they play the only other undefeated team next game, on Sunday at 9:45, and he says "Well you're taking him to church instead, right?" Won't there be just this powerful eruption of emotion that refuses to consider missing something as important as this next game just to go to church? That my friend, is being slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to anger. This is what we want to avoid.
2026 - Vs 27 starts with "Pure and undefiled religion..." The Greek word used here is "threshkeia". It is the first word in the verse in both the mGNT and the TR. Strong's G2356. It is only used 4 times in the NT and is translated "religion" 3 of those, and "worshiping" the other time. I think James is talking here about our obligations as "Baptist", or more broadly maybe as "Christians". To be seen as an "upstanding member of your church" you will be seen doing things like looking after widows and orphans. Get involved in your church, reach out as a member of the church, enhance the reputation of your church - of your religion. This is how the word is used elsewhere also.