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.

Chapter 1
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.

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.

Chapter 2
Fourth Test, 2:1-13, Test of Impartial Love
This verse:  1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [Jas 2:1 ESV]
We are not to judge others in the church by their appearance or by extension, their success in the world.  This is the wrong criteria!  
2022 - The "wrong" in this thinking is in vs 4:  Don't make distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts.  Again, the test is an internal test.  We give ourselves these tests.  If you put the rich person in a good spot because he might throw you a bone sometime, or you put the lowly person three rows behind you because he has no resources that could benefit you, then you've judged that person's value - not by God's criteria, but by your own.  You valued the person based on how they can advance you, instead of as fully - or only - equal to you in God's sight.  This is wrong thinking, wrong criteria, and the "bad" kind of judgment.
(2023 - That last phrase..."the "bad" kind of judgment".  I think that tells me that the "good" kind of judgment, the kind Christians are supposed to exercise, is GODLY judgment.  We CAN and SHOULD judge those within according to God's criteria, not according to our own.  Not by the clothes they can afford but by their behavior compared to that encouraged in the NT.  What a relief to be able to articulate the judgment that we are to practice.)

This verse states the reason we ought to avoid this:
5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? [Jas 2:5 ESV]
2022 - Jesus spent his time in the byways and rural areas, far from the rich and prosperous.  Think that was coincidence?  Luke 10:21 says otherwise.
James then reiterates the point with a contrast in this verse:
6 ...Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? [Jas 2:6b-7 ESV]
2022 - Think of this in terms of who ought to pay the most taxes.  Don't we "hate" the rich because they don't pay their share?  How quick are we to demonize Bill Gates for his vaccination ideas?  When we want to point out what's wrong with the world, don't we point to the greed and corruption of the rich?  But when someone we know to be one of the rich and important comes into our circle, aren't we just as quick to act the servant to them?  Why?  Because they might be big tippers.  Really contradictory way we have of categorizing rich people - because it is according to circumstances.  The rich are monsters when they're far away, but they are benefactors when they are close by.  We show favoritism - which is always wrong - no matter which way it cuts.  There are those who are so enamored with helping the poor that they would rob from the wealthy to enrich the poor.  This too is favoritism, cutting the other way.  Put the rich man out of his giant house and move in 6 or 8 poor families.  Is that not also favoritism?  Partiality?  We have to look at all equally, through God's eyes, and remember that in eternity, the playing field will be leveled, and there will only be one criteria, and it won't have a thing to do with financial success or failure.  
2022 - Poor people are more likely to respond to the gospel message because those who have very little are seeking a better life.  Rich people, content and happy and able to do what they want, are not motivated to devalue their possessions in favor of intangible blessings.  These verses in James do not mean that the poor are just naturally better people than the rich.  But I think it does mean that, following the example of Christ, it is much more likely that a poor soul can be snatched from hell than a rich soul can.  

We are to love ALL our neighbors.  And even if it is only in this one area that we sin, this sin alone makes us guilty before God.  We are guilty because of one sin, not because we've violated every sin.  We can tell ourselves that "our" sin is minor compared to what we might be doing, or to what others are doing.  But James says it is all the same.  Our personal "favorite" sin - grovelling before the rich and the boss and the landlord - if we hang onto it based on how the world would view it or based on some perceived worldly benefit if we continue in that sin, then we are as bad as those who commit obvious sins like adultery and murder.  Sin is sin, and corrupts, if we know it is wrong, are convicted by the word that it's wrong, and we continue to do it anyway.  Behaving this way indicates an underlying problem with our faith.

2022 - This is a test we can give ourselves, if we are honest in our self-examination of our treatment of others.  But make no mistake.  Others can also plainly see if we do this.  If we're known as the office brown-noser, we fail Test Four.  If we brag about getting invited to the after party, we fail.  What are we proud of - social status, social connections - or the aid and help we give to others?

 

2024 - Look at this verse:
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. [Jas 2:13 ESV].  The idea here is that we are judged as we have judged.  This passage has already shown that we are ALL guilty of sin - of breaking the Law - and also shown that if you sin AT ALL you are guilty of all.  That is, so far as judgment before God is concerned, no one is more guilty than another.  You are perfect or you are guilty, just like that serial killer over there, and that guy who was mean to his parents, and the show off over there.  Equally guilty.  So.  Do you want to be judged by that Law, which has no provision for mercy at all, but only guilt or innocence, or do want to throw that out, and be judged by "the law of liberty", where mercy trumps judgment, and sins can be  forgiven.
Possible FB post - Do you want rules, or do you want mercy?

Fifth Test, 2:14-26, Test of Righteous Works
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [Jas 2:14 ESV]
If we say we have faith, and our obedience does not demonstrate that faith, then there is a problem.  True faith prompts, or even compels, sacrificial works.  Works are a result of faith, not a precursor to faith.  Abraham believed God, and so was willing to do the unthinkable FOR God based on his faith IN God.  Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac demonstrated to the people of his time that his faith resulted in obedience such that he would withhold nothing from God.  Obedience means holding nothing back.  What Abraham did put feet to his faith.  (This is an extreme example.)  Rahab did the same.  She is mentioned in this same context with Abraham's obedience.  Her faith required her to risk home, family, culture, and even her life for her faith that this Hebrew God was the real God.  If God's word makes it clear that we need to "sacrifice" some pleasure or some "love" in our lives, and we refuse, then that failure to do the "work" demonstrates questionable faith.  It doesn't make us a lesser Christian, it calls into question whether we ever were Christian.

2022 - A very controversial passage, used by some to say that the more we do for God, the greater our reward.  Some say you can't get to heaven without these good works.  But remember the context here.  These are tests of faith.  If you treat people differently, fail.  We don't go back there and say, well, you subscribe to People Magazine so you must not be saved.  You show partiality.  But we look at this one, and we say You don't ever sign up to take food to the sick, so you must not be saved.  These "tests" in James are about maturity in faith, about growth in the ways of God, about how far along we are on the road to sanctification.  These tests presume salvation.  You might be knocking it out of the park helping the poor with basic necessities while snapping at everyone who ever asks you a question.  Neither means you're saved.  Neither means you are not.  These tests are about what we need to work on if we want to be closer to what He wants us to be.  That's all they're for.  
I am amazed, this time through, at the every day practicality of these tests so early in the life of the church.  This is the oldest book in the New Testament.  Perhaps Paul hadn't gone to Damascus yet when this was written.  John had certainly not been to Patmos.  But surely we can all see ourselves, evaluate our positions along this scale from "Not partial at all...1 2 3 4 5... Partiality rocks"  And we are not talking here about 3 axes of maturity, or 5 or 7.  There are 13 here!  Monthly review at minimum!
But moving on to faith without works.

2023 - These verses:
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [Jas 2:15-16 ESV].  A hypothetical situation to test ourselves as to whether our faith is "working".  Note first that this is about a brother or sister - I think a Christian is in view.  Someone at church is starving - fallen on hard times, out of work, too sick to work.  They are choosing between food and rent, between medicine and gas.  The test of faith is about our reaction.  Take some groceries over, fill up the tank, refill the scripts?  Or tell them they ought to apply for food stamps, and advise them to put away some emergency money next time?  The test is whether our faith is all talk or our faith leads to action.  

2022 - Faith which has no influence on behavior is barely faith at all.  In fact, it might mean exactly that there is no faith at all.  Works are evidence that our sense of value has shifted from ourselves to others.  The works we're talking about here are not even perceived as works, but as "the right thing to do", "the only thing to do", "what any decent human being would do".  That's how we see them, but the unsaved see them perhaps as points on the scoreboard, done to achieve rather than done to serve.

2022 - This verse:
18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [Jas 2:18 ESV]  The question is, how can you prove that you have any faith at all - how can you convince me of your salvation - based solely on what you tell me, and not at all evidenced by any "un-reimbursed" effort on your part.  Why should I believe you?  And the next verse...you believe in God?  Great, so does Satan, that means nothing.  
2023 - This same verse...This is about evidence, as in a court.  You say you have proof, what will you show as evidence if you say you don't need works to prove faith.  Works are the tangible proof of invisible faith.  

2023 - This verse:
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder! [Jas 2:19 ESV].  I think the real point being made here is that demons have no faith.  Demons are on the extreme "empty" end of the faith scale.  Tank is dry.  They believe, but they absolutely do not do ANY good works.  The lack of works is absolute proof that they have no faith.  100% belief in God will never get you to heaven.  Faith, as measured by works, as verified by works, is what gets you to heaven.  Works do not get you to heaven, but they are tangible proof that you are going there.  But...common grace!  Bad people can do good works, we've seen that too.  Works done as "insurance" are not faith-motivated.  Works done to garner praise from others are no proof of faith.  Works done to accomplish political ends, to gain votes...do not prove faith, and do not earn salvation.

2022 - This verse:
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. [Jas 2:24 ESV].  Ah, James...surely this could have been worded a bit better.  Look back at the previous verse.  It says "Abraham BELIEVED God and it was counted to him as righteousness".  It does NOT say "Abraham did great works and they made him righteous in God's eyes."  There is no contradiction here.  James has just said the belief saves, NOT works.  Vs 24 is confusingly worded for just one reason.  Because this concept is vitally important, and we need to understand it far more deeply than as a simple statement.  I think it is written this way because God wants us to dig more deeply into the meaning.  So there is this verse:
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. [Rom 4:2 ESV].  There is a contrast here.  Abraham did do some spectacular works, far beyond what most are ever called to do.  So compared to other men, Abraham has much to boast about.  He can hold himself up to other men and say, "Look at my great works".  But he can't say that to God, because God knows the heart, and God knows it wasn't Abraham's works that saved him but the faith that prompted those works.  The two are different sides of the same coin.  The works don't count without the faith.  The faith is worthless without the works.  There are no layers to this coin.  Both sides are one.

2022 - This final verse:
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. [Jas 2:26 ESV]
When we die, our body gets buried or burned or committed to the deep, and our spirit goes wherever it's going.  If the body is in one place, and the spirit in another, the body is dead.  In the very same way, if we say we have faith but no works are in evidence, such that faith and works are separated from each other, then that faith is a  dead faith.  What an emphatic, and clarifying verse to end this controversial passage.

2023 - The only possible way for the spirit and the body to be separated is to kill the body.  The only possible way to have faith with no works is to kill faith.  This is how inseparable they are.  So the presence or absence of a inner compulsion to do good for our neighbor as we would for ourselves, or our "score" on the scale of works from none to constant, is a measure of our faith, and increasing in works builds up faith when we see that God rewards us for what we give.
Works are the spirit of faith.  Inseparable in life as body and spirit.

Works are the spirit of faith.  Inseparable in life as body and spirit.

Chapter 3
Sixth Test, 3:1-12, Test of the Tongue
Be careful of wanting to be a teacher - of being one who speaks with authority.  As such, the standard is higher.  A small "slip of the tongue" kind of mistake on the part of a ship's pilot can put the whole ship on the rocks, not just the pilot.  The tongue, like the rudder, establishes direction.  It should not direct us to both the north and the south any more than a bit in a horses mouth simultaneously directs the horse left and right.  Our tongues should be consistent with our faith.  James indicates that the tongue is truly a problem, a systemic problem, and requires much attention to keep under control.
2022 - As the rudder controls the direction of the whole ship, as the bridle controls the behavior of the whole horse, so the tongue sets the course of every person.  If we just talk and talk, our direction is random.  If we constantly criticize others, our direction is unforgiving.  If we constantly thank God, we are grateful.  If we constantly praise His name, we are humble.  We must step back from ourselves and listen to our own words to determine our true direction.  This is not easy to do.  Once we start to listen to ourselves and our words, we need to set the rudder for the direction we want to go, and hold it there, and not let the rudder swing on it's own.  We wouldn't drop the horses reigns, and yet when we blabber about whatever comes to mind, we are doing exactly that.  Our words should always have a purpose, an objective.  Every.  Single.  Word.  We should encourage, uplift, tactfully correct, inform, and love with the words we say.  And we should never allow bitterness, hatred, denigration, impurity, or enticement come from us.  A great test, vital to self-examination and growth faith and wisdom.  
2022 - This verse:
7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [Jas 3:7-8 ESV]
This makes pretty clear that the tongue ought to be constantly monitored, leashed, bound, and  used only when we are firmly in control of it.  It can poison others, it can poison our witness, it can poison our own thinking if left unchecked.  A closed mouth bridles the tongue.  The key here is to keep our mouths shut until we are firmly in control of what the tongue is going to do.  Refer back to that "slow to speak" command in Rule x.  Don't speak, don't ever speak, unless you know what you're going to say.  It goes on to say that the same mouth that praises our God curses those made in His image.  Does this make any sense?  Would we go for water at a spring that was sometimes fresh and other times foul?  No one would trust such a spring.  The same with our tongues.  He closes with these words:
11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. [Jas 3:11-12 ESV]
I think the real point - the test - is that consistency in message indicates constancy of faith.  This does not happen on it's own, but requires ongoing internal commitment to good.  And the more constantly we are on the right course, the more likely we are to be followed, noted, looked to.

2022 - But have I missed the real point?  James started this rule saying we ought not all be teachers.  Then he talks exclusively about the dangers the tongue poses.  Perhaps he means that knowledge does not make you a teacher.  Controlling ones own tongue is the more important skill?  Perhaps this is why I was never a teacher, never a supervisor, never in charge.  I knew how and why, but my delivery was always harsh.  Maybe.  I need to double check my understanding on this one.

Seventh Test, 3:13-18, Test of Humble Wisdom
These verses draw a contrast between heavenly wisdom, that we should seek, and earthly wisdom that creates in us jealousy and selfish ambition.  If we learn something that makes us humble, that wisdom is from heaven.  If we learn something that we believe only we can understand because we are the only ones smart enough to grasp it, and by extension believe that our demonstrated brilliance in understanding it gives us authority and position, we have missed the point.  We are seeking worldly wisdom, which is in fact a contrast to what we should be seeking.  Being obsessive about such wisdom or thinking worldly wisdom qualifies us to teach spiritual wisdom, demonstrates a faith problem.
2022  - The verse:
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. [Jas 3:13 ESV]
Conduct is the true test of faith, of Christian maturity.  What we do ought to demonstrate how far along the road we are.  Perhaps it does.  Maybe that's why some look at us as if we are bright pupils, doing well in kindergarten, and others look at us with admiration.  Again, our conduct is up to us first, but observable by others.    
2022 - Here are some very strong words:
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. [Jas 3:14-15 ESV]
Demonic.  I haven't seen this word used very much.  Interlinear says once in the KJV (also once only in the mGNT and the TR.  A rare word, used by James and no one else in the NT.  So what is being said that presents such a huge contrast in faithfulness?  Is it about hypocrisy?  Surely it is more than that...keep reading.  It seems to be that if our "primary driver of behavior" is rooted in earthly matters like jealousy toward those more successful than ourselves, and works designed to advance us in the world, then the works are not motivated by faith but much worse things.  We should look at our own actions, and judge whether they are aimed at increasing our wealth, or bringing peace with the neighbors.  Whether they are resentful of another's success, or sincere in our congratulations.  
2022 - So many of these things in James are about self-examination.  I don't know how much others do this, but until recently I never did so with any objectivity.  I just assumed that I was doing everything right!  When I didn't get promoted at work, I got a little poutty.  When someone else was promoted, it got a little incredulous, or called "brown noser" or "they get drunk together on the weekend".  These wee not wise things to say, these did not characterize Christian maturity.  Such a failure at what was most important, and a failure otherwise also.  The theme of these tests so far is surely self-examination, self-evaluation against the standard for faithful living set out by James.  An amazing book so far.  And the first book!

Chapter 4
Eighth Test, 4:1-12, Test of Worldly Indulgence
2022 - This chapter starts a little differently.  A rhetorical question is posed:
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? [Jas 4:1 ESV]
The answer follows.  So...the turmoil we have going on inside us is evidenced by our tendency to quarrel and fight with others.  We are told to look inward for an explanation of outward behavior.  And again, this is observable by us in our brothers.  This is a test of self, and a criteria to evaluate the faith of others.  I have phrased this similarly several times.  Why am I so anxious to "judge" others by their behavior?  How can we teach our children if we don't see their faults.  How do we know at what  "grade level" to instruct them if we don't assess their current proficiency?  How can we "exhort one another" if we treat everyone the same?  So we do need to be able to recognize the signs that evidence Christian maturity or lack of it.  We need to test ourselves first, and work on ourselves first, and criticize ourselves first, but we also have an obligation towards other Christians.  
So.  Continuing.  What are these inner passions that "war" inside us?  Surely this implies that the struggle is between worldly passions and spiritual passions.  Or...vs 5 may be saying that it is the Holy Spirit within us that is at war with our fleshly desires.  The Holy Spirit immediately identifies unholy thoughts.  But...how does this war lead to quarreling with brothers?  Maybe the paragraph below is the insight?  Perhaps I'm having trouble with this one because this one is a serious problem with me?  I don't see it because I don't recognize it inside me this time, as I have the previous tests?  
When's the last time I felt anger, resentment or jealousy towards someone at church?  Perhaps it was just yesterday...Am I jealous that graduation with a DD catapulted someone to the upper tiers of church hierarchy, with no other apparent "battle scars" or reputation or accomplishments?  Why not me, I study a lot, too, and I come up with some pretty neat stuff?  Does my memorizing Luke 10:21 signal my jealousy of that man rather than a sincere desire to memorize scripture? Yeah, in light of James 4 I kind of think it does.  Not a pretty sight.  And that other guy, with the very sordid past, far less deserving of respect than me, yet he seems to get far more attention.  I might be kind of jealous there.  That guy I used to work with that is so high up in the hierarchy, even though at work I thought he was a whiner who advanced by the squeaky wheel method.  Dang....I did not intend for this morning's reading to be such an indictment of my own behavior.  But what a good example of how insightful James' tests really are!  I need to do some serious praying about my resentments!  And then this verse, with the best approach:  10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. [Jas 4:10 ESV].  Don't look to the church or even to Christian brothers for "promotion", but to God when our attitude conforms to that of Christ.  

2023 - I don't think this test is about problems with Christian brothers and sisters.  This is about how we function in the world -  whether we seek the heavenly or the worldly.  BUT, if we are all about getting ahead in the world, there is nothing to restrict us from treating brothers and sisters just the same as we treat co-workers.  If we are focused on self-advancement, we will quarrel with someone!
2023 - This verse:
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [Jas 4:4 ESV], confirming that this is NOT just about relationships within the church.  This is a test of whether we live in faith, seeking God, and being satisfied with the blessings he sends our way, or whether we seek our own good.  And look also at vs 6.  He opposes the proud.  He frustrates worldly ambition, he isolates the proud from their goals.  And the humble?  It does NOT say they get what they seek, because they do not if what they seek is worldly.  But the do get more grace if they are humble.  Should we make accumulating grace our life's ambition?  What would that look like really?  Grace is God giving us what we have not earned and do not deserve.  Isn't seeking that a bit arrogant?  I will be humble today so that God will give me more stuff.  That doesn't seem quite right.  The goal is to humbly accept what life gives us while we behave as God's word instructs.  And then IF God blesses us, we humbly thank Him for what He has seen fit to do, rather than thinking we must have earned it.  Tricky wording, but I think this last is the kernel of it all.

2022 - The last few verses, through 12, are about whether we have standing to judge.  Much might be made of this condemnation of judging in contrast to the verse that says "Know ye not that you will  judge angels..."  Perhaps the key is that James is speaking to all - to leadership and to rank and file, and the angels thing is about church discipline, done correctly, through proper procedure.

Our internal worldly desires are the cause of all quarrels and fights among brethren.  We sin to obtain what the flesh desires, and in so doing offend our brothers.  The first example given is wanting something and committing murder to get it.  (Another extreme example.  James seems to use a lot of such "hyperbole" in making his points.  Like saying the tongue was full of deadly poison.  Well...not really.  This is interesting.)  If we want something we don't have, it is easy to make others "responsible" for our thwarted desires.  We tend to be jealous of others, not necessarily because they have what we want, but because they have what they want and we DON'T have what we want.  Why do they get to be satisfied and we do not!?!?!  And so we resent and avoid the brethren.  We are looking to the wrong place for satisfaction, we ask wrongly, because this "faith" we think we have is completely misdirected.  Again, this calls into question whether we have faith at all.  If we do not have, perhaps we want the wrong things.  If we wanted the right things, we'd ask, and God would give them to us.  

Ninth Test, 4:13-17, Test of Dependence
If we make our plans based on our own expectations and considering only our own thinking, then we are not depending on God, nor giving him place in our lives to direct our lives.  This is called arrogance.  Seems to me that the whole concept of The United States of America is to be independent of all but ourselves.  Anyone can make it, anyone can do anything, "Don't tread on me", freedom from government, and so on.  This test seems misdirected to Americans.  Perhaps it is a mistake that will ultimately undermine everything.  We should know to look to God to direct our steps, but do we?  Or do we have faith in ourselves instead?

2022 - Perhaps the better word here is presumption.  Do we plan our important profitable lives assuming that we will live until next year, next month, even just until tomorrow?  We tempt God in thinking that way.  We dare Him to spoil our plans.  Underneath, the part we don't consider, is that we see our own plans as more important than the plans God has for our tomorrow.  We ought to include the possibility of absence when we make our plans.  If we did this, if we were really thinking that today might be our last day, would our plans for tomorrow, if we should live to see it, be about profit and vacations, or would it be about making time to proclaim the gospel to those we love or know who are not saved, or even those we haven't yet met who are heading for hell?  If we saw the fuse as short, every day, would our priorities change?  If so, this test has uncovered a problem.

2023 - This last verse:
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. [Jas 4:17 ESV].  What is this verse doing here?  How does it even tie in with the idea of not being presumptuous about our plans?  It really doesn't seem to fit here.  Is it about stubbornly going ahead with plans when we know God is leading us elsewhere?  So we know what we ought to be doing - but we pursue worldly things instead?  And because we do that - we get our priorities wrong - what was in the first place a fine business plan becomes a sinful, worldly venture?  Maybe that's it...?

So many profound tests.  


Chapter 5
Tenth Test, 5:1-11, Test of Patient Endurance
2022 - This one also has a very different opening:
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. [Jas 5:1 ESV]  
It is hard to see how this is going to turn into a test of faith.  
2022 - As I read this, and look back at the last test, the test of dependence, I can't help but wonder if this is a continuation of Test 9, rather than a new test.  That word presumption comes into play, I think.  Independence comes into play.  This seems like either an additional example or an amplification of those in 4:13 that were planning their get rich quick strategy.  Now we look also at those already wealthy, who rest on that, and not upon God's plans.  As James describes them in 5:1, it is difficult even to see these as saved.  Could he really mean that after salvation, it is possible to be so entrapped by worldly wealth that we transfer our trust from God to money?  All the way through vs 6 this indictment of those who depend on riches are in view.
2022 - And look how 7 starts?  Therefore!  Not a new topic, but a conclusion of the current theme:
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. [Jas 5:7 ESV]
I think 5:1-11 goes with rule 9, I don't think it is something new.  It even reaches back into four and pulls the previous points forward?  5:9 goes back to 4:1. The whole point seems to be not getting distracted by the cares of the world - like going and making money someplace, or just enjoying what you have and not working for the kingdom and waiting for the results of that, being content to work for kingdom ends and not worldly ends.  Don't get discouraged that Jesus has not returned.  Farmers don't get impatient waiting on rain for their crops.  The prophets didn't get discouraged when the Messiah didn't come in their time.  Job lost everything he had, but he continued to trust and worship God rather than turning away and embracing worldly security.  
And then "don't swear"?  ABOVE ALL, don't swear?  How does this fit?  MSB says the Jews of the time were forever swearing by this or that, but deceptively, because they believed that only a swear in God's name was binding.  So all their swearing was dishonest.  Jesus also taught that we are to be honest in all our speech, and it shouldn't take some kind of oath to keep us honest.  Well ok, I agree with all that.  But that does not tie this in to what has been going on in Chapter 5.

Previous notes.  Above is from 2022.
I don't get this one at all.  Maybe my brain is just wearing out from so much...It seems to be a warning against the rich for taking advantage of others to gain wealth and then resting on their wealth.  But it isn't that.  Because it says that wealth is rotting away?  
Maybe it is about taking advantage of others in the church?  
Or maybe it is talking about the advancing distraction of wealth.  It corrodes in that it is worldly, and for those who are wealthy, dependence upon it increases with years.  We worry less and less about God guiding our way and our steps and depending on Him for the next day and the day after.  We say "I have enough to do as I please.  And those who are not so wealthy continue to struggle, to let us go our way, and we do not concern ourselves with their struggles.  Our inattention to their needs - because we have plenty and disdain their needs and say they can work too like we worked - is tantamount to murder.  This is not the attitude of faith.

2023 - Vss 1-6 do not sound at all like they are about testing the faith of Christians.  These verses address the corrupt rich who are finding, as they age, that riches bring less and less comfort.  The shine is fading, so to speak, and they find themselves lonely - perhaps hated by those they've cheated.  Maybe those they took advantage of are looking knowingly as they stumble, and cough, and approach the same end as the poor they cared nothing about.  The field gets level as we get older.  Regret...no...they are haunted by the decisions they made that paupered others while enriching them.  This is not about working hard and getting ahead.  This is about getting ahead by dishonest business practices, withholding wages, a take it or leave attitude towards those who really do not have that choice.  Getting rich by oppression, not by honest hard work, building on previous work, waiting patiently for the effort to pay off - it doesn't come immediately, it comes over the long haul.  Yes...that's what is going on here.  How does this relate to faith?  Perhaps the rich never had to depend on faith, and as the testing grows more and more difficult with age, the rich have no reserves because they didn't "farm their faith".  But those who had to have faith to keep going in the face of a difficult life?  They are strong in faith, able to face the challenges of age as they arise.  SO, is this a "new" test?  It is certainly a self-evaluation.  It seems to be addressed to the rich who suddenly find that they seem to have missed something important along the way, something they didn't know they were missing.  And here is a possibility for what it might be.  This test, this evaluation is specific to one group - the very wealthy - who always had a direction, but let the direction control them instead of the other way around.  They compromised.  They cheated.  I don't know if they're saved.  But these first six verses finally make sense...and I bet they "fit" with what went before, too, if I can just find the connection.

2023 - 1-6 addressed the rich directly...maybe.  The "therefore" in 7 almost seems to say that these oppressed rich, finally reaping the oppression they have sown, are a contrast with the poor, patient brothers who put godliness ahead of worldliness.  They ought not compare themselves unfavorably with those who have worldly riches, but contrast themselves with them, as they are described in 1-6.  They ought to compare themselves with the prophets, who, though they died paupers, are rewarded at the coming of the Lord for all eternity.

Eleventh Test, 5:12, Test of Truthfulness
Don't swear.  One verse.  Be what we are to be only because of God, not because we are beholden or awed by anything else.
2023 - The only "fit" I see for this verse is that the rich in 1-6 likely did a lot of false swearing, like crossing their fingers and that sort of thing, in order to euphemise the sins they were committing, the fraud they were perpetrating.  For those without riches, DO NOT start doing this self-deception because it will lead directly to condemnation.  If that is the case, this too ties back to the whole boasting about tomorrow idea.  Not really an eleventh test, just amplification of what came before.

Twelfth Test, 5:13-18, Test of Prayerfulness
We should pray fervently, not lackadaisically.
Or...maybe this is about those who are sick because of sin in their lives?  Not sick because the world is corrupt, but sick because of their own doing?  I think that's what is meant.  We are to pray for healing from these "tests" sort of, from making these mistakes that interfere with faith or detract from our faith.  The whole book has been about testing to see whether you have faith in the first place.  Perhaps this says that certain diseases and illnesses mean that you don't have faith.
Or maybe it is about the "illness" that failing one of these tests indicates?  Maybe the "illness" of jealousy is in view, or the illness of uncontrolled passions that preclude not only salvation but fellowship with the body?  Maybe the unsaved among us that believe they are saved - but fail these tests - are a disease among us for which we should pray for healing - by praying for their salvation.  
I'm very tentative about these things...
2022 - There was a recent Rummage sermon, and I think I made notes somewhere, that the sickness that prayers of the elders can cure is sickness as a result of sin.  Sickness as a result of unconfessed sin.  No!  It was Bobby Kelly in Psalms.  David talks about his bones drying up and so on because he was hiding his sin with Bathsheba.  This is sin sickness, and no medicine can cure it.  Only confession and prayer can overcome this kind of sickness.  This seems more like life advice than a test of faith.  
2023 - This oft-quoted verse:
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [Jas 5:16 ESV].  This verse is about not covering up your sins, as David covered his with Bathsheba, such that you become sick in your very bones, and ultimately die - not of disease, but of sin.  If we confess, the sin does not fester and putrefy and rot us from the inside.  This is about staying healthy!

Thirteenth Test, 5:19, 20, Test of True Faith
Bringing back a brother who has fallen into sin carries much weight with God?
Or maybe instead of a 13th, this is a conclusion.  An admonition to help those being tested.  To come alongside brothers and help them to be discerning about their faith or lack of it, and if they do lack it, to guide them to a saving faith, healing them of whatever worldly disease afflicts them and keeps them from a healthy faith, and brings them into the body of Christ, useful and used, faithful to God and to the brethren.
This makes a sort of sense.
2023 - Vs 20, "he will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."  What?  Saving another saves us?  That is NOT what this means.  But I'm not sure what it does mean.  Do some research before posting.

I've just lost it.  I don't know why.  Distracted by outside things.  Distracted by my list.
I went back and re-read 10 through 13 and tried again.  I don't want to be distracted from this book.  This is the most it has ever spoken to me.  It is written to Jews, but to Jews in the church.  It is written to strengthen the church, and to bring those who appear to be in the church to a fuller understanding of what should be going on with them, and to illuminate symptoms of a lack of faith.  James doesn't want these people to mistake - to mingle - the previous efficacy of the Law with the more direct and personal working of the Holy Spirit within each man.  They are not to depend on a formula or a list, but on the continual urging of the Holy Spirit within them.  That's the testing.  Are they still holding to the remnants of what the law taught them about "compliance" and dependence on that compliance, or are they now individually and corporately depending on their faith - and HOW CAN THEY KNOW!?

2022 - As last time, it just seems like I lost the momentum right here at the end.  Really, in Chapter 5.  NEXT TIME I READ JAMES, find a different outline.  See if the tests end with Chapter 3, or at the latest Chapter 4, and then the last of the book is not about testing but about practical, Godly living.  Maybe I lost it in about the same place both times from trying to make it stick to an outline that is itself not quite complex enough.  Maybe even outline it myself next time!
Also in 2022, I wore myself out on the judgment study today, digging deeply into Dan 7 and Rev 13, 19, and 20.  My head is tired again.

2023 - This year, Chapter 1 really seemed to open up.  Chapter 2 went very well...just not quite as well as 1.  Then for 3, I lost momentum ENTIRELY because the grands were here and they both got up at 6:15 and I had no quiet time at all that day.  We went out to eat that night, so I was too drained to come back to it later.  Chapter 4 was on Lavayne's birthday.  I went back and sort of "re-did" Chapter 3, and it helped...but then it seemed like I couldn't understand Chapter 4 at all.  I had such ambition when I got through Chapter 1 of doing a whole series of FB posts, all neatly tied up, getting me through at least a month of posts if not all the way through March!  Maybe that was my mistake.  I was filling my barns with FB posts before I'd even planted the crop.  And it all fell away from me.  I still got a lot of good posts from Chapter 1.  I was going to start them on Monday, but the kids were up early and I never even did a post that day.  Tomorrow, I will do the first post in James and I will do what I can with it.  I will not make any bold statements about posts through the whole book.
I have been struggling a lot lately.  It is probably the case that I saw doing a bunch of posts in James as the "easy" way to keep some posts going, because it seems lately as if I have to struggle mightily with each and every one.  That's not how it should go.  I am struggling with other things too - age, weight, and physical condition mainly.  Things are changing.  Everything is slowing down.  My "driven" personality is sputtering from lack of fuel.  It's just sloshing in the bottom of the tank.  It catches and I run pretty good for a bit...and then it starts sputtering and coughing again and needs frequent re-cranking.  That's actually a pretty good analogy for what's going on with me right now.