James 1-5

Key Themes (James)

The book of James, traditionally attributed to James, the brother of Jesus, is a practical guide to Christian living. It emphasizes the ethical and moral aspects of faith, focusing on how genuine faith should manifest in a believer's life. James addresses various issues related to behavior, community, and perseverance, offering wisdom for living a life that reflects true devotion to God. The key themes include:

1. Faith and Works: A central theme in James is the relationship between faith and works. James argues that genuine faith is demonstrated through actions. He famously states that "faith without works is dead," emphasizing that true faith must produce a life of good deeds and obedience to God. This theme underscores the idea that belief in God should lead to practical, observable changes in behavior.
2. The Power of the Tongue: James emphasizes the importance of controlling one’s speech, warning that the tongue, though small, can cause great harm. He describes the tongue as a powerful tool that can either bless or curse, and he calls believers to be mindful of their words. This theme highlights the significance of speech in the Christian life and the need for self-discipline in communication.
3. Trials and Temptations: James addresses the reality of trials and temptations in the Christian life, encouraging believers to view these challenges as opportunities for growth in faith and perseverance. He teaches that enduring trials with faith produces maturity and completeness. This theme emphasizes the refining purpose of trials and the importance of steadfastness in the face of adversity.
4. Wisdom from Above: James contrasts earthly wisdom, which is characterized by envy and selfish ambition, with wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy. He encourages believers to seek this godly wisdom, which leads to righteousness and peace. This theme highlights the value of divine wisdom in guiding moral and ethical decisions in daily life.
5. The Dangers of Partiality: James warns against showing favoritism or partiality, particularly toward the wealthy, at the expense of the poor. He emphasizes that all people are equal in God’s eyes and that believers should treat others impartially, reflecting God’s love and justice. This theme underscores the call to fairness, justice, and the rejection of discrimination within the Christian community.
6. Social Justice and Care for the Needy: James calls believers to actively care for the poor, the orphaned, and the widowed, emphasizing that true religion involves compassionate action toward those in need. This theme highlights the importance of social justice and the responsibility of Christians to demonstrate their faith through acts of kindness and mercy.
7. Humility and Dependence on God: James urges believers to live humbly, recognizing their dependence on God in all things. He warns against arrogance, boasting, and presuming upon the future, encouraging a posture of humility and submission to God’s will. This theme emphasizes the need for a humble attitude that acknowledges God’s sovereignty in every aspect of life.
8. The Danger of Wealth and Materialism: James cautions against the dangers of wealth and the temptation to place trust in material possessions. He warns the rich about the fleeting nature of wealth and the judgment that awaits those who oppress others for personal gain. This theme emphasizes the need for a proper perspective on wealth, encouraging believers to prioritize spiritual riches over material gain.
9. The Power of Prayer: James underscores the effectiveness of prayer, particularly in times of trouble, sickness, and need. He encourages believers to pray with faith, believing that God hears and responds to their prayers. This theme highlights the importance of prayer in the life of a believer and its role in accessing God’s power and grace.
10. Patience and Perseverance: James encourages believers to be patient and to persevere in their faith, especially in the face of suffering and injustice. He points to the examples of the prophets and Job, who endured hardship with steadfast faith. This theme emphasizes the importance of maintaining faith and hope in God’s promises, even in difficult circumstances.

The book of James is a practical and challenging guide for living out the Christian faith. Through its themes of faith and works, the power of the tongue, trials and temptations, and social justice, James calls believers to live lives that reflect the teachings of Jesus, demonstrating their faith through concrete actions, humility, and a deep commitment to God and others.

What I Noticed Today (James 1-5)

James 1

In verse 1, James opens the letter with the usual sequence: the author’s name (James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ), the audience (the 12 tribes of the dispersion), and a greeting.

In verses 2-12, James teaches about trials and maturity in the Christian life:

• Our attitude toward trials should be joy. Because the testing of our faith develops endurance, and endurance helps us to become mature, lacking nothing.

• If you lack wisdom, ask God, for He gives wisdom generously.
• But ask in faith, without doubting.
• A doubter is unstable in all his ways and should not expect to receive anything (let alone wisdom) from the Lord.
• James uses illustrations of a poor man (humble circumstances) and a rich man. Neither one has anything to boast about because they are both equal before God.
• A man who endures trials is blessed because he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

In verses 13-18, James warns about temptation:

• No one undergoing a trial should think they are being tempted by God. He Himself does not tempt anyone.
• Each person is tempted by their own evil desires.
• After the evil desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin gives birth to (spiritual) death.
• Every generous act and perfect gift come from God.
• He gave us a new birth by the message of truth (the Gospel), so we would be His firstfruits (believers).

In verses 19-27, James speaks of the importance of hearing and doing the Word:

• Understand, everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.
• Therefore, rid yourself of moral filth and evil and replace it with the Word that saves you (the Word of God).
• Do not just hear the Word, but do the Word. Without doing the Word, a person soon forgets what he has heard.
• But the person who hears the Word and does good works will be blessed by God.

• If anyone thinks they are religious without controlling his tongue, he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion in the eyes of God is to care for widows and orphans and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 2

In chapter 2, James discusses the sin of favoritism. When we show favoritism, we are rejecting God’s design making all men equal in His eyes.

In verses 1-13, James exhorts the reader to be accepting of others:

• Do not show favoritism to the rich man who enters the meeting (synagogue) over the poor man.
• When you do, you have discriminated against and become judges with evil thoughts.
• God chose the worldly poor to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. Yet you dishonor the poor man, while it is the rich man who oppresses you
• Don’t they (the rich) blaspheme the noble name (Jesus Christ) pronounced at your baptism?
• If you keep the royal law (Love your neighbors as yourself, Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39), you are being obedient to God.
• If you show favoritism, you commit sin and are a transgressor (against God’s royal law).
• Whoever keeps the Law but fails at one point is guilty of breaking it all.
• Speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom (the Gospel).
• Mercy triumphs over judgment.

In verses 14-26, James explains they must not only accept others but demonstrate their faith through good works:

• James asks a rhetorical question, can a faith that does not include good works save? The answer is no because true faith is expressed in good works.
• Belief in God alone is not enough. Even the demons believe in God, but they cannot be saved because they are incapable of good works.
• In another rhetorical question, James asks, wasn’t Abraham justified by works when he offered to sacrifice his son, Isaac? No, it was Abraham’s faith that justified him.

• James repeats the same premise with the example of Rahab, who, through faith, saved herself and her family by protecting the Israelite spies (a good work).
• Just as the body without a spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. Your faith is dead if it does not reveal itself in good works.

James 3

In chapter 3, James returns to the topic of misguided speech (2:16-18) and the importance of controlling the tongue:

• Not many should become teachers because teachers will receive a stricter judgment.

• If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man, able to control the whole body.
• A bit in the mouth of a horse is used to control the whole horse.
• A small rudder is able to steer a large ship.
• The tongue is small, but it can ignite fires. It is a world of unrighteousness. It pollutes the whole body. It is set on fire itself by hell.
• No man can control his tongue. It is restless, evil, and full of poison.
• We praise the Lord and curse men with the same tongue.
• We should not be this way.
• A spring does not put forth sweet and bitter water. A fig tree does not produce olives. A grapevine does not produce figs. Saltwater springs do not produce fresh water.

In verses 13-18, James asserts that wisdom comes from God:

• James asks another rhetorical question, who is wise and has understanding among you?
• This person should show their works by good conduct and gentleness.
• But if you are bitter or envious and have selfish ambitions don’t brag and deny the truth (these are characteristics of someone who denies the truth of God’s Word).
• Such wisdom (bragging, selfish ambitions, envy) comes from man and is unspiritual and demonic.
• Envy and selfish ambition yield disorder and every kind of evil.
• But the wisdom from above (God) is pure, peace-loving, gentle, compliant, fill with mercy and good fruits, and without favoritism and hypocrisy.
• The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.

James 4

In James 4, James contrasts the impact of the proud with the humble and our will with God’s will.

In verses 1-12, James addresses the sources of conflict as pride and selfishness:

• The source of wars and fights come from your cravings at war within you.
• You desire and do not have.
• You murder and covet and cannot obtain.
• You fight and war.
• You do not have because you do not ask.
• You ask and don’t receive because you ask with the wrong motives—your own evil desires.
• Friendship with the world is hostility toward God.
• Whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy.
• God’s spirit within us does not want us to have selfish cravings.
• God gives grace. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34).
• Therefore (v. 6), submit to God, and resist the devil.
• Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
• Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.
• Do not be double-minded (trying to be worldly and Godly).
• It is better to grieve, mourn, and wail with God than be merry without God.
• If you humble yourself, God will exalt you.
• Don’t criticize one another. Criticizing or judging a brother criticizes and judges the Law.
• If you judge, you are no longer a doer but a judge, and there is only one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy.

In verses 13-17, James warns about boasting in our own will versus being open to following God’s will in our lives:

• Do not boast about what you will do tomorrow because you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
• Instead, say, if the Lord wills, I will do such and such.
• Do not boast in your arrogance because all such boasting is evil.
• It is a sin for a person who knows what is good to do and doesn’t do it.

James 5

In verses 1-6, James issues warnings to the rich:

• James admonishes those who put their trust in things of this earth that will decay; your clothes are ruined by moths, and your silver and gold are corroded.

• Woe to you who have stored up treasures by withholding the wages of your workers.
• You have lived luxuriously and indulged yourselves.
• You have taken what belonged to the righteous.

In verses 7-11, James encourages the brothers to be patient as they anticipate the return of the Lord:

• Be patient and wait upon the Lord like the farmer who plants and waits patiently for the rains that will bring the crops.
• You must also be patient.
• Strengthen your hearts because the Lord is near.
• Do not complain about one another so that you will not be judged.
• Consider the prophets as examples of those who suffered with patience.
• We count as blessed those who, like Job, endured.
• The Lord is compassionate and merciful.

In verse 12, James admonishes the brothers not to swear by heaven or earth (take empty oaths). Rather, let your yes be yes and your no be no, so you won’t fall into judgment. (Mean what you say, be truthful!)

In verses 13-20, James concludes the letter discussing the importance of effective prayer:

• If you are suffering, you should pray.
• If you are cheerful, you should sing praises.
• If you are sick, call for the elders to pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.
• The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

• Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so you will be healed.
• Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, yet he prayed for it not to rain, and it did not rain for 3-1/2 years. Then he prayed for rain, and it rained.
• If any of you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back to the truth, whoever turns a sinner back to God saves his life and covers a multitude of sins.

Some thoughts for further consideration:

• James uses the term brother or brothers 17 times in this letter as he exhorts believers in very practical matters of Christian life: to seek God’s wisdom, to be doers of the Word, to be just, to control our speech, to be humble, to submit to God’s will, to wait upon the Lord, and to pray for one another.
• We honor God and bring glory to Him when, through faith, we do the things He has commanded us to do.

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: 1 Peter 1-2