Rich Nelson Uncategorized

1: Faith and Endurance — James 1:1-27

Get Ready

Preparing for a major challenge — hiking the Grand Canyon, doing a 10-kilometer walk, a golf or bowling tournament, a significant examination or test — usually means doing a lot of the same activity. How do you go about getting ready for such a challenge? How do you feel about the process?

The Word

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.

Faith and Wisdom

2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. 6 But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; 7 [8] for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Poverty and Riches

9 Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, 10 and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

Trial and Temptation

12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. 14 But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15 then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved.

17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.a  18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 You must understand this, my beloved:a let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is writing this letter? How does the author refer to himself? Why do you think he chose this “title”? Who is he writing to?

2. What is the first topic the author deals with? How does he get into it? What encouragement does he offer? What is the result of following this advice? How do you think his readers reacted? 

3. What does the writer deal with next? Why is this important to the author? To believers? To you? How should a person ask God for help?

4. What does James say about relationships among Christians? What is different than the world’s approach to people? What happens to wealth?

5. What is the result of patience and endurance? How do we know this will happen? How are we to deal with temptation? What is the real source of this problem?

6. How does James describe believers? Who causes this condition to exist? What kind of action does it lead to? How does a Christian achieve this sort of life? How does a Christian respond to this message?







Get Personal

Have your prayers recently been more like a rock or a wave? How has God helped you pray expectantly for wisdom? How has he helped you endure or be patient?

Notes . . .

1:1.  Servant — the Greek word includes “bondage” in its meaning.
Dispersion — the Greek word, diaspora, has come into English.
1:2.  Trials — the Greek word means “testing” [also v. 3] in the sense of proving the essence or validity. Many translations use “temptation.” The same word is used in Luke 22:28-29, Acts 20:18-20, and 1 Peter 1:6.
1:3.  Endurance — the Greek word includes “continuing,” “persevering,” and “patience” (which many translations use).
1:5.  Wisdom — like other New Testament authors, James always uses “wisdom” as the knowledge and understanding the Holy Spirit gives to believers, what Paul called “the secret wisdom of God,” [1 Cor 2:6].
1:6.  Doubting — the Greek word means “divided” or “separated” or “going in different directions.” It is a lack of conviction, not a concern about accuracy or veracity. James’ point is that a person who doesn’t trust God’s promise cannot truly act on that promise and, therefore, won’t see the results of the promise.
1:9.  Lowly — the Greek word includes “considered less” and “lower class” in addition to being economically poor. Similarly rich in verse 10 includes status and prestige in addition to money. James is encouraging Christians to see people as God sees them — members of Christ’s family — not as the world assigns status and position. God told Jeremiah Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord, [9:23-24].
1:13.  Tempted — the Greek word means “test,” “try” and “prove.” God does not set

a person up for failure, but he does want a believer to strengthen or enhance Godly characteristics. James makes clear in vv. 14-16 that the negative aspect of temptation is internal, not something that God, or the world for that matter, does.
Jesus said the same thing: And then he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride and folly. All these things come from within; and they defile you a person,” [Mark 7:20-23].
1:18.  Word of truth — James uses logos, the same word John uses to describe Christ [1:1].
First fruits — Jewish readers would be familiar with this phrase from the Mosaic requirements for sacrifices [see Num 18:12; Prov 3:9; Ex 23:19.] Paul uses a similar reference in 1 Cor 15:20.
1:19-20.  Here James’ style definitely echoes Proverbs [check Prov 10:19, 21:23, 14:29, 16:32, 25:28].
1:21.  Sordidness — the King James Version uses “superfluity of naughtiness.”
1:22.  Be doers  — Paul expresses the same idea: For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified, [Rom 2:13].
1:25.  Blessed — James is consistent with other New Testament authors in asserting that the Gospel provides freedom to believers [see John 8:32-37, 2 Cor 3:17, Gal 5:1, 1 Peter 2:16].
1:26.  Bridle — a metaphor: we must “guide” our speech as you would a horse or mule.
Religion — the external or ceremonial aspect, religious practice — which may or may not have any relationship with a person’s actual beliefs. James provides the contrast in verse 27.

Memory Verse
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world, [James 1:27].

Next Lesson
Faith in Action — James 2:1-26

Rich Nelson Uncategorized

James

James is the first New Testament letter addressed to the believers generally, rather than a specific church or individual. Most scholars also believe it is one of the earliest New Testament letters to be written, though, ironically, it is one of the last documents to be included in the official canon of the New Testament.

Author

According to most authorities “James” is Jesus’ brother (not James the apostle, the brother of John). Even though he was not a disciple while Jesus was alive on earth, he became a believer after Jesus’ ascension and was a leader of the Jerusalem church by the time Paul returned from his initial missionary journey and the Council dealt with the question of circumcision for Gentile Christians [Acts 15]. The designation, “servant,”  rather than apostle, indicates the author was well known to his intended audience.

Dates for the letter range from as early as A.D. 45-50 to A.D. 62, when James was martyred. Some scholars believe the reference to “Jewish Christians scattered among the nations” indicates the letter was written after A.D. 70 when Rome destroyed the temple and dispersed the Jews — and Jewish persecution dispersed the Jewish Christians.

Purpose

The letter is a straightforward message on the practical aspects of Christianity. Its style is more like a sermon than a letter or exposition of Christian beliefs. Unlike Paul’s letter to the Romans, James focuses on the consequences of faith, not the theological arguments for believing in Christ. He describes what the day-today life and actions of a believer look like — the visible component of faith.

The setting for James’ letter is important to understand his message. The early church was predominantly Jewish Christian. Believers knew well the God of the Old Testament and the Mosaic Law. Because of this there was confusion and controversy about how a person who accepted Christ as savior and was now “free” of the Law should go about his or her daily life. The elaborate rule book and checklists of the Pharisees no longer governed a person’s relationship with God — but what should guide a Christian’s life and actions?

James focuses on “faith” just as the other New Testament writers do. But for James “faith” is the living result of believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is not the “saving” or “justifying” faith that Paul explores and explains in his letters. James’ encouragements and exhortations are not actions a person must accomplish in order to be saved, he agrees with Paul that faith is the only thing that makes a relationship with God possible, a person can do nothing in this life to overcome sin. “Faith” is the foundation of a Christian’s new life and James explores its meaning and consequences here and now.

Major Themes

James puts his purpose statement at the end of his letter: If anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins, [5:19-20]. He wants to build up the church by helping believers help one another.

The major problem, according to James, is compromising or being friends with the world and he puts it in very strong language: Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God, [4:4]. His solution is equally direct: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you, [4:7-8]. He tells his readers to cleanse their hands, purify their hearts, lament and mourn and weep, and humble themselves, and God will exalt them, [4:9-10.

The author also deals with three specific concerns:

Partiality – evidently many believers were favoring some people over others – people with status were treated better than poor people. James said, if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors, [2:9]. Believers should fulfill the “royal” law and love their neighbor as themselves.

Wealth – James also called out wealthy people who were hoarding money and possessions and oppressing poor laborers, [5:1-4].

Works – if Christians look and act just like everyone else in the culture, non-believers cannot see that faith changes lives and brings a new relationship with the living God. Again, James uses blunt language: Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead, [2:26].

James deals with patience and prayer in two mini-sermons that conclude the letter:

He acknowledges that Christians are suffering, that most of them are struggling economically, socially and spiritually. He encourages them to be patient: As an example of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance, [5:10-11].

He also emphasized the importance of prayer: Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise, [5:13], and the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective, [5:16].

Paul vs James

Martin Luther called this book a “letter of straw,” but he was not the only scholar to question the apparent theology of the book (in fact it was one of the last books to be included in the New Testament).

The argument is that Christianity teaches that we gain salvation only by God’s grace through our faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We cannot “earn” salvation by any action or “work” we do.

James appears to teach that we can be “justified by works,” [2:21]. The critical passage is, You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, [2:24]. But he is actually saying that our “works” are the evidence for our faith. Try reading that passage above as: You are able to see our changed life by our work, not by what we say we believe.