JAMES
James becomes the leader of the New Testament church. Why? He is not one of the disciples, and the Bible is a bit silent on this subject. The best guess is that James is the half-brother of Jesus and maybe one of those “brothers” that had rejected him in the gospels when they came to “get him” with their mother (Matthew 12:47). James is a “problem” to the Paulinity group of Christians who think that one is “saved” by grace alone. In fact, Martin Luther objected to this book and did not want to see it included in the Bible for obvious, if not in a prejudiced way! He saw very clearly that James' position was different than Paul's on the subject. The problem to these Pauline Christians is that James position is closer to John and Peter and Jesus himself than they want to admit! It is believed that James was martyred at the Passover.
The destruction of Jerusalem foretold in it ( James 5:1 HEGESIPPUS (quoted in EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 2.23]) narrates that he was set on a pinnacle of the temple by the scribes and Pharisees, who begged him to restrain the people who were in large numbers embracing Christianity. "Tell us," said they in the presence of the people gathered at the feast, "which is the door of Jesus?" James replied with a loud voice, "Why ask ye me concerning Jesus the Son of man? He sitteth at the right hand of power, and will come again on the clouds of heaven." Many thereupon cried, Hosanna to the Son of David. But James was cast down headlong by the Pharisees; and praying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," he was stoned and beaten to death with a fuller's club. The Jews, we know from Acts, were exasperated at Paul's rescue from their hands, and therefore determined to wreak their vengeance on James. The publication of his Epistle to the dispersed Israelites, to whom it was probably carried by those who came up to the periodical feasts, made him obnoxious to them, especially to the higher classes, because it foretold the woes soon about to fall on them and their country. Their taunting question, "Which is the door of Jesus?" (that is, by what door will He come when He returns?), alludes to his prophecy, "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh . . . behold the Judge standeth before the door" ( James 5:8 James 5:9 Hebrews 13:7 so long bishop over the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem, "Remember them which have (rather, 'had') the rule (spiritually) over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."
The similarity to Matthew, the most Hebrew of the Gospels, is just what we might expect from the bishop of Jerusalem writing to Israelites. In it the higher spirit of Christianity is seen putting the Jewish law in its proper place. The law is enforced in its everlasting spirit, not in the letter for which the Jews were so zealous. The doctrines of grace, the distinguishing features of Paul's teaching to the Hellenists and Gentiles, are less prominent as being already taught by that apostle. James complements Paul's teaching, and shows to the Jewish Christians who still kept the legal ordinances down to the fall of Jerusalem, the spiritual principle of the law, namely, love manifested in obedience. To sketch "the perfect man" continuing in the Gospel law of liberty, is his theme. (Jamiesion)
James 1
1 I, James, am a slave of God and the LORD Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes which are scattered all over the world GREETINGS!
James--an apostle of the circumcision, with Peter and John, James in Jerusalem, Palestine, and Syria; Peter in Babylon and the East; John in Ephesus and Asia Minor. servant of God--not that he was not an apostle; for Paul, an apostle, also calls himself so; but as addressing the Israelites generally, including even indirectly the unbelieving, he in humility omits the title "apostle"
greeting--found in no other Christian letter, but in James and the Jerusalem Synod's Epistle to the Gentile churches; an undesigned coincidence and mark or genuineness. In the original Greek (chairein) for "greeting," there is a connection with the "joy" to which they are exhorted amidst their existing distresses from poverty and consequent oppression. Compare Romans 15:26 , which alludes to their poverty.
4 So be patient, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
5 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and He will not resent your asking.
6 Ask boldly in faith, believingly, without a second thought, and be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
10 Rich believers should be proud because being rich should make them humble. Rich people will wither like flowers.
11 The sun also rises with its scorching heat and dries up plants. The flowers drop off, and the beauty is gone. The same thing will happen to rich people. While they are busy, they will die.
Taken from Isaiah 40:6-8 .
12 Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
13 When someone is tempted, he shouldn't say that God is tempting him. God can't be tempted by evil, and God doesn't tempt anyone.
14 The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but ourselves when the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust tries to overtake us.
15 Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: It's called sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
17 Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.
18 In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true WORD (Logos). And we, out of all creation, became his first fruits!
Logos is Christ Jesus... first-fruits--Christ is, in respect to the resurrection, "the first-fruits" ( 1 Corinthians 15:20 1 Corinthians 15:23 ): believers, in respect to regeneration, are, as it were, first-fruits (image from the consecration of the first-born of man, cattle, and fruits to God; familiar to the Jews addressed), that is, they are the first of God's regenerated creatures, and the pledge of the ultimate regeneration of the creation, Romans 8:19 Romans 8:23 , where also the Spirit, the divine agent of the believer's regeneration, is termed "the first-fruits," that is, the earnest that the regeneration now begun in the soul, shall at last extend to the body too, and to the lower parts of creation. Of all God's visible creatures, believers are the noblest part, and like the legal "first-fruits," sanctify the rest; for this reason they are much tried now.
21 So throw all all the filth and evil in your lives. Humbly accept the WORD (Jesus) that God has placed in you. This WORD (Logos-Jesus) can save you.
The Word is Jesus ANS also, THE BIBLE- which really is Jesus in the form of a book!
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his face in a mirror;
The LAW is PERFECT and gives us LIBERTY!
25 But he who looks into the perfect Law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he {or she} does.
26 Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air.
27 Real religion, the kind that passes muster before before Him who is (our) God and Father, means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
before God and the Father--literally, "before Him who is (our) God and Father." God is so called to imply that if we would be like our Father, it is not by fasting, &c., for He does none of these things, but in being "merciful as our Father is merciful" [CHRYSOSTOM].
James 2
1 My brothers, practice your faith in the LORD Jesus Christ by not favoring one person over another.
2 For example, two men come to your church service and one man is wearing gold rings and fine clothes; but the other man, who is poor, is wearing shabby clothes;
church---literally, "synagogue"; this, the latest honorable use, and the only Christian use of the term in the New Testament, occurs in James's Epistle, the apostle who maintained to the latest possible moment the bonds between the Jewish synagogue and the Christian Church. Soon the continued resistance of the truth by the Jews led Christians to leave the term to them exclusively ( Revelation 3:9 ). The "synagogue" implies a mere assembly or congregation not necessarily united by any common tie. "Church," a people bound together by mutual ties and laws, though often it may happen that the members are not assembled [TRENCH and VITRINGA].
3 And suppose you pay special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say to him, "Please have a seat." But you say to the poor man, "Stand over there," or "Sit on the floor by my feet."
5 Listen, my dear friends! Didn't God choose poor people in the world to become rich in faith and to receive the kingdom that he promised to those who love Him?
6 Yet, you don't show any respect to poor people. Don't the rich oppress you? Dragging you into court?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," then, you do well;
11 After all, the one who said, "Do not commit adultery," is the same one who said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but you murder, you become a person who disobeys God's laws.
14 My friends, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn't do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him?
16 and you tell that person, "God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough." If you don't provide for that person's needs, what good does it do?
18 Another person might say, "You have faith, but I do good things." Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do.
19 You believe that there is one God. That's great! So do the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear.
that there is one God--rather, "that God is one": God's existence, however, is also asserted. The fundamental article of the creed of Jews and Christians alike, and the point of faith on which especially the former boasted themselves, as distinguishing them from the Gentiles, and hence adduced by James here.
21 Didn't our ancestor Abraham receive God's approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar?
22 You see that Abraham's faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did.
23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous." So he was called God's friend.
Friend of God--He was not so called in his lifetime, though he was so even then from the time of his justification; but he was called so, being recognized as such by all on the ground of his works of faith. "He was the friend (in an active sense), the lover of God, in reference to his works; and (in a passive sense) loved by God in reference to his justification by works. Both senses are united in John 15:14 John 15:15 " [BENGEL].
24 You see that a person receives God's approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.
25 The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God's approval because of what she did.
26 A body that doesn't breathe is dead. In the same way faith without good deeds {of the Law} are dead.
James 3:
1 My brethren, not all should become teachers. We who teach will be judged more severely.
God judges the teachers and ministers more severely
2 We all make mistakes. If we didn't make mistakes when we speak, we would be perfect able to control our lives.
4 The same is true for ships. They are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer these huge ships wherever they want them to go.
5 In the same way the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.
6 The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell (Gehenna Fire).
9 With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God's image.
12 My friends, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can't produce fresh water.
13 Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living right in humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don't brag. Don't say that you are wise when it isn't true.
15 That kind of wisdom doesn't come from above. It belongs to this world. It is self-centered and demonic.
17 However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial, and sincere.
James 4:
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren't they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you?
2 You want what you don't have, so you commit murder. You're determined to have things, but you can't get what you want. You quarrel and fight for them. You don't have the things you want, because you don't pray for them.
3 And when you do pray for things, you don't get them because you want them for the wrong reasons--for your own pleasure {not God's}.
4 You adulterous people! Don't you know that love for this [evil] world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.
The quotation here, as in Ephesians 5:14 , seems to be not so much from a particular passage as one gathered by James under inspiration from the general tenor of such passages in both the Old and New Testaments, as Numbers 14:29 , Proverbs 21:20 , Galatians 5:17 .
6 God shows us kindness. Scripture tells us that, "God opposes the arrogant, but He is kind to the humble."
8 Come close to God, and He will come close to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners, and clear your minds, you doubters.
11 Friends, stop slandering each other. Those who slander and judge other believers slander and judge God's Laws. If you judge God's Laws, you are no longer following them. Instead, you are judging them.
12 There is only one teacher and judge. He is able to save or destroy you. So who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Pay attention to this! You're saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go into some city, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money."
14 You don't know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears.
James 5:
WOES COMING ON THE WICKED RICH: BELIEVERS MUST BE PATIENT FOR THE LORD'S COMING:
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you. Like fire, it will destroy your body. You have stored up riches in these last days.
4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the LORD (Jesus) of Hosts.
the Lord of sabaoth--here only in the New Testament. In Romans 9:29 it is a quotation. It is suited to the Jewish tone of the Epistle. It reminds the rich who think the poor have no protector, that the Lord of the whole hosts in heaven and earth is the guardian and avenger of the latter. He is identical with the "coming Lord" Jesus ( James 5:7 ).This is NOT the same as SABBATH!
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered those who have God's approval, even though they didn't resist you.
7 Brethern, be patient until the LORD (Jesus) comes again. See how farmers wait for their precious crops to grow when the fall and spring rains.
9 Brethern, stop complaining about each other, or you will be condemned. Realize that the judge is standing at the door.
10 Brethern, follow the example of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. They were patient when they suffered unjustly.
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the LORD (Jesus)--that the LORD (Jesus) is very compassionate and merciful.
Job--This passage shows the history of him is concerning a real, not an imaginary person; otherwise his case could not be quoted as an example at all. Though he showed much of impatience, yet he always returned to this, that he committed himself wholly to God, and at last showed a perfect spirit of enduring submission. (Jamieson)
12 Above all things, my friends, do not take an oath on anything in heaven or on earth. Do not take any oath. If you mean yes, say yes. If you mean no, say no. Do this so that you won't be condemned.
14 If sick, let them call for the church elders. Have them pray for you and anoint you with olive oil in the name of the LORD (Jesus).
let them call for the elders--not some one of the elders, as Roman Catholics interpret it, to justify their usage in extreme unction. The prayers of the elders over the sick would be much the same as though the whole Church which they represent should pray [BENGEL].
anointing him with oil--The usage which Christ committed to His apostles was afterwards continued with laying on of hands, as a token of the highest faculty of medicine .in the Church. just as we find in 1 Corinthians 6:2 the Church's highest judicial function. Now that the miraculous gift of healing has been withdrawn for the most part. to use the sign where the reality is wanting would be unmeaning superstition. Compare other apostolic usages now discontinued rightly, 1 Corinthians 11:4-15 , 16:20 . "Let them use oil who can by their prayers obtain recovery for the sick: let those who cannot do this, abstain from using the empty sign" [WHITAKER].
15 And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the LORD (Jesus) will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.
17 Elijah was human like us. Yet, when he prayed that it wouldn't rain, no rain fell on the ground for three-and-a-half years.
20 Realize that whoever brings a sinner back from the error of his ways will save his soul from death, and many sins will be forgiven.
Souls die! Psychē is Greek for Soul:
breath
a) the breath of life1) the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing
a) of animals
b) of men
Psyche = nephesh in the Hebrew-- THE BREATH OF LIFE! Not a being
