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THIS is called by EUSEBIUS ([Ecclesiastical History, 2.23], about the year 330 A.D). the first of the Catholic Epistles, that is, the Epistles intended for general circulation, as distinguished from Paul's Epistles, which were addressed to particular churches or individuals. In the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament extant, they stand before the Epistles of Paul. Of them, two only are mentioned by EUSEBIUS as universally acknowledged (Homologoumena), namely, the First Epistle of Peter, and the First Epistle of John. All, however, are found in every existing manuscript of the whole New Testament.
It is not to be wondered at that Epistles not addressed to particular churches (and particularly one like that of James, addressed to the Israelite believers scattered abroad) should be for a time less known. The first mention of James' Epistle by name occurs early in the third century, in ORIGEN [Commentary on John 1:19, 4.306], who was born about 185, and died A.D. 254. CLEMENT OF ROME ([First Epistle to the Corinthians, 10]; compare Jas 2:21,23; [First Epistle to the Corinthians, 11]; compare Jas 2:25 Heb 11:31) quotes it. So also HERMAS [Shepherd] quotes Jas 4:7. IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 4.16.2] is thought to refer to Jas 2:23. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA commented on it, according to CASSIODORUS. EPHREM THE SYRIAN [Against the Greeks, 3.51] quotes Jas 5:1. An especially strong proof of its authenticity is afforded by its forming part of the old Syriac version, which contains no other of the disputed books (Antilegomena, [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 3.25]), except the Epistle to the Hebrews. None of the Latin fathers before the fourth century quote it; but soon after the Council of Nicea it was admitted as canonical both by the East and West churches, and specified as such in the Councils of Hippo and Carthage (397 A.D.). This is just what we might expect; a writing known only partially at first, when subsequently it obtained a wider circulation, and the proofs were better known of its having been recognized in apostolic churches, having in them men endowed with the discernment of spirits, which qualified them for discriminating between inspired and uninspired writings, was universally accepted. Though doubted for a time, at last the disputed books (James, Second Peter, Second and Third John, Jude, and Revelation) were universally and undoubtingly accepted, so that no argument for the Old Testament Apocrypha can be drawn from their case: as to it the Jewish Church had no doubt; it was known not to be inspired.
LUTHER'S objection to it ("an Epistle of straw, and destitute of an evangelic character") was due to his mistaken idea that it (Jas 2:14-26) opposes the doctrine of justification by faith, and not by works, taught by Paul. But the two apostles, while looking at justification from distinct standpoints, perfectly harmonize and mutually complement the definitions of one another. Faith precedes love and the works of love; but without them it is dead. Paul regards faith in the justification of the sinner before God; James, in the justification of the believer evidently before men. The error which James meets was the Jewish notion that their possession and knowledge of the law of God would justify them, even though they disobeyed it (compare Jas 1:22 with Ro 2:17-25). Jas 1:3 4:1,12 seem plainly to allude to Ro 5:3 6:13 7:23 14:4. Also the tenor of Jas 2:14-26 on "justification," seems to allude to Paul's teaching, so as to correct false Jewish notions of a different kind from those which he combatted, though not unnoticed by him also (Ro 2:17, &c.).
Paul (Ga 2:9) arranges the names "James, Cephas, John," in the order in which their Epistles stand. James who wrote this Epistle (according to most ancient writers) is called (Ga 1:19), "the Lord's brother." He was son of Alpheus or Cleopas (Lu 24:13-18) and Mary, sister of the Virgin Mary. Compare Mr 15:40 with Joh 19:25, which seems to identify the mother of James the Less with the wife of Cleopas, not with the Virgin Mary, Cleopas' wife's sister. Cleopas is the Hebrew, Alpheus the Greek mode of writing the same name. Many, however, as HEGESIPPUS [EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 23.1], distinguish the Lord's brother from the son of Alpheus. But the Gospel according to the Hebrews, quoted by JEROME, represents James, the Lord's brother, as present at the institution of the Eucharist, and therefore identical with the apostle James. So the Apocryphal Gospel of James. In Acts, James who is put foremost in Jerusalem after the death of James, the son of Zebedee, is not distinguished from James, the son of Alpheus. He is not mentioned as one of the Lord's brethren in Ac 1:14; but as one of the "apostles" (Ga 1:19). He is called "the Less" (literally, "the little," Mr 15:40), to distinguish him from James, the son of Zebedee. ALFORD considers James, the brother of the Lord, the author of the Epistle, to have been the eldest of the sons of Joseph and Mary, after Jesus (compare Mt 13:55), and that James the son of Alpheus is distinguished from him by the latter being called "the Less," (that is, junior). His arguments against the Lord's brother, the bishop of Jerusalem, being the apostle, are: (1) The Lord's brethren did not believe on Jesus at a time when the apostles had been already called (Joh 7:3,5), therefore none of the Lord's brethren could be among the apostles (but it does not follow from Joh 7:3 that no one of them believed). (2) The apostles' commission was to preach the Gospel everywhere, not to be bishops in a particular locality (but it is unlikely that one not an apostle should be bishop of Jerusalem, to whom even apostles yield deference, Ac 15:13,19 Ga 1:19 2:9,12. The Saviour's last command to the apostles collectively to preach the Gospel everywhere, is not inconsistent with each having a particular sphere of labor in which he should be a missionary bishop, as Peter is said to have been at Antioch).
He was surnamed "the Just." It needed peculiar wisdom so to preach the Gospel as not to disparage the law. As bishop of Jerusalem writing to the twelve tribes, he sets forth the Gospel in its aspect of relation to the law, which the Jews so reverenced. As Paul's Epistles are a commentary on the doctrines flowing from the death and resurrection of Christ, so James's Epistle has a close connection with His teaching during His life on earth, especially His Sermon on the Mount. In both, the law is represented as fulfilled in love: the very language is palpably similar (compare Jas 1:2 with Mt 5:12; Jas 1:4 with Mt 5:48; Jas 1:5 5:15 with Mt 7:7-11; Jas 2:13 with Mt 5:7 6:14,15; Jas 2:10 with Mt 5:19; Jas 4:4 with Mt 6:24; Jas 4:11 with Mt 7:1,2; Jas 5:2 with Mt 6:19). The whole spirit of this Epistle breathes the same Gospel-righteousness which the Sermon on the Mount inculcates as the highest realization of the law. James's own character as "the Just," or legally righteous, disposed him to this coincidence (compare Jas 1:20 2:10 3:18 with Mt 5:20). It also fitted him for presiding over a Church still zealous for the law (Ac 21:18-24 Ga 2:12). If any could win the Jews to the Gospel, he was most likely who presented a pattern of Old Testament righteousness, combined with evangelical faith (compare also Jas 2:8 with Mt 5:44,48). Practice, not profession, is the test of obedience (compare Jas 2:17 4:17 with Mt 7:2-23). Sins of the tongue, however lightly regarded by the world, are an offense against the law of love (compare Jas 1:26 3:2-18 with Mt 5:22; also any swearing, Jas 5:12; compare Mt 5:33-37).
The absence of the apostolic benediction in this Epistle is probably due to its being addressed, not merely to the believing, but also indirectly to unbelieving, Israelites. To the former he commends humility, patience, and prayer; to the latter he addresses awful warnings (Jas 5:7-11 4:9 5:1-6).
His inspiration as an apostle is expressly referred to in Ac 15:19,28, "My sentence is," &c.: "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us," &c. His episcopal authority is implied in the deference paid to him by Peter and Paul (Ac 12:17 21:18 Ga 1:19 2:9). The Lord had appeared specially to him after the resurrection (1Co 15:7). Peter in his First Epistle (universally from the first received as canonical) tacitly confirms the inspiration of James's Epistle, by incorporating with his own inspired writings no less than ten passages from James. The "apostle of the circumcision," Peter, and the first bishop of Jerusalem, would naturally have much in common. Compare Jas 1:1 with 1Pe 1:1; Jas 1:2 with 1Pe 1:6 4:12,13; Jas 1:11 with 1Pe 1:24; Jas 1:18 with 1Pe 1:3; Jas 2:7 with 1Pe 4:14; Jas 3:13 with 1Pe 2:12; Jas 4:1 with 1Pe 2:11; Jas 4:6 with 1Pe 5:5,6; Jas 4:7 with 1Pe 5:6,9; Jas 4:10 with 1Pe 5:6; Jas 5:20 with 1Pe 4:6. Its being written in the purest Greek shows it was intended not only for the Jews at Jerusalem, but also for the Hellenistic, that is, Greek-speaking, Jews.
The style is close, curt, and sententious, gnome following after gnome. A Hebraic character pervades the Epistle, as appears in the occasional poetic parallelisms (Jas 3:1-12). Compare "assembly": Greek, "synagogue," Jas 2:2, Margin. The images are analogical arguments, combining at once logic and poetry. Eloquence and persuasiveness are prominent characteristics.
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.
I. Introduction.
A. The greeting (1:1).
1. Written by James (1:1).
a. James the apostle was killed early in the history of the
church and is not the author of this letter.
b. James the fleshly brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:5) was the
probable author of this book.
c. He calls himself "the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus
Christ" (1:1).
2. He wrote to Jews scattered throughout the world (1:1).
B. The purpose of the writing is to encourage those suffering
persecution to be "steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord."
II. Temptation or Trial (1:2-15).
A. They were to regard and value trial and affliction as "all joy"
(1:2-3).
1. Jesus anticipated joy and endured the cross (Heb. 12:2).
2. Paul says we rejoice in tribulation (Rom. 5:3).
a. Noble suffering for a righteous cause produces
steadfastness, approvedness and hope (Rom. 5:4).
b. Hope does not put to shame (Rom. 5:5).
3. Temptation proves faith and produces patience (1:3).
B. Patience brings a complete life that lacks nothing (1:4-15).
1. A person who does not understand this, and who is
therefore
lacking in wisdom, may ask God for wisdom (1:5-8).
a. The advise to ask God for wisdom does not say that the
wisdom will come in some unknown and remarkable way.
b. We ask God for daily bread (Matt. 6:11). The bread
comes from our toil or, if we are unable to provide bread,
from a kind and benevolent person who supplies it. It does
not come to us like manna from heaven.
c. We ask God for wisdom (1:5). The wisdom comes from
our study of the Bible, our experience and observation. It
does not come without effort on our part, like manna from
heaven.
2. He is to seek wisdom from God in undoubting faith (1:6-8).
a. Our lives as children of God must be confident (1:6).
b. If we doubt we have no stability and are like "the surge of
the sea driven by the wind and tossed" (1:6).
c. Unstable persons receive nothing from the Lord (1:7).
d. The wavering and inconsistent person is irresolute and
undetermined in everything (1:8). He is miserable.
3. The deceitfulness of riches (1:9-11).
a. Material wealth can come suddenly and make us vain or it
can be lost quickly and make us bitter (1:9-10).
b. There is no stability in money (1:10).
c. "Give me neither poverty nor riches" (Prov. 30:8).
d. Death is sure and final and will strip us of all material
things (1:10-11).
4. The blessing of temptation endured (1:12-15).
a. "Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin; each victory
will help you some other to win."
b. Temptation (suffering and affliction) is a blessing only
when we overcome it and do not let it overcome us--
James calls this "enduring temptation" (1:12).
c. Temptation to do evil or to forsake righteousness does
not come from God. It is contrary to the nature of God to
entice people to sin (1:13).
d. Temptation comes from within. We submit to temptation
when our carnal desires cause us to fall (1:14).
e. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the
issues of life" (Prov. 4:23).
f. The end result of giving in to temptation is spiritual death
and eternal loss (1:15).
III. The Nature of True Religion (1:16 to 5:20).
A. True religion has its origin in God (1:16-18).
1. Do not be self deceived, and sell out (1:16).
2. God is the source of all our good (1:17).
a. The father of lights--knowledge, purity, happiness (1:17).
b. God does not change nor betray us--no humbug in God
(1:17).
3. God is the source of salvation (1:18).
a. Because God willed it men have the glorious possibility
of being born again (1:18).
b. This new birth comes from the word of truth (1:18).
B. The requirements of true religion (1:19-21).
1. Swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath (1:19).
a. "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God" (1:20).
b. The negative of that statement is also true: man free from
wrath can work the righteousness of God.
2. Put out of your life corrupt and filthy things (1:21).
3. Meekly receive the implanted word (1:21).
a. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding
your own selves" (1:22).
b. Look in the mirror of God's word and see what kind of
person you are 1:23-25).
C. True religion demands controlling the tongue (1:26)
D. True religion means staying away from wrong and doing
right, including visiting the widows and orphans (1:27).
E. True religion means not having respect of persons (2:1-9).
1. We do not hold the faith in respect of person because the
gospel is for all (2:1).
a. You must not prefer and cater to the rich, simply because
they are rich, and look down on and mistreat the poor,
simply because they are poor (2:2-3).
b. The converse is also true: the rich must not be despised
because of their riches, nor the poor preferred because of
their poverty.
c. Do not be judges with evil thoughts (2:4).
2. Many--perhaps most--members of the church are those of
modest means and humble position in society (2:5; 1 Cor
1:26-27).
a. Do not dishonor those whom God approves (2:6).
b. The rich often mistreat the poor and blaspheme the name
of Christ (2:6-7).
c. The royal law is to love neighbor as self (2:8).
d. Prejudice against persons is sin (2:9).
F. True religion means keeping the whole law (2:10-13).
1. To break one law is to show an attitude of rebellion toward
God and his word and equals breaking ever law (2:10).
2. The authority behind every command in the law is God,
therefore every command is holy and must be obeyed (2:11).
3. What you do and what you say show you understand that
you will be judged by God's law of liberty (2:12).
4. The value and necessity of mercy (2:13).
a. The merciless shall receive no mercy (2:13).
b. Mercy tempers judgment (2:13).
G. True religion includes works of obedience, which are
necessary to acceptable faith and justification (2:14-26).
1. Faith without works is worthless (2:14-17).
a. Words of encouragement to the hungry are nothing if we
do not give him food (2:15-16).
b. Faith without works is of no value (2:17).
2. Faith cannot be shown apart from works (2:18).
3. The demons believe but do nothing; their dead faith will not
save them (2:19).
4. Faith apart from works is barren (2:20).
5. Abraham was justified by a faith that obeyed the commands
of God. His faith produced works. His works perfected his
faith (2:21-23).
6. Justification comes from obedient faith (works), and not by
faith alone (2:24).
7. The faith-works of Rahab justified her (2:25).
8. "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith
apart from works is dead" (James 2:26).
H. The danger of being a public teacher (3:1).
I. True religion requires watchful avoidance of sins of the tongue
(3:2-12).
1. It is hard to control the tongue (3:2).
2. Small things can have big results like the horses' bridle, or
the ship's rudder, or the human tongue (3:3-5).
3. The devilish tongue is set on fire by hell (3:6).
4. The tongue cannot be tamed and must therefore be
constantly watched (3:7-8).
5. The duplicity of the tongue is astonishing (3:9-12).
J. True religion demands true wisdom (3:13 to 4:10).
1. Wisdom is shown by a good life in works of wisdom (3:13).
2. Sensual and wrongheaded wisdom produces bitter jealousy,
faction of the heart, resenting and lying against the truth
(3:14-15).
3. Every kind of evil is produced by faction and jealousy
(3:16).
4. The wisdom God gives through his word and by
demonstration in our lives and the lives of others is valuable
(3:17).
a. It is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to listen, merciful
and has good fruits (3:18).
b. It does not change and is without false pretense (3:18).
5. Earthly wisdom produces wars, coveting, unanswered
prayers (4:1-6).
a. If you are a friend of the world, you are an enemy of God
(4:4).
b. The Bible does not speak to us in vain (4:5).
c. God does not give us through his word an attitude of
envy (4:5).
d. Through his word, which is his saving gospel, God gives
us grace (4:6).
e. God's words says that he resists the proud but gives
grace to the humble (4:6).
6. True wisdom produces subjection to God, resistance to the
devil, cleanness of life, mourning over sin, and a humble
spirit (4:7-10).
a. Be subject to God and resist the devil (4:7).
b. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you (4:8).
c. Sinners must cleanse their hands; hypocrites must purify
their hearts (4:8).
d. Grieve over and repent of your sins (4:9).
e. God exalts the humble (4:10).
7. True religion does not speak evil against a brother
(4:11-12).
a. If you condemn a person who is keeping the law, you
condemn the law (4:11).
b. A judge of the law is not a keeper of the law, therefore
the person who condemns the righteous is not a keeper of
the law (4:11).
c. God is the final judge...do not condemn someone who is
doing righteousness according the law (4:12).
8. True religion understand the brevity and uncertainty of
human life (4:13-16).
a. People who plan for long term should remember that life
is short and death is certain (4:13).
b. You do not absolutely know if you will be alive on earth
tomorrow (4:14).
c. Human life on earth is like a vapor--it appears for a short
time and is gone (4:14).
d. The Lord may come at any time (4:14).
e. Therefore you should say that all your plans are
contingent on whether you live and whether Jesus comes
again before the plans can be finished (4:15).
f. You are too dependent on the arm of flesh and disinclined
to take God into account. Such glorying is evil (4:16).
9. True religion avoids knowing and not doing good (4:17).
10. A warning to the rich and self-indulgent (5:1-6).
a. If rich people knew the eternal punishment coming upon
them because of their worldliness, they would howl and
weep (5:1).
b. Riches wont last (5:2-3).
c. Ill-gotten gain will be judged in the last great day of final
accounting (5:4).
d. Living too well and not caring for the sick and hungry
will bring slaughter on your head (5:5-6).
11. True religion will be patient (5:7-11).
a. Do not give up...the Lord is coming (5:7).
b. Be like the farmer and wait for the harvest (5:7).
c. Establish your hearts, the coming of the Lord is at hand
(5:8).
d. Do not mistreat each other--murmuring against one
another--judging each other's motives. The real judge is
standing at the door (5:9).
e. Be patient like the prophets of old (5:10).
f. Those who endured received a reward (5:11).
12. True religion avoids oaths (5:12).
a. So live that others will accept your word (5:12).
b. This has reference to frivolous swearing that has as its
purpose to deceive, and not judicial oaths.
13. True religion makes room for prayer and praise (5:13-20).
a. If you are happy, sing; if you suffer, pray (5:13).
b. The sin-sick should call for the elders of the church, be
anointed by the oil of God's word, repent of evil and pray
with the elders for forgiveness (5:14).
c. Confess to those you have sinned against and pray to the
Lord for mercy and pardon (5:16).
d. Elijah is an example of believing prayer (5:17-18).
e. Converting one who strays from truth, saves a soul from
death and covers a multitude of sins (5:19-20).
(2.) It was addressed to the Jews of the dispersion, "the twelve tribes scattered abroad."
(3.) The place and time of the writing of the epistle were Jerusalem, where James was residing, and, from internal evidence, the period between Paul's two imprisonments at Rome, probably about A.D. 62.
(4.) The object of the writer was to enforce the practical duties of the Christian life. "The Jewish vices against which he warns them are, formalism, which made the service of God consist in washings and outward ceremonies, whereas he reminds them (1:27) that it consists rather in active love and purity; fanaticism, which, under the cloak of religious zeal, was tearing Jerusalem in pieces (1:20); fatalism, which threw its sins on God (1:13); meanness, which crouched before the rich (2:2); falsehood, which had made words and oaths play-things (3:2-12); partisanship (3:14); evil speaking (4:11); boasting (4:16); oppression (5:4). The great lesson which he teaches them as Christians is patience, patience in trial (1:2), patience in good works (1:22-25), patience under provocation (3:17), patience under oppression (5:7), patience under persecution (5:10); and the ground of their patience is that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, which is to right all wrong (5:8)."
"Justification by works," which James contends for, is justification before man, the justification of our profession of faith by a consistent life. Paul contends for the doctrine of "justification by faith;" but that is justification before God, a being regarded and accepted as just by virtue of the righteousness of Christ, which is received by faith.
James was martyred at the Passover. This Epistle was probably written just before it. The destruction of Jerusalem foretold in it (Jas 5:1, &c.), ensued a year after his martyrdom, A.D. 69. 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" (Jas 5:8,9). Heb 13:7 probably refers to the martyrdom of James, who had been 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."