Bible Study Notes On Letter of James Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Bible Text

Notes and Thoughts

1 ¶ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations,
3 knowing this: that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, never wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,
10 but the rich in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat than it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth. So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to those who love Him.
13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man.
14 But every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18 Of His own will, He begot us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
19 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay apart all filthiness and the superfluity of wickedness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he beholdeth himself, and then goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Pure religion, undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

v1 Greetings to readers. Though James was a half brother to Jesus (they both had the same mother) and an important leader in the Jerusalem church he still calls himself "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," a man of humility (humble). Using the title a ‘slave’ means that he would expect to obey his master with complete surrender and loyalty, a ‘slave’ by choice because Jesus had died for him.
James has also used the full name of Jesus, "the Lord Jesus Christ" We must remember who Jesus is, ‘Lord’ means ‘Master,’ He is Lord of all. If we call Jesus "Lord" and do not obey Him then we are very wrong.
‘Jesus’ relates to salvation, Matt 1:21 Jesus came to give us our way of Salvation. When we call Him ‘Jesus’ we claim Him as our ‘Saviour.’
‘Christ’ or ‘Messiah’ the ‘anointed one.’ The Jews were looking for the ‘Messiah,’ John 1:40,41. But the Jews rejected Jesus as the ‘Messiah’ at Calvary.
The readers, "the twelve tribes" spread around the world. The Jew’s who had placed their faith in Jesus as the Christ but had grown up under the ‘Law’ and its obedience. What James talks about must also apply to all Christians, Gal 3:28.
v2 James turns straight to his main subject, ‘Faith.’ Many of the readers would have been under trials from other Jew’s as well as the Gentiles, so James starts with "what will happen to your faith when you are put under trial." James knew that the Jewish believers and us would all be exposed to various temptations, but he tells them to be full of joy, not moan or grumble, because it will make them stronger, Gal 6:9.
Temptations.
‘Temptation’ means ‘testing,’ therefore ‘temptations’ can be for good or for bad, so God can do a good ‘tempt’ or ‘test’ a person which will make them grow in faith, while Satan can cause an evil temptation to hurt the person. This will help understand the use of ‘temptation’ in this book. So God will allow a trial or ‘Test’ a person to increase their faith, but will not ‘tempt’ a person to do wrong, 1 Peter 1:3-7; Heb 12:5-7. Note the words "whom the Lord loves he chasteneth (tests)," Rom 8:28,29. To make us more like Christ.
v2 This now explains why James wrote "count it all joy" when you are tested. God knows what He is doing and wants us to grow in Him, Phil 4:4; Acts 16:25. One of the Fruit of the Spirit is Joy, Gal 5:22; Heb 12:11.
Faith.
v3,4 Faith. James talks much about faith in this book, faith gives us patience, and patience needs to grow, do not try to getaway from this let it grow to be perfect, 2 Cor 4:17 What is faith? Heb 11:1 If we believe God, then we know that we will receive what ever has been promised. This is faith in what we are not able to hear, see or touch. If you do not trust or believe in God how do you expect Him to keep His promises to you? Heb 10:36; Heb 11:6; John 1:12.
Note that James writes "Let patience have perfect work," you are involved in this action, you can stop it by your lack of faith, let God bring you to maturity (perfect).
v5-8 Wisdom comes by faith, we need wisdom to live our lives but also to understand the testing times. We can ask God for this wisdom. Wisdom is not knowledge although knowledge can sometimes give wisdom. Knowledge is just facts and information, but only wisdom will allow you to use these facts correctly. For example, you may have a Bible knowledge but not understand it spiritually. This is why James did not tell the readers to go to school to get wisdom, he said "ask God," He will give it freely, v5, Matt 7:7; John 14:13,14. We must also ask in complete faith, not like a wave which is blown all over the place, changing direction at the least resistance or doubt, v8. A double minded person is never sure of anything, going from one activity to another, never sure what God wants. He may also be a person who is a ‘Christian on Sunday’ but full of wrong actions the rest of the week.
1:9-11 The poor and the rich.
James now looks at how faith affects the poor and rich. James is pointing out that all earthly things are only temporary. God does not have respect for the rich or poor, in God’s family all are equal. We should all be humble before our God. Consider Phil 2:5-11. A rich person is no better than a poor person, do not put faith in riches.
More thoughts on temptations.
v12 The result of enduring (putting up with) testing is a ‘crown of life’ promised to those who love the Lord. ‘Blessed’ means ‘Happy.’ We are happy in the testing because we love the Lord and want to please Him. We can endure testing without love, 1 Cor 13:3 but it is a waste.
The ‘crown of life’ is a reward for temptations endured, not the crown for eternal life, you can lose a reward crown but not the salvation crown of righteousness, Rev 3:11; Rev 2:10 Rom 8:17,18; 2 Tim 2:12.
1:13-21 Temptation, good or evil.
v13-16 talks about testing which is trying to make a person do evil, this kind of testing does not come from God. No one must blame God when they are tempted to do evil, God is Holy and cannot do this neither can He be tempted to do any kind of evil.
So where does evil tests come from? v14,15 our own desires and lusts, from within yourself, Mark 7:15; Mark 7:20-23. We all have an evil nature, even those who love Christ. Temptation on its own is not a sin but giving into it is, Matt 26:41.
We should ask God to help us resist temptations, with Jesus dwelling in us we can hand it all to Him, 1 John 4:4; Rom 6:14. But if we do fall then we can go to the Lord for forgiveness, 1 John 2:1,2.
v15 The result of sin - death. Rom 6:23 Do not go astray, go of course v16. Gal 6:7.
1:16,17 Good gifts come from God.
God loved the world so much He gave a special gift of His Son, what a gift, the light of truth, if He is willing to do this there can be nothing He will not supply us, Rom 8:32; a gift, Rom 6:23; safe gift, John 10:27,28; Gift of Holy Spirit, John 14:16. These gifts will never fail because God promised and He does not change, Heb 13:8.
The light of God’s holiness will show us our wrong things in our lives, the word of truth, v18, John 8:12.
Every gift God gives us are good and perfect (‘perfect’ means ‘complete,’) these gifts are ‘from above.’ The world and sometimes Christians seek ‘earthly’ gifts, these ‘gifts’ will not last. Heb 1:10-12.
v18 "Of His own will" God wants all to be saved, 1 Tim 2:3,4 but many reject this gift.
v19,20 If your life is in Jesus then you must be like Him, "swift to hear," take in God’s Word, Rom 10:17."Slow to speak" think before you speak! 2 Tim 2:24,25.
v21 We must get rid of all filthiness, not just part of it. Some people want salvation, but also want the wicked pleasure of this world, Eph 5:3,4. Only belief in God’s Word can save you.
1:22-25 Looking at the Word.
v22 is the heart of the book written by James. A person who only hears the Word of God but does not do it, obey it, is deceiving themselves. He is like a person, ‘the natural man,’ who looks in a mirror and when he turns away forgets what he looks like. James was saying that God’s Word was the ‘mirror,’ a persons ‘spiritual nature’ looks in The Word of God, see’s their wrong life, but then turns away and forgets, Rom 3:10-19. Also, how can you be in close contact with God by reading His Word but do not do what it says? John 3:18-21; 1 John 2:3-6; 2 Cor 5:13-15.
v25 James now considers the person who looks into the mirror and does act on what they see. They see the perfect law, the law which gives freedom from sin and wrong self. Anyone who regularly looks into this will become a ‘doer’ of the work, finding true happiness at the same time.
1:26,27 True religion.
A religious person means they take part in all the normal church activities, worship, prayer, financial support etc., A person who does all these things yet fails to control what they say in their normal daily work is deceiving themselves, their religion has no meaning.
A true religious person will show a Christ like life all the time, caring for the poor, the sick as well as keeping their life pure. Religion needs an outward confirmation of the heart, 2 Cor 8:9; Phil 2:5-8.

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The Letter of James