Commentary on James (Commentary on the New Testament Book #16)

For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation: As much as it is appropriate for the lowly to rejoice when they are lifted up by God, so it is appropriate but far more difficult for the high the rich to rejoice when they are brought to humiliation by trials. By faith in Christ the two are equals.

Because as a flower of the field he will pass away: Trials serve to remind the rich and the high that though they are comfortable in this life, it is still only this life, which fades as the grass grows brown and the flowers fade away. In the land of Israel, there are a variety of beautiful flowers that spring to life when the rains come, but they last for only a short time before withering away.

On the scale of eternity, this is how quickly the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. The riches of this world will certainly fade away - but James says that the rich man also will fade away. If we put our life and our identity into things that fade away , we will fade away also. How much better to put our life and our identity into things that will never fade! If a man is only rich in this world, when he dies, he leaves his riches. But if a man is rich before God, when he dies he goes to his riches!

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Blessed is the man: In those great statements of blessing, Jesus wasn't finished telling us how we can be blessed. Here, we learn we can be blessed as we endure temptation. Temptation is one of the various trials James 1: As we persevere through temptation, we are approved , and will be rewarded as the work of God in us is evident through our resistance of temptation.

The crown of life which the Lord has promised reminds us that it really is worth it to endure under the temptations we face. Our steadfastness will be rewarded as we demonstrate our love for Jesus to those who love Him by resisting temptation. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God": Temptation does not come from God.

Though He allows it, He Himself does not entice us to evil, though God may test our faith without a solicitation to evil nor does He Himself tempt anyone. James knew that most people have an evil tendency to blame God when they find themselves in trials. But by His very nature, God is unable to either be tempted in the sense we are tempted, as James will explain , nor can He Himself tempt anyone. We should remember that the pagan gods of ancient times were well acquainted with evil, and sinned often themselves.

But the true God, the God of the Bible cannot be tempted by evil. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed: God doesn't tempt us. Instead, temptation comes when we are drawn away by our own fleshly desires and enticed - with the world and the devil providing the enticement. Satan certainly tempts us.

But the only reason temptation has a hook in us is because of our own fallen nature, which corrupts our God-given desires. We often give Satan too much credit for his tempting powers, and fail to recognize that we are drawn away by our own desires. Some who like to emphasize the sovereignty of God say that God is responsible for all things. But God is never the one responsible for man's sin and damnation.

By no means; for their hearts are subjected to depraved lusts, because they are already corrupt and vicious.

When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin: Springing forth from corrupt desire is sin. Springing forth from sin is death. This progression to death is an inevitable result that Satan always tries to hide from us, but we should never be deceived about. Satan's great strategy in temptation is to convince us that the pursuit of our corrupt desires will somehow produce life and goodness for us.

If we remembered that Satan only comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy John Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above: From our own fallen natures and from those who would entice us, we expect no true goodness. But every good and every perfect gift comes from God the Father in heaven. Of course, the ultimate goodness of any gift must be measured on an eternal scale. Something that may seem to be only good such as winning a lottery may in fact be turned to our destruction. With whom there is no variation or shadow of turning: God's goodness is constant.

There is no variation with Him.

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Instead of shadows, God is the Father of lights. In the ancient Greek grammar, James actually wrote " the Father of the lights. The sun, moon, and stars never "turn off," even when we can't see them. Even so, there is never a shadow with God. This means that God never changes. Among modern theologians, there are some that are taken with something called process theology , which says that God is "maturing" and "growing" and "in process" Himself. But the Bible says that there is no variation or shadow of turning with God.

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures: We can see God's goodness in our salvation, as He initiated our salvation of His own will , and brought us forth to spiritual life by His word of truth , that we might be to His glory as firstfruits of His harvest. James may be speaking of his own generation of believers when he calls them firstfruits. Some have speculated on this even more, saying that James has in mind a wider redemption among unknown creatures of God, of which we are the firstfruits of that wider redemption.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God: In light of the nature of temptation and the goodness of God, we must take special care to be slow to wrath , because our wrath does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Our wrath almost always simply defends our own agenda. Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: We can learn to be slow to wrath by first learning to be swift to hear and slow to speak.

So much of our anger and wrath comes from being self-centered not others-centered. Swift to hear is a way to be others-centered. Slow to speak is a way to be others-centered. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Filthiness and overflow of wickedness probably has in mind an impure manner of living. In light of the nature of temptation and the goodness of God, we are to lay aside all impurity, putting them far from us. Receive with meekness the implanted word: In contrast to an impure manner of living, we should receive doing it with meekness , a teachable heart the implanted word of God.

This word is able to save us, both in our current situation and eternally.

Reward Yourself

The purity of God's word will preserve us in an impure age. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 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 does.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only: We must receive God's word as doers , not merely hearers. To take comfort in the fact you have heard God's word when you haven't done it is to deceive yourself. In the ancient world, it was common for people to hear a teacher. But if you followed the teacher and tried to live what he said, you were called a disciple of that teacher. Jesus is looking for disciples - doers, not just hearers. Jesus used this same point to conclude His great Sermon on the Mount. He said that the one who heard the word without doing it was like a man who built his house on the sand, but the one who heard God's word and did it was like a man whose house was built on a rock and could withstand the inevitable storms of life and eternity.

He is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was: The one who only hears God's word, without doing it, has the same sense and stability as a man who looks into a mirror and immediately forgets what he saw. The information he received did not do any good in his life. Observing his natural face: The ancient Greek word translated observing has the idea of a careful scrutiny.

By application, James is referring to people give a careful scrutiny of God's word; they may be regarded as real Bible experts. But it still doesn't result in doing. A healthy person looks in the mirror to do something, not just to admire the image. Even so, a healthy Christian looks into God's word to do something about it, not just to store up facts that he will not use. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it … this one will be blessed in what he does: But if we study the word of God intently, and do it continue in it , then we will be blessed.

He who looks into the perfect law of liberty: In the ancient Greek language, the word for looks into speaks of a penetrating examination, so that a person will even bend over to get a better look. Though James stresses doing , he does not neglect studying God's word either. We should look into God's word. The perfect law of liberty: This is a wonderful way to describe the word of God. In the New Covenant, God reveals to us a law , but it is a law of liberty , written on our transformed hearts by the Spirit of God. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: If anyone among you thinks he is religious: Real religion is not shown by hearing the word, but by doing it. One way to do God's word is to bridle the tongue.

David Guzik :: Study Guide for James 1

Thinks he is religious: In the ancient Greek language, religious is a word that is never used in a positive sense in the New Testament. James uses it here of someone who is religious , but not really right with God, and it is evident because he does not bridle his tongue. This one's religion is useless: Your walk with God is useless if it does not translate into the way you live and the way you treat others.

Many are deceived in their own heart regarding the reality of their walk with God. To visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world: A real walk with God shows itself in simple, practical ways. It helps the needy, and keeps itself unstained by the world's corruption. Pure and undefiled religion before God: There is a great deal of pure and undefiled religion in the sight of man that is not pure and undefiled religion before God.

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Unspotted from the world: From the book of Genesis, Lot is an example of a man who was spotted by the world. He started living towards Sodom, disregarding the spiritual climate of the area because of the prosperity of the area. Eventually he moved to the wicked city and became a part of the city's leadership. The end result was that Lot lost everything - and was saved as by the skin of his teeth. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.

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