James 1-2

Notes compiled from my BSF group


Matthew Henry's commentaries on James 1-2
http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=4&contentID=1832&commInfo=5&topic=James

James 1:1–18


Trials Christians suffer (James 1:2-4; 2:6-7):
- Exploitation
- Sued
- Persecuted

Zondervan NIV footnote:
* James 1:2 trials. The same Greek root lies behind the word "trials" here and the word "tempted" in v. 13. In vv. 2-3 the
emphasis is on difficulties that come from outside; ;in vv. 13-15 it is on inner moral trials such as temptation to sin.
* James 2:5-15 James gives three arguments against showing favoritism to the rich: 1. The rich persecute the poor - the believers
* James 2:5-7 Favoritism violates the royal law of love and thus is sin (vv. 8-11). Favoritism will be judged (vv. 12-13).

Several times throughout the Bible, we are told to see the joy in ALL things. When we get our prayers answered, it's not hard to see the joy. But, how do we see the joy when we face challenges?


It helps to remember the following points:


1. God doesn’t put any challenge in front of us that we cannot handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).


2. In ALL things, God works for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Not just “some” things, but ALL.


This means, even though we may not see the point of our suffering, if we trust the Lord, we should trust that everything happens to us happens ultimately for good. God doesn’t challenge us beyond our ability, and His plan for mankind is bigger than us as individuals. As God’s children, we will ultimately return to His side. This life isn’t about our selfish wants and needs. This life is about preaching the gospel so that as many souls as possible can be saved. We should not become overly attached to worldly things. We should be careful about putting people above God. We should be even more careful about putting ourselves above God.


When we ask, “Why did you do this to me, God?” We run the risk of JUDGING God based on our own set of values. When we ask such questions, we are thinking, “We deserve better. You are being a horrible God.” That is, we start questioning God’s sovereignty; worse, we believe we can do better than God.


On the other hand, when we trust in the Will of God, when we trust that His love for us directs us ultimately to His glory, we would gain the patience to wait and see the bigger picture.

Zondervan NIV footnote:

*James 1:2-4 = Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.


James 1:5-8
If we run into situations where we need God's guidance, all we need to do is ask sincerely, with no doubt.


The key here is ask WITHOUT doubt.


Having doubts is human. It’s not a sin by itself. Remember Doubting Thomas. However, whenever Jesus healed someone, He would always preface it by saying, “Your faith has healed you.”


James stressed "without doubt" here, because if we doubt our faith in God, what is the use praying to Him? When we doubt whether God "really has our backs," our heart does not belong fully to Him--we still think we're better off on our own; we're afraid to let go of the control we think we have. Thus, when we doubt, the problem isn't so much the doubt but our heart. Doubt is just the readout.


The bottom line is simple, really. If we don't earnestly believe God has the ability to do what is necessary to protect us, why do we believe our prayers will be answered? Placing our trust in the Lord is not something we just say. We must do, and that starts with taming our heart.


Lastly, as mentioned above, the problem isn't the doubt itself. In fact, having doubts can be a good thing. Jesus told us to discern false prophets. This means we should question (or doubt) what people claim to be true. We question, and we doubt, so that we can test the validity of the "truth" proclaimed by people. We cannot correctly discern 1) if we do not know the Truth (which we come to know through our own diligent Bible studies); and 2) if we readily "just believe."


In sum, doubt, when used based on the knowledge of God, is healthy. It allows us to determine what is true and what is not. However, when we doubt the power of God, then our faith is on shaky grounds. It means our understanding of God is inadequate. In Ephesians 6:10-18, we learned about the Armor of God. One of the pieces of that armor is the Shield of Faith. When we doubt, that shield is cracked. We need to mend that crack before we march back out into the spiritual battlefield, because when our faith is shaky, everything else is shaky. We can doubt our source of information, but we need to stand firm in our faith in our all powerful God. To solidify our faith, we need to get to know God, through His Word, through our prayers.


James 1:9-11
Worldly things have no eternal value. The only thing that is eternal is our soul. And the only choice we have to make in this life is whether we want to spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven or with Satan in Hell. Everything else, such as power, money, or all the treasures in the world, they can be taken away by God just as easily as He can bless us to have them all in the first place. Furthermore, when we die, we can’t take any of this materialism with us. So, why waste our attention with obtaining such worldly things? The only thing of value is our souls. Let us make the most important decision FIRST. The rest will all come in place, because God will guide us through it all. The yoke is not on our shoulders. Jesus died for us so that he could take on our yoke.


Zondervan NIV footnote:
* James 1:9-10 brother in humble circumstances ... one who is rich. Christians who experience poverty are to take pride in their high position (v. 9) as believers (see 2:5). Wealthy believers, on the other hand, should take pride not in their possessions but in the fact that God has humbled them and given them a godly value system, so that they now realize how transitory life and wealth are (v. 10).


James 1:12-18
When we give into temptation, we head toward death. This is what we are told, but what does this mean? Again, remember that we are caught between the spiritual warfare of God and Satan. Jesus is life; Satan is death. Jesus restores us to God so that we may enjoy eternal death; Satan tempts us to sin (like he tempted Adam and Eve to sin), condemning us to death (Romans 6:23).


So, we should stand strong against temptations. Easier said than done for addictions. When we find ourselves in situations where we cannot safely shield ourselves from addictive temptations, we should turn to God and ask for His support and guidance. We should stop depending on ourselves or seek ways to figure it all out by ourselves, because honestly, if we could have solved the problem ourselves, then we wouldn’t have the problem in the fist place.


James 1:19–27
Christians should...
- Be quick to listen, slow to speak (James 1:19)
- Slow to become angry (James 1:19)
- Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent (James 1:21)
- Humbly accept the Word planted in us (James 1:21)
- Listen AND do what the Word says (James 1:22)
- Keep a tight rein on our tongues (James 1:26)
- Not be religious. Be with the Lord in heart. One example of this is to take special care of orphans and widows (James 1:26-27)
- Keep ourselves from being polluted by the world (James 1:27)


I have to work on all aspects of the things listed above. I can be a better listener. I can do what the Word says better. And I can take better care of God’s people. I can be less religious and love more with my heart.

Zondervan NIV footnote:
* James 1:25 perfect law. The moral and ethical teaching of Christianity, which is based on the OT moral law, as embodied in the Ten Commandments (see Ps 19:7), but brought to completion (perfection) by Jesus Christ (see notes on Mt 5:17; Ro 10:4). freedom. In contrast to the sinner, who is a slave to sin (see Jn 8:34 and note), obeying the moral law gives Christians the joyous freedom to be what they were created for (see 2:12).
* James 1:26 religious. Refers to the outward acts of religion: e.g., giving to the needy, fasting and public acts of praying and worshiping (see Mt 6:1-18 and note on 6:1).
* James 1:27 See Jer 22:16 and note. orphans and widows. See notes on Ex 22:21-27; Isa 1:17. world. Not the world of nature but the world of people in their rebellion against and alienation from God (see 1Jn 2:15 and note).


James 2:1–13
We shouldn’t pre-judge people just because they look and behave differently than us. In God’s eyes, we are all His children. He loves us all the same and wants us all to return to Him (2 Peter 3:9).


If God loves and accepts ALL, who are we to judge based on how other people look and exclude them? We were told to love God and love others like ourselves. Judging others based on what they have or how they look is not loving others like ourselves, and it certainly is not how our love for God would be expressed.


We have also been told to be children in this world but not of this world. This is so that we have the mentality that we belong with God. We live in this world, but our goals should not be of this world but of God. This mentality becomes hard to maintain when what we want comes into conflict with the will of God. Let's look at the life of Job for an example. He was rich and accomplished by today's standards before he lost it all. If we were in Job's shoes, could we have stood solidly with our faith in God as Job did? Could we bear losing our business deals or job promotions to further the work of God? During such trying times, it is even more critical for us to see more clearly. We are children in this world but we're not of this world. When we find ourselves putting God below anything but number one, we need to stop and reassess where our heart is and why it has gone astray.


James 2:10
We are all sinners. James 2:10 clearly states that as long as we make JUST ONE mistake, we are a sinner by God's standards. Therefore, with all our sins, we simply CANNOT be reconciled to God, because God's perfect presence cannot tolerate one single speck of sin. The only way to be
cleansed of our sin is to accept Jesus as your Savior. Through Jesus, we can be declared righteous, because when God sees us, He sees His perfect Son.


Zondervan NIV footnote:
* James 2:10 guilty of breaking all. The law is the expression of the character and will of God; therefore to violate one part of the law is to violate God's will and thus his whole law (cf. Mt 5:18-19; 23:23).


James 2:14–17
Faith needs to be supported by works. We can’t just say we want to be better or treat others better. We need to actually go out and DO it.


The idea here is that our works do not grant us salvation. Jesus did everything that needed to be done for our salvation. There is NOTHING we can add to it. However, our works are “proof” of our faith.


When our heart is truly following Jesus, our actions would also follow. It is not possible for us to believe something deeply in our hearts and do nothing about it. Therefore, those who only say what they want to do but never do it, they most likely do not mean it in their heart.

Zondervan NIV footnote:
* James 2:14-26 In vv. 14-20, 24, 26 "faith" is not used in the sense of genuine, saving faith. Rather, it is demonic (v. 19), useless (v. 20) and dead (v. 26). It is a mere intellectual acceptance of certain truths without trust in Christ as Savior. James is also NOT saying that a person is saved by works and not by genuine faith. Rather, he is saying, to use Martin Luther's words, that people are justified (declared righteous before God) by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Genuine faith will produce good deeds, but only faith in Christ saves. (for more information on justification see note on Ro 3:24).
 

Learn the Bible in 24 Hours by Dr. Chuck Missler (p. 247):
The Epistle of James to the Twelve Tribes is a little different from the letters by Paul. He dealt with conduct, not creed;
behavior, not belief; deed, not doctrine. He spoke of endurance, faith, outward trials, and inward temptations in the first chapter. And he gave ways to test the genuineness of faith - our response to the Word of God. These include our response to social situations, the production of good works, the exercise of self-control, our reaction to worldliness, and our resort to prayer in all circumstances. These are not ways to get saved; they are demonstrations of faith that show we are.

Faith without works is a major theme in James. "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by
my works" (James 2:18).

He was not writing about being justified before God by your works, but being justified before men. If you say you have faith and don't have a changed life, there is still something lacking. He was not in conflict with Paul, he was just tackling a different issue. Paul wrote about justification before the throne of God; James dealt with justification in society.

James 2:14–26
Every person who is born again and continues to follow Jesus with his/her heart will produce evidence of his/her belief because it is inevitable (for reasons mentioned above).