Greeting
1 James, a a servant of God b and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
To the twelve tribes c dispersed abroad. ,d
Greetings. e
Trials and Maturity
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, f 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. g 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways. ,h
9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, 10 but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. i 11 For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities. j
12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown k of life that God has promised to those who love him. l
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. m 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. n
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. o 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. p 18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. q
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, r 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. s
22 But t be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does. u
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, v his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows w in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world. x
1. ADDRESS AND GREETING (1:1)
A. Overcoming trials (1:2–12). 1:2–4. Poverty and persecution appear to have been the biggest trials faced by these early Christians, but James has in mind all kinds of difficulties that can pose threats to our faith in God—sickness, the death of loved ones, a rebellious child, a hated job. Whatever the trial, James commands Christians to rejoice (1:2). How is this possible? By recognizing that God can use these problems and tribulations to produce Christians who are “mature and complete” (1:4).
1:5–8. James sometimes links his topics by repeating a word: here he joins 1:4 to 1:5 with the verb “lack.” A more substantive link may also exist, however. Wisdom may be that quality that is needed if the believer is to face trials in the appropriate Christian manner. Like the book of Proverbs, James emphasizes that wisdom can be gained only by asking God. And as an encouragement to ask, James reminds us that God gives “generously” (1:5). But not every asking, even if imploring and sincere, receives a positive answer from God. We must ask in faith, without doubting (1:6a).
1:9–11. James contrasts two people: poor Christians (1:9) and “the rich” (1:10–11). This latter phrase is ambiguous. If James has in mind rich non-Christians, then his contrast is between poor Christians, who are to rejoice in their heavenly calling, and rich unbelievers, who have nothing to boast about except their ultimate judgment for their wicked use of money. That James elsewhere uses “rich” to designate non-Christians (5:1) favors this interpretation.
1:12. James concludes the opening section of the letter by returning explicitly to the theme of trials. Remaining faithful to God during trials brings God’s blessing: the reward of life eternal that God has promised to those who belong to him. The risen Jesus similarly encourages suffering Christians: “Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rv 2:10).
B. The source of temptation (1:13–18). 1:13–15. A trial is an outward circumstance that can pose difficulties to our faith. A temptation is the inner enticement to sin. What James is concerned about is that his readers will confuse these two and attribute temptation to God. Scripture indicates that God does “test” or put his people through trials (cf. Gn 22:1). But, James emphatically asserts, God never tempts his people (1:13). He never entices them to sin or desires that they fail in the trials he may bring. Believers must never excuse their sin by blaming God for the temptation. It is our own “evil desire” that is the real source of temptation (1:14). James traces the terrible process by which temptation becomes spiritual death: the impulse to sin, alive in all of us, conceives sin when we succumb to temptation; if we do nothing to cut off the growth and maturation of sin, death is the inevitable result (1:15).
1:16–18. After issuing a warning not to be deceived (1:16), James provides a positive counterpart to verses 13–15: far from being responsible for temptation, or anything evil, God gives good gifts to his children. And that God will continue to do so can be depended on, for he is unchangeable. Unlike the sun, moon, stars, and planets (cf. Ps 136:7–9), which regularly move and change their appearance, God never changes (1:17). God, the giver of good gifts, has also birthed within James’s recipients the new life that comes for those who embrace the “word of truth” (cf. 2 Co 6:7; Eph 1:13; Col 1:5; 2 Tm 2:15)—the gospel—and its chief subject: Christ (1:18). This new life is likewise a sign of things to come, the firstfruits of the restoration of all things that God has promised for creation.
A. Anger and the tongue (1:19–20). Before launching into this major topic, James interjects a warning about the misuse of the tongue—the first of several that occur in his letter (1:26; 3:1–12; 4:11–12; 5:12). James echoes a theme sounded often in Proverbs (see Pr 10:19; 15:1; 17:27–28): the righteous will listen well and consider carefully before they speak and will restrain their anger lest it lead to hasty, nasty, irretrievable words (1:19). Anger, James reminds us, “does not accomplish God’s righteousness” (1:20).
B.“Be doers of the word” (1:21–27). 1:21–25. The main topic of the next paragraph is introduced in 1:21: the right response to God’s word. James commands us to receive the word. His reference to the word as being “implanted” in us may allude to Jesus’s parable of the sower, but it probably also hints at the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy about the new covenant, in which God promises to “put [his] teaching within them and write it on their hearts” (Jr 31:33). [Authority of Scripture]
1:26–27. James becomes more specific still. What does it mean to do the word? Three areas of obedience are singled out by James: personal behavior, social concern, and inner values. James again shows his concern about sins of speech by highlighting careful speech habits as an example of the religion that God accepts (1:26). Another characteristic emphasis in James is mentioned in 1:27 for the first time: concern for the poor and needy. Finally, James stresses the need for an inner attitude and value system distinct from that of the world in which we live.