James: An Introduction

The first NT book written to the church of God, this small book (5 chapters) is absolutely packed with the wisdom of God and practical theology.

Martin Luther, though eventually removing this from his preface to his translation of the Bible into German, called James “a right strawy epistle.”

Some see this book as a contradiction to Paul, particularly Paul’s teachings on justification by faith and what appears to be James’ justification by works.

Although we will cover these any many other fascinating issues within this book called James, our goal this morning is to survey the land. Much like a family planning a trip and “seeing what’s ahead,” we will see who wrote the book, to whom the book was written, and the why.

I have titled this study through the book of James as “God-Centered Living.” What God teaches us through James the way to view all aspects of life,

whether it is the handling of trials or the need for wisdom

whether it is our economic (or social), God-given status in life

whether it is our handling of temptation and sin

whether it is handling the disconnect between the faith of our lips and the faith of our lives

we could go on, as that just deals with the teachings found in the first chapter of James.

We should, we need, we must have a God-centered life. It is not optional. If we claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus, then we must have a God-centered life. In an effort to achieve this Spirit-empowered and Word-based goal, let us consider James.

I. James the Just

We read about many Jameses in the Bible. Three in particular are important to the work of Jesus. First, there is James, the son of Zebedee. His brother was John, and along with Peter these three enjoyed the most intimate relationship with Jesus (Mark. 9:2–3 Transfiguration; Luke 8:49–56 raising of Jairus’s daughter from the dead; Matt. 26:36–38 Garden of Gethsemane).

Then there is James the son of Alphaeus. He was another disciple of the 12 but we know little of this James.

Finally, we come to our James, the author of this letter, which is called a catholic letter, not because of any attachment to the Roman Catholic Church, but because as the word catholic means, it was universal. Whereas many of Paul’s letters were directed at particularly areas (the church of Corinth, for example), this letter was to the 12 Tribes, or diaspora, not to a particular congregation.

A. Jewish man through and through

One thing we will see as we work through James’ letter is how Jewish it is. This should not surprise us at all, for James was a Jewish man through and through. He was raised in a godly family. His mother Mary, after all, was chosen to bear the Messiah.

He weaves Old Testament Scripture into his letter. He discusses Old Testament saints, such as Abraham, Rahab, and Job. His words sound similar to the Proverbs. And much of his speech is like Old Testament literature. We need to keep this in mind as we work through this letter.

B. Not originally a follower of Jesus

You may have caught my mention of James’s mother, Mary. This is not insignificant. James was the step-brother of the Lord Jesus. They shared mothers, though certainly not fathers.

Can you imagine what James would have experienced? The old adage Familiarity breeds contempt was certainly true for this James. Consider just two verses:

Mark 6:3 “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.”

John 7:5 “For not even his brothers believed in him.” [Feast of Booths]

James did not believe his brother Jesus was the Messiah.

C. Saved by the Grace of God

Notice how James begins his letter: James, a bond-servant [or servant, or slave] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ...”

He does not refer to himself as “the brother of Jesus,” but as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” He does not even say the servant, but a servant.

1 Corinthians 15:7 “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”

James was one of the first individuals to see the resurrected Lord Jesus.

Galatians 2:9 “and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.”

A monumental change occured in the life of James: he was raised from death to life, once he was blind, but now he saw, or to put it in his own words (1:21), “James was brought forth by the word of truth in an excercise of God’s own will.” And as a result of his glorious conversion, James was used for the glory of God.

D. Used for the Glory of God

We will not dwell on this long, but it is apparent from church tradition and from the sacred Scriptures themselves that James was a remarkable man. No doubt due to his Jewish heritage, the at one time embarrassed but now faithful follower of the Lord Jesus was an incredibly devout man.

In fact, he is called James the Just because of his faithful life. One early church father made the claim that James spent so much time in prayer that his knees looked like camel knees. Whether that is true or not, we will find out in glory.

However, we do see Scripture’s depiction of James’s wisdom, godliness, and leadership in the early church of Jerusalem (Acts 15- the Jerusalem Council, the Law of Moses in the life of Christians, an in-depth knowledge of Scripture and a deep care for others; Gal. 2:9, is called a “pillar” in the church)

E. Martyred by the Permission of God

One of the most important aspects of God-centered living is to evaluate everything in life in relation to God (1:3–4). James does just this when he follows the Lord Jesus to death.

“Now there were two Jameses: one, James the Just, who was thrown down from the parapet [of the Temple] and beaten to death with a fuller’s club...”—Clement of Alexandria

Fall from 150 feet, then beaten to death, by the permission of God.

The author of our letter, then, is a righteous man in tune with the Jewish heritage of the Scriptures and a devout follower of God and His Messiah. To whom was he writing?

II. The Christian (Jewish) Audience

One of the first books of the New Testament written, around AD 44–48.

James greets his readers as “the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad” or “which are scattered abroad” or “scattered among the nations.”

Why were these tribes scattered abroad? Because of the persecution of Saul, whom most know as the apostle Paul. In Acts 8:1 “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

After consenting to the death of Stephen, Saul carries out further devastation to the church of God. People fled, leaving behind home and family, jobs, and their entire lives. Can you imagine how difficult this would have been?

You can see some of the difficulties in James’s letter. The most obvious being the trials these believers were facing.

There are further glimpses into the difficulties faced by these believers:

financial difficulties (“the brother of humble circumstances…the rich man”) 1:9–10

short tempers with one another (“be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”) 1:19–20

inconsistent Christian living (“faith without works is dead”) 2:14–26

Communication with people (chapter 3)

Desiring and procuring earthly goods (chapter 4)

Abusing riches (chapter 5)

Enduring trials (chapter 5)

I will refrain from asking you this morning, but mentally raise you hands:

Do you struggle financially? Maybe you have enough, but not as much as others.

Do you struggle with your relationships in the church, at home, at work?

Do you struggle with living a consistent Christian life?

Do you sin in how you communicate with others?

Do you sinfully desire earthly goods?

Are you abusing the financial or physical goods?

Are you buckling under trials?

Then, although you may not be scattered abroad from persecution, you and I are the diaspora, the spread out ones of God in a world that is hostile to God and His Gospel.

III. The Purpose—God-Centered Living

James is taking the wisdom of God and fashioning it into a lens by which all of life can be viewed.

We could use the term world-view, that is, the way we see the world. It is how we understand things to work.

Everyone has a worldview, Christians and Jews, Muslims and Mormons, Atheists and agnostics all have a worldview, a way they see the world.

Our goal as Christians is to develop such a worldview that is taken captive by the Word of God. Our goal is to learn how to view the world and interact with it the way God’s Word teaches.

“The faith that Christians claim must be demonstrated in all the situations and circumstances of life—at work, at home, in the neighborhood, in church.”—Life Application New Testament Commentary

As we read James, we will learn much about God. We will learn about two ways to live: godly or ungodly.

We will learn how to respond to trials and how not to respond.

We will learn how to live a wise life as opposed to unwise living.

In a word, we will learn how to live a God-centered life that glorifies God and strengthens the church.

Are you ready? Are you ready to join James and be a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ?