James
Count It All Joy
Chapter summary. James writes to Jewish Christians everywhere (1:1). He encourages them to greet trials with joy, aware of their potential benefits (vv. 2–4). Anyone who feels a need for guidance in such situations may ask God. But when a person asks, he or she must be willing to do what God directs, rather than waver between obedience and going one’s own way (vv. 5–8). As far as financial trials are concerned, rich and poor must each find life’s meaning in something other than material circumstances (vv. 9–11).
It is particularly important if we are to persevere to know the difference between “trials” and “temptations.” Temptation comes from within and is a response of man’s sin nature to circumstances. God has nothing to do with temptation. All that God brings into our lives is a good gift—and that includes trials (vv. 12–18). Whatever happens we must be committed to a righteous life (vv. 19–21) and practicing God’s Word (vv. 22–27).
Key verses. 1:3–4. It’s easier when you know.
Personal application. Don’t blame God or the devil for feeling tempted—or for giving in to temptation.
Key concepts. Joy » Philippians. Wisdom » Proverbs 1–4, James 3. Prayer » 1 John 3. Wealth » Deuteronomy 7, Deuteronomy 8. Poverty » Leviticus 25. Righteousness » Romans. Humble » 2 Kings 22–23. Father » Luke 12.
One of the best tests of Christian maturity is tribulation. When God’s people go through personal trials, they discover what kind of faith they really possess. Trials not only reveal our faith; they also develop our faith and Christian character. The Jews to whom James was writing were experiencing trials, and he wanted to encourage them. The strange thing is that James tells them to rejoice! The word “greeting” in v. 1 can mean “rejoice!” How is the Christian able to have joy in the midst of troubles? James gives the answer in this first chapter by showing the certainties Christians have in times of tribulation.
Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker that reads: “When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade!” It is easier to smile at that statement than to practice it, but the basic philosophy is sound. In fact, it is biblical. Throughout the Bible are people who turned defeat into victory and trial into triumph. Instead of being victims, they became victors.
James tells us that we can have this same experience today. No matter what the trials may be on the outside (James 1:1–12) or the temptations on the inside (James 1:13–27), through faith in Christ we can experience victory. The result of this victory is spiritual maturity.
If we are going to turn trials into triumphs, we must obey four imperatives: count (James 1:2), know (James 1:3), let (James 1:4, 9–11), and ask (James 1:5–8). Or, to put it another way, there are four essentials for victory in trials: a joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a surrendered will, and a heart that wants to believe.
Count—a Joyful Attitude (James 1:2)
Outlook determines outcome, and attitude determines action. God tells us to expect trials. It is not “if you fall into various testings” but “when you fall into various testings.” The believer who expects his Christian life to be easy is in for a shock. Jesus warned His disciples, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul told his converts that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
Because we are God’s “scattered people” and not God’s “sheltered people,” we must experience trials. We cannot always expect everything to go our way. Some trials come simply because we are human—sickness, accidents, disappointments, even seeming tragedies. Other trials come because we are Christians. Peter emphasizes this in his first letter: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12). Satan fights us, the world opposes us, and this makes for a life of battle.
The phrase “fall into” does not suggest a stupid accident. Translate it “encounter, come across.” A Christian certainly should not manufacture trials. The Greek word translated “divers” means “various, varicolored.” Peter uses the same word in 1 Peter 1:6—“Ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” The trials of life are not all alike; they are like variegated yarn that the weaver uses to make a beautiful rug. God arranges and mixes the colors and experiences of life. The final product is a beautiful thing for His glory.
My wife and I once visited a world-famous weaver and watched his men and women work on the looms. I noticed that the undersides of the rugs were not very beautiful: the patterns were obscure and the loose ends of yarn dangled. “Don’t judge the worker or the work by looking at the wrong side,” our guide told us. In the same way, we are looking at the wrong side of life; only the Lord sees the finished pattern. Let’s not judge Him or His work from what we see today. His work is not finished yet!
The key word is count. It is a financial term, and it means “to evaluate.” Paul used it several times in Philippians 3. When Paul became a Christian, he evaluated his life and set new goals and priorities. Things that were once important to him became “garbage” in the light of his experience with Christ. When we face the trials of life, we must evaluate them in the light of what God is doing for us.
This explains why the dedicated Christian can have joy in the midst of trials: he lives for the things that matter most. Even our Lord was able to endure the cross because of “the joy that was set before Him” (Heb. 12:2), the joy of returning to heaven and one day sharing His glory with His church.
Our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to “count it all joy.” If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better. Job had the right outlook when he said, “But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
So, when trials come, immediately give thanks to the Lord and adopt a joyful attitude. Do not pretend; do not try self-hypnosis; simply look at trials through the eyes of faith. Outlook determines outcome; to end with joy, begin with joy.
“But how,” we may ask, “is it possible to rejoice in the midst of trials?” The second imperative explains this.
Know—an Understanding Mind (James 1:3)
What do Christians know that makes it easier to face trials and benefit from them?
Faith is always tested. When God called Abraham to live by faith, He tested him in order to increase his faith. God always tests us to bring out the best; Satan tempts us to bring out the worst. The testing of our faith proves that we are truly born again.
Testing works for us, not against us. The word trying can be translated “approval.” Again, Peter helps us understand it better: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth” (1 Peter 1:7). A gold prospector brings his ore sample into the assayer’s office to be tested. The sample itself may not be worth more than a few dollars, but the approval—the official statement about the ore—is worth millions! It assures the prospector that he has a gold mine. God’s approval of our faith is precious, because it assures us that our faith is genuine.
Trials work for the believer, not against him. Paul said, “And we know that all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28); and, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).
Trials rightly used help us to mature. What does God want to produce in our lives? Patience, endurance, and the ability to keep going when things are tough. “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Rom. 5:3–4). In the Bible, patience is not a passive acceptance of circumstances. It is a courageous perseverance in the face of suffering and difficulty.
Immature people are always impatient; mature people are patient and persistent. Impatience and unbelief usually go together, just as faith and patience do. “Be … followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:12). “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Heb. 10:36). “He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16).
God wants to make us patient because that is the key to every other blessing. The little child who does not learn patience will not learn much of anything else. When the believer learns to wait on the Lord, then God can do great things for him. Abraham ran ahead of the Lord, married Hagar, and brought great sorrow into his home (Gen. 16). Moses ran ahead of God, murdered a man, and had to spend forty years with the sheep to learn patience (Ex. 2:11ff). Peter almost killed a man in his impatience (John 18:10–11).
The only way the Lord can develop patience and character in our lives is through trials. Endurance cannot be attained by reading a book (even this one), listening to a sermon, or even praying a prayer. We must go through the difficulties of life, trust God, and obey Him. The result will be patience and character. Knowing this, we can face trials joyfully. We know what trials will do in us and for us, and we know that the end result will bring glory to God.
This fact explains why studying the Bible helps us grow in patience (Rom. 15:4). As we read about Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, and even our Lord, we realize that God has a purpose in trials. God fulfills His purposes as we trust Him. There is no substitute for an understanding mind. Satan can defeat the ignorant believer, but he cannot overcome the Christian who knows his Bible and understands the purposes of God.
Let—a Surrendered Will (James 1:4, 9–12)
God cannot build our character without our cooperation. If we resist Him, then He chastens us into submission. But if we submit to Him, then He can accomplish His work. He is not satisfied with a halfway job. God wants a perfect work; He wants a finished product that is mature and complete.
God’s goal for our lives is maturity. It would be a tragedy if our children remained little babies. We enjoy watching them mature, even though maturity brings dangers as well as delights. Many Christians shelter themselves from the trials of life, and as a result, never grow up. God wants the “little children” to become “young men,” and the “young men” He wants to become “fathers” (1 John 2:12–14).
Paul outlined three works that are involved in a complete Christian life (Eph. 2:8–10). First, there is the work God does for us, which is salvation. Jesus Christ completed this work on the cross. If we trust Him, He will save us. Second, there is the work God does in us: “For we are His workmanship.” This work is known as sanctification: God builds our character and we become more like Jesus Christ, “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). The third work is what God does through us—service. We are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”
God builds character before He calls to service. He must work in us before He can work through us. God spent twenty-five years working in Abraham before He could give him his promised son. God worked thirteen years in Joseph’s life, putting him into “various testings” before He could put him on the throne of Egypt. He spent eighty years preparing Moses for forty years of service. Our Lord took three years training His disciples, building their character.
But God cannot work in us without our consent. There must be a surrendered will. The mature person does not argue with God’s will; instead, he accepts it willingly and obeys it joyfully. “Doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6). If we try to go through trials without surrendered wills, we will end up more like immature children than mature adults.
Jonah is an illustration of this. God commanded Jonah to preach to the Gentiles at Nineveh, and he refused. God chastened Jonah before the prophet accepted his commission. But Jonah did not obey God from the heart. He did not grow in this experience. How do we know? Because in the last chapter of Jonah, the prophet is acting like a spoiled child! He is sitting outside the city pouting, hoping that God will send judgment. He is impatient with the sun, the wind, the gourd, the worm, and with God.
One difficult stage of maturing is weaning. A child being weaned is sure that his mother no longer loves him and that everything is against him. Actually, weaning is a step toward maturity and liberty. It is good for the child! Sometimes God has to wean His children away from their childish toys and immature attitudes. David pictured this in Psalm 131: “Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child” (Ps. 131:2). God uses trials to wean us away from childish things; but if we do not surrender to Him, we will become even more immature.
In James 1:9–11, James applies this principle to two different kinds of Christians: the poor and the rich. Apparently, money and social status were real problems among these people (see James 2:1–7, 15–16; 4:1–3, 13–17; 5:1–8). God’s testings have a way of leveling us. When testing comes to the poor man, he lets God have His way and rejoices that he possesses spiritual riches that cannot be taken from him. When testing comes to the rich man, he also lets God have His way, and he rejoices that his riches in Christ cannot wither or fade away. In other words, it is not your material resources that take you through the testings of life; it is your spiritual resources.
We have three imperatives from James so far: count—a joyful attitude; know—an understanding heart; let—a surrendered will. He gives a fourth.
Ask—a Believing Heart (James 1:5–8)
The people to whom James wrote had problems with their praying (James 4:1–3; 5:13–18). When we are going through God-ordained difficulties, what should we pray about? James gives the answer: ask God for wisdom.
James has a great deal to say about wisdom (James 1:5; 3:13–18). The Jewish people were lovers of wisdom, as the Book of Proverbs gives evidence. Someone has said that knowledge is the ability to take things apart, while wisdom is the ability to put them together. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. All of us know people who are educated fools: they have brilliant academic records, but they cannot make the simplest decisions in life. I once met a gifted professor on a seminary campus, and he was wearing two hats!
Why do we need wisdom when we are going through trials? Why not ask for strength, or grace, or even deliverance? For this reason: we need wisdom so we will not waste the opportunities God is giving us to mature. Wisdom helps us understand how to use these circumstances for our good and God’s glory.
An associate of mine, a gifted secretary, was going through great trials. She had had a stroke, her husband had gone blind, and then he had to be taken to the hospital where (we were sure) he would die. I saw her in church one Sunday and assured her that I was praying for her.
“What are you asking God to do?” she asked, and her question startled me.
“I’m asking God to help you and strengthen you,” I replied.
“I appreciate that,” she said, “but pray about one more thing. Pray that I’ll have the wisdom not to waste all of this!”
She knew the meaning of James 1:5.
James not only explained what to ask for (wisdom), but he also described how to ask. We are to ask in faith. We do not have to be afraid, for God is anxious to answer, and He will never scold us! “He giveth more grace” (James 4:6). He also gives more and more wisdom. The greatest enemy to answered prayer is unbelief.
James compares the doubting believer to the waves of the sea, up one minute and down the next. While vacationing in Hawaii, I learned that you cannot trust the waves. I was sitting on a rock by the ocean, watching the waves and enjoying the sunshine. I heard a sound behind me, turned to see who was approaching, and instantly was drenched by a huge wave! Never turn your back on the waves—they are down, then they are up.
This is the experience of the “double-minded man.” Faith says, “Yes!” but unbelief says, “No!” Then doubt comes along and says “Yes!” one minute and “No!” the next. It was doubt that made Peter sink in the waves as he was walking to Jesus (Matt. 14:22–33). Jesus asked him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” When Peter started his walk of faith, he kept his eyes on Christ. But when he was distracted by the wind and waves, he ceased to walk by faith; and he began to sink. He was double-minded, and he almost drowned.
Many Christians live like corks on the waves: up one minute, down the next; tossed back and forth. This kind of experience is evidence of immaturity. Paul used a similar idea in Ephesians 4:14—“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” If we have believing and united hearts, we can ask in faith and God will give the wisdom we need. Instability and immaturity go together.
James closed this section with a beatitude: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation” (James 1:12). He started (James 1:2) and ended with joy. Outlook determines outcome. This beatitude is a great encouragement because it promises a crown to those who patiently endure trials. Paul often used athletic illustrations in his letters, and James does so here. He is not saying that the sinner is saved by enduring trials. He is saying that the believer is rewarded by enduring trials.
How is he rewarded? First, by growth in Christian character. This is more important than anything else. He is rewarded also by bringing glory to God and by being granted a crown of life when Jesus Christ returns. First the cross, then the crown. First the suffering, then the glory. God does not help us by removing the tests, but by making the tests work for us. Satan wants to use the tests to tear us down, but God uses them to build us up.
In James 1:12, James used a very important word, love. We would expect him to write, “the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that trust Him” or “that obey Him.” Why did James use love? Because love is the spiritual motivation behind every imperative in this section.
Why do we have a joyful attitude as we face trials? Because we love God, and He loves us, and He will not harm us. Why do we have an understanding mind? Because He loves us and has shared His truth with us, and we love Him in return. Why do we have a surrendered will? Because we love Him. Where there is love, there is surrender and obedience. Why do we have a believing heart? Because love and faith go together. When you love someone, you trust him, and you do not hesitate to ask him for help.
Love is the spiritual force behind the imperatives James gives us. If we love God, we will have no problem counting, knowing, letting, and asking. But there is another factor involved: love keeps us faithful to the Lord. The double-minded person (James 1:8) is like an unfaithful husband or wife: he wants to love both God and the world. James admonished, “Purify your hearts, ye double-minded!” (James 4:8) The Greek word translated purify literally means “make chaste.” The picture is that of an unfaithful lover.
Let’s go back to the weaning. The child who loves his mother, and who is sure that his mother loves him, will be able to get through the weaning and start to grow up. The Christian who loves God, and who knows that God loves him, will not fall apart when God permits trials to come. He is secure in God’s love. He is not double-minded, trying to love both God and the world. Lot was double-minded; when trials came, he failed miserably. Abraham was the friend of God; he loved God and trusted Him. When trials came, Abraham triumphed and matured in the faith.
God’s purpose in trials is maturity. “Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” The Charles B. Williams translation says it graphically: “But you must let your endurance come to its perfect product so that you may be fully developed and perfectly equipped.”
If that is what you want, then in love to Christ, count, know, let, and ask.
Webster defines a paradox as “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.” An example of this is the statement, “giving is receiving.” The Scriptures contain many paradoxes, telling us that the weak are strong, the empty are full, the slave is free, the cursed are blessed, and that death brings life—all statements which first strike the ear as contradictory, but become increasingly true to us as we meditate on them. G. K. Chesterton gave this magnificent definition of a paradox: “a paradox is truth standing on its head shouting for attention.” In my mind’s eye I see truths lined up like ridiculous people on their heads, feet waving in the air, calling, “Hey, look at me! Up is down! Down is up! Think about it.” Paradox is a powerful vehicle for truth, because it makes people think.
James, concerned that his pressured readers not succumb to instability, resorted to paradoxes in verses 9 and 10 to convey stabilizing wisdom. First: “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position”—the paradox of the rich poor. And second: “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position”—the paradox of the poor rich. Together these powerful paradoxes shouted with poignancy and effect to James’ persecuted, scattered brethren, and they do the same for all today who feel out of sync with the prevailing culture, and especially to those suffering for their faith socially and economically.
Only the Humble Can Boast
Exhortations in wisdom literature frequently shift quickly from one topic to another. The division between the faithful and the double-minded in the previous section may have suggested the contrast between the lowly and the rich. This section introduces one of the basic themes in the epistle: God exalts the lowly and humbles the proud. The initial parallelism between the two is expanded with an explanation of the fate that attends the rich. The exposition shifts from an exhortation to the lowly and to rich Christians (vv. 9–10a) to sayings that condemn the rich in general. They apply more directly to the rich who are not believers. Similar ambiguity appears in the treatment of partiality in the community in James 2:2–7. The community as a whole can be described as humble or lowly ones oppressed by the rich. Yet distinctions of rich and poor also make themselves evident within the church.
The eventual humiliation of the rich often attaches to divine judgment (Isa. 40:6–8). “Boasting” is often a negative characteristic of the wicked whom God will strike down (Ps. 49:6; 94:3). Consequently, the boast of the rich might be taken as ironic. So long as they pride themselves on their wealth, they will perish. The metaphor of grass that dominates this section has been taken from Isa. 40:6–8 LXX. Isaiah contrasts the abiding word of God with the fragility of human glory. James inserts the scorching sun as the agent responsible for the withered grass (v. 11a). The final phrase of verse 11 speaks of the rich fading away in their poreiai (RSV: “pursuits”). The word can mean “journey” and creates a link between this verse and the conclusion of the previous section that referred to the “ways” (= roads, paths; v. 8) of the double-minded. The castigation of the rich in this section parallels the words addressed to the double-minded in the previous one. Both represent a way of life that is contrary to God’s word. The self-absorbed preoccupation with wealth and its consumption leaves no room either for God or for their “lowly” brothers and sisters. Yet riches cannot even secure the individual’s life on earth, let alone status in God’s judgment.
In this passage James introduces a cardinal teaching of the gospel: the eschatological reversal of status experienced now in fellowship with Jesus (cf. Matt 19:30; Luke 1:46–55). “Lift up the poor believers now; require the rich believers to humble themselves” would be a correct understanding of James’s intent. By means of an extended metaphor, including a short parable, the text calls for a kind of spirituality consistent with the coming reversal. The asymmetry of James’s assessments of different human states of life is well known. James was especially hard in his judgments of the wealthy. Such judgment coming so early in the letter serves as a strong critique of prideful affluence in the modern world.
(1) The Boast of the Poor (1:9)
9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.
1:9 The man in the humblest condition should boast in the high position that will be his in the future with God. For James there was a close relationship between being humble in status and being humble in spirit, at least within the context of genuine faith, which he assumed. Low social standing was had on many levels for those who were poor. James exhorted those of low standing as believers to boast or to “take pride” in their coming exaltation. They had brothers in the church who were of high socioeconomic standing, and the opposite exhortation was directed toward them. Although these poor men and women had nothing visible to boast in, their boast was nevertheless greater than those who boasted in themselves.45 Their poverty, then, had turned into a double benefit, for it encouraged the humility and faith God requires.
A kind of spiritual exercise is outlined here (cf. 4:7–10). In preparation for the coming kingdom of God, the whole church should encourage those poor and destitute, who in everyday life were rejected and kept at the margins, to come forward and to lead the rejoicing of the church in its future hope. They were to have the “most important seats in the synagogue” of the Lord (cf. Luke 20:46). James offered poor believers special encouragement to appropriate their dignity as elect members of God’s kingdom.
Paul had boasted in his weakness in view of the Lord’s greater strength (Rom 5:3; 2 Cor 10:15). In a similar way the poor and lowly are encouraged to glory in the rich heavenly reward that has been promised to them. Thus, they become a sign of the Lord’s salvation. That salvation includes the reversal of status of poor and rich, of wise and foolish, of strong and weak, and of noble and despised. Faith and the mercy of God are always determinative for salvation, and James was determined to show that the poor believer has a special place in God’s plan by exhibiting this essential relation (cf. 2:5).
(2) The Reduction of the Rich (1:10–11)
10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
1:10 The spiritual exercise continues for the rich. Knowing that in the judgment the rich of the world will be stripped of their perishable wealth and influence, rich believers should “take pride” (the Greek depends on the previous verse for the verb) in their “low position”;48 that is, they should humble themselves now. The condemnation of those whose pride is in their wealth is a common biblical theme. Such pride is an overwhelming temptation. This danger is captured in the proverb “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall” (Prov 18:11). A surprising irony is contained here, since what is imagined to be so powerful is so obviously a delusion. The rich do not need to work to survive. Thus in the midst of a world of misfortune and flux, they boast in the semblance of their security and undisturbed comfort. Yet death comes to rich and poor alike, and faith acts now in view of this common destiny. The shadow of death already hangs over the poor. Their lives are full of trouble and woe. But the rich bask in the artificial light of the borrowed time their wealth has brought them. In truth they should be humbling themselves to guard against the temptation of trusting in wealth.
The faith of a rich man must be expressed in a radically different way from that of the poor man. Because the life of the rich is so radically different, they must exercise self-abasement. This self-denial of the rich believer is their way to participate in the total trust required by God. There is, otherwise, no room for the faithless influence of the rich in the church (Isa 53:8; Acts 8:33). The specter of death hangs over the poor as the wretched end of a wretched life—what a wonderful reversal when the hearts of the poor are filled with the joy of the Lord! But the spectacle of the ruination of beauty possessed of the wealthy is the motive for the self-humbling exercise that submits in trust to God. The rich must consider very soberly that the distinguished position they have enjoyed above common folk will disappear in the kingdom of God.
The rich are compared to a wild flower, a familiar Old Testament image of fragility. As the exaltation of the poor believer will appear like life from the dead, the lowering of the rich believer to a place among the least rewarded will be its own kind of spectacle. This metaphor of the falling flower is part of an apocalyptic vision of dying creatures under the judgment of God. James as well as other New Testament writers sharply applied to the rich the quick passing away of people in their bodily lives. Like the transitory beauty of gold (1 Pet 1:7) and the other splendors of this life (Rev 18:14; cf. Jer 10:11; Dan 7:17), the rich will pass out of existence in submission to the God who holds life and death.
1:11 The process of “fad[ing] away” is harsh. The Middle Eastern sun “rises,”52 and its heat scorches the anemone and cyclamen flowers, quickly causing their beauty to fade. They become mere withered grasses to kindle fires. Their appearance is gone forever under the sun. The beauty of the flower is compared to the beauty of a wealthy man’s busy life. All of the hurrying about to maintain success and influence is soon lost. And it is fairly clear here that the rich are made busy by their wealth. James portrayed the hustle of the wealthy. He is much like the industrious rich farmer who is told in his own apocalyptic moment that he is utterly poor toward God and his life is at its end (Luke 12:15–21). Similarly, the affairs55 of the rich in James now amount to nothing. Surely something so favorable and disarming as wealth and beauty (cf. 2:1–4) would have been more enduring. But those who possess them fall quickly under the harsh heat of this perishable life.
The rich man should beware, according to James, because he “will fade away” together with all his undertakings. In the very movement and manner (v. 8) of displaying the beauty of a wealthy life, all will be lost (cf. 4:13–16). This is the order of things (cf. v. 24). Perishability and loss rule over all of life, but obviously the losses of the wealthy are greater. The biblical meaning of this loss is reflected in 1 Cor 3:12–13, which says that a believer can build a life of service upon the perishables of worldly value, and all of it will be consumed in the fire of judgment.
Nothing of earthly possessions contributes in itself to the kingdom of God. Indeed, the allure of wealth is illusory and invites disaster because of the high cost of making and protecting it. Using riches for their own sake exposes the total lack of lasting value in wealth. Thus the life of the rich and their wealth together fade away. The stark contrast with the call to persevere in vv. 2–3 could not have been made more pronounced. James later confronted the rich again with the sins of injustice they had committed in amassing their fortunes (5:1–6). An eternal perishing awaits them.
The overall context for this hard truth about the wealthy and their wealth is the instruction of the Christian community; the rich can be a coequal part of the community of believers. But let their holding and use of the wealth and position be carried under an umbrella of humility. The rich cannot boast in their wealth because confidence in wealth belongs to the enmity of the world system against God’s values. James offered a proper way of relating and worshiping among believers of different economic statuses through a kind of spiritual exercise. Drawing from Paul’s similar thought, let the rich brother exercise the “as if’s” of 1 Cor 7:29–31, “for this world in its present form is passing away.”