The intended audience of this book is thought to be targeted toward Jewish Christians. It is thought to be written between 45 and 47 AD and broken into three main themes that we will discuss in the next section. The book of James is a New Testament book that falls between Hebrews and 1 Peter. Like Jesus, he was also killed for his faith around 60 A.D. Many scholars believe that James did not become a believer until after Jesus died and rose again. He was an apostle of the church of Jerusalem. Jacob, or James, was a powerful voice in the early church, as well as the younger brother of Jesus ( Galatians 1:9, Mark 6:3). James was not widely accepted until the 1600s when King James sponsored the translation called the “ Authorized Version.” In Exodus 3:15, we read, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors-The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.” If you have ever heard the book of James referred to as the ‘book of Jacob’ that is why. God has made us unique, and we should celebrate our differences, knowing they will be used to meet unique needs in the Kingdom.“James” is actually the result of a translation of the Jewish name Ya’akov and the Greek name lakobos. But we must heed James’ teaching and avoid speaking evil about our brothers and sisters. It’s easy to start criticizing and gossiping about people who think and live differently than us. We think differently, we see value in different things, we approach problems in different ways, and our personalities differ in significant ways. God did not intend to make all human beings the same (what a boring world that would be). Rather than being constant critics of the work, life, and service of other disciples, we need to remember that it is not our place to judge where God has not legislated. Churches whose members are only partially devoted to Jesus will never affect the world in any meaningful way.Ģ. As long as he can keep us from devoting our whole heart to God, he has won the battle. Satan has done a good job at convincing the Church they can give God part of their heart, while devoting the rest to other affections. There is a pandemic of divided affections in modern Christian culture. “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”ġ. Instead of assuming we will be alive tomorrow, we should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” Only God knows whether we will live another day or if this will be our last.Ĭhristians should view themselves as a vapor which quickly vanishes. He said, whoever speaks evil of another disciple, speaks evil of God’s law.Ĭhristians should not be in the business of judging other Christians based on their opinions.Ĭhristians should be “doers” (practitioners) of God’s law, rather than illegitimate judges.īe Careful Not to Presume the Future (4:13-17):ĭisciples should be careful not to assume what the future holds for them. In close connection with the previous points, James condemned the action of slandering other disciples. Speaking Evil about other Christians (4:11-12): “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” James wanted the Christians to repent, cleanse their hearts of selfishness, and be single-minded. If we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. If we resist the devil, he will “flee” from us. Pursuing your own passions is a submission to Satan’s will for your life. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”ĭisciples are to submit themselves to God as His servants, rather than devoting themselves to selfishly and pridefully pursuing their own passions. God put His Spirit in His disciples to make them new, not to have them return to the things they loved in their past life. Some disciples were trying to love the world (money, pleasure, honor, etc) as much as they loved God.Īnyone who tries to have “friendship” with the world is the enemy of God. He already knew the answer, they were caused by Christians who had divided affections. James asked the disciples what caused contentions among them. The Result of Trying to Love the World and God at the Same Time (4:1-10): Fights break out because of self-interest and disciples start to speak negatively about each other. In chapter 4, we get a glimpse into what happens when our religion is no longer selfless and free from the contamination of the world. In chapter 1, James described “pure” religion as caring for orphans and widows and keeping oneself unspotted from the world. HOW THIS CHAPTER FITS INTO THE LARGER MESSAGE OF THE BOOK: Why We Shouldn’t be Overconfident about the Future
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