What is the faith that James is referring to in James 1:3? This is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that He shed His blood for the remission of our sins so that we could be made right with God apart from our works. Jesus bore the sins of our entire lifetime. He died once, 2000 years ago, for every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit and has laid our sins aside and is not dealing with us according to our sins. This is the righteousness of God or our right-standing with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He comes to live in us. We have peace with God.
Our faith is tested or tried because we live in a body that is not yet redeemed and we have a conscience that condemns us. As we hold on to the gospel or word of righteousness through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, God cleanses our conscience on the inside. This causes us to draw near to God in peace and joy. As our conscience is cleansed from guilt and shame, God teaches us to express His love in our lives and not to live our lives in selfish desires. This is the theme of the book of James.
James 1:1-4 "James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
The various trials that James is referring to are the temptations to sin in James 1:13-15. When we encounter these trials or temptations, we are to count it joy. How? We are to hold fast to the gospel, the word of righteousness apart from our works, trusting in what Jesus did for us. In the midst of temptation, we are to be patient in holding fast to the fact that Jesus shed His blood and paid for our sins and made us right with God, even when we fail and sin. We are to let that patience in the gospel or word or righteousness have its perfecting work in our lives, that we may be perfect or mature and complete, lacking nothing. In other words, as we see that Jesus lives in us and He is not holding our sins against us, we are to grow up and learn to walk in holiness and let His love, peace and joy be expressed through us to other people.
James 1:5-8 "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
What wisdom is James referring to here? It is the same wisdom discussed in James 3:13-17, the wisdom to walk in purity and gentleness and peace and let our faith be expressed in our good conduct. We are to ask God for this wisdom in overcoming fleshly temptations and any condemnation in our conscience. God will give us this wisdom. But we are to ask in faith, holding fast to the idea that we are right with God by what Jesus did for us, not by our own good works. For he who doubts his right-standing before God based on his own performance or failures is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind in the midst of temptation to sin. We are to trust that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and that we are made right with God by what Jesus did for us, even when we fail. If we do not, we should not expect to receive anything from the Lord because we are double-minded, unstable in our foundation of righteousness before God through Jesus. Without knowing that the sins of our entire lifetime are forgiven, we will be unstable.
James 1:9-11 "Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits."
Whether we are poor or rich, our body is not yet redeemed and we will eventually grow old and die. We should not trust in uncertain riches but in our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether rich or poor, we all face the same temptations to sin because our body is not yet redeemed.
James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
This crown of life is not something we will receive in the future. It is a crown of life. We receive it as we hold onto the word of righteousness in this present life and overcome temptation. Romans 5:17 says "For if by one man's offense (Adam) death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." We are meant to wear our crown of life and reign in this life through receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness from our Lord Jesus Christ.
James 1:13-15 "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
Our bodies are not yet redeemed, even though we have accepted Jesus into our hearts. James tells us that the temptations that Christians face come from our flesh, which is not yet redeemed.
James 1:16-17 "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
We should not be deceived away from God's goodness and mercy and grace that He has for us in Jesus. What are the good and perfect gifts referred to here? They are the gifts of grace and right-standing with God apart from our works. Jesus shed His blood to pay for the sins of our entire lifetime. That is His gift of righteousness or right-standing with God to you and me. He comes to live within us. He teaches us to walk in purity and peace and love. That is the perfect gift that James refers to in James 1:4, where he tells us to let patience have its perfect work, that we might be perfect or mature and complete, not lacking any wisdom in how to walk in holiness and love. The shadow of turning is referring to a sun dial, where the shadow turns as the sun moves throughout the day. God is not like that. He does not take away our righteousness before Him based on our performance. It is a free gift.
James 1:18 "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures."
He has caused us to be born again by hearing His word of truth, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus born our sins in our place. When we believe it, we will never face punishment for our sins. We receive His righteousness or right-standing with God.
James 1:19-20 "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man (believer) be swift to hear (the word of righteousness), slow to speak (don't say that we are not right with God, even in the midst of failure), slow to wrath (don't judge or condemn ourselves or others), for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
James 1:21-26 "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word (the word of righteousness with God apart from our works, the gospel), which is able to save your souls (it will cleanse our conscience and thinking). But be doers of the word (the word of righteousness), and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty (the gospel or the righteousness of God by faith apart from our works) and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."
This is the wisdom that James spoke of in this first chapter. We receive the gospel, the fact that Jesus bore the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime. This brings us peace with God and begins to cleanse our conscience from guilt and shame and any condemnation. This should then lead us to change our conduct. We don't change our conduct to be right with God. Jesus accomplished that for us in His death on the cross. He paid for our sins. We have peace with God. We begin to recognize that Jesus lives in us. We begin to express His love, joy and peace to others. If this process does not take place, we are then deceiving ourselves. We look into the New Testament of grace and see our sins are forgiven and He has come to live in us. If we then do not walk that out in our conduct, we have not lost our salvation. We have forgotten who we are on the inside.
James 1:26-27 "If anyone among thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
To bridle our tongue means to train our tongue. We as Christians have accepted what Jesus did for us. He bore our sins so that we are made right with God. When we face temptation to sin, we must begin to train our tongue to speak righteousness. In the midst of temptation or after we fail, we speak that we are righteous with God apart from our works. We speak that Jesus lives in us, even when we fail. As we train our tongue to speak righteousness, it will continue the process of transforming our thinking and therefore our outward actions. We will begin to act like who we are on the inside. Pure and undefiled religion is expressing kindness and compassion to those around us, such as orphans and widows, and walking in outward holiness and love in our conduct before others.
James 3:2 "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word (the word of righteousness), he is a perfect man (mature person), able also to bridle the whole body." James is letting us know that when we have bridled or trained our tongue to speak righteousness, we will also be able to bridle our body or change our outward actions.
Keith Oliver
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