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May 7, 2019
The book of James is often seen as a compilation of practical Christian wisdom intended for wide circulation. As guest speaker Andy Gemmill helps us see, though, James may have had a more specific purpose in mind. His audience apparently had one thing in common: they were behaving badly toward each other. With a physician’s precision, James diagnosed the root cause of such relational dysfunction—a sinful heart—and prescribed a simple cure: believe the Gospel, repent, and humble yourself before God.
1aJames, a servant1 of God and bof the Lord Jesus Christ,
To cthe twelve tribes in dthe Dispersion:
Greetings.
2eCount it all joy, my brothers,2 when you meet trials fof various kinds, 3for you know that gthe testing of your faith hproduces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be iperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5jIf any of you lacks wisdom, klet him ask God, lwho gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But mlet him ask in faith, nwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like oa wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8phe is a double-minded man, qunstable in all his ways.
9Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and rthe rich in his humiliation, because slike a flower of the grass3 he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and twithers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12uBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive vthe crown of life, wwhich God has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire xwhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ysin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17zEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from athe Father of lights, bwith whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.4 18cOf his own will he dbrought us forth by the word of truth, ethat we should be a kind of ffirstfruits of his creatures.
19gKnow this, my beloved brothers: let every person hbe quick to hear, islow to speak, jslow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore kput away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with lmeekness the implanted word, mwhich is able to save your souls.
22But be ndoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, phe will be blessed in his doing.
26If anyone thinks he is religious qand does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's rreligion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: sto visit torphans and widows in their affliction, and uto keep oneself vunstained from the world.
1My brothers,1 wshow no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, xthe Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ywhile you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become zjudges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, ahas not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be brich in faith and heirs of cthe kingdom, dwhich he has promised to those who love him? 6But you ehave dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who fdrag you ginto court? 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable hname by which you were called?
8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, i“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you jshow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point khas become guilty of all of it. 11For he who said, l“Do not commit adultery,” also said, l“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under mthe law of liberty. 13For njudgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith obut does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15pIf a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16qand one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good2 is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith rapart from your works, and I will show you my faith sby my works. 19tYou believe that God is one; you do well. Even uthe demons believe—and shudder! 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21vWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that wfaith was active along with his works, and faith was completed xby his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, y“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a zfriend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also aRahab the prostitute justified by works bwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
1cNot many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For dwe all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, ehe is a perfect man, fable also to bridle his whole body. 3If we put gbits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet hit boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And ithe tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, jstaining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, kfull of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people lwho are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
13Who is wise and understanding among you? mBy his good conduct let him show his works nin the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter ojealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not pthe wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, qdemonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But rthe wisdom from above is first pure, then speaceable, gentle, open to reason, tfull of mercy and good fruits, uimpartial and vsincere. 18And wa harvest of righteousness xis sown in peace by those who make peace.
1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions1 are yat war within you?2 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask zwrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4aYou adulterous people!3 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? bTherefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit cthat he has made to dwell in us”? 6But dhe gives more grace. Therefore it says, e“God opposes the proud but dgives grace to the humble.” 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. fResist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8gDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. hCleanse your hands, you sinners, and ipurify your hearts, jyou double-minded. 9kBe wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10lHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11mDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.4 The one who speaks against a brother or njudges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is only oone lawgiver and pjudge, he who is able to save and qto destroy. But rwho are you to judge your neighbor?
13Come now, you who say, s“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For tyou are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, u“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. vAll such boasting is evil. 17wSo whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
1Come now, xyou rich, weep and howl for the ymiseries that are coming upon you. 2zYour riches have rotted and zyour garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. aYou have laid up treasure bin the last days. 4Behold, cthe wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and dthe cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ethe Lord of hosts. 5fYou have lived on the earth in luxury and gin self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ha day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and imurdered jthe righteous person. He does not resist you.
7Be patient, therefore, brothers,1 until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives kthe early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient. lEstablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord mis at hand. 9Do not grumble against one another, brothers, nso that you may not be judged; behold, othe Judge is standing pat the door. 10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take qthe prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of rthe steadfastness of Job, and you have seen sthe purpose of the Lord, how tthe Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12But above all, my brothers, udo not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him vsing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, wanointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And xif he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, yconfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, zthat you may be healed. aThe prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.2 17Elijah was a man bwith a nature like ours, and che prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for dthree years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18eThen he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19My brothers, fif anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone gbrings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering hwill save his soul from death and iwill cover a multitude of sins.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
