FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF JAMES
James was written to “exhort the early believers to Christian maturity and holiness of life” (Blue, J. Ronald. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Colorado Springs, CO, David C. Cook, 1983). As we read James, we find “54 commands” (Swindoll, Charles R. God’s Masterwork,Anaheim, CA, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc., 1998). As I mentioned before, I did not emphasize these 54 commands because I wanted to follow a different outline for this Book. Let me just say here that these 54 commands are what we call imperatives. An imperative is simply something of great importance. It is something which must be done. If we count what are called hypotheticals, that number increases to 60. If you want to do an interweb search, you can find all the references for the 54 commands. I’m not going to list them all here. By reading the Book verse by verse, you have, whether you realized it or not, heard all 54 commands.
So, is James giving us additional commandments? Of course not. In fact, I believe James means to encourage believers. Tradition tells us that James was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem. Hegesippus was a 2nd Century historian who tells us that James knelt so much in prayer while asking for forgiveness on behalf of the people, that James became known as “Camel Knees”. That is to say he developed calluses on his knees from kneeling so often. While we really have no way of confirming this, I believe it is probably a true account. I believe it to be true because the historian was close enough to the time of James that it’s not likely the tradition had enough time to develop from people just making up stories. That said, it is not in the Bible, and thus you have another “JO”- James Opinion. That is—my opinion.
But here’s what we can learn from Scripture. Remember that this James is the half-brother of Jesus, and he came to saving faith later according to 1 Corinthians 15:7 and Acts 1:14. I have often wondered what I would have thought if my brother started telling people he was the promised Messiah. I always get the sense that James was watching his older brother from a distance. As a Jewish boy, James would have been taught the Scriptures from an early age. One thing that most Jewish boys could do was read. There had to be times where he marveled at Jesus, and he had to have privately compared what he was seeing with the Scriptures. But… getting back on focus here… For such a short book, James touches on just about every aspect of Christian character and living: how we ought to talk, behave, serve, and who we are as followers of Christ.
The approach I took with the Book of James was a theme of testing.
1. Test of Faith
2. Test of Obedience
3. Test of True Religion
4. Test of Brotherly Love
5. Test of Good Works
6. Test of the Tongue
7. Test of Motivation
8. Test of Submission
9. Test of Trust
10. Test of Patience in Suffering
I would like to give you a quote from Dr. David Jeremiah-
The most deeply important question asked in Christian circles also divides many believers. It is simply, How are we saved? Is it faith alone? Or must we live in a way that glorifies God if we are to spend eternity with Him? That is an appropriate discussion when it comes to salvation. The NT clearly says that we are saved “by grace… through faith” and that “(salvation) is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). Yet the apostle Paul’s very next words are that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10). So we are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works.
