Our men’s Bible Study looked at the book of James this week. The most common comment was that it was a “hard book”. Through the discussion, it did not seem that too many people liked it and they will be happy to move on from it. Personally, James has always resonated with me and I have enjoyed it over the years. While it has caused some controversy in the past, I see it as a clarion call for all believers today to be different from the world in our actions.
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
(James 1:19-22)
The book of James in the New Testament is one that stirs up different emotions as one reads it. As a practical book, it talks about the actions that believers take and how important they are to their faith and salvation. One the one hand, it seems to directly contradict the message that is given in Paul’s letters: people are saved through faith not by works (Eph 2:8-9). This causes confusion and even doubt about the message of not only this book but about the Bible in general. On the other hand, it calls followers of Christ to a much higher standard than most American Christians want. It literally says that when someone read the Bible, they are to “do what is says.” It even goes so far as saying that if someone is not showing their faith by what they do, they may not be saved.
The famous Reformer, Martin Luther, struggled with James because of the important that the author puts on works. At the time of Luther, the Church had many practices that over emphasized works of the believer to ensure their salvation. This was troubling for Luther when he taught on the letters of Paul. Luther saw the clear message of the Gospel saturating all of Paul’s writings. Grace comes freely from God and it is through this grace and through their faith that believers receive salvation. Good deeds have no part of the work of salvation. So when Luther read James and it says, “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not be faith alone.”, it is understandable that he would react strongly[1].
The key to understanding both James and Paul is in acknowledging the differences in their audiences. For Paul, he was writing to groups of believers that included both Jews and Gentiles. He also was pushing back on the prevalent thought that even Gentile believers needed to follow the Jewish laws and customs in order to show a changed heart. To combat that idea, Paul was emphasizing the fact that salvation is a work of God only and that humans only receive it by faith and not by anything we do. He would go further and say that since believers are saved through grace and not under the law, there is no requirement to follow the Jewish law. He was pushing against a works-based religion and proved that works according to the law were not needed.
James, on the other hand, was written to believing Jews. They had just come out of this works-based religion and were free of the requirements that had been part of their lives since birth. For them, this newly found freedom through Christ’s sacrifice was attractive. They knew that they were saved apart from the law and so what they did had no effect on their eternal destiny. This freedom, evidently by the words of James, caused them to neglect the parts of the law that showed God’s character and were universal in nature and not tied to the practices of the Jewish religion. Because of this background, James highlights that believers need to live out their faith in their actions. To him, a person that believes the Gospel (sin is bad, Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of the world, believers then respond by following Jesus) will live differently than the rest of the world and will show God’s character in how they treat others. Believers, then have a high expectations for their lives like the Jews did but the reason is different. It is not leading to salvation but it is as a result of salvation.
Looking at our Christian culture today, I see more similarities with the culture James was addressing rather than Paul. There is always a danger of becoming legalistic that needs to be avoided. However, the world is not puling believers in a legalistic direction as they were with the Judaizers that Paul was confronting. Instead, there is constant temptation to slide into compromise and to not stand out as a Christian. One only needs to look at the string of Christian leaders whose actions show the lack of care in living differently for Christ. That is why being different for Christ is so critical today.
My father lived this out. His life was a testament to striving to apply one’s faith to one’s actions. He was not afraid to stand up for what was right and he suffered the consequences for the stances that he took multiple times. Seeing that example has inspired me to watch what I do. His often quoted this definition to me: “The fear of the Lord is the continual awareness that God is watching and weighing all of our thoughts, words, actions, and attitudes.” Because of his guidance and example, Biblical ethics has become a passion of mine as well and why James speaks to me so much. James is a harsh reality check that reminds us that God is telling believers that our lives are important and what we do does matter. It is almost like James read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians when he said “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”(I Corinthians 10:31) Today’s culture needs believers who are willing and able to show their faith in God through their actions.
[1] While Luther struggles with James, he never suggests that it should be ignored nor removed from scripture.
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