¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. ² Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:1-4

James describes himself to his readers as a servant of God and of Jesus Christ. James understands his life in reference to another. He knows he is not his own and that he cannot know himself, and others cannot know him without knowing the One he gives his life to in worship, service. He is known only in relationship to this God and Lord Jesus. This is the One with whom He wants to be identified.

He writes “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.” It seems likely that this letter was written before a.d. 50 to the Jewish Christians who were dispersed due to persecution. James writes this letter as a pastor to a scattered flock whom are enduring hardship. James desires to help them to know the purposes to which God in Christ has called them and how to deal with the various trials they encounter as they live as Christians in a broken, sinful world.

James addresses first the fact that they are in the midst of difficulties. “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials…” James assumes he is writing to people who are struggling in their lives. The word “various” in the Greek means whatever trials; it is meant to convey the sense of including all manner of trials, large and small. Because these are probably Jewish Christians whom have fled from their homes, they are likely dealing with all the trials that one has in a new land, amongst strangers. But James does not want to restrict his words to any particular situation. He is saying that they are to count all of their trials as joy. We are to account for all our struggles in the same manner. They may seem very different from one another. We may see someone else in a very difficult time and think that we have nothing in common with them. Or we may be facing the biggest trial of our lives and feel no one can understand what we are going through.

But James says that all trials can be understood to be the “testing of our faith”. The word “testing” here does not mean that God has us go through trials to examine our faith and see if it is of passing grade. Testing here is the word used for testing metals, where you test in order to remove impurities so that the metal is stronger, has more integrity. When we go through trials, we can exercise our trust in God, and in that way can find Him trustworthy. In turn, we are able to trust Him with more of our lives. It seems to me very apt that James calls trials a test of our faith. I see in my own life and in the lives of others that, in every struggle we face, we wonder: is God here? Does He care? Is He able and willing to work in this situation? Has He abandoned me? Can I trust Him to be my Father even with this?

And if we hand the trial, whatever it is, over to God (and we may hand it over again and again!) we find that yes, He is real and present and active in our lives. We can see more clearly who He is and what He is up to so that we trust Him to do that very thing that He desires to do in and through us. When we go through a trial but do not choose to trust, to count on God, He can become more distant and abstract to us. We have a more difficult time seeing what difference He really makes.

We know this to be true, not only in our relationship with God but in our relationships with others. Our relationships either grow stronger as we trust one another and find the object of our trust to be trustworthy or we grow apart through neglect or the relationship is damaged by active deceit. So James says to his sisters and brothers “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness…” When we test our faith, we decide to step out on God, to count on Him, to live as if He truly is our loving Heavenly Father who is for us and is ready to make us totally His own. The more we see Him work, the more we know we can count on Him. Our faith, our trust in Him, grows stronger and as we persevere, we become steadfast. We become less likely to swing into great doubt or despair. This is a wonderful truth. God can grow us up in our faith so that we are more steady, more ready to hand over a trial when it faces us, more able to live in His peace for we know He is working, and so we are less anxious.

Now James said that they are to count it joy when they face the trials that come because they can become steadfast as they have their faith tested. What does it mean to count it joy and why is having a steadfast faith a good thing? First, to count it joy is not to pretend you are having fun in the middle of a difficult time. The circumstance of the trial may be due to evil, wrong. The suffering caused in and of itself is not a source of joy. Joy has to do not with the trial itself, but in the use to which God intends to put it. He’s saying set your sights on what going through the trial will add up to (count) because God is in the business of making sure it adds up to our benefit and God’s glory. So joy is based on the God-given promise of what he intends to do with the trial.

And what is that greater end and purpose? He puts it in two ways. First, it brings about our perseverance. Now, I do not think in the context here that he means mere patience or endurance. We are not just given the ability to gut it through in a Stoic-like way, gritting our teeth and just taking it. No, that would be Stoicism not Christianity. Besides, there’s not much joy in gutting it out. But the ultimate end James indicates for our trials, shows even more strongly that he does not just have in mind a single moral virtue such as patience. The end result God has in mind is nothing less than our “completion” and “perfection,” “lacking nothing.” Now obviously, just one moral virtue does not add up to that. But what might?

Let’s go back. What is being tested, in the sense of being purified? It’s our faith. So if our faith is purified, what is the result? The purification or perfection of our faith. Now that makes more sense. If it is our faith in God which becomes a faith that endures, remains in tough times, has great staying power (and in that sense perseveres) would that lead to our completion and perfection and lacking nothing? Yes. Because in everything we would be turning to God for everything he has to give us. And if we receive from God, especially in the midst of trials, everything God has for us, we would share in all His perfections. We would find our completion in Him! The endurance of faith leads to our completion as persons in Christ. We grow to the place where we are able perfectly, moment by moment, to receive God’s love, joy, as peace.

To depart for a moment from this passage: remember from Hebrews, that even Jesus did not just gut it through His most desperate trial. “But for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross” Jesus is the author and “perfecter” of our faith. Jesus was no mere Stoic. His trust in the Father enabled Him to face the cross and count it all adding up to joy, in the salvation of His people. Jesus own faith led Him in perfect trust and obedience. That same pathway is the way for us too, with Him. For our Christ-likeness comes through following Jesus in the way He faced His own trials. In our perfection, we enter fully into the giving and receiving of the Triune life. And that is what God intends for us as we face whatever trials: great or small.

If this is God’s intention, then it is easier to see how we are to “count it all joy.” I hope this is a word of encouragement for you in the midst of whatever present trials you are facing!

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.

James 1:5

James is writing a pastoral letter to encourage those who are facing trials. He is really speaking to all of us because we are all facing various trials in this broken, sinful world. James wants them to see that all their trials, large and small, are testing their trust in the Triune God.

As we go through trials we are faced with the choice to live as if God is good, active, and present or to act as if He isn’t hearing us, caring about us, and able to bring good out of this struggle. James reminds his readers in the first paragraph of his letter that we can trust that our trials will add up to joy because as we count on God through them our confidence in Him is strengthened and God will bring us to completion through them. He will make us truly perfect, able perfectly to receive His life and love for us. We will be filled with His fullness, lacking in nothing.

When we are in the midst of some difficulty, it can be hard to see beyond the immediate circumstances. James encourages his readers to go through their trials looking at the endpoint, where all of one’s life is going. God is taking us to the point of being “perfect and complete”. Nothing less. This is what these present struggles will add up to as we count on Him to be at work in our lives.

In the end we will lack nothing. But now, in the midst of struggles we may be lacking something, namely, wisdom. Wisdom for what? Well, if we look at what precedes this verse, it would seem that James is talking about wisdom to get through the trials. I am sure you have at times, like I have, struggled to know how to pray or what to do in the midst of trying circumstances. It is not usually immediately apparent to me what decisions to make when I am “under fire”. Behind the struggle to know what to do is a lack of wisdom about God. In trials, as I talked about last time, we can easily forget who God is. We wonder if He is good, or interested in us. James assumes that we are likely to lack wisdom to get through our trials. So he encourages his readers to ask God and assures them that wisdom will be given them. God desires that we are wise, for wisdom enables us to walk through life in confidence that we are participating in His good work in our lives and in the lives of others. But where do we begin to find wisdom? James does not say to seek wisdom first about our particular trials. He wants us to start somewhere else.

James includes in this verse a short description of the God he is telling them to ask. He tells them about this God of whom he is a servant. God “gives to all men generously and without reproaching.” Now why does James include this here? Why doesn’t he just tell them to ask God and He will give it to them? He is reminding them of the character of God because this is the very thing about which they are lacking wisdom and they might be tempted not to bother asking God. If I am unsure that God cares for me in my circumstances, then I am less likely to ask help of the only one who can really provide it. James knows they are struggling with their faith and so he lovingly builds it up by reminding them of the truth of who God is.

First of all, God is a God who gives. God is a giving God. That is who He is, not something He occasionally does. Who is He? He is the One who gives. In the midst of trials, we are tempted to forget this. Maybe we worry that He is a God who mostly takes. We wonder, will God give anything to us now? Can He?

Secondly, God gives generously. We may believe He will give, but wonder how much. Is God a stingy God? Is it His nature to give begrudgingly? No, James says. He not only gives, but is generous. God delights in abundance. This section reminds me of the story of the shepherds in Luke. Really one angel would have been sufficient for the shepherds to get the good news of Jesus’ birth. But God sends a whole company to sing and praise, for a group of forgotten shepherds on a hillside. I am so glad James reminds me of this generous God, because it isn’t easy to see this about Him when I look at some of my trials. I need to be reminded again and again of His true character, seen most clearly in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Thirdly, God gives generously to all. When we are struggling, are we often tempted to believe, yes, sure God gives and is even generous–just not to me. I often notice what I think is evidence that God is giving more to someone around me than He is to me. Does He really see me, here, in this time of trial? Does He play favorites?

Lastly, God gives without reproach. This is wonderful to remember. I need not fear God’s reproach. Will me make He “pay” for His generosity? Will He upbraid me first for my lack of faith, or my puny obedience before He is gracious? Will he make me feel like I wished I had never asked or that this will be the last time I ask? I have to admit, I find this amazing because I see in my own heart that I often desire to reproach first before I will be giving. I want to make sure that my children really are sorry, that my husband knows how much he has hurt or disappointed me. God gives without reproach? Unbelievable! You have to be kidding!

This section reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. When the Father sees his wayward son, still a long way off, he runs to him and embraces him. He cuts his son off as he is in the middle of his little speech and orders the servants to honor his son. What amazes me is not just what the Father says, but what he doesn’t say. If I were the Father, I would have wanted to hear just how sorry my son was before I welcomed him back. I would be tempted to make him earn, so to speak, my mercy, by his groveling. James knows his readers might be tempted not to turn to God for wisdom in the midst of their trials because they fear His reproach. So he takes the time to remind them of the true heart of their heavenly Father.

God desires to help us to grow in our ability to count on Him as we walk through the difficulties that are inevitable in such a broken and lost world. We need His help even to have the faith to count it all joy. We do not have wisdom on our own. I am thankful for this letter that we are reminded that God is a giving, loving Father, ready to provide us with the wisdom we need to grow in our ability to receive from Him the life He has for us. I admit that asking for wisdom is not always the first thing I do in a trial. I may focus so much on the trial and wanting it removed from my life that I do not ask God to help me see how He is present and working. I am thankful though, that He is drawing me to ask for His help and ready without reproaching me to give it.

I hope this reminder of God’s character gives you hope again and a desire to ask for His wisdom as you go through the daily trials you face.

⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ^7,8 For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive
anything from the Lord.

James 1:6-8

This section really needs to be understood with the preceding verse, the one we studied last week. In that verse James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.” As we have seen, James is talking to his scattered flock and helping them to know how, as believing people, they are to go through
trials. James reminds them of what God is doing in us in the midst of the various difficulties with which we find ourselves dealing.

He knows that they may feel that they lack wisdom about God and about how to proceed through their trials with God, so he encourages them to ask God and reminds them of His character. He builds their faith and hope in God by helping them to see again that God is a giving God, One who gives generously to all and does not reproach. He knows how difficult it is for them to count on God when they are unsure about His character. By seeing Him clearly, our trust toward Him is drawn out of us.

Now James includes a warning to reinforce from the other side what he has just said. “But,” he says, “let him ask in faith, with no doubting…”

What does James mean here? Is he saying that we must somehow make ourselves have no shadow of doubt in our minds when we petition God? That God will only listen and respond to us if we have “perfect” faith?

No. This is definitely not what James is saying. He has already told them to ask God if they lack wisdom. He assumes they are struggling with how to go through trials, not that they “have it all together.” He says that these trials test their faith. It is in the midst of difficulty that we can become unsure, we lose sight of who God is and are tempted not to count on Him and live as if He is present and active. Telling them just to “have perfect faith” would not be helpful.

Let’s look more closely at this passage and see how James defines what he means by doubting. In v. 6, he describes the one who doubts as being “like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” So one who is doubting is like someone without any anchor, rather than one who has an anchor but is struggling to trust it still works. This person has no discernment and is influenced by everything around her/him. As James goes on to say at the end of the passage he is “unstable in all his ways…”

In vv. 7 & 8, James describes this kind of person as someone who is “double-minded”. Another way to say this is literally being “in two minds.” Such a person who asks God could be double minded about their request—they may say they really want God’s best, but have their hearts set on something far less. Perhaps they go back and forth in their requests. Or the double-minded person may also be double minded about whether or not they trust God in the midst of their trial. They may be equally counting on something else besides God to get them through this trial. So, he says, one should not suppose that “a double-minded man … will receive anything from the Lord.”

This is not so much because God won’t give. As James has just been telling his readers, God is a generous giver. The problem is with the one petitioning God. James is saying that when we ask God for wisdom and help but really are looking for help to come from elsewhere, then we cannot receive from God. We do not end up seeing what God is doing and do not receive wisdom from Him for the trial we are living through because we cannot. We are not really counting on Him when we are also counting on ourselves, therefore we have put ourselves in a position where we are unable to receive the generous gifts He desires to give. The problem is our receptivity at that point, not God’s generosity.

James is saying that when we are in a time of trial, whether large or small, to ask in faith is to hand everything over to God, even our doubts or misgivings. We turn wholly to Him, and even ask Him to help us turn wholly to Him because we know we need His Spirit to work in us. We say with the man in Mark 9:24 “I believe; help my unbelief!” I know a woman right now who is in a very deep trial and is struggling to trust God. Although she wants to trust Him, up to this point she really has wanted God to do what feels the most comfortable for her right now as she is. She has really mainly wanted her circumstances and others to change so that externally she’d have fewer problems in her life. But she now realizes that to move ahead with her own plan isn’t really to trust God at all and that if she refuses God’s work in her she will shut herself off at this point from seeing what God really could do in her life whether others cooperate or not!

James is speaking to people in trial. They may be looking around and saying that they do not see God working anywhere. They may be wondering if He is really caring and active at all. James reminds them that God can work through their trials for an ultimate good that is way beyond the present trials they face. He reminds them that God is the One they can turn to for wisdom and he goes over with them concerning the heart of this God they need to ask. Now he tells them that to ask God is to ask Him wholly, to turn over to Him all of their hopes, fears, and anxieties, and then to be able to better receive the wisdom this great God of theirs is ready to give them in the middle of their trials.

To do this we need to turn again to God and see who He is. That is why James first reminds them of who God truly is. He doesn’t just insist that they “not doubt”. He helps them gaze on the trustworthiness of God so that they are better able to see the uselessness of counting on anything else to take them through their trials.

I am glad to see again myself that God is the One I turn my questions over to–He can handle what I am struggling with so I do not need to begin hoping in myself to find a better solution!

⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

James 1:9-11

James knows that his readers are struggling in the midst of various trials. He is reaching out to them in this letter to help them turn to God and count on Him in their difficulties. James begins his letter by encouraging his readers to “Count it all joy … when you meet various trials…” James is not telling his readers to pretend that what they are going through is actually a joyful experience. I do not even believe he is saying that we cannot or should not be sad over our trials. To count it all joy is not an automatic, flippant response we are to have to our own or the trials of others. To come to a place where we can count it joy is a wrestling itself. We see this in the Apostle Paul as well as in Jesus’ life. Certainly, we will wrestle in prayer, maybe often, to choose to trust God’s character and presence in the midst of all that we face.

James knows it is a wrestling. He calls it “the testing of our faith.” We are choosing to trust God in a situation that does not automatically lead us to that response. The way James feeds his readers faith is that he first reminds them of the end point, the goal, as seen from God’s point of view. James tells them, and us, that our circumstances are not the final word. We do not see specifically what God will do, but we are reminded that when we let God work, when we count on Him and hand over all that we have, He will use these difficult or even dreadful circumstances to bring us to be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” So we are counting on this God to be the final word in the middle of the process. We look forward to it all “adding up” to this goal, aim, end.

James further feeds his readers’ faith by reminding them of the character of God. This is the God we are counting on. He is ready to enable us to be wise in our circumstances. Again, we will no doubt wrestle at times, and repeatedly to find rest in God. Gary was once asked if God didn’t intend us to enjoy life. Gary thought this over and replied that it is not so much that God will have us always enjoy life, but more that we will enjoy Him in the midst of life. This, however, never becomes automatic.

Every day we need to turn it over to Him again and find that “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning…”(Lam. 3:22 &23)

In our struggles with God, we need to turn over everything, even our struggles and doubts over to Him. If we are “in two minds” about God–if we are all the time still actually counting on ourselves, we make it impossible for ourselves, at that moment to receive anything from Him. It is very hard to receive His gift when our hands are still closed tightly around whatever else we are counting on to give us life. This is going to be a struggle

We would often much rather count on ourselves and our own abilities in the end to make it all right. So James has to remind them of the character of their Heavenly Father to help them (and us) see how trustworthy and good He is and how what we are holding onto will not take us through this trial in a way that we can count as joy.

In telling them of God’s character, James is telling them that God is not double-minded about us. We can give up our double-mindedness in the face of seeing that God is all one-way with us. He gives generously to all, not sometimes to some. James will go back to this idea later in his letter

Now James speaks of those who are poor and those who are rich. When we are in trials, it is tempting to look around at others and to compare our trials with theirs. We are tempted to believe that some people don’t have any trials, that their lives are so easy. This is especially true when dealing with rich and poor; which is why James talks about them. The poor look at those who are rich and believe that they are getting off easy. But James tells the lowly brother to “boast in his exaltation.” That is interesting. I wonder if the poor man thought he had nothing to boast in. What exaltation is James talking about? In the context, it would seem that he is referring back to being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Some day the one who lacks so much now will be brought up, exalted, to a place of completion and fullness. The lowly brother then looks forward to the future, he does not boast in the present, but in what God is going to do.

James spends the rest of this paragraph on the rich person. He says the rich brother should boast in his humiliation, because “like the flower of the grass he will pass away.” The rich appear to have no difficulties in this life. James is saying that actually they certainly do have trials as well.

The trials James is speaking of here are those related to riches. These are the trials of being tempted to trust in one’s wealth and believe that they are some kind of sign of one’s eternal place or status. James assures the readers that riches will fade away, they will be temporary. Riches actually do not help one to receive what God has to offer, in fact, they may very well be a barrier to it. And, this is what becomes more and more painfully clear in a rich person’s life.

So notice, James says it is actually the rich man himself that fades away. He himself is changed from pride in his possessions to humility in recognizing his own spiritual poverty before God. So, for the rich believer, his boasting is in the triumph of God over his delusion about his own true condition. He was fooled into believing that his material riches gave him a reason to think that he was spiritually self sufficient, spiritually rich. However, in the end, through his trials, it will become clear that God is the real and only life-giver, not riches.

We all have trials that God allows us to go through. We live in a very broken world and trials are inevitable. It will not help us to compare ourselves to others. It is tempting to believe that our trials are so much worse or really not that bad. Either way, we end up not focusing on our Father’s faithful and gracious presence and work in the midst of our real and current situations and therefore do not receive His peace and joy for our help today. James wants to help his readers not get distracted into comparing themselves with those around them.

I appreciate this word because I know that I struggle with comparisons. I can dwell on being envious of others that I think do not suffer as I do. I am tempted to grumble that God is focusing unwelcome attention on me. Or, I can see someone who is going through a horrible time and I fear that I may end up there or am mainly relieved that “at least I am not dealing with…” The good news that James wants us to grasp is that God can be God to all of us in the middle of whatever. There is no pit lower than God’s presence can reach. He does not allow us to go through anything that He cannot redeem and heal and use to bring us to a fullness in Him that is currently beyond our imagining. I don’t need to compare because in each trial, big or small, we all need to grow, by God’s grace, to trust Him 100%.

The dynamics are all the same for everyone. Is God good even here? Does He
hear me? Does He care? Can He redeem this? Does He give to all generously and
without reproach? And the answer to all these is the same in all our trials–YES!

¹² Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.

James 1:12-15

James is writing to people who are struggling. Although they are united now to Christ and learning to trust Him, their lives are full of difficulties. How then should they go through their trials as Christians? This is the question James seeks to answer for them, and for us as well.

In the preceding section, James deals with the rich and the poor. Our perception is that the rich, by definition, are immune from trials. James indicates, however, that riches will fade away, they offer no real healing or solution to our trials. We cannot look to wealth as the answer to the trials that we face, though we are tempted to.

Now James returns to the thought with which he began his letter. “Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.” This is parallel to vv.2-4 “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials…”

We certainly do not feel blessed in the midst of trials. In fact, we may wonder if we are cursed. We may wonder in the midst of a trial if it is ever going to end, if there is any real hope that it is going to turn out okay. In v. 12, as earlier, James reminds his readers that there is an end to this time that will be far more glorious than we can imagine in our present circumstances. To endure, like counting it joy, is not something that we do by sheer will power. To endure is to continue to turn to God as our only source of life. It is to count on Him to give us His presence and His peace in the midst of whatever we are facing. And it is to live as if He is working His transforming and redeeming will through this current suffering. It is to wait on Him to give us wisdom and light when all we seem to have to offer Him is our darkness.

Yes, James assures his readers–there is an endpoint. We endure not for the sake of the current chaos, but for the promised resolution. God will bring good out of this, and we count on Him to do this. We await the crown of life which is the same as being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”(v.4)

Sometimes when we are in a trial, we are ambiguous about God. In fact when James speaks of being “double-minded” in vv. 7-8, he could mean our being in two minds about the character of God. We may be tempted to say that since God got me into this mess, it is His fault if I sin. In fact He is tempting me to do evil by leaving me in this difficult circumstance. We are tempted to think that God is double-minded about us! God both promises to help us and tempts us in our difficulties.

James deals with our temptation to see two sides to God here in this passage. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one…”(v.13) When we are in a trial, we are tempted to doubt God’s word and to take matters into our hands. We are tempted to find our meaning, purpose, identity and life elsewhere than in our heavenly Father. But, James assures us, God is never the one tempting us. His purpose in allowing us to walk through the trials of living in the broken world is never to tempt us to not trust Him. Rather, He plans, in spite of it, to enable us to more and more receive the transforming grace He is pouring on us, to make us truly His children.

James leads his readers to see that to say that it is God tempting them in their trials is to misunderstand or misrepresent the very nature and character of God. God is not the tempter just because He chooses at certain times not to be. No. God has no relationship with evil at all. God is never tempted with evil Himself. There is not a “dark side” to God. And “he himself tempts no one.” We can be assured that God is consistent, He is not “double-minded” about us. Whatever we are going through and whatever temptations we face, it is wonderful to remember that God is never the one tempting us to see if we will step away from Him. He always and only intends our ultimate good.

So then where does the temptation come from? Who is to blame? James goes on to say that it is our own desire. We are “lured and enticed” by our own desires–our desire to be secure, or free of pain, or well-liked, etc. These desires can lure us to be tempted to find a “quicker” or “more efficient” way to meet those needs and wants that does not come from God or lead to God’s best for us. My desire to be well-liked can tempt me to be deceiving. My desire for security can tempt me to ill-advised moves financially. God of course, wants to meet our desires in the deepest ways, but we are tempted to look elsewhere when we don’t want to wait for God’s best and right solution.

But merely going ahead and acting on a particular temptation presented by our desire is not the end of the story. James wants to show his readers that just as trusting God with our trials leads to perfection, so our succumbing to temptation has an endpoint as well: “desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.”

James is warning his readers not to be deceived. Going ahead and succumbing to a temptation now has consequences that go on and that we cannot control. It is interesting that James uses the picture of birth and growth here. There is a development to whatever we do. There are ongoing effects. We do not just live a series of isolated incidents. Our actions have consequences. And the direction that our temptation will take us is eventually death. Now that’s something to ponder. It’s so easy to take lightly our little sins. We fail to see where they will lead us.

James wants to emphatically point out that no one and no other way can give us our identity or our lives. Only God can. The other options out there are not just other forms of slightly lesser lives—no, they all lead to death, non-life.

I have certainly seen the wisdom of James’s words in my own life many times. When I have not taken the time to wait on God and be reminded of His character so that I can respond in faith, the end results are never good and often horrible.

As in previous passages, James points us to the truth of God’s good and gracious character. He is enabling us to focus again on Him so that we can hand our present circumstances back to Him. He is never toying with us when we are struggling. It is great to remember that God has only one mind about us–He is, as Paul says, totally and completely with his whole Triune being “for us.” (Ro. 8:31)

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brethren. Let every man [one] be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, ²⁰ for the anger of man [someone] does not work the righteousness of God. ²¹ Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:19-21

In the preceding passage James encourages his readers not to be deceived as they go through trials. They are to remember that all good gifts come from their heavenly Father who can be counted on to be true to Himself. There is “no variation or shadow due to change” in God. As we wrestle with the various temptations and difficulties in our lives, we can trust in the character of our good and giving Father to enable us to grow more and more able to receive and be complete in His love for us.

Now James tells his readers that to “count it all joy”(1:2) when they face their various trials they must be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” Let’s look at these in reverse order. James says that in trials we are to be slow to anger. Certainly it is in the pressure of difficulty that we are most tempted to be angry. And I have noticed that it is when I am in the midst of a trial that I am tempted to believe I have a “right” to be angry. I may speak and act out of this anger and rationalize to myself that it is okay because of the difficult circumstances I am currently in. I allow the heat of my anger to spur me forward and it is only later when I have cooled down that I see the damage my thoughtless words and deeds have wrought.

The reason for being slow to anger is given in the following verse: “for the anger of man [human beings] does not work the righteousness of God.” He is saying that God is the One who is truly “up to” righteousness–setting all things right, such as our relationships with Him and each other. At the beginning of the letter, James tells us that God’s intention for us is that we become “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”. This is what God’s righteousness means. God chose to create us to be able to have a perfect love relationship with Him and this is what He is working to bring about. And amazingly even his anger has no other aim or end in view! All God’s actions and reactions push towards the same good end for us.

However we can never count on our anger to perfectly contribute to this process. Why not? Well, I think the answer in most situations is obvious. My anger tempts me to think and so act only for myself and my immediate situation. For the most part, I do not act out of a trust in my heavenly Father when I am angry and so, at least in part, it seems to always involve negative, sinful consequences, ones that lead people away from God and a true picture of God and his ultimate purposes.

But, are there times when our anger is in some sense “righteous”–when we see injustice or sin and we are angry about it? Yes, in fact we may find we are growing more angry at the sin around us. But when we go and act out of our anger, let the anger itself–especially in the moment–move and motivate us to respond, we cannot count on it to work the righteousness of God because, especially in a cloud of anger, we cannot see and know all that God is doing in each situation and so contribute to what God is doing even about things that do indeed anger God. God actions, even those which express His anger, are always perfectly aimed at bringing about righteousness and stopping unrighteousness because it is perfectly coordinated with God’s love and wisdom. But when our actions are based on our anger they will be out of synch with God’s action even if God is righteously angry about the same things that are making us angry. For ours will not be moved and informed by the perfect righteousness and wisdom and goodness of God.

This doesn’t mean we should never be angry or that anger in and of itself is bad. James is not saying do not be angry, but be slow to anger. Acting in anger should not be our first response. If we do become angry then we need to choose to be “quick to hear, slow to speak” and this then will enable us to be slow to respond and act even if we are somehow provoked to anger. We are to work through our anger in “slow motion,” as it were, and let it be seasoned and purified by trust in God and God’s wisdom, patience and long-suffering.

We are to be slow to speak. The only way I can see doing this is to be occupied with something else that enables us to wait before we say anything. That is where the phrase “quick to hear” comes in. The reason we are slow to speak is that we are busy listening. But listening to what? There are plenty of voices to listen to as we journey through life. Is James just suggesting how to be a good conversationalist? No. He is telling his readers that what will help them go through trials is counting on God, in trust, rather than trusting in themselves of something or someone around them. This trust is what should inform and motivate any action subsequent to our anger.

We are to be quick to hear the word of truth that James spoke of in the preceding verse. We are to be quick to hear all the wonderful news of the triune God–all the things James has been talking about already. Be quick to hear that God is a generous Giver, who gives to all generously and without reproach (v.5), who gives the crown of life (v.12), who gives all the good and perfect gifts and has no variation or shadow in Him due to change (v. 7). Turn to hear that God made you of His own will to be the crown of His creation (v. 18).

Hearing, remembering, trusting in our heavenly Father is what will enable us to know what to say or how to act. When we are struggling we want answers, or maybe even more we want the struggles to go away. We get frustrated, angry and sometimes desperate for a way to get back in control of the situation. But listening to and remembering the word of God before we react is the only faithful way forward.

Yesterday I was at the hospital with a friend from my Bible study. Her husband is in critical condition because of falling when he was drunk over the weekend. He is an alcoholic. Her son, meanwhile, was recently in a tubing accident. His arm was caught in the tow-rope rope as he fell off the tube. and was dragged through the water. He will be having skin graft surgery next week. Plus this friend had sold her house last week and so needs to move out in a month. I thought of this passage as we went to the hospital to see and pray with her. I wanted so much to have something to say that would make it all right or make it all make sense. I wanted to offer her the perfect plan that would guarantee that the suffering would stop and never return. I was struggling with feeling useless.

As we sat down to pray together, I asked God to give me something to say. And what He gave me was reminders of who He is. We thanked Him that He is the REDEEMER, and that all He does is to bring about true righteousness, peace, and joy. We praised Him that He is infinitely good and generous–not necessarily because we saw this in her circumstances, but because we saw that in Him, and in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We see God can bring life out of hopeless circumstances because we see Him bring life out of death in His Son. As we listened again to who God is, we were all able to let go of the need to be in control. We felt that we could trust Him again and that we didn’t need to know how this would all work out. God gave me again the freedom and joy to walk with my friend in Christ and that this was indeed enough.

Of course, she and I and others involved will continually need to be quick to hear. This is a continuous, even daily, action that isn’t taken care of by one “mountaintop” moment. Over and over we need to look deeply into the heart of God so that we can again rest there. James is loving his flock by reminding them of these truths so their trust in God can grow. It is only after we again know and trust in the goodness of God that we can make plans or interact with one another.

When we are talking to another then, we should listen to them and also to God at the same time. Then we can hear the truth from Him and about Him in the midst of whatever truth or falsehood we are hearing from another. And we can hear from Him what we are to say next to the one with whom we are interacting based on the truth of what we know of the God revealed in Jesus Christ. That’s what we are to do in a positive direction. But there is a negative action as well.

“Therefore”, James goes on to say,” put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” There are 2 actions in this sentence, “put away” and “receive”. Both are active words, they happen only by the active choosing of the person. “Filthiness and rank growth of wickedness” are anything that we are tempted to hold on to instead of trust in the triune God. Notice the word “growth” here. It takes us back up to v. 15, where James talks about the development of sin towards death.

We have all noticed, I am sure, how easy it is to have a resentment or a misperception grow until our perception of a situation is very distorted and we have added fresh pain to the trial by words or actions that have come out of that resentment or misperception. We are to put all of that away and to receive God’s word. Then out of that will come things that bear witness to who God is and what God intends and perhaps even to what God is doing in each situation. It will show forth God’s righteousness.

Notice that we are receiving “the implanted word”. This word has already been planted in us, we are “pregnant” with it so to speak. But we are to receive it, make room for it, welcome it in our lives. We do not have to plant this word in us. That is God’s work. But we do need to receive it–which means, live as if it is true. We are to live now out of trust in God, as His children. God has already grabbed hold of us. Now we grab a hold of Him. We affirm the truth that we are His beloved children, created because He wanted us, and that He is the giver of all good and perfect gifts, who gives generously and without reproach. To receive this implanted word is to be quick to hear the great good news of our Heavenly Father. This word, James says, “is able to save your souls.” This living word of God is able to make us healed and whole, perfect and complete. What a wonderful, amazing truth! And our trials do not thwart God’s work. As we hand over each question and struggle, we can be confident that God is bringing about His righteousness.

Sometimes it seems when I am struggling or attempting to help another person who is experiencing trials I wonder how hearing or speaking again of our gracious heavenly Father will help. But it always does because Jesus Himself, the Living Word, is the One implanted in us and by His Spirit our little words become living words in our hearts to refresh us and enable us more fully to find our true home in Him.

²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.

James 1:22-25

James is writing to people who are facing a variety of trials. Through these trials, their trust in God is being tested, stretched. James wants to help his readers to go through these difficult times in such a way that their relationship with God deepens and grows. James has spent a lot of his time so far reminding his readers of the character of God. He knows that in the midst of struggles our view of God can quickly become cloudy. We wonder if God is still present with us and if He is totally good. We wonder how much He really cares for us, what our purpose is here on earth, even who we are.

James reminds them of the unchanging, generous, and completely good character of God. He reminds them that God created them because He desired to and that He did so in order that they (and we) could be “a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”(1:18) This is all true and stays true no matter what our circumstances.

In the paragraph preceding the one we are studying here, James encourages his readers to be quick to hear these words of truth. Listening and receiving again and again the truth of God’s amazing love and grace for us will help us to be more deliberate and faithful in our words and with our anger.

Now James wants to expand on what true hearing is. Hearing involves action that is an appropriate response to what you just heard. If I am really hearing a warning of an oncoming car, then I would respond appropriately by getting out of the way. I make the adjustments in my life that fit with the truth I have been given. We often wonder if our children or others in our care are truly hearing us when we see no outward response.

James tells his readers that when they hear, but do not integrate what they hear into their lives that they are deceiving themselves. He compares these people to those who look into a mirror and then forget what they see. How does this become deceiving? A mirror gives me a fair assessment of what is my physical appearance. But as soon as I walk away from the mirror, I no longer have the image in front of me. I can’t “hold on to it” so to speak. If I never go back and look in the mirror, I cannot be sure of what I look like. I begin to forget. And if I choose to dismiss immediately what I saw (I am not really that fat, thin, bushy-haired, etc.) then I forget even more quickly the truth the mirror revealed to me.

If I do not act on the truth I hear of my good heavenly Father, then I am deceived because the truth I heard does not stay before me, and I soon forget it and so forget myself. We are tempted when we are in trouble to believe that just hearing the truth, or “knowing” the truth is enough. We listen, hoping that our listening itself with solve our problems. Isn’t it enough to know that complaining and grumbling are harmful to my peace in Christ? Do I really have to stop doing these things? Isn’t it enough to hear God made me out of His own free choice and love and that He is good and generous? No. James says that when we do this we are deceiving ourselves, lying to ourselves. We believe that we are living in the truth when in fact we are not. We are not enjoying any of the benefits of trusting in God because we are not in fact trusting Him. We are like someone who goes to a specialist for a health disorder, listens to his or her recommendations, but then do none of them. But we are deceived because we want to believe that somehow just going and hearing what the doctor had to say was enough.

But then after several weeks with no change in our health, we may start to wonder why we are not feeling better. In my early 20s I went through a period in my Christian life where I wondered why God seemed so distant or even absent in my life. I spent time with a Christian counselor who took seriously many commands in the New Testament that up until then didn’t seem that important. One of them was about grumbling and complaining. She actually believed I was to attempt to obey that command! Over the time I met with her, she helped me take some difficult steps to change what I thought and said. And what I discovered is that God became much more present to me in my everyday life. Not that there are not still times when I can’t see what He is doing and that I trust Him only by choice and not by much else. But overall as I took God more seriously in all areas of my life, I began to see the truth of His love and care for me in new ways.

To act on the truth we hear is to live as if God is truly our gracious heavenly Father and that He alone gives us our worth, our identity. But this is to allow very deep habits of mind, words, and actions to be transformed. The way we relate to ourselves and others, how we spend our time and money, our general outlook on life all need to come under the light of God’s gracious work. The reason we are to turn from grumbling for instance is because when we are complaining we do not trust that God is good, present, and active. We are attempting to live in two minds–to say we trust God but act as if we do not. Jesus often encouraged people to not be afraid, but to trust Him. He knew that when they acted out of their fear, they were unable to act out of trust in His goodness.

To act on what we hear though, is not simply to try harder not to, say, not complain or be anxious. James is not encouraging his readers to simply try harder to live right. He is encouraging them to do whatever they need to do in order to feed their faith in their heavenly Father. So we turn our anxiety over to Jesus Himself and our desire to grumble. We hand over each day, relationship, thought, and question to God moment by moment, thus allowing our faith in Him to become a living thing.

James says this is looking into “the perfect law of liberty.” Trusting in, resting in our Father is true freedom. This is where we become who we are meant to be. Only by placing our hand in the Father’s who has grabbed hold of us will we come to know ourselves. We look into this perfect law when we see that we are indeed children of our heavenly Father and not gods ourselves. It is when we stop trying to trust in our money, looks, family or friends, jobs, etc., to give us life and tell us who we are. And of course, this involves actively pursuing being reminded of the great news of our Triune God.

James says this will involve persevering. It is a continual choice we make to trust in God. It is a truly ongoing relationship. James has already spoken of persevering when he spoke of steadfast faith(v.4) and endurance(v.12). Clearly then James sees this as key to getting through the trials we face. We need to keep on choosing to know the truth about God and to trust in His character and work in our lives. James reminds them of who God is, not because they haven’t heard it before, but because part of acting on what we hear is to hear it again and again. We so easily forget the truth about ourselves and our lives. We need to keep going back to the mirror of God’s Word.

Again James reminds them of the results of continually choosing to hand our lives over to God. The one who perseveres in looking into the perfect law will be “blessed in his doing.” God will bless us in the midst of our acting in faith. He will meet us richly as we choose to live as if He is who He reveals Himself to be. The truth will become more manifest in our lives, we will enjoy the true freedom He is calling us to, we will know and enjoy His great love for us more and more. It is our hope in these things that can enable us again today, to count on Him to be our true Father.

²⁶ If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is vain. ²⁷ Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:26-27

How do we deal with the trials that come to us in life? Do we view ourselves as victims and speak and act out of self-pity? Do we compare ourselves to others either to beat ourselves up or justify ourselves? Trials challenge our deepest habits of mind, our deepest beliefs about who we are and what a good life is. I took a class on Ministry to the Dying and Bereaved at Fuller Seminary and I remember the professor saying that many people think that a serious illness or a death in the family bring the family closer together. But he said this is usually a mistaken hope. What usually occurs is the deeper dysfunctions of the family surface at that time.

We hold certain beliefs about God’s character and activity and our worth and identity but the faith we really operate on is made clear in the times of stress. This is why James speaks of trials as testing our faith. When we face difficult circumstances, we have the opportunity to “test” the depth and security of our faith. We can more fully live by the truth, see more clearly how true and wonderful God really is. And we can see the deeper doubts, anxieties, and idols that need to be handed over to our heavenly Father.

James speaks in the previous passage and in this one about how easy it is to deceive ourselves. We are deceived about the truth of God and ourselves when we say we trust in the goodness and graciousness of God but don’t actually live by that trust. We are deceived–which means we are the ones who are the losers when we don’t act on what we believe. We are not able to receive the comfort and peace of His presence and activity when we live as if He is not really present and active in our lives.

In this passage, James warns his readers against deceiving their hearts. We deceive our hearts, according to James, when we believe we are “religious” but we won’t bridle our tongues. He says that the person who does this has a religion that is vain, or useless. Again, we are the losers. Our religion becomes useless, we enjoy no comfort or empowering from our trust in God.

What might James mean by bridling one’s tongue? Why is this so important that to not do so is to deceive one’s very heart? First, to bridle one’s tongue is to discipline yourself to be careful what you say. You do not allow whatever comes to mind to come out of your mouth. You have put a watch over yourself so that nothing escapes your lips unexamined. You have a restraint on yourself.

When we are under trials, we sometimes feel our situation is an exception or a special circumstance which allows us to be less restrained in what we say. After all, we think to ourselves, this is a very hard time and so being more lax is perfectly understandable, if not justifiable. We may be tempted to indulge ourselves a bit in self-pity or in some manipulating of our situation to make things better for ourselves. What might we be tempted to say that shows we are not bridling our tongue? I think we can get a hint of this by looking at verse 27. James says there are two things that show a “religion that is pure and undefiled before God.” The first is to visit “orphans and widows in their affliction” and the second is “to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Orphans and widows were the powerless of their society. They had lost all connection to those who were responsible to take care of them. They have no status, no influence. James tells his readers that they should visit these people in the midst of their affliction–in their very place of pain. They are not to wait until these children and women are in a better, more respectable place. They are not to wait until the orphans and widows are in a position to give them something back. To visit them in their affliction offers no advantage to the one doing the visiting. This is true religion. When we trust God to be our only and real source of life, peace, rest, and worth, then we can enjoy the wonderful freedom of serving others with no need for a direct return from them. That is why it is true religion. It reflects the very heart of our extravagant God who so lavishly loves us, who are unable to give Him any advantage for His gracious love to us. Here we can see deeper into His great heart and can truly receive His overpowering love because we are not distracted by looking for a way to put ourselves into advantageous positions.

The second part of true religion is to “keep oneself unstained from the world.” This goes back to James’ comments about the one who is double-minded. When we seek to receive and know God’s presence and love, we need to turn from looking to the world for honor or life. We come to see more and more the truth that the world cannot tell us who we are and what is true life, so we stop seeking for it to do so. Of course this is a process–part of the testing of our faith to make it steadfast (vv. 3-4)

James contrasts true religion with religion that is vain. So it would seem that when he speaks of bridling one’s tongue, he is encouraging his readers to restrain themselves from using their tongues to bring about their own advantage or to get others in the world to give them recognition, status, power, or worth. When we use our tongues for these things, we deceive ourselves because we are using them to gain what can only be gotten from God.

When exercising true religion we no longer regard ourselves as hapless victims nor tragic heroes. Rather we are choosing to live as if we are the beloved sons and daughters of our gracious heavenly Father who is with us in the most intimate way whatever our circumstances. He is transforming us to be in every way His mature children, able more and more fully to live in the love with which He loves us completely.

¹ My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ² For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while you say to the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” ⁴ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court? ⁷ Is it not they who blaspheme the honorable name which was invoked over you?

James 2:1-7

When we are in the midst of trials we often feel tempted to believe we are powerless and without hope. We do not want to stay where we are, in the midst of the difficulty. We want to find a way out if we can, and we want to associate ourselves with those that we think can help. We look for people whom we think have some
glory, some prestige that will rub off when we are with them. Or maybe we are hoping that they will share some of their prestige with us and that we will be lifted out of our difficulties because of our association with them. Our lives, in the middle of these trials seem without glory, without anything good in them.

It is tempting to deal with difficult circumstances by comparing ourselves with others and by using the world’s standards to decide who is worth giving honor to and who is not. I might even feel some shame associated with my struggles in life. I may look at someone who seems to have it all together and to be blessed and wonder what is wrong with me. What did I do to deserve this? Am I not as good as these people who are so well off in their lives? Why does my life have to be so hard?

Or I may look at those who don’t have much in the world and are obviously struggling and think, well at least I am not as bad as them? What is their problem? Why did they allow themselves to get into such a mess?

It is interesting how easy it is to judge others and size up their worth compared to us. We are tempted to do it all the time and when life is hard, the temptation is even stronger. James is warning his readers against doing just this. You could almost title this section, “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.” The people in this congregation are honoring the rich who come to their worship services. The rich have power and authority in our world. In Biblical times people often thought that riches was a special sign of God’s blessings. James’ readers hope in their preferential treatment of these rich people that they will receive some blessing as well. It seems that they believe these people have to some important degree the ability to tell them who they are and to provide them with real life.

But James reminds them of the sad truth about these very people they are so eager to please. They are the ones who, in general, oppress them, drag them into court, and even “blaspheme the honorable name which was invoked over (them).” These are not people primarily interested in what is best for those James is writing to. They are not attempting to reflect to others the good truth about our heavenly Father and our real identities as His beloved children. In fact they view others in terms only of what benefits themselves. They are unable to see the truth about others because they do not know the truth about God and themselves. Why, James is asking his readers, are you seeking to honor these rich and so receive some glory or blessing from them for yourselves?

There are some among you, James tells them, that can bless you, can remind you of the wonderful reality that we know only by faith. These are the poor among you! Unfortunately, they have not yet seen the richness of these people. They are missing the blessings these people have to offer because they see them only as the world sees them. They are assuming because the poor have no earthy prestige, power, or authority, that they have nothing helpful to offer. Notice the irony: James’ congregation is treating the poor in a similar way to how the rich treat them, with contempt.

How did it happen that in this congregation people were seeking for blessing from those least interested in blessing them and missing the blessing that others could give them because they didn’t see any good in them? Because they forgot in their troubles that Jesus is “the Lord of glory.” We struggle and so we wonder, where is the glory in this? What blessing can be had here? And then we look around us at those who seem to be blessed compared to us, who seem to “have it all together” or just have it better than we do and we are tempted to look to them to tell us who we are, to give us a share in the more glorious life they seem to have.

But Jesus is the one and only “Lord of glory.” Why does James give Jesus this title here, in this passage? Because his readers need to be brought back to the right place to look for help in their times of trouble. Jesus is the one who is truly glorious, honorable, all-powerful and prestigious. And He is intimately interested in sharing His glory with us. He is making us His very own sisters and brothers. He is the God who “gives to all generously and without reproach,”(1:5) and He is the One who gives “every good endowment and every perfect gift.”(1:17)

Before Jesus, we are all the same. We at best share in and reflect His glory. There is no need for distinctions when we see He is our one true source of glorious life. We can stop running after others for affirmation, stop honoring only those we think might be able to benefit us, and be open to receive blessings from God from the surprising places He desires to give them. What a freedom and a joy when we truly allow God to tell us who we are, when we allow Him to show us His presence and work in our lives right now. We often miss out on receiving fully and enjoying what He is doing in our lives, how He is sharing His glory with us, because we are looking for it–in all the wrong places, that is, any place outside of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” said also, “Do not kill.” If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:8-13

As you already know, James is writing to a people in exile. They have been forced to leave their homes and settle among strangers. As followers of Jesus, they do not find their lives to be easy and void of struggles. Instead, they find themselves facing a variety of trials and these tempt them to doubt God’s faithfulness
and ability to continue to bless them. James writes them this letter to remind them of who God is and how He can enable them to rejoice when they encounter these trials because they test their trust in Him. And a trust that has been tested or purified leads in the end to one being “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.(1:2-4)”

In the passage just previous to the one we are looking at today, James encourages his readers not to treat the rich that come to their church better than the poor. It is tempting when we are going through trials to treat others differently. Maybe we envy those who are wealthy and don’t seem to be having any trials at all. Or, perhaps we think they may have some power to alleviate our pain so we give them better treatment. Maybe we hope to have a share in the “glory” we think they possess. Whatever the reason, James reminds them that there is only one source or Lord of glory, and that is Jesus Christ, Himself. He shows them how silly they are to honor the rich when they are the very ones who oppress them! Why should they look for glory or help from these people?

James continues this theme about not showing partiality in this section. He begins by summarizing what he was saying in the previous section with this statement: “If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well.” James calls this the “royal law.” It is not clear why he calls it that. Possibly he is referring to it as the “kingly law,” the law belonging to the king, Jesus, or to the kingdom of God. This is the second half of what Jesus quotes when asked what is the greatest commandment. The first half is “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’”(Mk 12:29-30)

James encourages them to “fulfill” this law. In other words, don’t just love some of your neighbors as yourself. Many in the church had been choosing only the rich neighbors to love well. Maybe they were tempted to believe that a partial observance of the law was enough to satisfy the law. James will not let them continue in this thinking. “But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” We are to love our neighbors as we ourselves are loved by God. They are also objects of His love. But, we may ask, isn’t the fact that some are rich and some are poor one way we see that God is showing partiality, and so we can as well? Certainly if we look around, our lives do not seem to be equally balanced with those around us. We are tempted to believe that it is right to show partiality because our circumstances, and our gifts, and talents are not the same as those around us.

But James dismisses this idea completely. To show partiality is to commit sin, it is as simple as that. James told his readers in v. 5 that God is One who “gives to all men generously and without reproach.” God does not show partiality. Since this is not obvious from people’s circumstances, then we cannot look at their circumstances to tell us who God is and what He is like. James reminds them of this truth about God to feed their faith in the midst of trials, so that they count on God to be who He has revealed Himself to be, rather than on our own plans and maneuverings.

The root of sin is not trusting in or counting on God to give us His life and presence, and to make us more able to receive that life. We turn and trust ourselves or others, the creature rather than the Creator. When we show partiality, we are not trusting at that moment that God is a generous giver, giving to all and without reproach. We fear He may not come through or we simply don’t want what He is offering if it means having to go through these trials. The cure for this is not to just try harder to be impartial and to trust God. We need to gaze again and again and more deeply on God’s heart, purposes, and work, and to have the wonder and trust drawn out of us. And as we see His steadfastness, goodness, and utter commitment to us and our perfection, we can also see more clearly the utter foolishness of counting on ourselves or others around us–like the rich “who oppress you.”(2:6)

The reason that showing partiality makes you a transgressor of the law, James goes on to say, is because that to break the law in any part, is to be “guilty of all of it.”(2:10) He uses the examples of committing adultery and killing to make his point that they cannot show partiality toward the law as well. They are not to believe that obeying the law is a matter of picking and choosing which to follow and which to ignore. Why is this? Because “he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ said also, ‘Do not kill.’” They were behaving as if they had a relationship with the law rather than with the lawgiver. They were not seeing that the God who is the generous giver and able to bring them to completion in Him is the One behind these laws. To transgress on any of these laws is really to transgress the one Lawgiver and the disobedience of any one of the laws comes from the same source–not counting on God (the one Lawgiver) for their lives and identities. They fail to see the goodness of God and so the goodness of each and every one of his laws given to us for our benefit, our blessing.

This next sentence is very interesting to me. “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.” In the end, he sums up these laws as “the law of liberty.” Wow! How often do we hear law and liberty put together like that? Isn’t law, by definition, the hampering of our liberty? Not according to James! God’s law is our liberty, our freedom to become “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”(1:4) To count on Him for our life, to grow to know Him as the God who gives generously in the midst of whatever difficult and painful trials we go through in this fallen and twisted world, to trust Him to heal us of all our sin and the results of others’ sinning against us–this is to live under the law of liberty. James encourages his readers to speak and act out of this trust in the triune God alone for the whole of our lives. We are to obey his law out of trust that since it comes from the Lord it is for our true liberty.

To count on God is to receive His mercy, to count on His grace to heal us and destroy the sin that entangles us. James concludes this section by stating, “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy; yet mercy triumphs over judgment.”(2:13) You cannot show mercy without first receiving mercy from God. If you receive God’s mercy you will certainly want all others to receive the same–showing no partiality! The one who lives refusing God’s mercy will be the one who judges others without mercy. That is, he will judge with the intent of having his judgment be the final word which brings nothing but final condemnation with no hope of redemption. When we judge others without mercy, we are at that moment not receiving, not living on the great mercy of God whose judgment is meant to bring us to repentance and redemption. Here James speaks too, of God’s judgment upon “one who has shown no mercy.” That one will experience judgment from God without mercy as well. Why? If we refuse to show mercy in one’s judgment of another, then that person has no grasp at all of his or her own dependence on God’s mercy and really has placed themselves in a position of refusing God’s mercy as well. You cannot receive God’s mercy and not want to extend it to others. Their need is the same as yours.

But James does not end there. In the end, he says, it is not judgment that will triumph, but “mercy triumphs over judgment.” It is God’s mercy that will be triumphant. Even our false judgments cannot stop the fact that in God’s judgment the greater end is mercy. God’s judgment serves his mercy. We can hand over to Him all of our petty judgments and condemnations of others or ourselves because we have counted on and been ultimately betrayed by them rather than trusted in God alone. He is and will continue to be the God who gives to all generously, without reproaching. When we find ourselves treating others with partiality we can turn back to the only one who can give each and every one of us true liberty! A liberty to receive every good thing (especially His mercy) from God and to pass it on to each and every one who crosses our path.