Letter of James Part 6

Introduction There is great spiritual risk for believers who imagine they are better than other Christians and so to judge them and put them in their place. James gives simple rules for avoiding that problem. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks

Letter of James Part 5

Introduction “Saving Faith” is God’s gracious gift that Jesus made possible through His incarnation and completed work of atonement. Saving faith is an instantaneous, miraculous one-time work in which God spiritually regenerates, gives saving faith, justifies (pardons from the penalty due sin), adopts the new believer into the family of God, and sends the Holy

Letter of James Part 4

Introduction In chapter 1, James discussed several practical themes including steadfastly enduring life’s trials and temptations (1:2-8), true riches and true poverty compared to worldly riches and poverty (1:9-11), the urgent need to be doers of the word and not hearers only (1:22-26), guarding the tongue (1:26), and investing in those who likely can never

Letter of James Part 3

Putting Off and Putting On Scripture repeatedly says believers should discern and choose the good and reject the bad in all areas of life. Distinguishing between right and wrong is vital to biblical wisdom. When we consider biblical principles, we should remember believers are to be devoted to and follow the example of the person

Letter of James Part 2

A brief overview of James James 1 James 1:2, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” The Greek word translated as “trials” is peirasmos. Trials is one of several possible meanings. In Scripture, the meaning is usually trials allowed by God to test and strengthen the integrity of faith.

Letter of James Part 1

Introduction The letter from James has not always been appreciated by leaders of the church. Martin Luther thought it was of little value. He said it was an epistle of straw because it didn’t seem consistent with Paul especially in considering faith without works to be dead, and it did not specifically mention Luther’s major