James 5:1-6 English Standard Version (ESV)
Warning to the Rich
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

James has just finished talking about boasting and trusting in oneself instead of God.  One of the main places this comes about is when those who are wealthy put their trust in their riches and stop thinking they need to rely on God to meet their needs.  They stop seeing their riches as a blessing from God and instead look at it as something they have earned, but no amount of money will save the rich from the judgement of the Lord and no man can take his riches with him, and even if we could they would not impress God.  All of our material possessions will corrode or rot--it is the nature of this fallen world.
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Remember Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about not laying up treasures for ourselves here on earth, but to lay up treasures in heaven because where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.  The people who are boasting in the previous chapters who are self-reliant are the ones who focus on acquiring wealth, but then have much to worry about and their heart is usually not at peace.  God sees not only the pride of these men but the way in which they took advantage of other people for financial gain--denying people their just wages while indulging themselves and some have even killed to get ahead in business.  God sees all these things and will get justice for those who are innocent.

Let me wrap up by saying that money and even wealth themselves are not evil, and there are some very godly people who God has entrusted with great riches because He knows they will use them to bless others, but it is very difficult for a rich man to feel like he needs God.  Don't assume all people with money are evil, but understand that they may have a harder time accepting the gospel.

​James 4:13-17 English Standard Version (ESV)
Boasting About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”-- 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Listen to the text by clicking this link:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Jas.4.13-Jas.4.17​

First, a PSA of sorts.  While talking to some of my friends who regularly view my blogs, they suggested that it would be helpful to them if I included the link to the passage in a format where they could listen to it, so I'm going to try to remember to provide that at the end of each passage.  I've also posted links to various audio Bibles and Reading Plans in our Discord community.

Now back to the text.  No man knows the number of days that He has been given.  It is not that we are to fail to plan for the future, as Proverbs and some other places very clearly tell us not to be slothful and to learn from the ant that is busy storing away food for the winter while it is summer.  So, what then is this talking about?  I think it's talking about making plans that are all about you that are centered in pride and that forget to include the Lord and lack a spirit of submission to His will and His plan.  The key words in this passage are "I will" and pride and boasting are of the flesh, not of the Spirit.

​James reminds us to always leave room for God to change our plans, for Him to call us home, and for Him to get the credit and the glory for the things we accomplish because Him name should always be on our lips--we accomplish nothing without His assistance or blessing.  Let's remember that even as we make plans to not be self-centered and boastful like the world.  This is one of the ways that we not only bring glory and honor to God but get to share the gospel with others because this is a radically different type of mindset that will cause people to ask questions.  Let's remind each other (those who we know are Christians) to include God in all of our plans and to give Him the final say in everything.

James 4:1-12 English Standard Version (ESV)
Warning Against Worldliness
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You 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. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges 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. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

And here it is.  The battle that was laid out in the last chapter with the tongue (remember that there were no chapters or verses originally, it was ll one letter).  James continues to say that we we fight and have divisions is because our "natural man" is at war with the "spiritual man" that God has made us.  These passions, lusts and desires that come from our flesh are at war with God because they want what they want when they want it and the driving force there is for "self" to be in control, to be fed and to be pleased.  We cannot be serving both "self" and God at the same time.  God is jealous God and will share His glory with no one and nothing.  This was the mistake that Satan made when in pride he said that he would be like the Most High.  "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

In order to resist the devil who wants us to rebel against God in ever way, we must submit ourselves to God and organize ourselves under His authority in every area of our lives.  There are times though where the Bible will tell us not to fight, but to run because some temptations are so strong that God's advice is to flee and get as far away from them as possible, specifically those of sexual immorality.  What is the weapon that we should use against the devil?  It is none other than than the Word of God--we wield the truth of God's Word and by faith believe its promises to "extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one" (we'll get to this when we get to the book of Ephesians in the near future).

God calls us to draw near to him, to be sanctified (be made holy)--notice the command to be cleansed and to purify ourselves.  This is exactly what the Jews had to do before coming into the presence of God to worship Him in the tabernacle and the temple lest they be struck down for approaching God in a way that showed irreverence and didn't respect God's purity and holiness.  Do we think about how we approach the God or the fact that we carry the Spirit of God inside of us and our hearts should be like the Holy of Holies for Him?

We should be broken and morn over our individual and corporate sin and humbly come before God in a spirit of confession and repentance to ask for our relationship and fellowship to be restored both with God and our fellow brothers and sisters.  We should not wish harm on each other who are saved and we should not use the legal system or the Law of God to inflict harm on each other either.  That's not what it's there for . While the Church is instructed to carry out church disciple for the good of the entire body, it is not something to be used for our own personal disputes.  In these areas we are told to love each other as we love ourselves and even to be willing to let others take advantage of us sometimes trusting that God sees all, knows all, and in the end He will set everything right.  There is only one Judge that every man saved and unsaved must answer to, and it is not us.  Speak the truth in love to each other as you confront sin, call it what it is and help each other seek forgiveness and redemption by faith, but do not let "self" get in the way of the mission of God or try to take the place of God as King or Judge.

James 3:13-18 English Standard Version (ESV)
Wisdom from Above
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

This again goes back to orthodoxy and orthopraxy.  If someone claims to be wise, they should not only speak the truth they claim to know but should live it out in meekness and humility for all to see.  Is there truth worth anything if even they won't follow their own advice or if the way they tell you to live is ineffectual in making the change that they claim it will bring about?

All truth that God gives will be consistent with His nature and Word and will bring Him glory.  Yes, He is able to use the pagans who don't believe in Him, and yes, He's even able to accomplish His purposes through people who didn't intend to give Him the glory, but we as people that claim to be His children should look like Him and not be full of jealousy or conceit so as to hinder or even twist the message that we are trying to convey.  We should not speak judgement against those we want to get even with or speak blessings on others because we want to get something in return from them.  The gospel is not about us.

God's wisdom is from heaven and is not like the wisdom of men--it is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, fully of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  It must be this way because God's words and teachings must be in alignment with God's character and nature and the purpose of these words will be in line with the mission of God and the Church to bring about a harvest of souls so that the Prince of Peace can send out His ambassadors of peace to bring peace to even more people so that all those who are called to be the children of God can be at peach with God and with each other.

​James 3:1-12 English Standard Version (ESV)
Taming the Tongue
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look 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. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Here's a passage that speaks directly to me (though it's also meant for all of you too).  God will hold teachers (specifically religious teachers) to greater strictness because they are responsible for correctly conveying who He is, what He has said and what He requires.  Those who are teachers are seen as knowing the most about God and Christianity and therefore are looked to many times as role models of how others should act.  If a teacher falls it can be scandalous and ruin their entire ministry and congregation (if they are a pastor of a local church).  James then points out that the easiest way for any of us to stumble is with our to words we say.

James gives a few examples that we can connect to on how such a small part of the body can be so important.  Like a bit and bridle in the mouth of a horse that can help tame such a strong animal and make it go where you want it to go, or like a ship's rudder that is small in comparison to the entire ship, but is used to steer the ship, or a small spark that can set the entire forest on fire--and then James says that the tongue is a fiery weapon of hell itself used to destroy both the ones we speak against and ourselves as we are stained by the sin of the words we speak.

No matter how close we get to God we will always struggle with our words.  James says that if any man can learn to control his tongue that man must be perfect in all his ways (that man was Jesus by the way).  We know that our mouths which sing praise to God on Sunday spew venom and poison throughout the week and this makes as much as sense as saying you can go to the same spring or well to draw both fresh water and salt water.  So then how can both praise and vile words flow from the same heart because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth overflows.  We are reminded that the fruit we bear is determined by the root of what is in our heart and it should be impossible for Christians to behave in the way we described earlier.  They should not be able to produce both good fruit and bad fruit.  You should be able to go up to a tree and have it sometimes produce figs and other times produce apples. That again is as silly as saying that sometimes you are a Christian and sometimes you are not.  Let us live lives where our orthopraxy is in line with our orthodoxy, especially if we are teachers who others look to for examples on both orthodoxy and orhtopraxy.

Here it is....probably the most well-known passage in the book of James.  What does saving faith look like?  Can a faith that is not put into action really be considered saving faith?  This passage has been misinterpreted by many to claim a works-based salvation or that somehow faith plus works is necessary for salvation.  Remember, the apostles are all going back to the teachings of Jesus as they teach the churches who may not have heard Jesus' sermons in-person.  That's why we originally started this blog series with the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus lays out there that His disciples that are genuine will be known not by their beliefs and creeds, but by their fruit (the part that is visible for everyone to see).  The way we conduct ourselves will show what kind of tree we really are and will reveal the "root" (what is at the center of our worldview--what we believe about God, man and nature).  James takes up this same topic here but is very direct with the Christians he's writing to about specific instances where their orthodoxy and orthopraxy don't match.  Okay, I know I just used some really big words there, so let me define them.  Orthodoxy is a strict adherence to the fundamental beliefs of a particular religion.  Orthopraxy is putting those beliefs into practice and living out your faith.  James is saying that orthodox beliefs alone are not enough to save you because you don't really believe something unless you are willing to put it into practice.

A common story told with respect to this is the man who walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls.  After walking from the US side to the Canadian side and back he asked the crowd who believed that he could put someone in a wheelbarrow and push them across the tightrope to the other side and back.  Many raised their hands.  Then he asked, "Who is willing to get into the wheelbarrow?" You see, many were willing to say they believed something until it required them to put that faith into action.  So did they really believe if they were not willing to put that trust into action?  This is the idea here.

A faith that does not produce works is like a tree that does not produce fruit--it's dead.  Even the demons know the truth about God and Jesus, but they refuse to organize their lives in a way where they are subject to the authority of God and His commandments.  Knowing the truth is not enough to save you.  It is only faith that is tested and put into action that we know is genuine.  While we are justified before God by the finished work of Christ, our faith is justified and validated before men when we put our faith into actions and words work in concert to not only tell people what we believe, but to live it out before them.  Again, faith without works is like a body without a soul--it is dead and able to do nothing.

While our works do not save us, it should be impossible for us to be genuinely saved and for our works to not match our faith.  This goes back to the example we've been using over and over again.  If the caterpillar has undergone metamorphosis and become a butterfly than it will live like a butterfly, not like a caterpillar.  And what is a butterfly that never flies or drinks nectar from a flower?  You know the saying "If it walk like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck."  Well hopefully someone will be able to say of us, "If they walk in the Spirit, and bear the fruit of the Spirit, then they have the Spirit of God living in them and are children of God."

James 2:1-13 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Sin of Partiality
1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, 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. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing 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,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, 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. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Partiality may not be the easiest word here, but it's synonymous with "favoritism."  As Christians we should not play favorites or treat people differently because of what they have to offer us, their social status, how much money they put in the offering plate, their political or business connections, or anything else.

James uses a few examples here where people of his time and many people today would make first-impression judgments and treat certain people that walked through the Church doors differently.  First would be someone who is well-dressed verses someone who dressed in shabby clothing.  The person that is well-dressed would be assumed to be someone of status that should be given a "good seat" while the person in shabby clothes would be assumed to be someone of no status, maybe even a slave and would be told to sit on the floor so that someone else of more esteem could be given a seat (usually churches were meeting in small groups in people's houses if that helps add context).  Do we want God to treat us with such partiality based off of how much money we have in His economy or what kind of value He thinks we can add to His kingdom?  That is a test we would all fail because streets are paved with gold in heaven and gates to the city are made out of pearls and the foundations are made of precious jewels.  We have nothing to offer him that is valuable other than the fact that He values the souls of men and pad the most precious price for them--the blood of Jesus, and in that sense the soul of the rich man and the soul of the poor man in this story cost Him exactly the same thing and have exactly the same value.  This is the way that we need to see every person...."That's a person that's valuable enough that Jesus died for them."

James even points out that it is the rich man who is likely the one who is going to oppress the Christians and take them to court and they are more likely the ones to dishonor the name of God--mostly likely that is a reference to calling themselves "Christians" and living just like the world when they are conducting business or in their social circles.

James then comes back to the core issue.  We cannot say we love our neighbor as we love ourselves and treat some people better than others.  The Greatest Commandment tells us we need to love everyone the same-like we love ourselves.  The assumption is that we love ourselves and want what is best for ourselves.

James then addresses the fact that we are all Law-breakers and there are no better or worse Law-breakers in God's eyes.  The Law is like a chain of connected links (like a bicycle chain).  How many links in the chain need to break for the chain to be broken?  Only one.  It doesn't matter if you never murder anyone if you are still a liar or a thief or even someone who covets his neighbor's stuff.  We are to see ourselves as transgressors of the Law who have been shown mercy by God and in this estate we had nothing to offer God and were like the man dressed in shabby clothes--our good deeds were as filthy rags and we were likened to the valley of dry bones that were completely useless until God decided He wanted to make them live again (we'll talk about the Valley of Dry Bones sometime when we get to the book of Ezekiel.  It will be a while, but it's one of the best images of what God does for us in our salvation.)  We must have mercy on others because we have been shown mercy.  We must forgive others because we have been forgiven.  Let's bring this home with a parable taught by Jesus in the book of Matthew that I think was probably on the mind of James here.

​Matthew 18:21-35 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”