James 1:19-25; 2:14, 18-26: November 1—Live your faith

Oct 20, 2009
WILEY RICHARDS

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

Martin Luther’s belief about the Book of James has become a part of every church historian’s stock of favorite anecdotes. After reading James 2:14, Luther called the book a “right strawy epistle” because it seemed to contradict salvation by faith. We usually answer by saying, “We are saved to do good works but not saved by good works.”

We gain a different insight into the book if we note the believers James addressed, “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” believing Jews across the Roman empire. Scattered Jewish believers needed special guidance as they wrestled with the difficulty of seeing the connection between the law and grace.

Those believers, as do we, must learn one of the basics of self-control (1:19-20). This principle relates primarily to our words. What we hear, we speak, and what we say can lead to anger, even wrath. Jesus dealt with similar issues in the Sermon on the Mount. In speaking about murder (5:21-22), oaths (5:33-37), and judging (7:1-5), He admonished believers to deal with these relational problems by stopping the actions at their source.

James probably wrote his letter prior to A.D. 49, long before Paul wrote his epistles. Because Christian Jews scattered across the empire had only the Old Testament, James gave practical guidance to those who struggled to live out their faith.

In another practical application, James advised the believers to careful diligence (vv. 21-25). Those scattered believers did not possess our New Testament, but they heard the Word of God as it was read in the synagogues. It reinforced the message about the Messiah they had received from the Christian evangelists.

The message they heard was engrafted, that is, implanted in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling message had to be lived out, day by day. The law they heard demanded a change in them. If no change happened, they were compared to a person looking at a reflection of the “birth-face” in a glass, that is, a bronze reflecting “mirror,” but doing nothing to change the image.

Equally inconsistent is anyone who hears about God’s demands but does nothing to apply them. To do so is to lead oneself astray.

To live our faith, we must understand the impact of a faith that is genuine (v. 14). This is the verse which gave Martin Luther a bad case of heartburn. Two insights may help. First, not all belief is saving faith. One can believe Jesus is the Son of God and not be changed, as is true of demons (v. 19). Second, we need to understand the “law of liberty” (v. 13), as James probably understood it. The phrase occurs also in 1:25, but is not explained. James, faithful to the teachings of Jesus, may have had in mind the words of Jesus to the Pharisees (John 8:13) and others (v. 22), that “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” If this is the background of the “law of liberty,” it referred to Jews, especially the religious leaders, whom Jesus called to cast off the shackles of insufferable and myriads of numberless laws in favor of new freedom in Christ.

This approach may shed light on a more vital understanding of the word works (vv. 18-26). The Jews of Jesus’ day thought of works as their efforts in obeying the laws, both moral and ritual, in order to guarantee acceptance before God. James saw works in a different way, as the outworking of a revitalizing faith in Christ, roughly equivalent to Paul’s fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 in which Paul contrasts it with the works of the law (5:18). Anyone who is led by the Holy Spirit is no longer bound by the law, a perfect example of those who have been freed from the law by Christ’s truth.

To paraphrase the thought of James 2:18, “I will show you the evidence of true faith by turning your attention to the fruit of the Spirit.” A faith that produces no fruit is dead indeed, more like a lifeless corpse than a living person. A vital faith proves itself in daily life, just as Abraham’s willingness to offer up Isaac proved the truth that he trusted God (v. 24).

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