Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does James Chapter 1 mean?

The book of James was most likely written by Jesus’ half-brother, a son of Mary and Joseph who eventually became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. The unifying theme of the book of James is “faith,” though James frames his discussion with a very specific look at the effects of real, saving, trusting faith.

That is why James has attracted so much dispute over the years. James includes heavy emphasis on the works associated with Christianity. As a result, some interpreters have suggested that James contradicts Paul’s clear teaching that salvation is not by works but by faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9). Reading with the proper perspective, however, reveals there is no contradiction to be found. James asserts from the beginning of the first chapter that God’s desire for us is to trust Him more, and more deeply. A person’s actions are a good indicator of what kind of “faith” they really have.

Biblical saving faith is not mere intellectual knowledge—it is trust. A faith that saves is the kind of faith which naturally produces action, and this is the point of James’ writing. As this book emphasizes our works as believers, the point is that those works are acts of faith. Put another way, people who trust God naturally obey God. Why wouldn’t they if they believe Him? Saved people believe in Christ, and people who believe in Christ follow the way of Christ. Saving faith is trust which produces action.

So how does a believer respond to hard times? James calls us to label those moments as joyful things because they bring the opportunity to trust God at a deeper level. This is trusting faith.

What do believers do when they lack wisdom to make a decision? They turn to God and God generously pours wisdom out. This, again, is trusting faith. However, if we reject His wisdom or, worse, seek wisdom apart from Him, we demonstrate our lack of trust in the Father. Then He withholds His wisdom. James makes clear over and over again that what our Father longs to see in the lives of His children is evidence of our trust in Him.

That also includes how we think about money in this life. Those who trust God understand that this life is so short that our financial situation is meaningless in comparison with the eternal riches of our home in heaven. So Christians, those saved by faith in Jesus Christ, will rejoice in their high-status position in the next life, even if they have no material goods in this life. Those Christians who are rich in this life should discount the fleeting value of wealth.

Trusting in Christ guarantees us an eternity in heaven. That eternity with our Father includes a crown of life for those who trust Him through trials, instead of using them as an excuse to indulge in sin. James urges us to take responsibility for our desire to sin and not to blame God. God may allow suffering into our lives, but He never uses hardships to try to lure us away from Himself. He always encourages us to move nearer to Him in the hard times.

In fact, every good thing we have and every good thing we crave comes from God alone. He is the single source of good in our lives, including the greatest good we can possess: to be alive in Christ. To move away from God is to move away from good, to move into the shadows.

Chapter Context
This first chapter in the book of James sets the course for the rest of his letter to Christians worldwide. God wants us to trust Him more, and more deeply, as we learn more of Him. This is so important to God that He calls on us to find joy, even in hard times, because hardship helps us trust God more. Those who really trust God will ask Him for wisdom, will be excited about their status in eternity, will recognize Him as the source of all good in their lives, and will work to act on what they find in His Word.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Most conservative Bible scholars—but not all—agree that this letter was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, was born to Mary while she was still a virgin (Matthew 1:25), before she had ever slept with Joseph. This makes Joseph Jesus’ stepfather, but not his biological father. Future children of Mary would then be Jesus’ half-siblings.

John 7:5 tells us that even Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in Him during His earthly ministry. It’s likely James came to trust in Jesus as the Son of God either late in Jesus’ ministry or after the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:7, Paul writes that after Christ was raised from the dead, He appeared to James.

James became one of the prominent leaders among the Christians in Jerusalem. While other Jewish Christians scattered to escape persecution, James remained to help lead the church there. Now he begins his letter by identifying himself as a bondservant, from the Greek word duolos, also meaning “slave,” of both God and of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t mention his unique family relationship to Jesus, only his role as Jesus’ servant.

James’ letter is written to all the scattered Jewish Christians, referred to as “the Dispersion.”

Verse 2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Other authors, such as Paul, often open their letters with gradual introductions. Not so with James. Without warming up or giving comforting introductory words, James immediately launches into the foundation of his letter. He begins with a profoundly challenging command. In essence, he says that we should find joy in bad things happening to us.

Of course, that’s exactly backwards from a normal human response to hardship. Many of James’ readers were likely facing poverty and persecution, but he purposefully uses the words “trials of various kinds.” Everyone experiences trials. James means for believers to respond to troubles, regardless of size, by counting that experience as “joy.” What in the world could that mean, and why would James write such a demanding thing to suffering people?

As usual, context is key in understanding the meaning of Scripture. Verses 3 and 4 provide crucial explanation for what James means. To stop with this verse will create deep misunderstanding. Also, we must notice what James does NOT say. He doesn’t command Christians to “feel happy” when trials come. He tells us to “call it” joyful, to label it as a thing worth rejoicing over.

The word “count” is used in some translations instead of “consider.” This is from the Greek hēgēsasthe, which is an accounting term. The word relates to organizing or collecting things. James is implying that we should enter our hardships as deposits into the checkbook of our life, not withdrawals. He’s not talking about our immediate emotional response to a flat tire, or an illness, or the loss of a loved one. He’s talking about how we categorize that moment when assessing our life as a whole.

It’s still a hard command. And yet, it acknowledges something important which we don’t always admit: we can decide how we will describe any moment to ourselves. We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can, apparently, control how we think about our circumstances. When bad things happen, we can immediately say, “This is terrible. This is a bad day. My life is going wrong. Why did this happen to me?” Or we can say to ourselves, “This is a bad thing, but I will get through it. I will learn and be stronger. I will call the growth and strength worth rejoicing over, even while it hurts.”

That brings us to the next question: Why would God want us to respond to bad things in this way? The next two verses will answer that question.

Context Summary
James 1:2–18 begins with a challenging command for Christians. We are to classify hard things in their lives as ”joyful,” because those ordeals help us develop a deeper trust in God. Christians who trust God also seek wisdom from Him—and not from ungodly sources. We continue to trust Him through difficult experiences, in part, to receive the crown of life promised to those who don’t stop. We don’t blame Him for our desire to sin, but we do credit Him for every good thing in our lives.

Verse 3. for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Verses 2, 3, and 4 need to be considered together in order to fully grasp the point James is making. In the previous verse, he has written that believers must call it joy when trials come our way. Or, to put it more bluntly, we should see the good side of bad things happening to us. Verse 2 uses an accounting term, which has nothing to do with our emotions. We might feel sorrow or anger over our trials, but we can still tally them under “joy.”

Here in verse 3, James gives the beginning of his answer to why God would ask us to do that. In short, it’s about faith. It’s about trusting God. God wants us to respond to trials—to the hard things in our lives—in a way that demonstrates our trust in Him. A major theme of the book of James is that God cares deeply about our faith in Him. Faith, a trusting, humble reliance on God, is how we came into relationship with Him in the first place. That is how we come to trust in Christ for our salvation. And a Christian’s growing faith in God is evidence of a growing relationship with Him.

So, James says that when a trial or hardship comes our way, we should label that moment as joyful because it will test our faith. By definition, a trial creates a moment where we don’t know how things will work out. A trial wrecks our plans. A trial takes away our ability to see the clear path to getting what we think will make us happy. It is in those moments that we make life’s most critical choices. Either we will decide, “If God let this happen to me, I will not trust Him. If He will not prevent days like this, I will find someone else to trust.” Or, the struggle will push us to turn to God for more help, to trust more deeply that He is with us and for us, to believe that He will carry us through.

When we choose to trust Him, He provides. Our endurance—the ability to keep trusting Him while trials continue unresolved—grows. And since our faith is the most important thing to our God, that is worth rejoicing.

Verse 4. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Verses 2, 3, and 4 are all part of the same crucial idea. James has instructed Christians to “account” for hardships as joy, because such moments grow our faith. Even when we’re heartbroken over what has happened, we can trust God to use it to make us stronger. Why would God want us to label as “joyful” those terrible moments? Because trials test our faith. When we keep trusting God through the trials, our faith in Him grows. And, from God’s perspective, our growing faith in Him is far more important than not experiencing hard things.

In fact, this verse says that perfection—complete maturity—is found only in perfect faith in God. More specifically, James uses the concept of endurance—steadfastness or perseverance—to describe the ability to trust God more and more. As a runner gains endurance by suffering through another mile, Christians also gain the ability to trust God through trials. Each experience grants us a deeper, stronger level of trust in Him. In all areas of life, growth only comes through overcoming difficulty. Spirituality is no different.

James writes that we shouldn’t make the point of our lives an all-out effort to avoid trials. Instead, we should make the most of them by letting “endurance”—trusting God through another trial—create the result in us that it always does. Namely, more maturity, and more trust in God. In fact, James goes so far as to say that the one who can trust God without stopping, no matter how terrible the trial, will have arrived at perfection, complete maturity.

None of us is there, yet, but every believer in Jesus is on the way. We just need more trials to keep us growing in that direction.

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

In verses 2 through 4, James laid the foundation for the rest of his letter. He revealed that the Christian life is about cultivating a deeper trust in God as trials come our way. In fact, those trials are exactly what we need in order to learn to trust God more. Here, James begins to describe what it looks like to trust God in a wide variety of circumstances.

In this context, James is speaking of wisdom for a particular moment. This is a reference to those times when we just don’t know what to do. What’s the best choice? Which way should we go? How do we decide between two different paths? Those who truly trust God will ask Him for wisdom. Asking God for wisdom is evidence that we trust Him.

James states that God gives wisdom generously. He’s not stingy in providing insight to those who ask how to make the best choices. In fact, God gives wisdom away without “reproach” or finding fault. In other words, He doesn’t look at all of our previous foolish choices and decide we are not worthy of receiving wisdom from Him. What an amazing promise! The God of the universe stands by ready and willing to give abundant wisdom to those who ask based only on their trust and confidence in Him, not on their track record.

One way God reveals His wisdom to us is in His Word, the Bible. But the written Word is not the only way God supplies us with wisdom. Other Scripture encourages us to seek God’s wisdom in wise and godly counselors (Proverbs 11:14) and through observing His creation (Psalm 19:1), for example. But the ultimate source of all wisdom is God Himself.

Of course, this is not a simplistic promise, as the next two verses will show. Whether or not we get the wisdom we are seeking hinges on whether or not we truly trust God as the best source of wisdom.

Verse 6. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

In the previous verse, James revealed an amazing promise. The God who created the universe will give wisdom to all who ask Him for it. He doesn’t give it based on our worthiness, but based only on our request. Why? As James made clear in verses 2 through 4, God wants His children to trust Him, and He is ready to reward evidence of our trust in Him. One such evidence is asking Him for wisdom when we don’t know what to do.

But there is a condition attached to this promise: We must believe and not doubt. In other words, God wants us to come to Him convinced both that He is the one true source of wisdom, and that the wisdom He gives is trustworthy. He wants us to be ready to act on it. The person who doubts Gods’ wisdom or willingness to give it is unlikely to accept what God gives him. He she will consult other sources, looking for a second opinion, spiritually speaking. In James’ day, those sources may have included false idols. Our modern day has its own share of worthless sources for wisdom: false teachers, pop culture, celebrities, and so forth.

The person who doubts God’s wisdom, James writes, is like a wave in a wind storm. Who knows where he will end up? He’s at the mercy of whichever breeze happens to blow the strongest in that moment.

Verse 7. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

This verse is part of a profound idea explained in verses 5 through 8. James has written that God stands ready and willing to give away wisdom—for free and without finding fault—to all who ask Him for it. But they must ask believing that God is trustworthy to give wisdom. They must be ready to act on the wisdom He gives.

However, those who see God’s way as only one of many options will spend their lives being driven back and forth by whatever wind blows strongest. A person who comes to God, asking for wisdom, but without faith—continuing to shop around for sources of wisdom contrary to God—will be like a wave tossed around by the wind. Looking for other ways to receive God’s wisdom, such as other Christian advisors, is not the same thing as looking for options separate from God’s will.

Here, in verse 7, James makes it clear that the faithless person shouldn’t expect to receive any wisdom from God. God cares deeply that His children, believers in Jesus, will trust Him exclusively. He has no interest in being one booth we visit in the marketplace of theological ideas. He wants to be our first and final stop.

If we don’t trust Him exclusively, we will receive no wisdom from Him, at all.

Verse 8. he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

This verse completes a crucial idea which James introduced in verse 5. God promises wisdom to all who ask Him for it. He promises to give it generously and not based on our merit. The caveat is that we must believe and not doubt. We must not seek wisdom from sources contrary to God at the same time, expecting to weigh God’s wisdom against others and decide which we will follow. We can consult godly advisors, and look to God’s creation, but we can’t weigh His wisdom against that of the world before we decide who to trust.

Verse 7 made it clear that a doubtful person—the one who treats God as only one of many options—should not expect to receive any wisdom from God. This verse calls that person both double-minded and unstable. Trying to live by God’s wisdom while also following a form of “wisdom” from another source will always lead us in two different directions. We will always be deciding whose wisdom feels more right to us in any given moment. In that way, we end up making a god of our own ability to pick the “right” wisdom from day to day.

James makes it clear that the only stable life is one in which a believer has resolved to follow God’s wisdom—period. Those who trust the Father seek wisdom from the Father and follow the wisdom the Father gives, no matter what.

Verse 9. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

This verse begins another important teaching, explained in verses 9 through 11. This continues James’ description of what it looks like for a believer to trust God.

One piece of evidence that we have placed trusting faith in God’s wisdom is the ability to change our own perspective on reality. In this case, James calls Christians living in humble or lowly circumstances to take pride or boast about their truly exalted position in Christ. As the next two verses show, James is pointing out that it’s not the circumstances of this short, fading life that matter most. It’s the position we will hold in the life to come that is significant.

The ability for a poor Christian to declare that he or she is, in fact, the child of the king with riches beyond imagining—and to truly mean it—is evidence that Christian is trusting the Father in that moment. Taken negatively, when we as believers are consumed with sorrow and regret and envy and despair because of our limited resources, we show that we are not convinced in the reality of our God and our place with Him in eternity.

Verse 10. and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

Verses 9 through 11 offer an important teaching on the question of Christian perspective. Earlier passages in James challenged Christians to tally their hardships as joy, and to give God complete trust when seeking wisdom. In verse 9, James wrote that those who truly trust the Father can boast about their exalted position, even if they’re completely destitute in this life. The lowliest Christian believer is eternal royalty with endless riches through their faith in Jesus.

Here, James explains that for the rich Christian, their faith in God is demonstrated by the mirror-image of that view. The rich Christian should take pride in their “humiliation.” In other words, those with great wealth in this life should not see their money as evidence that they are significant in any way. They are significant, as Christians, only because they are children of God with a place in eternity. Whatever earthly wealth they have now is nearly meaningless because of how briefly it lasts.

Notice that James does not condemn the wealth of rich Christians. However, he will have harsh words later in this letter for those who abuse their wealth and power. Instead, in this verse and the next, he compares life on this side of eternity to a wild flower, beautiful but alarmingly temporary. The ability of a rich believer to see her own wealth as a fleeting thing, and to boast instead about her place in eternity, is evidence that she is trusting God. Conversely, Christians who presume that worldly wealth somehow makes them more important than the poor are failing to trust God’s perspective for how the universe really operates.

Verse 11. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

This verse should stand as both a comfort to poor believers and an alarming reminder to wealthy Christians: None of this will last. Echoing Isaiah 40:6–8 and Psalm 103:15–16, James compares rich people to wild flowers. As beautiful as they may be in the morning, the sun will quickly shrivel them in the heat of the day. On an eternal scale, the rich person will fade away quickly even as he goes about his business.

From the perspective of worldly wisdom, wealth may be a high achievement or a sign of status. For those who truly believe God, however, poverty or wealth on this side of eternity is far less important. Christians who make temporary wealth their highest priority demonstrate they are not trusting God.

Paul wrote that, because of a lack of faith in the area of wealth, Christians may fall into a trap and pierce themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10).

Verse 12. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

James echoes the thought begun in verse 2 where he called on believers to categorize hard times as joyful things. Why? Because our faith only grows stronger when tested by trials. Trusting God through our trials pushes us toward the Christ-like maturity of trusting God more, and more deeply, and with greater endurance. That choice to keep trusting God in the midst of the trial brings His blessing. Our circumstances may be hard, but we have His approval. God is on the side of those who trust Him through life’s most difficult moments.

Those who maintain trust in God during hardships will receive “the crown of life.” Bible scholars are divided on exactly what James means by this. This might simply refer to eternal life itself, promised to all Christians who, by definition, love God. However, given the context of Scripture, this is an unlikely meaning. Eternal life is not hinged on our works or faithfulness (Titus 3:5).

A more likely explanation is that this crown is “of life” in the same sense that other crowns are “of gold.” In that case, the reward for perseverance is improved circumstances. That is, the reward James speaks of may be a more abundant life here and now, on this side of eternity, or in heaven, or both. This would match well with Jesus’ own words regarding the effect of faith on our quality of life (John 10:10).

Other scholars would suggest that this mysterious crown is an additional reward, given in eternity, for Christians who refused to stop trusting God even when their trials on earth became difficult. These believers trusted God through their trials instead of turning away. They loved God and continued to obey Him in their hardship. According to this interpretation, He will reward them with this specific crown. Very similar language is used by the apostle John in the book of Revelation when he quotes Jesus making this very promise to those who are “faithful unto death” (Revelation 2:10). Paul and Peter also write about crowns to be given to faithful Christians (1 Corinthians 9:24–27; 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Timothy 4:8).

In any case, this verse makes the connection between our love for God and our ability to remain faithful to Him in hard times. Those who truly love God trust Him, and those who truly trust Him continue to obey even when life gets hard.

Verse 13. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

James began this letter by commanding Christians to see trials in our lives as meaningful and ultimately beneficial things. Struggles during our earthly lives are opportunities to trust God at a deeper level. They can also be traps—excuses used to justify a decision to stop trusting Him and turn away. The temptation attached to trials is to trust God less. We might decide He is not strong enough to provide for us, not faithful to meet our needs, not compassionate about our pain and heartbreak. Is God good? Is He loving? Is He powerful?

James is talking about how we choose to answer those questions about God on our worst days. If we decide to tell ourselves God is not faithful, we may declare our independence from Him by choosing not to obey. If we decide He is trustworthy, we will move closer to Him looking for more help, more connection.

Here James makes clear that blaming God for tempting us to reject Him, by allowing trials into our lives, is not a valid response. God never orchestrates the events of our lives with an intent to lure us away from Himself. He always roots for us to move closer. That’s who He is. The purpose of trials is not to drive us away from God, but to draw us closer to Him.

Christians are never guaranteed an easier life than nonbelievers. Quite the opposite: being a friend to God means being an enemy to the fallen world (John 16:1–4). So, trials will come (John 15:18–20). The trials will test our faith. But the temptation to be unfaithful to God during hardship is not from Him. He is, by definition, good. He can’t be tempted by evil; He tempts no person with evil.

So where does temptation come from? Verse 14 will explain where the lure to reject God actually comes from.

Verse 14. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

In the previous verse, James made it clear that God is not responsible for tempting us to move away from Him. Even when He allows great ordeals to come into our lives, we should never say He means to provoke us to disobey Him. God does not tempt anyone to do evil. Rather, He intends those struggles as opportunities to deepen our trust in Him.

There is no doubt that the temptation to despair exists. Especially in the midst of hard times, we feel the pull to disobey God, to be unfaithful, to move away from Him. Where does that temptation come from? Here James reveals the answer: The call is coming from inside our own house! In other words, we are lured away from God in the midst of trials by our own desires. On one level, we simply want to sin. Christians have been freed from slavery to sin (See Romans 6), but we haven’t completely lost the taste for sin. The desire remains.

James tells us to own up to that desire to sin. We need to hold ourselves responsible. He wants to warn us that, on this side of eternity, our “old self” (Ephesians 4:22) is looking for an excuse to move back into sinfulness. Sometimes, we will use trials as that excuse to disobey God instead of to trust Him at a deeper level.

Verse 15 will reveal the consequences of taking our own bait to sin.

Verse 15. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

In the previous verse, James made it clear that temptation to sin always comes from within ourselves. It’s never God’s fault. No matter how terrible our circumstances are, the desire to sin is still ours. We are tempting ourselves to sin. God provides trials and ordeals as a way to “exercise” our faith, in order to make it stronger. The lure of giving up, sinning, and defying God is not the purpose of His will.

Here James warns us of the consequence of giving into our desire, which is falling into sin. When we say “yes” to the desire to do what we want, instead of trusting God and obeying Him, sin is born. Then sin grows up and produces death.

Sin always leads to death. For those who are not in Christ—who have not accepted God’s free gift of forgiveness of sin, who have not been born again to a new life—that death is permanent and eternal. But even for Christians, sin brings deadly consequences. Later in this letter James will write that when Christians succeed in turning each other back from sin, they save each other from death (James 5:19–20).

Verse 16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

What temptations do Christians face when trials come into our lives? James has identified one temptation in the previous verses: to blame God. We want to accuse Him of inspiring our desire to sin, as though He is using hardship to tempt us to move away from Himself. James made it clear: that is not who God is. God doesn’t do that. In the next verse, James will emphasize that God is, in fact, the giver of every good gift.

First, though, he begs with his readers not to let themselves be deceived. Again, he is talking about how we talk to ourselves. At the beginning of his letter, he wrote that we should tell ourselves that trials are ultimately joyful things. Even while they are hurting us, the struggles we face give us the chance to trust God more deeply. We use difficult times to grow our spiritual strength.

Here, James urges us to be careful how we talk to ourselves about the good things in our lives. Emotions are powerful things, but they are not outside of our control. Our feelings often follow the lead of our perspective. When we remind ourselves of the truth, we are more likely to trust in it. It matters immensely that we tell ourselves the truth about God and His care for us.

Verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

In the previous verse, James urged his readers not to be deceived. Emotions and sinful thinking can trick us into turning away from God. It’s important to cling to the truth, which is that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. In the midst of our trials, we are tempted to change our opinion of the trustworthiness of our God. We start to make lists of all the things we think we are missing in our lives, of all of the things we have lost. If God were good, wouldn’t we have those things?

This attitude leads to even more temptation. We begin to look elsewhere for the good things we think we’re missing. “If God won’t provide them,” we think, “we’ll have to go and get them for ourselves.” We attempt to take control. We struggle to find our own satisfaction.

Now, however, James urges us to flip the typical human script. He calls us to make a new list: all the good things we do have. Where did all those good things come from? James is encouraging believers in Christ to tell themselves the truth: God gave you every single good thing in your life. He is the source of all the good you have and all the good you crave. Who God is does not change when our circumstances change. He doesn’t go from being a good God to a bad God when our trials began. He is still the source of all the good in our lives; He never changes.

James also uses a play on words in this verse, referring to God as the Father of lights, or “of heavenly lights.” He is the source of the light. The sun can never be in shadow. At times, shadows may fall on us, but He is ever and always light. If we turn away from Him, we go only deeper into shadow. Turning from God in order to escape hardship is as ridiculous as hiding from the sun in an effort to escape darkness. When faced with ordeals, we should seek the one who can make all things new.

What does it mean to remain faithful in hard times? It means continuing to acknowledge that God is the source of what is good in our lives, and what will be good in the future.

Verse 18. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

In the previous verses, James urged Christians to tell themselves the truth about who God is. He cares for them, even when—especially when—the trials come. God is the giver of every good thing in our lives. He is the unchanging source of any good we have ever had, have now, or will ever experience in the future.

Now James completes that thought with an example of one of God’s greatest good gifts to us. God gave us new life in Christ. That’s an essential truth, but also something easy to take for granted. It’s a necessary thought to hold on to in the middle of trials. Specifically, God brought us forth—or gave us birth—by His own will. He wanted to! God has cared about us from the beginning.

James writes that God gave us birth by the Word of truth. Maybe James uses the “Word of truth” to refer to Christ as the means by which He saved us. He may also be referring to God’s act of creation, bringing us to life as He brought the world to life with a word. In either case, we Christians are the “firstfruits” of His creation, likely meaning we have standing above all the rest of what He has made.

What more evidence do we need that our God is good and loving and powerful and faithful to us? No matter how dark our circumstances in the moment, nothing can change the enormous good gift that God has given to us in Christ.

Verse 19. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

The opening passage of James instructed believers to maintain trust in God, even during hard times. In fact, believers are to consider their hardships as “joy,” since trials are how God strengthens our faith. This raises the question of what it means to remain faithful to God—to continue to trust Him—even when the trials of life come our way. For one thing, those who trust God continue to obey Him. Starting in verse 19, James begins to describe what that obedience looks like.

Those who trust and obey God learn to adjust the speed of their listening and speaking. If God is truly in control, we can afford to take the time to understand. Rather than shooting from the hip, we can respond in a way that is helpful. Doubting that God is in control speeds up our mouth and slows down our mind.

As believers, we shouldn’t be obsessed with ensuring that we are heard and understood in order to get what we want. When we act according to our immediate desires, and our immediate reactions, we feel a lack of control. And when we feel like we’re losing control, we will get angry.

Notice that this is not a command to never feel anger. Anger is a human emotion that everyone experiences, and it can be justified. However, James’ instruction here makes it clear that we can learn to control—or at least slow down—our angry responses. In fact, to refuse to let anger control us is itself an act of faith. It is a choice to believe that the Father is in control, that He loves us, and that He is good.

The next verse makes clear why learning to control our anger is such a big deal.

Context Summary
James 1:19–27 emphasizes that those who truly trust God don’t settle for merely appearing religious. They give up trying to control the world with their words and their anger. They humbly receive the Word God has planted in them, listen to it, and proceed to do what it says. Part of what the Word says to us is that we should keep control over our words, to care for those who are weak and suffering, and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world around us.

Verse 20. for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Why should we, as God’s children through faith in Christ, learn to control our anger, to slow it down, to keep it in check? For James, the bottom line is this: Anger doesn’t work. Practically speaking, anger is an ineffective tool for contributing to the righteousness of God. Letting anger fly may be a great tool for getting our own way. The world tells us that anger can manipulate or intimidate those around us. Anger gives us the feeling that we are in control of the people in our lives, even making ourselves feel better for a few moments. But even from a non-spiritual perspective, this comes at a high price. We lose our integrity, the trust of others, and our self-control when we live by anger.

James’ teaching here reveals a huge idea: We were created for far more than simply getting the superficial things out of life. Part of our purpose as believers is to be used by God to help contribute to His righteousness, to help accomplish His purpose in the world. We have a glorious, eternal purpose, far greater than what we can achieve through anger or sin.

James distinguishes between “human anger” or the “anger of man” and, presumably, God’s anger. Everything God feels and expresses is righteous, including His anger. Human anger, by contrast, is nearly always an expression of human selfishness, fear, or desire to control the world around us. Those who trust the Father to be in control, to provide what is needed, to bring justice when the time is right, can afford to let go of human anger.

Verse 21. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James continues to describe what it looks like to truly trust God our Father. How does that show up in our daily lives? Here, he writes that those who trust God reject sin. Sin is what happens when we choose to serve ourselves first, and above all. Because God perfectly provides, what do we need sin for? So let’s put sin away, James says. The Greek word used here is apothemenoi, which means to remove something as one would remove clothing.

To take off something is a choice, a conscious action. To live in moral filth, to participate in the evil all around us, is normal for humans. It’s how most people continue to live throughout their lives. This is why we speak of “lesser evils,” or say certain decisions are “just business.” It’s why we always want to compare our morals to other people, instead of comparing them to God. Those who trust the Father, though, choose to opt out of sin, no matter how alien that may appear in the culture of the day.

And what do we opt in to? What do we choose instead? It’s interesting that James doesn’t yet give us a concrete list of good things to do here, instead of the bad things we were doing. He writes that we should, in humility, accept the Word planted in us. Throughout the Bible, Christ is often described as “the Word.” James likely refers to Christ, to the message of Christ, when he calls us to accept, with humility, the Word that was planted in us when we believed in Jesus.

James doesn’t tell us to stop sinning and just be better people. He tells us to stop sinning and accept—or keep accepting or accept on a deeper level—the message of Christ, with humility. It is Christ’s goodness in us that counts, not our own efforts to be good. Christ in us is what will save our souls.

Verse 22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James continues to describe what the life of genuine, trusting, saving faith looks like. How do people who truly trust God the Father live from day to day? James makes it clear that those who trust God don’t merely become experts at listening to God’s Word. To believe is to act on what we hear.

As the previous verse stated, we are definitely called to accept the Word. We should accept it in our minds, and agree to it in our hearts. Those who believe, stop talking long enough to listen (James 1:19). They take the time to hear and understand. But the faithful don’t stop there. Faith in Christ is not just the map; it’s the actual journey. Merely nodding our heads at the Word is not enough—we need to do what the Word tells us to do. We need to figure out which way God wants us to go, and then actually go that way.

If we don’t, we demonstrate that we don’t truly trust the Father, at least not in that moment.

Verse 23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

This verse introduces a useful analogy, but it needs to be read in context with the prior two verses in order to have maximum impact. James compares looking into a mirror with looking into the law of God. The big idea will be that, in both cases, merely “looking” is not enough. We must retain what we see. We must act on what we see.

James begins the comparison in this verse by saying that someone who listens to the Word—the message of Jesus—but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his own face in a mirror and, per the next verse, immediately forgets what he looks like.

It’s important to be careful about what James is not saying here. We have to be careful not to read so much into the details of an analogy that we miss the actual point. James isn’t saying that looking at the Word is exactly like looking at ourselves. He’s bringing out an absurd example to make his point: To forget what God Himself has revealed to us through His Word, when we go out into the world to live, is as absurd as forgetting what we look like as soon as we walk away from a mirror.

Verse 24. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

James began a simile in verse 23 which he will conclude in verse 25. A person who listens to the Word—the message of Jesus—and does not actually do what it says is like a person who looks at his own face in a mirror and immediately forgets what he looks like. It’s an absurd idea to think that we would be unable to recognize ourselves after seeing our own faces in a mirror. It’s also ridiculous to bother looking in a mirror in the first place, if we’re only going to ignore what we see.

James’ point is that it should be equally absurd to think that a Christian could hear the Word of God and fail to do what it says. That just doesn’t make any sense. Those who believe the Word of God demonstrate their trust in God by obeying Him. Those who don’t obey prove that they don’t really trust Him.

Verse 25. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

In the previous two verses, James made a useful analogy. He compared someone who hears God’s Word, but doesn’t do what it says, to a man who forgets his own face immediately after looking into a mirror. Both ideas should seem ridiculous to us. Why look, if you’re not going to act on what you see? Why look, if you aren’t going to remember what you just saw?

Here, James explains how believers ought to handle their study of the Word of God. Christians should look intently into the perfect law, the law that gives freedom. When they routinely do that and obey what they see there, they will be blessed in what they do.

When James uses the word “law,” he is not likely talking about the Law of Moses. James was one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem and was likely writing to a very Jewish audience who knew all about that Law. More importantly, though, he was writing to Christians about what it means to live out our faith in Christ.

James is not calling believers to see legalistic rule-following as the path to being blessed. He is writing to people who believe that Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses by obeying it perfectly Himself. In Christ, the Word has been planted in us (James 1:21). That’s the Word we hear and obey because we trust our Father. That Word is the perfect law, the law of the love of Christ, which brings freedom.

We will be blessed in what we do, this verse promises, as we look intently into that law and obey it.

Verse 26. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person ‘s religion is worthless.

In the previous verses, James emphasized that those who trust God actually do what His Word says they should do. More specifically, they look into the perfect law that gives freedom and act on it. In verse 26, James gets specific about what it means to obey this freedom-giving law. James insists that we reveal the character of our religion in three areas.

First, nobody should think of himself as a religious person if he doesn’t keep a bridle or tight rein on his tongue. That is, if we cannot control the words that come out of our mouths, we are lying to ourselves about being religious people. This closely relates to James’ prior comments on anger (James 1:19–20), in that self-control is key to the Christian life (2 Peter 1:5–6; Galatians 5:22–23).

So is it a worthy goal to be “religious”? Most Christians avoid that word. In the modern world, the word “religion” tends to be associated with keeping of rituals or rules in hopes of earning some divine favor. Those who are saved by faith in Christ understand that they have already received God’s favor. We seek to use His power in us to live as Jesus would, to make good choices in response to the grace He has already given to us. In other words, while Christians tend to recoil at the modern meaning of the term “religion,” we certainly embrace the concept James is speaking of in these verses.

It should be noted, as well, that later in this letter, James will say that no human being is capable of perfectly taming the tongue (James 3:7). If it’s not possible for us to achieve that standard, does James mean for us to spend our lives in pursuit of impossible religious perfection? It will soon become clear that he does not. Instead, he will encourage us to continue to act as if we believe God, to show with our choices that we are trusting our Father.

Still, as we see in the next verse, “religion” can be a good thing before God if it is focused on the correct things.

Verse 27. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

In the previous verse, James called out anyone who labels themselves as religious, but doesn’t control their tongues—their words. Such people are lying to themselves. What this implies is that it is not enough to participate in religious ceremonies, keep a few commands, or refer to ourselves as a religious followers. So far as Christianity is concerned, obedience to God is meant to be followed down to the level of every word we speak.

James lived in a very religious time in history. He was born into the religion of Judaism, a political-religious system instituted by God Himself. It had been corrupted over time by its human leadership, leading to great misunderstanding about who God was and what He wanted from His people. In addition, the culture of that era was packed with religions that included the worship of all kinds of idols and false gods. All of them had specific rules and practices. All of them gave people a false sense of security in exchange for money or loyalty or ritualistic obedience. None of them was pure or undefiled religion.

Now, though, James writes that there is a form of religious expression that is still pure and undefiled before God. It is simple, though not easy: show up with the widows and orphans in their suffering. Help them. And don’t let yourself be polluted or stained by the world.

As with other verses, we need to carefully understand the point at hand. James is not restricting “right religion” to only literal care for literal widows and orphans. At the time James wrote, these represented society’s most helpless members. Widows, in that culture, were women who had lost their husbands prior to bearing children. This left them destitute. Children without parents, and women without husbands, were among that culture’s most needy. According to this verse, “pure” religion is defined as caring for those who are in need, and avoiding the sins of the world.

When the New Testament speaks of “the world,” it usually means the “world system.” This is the fallen, sin-soaked attitude of humanity, which rejects God and opposes His wisdom. Later in this letter, James will describe worldly wisdom as bitter envy and selfish ambition. To be unstained by the world means that we refuse to be driven by our own appetites and desires and selfish goals. It means not compromising with a system that hates God. Just as James pointed out in James 1:5–8, the world’s wisdom is not like God’s.

With this, James is also implying that it’s very difficult to practice pure and undefiled religion before God…unless we see some serious changes inside of us. Merely planning to follow the right list of regulations is not enough.

End of Chapter 1.

Please Note:

The material use in this post, video is from BibleRef.com which is from Got Questions Ministries and is posted here to be read by Immersive reader in the Edge Browser. If you copy this material please follow these rules:

•Content from BibleRef.com may not be used for any commercial purposes, or as part of any commercial work, without explicit prior written consent from Got Questions ministries.

•Any use of our material should be properly credited; please make it clear the content is from BibleRef.com.

•BibleRef.com content may not be altered, modified, or otherwise changed unless such changes are specifically noted.