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Scripture Reading: James 1:1
I. The virtues of Christian perfection stressed by James:
А. Counting it all joy whenever falling into trial and enduring it by faith with the hope of receiving the promised crown of life — James 1:2-4, 12.
B. Asking of God in faith for wisdom to know how to be perfect — vv. 5-8.
C. Rejoicing of the lowly brother in his exaltation and of the rich brother in his being brought low — vv. 9-12.
D. Resisting temptation (which draws the believers away and entices the believers by their own lusts) by all good giving and every perfect gift from the Father of lights and by the virtue of being begotten by God with the word of truth to be the firstfruits of His creatures — vv. 13-18.
E. Receiving in meekness the implanted word to avoid wrath, bridle the tongue, take care of the orphans and widows, and keep oneself unspotted from the world, according to the (perfect) law (of freedom) — vv. 19-27.
F. Having no respect of persons by not dishonoring the poor, who are the heirs of the kingdom promised by God to His lovers, and by not regarding the rich, who oppress the believers and drag them to the courts and blaspheme the honorable name by which the believers are called; and loving one’s neighbors as oneself to fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture that he may not be judged by the law of freedom without mercy — 2:1-13.
G. Being justified by works, not by dead faith, in supplying the daily necessities of the needy ones, as both Abraham and Rahab were justified by their works after being justified by faith — vv. 14-26.
H. Not stumbling in word by bridling the tongue — 3:1-12.
I. Not cursing man, whom God made according to His likeness, by the mouth with which one blesses the Lord — v. 9.
J. Behaving in wisdom, showing the good manner of life in meekness, mercy, purity, peace, forbearance, compliance, impartiality, without jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting, lying, and hypocrisy — vv. 13-18.
K. Dealing with pleasures, the world, and the devil by loving God, by the indwelling Spirit given by God, and by the grace given to the humble — 4:1-10.
L. Not speaking against the brothers by keeping the law — vv. 11-12.
M. Confiding not in self-will but in the Lord — vv. 13-17.
N. Awaiting the Lord’s coming with long-suffering — 5:7-9.
O. Taking the prophets and Job as examples in suffering evil with endurance — vv. 10-11.
P. Speaking honestly without swearing — v. 12.
Q. Praying according to the example of Elijah — vv. 13-18.
R. Turning back the brother led astray from the truth — vv. 19-20.
II. The items listed above imply:
А. The factors of which the Christian perfection stressed by James is produced:
1. All good giving and every perfect gift — 1:17a, 5.
2. The begetting by God, the Father of lights, to be the firstfruits of His creatures — vv. 17b-18.
3. The word of truth — v. 18.
4. The implanted word — v. 21.
5. The Scripture — 2:8.
6. The indwelling Spirit of God — 4:5.
7. Grace given by God — v. 6.
B. The means by which the Christian perfection stressed by James is carried out:
1. Faith — 1:3, 6.
2. Wisdom given by God to know how to be perfect — v. 5; 3:13, 15, 17.
3. The crown of life — 1:12.
4. The (perfect) law (of freedom) — v. 25; 2:8-12; 4:11.
5. The promised kingdom of God — 2:5.
6. The judgments of God — vv. 12-13; 3:1; 4:11-12; 5:9.
7. The examples of the Old Testament: Abraham, Rahab, the prophets, Job, and Elijah — 2:23-25; 5:10-11, 17-18.
8. The likeness of God according to which man was made — 3:9.
9. Confiding in the Lord — 4:15.
10. The Lord’s coming back — 5:8.
11. Prayer — vv. 14-15.
12. Probably the cultivation of man’s natural “bright virtue” created by God, thus becoming the cultivation of man’s self.
C. The functions of the Christian perfection stressed by James:
1. Making oneself perfect in living a pious life but not in fulfilling God’s eternal economy — 1:4; 3:2.
2. Benefiting others.
3. Glorifying God.
By the leading of the Lord, we decided to have the crystallization-study of the Epistle of James. This Epistle has been a topic of debate throughout the centuries. Martin Luther called James a book of straw. This word is too extreme. There is some straw in James, but not all the points of this book are straw. To decide what is straw and what is not straw needs a top discernment.
We need to point out that under God’s sovereignty, there are the Old Testament and the New Testament with the old dispensation and the new dispensation. God has two peoples: the old people, Israel, and the new people, the church. Also, there are the old man and the new man. When we speak concerning the Epistle of James, we must realize these four pairs of items: the Old Testament and the New Testament, the old dispensation and the new dispensation, God’s old people and God’s new people, and the old man and the new man. I consider the apostle James as the top mixer. He mixed the New Testament with the Old Testament, the new dispensation with the old, the new people of God with the old, and the new man with the old man. The debate on the book of James cannot be resolved unless one sees these factors.
James is on Christian perfection, but is this perfection by the old man or by the new man, by the natural man or by the regenerated man? In the book of James there is a mixture. Many points in James indicate that he does not refer to the regenerated man but to the natural man. There are other points in James, however, that point to the new man, not the old man. The New Testament tells us we have to put off the old man and put on the new man (Eph. 4:22-24). It also tells us that we have to deny the self, which is the corrupted soul, the old man (Matt. 16:24). Then we need God’s strengthening to strengthen our entire being into the inner man, which is the new man (Eph. 3:16). Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the sharp word of God operates to divide our soul from our spirit. This is a base for our study on James in this first chapter.
The stress of the Epistle of James is Christian perfection. According to history and according to James’s writing, there are different perfections on different levels in different ages. Job 1:1 says that Job was a perfect man. The problem in the book of Job is how to discern Job’s perfection. In Philippians 3:6 Paul says that as to the righteousness which is in the law, he had become blameless, perfect. This was before Paul was saved. While he was Saul of Tarsus, he was a blameless person; he was perfect. Job’s perfection was before the law, and Saul’s perfection was under the law. Now we have James’s perfection, but in what age? His perfection was not only in the age of the law but also in the age of grace. James was a person with one foot in the age of law and the other in the age of grace. Thus, he was one person standing in two ages. This is the perfection of James, but this is not the genuine Christian perfection revealed in the entire New Testament. Job’s perfection was before the law, without law; Saul’s perfection was under the law; and James’s perfection was under both the law and grace. The genuine Christian perfection is purely under the absolute grace of God. We need to remember these four kinds of perfections according to history and the Bible. The Christian perfection stressed by James is under both the law and grace, by both the old, natural man and the new, regenerated man. This is a mixture. Now we want to see the virtues of the perfection stressed by James.
The crown of life is an incentive, inciting the believers to count all the trials as a kind of joy, so that they can endure them by faith (James 1:2-4, 12).
To endure trials James says that we need faith. Then he says that we need to ask of God in faith for wisdom to know how to be perfect (vv. 5-8). This wisdom is different from the wisdom covered in 1 Corinthians 1. Christ is our wisdom, but not for us to know how to be perfect. He is our wisdom as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (vv. 24, 30).
Whether you are exalted as a poor one or brought low as a rich one, you need to rejoice (James 1:9-12). This kind of rejoicing is a virtue.
James 1:13-18 points out that we need to resist temptation (which draws the believers away and entices the believers by their own lusts) by all good giving and every perfect gift from the Father of lights and by the virtue of being begotten by God with the word of truth to be the firstfruits of His creatures. These three points are very good: the begetting of God, the word of truth, and the firstfruits of His creatures. We resist temptation by God’s good giving and gifts and by the virtue of God’s regeneration, which is with the word of truth to produce the firstfruits of His creatures. We can resist temptations only as a regenerated man, not as a natural man.
First, we have to receive in meekness God’s word implanted in us. Then we can avoid wrath, bridle the tongue, take care of the orphans and widows, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world, according to the perfect law of freedom (vv. 19-27). Paul tells us clearly that the law of letters is a law of bondage. In Galatians 5 he says that Christ has released us from the bondage of the law of letters. But here James refers to the law as the perfect law of freedom. James uplifts the law in the Old Testament dispensation to the uttermost, mixing God’s New Testament economy with the outdated Old Testament economy (Acts 21:18-20).
The kingdom is an incentive, inciting us not to have respect of persons by not dishonoring the poor, because they also are heirs of the kingdom, which has been promised by God to His lovers. Furthermore, James says that we should not regard the rich, who oppress the believers and drag them to the courts and blaspheme the honorable name by which the believers are called. Also, we should love our neighbor as ourselves to fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture that we may not be judged by the law of freedom without mercy (James 2:1-13). The royal law is the law of Moses. The law of Moses says that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The commandment of the law of letters was crowned by James, because to him it was the royal law.
According to Romans 2, God will judge people according to the law in a general way. The New Testament also teaches that Christ will judge His believers at His coming back at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10). That judgment will not be according to Moses’ law but according to the law of life. We were condemned under God’s judgment, but we passed that judgment by believing into Christ. Now in Christ we should have a life according to the law of life. Then when Christ comes back, He will judge us not according to Moses’ law, the law of letters, but according to the new law, the law of life. But James still exalted the law of letters, calling it the royal law.
James’s vision was vague. In the English language the capital letter I looks similar to the Arabic number 1 and the lowercase letter l. It is difficult for someone who is not familiar with the language to have a clear vision of this. When little children, especially foreigners, learn English, they may confuse certain words and letters because their vision of the English language is vague. Because of his vague vision, James uplifted the law, but in the Bible there are two kinds of laws: the law of letters for bondage and the law of life for freedom. In the New Testament we should live according to the law of life, not according to the law of letters.
Being justified by our works is a virtue. James says that we need to have the works after we have the faith, just as Abraham and Rahab did (2:14-26).
James also exhorts the believers not to stumble in word by bridling the tongue (3:1-12). Who can avoid stumbling in word? Often we regret that we spoke some words that stumbled others. The less we speak, the fewer mistakes we make. The more we speak, the more mistakes we make.
James tells us not to curse any man. Even if a man is very bad, very poor, we should not curse him, because he bears the likeness of God (v. 9). But often after we bless the Lord, we may curse certain persons. If we honor God, we would not despise one who was made according to God’s likeness. This is a virtue.
James exhorts us to behave in wisdom, showing a good manner of life in meekness, purity, peace, forbearance, compliance, mercy, and impartiality, without jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting, lying, and hypocrisy (vv. 13-18).
We deal with pleasures, the world, and the devil by three things: by loving God, by the indwelling Spirit given by God, and by the grace given to the humble (4:1-10). No doubt, we can do this by the new man, not by the old man.
James tells us not to speak against the brothers by keeping the law (vv. 11-12). But Paul says that he lived no longer to the law and that he was not in debt to the law (Rom. 7:6; Gal. 2:19).
We should confide not in our self-will but in the Lord (James 4:13-17). This can be carried out only by the new man.
James exhorts us to await the Lord’s coming with long-suffering (5:7-9).
James also tells us to take the prophets and Job as examples in suffering evil with endurance (vv. 10-11). But at Job’s time there was no new man. Here we can see the mixture in James.
James 5:12 tells us to speak honestly without swearing.
James 5:13-18 speaks of praying according to the example of Elijah.
Finally, James tells us to turn back the brother led astray from the truth (vv. 19-20). All the above items are the virtues of Christian perfection stressed by James.
Now we want to see the seven factors of which the Christian perfection stressed by James is brought forth, or produced.
The first factor is the giving and gifts by God to His people (1:17a, 5).
The second factor is our being begotten by God, the Father of lights, to be the firstfruits of His creatures (vv. 17b-18). This is God’s regeneration.
Another factor of the Christian perfection that James stresses is the word of truth (v. 18). Psalm 119 refers to the law as the word of truth (v. 43). The law is the word of God, and the word is the truth.
James also speaks of the implanted word (1:21). This is also a reference to the word of the law.
In 2:8 James speaks of the royal law according to the Scripture. I believe that James trusted in the Old Testament Scriptures very much. The Old Testament is a major factor of Christian perfection stressed by James.
The top factor stressed by James is the indwelling Spirit of God (4:5).
The seventh and final factor of which the Christian perfection stressed by James is produced is the grace given by God (v. 6). James mentions grace only in an elementary way by saying that the Lord gives grace to the humble.
Faith is one of the means of Christian perfection stressed by James (1:3, 6), but in the entire New Testament the means is much higher than this.
James speaks of the wisdom given by God, not to know how to fulfill God’s eternal economy but to know how to be perfect (v. 5; 3:13, 15, 17). James says that if we are not wise in our behavior, we should pray for God to give us the wisdom. He does not speak of a high wisdom according to God’s New Testament economy but of a low wisdom according to perfection in behavior.
The crown of life is used in James as a kind of incentive for us to endure trials (1:12). This may be the highest among the means stressed by James for Christian perfection.
James also speaks of the law as a major means of Christian perfection (v. 25; 2:8-12; 4:11). In chapter 1 he speaks of “the perfect law, the law of freedom.” In chapters 2 and 4 he speaks of “the royal law” and of “the law.” No doubt, this is the law of Moses, the law of letters. When I had the life-study on James a number of years ago, I was troubled with these three laws: the law, the royal law, and the perfect law of freedom. Then I considered that in the Bible there are only two kinds of laws. The first is the law of Moses, the law of letters, the Old Testament law. Jeremiah 31 indicates that this law did not work, so God promised to give His people another law, which is not written on tablets of stone but written on our heart, on our mind (vv. 31-34; Heb. 8:10). This is the law of God’s life, not the law of letters. In Romans 8:2 Paul speaks of the law of the Spirit of life, which is the law of life.
At the time of James he had not come to know the law of life. Surely he had not read Paul’s writing of Romans. In the past I gave credit to James by saying that the perfect law of freedom refers to the law of life. But after studying this matter more thoroughly, I found out that actually James refers to only one law, the law of letters. In 2:8 he speaks of fulfilling the royal law in reference to the commandment to love our neighbors. James considered this as the top law, the royal law. Then in verse 12 he speaks of our being judged by the law of freedom. According to the context, the royal law and the law of freedom, also referred to in 1:25, both refer to the law of letters. Thus, the three laws referred to by James are actually one law. This is why I have put perfect and of freedom in parentheses. The (perfect) law (of freedom) is the law of letters.
I believe that James as a pious man knew the Psalms very well. No doubt, James quoted from Psalms 1, 19, and 119. Psalm 19 says that the law is perfect, so the word perfect is used in James. Psalm 19 also says that the law revives people, that is, gives people freedom (vv. 7-8). This probably is where James got the perfect law of freedom. Psalm 119:11 says, “In my heart I have treasured up Your word / That I might not sin against You.” I believe this is what James considered as the law of freedom. When we keep the law in our heart, the law releases us from sinning. James also speaks of the word of truth (1:18), which is mentioned in Psalm 119:43. Psalm 1 shows how much the psalmist treasured the law of God. The Old Testament psalmists believed that if you meditated on the law of God and treasured it, you would not sin. That was the release, the freedom. This was the concept of James that he received from the Psalms. But today we do not consider the law of Moses as a means by which we can carry out Christian perfection. Rather, Paul says that the law cannot do anything for our perfection.
Another means of Christian perfection stressed by James is the promised kingdom of God (2:5).
God’s judgments were a means spoken of by James to carry out perfection because the judgment of God warns people (vv. 12-13; 3:1; 4:11-12; 5:9). If you consider the warning of God’s judgments, you are helped not to sin.
James also mentions the examples of the Old Testament, such as Abraham, Rahab, the prophets, Job, and Elijah, as being a means for Christian perfection (2:23-25; 5:10-11, 17-18).
James 3:9 says that with our tongue “we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made according to the likeness of God.” James points out that although man is sinful, he still bears the likeness of God. So if we curse any man, that means that we curse a person made by God according to His likeness. This becomes a kind of incentive to help us not to curse, so to James this was a means of Christian perfection.
James also speaks of our need to confide in the Lord (4:15).
James 5:8 says, “You also be long-suffering; establish your hearts because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.” When we think about the Lord’s coming back, we will behave properly. His coming back is a means of carrying out Christian perfection in the book of James.
James mentions prayer as a means in 5:14-15.
Bright virtue is a particular term used by Confucius. The highest point of his teaching is to develop the bright virtue, which is the conscience of man. Thus, what James mentions is very close to Confucius’s teaching, and that teaching is to develop, to promote, the conscience, the bright virtue, by the natural man, the self. What James says is a mixture. The virtues of his perfection are not produced by God as our supply but are produced by the cultivation of the natural bright virtue.
James stresses making oneself perfect in living a pious life but not in fulfilling God’s eternal economy (1:4; 3:2). I do not believe that James knew anything about God’s eternal economy. He knew only how to be pious, how to be godly, how to fear God, how to behave righteously, how to be perfect, and how to be upright. He does not mention anything to give even a hint that he knew the eternal economy of God. The function of his kind of perfection cannot serve the fulfillment of the eternal economy of God.
The function of the Christian perfection stressed by James is also for benefiting others.
It is also for glorifying God. In James’s sense, glorifying God is to have good behavior among men.
In an upcoming chapter we want to go on to see the positive side of the genuine Christian perfection revealed in the entire divine revelation of the New Testament. This is in contrast to the Christian perfection stressed by James.
