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Scripture Reading: James 4:15; 5:7, 13-20; Acts 21:15-24
In the foregoing message we began to point out how in the Epistle of James we see a life that is not fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy. Thus far, we have covered eight characteristics of such a life as found in this book: still keeping the twelve tribes of the Old Testament dispensation, possessing the divine life through the divine birth, receiving the implanted word, keeping the perfect law of freedom in the Old Testament practice, mixing with the practice of the recovered Old Testament dispensation, still keeping the Old Testament law of letter, behaving by the wisdom with the Old Testament flavor, and having the indwelling Spirit only for dealing with the world.
In this message we shall consider some other characteristics of a life that is not fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy.
According to 4:15, James would have us say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live and do this or that.” Many Christians are fond of verses 13 through 17 of the book of James. In 4:13 James indicates that we should not say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that city and spend a year there, and do business and make a profit.” Then in verse 14 James goes on to say, “You who do not know what your life will be tomorrow; for you are a vapor, appearing for a little while, and then disappearing.” Therefore, we should say, “If the Lord wills....” However, this way of living is according to the way of the Old Testament saints. New Testament saints, on the contrary, should be led by the Spirit. In Romans 8:14 Paul says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” To be led by the Spirit of God is very different from saying that we will do this or that “if the Lord wills.” New Testament saints are those who are led by the Spirit in their daily living. Suppose a brother says, “If the Lord so wills, I will love my wife,” or a sister says, “If the Lord so wills, I will be in subjection to my husband.” This is not the way of the New Testament. Someone who follows the Old Testament way might say, “If the Lord wills, I will go shopping tomorrow. But if the Lord does not so will, what can I do except stay home?” Instead of this, we all must learn in our living to be led by the Spirit. Day by day and even moment by moment, we should be led by the indwelling Spirit.
We have seen that in his Epistle James does not seem to make a clear distinction between Christians and Jews, between God’s New Testament economy and the Old Testament dispensation. He addresses this Epistle to the twelve tribes (1:1) and even uses the term “synagogue” (2:2) to indicate an assembling place for Jewish Christians. Then in a parenthetical section (5:1-6) James seems to speak to the rich class among the Jews in general. Therefore we say that here we have a mixture with the Jews of the Old Testament dispensation.
In 5:7 James says, “Therefore, be longsuffering, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” To await the Lord’s coming with longsuffering is wonderful, and this surely is a New Testament matter. However, in talking about awaiting the Lord’s coming back, James did not have the New Testament concept. Instead, he uses the prophets as an example of longsuffering and Job as an example of endurance: “Take as an example, brothers, of suffering evil and of longsuffering, the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and full of pity.”
James’ teaching concerning awaiting the Lord’s coming is much different from that of the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul. In Matthew 24:42 the Lord says, “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes,” and in Matthew 24:44 He says, “Therefore, you also, be ready, for the Son of Man comes in an hour that you think not.” Here we see that, regarding His coming, the Lord tells us to watch and be ready. Then in Luke 21:36 the Lord gives us this charge: “But be watchful, at every time beseeching.” Concerning the Lord’s coming, Paul also charges us to watch: “So then, let us not sleep as the rest, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thes. 5:6).
The prophets and saints of the Old Testament are far removed from us. Today, however, we have the Triune God within. The Old Testament prophets and saints may have had longsuffering and endurance, but today we have the indwelling Triune God to be our endurance and longsuffering as we await the coming of the Lord Jesus.
In his Epistle James speaks concerning the practice of the church life; however, this practice is in the way of mixture. The first practice related to the church life covered by James in 5:13-20 is that of praying for a sick believer by anointing him in the name of the Lord: “Is anyone among you weak? Let him call to him the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord” (v. 14). We must admit that it is wonderful to pray for a sick brother and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
Although James says a good word concerning prayer in 5:14-16, his way of praying is that of the Old Testament prophets. This is proved by the fact that he uses the prayer of Elijah as an example: “Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and in prayer he prayed that it should not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit” (vv. 17-18). James says that Elijah prayed in a prayer. We may admire this prayer and think that it is excellent. Paul, however, does not speak like this. Rather, Paul tells us to pray always in spirit (Eph. 6:18). To pray in spirit is much better, sweeter, and richer than to pray in a prayer. The latter is to pray in the Old Testament way; the former is to pray in the New Testament way. In the case of Elijah, the Lord gave him a particular prayer as a burden, and Elijah prayed that it would not rain. Hence, Elijah prayed in the prayer given to him by the Lord. But today we have the indwelling Spirit abiding in our spirit and interceding for us (Rom. 8:26), and we do not need a special prayer or burden, for we can pray in our spirit unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17).
If we do not have light from the Lord, we may highly appreciate what James says concerning prayer. But if we are enlightened by the Lord, we shall see that the way of prayer described by James is the Old Testament way. By this we see that James’ writing brings us away from the New Testament practice and back to the Old Testament practice.
In 5:19-20 James speaks of turning back a backsliding brother to repentance for forgiveness: “My brothers, if anyone among you is led astray from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.” Even James’ word about recovering a backsliding brother is in the Old Testament way. What he says about covering a multitude of sins is almost a quotation from the Old Testament. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalm 85:2 says, “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin.” Furthermore, Proverbs 10:12b says, “Love covereth all sins.” These verses clearly indicate that in the Old Testament to forgive sin is to cover it. In the New Testament, however, to forgive sin is to forget it (Heb. 8:12). Therefore, we see once again, this time concerning the practice of the church life in the way of mixture, that James’ concept of recovering a backsliding brother to repentance for forgiveness is according to the Old Testament way.
After considering all the matters in the Epistle of James that show us a life not fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy, we must go on to consider a major problem — the problem of the inspiration of the Scriptures. Since we have pointed out so many shortcomings of the book of James, some may wonder if this Epistle is inspired of God, if it is God-breathed. In 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” Therefore, we need to explain carefully what is our attitude toward the inspiration of the Scriptures in relation to the book of James.
First, we definitely believe that all Scripture is God-breathed, that is, inspired by God. We believe that every word of every book of the Bible has been breathed out by God.
Second, although every line and word of the Scripture is inspired by God, this does not mean that every word in this holy Book is the word of God, but we must be very careful in our understanding of this matter. In the Bible there are a great many words that are not God’s words. We may give several examples to make this matter clear.
In Genesis 3:1, 3-5 we have words spoken by the serpent. First the serpent asked the woman, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (v. 1). Then the serpent went on to say, “Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (vv. 4-5). These words spoken by the serpent are actually words uttered by the Devil, Satan.
In the book of Genesis we also have words spoken by evil persons. For instance, in Genesis 4:23-24 Lamech boasted to his wives, “Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.” Throughout the Old Testament many other words were spoken by evildoers and by those who are enemies of God and of His people. To be sure, none of those words are God’s words.
We may cite further examples from the book of Job and from the Psalms. In the book of Job many things are spoken by Job and his friends, all of whom were godly. The young man, Elihu, also was a godly person. Eventually, God Himself came in to speak and He repudiated many of the things that had been spoken by Job and his friends. God would not recognize many of the words of those godly men as His words. Instead of being the word of God, many of the words spoken by Job and his friends were merely human. Furthermore, in the Psalms certain words are merely the utterances of men, whereas others are truly the word of God.
In the New Testament we also find words that are not the word of God. According to the gospel of Matthew, the high priest demanded that the Lord Jesus tell His investigators whether or not He was the Christ, the Son of God (Matt. 26:63). After the Lord gave His answer, the high priest declared, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy” (v. 65). Furthermore, the people shouted, “Crucify, crucify him!” (John 19:6). Certainly, although the Gospels were breathed by God, inspired by God, the words of the high priest and of the people are not God’s words.
As recorded in the Gospels, Peter also said certain things that are not the word of God. Receiving a revelation from the Father, in Matthew 16:16 Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” However, after the Lord went on to speak about His death, Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God be merciful to You, Lord; this shall by no means happen to You!” (Matt. 16:22). To be sure, what Peter said here was not the word of God. This is proved by the fact that the Lord turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men” (v. 23). Actually, what Peter said was not even his own word; it was a word that came from Satan.
In Matthew 17:4 we have another instance of a word spoken by Peter that is not the word of God: “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Here Peter spoke in a nonsensical way, and his word certainly was not the word of God.
Other examples of words spoken by Peter that are not words of God can be found in Matthew 26:33, 70, 72, and 74. After the Lord Jesus told the disciples that they all would be stumbled in Him, Peter said, “If all shall be stumbled in You, I will never be stumbled” (v. 33). However, when he was questioned about being with Jesus, he denied it, saying, “I do not know what you are saying!” (v. 70). Again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the man!” (v. 72). Finally, “he began to curse and to swear, I do not know the man!” (v. 74). These words were spoken by Peter, but they were instigated by the Devil, the evil one. Although these words are recorded in the Gospels and were breathed by God, they are not the word of God.
Let us go on to the book of Acts. No doubt, when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, whatever he spoke was the word of God. But in chapter twenty-one of Acts we have record of words that are not God’s word. In Acts 21:20 and 21 James and the other elders said to Paul, “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.” Notice that James points out that these Jews were all zealous for the law. Then James and the others proceeded to make the following proposal to Paul: “We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law” (vv. 23-24). Whose word is this? Is it the word of God? No, this is a word spoken by godly elders, of whom James was the leading one. We should not think that, just because these men were godly, what they spoke here is the word of God.
In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul says, “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as having received mercy of the Lord to be faithful” (v. 25). After giving his opinion concerning the matter, Paul concluded, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 7:40). Here we see that Paul first spoke his own opinion. Eventually, he had the boldness to say, “I also have the Spirit of God.” Do you think that James and the other elders in Jerusalem could have spoken such a thing in Acts 21? After pointing out to Paul how many thousands of Jewish believers were zealous for the law, and after encouraging him to go to the temple with those who had a vow on them, could James and the others have dared to say, “And I believe that we also have the Spirit of God?” No, they certainly could not have said this. What was spoken by James and the other elders in Acts 21 was not the word of God; instead, it was the word of godly men.
Both in Acts 21 and in the Epistle of James we have words spoken by James, a godly man. If we understand the nature of chapter twenty-one of Acts, we shall know the position of the Epistle of James. In Acts 21 and in the book of James we have the words of a godly man. Keeping the law is godly, and fulfilling a vow and paying the charge for others is also godly. In his Epistle James wrote in a godly way concerning many things: visiting widows and orphans, keeping oneself unspotted from the world, fulfilling the perfect law of freedom, saying, “If the Lord wills,” concerning the future, encouraging the believers to pray according to the example of Elijah. James’ word regarding these things may be godly, but it is not God’s word. Nevertheless, such a book is included among the holy writings, which were breathed by God, inspired by God.
Just as chapters one and two of Genesis were breathed by God, so chapter three of Genesis was also breathed by God. Although certain words in Genesis 3 are not God’s words, the entire chapter was breathed out by God. God inspired this record for a purpose. If we did not have the record of the serpent’s speaking as found in Genesis 3, we could not know the serpent’s subtlety. Therefore, God breathed out this record in order to expose the subtlety of the enemy.
The principle is the same concerning Peter’s word to the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:22. If this word had not been recorded, we would not be able to know how such a believer, one who loved the Lord to the uttermost and received from the Father a high revelation concerning Him, could still be instigated by the enemy, Satan, to speak something contrary to God’s economy. Peter’s word in this verse surely is not the word of God. But this record was breathed out by God for the purpose of showing us the evil instigation and subtlety of God’s enemy.
In like manner, although certain words in the Epistle of James are the words of James and not the words of God, God inspired the writing of this Epistle for a particular purpose. Part of this purpose is that we may realize that it is possible even for a godly man to be veiled concerning God’s New Testament economy. If the book of James were not part of the Scriptures, there would be a hole, a gap, in the Bible. Without Acts 21 and the book of James, probably none of us would ever think that a godly man could be so veiled and covered in relation to God’s economy. If we did not have Acts 21 and the Epistle of James, we would never imagine that a godly man could have such a lack concerning a clear vision of the New Testament economy of God. Therefore, we should be thankful that we have the book of James to help us realize that it is not adequate simply to be godly, holy, scriptural, spiritual, and victorious. Perhaps this may have been adequate for someone to be a saint in the Old Testament, but it is not sufficient for us to be a New Testament member of Christ, a bona fide son of God regenerated by Him. This should help us understand why the Epistle of James is included as part of the Scriptures breathed by God. This Epistle was included for the purpose of showing us that it is possible for a godly man to be far off from God’s New Testament economy.
I realize that by speaking frankly concerning the shortcomings of the Epistle of James with regard to God’s New Testament economy, I run the risk of being unjustly accused of not believing that every word in the Bible is God-breathed, inspired by Him. However, if all these messages on the Life-study of James, especially this message, are read carefully, it will be clear that there is no ground to say such a thing. We do not have the slightest doubt about the divine inspiration of the Bible. On the contrary, we have proper understanding concerning the inspiration of the Scriptures. We believe that the entire Bible, every word in the Scripture, is God-breathed. Nevertheless, not every word in the Bible is the word of God. As we have seen, many words recorded in the Scriptures are the words of Satan, evil men, God’s opposers, and even the nonsensical talk of godly men. Furthermore, all the words of the Scriptures were breathed out by God and recorded for a particular purpose. In Genesis 3 the purpose is to expose the subtlety of the enemy. In Acts 21 and in the book of James the purpose is to show us the possibility that a godly person may lack the clear, heavenly view of God’s New Testament economy. Praise the Lord that everything in the Bible is God’s breath, and everything has been recorded to serve a particular purpose! We thank God for the Scriptures breathed out by Him.
