The Letter of James | James 1:1
Introduction
Do you ever feel like there is a disconnect between your faith and your life?
Perhaps you feel like a hypocrite because you know the way you are living does not match what you profess to believe as a Christian.
Or maybe you are sincere in your faith, but your beliefs and theology feel lofty and abstract compared to the mundane tasks you spend most of your life on—changing diapers and folding laundry; or punching the clock and making widgets.
Or do you feel frustrated by your immaturity in the faith and your lack of progress? Do you feel you ought to be further along by now? Is there a particular area of weakness that you have struggled with for years? Your faith is genuine, you’ve made progress in many areas, but you still struggle with angry outbursts, or nuisance lust, or prayerlessness, or a sharp tongue.
Maybe you can’t relate to any of that. You’ve learned to be content with God’s developmental process in your life. You can look back on your life—the highs and lows—through the eyes of faith and trace God’s gracious work. And yet you earnestly desire to grow more and more
Whoever you are, wherever you are, I’m excited to introduce you to the Letter of James, where we plan to spend the next five months (from now to the end of June), Lord willing.
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.”
—James 1:1
My aim this morning is to motivate you to listen attentively and expectantly as God addresses us as a church family at this particular time through the Letter of James. Of course, if you’re a Christian, you already take God at his Word. And you take it by faith that James is authoritative in your life because it is Scripture.
While James has been one of the most contested books in the New Testament— Martin Luther notoriously called it an “epistle of straw”—my aim this morning is not to argue that James belongs in the Canon of Scripture. (It does.) My aim, rather, is to pique your eager expectation to receive timely and transformational truth from God as we work diligently through this letter together. Through the Letter of James, the Spirit of God means to bridge the gap between your head and hands, to remedy any disconnect between your faith and works. The Letter of James contains practical wisdom and grace from God to help you live out your faith and make progress toward fullness and maturity in Christ
And James 1:1 should get your attention and heighten your expectation for all of that.
God’s Servant
The first thing we learn is who the author is: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). The only thing is, there’s not a lot of identifying information to go off of. Who is James? Or rather, which James is this?
There are four different Jameses mentioned in the NT, and half of them are easily ruled out. A disciple named Judas had a dad named James, but he’s only mentioned to distinguish Judas the son of James from the infamous Judas Iscariot (Ac 1:13; Lk 6:16). It’s not likely Judas’s dad wrote this authoritative letter, received as Scripture by the Church.
Another one of the twelve disciples was James the son of Alphaeus, but he is a relatively minor figure, mentioned in lists of the twelve disciples (cf. Mark 3:18; Matt 10:3; Luke 6:15). He was probably too unknown to write such an authoritative letter.
James the son of Zebedee seems like a strong possibility at first because he was the more well-known of the two disciples named James. This James was one of the first disciples Jesus called (Matt 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20). He was a member of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples: Peter, James, and John. James and John were brothers, the ones Jesus dubbed “the Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17), and John wrote a gospel, three epistles, and Revelation.
However, this James was also one of the first to die for his faith in Christ. Luke tells us, “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (Acts 12:1–3).
That leaves James the brother of Jesus. Jesus had a brother named James according to Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. And Paul lists that James among the Apostles when he describes his first steps after his conversion: “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [i.e., Peter] and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:18–19).
James the brother of Jesus became a prominent leader in the Jerusalem church. He had the authority and recognition needed to author a letter like this and to introduce himself simply as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
But that makes his introduction even more striking. Notice what he doesn’t say. This would be the perfect opportunity to name-drop, but James doesn’t mention his biological relationship to Jesus. That connection provided James with no merit, no privileged status, no spiritual standing or authority in the Church. What mattered for James—and what matters for you—is relating to Jesus by faith.
And we know from the Gospel accounts that James and his other brothers did not initially believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Mark tells us that Jesus’ own family was embarrassed and thought he was crazy: “And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21). John, too, describes a time when Jesus’ brothers advised Jesus to promote himself. Maybe they were trying some reverse psychology when they couldn’t shut him up. John exposes the root of their misguided motives: “For not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5).
That makes the words of James in James 1:1 all the more astonishing. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Not James, the brother of Jesus. James, a servant [literally a slave] of Jesus. The author of this letter is a trusted guide in the transforming power of God’s grace because he is an exhibit of that grace. He speaks from personal experience when he writes, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6).
James’s biological relationship to Jesus makes it especially remarkable that James speaks of Jesus the way he does. When he calls Jesus “the Lord Jesus Christ,” he identifies his brother as the Christ, which is not a name, but a title meaning God’s Anointed One. And when he calls him Lord, he claims Jesus is the rightful King of the world.
He puts the Lord Jesus on the same plane as God himself when he calls him “our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1). Glory is a divine attribute, and God is called the “King of glory” in Psalm 24:10: “Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!”
Like a good Jew, James is passionate about the oneness of God: “There is only one lawgiver and judge” (James 4:12; cf. James 2:19). And yet James clearly identifies Jesus as that Judge: “The coming of the Lord is at hand. … Behold, the Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:8–9).
What did it take for this biological half-brother of Jesus to become convinced that Jesus is God and Lord? We don’t know the details of James’ conversion, but Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that after Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve disciples, then to a crowd of five hundred (1 Cor 15:5–6). And verse 7 says, “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”
By God’s grace, James went from a skeptic to a “servant of God.” That phrase not only indicates his humble submission to Jesus as Lord, it also points to James’s authority as an apostle. The phrase “servant of God” is a common designation in the OT for two men in particular: Moses and David. In fact, every time the OT refers to Moses as “the servant of God,” it’s always to underscore the authority of the Law he gave. Here’s one example from Daniel 9:11: “All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.” The voice of God and the Law of Moses are synonymous because Moses was “the servant of God.”
Likewise, God calls King David “my servant” over 20 times in the OT. So when James calls himself “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he is claiming apostolic authority to address God’s people on behalf of God himself. And that is why you should pay attention to the Letter of James.
One more thing. While James doesn’t mention his blood relationship to Jesus, he does refer to his audience as “my brothers” or “my beloved brothers” eleven times. James finally came to understand what Jesus meant in Luke 8: “And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.’ But he answered them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’” (Luke 8:20–21).
What matters the most is responding to Jesus in faith. Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Then James and Jesus call you brother or sister.
God’s People
In verse 1, James identifies his audience with a brief phrase packed with significance: “To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (James 1:1). What does that mean? You have to know the story to make sense of that, just like you have to know the story to know what “the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring” means.
The nation of Israel consisted of twelve tribes, one for each of Jacob’s sons. But because of King Solomon’s disobedience and idolatry, God divided the Kingdom of Israel in two (1 Kgs 11:9–13): Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Later, the Assyrians invaded Israel and carried the northern tribes into exile. And then the Babylonians invaded Judah and took the southern kingdom into exile.
James refers to “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion,” which is capitalized in the ESV. The Greek word is diaspora, and the Diaspora refers to the dispersion of the Jewish people outside of the land of Israel. The Diaspora began with the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities in the 8th and 6th centuries BC respectively. But many of the prophets foretold that God would gather his scattered people into one:
“Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.”
—Ezekiel 37:21–22
The NT only heightens our expectation of the fulfillment of that eschatological promise. First, Jesus chose twelve disciples, which points to Jesus as the one who would gather the scattered people of God into one and re-establish the twelve tribes. Jesus made this explicit when he said to his twelve disciples: “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).
In Revelation 7, John has a vision of the Christian Church, presented as the twelve tribes of Israel. He heard a symbolic number: 144,000, or 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes. But when he turned and looked with his eyes, “Behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, … crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9–10).
And in Revelation 21, John saw the Church as the New Jerusalem: “It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, … and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed …. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:12–14).
What does all of that mean? I think Douglas Moo is correct: “By calling his readers ‘the twelve tribes,’ then, James claims that they constitute the true people of God of the ‘last days.’”
James was most likely writing to Jewish Christians who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out in Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen (Acts 11:19), but the Letter of James is for the entire Church. We can be sure that James himself believed this message was for the world. In Acts 15, James spoke at the foundational Jerusalem Council. After Paul’s first missionary journey, Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire heard the Gospel and came to faith in Jesus. But this provoked a controversy in Jerusalem, where some argued, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). When the Apostles and the elders gathered to consider the matter (Ac 15:6), Peter stood up and spoke: “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (Acts 15:11). Then Paul and Barnabas recounted the “signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles” (Ac 15:13).
And finally, James spoke. He cited the prophet Amos, “The words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old’” (Acts 15:15–18). James makes the connection: God’s promise to rebuild the tent of David, to repair the ruins of Jerusalem, to gather the scattered tribes of Israel was a massive promise that included God’s intention to save Jews and Gentiles through faith in Christ Jesus.
If that was James’ conviction, then it is right for us to see ourselves as those who are included in the true Israel of God because of our union with Christ through faith. And the Spirit-inspired message of the Letter of James is meant for you.
God’s Grace
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings” (v. 1).
In Greek as in English, James uses a single word to express greetings. On one hand, there’s nothing special about this word. It’s the standard word used for greetings in typical letters of that day (cf. Ac 23:26).
The first thing that strikes us is how brief the greeting is compared to other NT letters. Peter begins his first letter, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you” (1 Peter 1:2). And if you’re familiar with Paul, you know how his letters begin: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 2 Thess 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philem 1:3).
James, by contrast, begins with a word: “Greetings.” But what a greeting this is! The nature of a greeting is determined by who it comes from and the message it introduces.
Is it just me, or have spam calls and spam texts gotten out of control? And scammers have found ways to call from local numbers, which makes you think it might be someone you know. But a greeting from a scammer affects you in a vastly different way than a greeting from your husband or wife, or your mother, or your child away at college. “Hello! This is so-and-so calling from the IRS” just lands on you differently.
James’s greeting is significant because of who James is, as we’ve seen: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” When spoken by a Spirit-inspired Apostle to the people of God, the word carries more than a vague, general greeting.
It also establishes contact for a purpose. James has a message for his audience, and for you. I want to share three themes to look for in James.
A. Theology with Calluses
James has been criticized (and misunderstood) as a book lacking “theology.” If you search James for in-depth doctrinal treatments of the Church or the Holy Spirit or the Atonement, you won’t find anything.
But that doesn’t mean James is not theological. James is an intensely practical book. The letter contains over 50 commands in just over 100 verses. That’s a higher concentration of imperatives (commands) than any other book in the New Testament. James is concerned with action and application. But everything James says is firmly grounded in God’s character, God’s Word, and God’s work. That is, it’s theology applied.
When we consider the style of James’ letter, we shouldn’t be surprised to find such a highly concentrated dose of application. James reads less like a letter and most like a sermon. And proper preaching is applicational: it takes the truth of God’s Word and presses it or applies it (like a bandage or a coat of paint) to your life. James relentlessly applies God’s truth to your life.
This practical emphasis is reflected in James’ extensive use of vivid, earthy illustrations: storm-tossed waves, scorched wildflowers, mirrors, a lifeless corpse, a vanishing mist, and a patient farmer. James hits another level when he deals with sins of the tongue in chapter 3. There he speaks of horses with bits and bridles, ships guided by small rudders through stormy seas, blazing forest fires caused by tiny sparks, beasts and sea creatures tamed by man, springs of water, fig trees, and grapevines.
James is an earthy book, concerned with living out heavenly realities here on earth. It is, to borrow a phrase, theology with calluses. It’s theology that comes out your fingertips. It doesn’t stay up in your head as a devotional thought to think or down in your heart as a warm sentiment to feel. Truth is to be lived.
In fact, everyone is always living out his or her theology. James insists that the way you live is the truest indicator of what you believe. Theology will produce calluses or else it exists in your imagination only. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). As James says in 2:17, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James is concerned with living faith over dead faith (2:26), active faith over useless and ineffective faith (2:20, 22). That’s why we’re calling this series “Faith That Works.”
B. Life in Negative World
James’s original audience was acquainted with suffering. If they were Jewish Christians scattered by the persecution after Stephen’s death (cf. Acts 11:19), that was a traumatic, bewildering experience. James speaks to these scattered and dispersed people with pastoral wisdom and care. The first major theme James tackles is “the testing of your faith” (1:3), which comes “when you meet trials of various kinds” (1:2).
An author named Aaron Renn has recently attempted to explain some of the deep divides within Evangelicalism in terms of a cultural shift to what he calls “negative world.”
In Positive World (America pre-1994), the broader culture held a mainly positive view of Christianity. It was a positive thing to be known as a churchgoer and Christian moral norms were widely assumed.
Neutral World was roughly 1994–2014, when “society [took] a neutral stance toward Christianity.” Being a Christian was no longer a benefit, but it didn’t hurt either. “Christian moral norms retain[ed] some residual effect.”
Now we live in Negative World. Renn writes, “Society has come to have a negative view of Christianity. Being known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the elite domains of society. Christian morality is expressly repudiated and seen as a threat to the public good and the new public moral order. Subscribing to Christian moral views or violating the secular moral order brings negative consequences.”
This is not uncharted territory in Church history, but it is a new development for American Christians old enough to remember life before the early 90s. The Letter of James is full of wisdom and grace from God to help you navigate life in Negative World. Like the original recipients of this letter, many of you have literally been scattered. In the last four years, we’ve added members from states like Minnesota, California, Washington, and New York.
James has a powerful message for Christians who suddenly face unfamiliar trials and testing. What God is doing in the world and what he will do in the end is not jeopardized by the current cultural upheaval or the intensified opposition you sense. James calls for steadfastness and provides the promises to make it so : “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 1:12).
C. Christ for All of Life
One of our values as a church—one which we share in common with all Sovereign Grace Churches—is the centrality of the gospel. And one of the major points of emphasis of the gospel-centered movement has been to define the gospel carefully and to articulate the gospel clearly. We must never forget the good news that Christ died for our sins.
However, we find no such statement of the atonement or justification in James. This does not mean that James is not “gospel centered.” In fact, I propose that James is one of the books most needed at this moment in churches like ours that value gospel-centrality. And here’s why. Emphasizing that the gospel is central is vital, but it is also necessary to define the perimeter. If we don’t define that, we risk confusing gospel-onlyism for gospel-centrality, where it’s enough to say that Jesus died for our sins without working out gospel implications.
The gospel is the center of what? The answer according to James is all of life.
Your trials and afflictions no matter how small or how big (1:2; 5:7–11)
Your finances (1:9–11; 5:1–6)
Your battle with besetting temptations and sin (1:13–15)
Your enjoyment of material gifts (1:17)
Your tongue (1:19; 3:1–12)
Your conflict and anger (4:1–12)
Your future (4:13–17)
Your commitments (5:12)
And though James’s purpose was not to explain the doctrine of atonement, his letter is saturated with the words of Christ. Listen to Doug Moo again:
“James depends more than any other NT author on the teaching of Jesus. … He weaves Jesus’ teaching into the very fabric of his own instruction. Again and again, the closest parallels to James’s wording will be found in the teaching of Jesus—especially as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. And the topics he addresses as well as the particular slant that he takes on these topics mimics Jesus’ own emphasis. The author of the letter seems to have been so soaked in the atmosphere and specifics of Jesus’ teaching that he can reflect them almost unconsciously.”
James will help you press the teachings of Christ into the perimeters of your life.
Conclusion
So, if theology and life ever seem disconnected for you, if you want to make progress in living out your faith, then listen attentively to the message of James, receive it with faith, and do it by God’s grace.