The Book of James
- General Epistle {one of eight}
- First Order
- Not written to a specific church
- Not written to a specific person
- Second Order
- All of the NT is written by God to All of the NT Church, which lived at the time or thereafter
- All of the OT is written by God to All of the OT & NT Church, which lived at the time or thereafter
- Our expectation ought to be to hear God speak to us through the preaching of His Word
- Author is God through James the oldest half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ
- Like the Apostle Paul, James initially rejected Jesus
- Leader of the church in Jerusalem/Council that dealt with and settled the controversy at Galatia
- Martyred ~ 62 A.D. {thrown off one of the temple walls then beaten to death with a club
- Written ~ 44 – 49 A.D. which makes it the earliest book of the NT
- Immediate audience was primarily Jewish Christians, especially those dispersed because of persecution, written from a distinctly Jewish perspective // to the great diaspora of Israel & Judah, but not for Judgment resulting from the breaking of the Law but rather of God’s Grace to the Gentiles
- Character of the literature
- Epistle for circulation
- Sermon
- Proverbs
- Proverbs:OT as James:NT – less formal theological development than many of the other books of the NT yet more stress on lived application (doctrine/praxis, belief/behavior, truth & love/obedience)
- Powerful driving toward obedience & godly living
- Actual/realized fruit/proof of genuine saving faith not merely potential
- Interpretive challenges
- Relationship between faith & works
- Nature of the healing promised by God: Spiritual and/or Physical
- Themes
- Perseverance in the midst of trials/temptations/sufferings/persecutions
- Single-mindedness (same mind as our Lord Jesus Christ)
- Vain v. true religion
- Proper/God glorifying use of the tongue
- The Final Judgment as encouragement for right living
- Absolute centrality of God in the cosmos and in the truly Christian worldview
- Noteworthiness of its extremely late official acceptance/recognition by the Church – WHY????
James 1:1
James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. {2 …my brethren,…}