Search the Scriptures

James 5:13-20
The Prayer of Faith
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Reflections:

When we are suffering - we should pray.
When we are happy - we should sing praise to God.
When we are sick - we should call the elders to pray over us and anoint us with oil. (Why oil?)
“In the name of the Lord” - It is Jesus who heals and forgives; it is the prayer of faith in Jesus that will make us well and our sins forgiven.
Christ heals through the elders of the church by prayer and anointing with oil. ~ Who are the elders of the church? One thing we can infer from verse 16 – he must be a righteous person, not self righteous but one who exhibits holiness in life, having been declared righteous through faith in Christ by the grace of God, and pursuing a life a holiness by the power of the Spirit. Elijah was used as an illustration of the power of prayer who through his faith stopped the rain for three and half years. And James says he was a man just like us! The power of prayer, even like that of Elijah’s, is ours if we exercise faith. But the condition is that we must be righteous.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”.

Ancient painting of Job

James 5:1-12
Warning to the Rich

1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering
7Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9Do not grumble against one another, brothers,so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Reflection:

The outstanding fact underlying James’ warnings to the rich is this:
Their wealth is perishable; their injustice to the poor and to their workmen will have an eternal consequence – God’s judgement.

The fact underlying James’ counsel (Be patient, stand firm and persevere) to the oppressed is this:
The Lord who is full of compassion and mercy is coming again with justice.

Particular warnings:
Do not store up treasures that can perish, and avoid living luxuriously and indulgently. To the employers: Don’t fail to pay wages!

Don’t grumble against each other because we will be judged.

Grounds for joyful peace of mind:
Perseverance will have its reward. Remember Job?

Above all, do not swear. (Matter of the tongue again) State a matter plainly; do not in any way manipulate the truth. We must speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Scripture James 4:11-17 NLV

Warning against Judging Others

11 Don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. 12 God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?

Reflection

Q: Why is criticizing others equated with condemning God’s law?

It’s God’s law that points out our sins, in a sense its God’s law that should do the criticizing. When we criticize others by slandering or gossiping we put ourselves in God’s position as judge and we violate God’s commandment to love one another. We are also commanded not to testify falsely against our brothers/sisters. Our disobedience to love shows our disregard for God’s law and therefore ‘condemn’ it by setting ourselves above it.

Scripture:
Warning about Self-Confidence

13 Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Reflection

Our attitude about tomorrow should be that of – “God willing”. God holds our future, we simply can’t and don’t know what tomorrow holds. When we boast about tomorrow and our plans as if we are in control, it shows that we are not depending on and trusting in God completely. Pride might be lurking! Such boasting is in James’ word – evil.
V17 – Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
If we took seriously the definition of sin here, it would mean:
Every time we keep quiet and remain unaffected about evil, injustice, sin, and all that is in contrary to God’s expressed will, we sin.
Every time we refrain from helping when we can, a helpless person in our path, we sin.

If I know what I ought to do, I must do it.

The difference it would make if we take seriously this definition of sin – We’d be all doers of the word and not just hearers only!

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife; Guido RENI; c.1631; oil on canvas; Pushkin Museum, Moscow

James 4 (English Standard Version)
Warning Against Worldliness

1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? 6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Reflection:

One of the reasons we don’t get what we ask from God is because we ask with the wrong motive – selfish motive.
What does ‘friendship with the world’ mean?
From verses 1-3: Being materialistic, jealous, envious, violent, selfish, and living for own pleasure.
“Friendship with the world is enmity with God” – v3
Worldly-mindedness makes us enemies of God: if by ‘worldly’ we mean an anti God world view and Godless attitude. “Enemy can be reconciled, not enmity.” God can forgive sinners, but he cannot condone sins.
“Natural corruption shows itself by envying.” - M.Henry
Verses 4-7 gives us the Seven steps to spiritual recovery:
1. Submit to God – set our mind to do His will
2. Resist the devil – say ‘no!’ and he will flee!
3. Draw near to God – and He will draw near! Pray and read His words.
4. Cleanse our hands – “Go and sin no more.”
5. Purify our hearts – Look inside, examine, confess our sins and be assured of His forgiveness.
6. Repent and mourn for our sins – joy comes in the morning, for his mercy is like new every morning! We either mourn now or mourn in eternity!
7. Humble ourselves before the Lord –
The process of the steps to spiritual recovery can be painful but let the truth of verse 10 encourage us – “and He will exalt us!” He will empower us with His Spirit to live a new life as we draw near to Him in humility.

Christ and the woman caught in adultery by Pieter Bruegel 1525?-1569

Scripture: James 3:13-18

Wisdom from Above

13Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Reflection:

The marks and the results of the two kinds of wisdom contrasted:

1. The marks of wisdom from above are:

Good conduct, meek, pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere–resulting in harvest of righteousness.

2. The marks of the earthly, unspiritual and demonic wisdom are:

Bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, boastful and false to the truth –resulting in disorder and every vile practice.

What kind of wisdom did Christ show? What marks of wisdom do I exhibit in my life?

James 3 (English Standard Version)

Taming the Tongue
1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Meditation

Verses 1-12
James actually discouraged undue eagerness to take up teaching God’s word because teachers are judged more strictly. It is so not easy to be consistent with words. Our tongues have the power for both good and evil.
The power of the tongue is clearly shown in that it cannot be tamed, it is liken to the bits in horses’ mouth, the rudder on the ship, a spark that causes the forest fire, and it cannot be tamed! “Hell knows no fury like a woman’s scorn”, so goes the saying. To be fair similar things can be said of men’s violent words when they are enraged.
The malignity of the tongue is also clearly shown by the fact that both lies and truth can come out of the same tongue, so are cursing and blessing. We bless and praise God with the same tongue that curses people who are made in God’s image. James shows that this is ‘monstrously unnatural’ by posting the questions in verses 11 and 12:
“11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”
I must be careful in what I say lest I allow it to be the ‘deadly poison’ that corrupts the whole body. God cannot be mocked. I must not grieve the Holy Spirit in me by my careless words.

"Slander is worse than cannibalism."
- St. John Chrysostom

The Sacrifice of Isaac by Andrea Mantegna 15th c




James 2:14-26 ESV

14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God. 24You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Reflection:

Empty faith is: Words without action, profession without performance.
True faith is revealed when it is put in action.
Mission and social charity works must accompany each other, especially when ministering to the poor and needy. We must take care of the whole person - body, mind and soul.
The examples of Abraham and Rehab show that faith is obedience in action, not in words. Interestingly they should be mentioned side by side, one is a great patriarch to both the Jews and the Muslims, father of faith to the Christians, and the other was a prostitute – one among many in the hall of fame for their faith. (Hebrews 11)Both are regarded as righteous on account of thier obedient faith.
The relation between faith and work is just like that of the body and spirit, without the spirit the body is dead, likewise without work our faith is dead and useless.
How does my faith differ from that of the demons’?
Demons’ ‘faith’ does not result in good deeds. My faith in Christ should result in good deeds with pure motives, seeking to please God in gratitude to His saving grace and to show to whom we now belong. We can do good deeds without faith, but we cannot have true faith without good deeds.
Demons may promote good deeds as long as they can convince us that good deeds alone will result in our salvation or promote us to the next level or a better next life. They would want us to think that God can accept us on account of our good deeds apart from our faith, that they somehow will cancel our debt of sins. It is in their nature (fallen nature) to contradict God.

Paul says we can be saved by faith apart from work – i.e. not by obeying the law.
James says we cannot be saved by faith that is not accompanied by good works. (Unless we die right after we believe – like one of the thieves on Jesus’ side on the cross. Well, he did reprimand the other unbelieving thief if you can call that faith in action.)
There is no contradiction between Paul and James. Good work is not the reason but the result of our salvation - that which is by grace through faith in Christ alone.