James 1:1
“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.”
James begins his letter by introducing himself, as the bondservant of both God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. A bondservant was a slave to his master. In the Old Testament, when God gave rules concerning slaves, He said that one could have a slave for six years, after which they were to be freed, after having received liberal supplies from the master. If, however, the slave chose to remain in the service of his master, he could do so – that was a choice he was making. Likewise, James had been freed from the bondage to sin, but had chosen to remain a bondservant to God, and to Jesus Christ, serving God by taking the gospel to those who hadn’t heard.
He then reveals the audience of his epistle – the 12 tribes (the Jews), who were scattered abroad. During the times of the early church, there was persecution against the church as recorded in Acts 8:1, “At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” After introducing himself and his audience, he greets them.
James 1:2-4
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James then goes on to encourage the believers to consider it all joy when they face trials on account of their faith in Christ. He assures them that when their faith is tested, it would result in patience. It’s strange that there’s nothing that teaches us patience, as much as problems and difficulties in life do. He goes on to say that one should not try to cut short the trouble, by escaping from it before it does its work in our lives. It’s always a temptation to escape troubles that come our way, and while we are supposed to try to solve problems in our lives, there are times when the only solution to our problems or challenges is to go through them, because it’s only in going through them that we learn important lessons about life – lessons we will never forget, and that will stand us in good stead as we live each day. We never overcome what we never undergo. These lessons are not learned in the comfort of our homes, schools, colleges or mountaintops, but are rather learned in the school of walking daily with Jesus, no matter what, no matter where.
These trials are what teach us patience. One doesn’t need patience when things go well. We need patience when things aren’t going well, and everything around us seems to scream, “Quit.” In fact, patience is one of the first and most important character traits that every believer needs to develop in his life. Paul, when describing love in 1 Corinthians 13:4, says, “Love suffers long,” or in another version, “Love is patient.” In our effort to relate with people in love, we will face struggles in life, and instead of quitting when the going gets tough, we need to learn to stand strong and develop patience, and here’s why. James goes on to say that if these trials are to serve a purpose then it is patience that helps this to happen. He says, “Let patience have its perfect work.” What work does patience complete in our lives as individuals, and as The Church at large?
James says, “That you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” This means that when we stand the test of trials, and develop patience, we will be perfect and complete and lack nothing. Jesus said that our goal should be to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). Again Paul says in Hebrews 2:10, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” So if Jesus, who is our role model was made perfect through sufferings, then so must we be made perfect through suffering as well.
James goes on to say that when we are perfected we will lack nothing. He’s not talking about material abundance or prosperity here – he’s talking about growing in the character and image of Christ. It’s only when we don’t learn the lessons that trials were meant to teach us that we end up lacking in Christ-like character.
Paul had this to say about tribulations in Romans 5:1-5: 1“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
James 1:5-8
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James goes on to say that if anyone lacks wisdom, he can ask God for wisdom. At first reading this might seem like a totally disconnected thought from the previous thought, on developing patience through trials, but this is really connected and we’ll see how.
Every believer will go through trials on account of their faith in Jesus, but this does not mean that every believer will handle the trials well enough, to learn the lessons the trials were meant to teach. It’s only those who have the wisdom to recognize the lessons that trials were meant to teach, that learn them; the others will quit, and learn nothing in the process, and therefore not grow in their relationship with the Lord, and in the likeness of His character. It’s to those people that James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” Notice that he doesn’t ask us to pray our trials will disappear, like most of our present-day prayers are about, but rather that we will have the wisdom to learn the lessons that these trials were meant to teach us. God is the source of this wisdom, therefore we need to ask Him for wisdom.
He goes on to say that not only is God the source of wisdom, but also adds that God will give wisdom to all who ask. There’s no indicator here that wisdom is available to a select few – it’s available to all who ask. Asking for wisdom is a good thing, and so we can be assured that God will give it to us if only we ask.
He also adds that God will give wisdom liberally – not with limits. God is liberal in everything He gives – He never holds back anything good from His children, especially when our goal is to love Him, and walk with Him, He will give liberally.
He then says, not only will God give wisdom to all, and liberally, but also that He will do so without reproach – without finding fault with us. Very often we assume that God deals with us based on the way we deal with one another. At times, when we’ve asked someone for something, instead of our requests being granted, we’ve actually been reproved for the request, or made to feel unworthy of the thing we were requesting. We sometimes think God relates with us the same way people do. But James reminds us that God does not find fault with us when we ask for wisdom – He will give it to us liberally without finding fault.
He then adds a caution to us who ask God for wisdom. We need to ask for wisdom believing that the Lord will give it to us. He reiterates that we should not doubt that He will give it to us. We can be sure the Lord will give us things that are good for us and for our relationship with Him, and for one another, and there’s no need to doubt that God will answer that request.
Sometimes we find ourselves faltering between faith and doubt, where one moment we seem to be filled with faith that God will give us what we ask, and another moment, we think or feel that He won’t. It’s to such of us that James says, “He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” He uses an analogy of the waves of the sea that roll whichever direction the winds blow. James says that if our faith is not strong and steadfast, then we can be sure we can receive nothing from the Lord. He calls such people double-minded, and unstable in all their ways in life.
James seems to be saying in no uncertain terms that if we are to learn anything from trials, we need to have the wisdom that enables us to learn these lessons, and if we lack the wisdom, we can ask God who will give it to us liberally, and not find fault. And finally that we need to be firm in our faith when we ask for wisdom, because it’s the prayer of faith that gets answered.
For the Audio Version of this study on YouTube, click here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI7KSbZ6TLo&list=PLK5k2WsZdYlczQSZmDUu9Uy9elVKk4bts&index=4&t=6s
