Monday, November 11, 2019

James 1 - 3 NLT


Book of James
Summary of the Book of James
This summary of the book of James provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of James.
Author
The author identifies himself as James (1:1); he was probably the brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem council (Ac 15). Four men in the NT have this name. The author of this letter could not have been the apostle James, who died too early (a.d. 44) to have written it. The other two men named James had neither the stature nor the influence that the writer of this letter had.
James was one of several brothers of Christ, probably the oldest since he heads the list in Mt 13:55. At first he did not believe in Jesus and even challenged him and misunderstood his mission (Jn 7:2-5). Later he became very prominent in the church:
1.     He was one of the select individuals Christ appeared to after his resurrection (1co 15:7;).
2.     Paul called him a "pillar" of the church (gal 2:9).
3.     Paul, on his first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem, saw James (Gal 1:19).
4.     Paul did the same on his last visit (ac 21:18).
5.     When Peter was rescued from prison, he told his friends to tell James (ac 12:17).
6.     James was a leader in the important council of Jerusalem (ac 15:13).
7.     Jude could identify himself simply as "a brother of James" (jude 1:1), so well known was James. He was martyred c. a.d. 62.
Date
Some date the letter in the early 60s. There are indications, however, that it was written before a.d. 50:
1.     Its distinctively Jewish nature suggests that it was composed when the church was still predominantly Jewish.
2.     It reflects a simple church order -- officers of the church are called "elders" (5:14) and "teachers" (3:1).
3.     No reference is made to the controversy over Gentile circumcision.
4.     The Greek term synagoge ("synagogue" or "meeting") is used to designate the meeting or meeting place of the church (2:2).
If this early dating is correct, this letter is the earliest of all the NT writings -- with the possible exception of Galatians.
Recipients
The recipients are identified explicitly only in 1:1: "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations." Some hold that this expression refers to Christians in general, but the term "twelve tribes" would more naturally apply to Jewish Christians. Furthermore, a Jewish audience would be more in keeping with the obviously Jewish nature of the letter (e.g., the use of the Hebrew title for God, kyrios sabaoth, "Lord Almighty," 5:4). That the recipients were Christians is clear from 2:15:7-8. It has been plausibly suggested that these were believers from the early Jerusalem church who, after Stephen's death, were scattered as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Syrian Antioch (seeAc 8:111:19 and notes). This would account for James's references to trials and oppression, his intimate knowledge of the readers and the authoritative nature of the letter. As leader of the Jerusalem church, James wrote as pastor to instruct and encourage his dispersed people in the face of their difficulties (see essay, p. 2539).
Distinctive Characteristics
Characteristics that make the letter distinctive are: (1) its unmistakably Jewish nature; (2) its emphasis on vital Christianity, characterized by good deeds and a faith that works (genuine faith must and will be accompanied by a consistent lifestyle); (3) its simple organization; (4) its familiarity with Jesus' teachings preserved in the Sermon on the Mount (compare 2:5 with Mt 5:33:10-12 with Mt 7:15-203:18 withMt 5:95:2-3 with Mt 6:19-205:12 with Mt 5:33-37); (5) its similarity to OT wisdom writings such as Proverbs (see essay, p. 970); (6) its excellent Greek.

Outline
I.                  Greetings (1:1)
                               II.         Trials and Temptations (1:2-18)
A.    The Testing of Faith (1:2-12)
B.    The Source of Temptation (1:13-18)
                                               III.         Listening and Doing (1:19-27)
                             IV.         Favoritism Forbidden (2:1-13)
                              V.         Faith and Deeds (2:14-26)
                             VI.         Taming the Tongue (3:1-12)
                           VII.         Two Kinds of Wisdom (3:13-18)
                          VIII.         Warning against Worldliness (ch. 4)
 .      Quarrelsomeness (4:1-3)
A.    Spiritual Unfaithfulness (4:4)
B.    Pride (4:5-10)
C.    Slander (4:11-12)
D.    Boasting (4:13-17)
IX.         Warning to Rich Oppressors (5:1-6)
                              X.         Miscellaneous Exhortations (5:7-20)
 .      Concerning Patience in Suffering (5:7-11)
A.    Concerning Oaths (5:12)
B.    Concerning the Prayer of Faith (5:13-18)
C.    Concerning Those Who Wander from the Truth (5:19-20)


From the NIV Study Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, James
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.


James 1 NLT

1 This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings! 
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 
3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 
4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 
6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 
7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 
8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. 
9 Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them.
10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 
11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. 
12 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 
14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 
15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. 
16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 
17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. 
18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. 
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 
20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 
21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 
22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 
23For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 
24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 
25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 
27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.


James 2 NLT
1 My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? 
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 
3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 
4doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? 
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 
6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 
7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear? 
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 
9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. 
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 
11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. 
12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 
13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. 
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 
16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 
18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 
20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? 
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 
22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 
23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 
24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 
25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 
26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.


James 3 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 
2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. 
3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 
4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 
5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 
6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. 
7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 
9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 
10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 
11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 
12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. 
13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 
14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 
15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 
16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 
18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.