All Commmentary in this is entirely my own!
Jas 1:1-27
(1) James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Here we see James introducing himself, and it is important to notice that James is not addressing gentile Christians but fellow Jewish believers – members of the Children of Israel.
(2) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
(3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
(4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
How many of us truly can say that we rejoice in temptation? Do we not more turn around and complain at what we are going through rather than seeing the end result? Yet James says here we are to rejoice when temptations come our way- beware though brethren James is not saying to rejoice when we give into temptation, but rather to rejoice when temptation comes our way.
Mal 3:3
(3) And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
When refining silver the refiner is next to the silver every step of the way, and as the fire heats up around the silver gradually the dross rises to surface and the refiner skims it off the top, eventually nor more dross will rise to the surface and the silver is ready to create whatever thing the refiner chooses to make from the pure silver. At this stage the Silver is so pure a clean that the refiner can see his face reflected perfectly in the silver. So it is with God, even when we go through various temptations know that God is right there next to you, crying with you, comforting you and gently nudging you on to bigger and better things. As the dross and filth of this world and sin rises to the surface of our lives so God gently skims them off and nudges us to do better, and thereby giving us the victory over our sins and problems one step at a time, until eventually he can reflected in our lives the righteousness of Christ our Saviour. At that point he is ready to make us into what we ought to be, as Sons and Daughters of the Most High. What Adam should have been….
Take notice there are two promises here also 1. We never go through the trials needlessly for they work patience in our lives
2. That we can become Perfect, and want nothing. Now there is some confusion in the ranks of English speaking Christians for the word want has two meanings (or maybe I should say two levels) 1. It can mean that something is necessary but not as great as a need or 2. It can mean that it is something we would like, not as strong as a desire but we it is nice to have. I like the word want, for when I read that I shall not want, in Psalm 23:2 I find that God is concerned not just with things that are urgent and I cannot survive without, but also that he is concerned with my puny, wishy washy that would be nice wants.
Psalm 20:1-4 Goes even further than that and states:
Psa 20:1-4
(1) To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
(2) Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
(3) Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
(4) Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
So here we see that even our hearts desires God is concerned to grant us. Now these cover things that are termed luxuries as well as necessities. So what we see James saying in actual fact is that God will bless us over and above anything we can imagine. That we never need anything, but this come after a time of trial and a time of discipline to see if we will follow God or not.
(5) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
(6) But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
(7) For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
(8) A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
(9) Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
(10) But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
(11) For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
(12) Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
(13) Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
(14) But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
In Proverbs Solomon tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and we see here also James is telling us to ask for wisdom if we lack it. However James also brings why many of us do not receive what we ask for. Verse 6 and verse 8 talk about wavering and being double minded, that is we ask but do not believe that we will get it, so what we do is we vasilate and say things like if it be thy will, and if things don’t look like they’re going our way we throw tantrums or we say see I told you that prayer doesn’t work, or I told you I’m not lucky. Words have power, and too often we go to God and we say ok God if you can please do XYZ, or else we get on our knees and we say God I know you can do XYZ please do it for me, and then we get up from our knees and we complain to those around us how bad our situation is and how nothing ever changes we pray and nothing happens, how God never seems to answer our prayers etc. and our words become self fulfilling prophecies because we are being double minded, we know (headknowledge) that God is good and that He can, but then we go around complaining and telling others that God won’t do what we’ve asked. James says that such a man is not even to think that he will receive anything from God. What we need to do is majorly shift our focus and fully surrender to God and trust that when God has promised to do something HE is faithful and just to fulfil his promises, but whatever we do we MUST NOT use our words to enforce our own defeat and lack of answers after God has promised that whatever we ask believing we already have.
The second half of these verse is beautiful, for James goes on to show us the root cause of our temptations – our own lusts, yet also points out what the end result is – A crown of life, if we endure and not give in, and be drawn away. Read revelation 21,22 for a fuller idea of whats instore for those who endure to the end.
(15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
(16) Do not err, my beloved brethren.
(17) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
(18) Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
(19) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
(20) For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
(21) Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Do you have your tongue under good regulation? Do you keep your body under regulation as Paul taught? For these things are a necessity to enduring temptation, which is why James here brings out that we are to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Does your temper flare easily? Give it to God for he can calm you down, do you speak too quickly? This advice my mother gave me as I was growing up is a good jusge of whether we should say something: Is it true? Is it nice? Is it necessary? In order to know if you should say something atleast being true and necessary must be fulfilled although you really should be nice in how you say it as well, so if there’s a nicer way to say something that is necessary use it. For remember that a Soft answer turneth away wrath.
(22) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
(23) For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
(24) For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
(25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
(26) If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
(27) Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
I will do a commentary on this part later on as part of commentary on some of chapter two for otherwise I shall end up repeating myself :D
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