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James Background
As we begin to dig deeper into this letter from James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem during the time when Jesus had recently ascended to heaven and left His disciples with the command found in Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV) to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.”
We need to understand the position of being the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and in so, we will gain a better and more proper understanding of the letter in which we are attempting to interpret and learn from in its proper context. First of all, the congregation of the church in Jerusalem would have consisted primarily of Jews who had converted to Christianity. These people would have been living according to the Law given to Moses and striving to please God through keeping these commands. It would seem fitting that the primary concern of the pastor of this church would be in helping the congregation to understand that no longer is the way to righteousness through keeping the Law, but that Jesus, the Messiah, has been sent to fulfill the requirements of the Law through His perfect life, sinless death, and resurrection. What this means is that no longer is righteousness to be sought through works, but through faith in their risen Messiah. It must have been a daunting task to persuade a most strict group of people that no longer is following the Law, which has been their – and their ancestors way of life for several thousand years to come to an understanding that the Law was given to prove that one cannot keep all the requirements of the Law and prove to be righteousness in God’s eyes, but that through Jesus, the Son of God, whom He sent for this very purpose is the only one through which the requirements of the Law are satisfied, proving Him to be the prophesied Messiah. Yet when this letter was written, about 45 A.D., many of these people would have been alive when Jesus was conducting His earthly ministry. They may have witnessed miracles that Jesus performed; they may have been witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and the events that took place during His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. These people believed in the saving power of Jesus, but most likely they believed in a sort of adjoining of the Law in that doing good works in a continuing to keep the commands of the Law was just as important as having faith in Jesus. But this is where it gets complicated as having faith in Jesus is not an abandoning of the teachings of the Law as many things in the Law were continued to be vital parts of how a Christian should conduct themselves as a born-again follower of Jesus. But the Law was given to show them the reality of sin in their lives, that when the Messiah comes, they would recognize the importance of accepting Him and the forgiveness that He comes to provide for them to salvation and eternal life. The connection that James is seeking to make in his letter is that having faith in Jesus and making a commitment to opening their hearts to Him will receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to purify one’s heart, which is where one’s true self is grounded. 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV) states, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” Proverbs 27:19 (ESV) states, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” Jeremiah 24:7 (NIV) states, “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” Ezekiel 18:30c-31a (HCSB) states, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so they will not be a stumbling block that causes your punishment. Throw off all the transgressions you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:21 (NKJV), “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus tells us in Matthew 15:18-20a (KJV), “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man:…” The Apostle Peter proclaimed in Acts 15:8-9 (NIV), “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3:15a (ESV), “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,…” The Apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:18-19 (NKJV), “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.”
James is trying to teach in his letter that the purity of one’s heart, which is only accomplished through the forgiveness that Jesus provides, is the key to doing works that are pleasing to God in righteousness. It appears that many of the early believers were convinced that in their salvation in the Messiah was an end to the requirement; they thought that in accepting Jesus as their Savior, nothing more was needed of them and they could live life as they saw fit – because they believe in Jesus as the Messiah, they were required to do nothing more in faith; no requirements of works was further needed.
The change that they needed to become aware of is that works is not the means to gain salvation and righteousness in the eyes of God, but that works are necessary to show or prove their faith in God through their salvation in Jesus, the gift of God sent to save the world from sin. It is this context in which James writes his letter to those believers that had been scattered throughout the land, that they would be active in showing their faith to the glory of God.
It is this mindset that we need to have as we enter into this study of the letter in which James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem has written so that we too would not be idle in showing our faith in our Savior Jesus.
Dear LORD,
Please help us to see that James, the brother of Jesus, is trying to teach us that in being a Christian we must be active in our lives for Jesus; we must show others Your great love as it flows through us in the actions/works that we should be striving for in being an example and reflection of our Savior Christ Jesus. Please help us to see that it is not by doing good works that we earn or gain salvation, but that doing good works is a reflection of our salvation in the gift that You offer to all who will repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. In Jesus name I pray, amen.