Letters to Scattered Christians

The letter that James wrote is one of the most practical of the writings of the New Testament. James may not develop the great truths of the gospel that Paul does in Romans, but he does discuss issues in which believers need to watch their behaviour and ensure that they live godly lives. James has two main concerns. First, in thinking of believers who are facing trials and temptations, he aims to encourage them in their difficulties and ensure they do not confuse their trials with temptations. His second concern is about our tongues. He covers many aspects of the way we speak and boast to one another, and he goes to the root of the problem when he says that the tongue is a world of iniquity that no man has ever been able to tame. In fact, from 1:19 until almost the end of his letter, James continually refers to the way we use our tongues.

Among the questions normally discussed in an introduction are date, writer and the people to whom the letter is addressed. Details about the writer and the people to whom he is writing will be given in the next section. As for the date, there are clear indications within the letter that it was written early in the history of the church. Certainly, it had to be written before AD62, the date of James’ martyrdom, but it was possibly written in the mid to late 40s. One reason for suggesting this is the absence of anything that can be construed as a reference to the Council of Acts 15. Further, the way James treats the question of faith and works may have stemmed from an attempt to counter the false teaching that developed from a misunderstanding of Paul’s teaching on justification by faith. There were people who argued that Paul’s teaching about God’s unlimited grace forgiving us all our sins meant that a person could believe and then sin as and when he wished and still expect that God would forgive him. Paul himself, in Romans 3:5-8, had to correct false rumours about the gospel he preached.

From the commentary on Chapter 1

James follows the normal custom of his day. He names himself as the writer, he names the recipients of the letter and he sends his greetings.

The writer

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. 1:1

This salutation is one of the shortest in the New Testament letters. But who is this James? Though there are four people in the New Testament who are called James, the writer is either the brother of John, son of Zebedee, or he is James, the brother of the Lord Jesus. James, son of Zebedee andbrother of John, was almost certainly martyred too early to be considered the author. The generally accepted belief since the third century has been that the writer was the brother of our Lord. More recently some have suggested that James was a pseudonym, but this is very unlikely. The only reasonable conclusion is that the writer is one of the Lord’s brothers about whom we read in the Gospels. At that stage, the brothers did not believe in Him as their comment recorded in John 7:5 shows. Arguments against this James, and in favour of a different author, are unconvincing. James does not mention his natural relationship to the Lord Jesus, claiming no privilege from being his brother. Connections according to the flesh are not used to increase the importance of the writer. In 2 Corinthians 5:16 Paul emphasises that though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him in this way no longer. Any relationship we have with Christ must be seen in spiritual terms; James does not attempt to gain precedence over others because of his natural birth. Neither does he emphasise his apostolic status or prominence within the church in Jerusalem. What he tells us is that he was a slave or servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who forget that they are servants of the Lord find themselves attempting to be in a position of importance which they should not be occupying. There is another possible translation for this part of the verse: “James, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God”. An acknowledgement like this of the deity of the Lord Jesus has support from such passages as Titus 2:13: and 2 Peter 1:1. However, it is more likely that James is thinking of himself as a servant of both God and of the Lord Jesus. To whom is James writing? He describes the recipients as people who belonged to the twelve tribes which were scattered abroad. The tone of the letter clearly indicates the Jewish background of those who were to receive the letter. James makes reference to the law in chapter 2. His comments about those who planned to go to another city and do business for the next year or so (4:13-16) applies readily to Jews who often moved to another town to conduct their business. Further, the concepts James uses are Jewish rather than Greek. When James speaks about wisdom in 2:13, he is thinking of the Jewish concept of wisdom—practical godly living—rather than the Greek idea of intellectual wisdom. His wisdom is the practical wisdom of Proverbs.