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Posts in The Epistle of James

“Wisdom from Above” The Seventh in a Series on the Book of James (James 3:13-4:3)

What Does It Mean to Be a “Doer?”

In the opening chapter of his epistle, James exhorts us to be “doers” of the word and not to remain mere hearers only. In the second chapter, James tells us that good works are the necessary fruit of a justifying faith. But that, of course, raises the question, “just what, exactly, does it mean to be a “doer of the word?” What kind of good works give evidence of a justifying faith?

In the third chapter of his epistle, James addresses a number of specific issues which were plaguing the churches to which he is writing. When James exhorts Christians to act in line with their profession of faith in Christ, James is actually informing his reader what it means to “do.” James also describes some of the good works which should stem from our faith in Christ. Doing the word means taming our tongues (controlling our speech), because our words can be so destructive. Doing the word also means seeking true wisdom from above, because this wisdom enables us to live in peace with one another, and will help us in the struggle to get our sinful natures under control. In doing these things, we demonstrate that we are not “mere” hearers of the word, and we will also manifest those good works which James says are the sign of saving faith.

Seeking Wisdom “from Above”

We move into the last part of chapter 3 and the opening verses of James chapter 4, where James directs his readers to the importance of seeking heavenly wisdom from above. In order to “do” we need to know what to do, as well as “how” to do it. As James will explain to his audience, when Christians live in light of God’s wisdom–and stop relying upon our own passions–we will live in such a way that our lives will be characterized by what James calls a “harvest of righteousness.” We will be at peace with our brothers and sisters, and God will help us to keep our sinful passions in check. But should we insist upon following our own sinful passions, our behavior will remain unchecked, and our churches will suffer the consequences–quarrels, disputes, and chaos.

As James spells out some of the specific issues facing the churches to which he is writing, the brother of our Lord identifies one of the chief culprits for their troubles as earthly ways of thinking and doing (worldliness). From the circumstances to which James alludes, apparently, the churches of the dispersion were facing great internal disorder and chaos, they were quarreling and fighting with each other, there was jealousy among the members, there was discrimination against the poor, and favoritism shown toward the rich–and this in addition to a number of other things catalogued by James. So, while James will identify jealousy, ambition, boasting, along with a number of other sinful human actions as stemming from that which is earthly (worldliness), it is not a stretch to see that all of the sinful behavior which James describes, and which Christians must strive to correct, stems from a reliance upon that which seems to be right to us (and therefore based upon our own wisdom), but which conflicts with the law of God (in which the wisdom of God is on display).

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerApril 15, 2026James 3:13-4:3, Wisdom from God, Human Wisdom Comment

“The Tongue -- It Boasts of Great Things” The Sixth in a Series on the Book of James (James 3:1-12)

Fire–An Ever-Present Danger

If you live in Southern California, you are far too familiar with frightening scenes of wind-driven brush fires consuming everything in their path. When a brush fire strikes, vital watershed, expensive properties and homes are destroyed in minutes. People and animals are displaced, the skies turn black, and panic is the rule of the day. And yet as James reminds us, a more painful kind of damage can be done almost instantaneously by the human tongue. The words which we speak are capable of great destruction. Just as a small spark can create a horrific fire, our words can inflict great personal pain, or even destroy someone’s reputation which they’ve worked a lifetime to build. And then there is the fact that our words reveal how deeply and thoroughly sin resides in our hearts. The words which we speak reveal to everyone our deepest thoughts, they uncover our true character, and they expose how wise we may or may not be. A brush fire causes great havoc and damage. But the damage done by a fire often pales in comparison to the damage which can be done by the human tongue.

A Bit of Level-Setting

When we left off last time, we discussed one of the most controversial passages in all the Bible–James 2:14-26. In that passage, James makes his case that a living faith (i.e., a justifying faith) is a faith which inevitably manifests itself in good works. James has carefully set out the cause and effect relationship between regeneration, faith, and good works. In James 1:18, our Lord’s brother told us that God has brought us forth (regeneration) through the word of truth (the gospel). In verse 21, James speaks of how that same word has been implanted in our souls, inevitably giving rise to faith (James 2:1). Believers are to receive that word with meekness and humility. And that same word, which is able to save our souls is also to be obeyed. Says James in verse 22 of chapter one, “be doers of the word and not mere hearers only.”

In James 2:10, James tells us that the law of God exposes all of us to be sinners. If we break but a single commandment, we are as guilty as though we had broken every commandment. Sin but a single time and God regards us as law-breakers. And yet, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law through his own perfect obedience to the Lord’s commandments. Because Jesus Christ has died for all of those times we have failed to keep the law, for the Christian, the law is now described as a “law of liberty.” As James puts it, the Christian who gazes upon the law perseveres during trials. Such a person is a doer who acts. But the one who only hears, but does not do, is like someone who looks at himself in a mirror and then immediately forgets what he looks like. The law exposes sin, reckons people law-breakers, and smokes out those who are mere hearers of the word only. When such people make a profession of faith in Christ, that profession is not accompanied by good works. They may claim to follow Christ, but give no hint of actually following him. They “hear” but they do not “do.”

When it comes to the matter of justification, James is answering the question “how can we tell if someone’s faith has justified them?” Says James, “show me your faith apart from works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God, and Abraham was reckoned as righteous before God (justified). But as James points out, Abraham’s “faith was active along with his works, and his faith was completed by his works” (v. 22). James’s point is that the faith which justifies is a living and active faith which, in turn, produces good works. This is what James is getting at when he says “you see that a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone” (v. 24). If someone claims to have faith in Christ, but gives no evidence (good works) of struggling to obeying God’s commandments, then whether or not they have truly trusted Christ remains an open question.

What Doers of the Word Are to Do

Having told his reader why good works are the necessary fruit of a justifying faith, James now begins a discussion of how true religion is manifested in the life of a Christian. In chapters 3-5, James addresses a number of topics. In the first twelve verses of chapter 3, James speaks of the destructive power of human speech (the tongue). This is our topic in this exposition. Then in verses 13-18 of chapter 3, James addresses the importance of seeking divine wisdom and the need to cease relying upon human wisdom. In chapter 4, James warns his reader of the danger of worldliness–in this case, fighting, quarreling and speaking evil of one another–before going on to warn his readers not to boast about tomorrow when they don’t know what tomorrow actually holds. James will then warn the rich not to trust in their riches, he exhorts his persecuted readers to be patient in the midst of their suffering, before closing the letter with a treatment of the prayer of faith. According to James, these are the acts of a pure and undefiled religion.

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerApril 1, 2026Janes 3:1-12, Taming the tongueComment

“Faith Apart from Works Is Dead” The Fifth in a Series on the Book of James (James 2:14-24)

James Versus Paul – A Needless Controversy

It would be hard to find a passage of Scripture which is more controversial than James 2:14-26. The reason for the controversy is James’s assertion in verse 24 that “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” This seems to fly in the face of a number of passages in Paul’s letters where Paul appears to be saying the exact opposite thing. Take, for example, Galatians 2:16. “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” Those who believe that the justification of sinners is a process which is not complete until death (Rome), view James’s remarks here as a classic proof-text which supports this view. Rome and its allies claim that Justification is by faith plus works, or through the merit of the works faith produces. They claim that Paul’s comments about justification must be understood in the light of James 2.

But those who see justification as an instantaneous declaration made about the sinner because the merits of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are imputed (or credited) to them through the means of faith, can appear to stumble over James’s declaration that works are somehow tied to justification, and that we are not justified by faith alone. But as we will see, James and Paul do not contradict each other. In fact, when James’s assertion is put in its proper context, there is nothing whatsoever in James 2 which conflicts with the doctrine of justification sola fide.

In this series, we have been making our way through the opening two chapters of the Epistle of James, and we now come to the second half of James chapter 2. I have mentioned throughout our series that this section of James is somewhat of a sore spot to confessional Protestants who champion Paul’s doctrine of justification. One reason for this is because when addressing justification, the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (Canon X)–Rome’s official response to the Protestant Reformation–teach that justification is a day to day process, depending upon how effectively people submit themselves to God’s grace so that they increase their justification over time, and hopefully, attain final justification. James 2:24 is cited by The Council of Trent as a proof-text supporting Rome’s view that justification is a process connected to the merit of our good works.

Granted, at first glance, James seems to be saying something quite different than Paul. And those who oppose the Reformation doctrine of justification often seize upon comments made by James in this chapter to prove that we are not justified by faith alone, but that we are justified by faith plus continual inward transformation, and the performance of good works which merit (earn) a reward from God.

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerMarch 18, 2026Faith and works, James 2:14-24, James v. PaulComment

“A Transgressor of the Law” The Fourth in a Series on the Book of James (James 2:1-13)

Christianity Is Fundamentally Different

Christianity is a revolutionary religion which utterly confounds those who do not have faith in Christ. Sinful human nature tells us that good people go to heaven and that bad people go to hell. But Christianity teaches that God justifies the wicked (Romans 4:5). Sinful human nature tells us that the standard by which we judge people is external: beauty, fame, accomplishments, power, and fortune. But Christianity teaches that God’s standard of judgment is the Ten Commandments.

In the first-century world in which the Epistle of James was written, society was dominated by social castes and wealthy land-owners. But James tells his audience that Christians must show no partiality, either to the rich, or to the poor. Furthermore, James points out how flawed human judgment can be when it comes to matters of sin and salvation. Sinful human nature tells us that people who have more good deeds than bad deeds somehow make it to heaven. But James tells us that God is not going to grade the final exam for eternal life on a curve–God’s passing mark is 100% perfect obedience. In fact, as James will point out, commit but a single sin, and God regards you as a law-breaker, guilty of breaking all of his commandments.

In this sense, Christianity is an utterly revolutionary religion because it completely levels the human playing field. All of us are sinners who deserve to be punished. This is why we have no business judging anyone else. God saves sinners based not upon their merits, but upon the merits of Christ. And once saved by the merits of Christ, all manner of good works spring forth. Non-Christians simply cannot understand this because this is so contrary to sinful human nature.

A Level Playing Field

Continuing our series on the Epistle of James, we now make our way into the first thirteen verses of James chapter 2. In this section of his epistle, James takes up a discussion of the evils of discrimination, in particular the way in which wealthy land-owners and merchants throughout Palestine and Syria were exploiting those in James’s audience who were suffering this persecution and hardship because of their loyalty to Christ. Many of those to whom this epistle is addressed–the twelve tribes of the diaspora (persecuted Jewish Christians)–had been cut off from all ties to family, work, and both the temple and the synagogue, because they became followers of Jesus. Evicted from the synagogue and rejected by their families, many joined newly formed house-churches, but were being looked down upon in these assemblies because of their poverty, an important pastoral matter James now addresses head-on.

In many ways, this section of James amounts to the author fleshing out several of the comments he made at the end of the first chapter. In verse 22, James exhorted his audience to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” In verse 27, James spoke of the need to show compassion to the poor. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Therefore, the theme of this next section of James–a theme to which James will return in chapter five–is that discrimination against the poor is a violation of the law of God.

Based upon what James has said in chapter one about those who hear the word but do not do the word, it is not a stretch to conclude that those who use worldly standards to judge each other in self-righteousness are actually self-deceived. The standard of measurement which counts is not someone’s opinion, or their sinful prejudices. The standard of measurement that God uses is his law. And when we are measured against that standard, all of us quickly realize that we are sinners.

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerMarch 4, 2026The Lord of Glory, How We Treat the Poor, James 2:1-13Comment

“The Law of Liberty” The Third in a Series on the Book of James (James 1:19-27)

Setting the Scene

In the most direct and pointed of terms, the Book of James exhorts Christians to do good works. According to James–the brother of Jesus–God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. One of these good and perfect gifts is the fact that God has brought his people forth from death to life through the means of his Word (the preaching of the gospel). But James goes on to point out that since believers have been brought to life through the preached Word, believers are therefore to obey that same Word which has given them life. James directs us not only to hear the Word, but do the Word. This simply means that we are to obey the commandments given by God to his people. We are to do this not to become Christians, but because we already are Christians. We will obey the commandments of God as revealed in the perfect law of liberty, because God has given us a living faith, which not only hears, but does.

Doers of the Word

As we continue our exposition of the Book of James, we now move into the last half of the first chapter (verses 19-27). In these verses, James makes the point that those who have been brought forth by God, need to obey the Word which has given them life. To put it yet another way, true, genuine, saving faith, necessarily leads to the production of good works. The relationship between the new birth and good works–an important theme in the Book of James—is an essential aspect of Christian doctrine. But this is also a topic about which many Christians are woefully confused. So we’ll begin by taking up the subject of the relationship between regeneration and good works in order to prepare us to make our way through verses 19-27 of the first chapter, where persecuted Jewish Christians are exhorted by James to be doers of the Word and not mere hearers only.

I have been making the case that the proper way to interpret the Book of James is to place this book in its historical context. With this book, context is everything. I contend that James was quite likely the first book written in our New Testament, and that this epistle was written at some point in the mid 40's of the first century. As we saw in the previous exposition, the original audience was persecuted Jewish Christians who were scattered throughout Palestine. Written before the controversy over justification broke out between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Asia Minor in 48 CE, James is writing to exhort Jewish believers to live in a manner which is consistent with their profession of faith.

Given the historical circumstances, this kind of direct exhortation should not come as a surprise to us, nor does this mean that James is somehow in conflict with Paul when it comes to the doctrine of justification. This simply means that those who profess faith in Christ are not to wilt in the face of difficult times and persecution. James tells his readers in the opening verses of the first chapter that their current trials serve as a test of faith, and that God will graciously give them the wisdom needed to gain the proper perspective on these trials when enduring them. James has made it plain that God allows various trials to come our way–the purpose of which is to strengthen our faith and to bring God’s work in us to fruition. But no one can say that God is tempting them when they sin. This is because in God there is no shadow of turning, there are no sinful desires, and there is no change. Rather, God alone is the source of every good and perfect gift.

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerFebruary 18, 2026Doers, Doers Not Merely Hearers, James 1:19-27Comment

“Ask in Faith”- The Second in a Series on the Book of James (James 1:1-18)

The Background and Context

I wish I could promise that God will not call you to suffer. I wish that I could tell you that living the Christian life is a very easy thing. But I can’t do that. The reason is simple. Neither of these things are true. As you well know firsthand, God does indeed call us to suffer–some of us much more than others. All of us who place our trust in Jesus know full well that the Christian life often includes difficult trials designed to test our faith. Suffering, trials, temptations, and the testing of our faith, are all realities of the Christian life. And all of these difficult issues are raised in the opening chapter of the Book of James, a letter written to persecuted Christians living during the most trying of times.

Lets jump right in and make our way through the first eighteen verses of the opening chapter of James. Last time, we spent a great deal of time on introductory matters–which are very important when it comes to interpreting this book correctly. In the introductory essay, I attempted to make my case that we can best interpret this epistle by looking carefully at James’s role in apostolic history, which, I think, serves to eliminate many of the difficulties which are often raised by those who seek to pit James against Paul, and who see this book as nothing more than Jewish legalism. So, I strongly encourage you to read the previous exposition, because much of what we’ll be doing in this series grows directly out of the historical context which I labored to establish in the initial installment.

To briefly recap, if the Book of James was written before the Jerusalem Council in CE 48 as recounted in Acts 15, this means that James is writing before the controversy between Jewish and Gentile Christians over justification broke out in the Galatian churches. An early date for the Book of James is an important key to resolving the supposed controversy between James and Paul over the doctrine of justification. James’s epistle was very likely written before any of the gospels were composed, and during that time in the mid-40's when Christianity was rapidly spreading throughout Jerusalem, Palestine, and Syria. This time frame helps us to identify James’s original audience (persecuted Jewish Christians), as well as the purpose for which this epistle was written–to exhort these persecuted Christians to put their faith in Christ into action. Paul does not contradict James. Paul is dealing with a controversy between Jewish and Gentile Christians over the doctrine of justification, while James is writing to exhort struggling Jewish Christians not to be satisfied with being mere hearers of the word only. James is exhorting his reader to be a doer of the word, which is important counsel to persecuted Christians.

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerFebruary 4, 2026James 1:1-18, Suffering and PersecutionComment

A New Series on the Epistle of James-- “Be Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only” – The First in a Series on the Book of James (James 1:19-27)

Introduction

When I first announced that I was going to post an exposition of the Book of James, there were two common responses. The first was “good, about time you got around to something practical.” The second (and more common) response was “ugh . . . there’s no gospel in that epistle of straw.” My hope and prayer is that both sets of complainants will find something of value in this series on the Book of James.

The Book of James is about as straight-forward a book as you will find in the New Testament. There is a higher percentage of imperatives (commands) in the Book of James than in any other book of the Bible. James did not write this epistle to instruct his reader, as much as to exhort persecuted Christians to put their faith into practice. If you want “practical,” this is a book for you.[1] But James is also chock full of theological insight and interpreting this book correctly–which entails understanding the context in which this epistle was written–will eliminate many of the fears and misunderstandings people commonly have about the Book of James, i.e., that it contains no gospel, or that James’s doctrine of justification is in conflict with Paul’s.

Luther and Calvin’s Initial Reservations

That said, the Book of James can be quite difficult in places because this letter is not structured like most of the other epistles in the New Testament (i.e., the epistles of Paul). Many of you know of Martin Luther’s reservations about the Book of James–Luther called it an “epistle of straw,” although Luther cited from James many times, and often encouraged Christians to read it and study it. Calvin’s assessment was much more nuanced. Calvin stated that James “seems rather reluctant to preach the grace of Christ than an apostle should be” but Calvin goes on to say, “we must remember not to expect everyone to go over the same ground.” In fact, says Calvin, James “is a rich source of varied instruction, of abundant benefit in all aspects of the Christian life.”[2] I think Calvin got this absolutely right.

A General Letter – To the Churches

Unlike the letters of Paul, the Book of James is a more “general” letter written to the church at large, not to a specific congregation facing a unique set of circumstances. This is why James is known as a “catholic” or “general” epistle, and is placed in the canon with the other so-called “catholic” or general epistles: 1 & 2 Peter; 1, 2, 3 John; and Jude. While James draws much of his material directly from the teaching of Jesus–which is not surprising since James is the brother of our Lord–this epistle is written to Jewish Christians, who, at the time of the epistle’s composition, were scattered throughout Palestine and Syria. These early Christians were, apparently, facing a great deal of persecution and hardship because of their allegiance to Jesus Christ. Since James’s readers were likely facing very difficult times they surely were tempted to take the easy way out and make “friends with the world” as James puts it (4:4) so as to avoid persecution.

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The Epistle of JamesKim RiddlebargerJanuary 21, 2026Introduction to JamesComment