Preface

The limo was spotless. The paintwork was not only in top condition - It had a real sparkle about it! The upholstery -- done in a genuine soft suede - was a pleasure to see and made seating comfortable. From the driver's seat the good ergonomic design was evident - nothing more than a finger-tip away.
"Let's look at the engine!" What a beauty! He could imagine the powerful throb, just at a glance!
"Can we start her up?"
"No, no! It's a tribute to its maker's excellence - it wouldn't do to start it up! It's all his good work, every bit of it! To run the engine would suggest that this car had contributed to its own state. It might take away from the maker's good name!"
"Then why ever did he make it?"
Now there's an odd, impossible conversation! It would surely never ever be that way! Yet in the whole question of salvation - and faith and works - it often seems to come down to that!
Listen carefully to the way Paul puts it in Ephesians 2.8-10 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves - it is the gift of God - not from works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to do." Why ever did he save us? we need to ask. The answer - for good works! Not as a kind of nice decoration that pays tribute to his creativity.
These studies in James focus on active faith. Written for small group study, they focus on the text of Scripture - in my own translation - and on our lives. The two - Scripture and life -- need to come together for us all - in active faith!

It has been traditionally accepted that this letter was written by James, the brother of our Lord (Matt.13.55), who did not become a believer until the risen Jesus appeared to him (1 Cor.15.7). He became a leading member of the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem (Gal.1.19; 2.9; Acts 12.17).
The letter was written some time before James was martyred in about 62AD, though we cannot be more precise than this. The letter appears to have been addressed especially to Jewish Christians (see l.1 and 2.2) who had brought into the church a zeal for the law but a failure to practise it.
The letter was written for the practical purpose of correcting the fallacy in this profession which failed to produce results. Such problems as the true attitude to wealth, the control of the tongue, the approach to oaths, Christian prayer and other practical themes are also discussed.

Chapter 1
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve scattered tribes.
2Look at it joyfully, my brothers, when various trials take hold of you - 3you know that the testing of your faith will lead to constancy. 4So let constancy be completed within you, so that you will be perfect and complete, with nothing lacking! 5But if you lack wisdom, then ask God for it! He gives to everyone without discrimination or contempt! So ask, and it will be given to you! 6But ask in faith, without hesitation - for the one who hesitates is like the surging of the sea, agitated by the wind and tossed to and fro. 7The person like that shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
9The Christian brother of low social position should take pride in his high standing in Christ, 10and the rich person should take pride in his humiliation - after all, like a grass flower his rich status will pass away. 11When the sun rises with its burning heat, it dries up the grass - its flower falls off, its beauty is destroyed. How like the rich man wasting away in his pursuits!
12Happy the person bearing up under testing! When he has been proved by testing, he will receive the crown which is life - this is what the Lord has promised to those who love him! 13So when you are tested, don't say, "God is testing me" - he isn't tempted by evil himself and doesn't tempt anyone. 14We are tempted like this - our own desire puts out a bait and entices us. 15We take the bait - and our desire conceives an act of sin and goes on to give birth to it. Keep on that path and sin will come of age and produce death!
16 So make no mistake, my beloved brothers! 17Our temptation doesn't come from God - he is the source of every good act of giving, of every perfect gift! He is the Father of lights - constant, not changing and turning. 18Having established his purpose, he brought us to birth through a word of unwavering truth. His goal - to begin with us in gathering his creatures.
19Be sure of this, my beloved brothers! Be prompt to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger! 20For a person's anger does not bring about God's justice. 21So rid yourselves of all filth and of residual malice. Then with receptiveness accept the implanted word which is able to save your souls.
22But don't deceive yourselves by just hearing the word - do it! 23The person who hears without doing is like someone looking at his face in a mirror - 24when he stops looking, he immediately forgets what he is like! 25In contrast to the hearer who forgets is the doer, the one who keeps close to the perfect law of liberty as he carefully looks into it - this one will be blessed in his doing!
26If anyone thinks he is religious but doesn't restrain his tongue, he is deceiving himself - his religion is worthless! 27The religion that God the Father regards as pure and undefiled is like this - it visits orphans and widows in their distress and keeps itself unstained by the sinful world.

[The text used throughout is a fairly literal translation of the Greek by Peter J. Blackburn.]

Active Faith
Martin Luther once called this letter "a right strawy epistle" and not nearly as important as the letters of Paul - it seemed to him to contradict the important doctrine that we are made right with God only on the basis of faith.
However, reading it carefully and understanding its background, it is clear that it does not contradict but complements that doctrine. Note carefully what Paul writes in Eph.2.8-10. "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
The Jewish Christians to whom James was writing seem to have had a problem in both areas - faith and works. James 1.2-8 strongly emphasises the importance of faith. They were evidently undergoing trial - but this would strengthen their faith. Vv.9-11 makes clear the importance of their status in Christ. Vv.12-18 introduce the theme of trial and temptation - actually the same Greek word covers these concepts (for us, "tempt" means "tested/tried by evil"). The "various trials" of v.2 included both the pressure of persecution and temptation to sin. Vv.19-27 stress the importance of active faith - not just hearing, but doing what God's word says. It is in doing that faith is both strengthened and demonstrated.

• How does our faith in Christ affect what we do?

• What temptations do we face? How do we face them?

Active Faith. Studies in the Letter of James © Peter J. Blackburn 1990. Permission is given for this study to be copied in its entirety for group use. Courtesy advice of the use of these studies would be appreciated. Any other proposed use must have the written permission of the author. Email Peter Blackburn.
Study 2: Get it Moving! - James 2
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