Writings

James 1:2

Charlie Garrett Daily Writing, Epistles, Epistles (written), James (epistles), James (written), Writings 0 Comment

Sunday, 2 June 2019

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, James 1:2

James immediately further defines “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” that he just referred to by saying, “My brethren.” Though a Jew may consider all Jews in this category, he is certainly referring to Jewish believers in Christ here. It is they who are brethren in the Lord. To them, he says to “count it all joy.”

The words are all inclusive of what will next be described. What he will identify is not to be considered a type of divine rebuke, divine punishment, or divine disfavor. Rather, we are to look at what he will next say as a source of complete joy. In this, he uses the word chara, or “joy,” and thus he makes a word-play on the word of the previous verse translated as “Greetings.” That word was chairó.

He will next explain what is to be counted “all joy,” which is “when you fall into various trials.” The word, “trials,” is correctly rendered. It can be speaking of loss (be it monetary, a loved one, etc), suffering, sickness, frustrating circumstances, and etc. Anything that comes one’s way which would otherwise rob his joy is to be considered a joyful thing. This seems counter-intuitive, but the coming verses will explain why this attitude is to be expressed. The words are given to prepare believers in Christ for their walk before God in a right and proper manner.

Life application: As is often the case with the Bible, and particularly the wisdom literature, what seems contradictory to us from a worldly perspective is what the Bible proclaims as that which is right. In our mortal bodies, we look at trials as something to distance ourselves from; hardships as undesirable; and pain as a something to be avoided at all costs. However, the Bible puts these things in a different light and asks us to look beyond the immediate sensation to the purpose behind it.

Job, King David, Solomon, and others were tested in these ways and wrote about what happened. By referring to what they learned, we have a sound and reliable foundation upon which we can study and reflect on for our own trials. James received his instruction from these great men through the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures and he builds upon that foundation to help explain the Christian message in its fullness.

This is one of the reasons why it is so important to read your Bible. It has been building up and edifying the faithful believer for millennia and is a guide and a blueprint for the troubles of our lives.

Do you have physical pains? Look at the experience, although painful, with joy. It could be worse than it is. Do you have financial troubles? They could always be worse. Are you facing family problems now? If you endure through them, your relationship may be strengthened at the end.

Whatever trial you are facing, face it with the knowledge that God allowed it into your life for a set time and for a good purpose. In the end, you will see the wisdom of what has occurred.

Lord God – You are sovereign and Your plans and purposes for our lives will come to pass whether we accept them or not. Because of this, help us to live joyfully in pleasure and in pain, in trial and in ease, in lack or in abundance. May we understand that such trials have been given us to teach us something beyond the moment. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

James 1:1

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Saturday, 1 June 2019

James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:
Greetings. James 1:1

In his opening words, James (the Lord’s brother and the early leader of the church) identifies himself. In Greek, the name is Iakóbos, or “Jacob.” Somewhere along the line, the name “James” was used instead of Jacob, and that has continued on since that time. The first English translation, that of John Wycliffe in the 1380s, uses “James,” and so it is assumed that he is the source of this change.

James next states that he is “a bondservant of God.” The Greek word translated as “servant” is doulos. This indicates a person who is a slave or bondservant. Thus, he is a slave of God “and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In calling himself a bondservant, or slave, it is a voluntary act of submitting himself to God through Christ.

This does not mean that Jesus Christ is not God. Rather, He is a member of the Godhead, but He is both fully God and fully man. This then is a focus on His dual nature – both human and God. Rather than proclaim himself “The brother of the Lord,” he makes it absolutely clear that he is His servant first. There is no sense of high-handedness or boasting in his greeting, but rather a humble submission to his Lord.

Next, he identifies his audience by saying, “To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” The words fully identify his audience as being to the Hebrew people who are identified as the twelve sons of Israel. Though the epistle is written at a very early date, there were already Gentiles coming into the faith. But James’ ministry was specifically to the circumcised, meaning the people of Israel. This is perfectly in line with Paul’s words to the Galatians –

“But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” Galatians 2:7-9

The words, “scattered abroad,” are more literally rendered, “in the Diaspora.” This is referring to the Jewish people who dwelt outside of the land of Israel and who were dispersed among the Gentiles, usually living in small pockets around an area where a synagogue was built.

The very fact that James addresses the “twelve tribes” shows that there were not only two tribes left. That is a false understanding of the matter. It is claimed that only the tribes of Benjamin and Judah remained after the exile of the ten tribes by the Assyrians in 722BC. However, that is incorrect. No tribes were missing. The term “twelve tribes” is not merely a technical term to describe Israel in general, but rather it is a designation which means exactly what it says. There were people from all twelve tribes who remained. After the dispersion of 722 BC, various individuals are named in Scripture from tribes other than Benjamin and Judah. Further, Simeon was located within the territory of Judah and was never considered a lost tribe. Also, there are Levites and priests mentioned several times within the New Testament. One example of an individual from the tribe of Asher (which was one of the exiled tribes) is recorded in Luke 2:36 –

“Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity.”

The fact that this woman is mentioned, and that she was from the tribe of Asher, means that not all of Asher was lost. Any number from a tribe means the tribe exists. This is certainly true with all twelve tribes. The book of Revelation lists the twelve tribes by name, not because it is a symbolic counting of the people, but because He has preserved those tribes for His own sovereign purposes. It is to this group of people, the twelve tribes scattered abroad, that James next says, “Greetings.”

It is a primary verb which signifies “to be cheerful.” When one would meet or part from another, it was common to use the term. Thus, it gives the sense of “be well,” “be glad,” “Godspeed,” etc. It is the same word used in the letter which was sent by James’ authority in Acts 15. It thus ties the two together as both being letters from the same individual. Though the word is a common one in the New Testament, it is not used in this manner in any of the other apostolic epistles. James states this now to set the tone for his audience to be comfortable as they transition into the main body of the letter.

Life application: Lots of people, groups of people, denominations, and cults claim that they are the ten lost tribes of Israel. This is an attempt to set themselves apart as somehow special and worthy of note. But it is a very poor handling of Scripture. It is true that the ten northern tribes were exiled and they were assimilated into the surrounding people wherever they were sent, but it is not true that there are “ten lost tribes” of which some group or another can then make the claim that they are those lost tribes. If you hear a group claim this, be sure to know that they are wrong. Don’t get involved with nutty theology. Stick to what is right, sound, and proper. God has preserved His people Israel, and Christ Jesus will return to rule among them at some point in the future.

Heavenly Father, open our eyes to the wonders of Your precious word. Help us to rightly divide it so that we don’t get sidetracked into unnecessary diversions or off onto wild tangents that can only distract us from the intent and purpose of the message. May You alone be glorified through our study and learning of the Bible. Amen!

The Book of James; An Introduction

Charlie Garrett Daily Writing, Epistles, Epistles (written), James, James (epistles), James (written), Writings 0 Comment

Friday, 31 May 2019

The Book of James; an Introduction

The book of James is the 59th book of the Bible, and it is comprised of 5 chapters of 108 verses. Therefore, a verse-per-day evaluation of James will take a bit over three months to complete.

James is believed to be the Lord’s half-brother; born of Mary and Joseph. As there are four people named James in the New Testament, it is important to determine which it is. The apostle James, the brother of John, died too early for the letter to have been written by him. His death is recorded in Acts 12. The other two men named James did not have any reputation which would make either a likely candidate for being the author. However, James, the Lord’s half-brother did.

He is mentioned first in Matthew 13:55 in a list of Jesus’ other half-brothers. Therefore, he was probably the oldest of them. It is noted in John 7:5 that Jesus’ brothers were originally of those who didn’t believe in Him. Eventually, that changed, and James became the leader of the early church. He is noted as having been one who witnessed the resurrected Lord in 1 Corinthians 15:7.

Acts 15:12-21 is the passage from which we determine that James was the leader of the early church (not Peter as suggested by the Roman Catholics). After hearing testimony from the entire group and specifically Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, it was James who made the final decision on the matter being discussed. Thus, it is a logical assumption that he also was the author of this letter.

Further, he was of such renown in the early church that Jude, also the Lord’s half-brother, identified himself as a “brother of James.” He is mentioned by Paul in Galatians 1:19 and 2:9, and he is mentioned at several other key points in the book of Acts.

As this book was written very early after the establishment of the church, around AD 48, the letter is addressed to Jewish believers. At this point, the number of non-Jewish believers would have been exceptionally small. Also, as it was Paul’s ministry that was directed to the Gentiles, it is no great leap to see that James is specifically writing to a solely Jewish audience. As the first verse of the epistle will note, he is writing to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad.”

The Apostle Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” So, in a real sense, the letter is, like all of Scripture, written to the people of the world. However, James is written specifically to the Hebrew people of the twelve tribes.

Due to its placement after Paul’s letters, and then after the book of Hebrews, it is evident based on an evaluation of the structure of the Bible that the Lord intends for this epistle, like Hebrews, to be a letter directed to the Hebrew people of the end times as much as it was directed to the early Jewish believers in the Lord. The very structure of the Bible gives us this hint of redemptive history.

The main theme of James is “The Necessity of Living Faith.” James includes works as a demonstration of faith, something which has brought the letter into theological question by many. Paul argues adamantly against works for justification, but James seems (but which is not correct) to argue exactly the opposite. This is so much the case that the Roman Catholic church – misunderstanding important theological points raised by James 2 – states in Canon 10 of the Council of Trent that –

“If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.”

In other words, they state that man is not justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, but also by their cooperating works. This will be addressed during the evaluation of this epistle. Martin Luther found little value in the book of James, having stated about it –

“In sum, St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle; St. Paul’s letters, especially the ones to the Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians; and St. Peter’s first epistle are all books that show you Christ, and they all teach which is necessary and salutary for you to know, even if you do not see or hear any other book or teaching. It is for this reason that James’s epistle is in comparison a real strawy epistle, for it has no evangelical character about it.”

In calling it a “real strawy epistle,” he was indicating (based on 1 Corinthians 3:12) that using James’ epistle for one’s doctrines is to use straw to build upon the foundation which is Jesus Christ. Is this true? Or did Martin Luther miss one of the principle points concerning James’ idea of faith and works? That too will be evaluated in this analysis.

In the Old Testament, there are five books known as wisdom literature: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. In the New Testament, no book is considered specifically as wisdom literature, but James is the closest to the style and content of a book of wisdom.

As a short summary of the intent and purpose of the book, we should remember these points: 1) Author: James, the Lord’s brother; 2) Date: Mid to late 40s; 3) Theme: The necessity of living faith; 4) Purpose: To remind the believers that genuine faith is seen in a life that is changed and which is produced by living according to God’s wisdom; 5) Presentation of Christ: Our Wisdom.

Life application: We hope that you will spend the next 108 days of your life learning the book of James, one verse at a time. From there, we hope you will apply its truths to your life, molding yourself more each day into being a faithful and wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father.

Lord God, we are given sixty-six books of marvelous wonder to study in order to know Your heart and what You intend for us as we live out our short lives in Your presence. Help us not to fritter away our time with worthless pursuit, but to study Your word, apply it to our lives, and stand approved in Your eyes as we anticipate the Day when we will come before You for an evaluation of the days we have spent in these lives You have given us. Amen.

Hebrews 13:25

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Thursday, 30 May 2019

Grace be with you all. Amen. Hebrews 13:25

The final words of the book of Hebrews are reflective of the words of Paul. The same words are found at the close of Titus. They are also found without the word “all” in Colossians, 1 Timothy, and 2 Timothy.

The author desires that grace be realized in and among his audience. Grace is unmerited favor. It is getting what you do not deserve.

With these words, we close out the book of Hebrews. This has been a marvelously fantastic 303 days of study, and one which has merely touched on the depths of this wonderful book. In this final salutation, the author wishes grace to his audience. Despite being written to the Hebrew believers of his time, this includes you today.

As a closing thought, Albert Barnes says of this epistle –

“It is the true key with which to unlock the Old Testament; and with these views, we may remark in conclusion, that he who would understand the Bible thoroughly should make himself familiar with this Epistle; that the canon of Scripture would be incomplete without it; and that, to one who wishes to understand the Revelation which God has given, there is no portion of the volume whose loss would be a more irreparable calamity than that of the Epistle to the Hebrews.”

Life application: Surprisingly, if you want to see a lot of anger between Christians, do a study on the word “grace.” For such an uplifting and generous word, it divides to the point of great animosity. The reason for this is because by interpreting the word, or more precisely the concept of, grace one way or another we will have a different view on what God has done for us in human history – particularly in the Person of Jesus.

Romans Catholicism says that we must “participate” in grace. To them, what Jesus did – including going to the cross – is in itself insufficient for our salvation. Those who follow the doctrines of John Calvin see grace as bestowed on believers unconditionally – think of it as being “forced” on those God chooses to save. The Bible teaches neither of these.

There is a happy middle though. Grace is unmerited favor – it is getting what you do not deserve. If someone offers you a gift, that is not something you can earn. If you go to pay for the gift, then at some point you are going to offend the giver and negate the fact that it was a gift. Such is the case with our salvation. It is a gift. There is no merit deserving of it and no participation in keeping it, but it must be received in order to be possessed. The Bible makes this clear again and again.

A gift which is forced on someone is oppressive – no matter what the gift is. It needs to offered and received, not forced, in order for it to be a true gift. Just as Adam used free-will to rejected God’s fellowship, we must choose to receive it back now that Christ Jesus has made it possible. God’s grace in Jesus Christ is unmerited favor, offered to all. It is all-sufficient in and of itself to save. Accept God’s gift and be reconciled through the precious Gift – our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with you all.

O God, thank You for the book of Hebrews. And thank you for Your grace, explained in this book as it tells us of the Work of Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior, Mediator, and Friend. May we have humble hearts toward You, never finding fault in the sufficiency of His work, but rather resting in the all-sufficiency of it. Thank You for Your grace! Amen.

Hebrews 13:24

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Wednesday, 29 May 2019

Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Hebrews 13:24

The author has had the leadership in mind throughout this final chapter. In 13:7, he said –

“Remember those who rule over you…”

In verse 13:17, he then said –

“Obey those who rule over you…”

Now, just before his final words, he again calls the leadership to mind by saying, “Greet all those who rule over you.” The word “you” is plural, and so the words are to those of the church as a whole. In this, he is asking that the body greet the leaders. As the leaders would be a part of the church, it seems superfluous to say this, but it could be that there was a leadership which was not at the particular body where the letter was received, or it could be that the letter is actually intended to be read by a group of churches which were spread out. In this, the author would be sending his greetings to the heads of each individual church, and also to “all the saints.” This would be in line with Peter’s greetings to his audience, probably the same group of people, who were originally addressed in this epistle –

“To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” 1 Peter 1:1

This addition then strengthens the thought of a group of churches receiving the letter. Again, if the author was writing to the church, and all ears were listening as it was read, the comment would appear to be superfluous. However, it was understood that there would be leaders not present at some times, and various saints not present at others. If it was understood that the letter was to be read at various times and places, the greeting makes more sense. But regardless of this, he is being thorough in extending greetings to all.

Finally, he says, “Those from Italy greet you.” Although the author is probably writing from Italy, it also may be that he is not, and that he is simply extending a greeting from a group of Italians that was with him. It can be read either as meaning “those who are in Italy send greetings from there,” or it could mean “those who are from Italy send their greetings.” Either way, it is the believers of Italy who are specifically named.

This unusual addition is noted by Cambridge with the words, “…it suggests a not unnatural inference that it was written to some Italian community from some other town out of Italy. Had he been writing from Italy he would perhaps have been more likely to write ‘those in Italy’ (comp. 1 Peter 5:13).”

If this is correct, and it appears to be the intent, and if it is Paul who wrote the epistle, then it would form a rather remarkable pattern. Acts had closed out with Paul in Rome (Italy), showing a transfer from Jew to Gentile, Rome being emblematic of the Gentile rule at that time. Further, his first letter was to the Romans. If this is Paul’s epistle, its placement at the end of his writings would have his letters both beginning and ending with the Italian saints as addressees.

Life application: The letter to the Hebrews was either sent with a cover letter which didn’t survive, or it was hand-carried by someone who could verify its authorship and authority. Either way, the letter itself survived intact, was recognized as authoritative, and was eventually included in the 66 books of the Bible.

Without it, we would have a lack in our understanding of the supremacy of Jesus over the Old Covenant shadows and pictures which pointed to His greater work. It is a letter included in Scripture for both the leadership and the saints in general, and all should be taught its truths. The wisdom revealed in it is the wisdom of God found in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Be sure to think of what is taught in Hebrews as you read the Old Testament and the gospels in the future. By combining your knowledge of what is revealed here to those studies, the things spoken of in those books makes so much more sense.

Lord, help us to take in the whole counsel of God, remembering what we have learned in various books, and to then see how what we learned in one area actually applies to studies in another area. Your word is a beautiful whole where the parts all work together harmoniously. Help us to understand this, and to learn what You are revealing as we see redemptive history unfold in its beautiful pages. To Your honor and glory! Amen.