INTRODUCTION TO JAMES 1 In this chapter, after the inscription and salutation, the apostle instructs the saints he writes to, how to behave under afflictions, and in every state of life; teaches them not to impute their sins to God, but to themselves; directs them in hearing the word, and cautions... [ Continue Reading ]
JAMES, A SERVANT OF GOD,.... That is, of God the Father; not by creation only, as every man is; nor merely by calling grace, as is every regenerate person; but by office, as a preacher of the Gospel, being one that served God in the Gospel of his Son, and was an apostle of Christ; nor is this any su... [ Continue Reading ]
MY BRETHREN,.... Not only according to the flesh, he being a Jew as they were; but in a spiritual sense, they being born again of the same grace, belonging to the same family and household of faith, and having the same Father, and being all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus: COUNT IT AL... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOWING THIS,.... By experience; as everyone that is trained up in the school of affliction does: the apostle appeals to the saints, to whom he writes, for the truth of what he was about to say; and which he gives as a reason why they should rejoice in afflictions, because it is a known fact, THAT... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT LET PATIENCE HAVE HER PERFECT WORK,.... Or effect; or be brought unto perfection; which may denote both the sincerity and continuance of it unto the end, with constancy: patience may be said to be perfect, when it appears to be real and sincere, and not dissembled; for as there may be a feigned... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY OF YOU LACK WISDOM,.... This shows that the perfection before spoken of is not to be understood as in this life, since the apostle immediately supposes lack of wisdom in them; for this is not said in a form of doubting, whether they wanted it or not, but rather as supposing, and taking it for... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH,.... Not only in the faith of the divine Being that God is; but in the faith of the promises he has made; and in the faith of his power and faithfulness to perform them; and in the faith of this, that whatever is asked, according to the will of God, and is for his glory, and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR LET NOT THAT MAN THINK,.... Imagine, conclude, or please himself with such thoughts, THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM THE LORD; wisdom, or anything else, he is seeking after; for wanting faith, he has nothing to receive with; faith is the grace, which receives the Lord Jesus Christ himself,... [ Continue Reading ]
A DOUBLE MINDED MAN,.... A man of two souls, or of a double heart, that speaks and asks with an heart, and an heart, as in Psalms 12:2 who halts between two opinions, and is at an uncertainty what to do or say, and is undetermined what to ask for; or who is not sincere and upright in his requests,... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE BROTHER OF LOW DEGREE,.... By "the brother" is meant, not one in a natural, but in a spiritual relation; one of Christ's brethren, and who is of that family that is named of him; of the household of faith, and is in church communion: and whereas he is said to be of "low degree", or "humble",... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE RICH, IN THAT HE IS MADE LOW,.... That is, the rich brother; for there were rich men in the churches in those times, and which James often takes notice of in this epistle. Such an one should rejoice or glory in his lowness, or low estate; in the consideration of the low estate, out of which... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE SUN IS NO SOONER RISEN WITH A BURNING HEAT,.... As it is about the middle of the day, when it shines in its full strength, and its heat is very great and scorching, especially in the summer season, and in hot climates: BUT IT WITHERETH THE GRASS; strikes it with heat, causes it to shrivel,... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT ENDURETH TEMPTATION,.... Or affliction, which is designed by temptation, as in James 1:2 and the man that endures it is he that so bears it, and bears up under it, as not to be offended at it, and stumble in the ways of Christ, and fall away from the truth, and a profession o... [ Continue Reading ]
LET NO MAN SAY WHEN HE IS TEMPTED,.... Here the apostle uses the word "tempted", in another sense than he did before. Before he speaks of temptations, as matter of joy and boasting, here of temptations, which are criminal, and issue in shame and death; the temptations he before makes mention of, bei... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED,.... To sin, and he falls in with the temptation, and by it, WHEN HE IS DRAWN AWAY OF HIS OWN LUST AND ENTICED; the metaphor is taken either from fishes, who are enticed by the bait, and drawn out by the hook; or from a lascivious woman, who meeting with a young man, entice... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WHEN LUST HATH CONCEIVED,.... A proposal of pleasure or profit being made, agreeable to lust, or the principle of corrupt nature, sinful man is pleased with it; and instead of resisting and rejecting the motion made, he admits of it, and receives it, and cherishes it in his mind; he dallies and... [ Continue Reading ]
DO NOT ERR, MY BELOVED BRETHREN. For to make God the author of sin, or to charge him with being concerned in temptation to sin, is a very great error, a fundamental one, which strikes at the nature and being of God, and at the perfection of his holiness: it is a denying of him, and is one of those d... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY GOOD GIFT AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT,.... Whether of nature, providence, or grace, and especially the latter; spiritual gifts given along with Christ, or spiritual blessings in him; every such gift is; as the Vulgate Latin version reads, the "best" gift; better than those which only relate to the... [ Continue Reading ]
OF HIS OWN WILL BEGAT HE US,.... The apostle instances in one of those good and perfect gifts, regeneration; and he pitches upon a very proper and pertinent one, since this is the first gift of grace God bestows upon his people openly, and in their own persons; and is what involves other gifts, and... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE, MY BELOVED BRETHREN,.... Since the Gospel, the word of truth, is the means and instrument which God makes use of in regeneration, and in forming people for himself: LET EVERY MAN BE SWIFT TO HEAR; not anything; not idle and unprofitable talk, or filthy and corrupt communication; but whol... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE WRATH OF MAN WORKETH NOT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. This is so far from engaging persons to do that which is right and acceptable in the sight of God, that it puts them upon doing that which is evil. The Alexandrian copy reads, "with the wrath of men do not work the righteousness of God"; do... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE LAY APART ALL FILTHINESS,.... All manner of filthiness, both of flesh and spirit; all pride, vanity, wrath, malice, and evil speaking, under hearing the word: the allusion seems to be to a boiling pot, which casts up scum and filth, which must be taken off: and such is the spirit of wrathf... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD,.... And they are such, who spiritually understand it; gladly receive it; and from the heart obey it, and make a sincere and ingenuous profession of it; and who submit to the ordinances it directs to, and keep them as they have been delivered; and live, and walk, becoming... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF ANY MAN BE A HEARER OF THE WORD, AND NOT A DOER,.... The Arabic version here again reads, "a hearer of the law", and so some copies; not hearing, but practice, is the main thing; not theory, but action: hence, says R. Simeon, not the word, or the searching into it, and the explanation of it,... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE BEHOLDETH HIMSELF, AND GOETH HIS WAY,.... He takes a slight glance of himself, and departs: AND STRAIGHTWAY FORGETTETH WHAT MANNER OF MAN HE WAS; he forgets either his spots, blemishes, and imperfections; or his comeliness and beauty; the features of his face, be they comely or not: so a bar... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHOSO LOOKETH INTO THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY,.... By which is meant, not the moral law, but the Gospel; for only of that is the apostle speaking in the context: this is no other than the word of truth, with which God begets men of his own will; and is the ingrafted word which is able to save, a... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN AMONG YOU SEEM TO BE RELIGIOUS,.... By his preaching, or praying, and hearing, and other external duties of religion, he is constant in the observance of; and who, upon the account of these things, "thinks himself to be a religious man", as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions r... [ Continue Reading ]
PURE RELIGION AND UNDEFILED,.... That which is sincere and genuine, and free from adulteration and hypocrisy: BEFORE GOD AND THE FATHER; or in the sight of God the Father of Christ, and all his people; that which is approved of by him, who is the searcher of hearts, and the trier of the reins of me... [ Continue Reading ]