You can open your Bibles to James. My intention this morning with God's help is to begin a study of the epistle of James. And this burden was laid on my heart to go through this particular book, and I believe it will be a help to us by God's grace. And Pastor Ken, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know if we've gone through a study here at CBC. At least if we did, it was a while back. But I pray the Lord will bless this study and that it will be profitable and beneficial to our hearts and minds and souls. I mean, any study of scripture should be, right? We would all agree on that no matter what book we're going through. And so we anticipate that the Word of God will have a positive effect on our souls as we go through this. So I'm not depending upon my expertise or skill such as it is, right? We're dependent upon the Holy Spirit to take what's said and apply it to heart. So that's the hope, that's the prayer, and I'm anticipating that for this study. So James, this epistle is most known for It's practical theology to be high in practicality and relatively low in Christology and what I mean by that is there's not much said in the epistle about you know, Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection It's not really a study of Jesus Christ himself But regardless of any study of scripture we want to have Christ at the forefront and that's gonna be my goal as we go through this and I believe James should be no exception and So my hope and prayer is that we will see Christ in James as we go through it, and that this study will have a lasting effect on us. So I'll be going through this with you. Again, I haven't plumbed the depths of James, so I'm not standing here as a scholar who knows everything and just ready to lecture and ready to info-jump on you. I'll be going through this, and I'm excited to see what gems we'll be uncovering as we go through James. So all that said, today will just be an introduction. So please bear with me. There's going to be plenty of gripping material next time. But for today, we're just going to be looking at, I want to set the stage, I want to set the background for this epistle before we start expositing the text. And so we're going to look at the author, the audience and the overall application of this letter. So author, audience and application. But before we do that, let's just let's just go ahead and read. If you turn in your Bibles to James, we'll go ahead and read the first chapter. Just as an introduction, I think it'll be helpful. James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation. because as a flower of the field, he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass, its flower falls and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. So again, today will just be an introduction. There's so much here, even in this first chapter, where there's a lot to unpack. We're probably gonna spend a lot of time in chapter one. But for today, we'll just look at the first verse, the greeting. And then again, like I said, we're gonna be looking at the author, the audience, and the application. So spend a few minutes considering the author. So it's given to us here in the first verse, James. James is in the Greek, it's a form of the Hebrew name Jacob. So this identifies the author as a Jew. In Dale C. Allison's critical commentary, he notes that the manuscript tradition is unanimous in attributing James to be the author of this epistle. And by manuscript tradition, we mean the transmission of text through many copies down through the generations. There seems to be a universal agreement on this epistle being composed by James. So that's not the question. The question is, which James? So there's a number of men named James in scripture. And really, I guess we could say there's a number of men named Jacob. But we see there's James, the brother of Jesus. Matthew 13, 55 says, is this not the carpenter's son is not his mother. So talking about Jesus is not his mother named Mary and his brother, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. In Luke chapter 6, where the 12 apostles are identified, you see the name James mentioned three times. And we can turn there. We'll be jumping around a little bit as we go through this introduction. But in Luke chapter 6, you see the name James mentioned three times. Of course, there's James, the brother of John. So this is James, the son of Zebedee. Then you have James, the son of Alphaeus. And then James, the father of Judas, not Iscariot, the other Judas. There's also James the less who is identified as the son of Mary in Mark 1540. Now, this could be referring to the same James who is the brother or actually we should say the half brother of Jesus. Now typically, when you have a common name like James, there are qualifiers which help identify exactly who we're talking about, right? So even in Luke 6, and this will be verses 12 through 16 where you see the names that are mentioned, you see qualifiers, James the son of Alphaeus, okay? That was one James. Then James the father of Judas. So there's all these qualifiers help identify which one we're talking about. Now, the James who's mentioned in the epistle of James, there's no qualifier you see. So it's possible that he was a well-known individual in the early church. And I want to give away, some of you probably know where I'm going already. You know who the author is, but it's not, there is some debate over it. So we're going to spend a few minutes just talking about it. Now, we don't really know anything about James, the father of Judas, and we don't really know much about James, the son of Alphaeus, even though he is one of the apostles, one of the twelve. So, that leaves us with James, the son of Zebedee, and James, the brother of Jesus, who may have composed this epistle. And, as you remember, James, the son of Zebedee, was one who made up Jesus' inner circle of disciples. He's named with Peter and John, or Peter, James, and John. Those are the three that make up the inner circle. And so, again, you can turn with me to Acts 12, Acts chapter 12. Now in Acts chapter 12, we see that James, the brother of John, is mentioned, but he is killed. So in James chapter 12, verse 1, Now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. So it's likely, so James the brother of John died fairly early on in church history. And so it's not likely that this episode or this epistle was written. Given his early death. So by process of elimination that narrows us down to James the brother of Jesus Now we know From John chapter 7 verse 5 that Jesus's brothers which would include James Did not believe in him So this is a very interesting statement from John 7. For even his brothers did not believe in him. We know this, but just because someone grows up in a Christian household doesn't make them Christian, right? Christian households don't automatically produce Christian believers. And so, This reality is kind of hard for us as parents, because our children's hearts require something that we as parents cannot give. We can point them to Christ, we can show them the Word of God, we can teach them, but we can't give them the gift of salvation. And that really hits home for us, knowing that there's something that only God can do, And we must be faithful in raising them in a godly manner, pointing them to Christ, but we have to pray. We have to pray for their salvation. Imagine having Jesus as one of the siblings in your household. There's no greater influence you can have in your household than the flesh and blood Jesus. And yet his brothers did not believe in him. So parents, I wanted to encourage you and myself included, you know, there could be, you know, some some guilt that we can place on ourselves, you know, when our children grow up and they turn away from the faith. And I haven't experienced that. My kids are still young and in our house. But for some of you, I know that there's a temptation for there to be guilt, right? Because we are responsible and we are responsible to train them and to be faithful in those things. But their hearts are ultimately in the hand of the Lord, right? He changes the hearts. And so ultimately we have to commit their souls to Him and pray for their salvation. And that doesn't make us easy, right? We love our children. We care for their souls. And so that's hard, but we trust the Lord will grow those seeds that have been planted as they were taught in the home. Now, we know that at some point, so James didn't believe in Jesus during his earthly life and ministry, but we know at some point James did come to believe in Jesus after his death and resurrection. 1st Corinthians, the Apostle Paul makes a point about identifying James. So if you turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15, Paul talks about the risen Christ. He beautifully summarizes the gospel here. He was buried, that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some had fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James. So it's interesting that he points him out here, and he says, then by all the apostles. And then last of all, he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. So we see that James is mentioned without a qualifier. Again, we don't know exactly who this is. I mean, we have to dig a little bit to find out, but it's reasonable for us to conclude that James here converted, James the brother of Jesus converted after seeing the risen Christ. And further evidence is given in Acts chapter one. You remember, The apostles, the 12, are in the upper room in Jerusalem on the instruction of Jesus himself to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And we don't find James explicitly mentioned in Acts chapter 1, but it does say in verse 14, these all, again talking about the apostles, continue with one accord in prayer and supplication. with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. So we presume James was there participating in this prayer and supplication. And then in Galatians chapter 1, we see the Apostle Paul make mention of James in verse 19. Like I said, we'll be jumping around a bit, so you can follow along. Just listen, that's fine too Galatians chapter 1 Paul makes mention of James in verse 19, but I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother So this is interesting that Indirectly he's referred to as an apostle Though he was not one of the twelve He was an eyewitness of Jesus and of the risen Christ. And so seeing as there were others of the 12 with the name James, Paul appears to be grouping him in that same category, as in the highest office of the church. He says, none of the other apostles, of which Peter, which you just mentioned in verse 18, is a part of. So there seems to be this equation with one of the apostles. So James appears to have quickly risen in influence and authority in the church, in Jerusalem. In Galatians, in the next chapter, chapter 2, verse 9, James is referred to by Paul, along with Peter and John, as pillars. So he's mentioned the same breath as the leading apostles. 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. So being mentioned in the same company as the leading apostles is a big deal. And you can look these other verses up on your own time, Acts 12, 17, and Acts 21, 18. James is mentioned there in the context of church authority. So we see the influence he had. And in particular, well, please turn with me to Acts 15. In Acts 15, we particularly see him with the other apostles. And this is the context of the great council in Jerusalem. This is a famous council. And they're gathered here because there was a conflict over the matter of circumcision as it applied to the new Gentile believers. And here we see James' influence and authority demonstrated in helping settle this matter. So in verse 13, Acts 15 verse 13, it says, And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And with this, the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written. After this, I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David. which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who does all these things. Known to God from eternity are all his works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God. but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city being read in his synagogues every Sabbath." So we read that the apostles, so James gives this suggestion, he gives this advice to the apostles. And we later read that that pleased the apostles and the whole church. And so they send this letter to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Sicilia. So we learn a couple of things about James from this little passage here. He is knowledgeable about the Old Testament. and how it applies to current matters as believers in Christ, specifically when it comes to these moral things. And so we see that James, he has authority, he has influence, he's knowledgeable about the scriptures, he's talking about writing to the Gentile believers. Now, the epistle James is not, and we'll see this in a moment, but it's not written directly to Gentiles. But the point that I'm making here is that this seems to give us more evidence for his authorship, aside from simply a process of elimination. So when we read the Epistle of James, we see a lot of references to the Old Testament, like he knew the scriptures and how it applies to everyday living for the New Testament believer. There's a lot of moral imperatives. So you see this connection here with Acts and James. Now, James is known in history as James the Just or James the Righteous. He apparently had a reputation for godliness, and that's consistent with the contents of his epistle. He was one who seemed to practice what he preached, and that's rare. Now, I just want to mention quickly, there's no time to do an exhaustive study where I mean, we're just touching on these things, but a lot more could be said. But I would be remiss not to bring up a couple of the common objectives or objections to James. The Lord's brother being the author, and that has to do with the Greek style of the epistle and how the Greek language is handled in writing this letter. Dale C. Allison notes, quote, Many have insisted that James, the brother of Jesus, a native speaker of Aramaic who grew up in Nazareth, Remember that saying, can anything good come out of Nazareth? That's my comment. Who grew up in Nazareth is unlikely to have written an epistle in fairly accomplished Greek. So appears to have a deep understanding or ability to write well in Greek. Now, I couldn't find this alluded to in other commentary, so I might be way off. But it was not uncommon practice in that day for scribes to assist in composing literary works. So I see no reason why the epistle of James should be any different. We know that Paul had a scribe assisting him in the writing of his epistles. And being in Jerusalem with the authority that James had, there's no doubt that he would have had access to a highly educated scribe familiar with Greek language. So to me, it doesn't seem like an issue. Again, I may be off. I'm not a scholar. But it just makes sense to me. Now, another common objection, of course, we know has to do with Catholicism and their beliefs about the perpetual virginity of Mary, right? So they don't believe that Jesus had any direct siblings. So they have to try to find a workaround to say James is related to Jesus some other way. And we won't spend time really commenting on that. I think that's pretty well established biblically and historically that Mary did have children after Jesus. So we won't spend any more time on that. So we're going to move forward in this study with the general consensus. We're going to agree with the general consensus that James, the brother of Jesus, is the author. Now let's turn our attention back to the text, James chapter 1. Despite the position of authority in the church, notice how James identifies himself. I think this is noteworthy. He says, James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. So there's no mention of any apostolic position, no mention of a leadership position in Jerusalem, no mention of his earthly relationship to Jesus. He was well known and respected enough that even Jude opens his letter identifying himself as the brother of James. I find that interesting. But James himself doesn't tie anything to his physical relationship with Jesus. This could be interpreted as a humble perspective, and certainly this should be the mindset of a true child of God. However, I don't think that's the point we should take away from his opening Remember that the apostle Peter calls himself a bondservant as well in second Peter chapter one. So does Paul and Timothy, they call themselves bondservants and really aren't we all bondservants of Jesus. And so this greeting may simply be to communicate a common bond and unity in spirit. So he addresses himself as a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, finally, regarding the life of James, we learn from historians like the Jewish historian Josephus and the Christian historian Eusebius that James was stoned to death. And this happened around 62 AD. That's when most people consider that he was stoned to death. Now, let's look at the audience. So we looked at the author. Let's look at the audience for a few minutes. To whom was this epistle addressed? Well, James states in verse 1, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. Now, the 12 tribes at first glance, that seems to be referring to the Jewish people, the ethnic Jews. Now, some have tried to link this to, remember again, James comes from the Hebrew Jacob, so some people have tried to link Jacob with, you know, he had 12 sons, there's James writing to his sons in the faith, I'm not sure that's the emphasis, but that point has been brought up. Now, some believe that the 12 tribes is stated as a reference to symbolic Israel, so as opposed to the ethnic Israel. And there are some issues with that, but we won't get into it this morning. Now, what's interesting is that James refers to not Jews living at home. Remember, he's in Jerusalem. He's in the Jerusalem church, but he's not writing to those there or in the surrounding region. He addresses those who are scattered abroad. And this word that's translated scattered abroad is the Greek word diaspora. Now the historical diaspora refers to the dispersion of Jews from their homeland, beginning with the Babylonian exile and even continuing all the way up to present time. However, I don't believe James is referring broadly to ethnic Jews. But rather, and this will become apparent as we examine the text, but I believe James has Jewish believers in mind, specifically those who have put their faith and trust in Christ, the true Messiah, but they are in Gentile lands. They've been scattered either by persecution or who are the posterity of those who were carried away into captivity. And now they're just living in those lands. Those are their homes. Acts 8 verse 1 talks about the great persecution headed by Paul, or Saul at the time, against the church of Jerusalem. And it says the believers were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Now, those are still relative, those are local areas compared to the Gentile world. And so I believe James has a larger area in mind. Now, That's not to say that James is not speaking to those who are persecuted, right? We think, you know, James seems to be talking about when he talks about trials, he's addressing persecution. But that's obviously not all that he's addressing because he talks about, you know, when it comes to trials, right, there's three main areas that we think of, right? The world, the flesh, the devil. Those are the three main sources of trial. James doesn't really spend a lot of time talking about external persecution from the world. He talks a lot about our own flesh, right? We talk about the tongue, talk about temptation. James also mentions the devil, right? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And so I believe James is addressing more than just those who are scattered by persecution in that time around in the region of Judea and Samaria. Now, there's a parallel, so another reason I think that, there's a parallel in 1 Peter chapter 1. And the Apostle Peter actually, in 1 Peter 1, or 1 Peter in general, there's actually a lot of parallels to James, and we'll see it as we go along. But in 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter also addresses fellow Jewish believers. He says, to the pilgrims of the dispersion. So there's that same word. in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. And we know Peter was writing to Christians. He's writing to Christian Jews. And I believe James is writing to a similar, but perhaps earlier, audience. Remember, following Jesus' resurrection, the majority of Christian believers were Jews. So the expression 12 tribes seems to be consistent with the early date of the epistle. Now notice how James refers to those he is addressing. And not just in verse one, but throughout the epistle, he says, starting in verse two, he says, my brethren, my brethren. So this is more than just those who are kin of the flesh, right? He's speaking to those, he's speaking to his spiritual brethren. 15 times throughout the short letter, James addresses his audience as, or his readers as, my brethren. And three of those times, he says, my beloved brethren. And so, let's look at those real quick. Chapter 1, verse 16, do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Chapter 1, verse 19, so then my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Chapter 2, verse 5, Listen my beloved brethren has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith So you hear you hear the love you hear the care and the concern in this in the tone of this epistle Right. He's not he's not coming with a heavy hand to impose, you know to lay down the law All right, and we see that that same tone in the language in the Jerusalem Council where he He says, men and brethren, listen. Listen to me, my beloved brethren. That's his tone, that's his expression. And lastly, so James is talking to Jewish believers, but he's also speaking to us today. The Holy Spirit is speaking down through time to us here and now. So the readers, the audience of this epistle includes us. New Testament believers and though none of us that I know of can trace our lineage back to Abraham We are Abraham seed right by faith in Christ And so what's written here applies just as much to us as it did to those early Jewish believers Do we need help persevering in trials Yes Do we need help taming our tongue? Yes. So as we go through this study, we're going to see that everything here is just as applicable to us here today in our modern times. And of course, as scripture, this epistle is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Now consider that. I think that encapsulates what this epistle and what the Holy Spirit is intending to communicate through James to us. So that segues into our final point in this introduction, how is this letter meant to be understood and applied? And there's a lot of there's a lot of debate about that. The epistle of James is considered by many to be one of if not the earliest written New Testament book, estimated to be written sometime between 8045 and 8050, even possibly before that great council of Jerusalem that we saw. Now, we won't go into detail about the early date, but we'll examine that later as we go through the text. Now, some commentators describe James as the enigma of the New Testament. The Enigma of the New Testament. Now, in one sense, that seems like a surprising claim, given the practical nature of the contents, right? An enigma is something that's puzzling, hard to understand, you know, a mystery. And yet, James is filled not so much with deep and mysterious theological truths as it's filled with practical instruction. For example, when James says, but no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. We get this, right? We can grasp this, we can relate. We've been on both ends of this, right, haven't we? And sadly, we may have even been the source of both healing and hurt. So we get this. James is not asking us to understand the hemostatic union, where Jesus is simultaneously fully God and fully man. That's hard to grasp. That's hard to comprehend. But a lot of what James talks about is pretty easy to grasp. Now, that said, there are things in James that are difficult to get our arms around. The relationship between faith and works, what is that about? And we'll get to that. We'll spend some time on that topic when we get there. But that's not primarily what makes it such an enigma from scholars to laymen to us. And it has consequently led to quite a diverse range of interpretations about the contents. And one thing, again, that's striking about this epistle is the lack of Christological elements, like I mentioned before. It doesn't talk much about Jesus's incarnation or divine nature, crucifixion, resurrection. It doesn't really talk about those things. James does seem to refer to the second coming of Christ, but that seems to be the extent of it. So James stands out in that way among the other New Testament books. Now, just because it lacks an emphasis on theological truths about Christ himself doesn't mean this letter is not authoritative, it's not inspired, any less than a book like Proverbs, right? And some even refer to it as the New Testament wisdom book. Like Proverbs, Proverbs is difficult to outline and there's not a clear systematic structure to it. James kind of structured similarly. But that doesn't mean that it's not inspired, authoritative, doesn't mean that it's not scripture. We believe it is. Speaking of the Old Testament, for such a short letter, the Epistle of James has a striking number of references to Old Testament scripture. We see references to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea. I mean, there are a dozen books that James references. He speaks of Abraham. He speaks of Elijah, Job, Rahab. And so all this reinforces the idea that this epistle was originally written for the Jewish audience, right? They would be familiar with the scriptures. They would be familiar with these people that James talks about. And now we are today as well. So now, although there is an Old Testament emphasis on James, another striking thing about this epistle is that portions of it reflect Jesus's sermon on the mount. And again, we'll get to that. But although James never directly quotes Jesus, there are at least a dozen references that have been identified to the sermon on the mount. Some have even estimated as many as two dozen. And we'll go again, we'll go into detail on that when we get there. James is also one of the most quotable books of the New Testament. Do you know what I mean by that, quotable? Like when, you know, there's certain movies that you think of that there's so many good quotes of, you know, like Princess Bride, you know, when you hear that title, you immediately think of certain good quotes. Well, maybe some of us. Well, James has a number of verses that we've put into our biblical repertoire. They're part of our common vocabulary. Probably without even realizing it. We're so used to those verses and phrases. Actually, I want to open up to the floor for just a minute to ask if anyone can give me an example. I'll give the first example. We already read it. Be doers of the word, not hearers only. This is a common expression. Can anyone give me another common expression that we know from James? Yes. Faith without works is dead. Thank you. Go ahead, brother. Yes. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Yep. Anyone else? Very good. Yeah, there's so many. If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that, right? That's a really common expression for us. Anyone else about the effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much? We know that one. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. I can go on and on, but we see the impact James already has on our daily lives, right? These truths that have just marinated in our minds. So to conclude the introduction this morning, I want to briefly look at the purpose of this epistle. Why was this written? Why did James write this epistle? Or shall we say, why did the Holy Spirit lead James to write this epistle in the way he did? Well, James' epistle has five chapters and 108 verses, and over 50 of those carry an imperative or command, right? That's a lot of do's and don'ts for a book of the Bible, especially for a New Testament book. And in fact, it is the highest ratio of imperatives to verse for any New Testament book. So it seems to be kind of an island of law surrounded by a sea of grace, if you will. Now, this next quote isn't original to me. This was stated in an article online, but it says, James sounds like law when we as evangelicals are trained to want gospel. It's an interesting quote. And on the surface level, it might seem that James is teaching the opposite of what Paul, for example, taught in Galatians, especially Romans and Galatians, we know the law cannot save us. It only shows us how sinful we are. It points us to Christ. Our salvation is by grace alone. Yet that's not a reason to throw out the law and declare it has no relevancy or application to our lives today as New Covenant Christians. In Christ, the law is no longer our enemy. Paul says in Romans that the law is holy and the commandment is holy, just, and good. The psalmist says, blessed is the man who walks in on the counsel of the ungodly. His delight is in the law of the Lord. And he meditates on it day and night. Psalm 119, I will delight myself in your statutes. The Apostle John says in 1 John 4, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. I believe that the beauty of having James' epistle in the New Testament as scripture is that, yes, we must avoid legalism. Salvation is by grace and not by our own works. But we must also guard against the other error, antinomianism. And it is my conviction that we're going to find as we go through this study that James does not contradict Paul, but rather complements what he taught and what is taught in the other epistles and other scriptures in the New Testament. I believe this epistle was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying, not only the scattered Jewish believers, but also us right here today, and that we might be built up in the inner man. And my prayer as we go through the study is that we will be built up, that we will be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So, and we'll see some of that starting next time as we look at the encouragement for endurance and trials here in chapter one. So we'll see that next time. Let's pray. Father, we thank you