Paul Vs. James - An 8-Day Study On Faith & Works By Chris BrunoSample

 

DAY SIX

Of the many themes in James’s letter, let’s examine just three: God’s fulfillment of His end-time promises in Christ, the status of God’s Law in light of the fulfillment of these promises, and faithful living based on these promises. Remember that James is passing on and explaining to his readers the teachings of Jesus Himself. Even though James wasn’t a follower of Jesus during His earthly ministry, he certainly witnessed Jesus’ teaching and miracles. James was also well-acquainted with Peter and many others who followed Jesus before His death and resurrection. Clearly James knew his brother’s teachings about life in the kingdom of God, the coming new covenant, and God’s mighty power to keep His covenant promises.

James has a strong view of God’s sovereign rule over history, so he grounds all of his commands in God’s initiative first. God has fulfilled all of His covenant promises through Jesus, and this fulfillment is the basis of everything that follows. Granted, he doesn’t use covenant language the way that Hebrews or even Paul does, but in the introduction of his letter, he emphasizes God’s sovereign work to keep His promises: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind   of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).

The idea of a “firstfruit” is a way to talk about the beginning of God’s fulfillment of His saving promises. Paul uses it in a similar way in 1 Corinthians 15:20–23, but there Jesus Himself is the first firstfruit. The point in both places is that God is fulfilling His end-time promises now. James talks about the same reality in a different way in James 1:21, where the “implanted word” points back to the new-covenant promise that the Law would be written on our hearts. This fulfills God’s promise that He would put his Law within the hearts of His new-covenant people (see Jer. 31:33). From the very beginning of his letter, James is basing all of his instructions on the grace of God in keeping His new- covenant promises to His people.

These new covenant promises, though, are realized only in and through Jesus. After his introduction in chapter 1, James begins his instructions about how we must live as we “hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1). The rest of the book stands in the shadow of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. James then sees God’s new-covenant promises launched through the work of Jesus and looks forward to the day when they will be completed when He returns to judge the world (James 5:9).

James also sees the Law and its fulfillment in light of the new covenant’s fulfillment. Have you ever looked at the adjectives James uses to describe the Law? He calls it the “perfect law” (1:25), “the law of liberty” (1:25; 2:12), and the “royal law” (2:8). He also talks about the law without an adjective to describe it in 2:9–11. But in that passage, he is talking about transgressing the Law. In the places where he talks about the perfect, royal law of liberty, he is talking about our fulfillment of the Law. In light of the work of Jesus and the fulfillment of the new covenant, Christians are now able to keep the Law in some way. This is a new law—a law made perfect by Jesus, the royal law of the king Jesus, the law of liberty that belongs to everyone set free from their sin by Jesus.

This understanding of the Law leads naturally to the third emphasis. James calls his audience to live faithful, patient lives of obedience because God’s promises have been launched and will be completed through Jesus. Because the new-covenant promises have been established, we can endure suffering and testing (1:2–3, 10–12; 5:7–18). The law written on our hearts gives us the ability to control the tongue (1:26; 3:1–12), to love others (1:27–28; 2:1–13), not to seek our own glory (3:13–18), and to live at peace with each other (4:1–12). Because our King Jesus will return soon to make all things new and satisfy us in every way, we don’t need to cling to the riches and security of this world (1:9–11; 5:1–6). Because of God’s work in Jesus, we are able to live out our faith by our works (2:14–26). In all of these instructions, James was picking up on and expanding the teachings of Jesus about the kingdom of God present in the church, the new-covenant community, and the presence of the promised King as He sends His Spirit among us.