James - Drew Boswell

Suggested Commentaries for Your Next Study of the Book of James

Biography for my sermon series on James:

Adamson, James. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle of James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979.

Allen, Clifton J, General Editor. The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1973.

Arnold, Clinton E, General Editor. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Press, 2001.

Buttrick, Arthur. The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1957.

Davids, Peter H. New International Biblical Commentary, James. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishing, 1989.

Moo, Douglas. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.

Nystrom, David P. The NIV Application Commentary, James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 1997.

Perkins, Pheme. Interpretation A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, First and Second Peter, James, and Jude. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1982.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Epistles of James. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publishing, 2004.

Robertson, A. T. Studies in the Epistle of James. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1959.

Stevenson, Hebert F. James Speaks For Today. Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966.

Strauss, Lehman. James, Your Brother. Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1980.

Stulac, George M. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, James. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1993.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Mature, James. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook Publishing, 1978. (I used an updated version of this book but could not find the date).

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James Worthless Religion Is A Waste of Time James 1:19-27

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

Worthless Religion Is A Waste of Time

James 1:19-27

Introduction

More than half of the world’s oil paintings come from Da Fen in southern China. Located in China’s manufacturing hub, Shenzhen, Da Fen thrives on the mass production of art. It exports millions of replicas of Van Goghs, Monets, and Picassos to the world, generating billions in revenue for painters who were once farmers or migrant workers. The founder of Da Fen, the 69-year-old artist Huang Jiang, spoke to BBC News about his miracle business model and the challenges his team faces now. Video journalist: Xinyan Yu[1]

Painter after painter lined up in warehouses, each looking at the original and creating and exact replica. The original is worth millions if not priceless, these copies are worth a few hundred in China, or maybe 1,000 if exported to the US. But if compared to the original, the fakes are essentially worthless.

If we look at the outside of many religious people, there is little difference in the actions they take in their religion. But today we will see that there are some people who will go through the motions of religion that are the genuine real deal – and there are those that have deluded themselves into believing they are being authentic. I want to make sure I am the real deal, and have not fooled while being a forgery of the authentic.

The book of James was not written to a specific church, but to those that were scattered because of persecution. In these diaspora churches there were issues that they were working through. “The church was divided over many issues. Some sought to use the church as a means to display wealth and to exercise power. Others had shown favoritism toward to the wealthy.”[2] James specifically discusses today those that have an authentic faith and what it looks like.

Not Listening and Getting Angry Is Worthless (vv. 19-21)

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

The word of God is described as already being implanted in the believer’s heart and now it must grow and flourish. But there are things that will keep it from producing “the righteousness of God” in the person’s life. You have heard the gospel, but something is keeping you from growing in your walk with the Lord. It is the word of God that is on the inside, and moves to actions on the outside.

James first addresses a general way of living where the person is not meek. They are not listening to others, they are talking all the time, and acting out in anger. All of this is rooted in pride, which is the opposite of meekness. “Pride is a reliance upon the self, and the root of sin.”[3] Meekness is “the proper attitude of complete dependence upon God, and secondary the attitude shown toward others. . .”[4]

“I know what’s right so I really don’t need to listen to what you have to say”, “what I have to say is way more important than what you have to say – I’m better than you,” and “I have my rights, I am entitled to certain things which I am not getting – so I feel justified in being angry.”

To be meek, is not weak, it is allowing yourself to be led. Titus 3:2 uses the same Greek work and it translated there as “perfect courtesy.” “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” When you are courteous you are deferring yourself to others. They get the seat to sit down, they are not interrupted when they are talking, they are spoken of with respect and honor. The apostle Paul wrote regarding “love” – “does not insist on its way” (1 Cor. 13:5).

In 1 Peter 3:4 it is used with “quiet” to describe what the attitude of a Christian woman, a “gentle and quiet spirit” in contrast to “outward adorning.” “but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”[5]

Typically, we take these verses “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”[6] in discussing how we relate to each other – but what if James is meaning how we react to the Word of God.

Quick to hear the Word of God, Slow to quickly explain or even explain away the Word of God, or we get truly rocked by it and we get angry as a response to the Word of God.[7] We are to receive the implanted word of God with meekness, not anger or excuse.

“As the Word of God roots itself more deeply in us, the new life develops and the old life dies.”[8] James says, “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness” The Christian must recognize sin for what it is, stop justifying it, and decisively reject it – if they don’t then any spiritual growth is not likely.[9] When we remove filthiness and wickedness it’s like removing a soiled garment.

Several times in Scripture when we are told to take off (put away) the soiled garment of filthiness and wickedness we are to replace it with something else to ‘put on.”

“receive with meekness the implanted word” a better word for implanted is engrafted. When you engraft a plant to take one variety of a tree, cut off a branch, carefully cut a slit in it’s bark and then take another branch from another variety of tree and put the stump and the branch together. You can have lemons growing from an orange tree, or pears growing on the same tree as apples.

So in James’ passage our heart’s are described as the tree, and the Word of God is carefully engrafted into it, so that it will grow. God carefully places the Word of God in our lives, we must receive it with meekness. Sometimes grafts fail on trees, the tree has to receive the foreign branches and it has to grow.

“which is able to save your souls.” Is not a reference to salvation, but “refers to the redeeming of the Christian from sins to his life as he grows and matures (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18).”[10] When we have a relationship with God is one of constantly removing sin from our lives, or being saved from

Listening But Not Doing Anything Is Worthless (vv. 22-25)

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James describes two groups of people to explain his previous points; there are the “doers of the word,” and the “hearers only.” The doers look into the perfect law (the Bible) and persevere (do something).

The hearers only group are people who go through religious actions but there is no action with regard to rooting out sin in their lives. They are content with an outward appearance or being religious (they are the fake Van Goghs). James wants to warm them of the danger.[11]

All of these things have to do with the church gathering together. “The practical value of church attendance, according to James, is realized only when the word heard becomes the word in action.”[12] If you go to church and hear the message, but God’s Word doesn’t carry over into everyday living and life then it’s useless.[13]

“he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” The natural face is uncovered, no make-up, as-it-is blemishes and all. Take long hard real good look at yourself.

One commentator (Hort) emphasizes that the word genesis is in the original language in verse 23. The Greek literally reads “the face of his genesis.” And genesis carries the idea of ‘birth’ or ‘creation’ “Verses 23-25 would then contrast the man who sees what God intended him to be, but does nothing about it, with the man who sees what God wants him to be and strives to attain it.”[14] In the mirror of God’s Word you get a glimpse of the man you could be.

In worship and the gathered church, the Holy Spirit reveals things to us as we encounter the Word and compare our lives to it – like looking into a mirror, the Word of God shows us where things are out of place. There will be will be things the Lord will show us – but if we immediately talk about where we are going for lunch, or the things we need at Wal-Mart and don’t remember the things God showed us (they are immediately forgotten) – what’s the point?

“the one who looks into the perfect law”— to look into literally means to stop and bend over in order to see better or to inspect.[15] The same word is used when Mary inspected the tomb of Jesus. So, in reference to the Word of God, a believer really makes and effort to intently grapple with it and seek its’ meaning and how to apply it to their lives.

God shows us how we fall short in His Word. We must continue to look into God’s Word, and do what it says and then, “he will be blessed in his doing.” It is the doing, not just the hearing, that brings the blessing. It’s not enough to show up to the game dressed in the uniform – You have to go out onto the field and play the game.

In the parable of the sower, only one of the four classes of hearers brought forth fruit. That is the test. “By their fruits you will know them.”

A Self-Deceptive Religion Is Worthless (vv. 26-27)

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James is not addressing the hypocritical person who pretends to be religious – or wears a mask at church and then takes it off in the community. He is talking to people who actually think they are religious, but are deceived. There is a possibility that we deceive ourselves.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” This passage should move all of us to evaluate our relationship with God.

In the culture of James’ day, to be religious referred to the exterior or visible aspects of religious behavior.”[16] James is not giving the totality of this is what it means to be a Christian, but he giving practical examples for a person to evaluate their relationship with the Lord, specifically self-deception. We are to act and do – outward behavior, but those actions have to come from an inner right relationship with God.

For the Jewish people “The regular attendance at the hours of prayer, faithful observances of the rules of ritual purification, payment of the tithes – these things constituted worship. Finally, these alone constituted worship. Religion came to consist in the ceremony alone, the letter and not the spirit, the hull and not the kernel”[17]

Christianity does not require the follower to do anything, no ceremonies, no prescribed rites, no memorized protocol, no court etiquette. “Our relationship with God is simply dependent upon a simple and sincere devotion to God.”[18]

It is an outflow of our love and devotion to God that we love our neighbor as yourself, Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The Christian religion that God accepts is described in three activities. 1) care of speech, 2) concern for the helpless in our society or our concern for other people 3) avoidance of worldly attitudes and values.[19] “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” and “to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

“It is just as revolting to God for a person to have personal holiness but not have a redemptive involvement with others as having social action without concern for personal holiness.”[20]

“Religious practices are fine (church attendance, giving, serving, etc.) but if they are not coupled to an ethical lifestyle they are worse than useless, for they become self-deceptions.” James wants his readers to be able to see that these religious actions and recognize their true condition before it is too late.[21]

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZVJTW4jpck

[2] David P. Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1997) 92.

[3] George Arthur Buttrick, Dictionary Ed., The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, K-Q (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 335.

[4] Ibid, 334.

[5] Buttrick, Dictionary, 335.

[6] Zeno of Citium is attributed to the idea, “we have two ears and one mouth, therefore we should listen twice as much as we talk.”

[7] Clifton J. Allen, Gen. Ed. The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1972) 112.

[8] Lehman Strauss, James Your Brother (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1956) 59.

[9] Strauss, 40.

[10] Allen, 112.

[11] Doulas Moo, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990) 82.

[12]George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press,1957) 31.

[13] Pious genuflection.

[14] Moo, 85.

[15] Allen, 112.

[16] Allen 113.

[17] A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Publishing, 1959) 71.

[18] Buttrick, 34.

[19] Clinton Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Volume 4 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 2002) 97.

[20] Allen, 113.

[21] Peter H. Davids, New International Biblical Commentary, James (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishing, 1989) 43.

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James The Purpose of Pain James 1:1-12

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

The Purpose of Pain

James 1:1-12

Introduction

Helping a butterfly out of its’ chrysalis. It’s all about the struggle.

Prayer

A Servant Leader (v. 1)

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

James was well known by the various churches, he is an elder, and an apostle (Galatians 1:19), the half-brother of Jesus, but he doesn’t refer to himself in those terms – instead, he chooses to call himself, “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” He is one who has authority, yet refers to himself as a servant (servant-leader).

He is writing the scattered church described as “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:” (diaspora) who are experiencing persecution. In the original Greek “Dispersion” means “scattered.” James is using metaphorical language to describe the scattered church (twelve tribes meaning all of the church) who are living in places other than their home (with Christ in heaven).[1]

Acts 11:19 gives us some background as to when and the church in Palestine was scattered, “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.” Stephen was a Christian believer that was stoned and sparked persecution in the early church, where they scattered as far as “Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch,” Saul, who we later know as Paul the apostle, was determined to destroy the Christian church and was going to house to house forcibly taking men and women to prison.[2]

Finding Joy in a Sea of Sorrow (vv. 2-4)

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

“meet trails” the word used here for meet means to “fall into” and trials can mean inward affliction, as in a temptation to sin in a particular way, or an outward affliction such as being persecuted.[3] Here it seems to indicate, “afflictions, troubles, or difficulties.”[4] Jesus in his parable in Luke 10:30 in discussing the Good Samaritan said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, . . .” When man looks up, he finds himself surrounded by robbers.[5]

In all of these trials that the Christian may find himself in, we are to meet these events head on with joy – We don’t wait until everything is over, the dust settles, and look back, and then choose joy – as we wade through the difficulty, like James, consider ourselves servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we sit down and consider our time in experiencing these trials we are to “count it all joy” When a person has joy, they have an emotional response to having a long-term view of life. Happiness is a short-term view; it is a response to what is immediately in front of you and what you are experiencing in the moment.

James knows that to be joyful in trials is absurd.[6] So he addresses this by helping us to see the benefits of the trials. We are joyful regarding our salvation (Psalm 51:12) because it is an eternal perspective. We lose hope when we move our gaze from the long view to what is immediately in front of us.

We are to count it joy because there is an end result that is happening in our lives. These trials are producing something within us that is strengthening our faith. Trails do not show whether we have faith or not, they strengthen what is already there.

The visual imagery we are to see is one of metal being heated up and the dross and waste rises to the top where it is siphoned off.[7] The metal is then made stronger and purer.[8] Your pain and heartache will not be wasted; God is doing a work in your life.

“you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” – steadfastness is defined as “patient endurance,” and it is these tests that lead to the ability to endure.[9]

The apostle Paul says some similar in Romans 5:3-5, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Some years ago, I decided that I wanted to run a marathon, and having ran several half-marathons I set out on a training schedule. Usually, you run increasing miles over several months to where you have a “long run” – and for me, the long runs were on Friday morning, where I would run until lunch time. If you missed a week of training, the miles would jump up instead of by two to four mile differences. Your body would go into shock if you set out to run 26.2 miles with no training, no preparation – but if you slowly add mile after mile, week after week your body adjusts – you build endurance.

“let steadfastness have its full effect” – The pain and suffering will happen, that’s a part of life. But the process that God desires to work in our lives, the “steadfastness” has to be allowed in the life of the believer. We have to let the patient endurance point us toward spiritual growth – otherwise it is for nothing that we went through the trial.[10]

Patient endurance or steadfastness is not the end goal, it is the means to get there. The ultimate goal that God is working in our lives is so, “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” To be perfect in this circumstance is to be mature – a perfect plant is one fully mature because it can accomplish what it is supposed to accomplish.

To be complete is to be adequate, or to be fully “what God requires and approves.”[11] “to have all your parts, whole, not unsound anywhere” The word is used of stones untouched by a tool, of an animal without blemish.[12]

God’s favor upon our lives is not that we avoid distress, but God’s working in us that we are “lacking in nothing.” It is so encouraging to be around mature Christians – they are joyful and they trained to do the work of the church. Very few things rattle them; they have seen it before and endured through it.

The trials and the resulting consequences in the life of the believer are directly linked to the character of God, and God is the only one deserving of such trust. The believer trusts that the pain and suffering have a purpose and that God has the believer’s best interest in mind.[13]

If we don’t believe in God then life has no meaning and the pain is just pain. If we believe in God but have a wrong understanding of His character, then He is seen as cruel for allowing it to happen, or weak because He did not keep it from happening. But James shows us that God is good and has an eternal view in mind of our pain and suffering.

Jesus says in Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven[14] is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” The man would feel the pain of selling all that he has, but he is joyful in his loss because of what he will gain by purchasing the field (the treasure). When we take a long-term view of suffering, we should choose joy because of what we gain in the end.

“Paul and Silas sing in the Philippian prison because the bars could not prevent their serving Christ’s cause. In that service they found the source of their happiness, so their trials only proved their faith and the steadfastness of their devotion.”[15]

Two Stumbling Blocks to Our Spiritual Growth

1) A Lack of Wisdom (vv. 5-8)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Tennyson says, “knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”[16] For James in his discussion of wisdom, he is talking about the right use of one’s opportunities in holy living. We need wisdom in order to properly view the trials that we encounter. If we don’t have this wisdom, then we can “ask God, who gives generously.”

Paul reminds the church in Corinth that the wisdom of God appears foolish to the world, just as the wisdom of the world appears foolish in God’s sight.[17]

God doesn’t answer all of our prayers the way we desire, especially as they may relate to our experiencing less pain in trials, but He is always willing to “say yes” for our request for wisdom. With wisdom he doesn’t talk about the cost, or your lack of it – He gives it generously and doesn’t bring up the past. But, there is a requirement – we are to ask “ask in faith, with no doubting.”

A father once came to Jesus and asked for help for his son in Mark 9:21-24 “And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” We ask God for wisdom, we pray to Him, and believe that He will help us and answer our prayer – but if we don’t really believe then why are we asking?

When we pray there are two wills that are coming together, our will and God’s will. When you seek God’s will in prayer, while still wanting to hold on to your own – this is being double-minded. “Lead me oh God, except in the direction that I do not wish to go.”

“To doubt is to have a divided mind that draws him two ways, like the poor donkey that starved because he could not choose between two stacks of hay.”[18] The end result of doubt is inaction. The testing of faith leads to perseverance, but doubt leads to unstableness. When James is talking about double-mindedness he means trusting in God and trusting in the world. You can’t do both.

“the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” This person sways back and forth in life. Whenever a hard time comes they are moved, because they don’t trust God. They have no anchor of hope – holding them in one place.

Paul in writing to the church in Ephesus says that the spiritual leadership’s job was to equip the church “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:14) but here instead of bad doctrine causing the tumult it is trying to live in two worlds at the same time.

The promises of the gospel all assume a commitment of the individual to, and trust in, God – The foundational issue is trust. Where does your trust lie? If you trust in yourself to take on the world, then don’t pray to God and seek His help. But if you trust in Him for salvation, and life in general, then continue to trust that He will answer your prayers in the way that is best for you.

2) Money (vv. 9-11)[19]

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Another area that may trip up a person with regard to their spiritual growth is money. It is easy to have a worldy view of wealth in that riches brings happiness. “James has a different ideal of happiness because he holds a different theory of the meaning and purpose of life. The purpose of life cannot be accomplished by the attainment of ease or luxurious comfort, but only in the achievement of Christlike character.”[20]

Just like earlier during trials we are to have a long view, and how joy has a long view, our station in life (rich or poor) is a short-term thing (in comparison to eternity). “like a flower of the grass he will pass away”

No matter how much wealth a person may have, eventually he will face eternity, and you can’t take it with you, whether that be a luxury yacht, or a brown paper lunch. Job said 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.” So our life’s truly only have significance when it is concentrated on the eternal. Power and wealth are a means to an end – not the end in and of themselves. To be better off is not to be better.

In light of this long view of life and eternity, James says, “Let the lowly brother,” he is encouraging us to remember that we are all brothers in Christ, and that we will spend eternity together. In Christ we stand at the foot of the cross on level ground.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The crown mentioned here was a wreath awarded to the winner in athletic games in recognition of an achievement built upon rigorous discipline.[21] James describes to us the Christian life as being active and strenuous and as we grow in endurance and character there is a promised reward from God for the trials.

We endure the trials, and endure the pain because we love the one who loved us first, and gave His only Son for our salvation.

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[1] See John 7:35; 1 Peter 1:1.

[2] George M. Sulac, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, James (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity, Press, 1993) 31.

[3] Satan referred to as a pirate; Matt. 4:4; 1 Cor. 7:5; 10:13; 1 Thess. 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:9 (Nystrom, 47).

[4] Clifton Allen, Gen. Ed., Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1972) 107.

[5] A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1959) 34.

[6] David Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1997) 48.

[7] “For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.” (Sirach 2:5, apocryphal book). Robertson, 37.

[8] Moo, 60.

[9] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, R-Z (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1962) 440.

[10] Peter H. Davids, New International Biblical Commentary, James (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishing, 1989) 28.

[11] Allen, 108.

[12] Robertson, 40. It is also used of a complete or unbroken household.

[13] Nystron, 49.

[14] See sermon on King of God and its’ meaning – https://drewboswell.com/424413-2/

[15] Buttrick, 22.

[16] Ibid.

[17] See 1 Cor. 1:18-21.

[18] Robertson, 43.

[19] Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase that means “Thus passes the glory of the world.” It has been interpreted as “Worldly things are fleeting.” It is possibly an adaptation of a phrase in Thomas à Kempis’s 1418 work The Imitation of Christ: “O quam cito transit gloria mundi”.

[20] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1957) 22.

[21] Buttrick, 26.

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