For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.  (17) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without  partiality and without hypocrisy.  (18) Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  (4:1) Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  (2) You lust and do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and war.  Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  (3). You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 

Thie letter was written by James, half brother of Jesus and head of the church at Jerusalem. James was writing to Christian communities addressing problems of conflict in the early church – not unlike relational problems in the church today. Basically James is saying that the faithful can’t resolve conflict until the source of that conflict is found – and that source is within us.   The enemy isn’t other people, it’s within us. Conflict arises among Christians when they stray from God’s wisdom to the “wisdom” of the world – and worldly wisdom is always rooted in pride leading to selfishness, ambition and jealousies.

God is not the source of worldly wisdom which comes from human emphasis on self and results in confusion, disorder and relational contentions – war and fights.  Spiritual peace of the Lord is not accidental and the faithful must be deliberate in effort and attention to God’s wisdom.  The solution to this unholy state is discernment – an honest examination of our motivation when we are in conflict with others – and an avoidance of judgment of others.  Men/women are born with a depraved nature and are born again, made right again with God in faith in Christ alone; we are to live in the world but not of the world.  Conflict dims our connection to God and the peace of Christ

Our prayer life will focus us and help us examine our true motives.  And don’t pray selfishly  as God cannot be used.  It is God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. All else leads to sadness, frustration and alienation from God.  Salvation is always of the Lord and the peace of Christ is precious behind all understanding.

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?   Can faith save him?  (15) If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, (16) and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?  (17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  (18) But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

James, the half brother of Jesus and head of the church at Jerusalem, wrote this letter and the verses we study today. The verses are a famous passage because they seem to contradict the verses in Romans, written by the apostle Paul – it appears that James is saying faith plus works are necessary for salvation while Paul says we are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works. James is actually dealing with the question of what is true saving faith – that there is false faith which does not save.  Both Paul and James are NOT saying faith PLUS good works saves man but instead are saying that genuine faith by its very nature accompanies good works.

Martin Luther found this seeming comtracdiction a stumbling block until he realized what Paul meant in Romans 1:17 – “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”  Paul meant that  Christ Jesus alone achieved righteousness on our behalf and no man can partake of justification except by faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from any thing man can do.  Thus by this understanding the reformation was born ; Luther was born again into eternal salvation by faith without any good works by man, and the world was changed

Paul was writing to Jewish Christians who taught that we must add works to faith in Christ to be justified.  This is false doctrine.  Salvation is of the Lord, not Jesus plus  James was writing to those who said they had genuine faith but they did not show a changed life.  Paul is writing of rebirth at the moment of faith and James is addressing sanctification as a process which happens after that moment of faith  and ends only at the moment of death.  Both Paul and James are saying that genuine faith justifies – it is by grace through Christ Jesus that we are made right with God.  This genuine faith ALWAYS results in a life of good works. False faith does not save man.

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.  (2) For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come a man in filthy clothes, (3) and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place” and say to the poor man, “You stand there” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” (4) have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?  (5) Listen my beloved brethren:  Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?  

Our verses today were written by James, the half brother of Jesus.   James is addressing Jewish Christians and warning them of the sin of favoritism/ bias, based on outward factors – gender, dress, skin color etc – all and any kinds of prejudice and judgment.  This sin of pride can be subtle or blatant.  They are judging others without looking beneath the surface and they are separating themselves from each other.  And all this is as true today as it was in the ancient church

James is addressing this problem by focusing on Christ Jesus.  That Christ has given us eternal spiritual life and light and we are to live in this world not of it.  Judgments based on outward appearance alone are faulty and only God sees the hearts of men – we do not and should not presume to assess the character of others.  Remember we are saved in Christ, apart from any effort on our part and being rich or poor is not Gods punishment or reward for how we live our lives.  God’s choice is completely based on His will and grace and purpose

The faithful love God because He first loved them.  God chooses, not man, and in man’s favoritism man is assuming – erroneously – the role of judge.  Partiality is wrong because it aligns us with God’s enemies

Christians.

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.  (18) Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.  (21) Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the Implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  (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 observing his natural face in a mirror; (24) for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  (25) 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 word, this one will be blessed in what he does. (26) 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. (27) Pure and undefined religion before God and the Father is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. 

James, the half brother of Jesus and the head of the early church at Jerusalem, wrote this pastoral letter to Jewish Christians admonishing them to be doers of the word, not just hearers. He illustrates this point by comparing a man giving himself a cursory glance in the mirror and turning away, satisfied with with what he sees and turning to other things with a man who looks in a mirror for self examination and repair.   James is saying that the word of God is the mirror we should study as every word has meaning and application in our lives – this mirror exposes our pride and self centered lives and uncovers all our worldly faults. It is personal.

Hearers only of the word of God forget what they hear which is the default mode of our sinful nature. The casual man in the mirror has other priorities and therefore only deceives himself/herself; he/she lives a life of dis-ease.    James warns us to be doers of the word as belief and application leads to freedom, peace and blessings.  Application of the word is life long and we will delight in the word of God which will change our conduct and character.  The faithful are to live in the world, not to be of it.  Look in the mirror and see the passing of the world – look carefully and you will see the peace of the Lord looking back at you.

There are differences between moral and social beliefs and behaviors and James is telling us to behave as we believe.  This is what he means by doers of God’s word and not just hearers of the word.  It is the difference between blessings and self deception – the difference between eternal life amd spiritual death.