James – Count it Pure Joy

He didn’t believe—not at first, anyway. James, Jesus’ own brother, doubted Christ’s divinity. He wasn’t numbered among the disciples. And he didn’t even seem to factor into the ministry.

But the resurrection changed everything. James saw the evidence with his own eyes. Then it all began to make sense. In a short amount of time, God replaced James’ doubt with a powerful faith that fueled his ministry to the Jewish community around him. Eager to help the early church identify and understand true saving faith, he compiled his thoughts on Christian living into one work which became the book of James, the earliest New Testament literature recorded.

Already the church had grown. Gentile and Jewish converts added to the number daily. But few had the depth of understanding that God had given James into the nature of His character. James wanted the church to know that Christianity was not a passing trend to try out for a time. Faith in Jesus meant making Him Lord of their lives and no longer living for themselves.

And then he really laid down the challenge. Did the church members honestly believe and surrender to Jesus’ authority? If so, where was the proof? Real faith, James contended, always leads to right, God-honoring action. Faith that exists only in words fizzles under fire.

Over the centuries, some Christians have struggled with James’ seemingly harsh approach to faith. Was he saying that our works earn us a right standing with God? Absolutely not. James and Paul were in full agreement that Jesus alone grants us a righteous standing before God through His provision on the cross. But where Paul emphasized the power of grace in God’s gift of faith, James stressed the other side of the coin: that real, God-given faith always evidences itself through acts of grace and mercy. Their messages are one and the same. God gives us the gift of faith, and we know we have received it when we see the fruit of His Spirit at work in our lives. We don’t become holy in order to know God. It’s because we know God and have His Spirit in our hearts that our lives take on His character as He works in and through us.

What is a trial? Read James 1:1-4.

How do trials shape your character?

Read James 1:12. What does James tell you?