2022 Book of James Commentary

“James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.” —James 1:1

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
John 15:20

James, the biological half-brother of Jesus, was the head of the Messianic Sanhedrin, often referred to as the Jerusalem Council, and his ruling in Acts 15 was considered final. He was prominent in the ministry of the Lord, and His words apply to us today. Yes, he wrote this book to the 12 tribes of Israel who were dispersed outside of Jerusalem, from where he was writing, but we must understand that he also wrote to Gentiles who were being grafted-in to the faith. There are not two paths, one for the Jews and one for Gentiles, but the path is the same for both. In Ephesians 2 we see that in Jesus the middle wall of separation was torn down that separated Jews and Gentiles, that any lawful difference between them was void, and the Torah law should now be considered in the Spirit of Christ, separating believers from unbelievers instead, the wheat from the chaff. Romans 11 is quite clear that Gentiles are grafted-in to the Natural Olive Tree that is Israel, and so in fact, we are among the 12 tribes who are dispersed abroad, even this very day.

To be clear, I will cite Romans 11:13-24, where Paul makes the unity of the Faith certain (I have inserted interpretation in brackets for clarity): “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh [Jews] and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world [the Gentile nations], what will their acceptance [the faith of Jews in Jesus] be but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit [Jesus] is holy, the lump [His followers] is also holy; and if the root is holy [Jesus], so are the branches [believers]. And if some of the branches were broken off [Jews], and you [Gentiles], being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them [Believing Jews and Gentiles together as one Israel], and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree [Israel], do not boast against the branches [those Jews who were cut off]. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you [We are saved by grace through Christ alone]. You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” [Jews]. Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. [God spares only those who keep His commandments and the faith of Jesus.] Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. [Continuing in His goodness means to keep the commandments of God out of love for Jesus]. Otherwise you also will be cut off. [If we do not keep the commandments, God will say, “depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”] And they also [the Jews], if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. [Jews who believe in their Messiah Yeshua will be grafted back into the tree of believing Israel]. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Don’t let my words confuse you into thinking that I’m writing about a “replacement theology,” which is heresy, but what I am doing is rejecting the “dual covenant theology,” which indicates that there is a covenant for Jews and a different covenant for Gentiles. This too is heresy, which Scripture makes clear. In Acts 4:10-12, we read an often repeated Truth: “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man [who had been crippled] stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’” Whether Jew or Gentile, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and there is no other name under Heaven by which any man or woman can be saved.

God’s design was always that both Jews and Gentiles would be one people in Christ who would love and trust in Him and follow His commandments. There is very clear prophesy that articulates this better than I can: Speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven, God says in Ezekiel 47:21-23, “‘Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, AND FOR THE STRANGERS WHO DWELL AMONG YOU AND WHO BEAR CHILDREN AMONG YOU. THEY SHALL BE TO YOU AS NATIVE-BORN AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; THEY SHALL HAVE AN INHERITANCE WITH YOU AMONG THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,’ says the Lord God.” As Gentiles grafted-in to the Tree of Israel through faith in the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), we have an opportunity to inherit land in the Kingdom of Heaven among the 12 Tribes of Israel. James is writing to us.

In one more clear prophesy that speaks to the Kingdom age that we now prepare for, consider Isaiah 56:1-8, and particularly what I have copied in ALL CAPS. Before I cite these verses, consider that the first verse speaks about the coming of Jesus. Where the text says, “My salvation is about to come,” let me be abundantly clear: The Text says, “Thus says Yahweh (יְהוָ֔ה), keep justice and do righteousness, for MY YESHUA (יְשֽׁוּעָתִי֙) is about to come.” He is talking about the first coming of Jesus in this passage; nothing more and nothing less, and this is His instruction to the foreigners who will be grafted-in to Israel through faith in His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, proving His place as the promised Jewish Messiah:

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness, for MY SALVATION IS ABOUT TO COME, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. DO NOT LET THE SON OF THE FOREIGNER WHO HAS JOINED HIMSELF TO THE LORD SPEAK, SAYING, ‘THE LORD HAS UTTERLY SEPARATED ME FROM HIS PEOPLE.’ Nor let the eunuch say, ‘Here I am, a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. ALSO THE SONS OF THE FOREIGNER, WHO JOIN THEMSELVES TO THE LORD, TO SERVE HIM, AND TO LOVE THE NAME OF THE LORD, TO BE HIS SERVANTS—EVERYONE WHO KEEPS FROM DEFILING THE SABBATH AND HOLDS FAST MY COVENANT—EVEN THEM I WILL BRING TO MY HOLY MOUNTAIN AND MAKE THEM JOYFUL IN MY HOUSE OF PRAYER.’ Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ‘YET I WILL GATHER TO HIM OTHERS BESIDES THOSE WHO ARE GATHERED TO HIM.’”

Before you talk about burnt offerings and sacrifices and the temple being no more, consider that these terms are eternal and they have meaning within the New Covenant. Burnt offerings are prayers of the saints, see Revelation 5:8: “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, AND GOLDEN BOWLS FULL OF INCENSE, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS.” Sacrifices are are reasonable service, but also the sacrifice of Jesus Himself on the cross. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1). The temple is the whole body of believers, whether Jew or Gentile: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16). So “Yes,” “My covenant” that is referred to in Isaiah is the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, and “Yes,” these verses apply directly to you and me. We are exhorted by God Himself: Don’t you dare say I have separated you from my people, the Jews. You Gentiles are blessed to be grafted-in among My people Israel, so do not do anything to get yourself cut off.

While I have written entire sermons about how we are grafted-in to Israel through faith in the Messiah Yeshua, and I could certainly share that with you, these verses above should suffice as a good introduction to the concept. And so what James tells Gentiles in Acts 15:18-21 is of utmost importance to pay attention to as we begin to read His Epistle: “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 the synagogues every Sabbath.” Because we are the temple of God in Christ, purified by Him so that the Holy of Spirit of God might dwell within us, we ought to make our temple clean. James is adamant about this when he writes to the Gentiles, that we make our bodies pure for the Holy Spirit, by cutting out sexual immorality, idolatry, and blood.

And so 1 Corinthians 3:17, the continuation of the verse quoted above, says, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” This is what James is saying, too. As Christians coming into the faith, our first obligation is to purify ourselves in Christ Jesus through our Baptism to prepare ourselves to receive His Holy Spirit. However, once we have done this, and once the Holy Spirit does come to dwell within us, the conviction in the Lord begins—this is day one of our sanctification in the Spirit, which lasts the rest of our lives. James is brilliant, in that He notes, “For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” Where will these new Gentile Christians be? They will be in the synagogues, every Sabbath, learning the laws of Moses. Because their Temples are clean, the Holy Spirit will then convict them “in Spirit and Truth” regarding the commandments of God, and good Gentile Christians who truly have faith in Jesus, will do as He commanded because we love Him. Conviction must be followed by obedience; we must “go and sin no more,” as Jesus repeated multiple times. This is a process, and we are all in different places in our walk, but it ought to be happening in our lives or perhaps we don’t have true faith? Perhaps we do not love our savior if we are not doing what He said to do. If you love Jesus, you will keep His commandments. (John 14:15). How can you say Lord, Lord, if you do not do what Jesus said? (Luke 6:46). As we are grafted-in to the 12 tribes of Israel through faith in the Messiah Yeshua,  even though we are dispersed abroad, we ought to heed the words of James, for he writes to us in his epistle and his words apply to us directly, whether we are Jew or Gentile.

—

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once 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 being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” —James 1:2-18

James’s words here in James 1:2-18 have their parallel in Hebrews 12:1-11, for we do indeed have an entire Torah full of witnesses to the chastening of God, and we had better expect chastening in the Lord, and take great joy in it, for through these trials and testing, the Lord refines us into fine gold. The verses in Hebrews read: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Jesus Himself tells the lukewarm church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” Our whole purpose of life in this place is to trust in God and obey His commandments. In other words, to have faith in Jesus for salvation and to obey through the power of His Holy Spirit for sanctification unto glorification. This sanctification process can be difficult, for God is using this time to eliminate the sin in us, one experience at a time. Every day we have the opportunity to choose life and follow God or wallow in misery and dissatisfaction and complaint. James counsels us: “consider it all joy … and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Jesus said, “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48)

We ought to ask for wisdom from God, for He gives this gift generously to lead us toward life and godliness through knowledge of His Word (2 Peter 1:3). But we must ask in faith without doubting, for when we ask of the Lord according to His will for this wisdom—the knowledge of God—He will open our eyes to understand His Word in ways we could never have imagined. When we doubt God’s power to deliver His wisdom to us, we may as well jump into a stormy sea and expect the instability of life trying to follow after our own way, which leads only to death. Regardless of whether we’re rich or poor, a leader or a servant, we ought to give glory to God and thanksgiving in all circumstances and persevere through all the trials of life, loving the Lord by keeping His commandments in good times and bad.

The crown of life is given to the one who endures until the end. We must be careful not to doubt, or to get carried away by the temptations of the world or of the flesh, to follow after our own way, because it gives birth to sin, and when practiced, ultimately death. James warns us not to be deceived, for Christ is not a minister of sin, as Paul advised us in Galatians 2:17. Grace is neither merited nor lawless, but it is a perfect gift from above, and there is no variation or shifting shadow in its deliverance to all of us who call upon the name of Jesus. It was His will to bring us forth by the Word of Truth, so that we could be His people, and He our God. We must embrace this without wavering, and then walk in that faith by His Spirit in love. And we know that those who love Jesus will keep the commandments of God. In this walk we must endure.

—

“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.” —James 1:19-27

What does it mean to “do the Word.” It means to obey the commandments of God. It’s that simple. We can’t just hear about salvation through Jesus and agree with the idea and somehow be saved into an eternal bliss, we actually have to do what the Lord has told us to do throughout the whole of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. But we must do this in Spirit and Truth, not just according to the letter. It ought to be the greatest desire of our heart to obey God’s commandments because we want to please Him, just like a wife does things her husband asks so that he will be pleased with her, and vice versa. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand this and then helps us to do this, when we are open to Him and start by desiring to obey God, because we love and trust in Him. It is not that works save us; only the grace of God in Christ can do that, but if we don’t then walk righteously according to the law from that point forward, to what life were we saved?

We must lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and wrath, terms which are defined by Torah. We must not mix the clean with the unclean, nor the holy with the profane, the believing with the unbelieving. (See Leviticus 10:10, Ezekiel 44:23, and 2 Corinthians 6:14, and surrounding contextual verses, among many others.) We must be circumcised in our hearts by allowing the Holy Spirit to move within us with conviction and cut out the sin that we once cherished. We need to read God’s Word to understand the fullness of James’s exhortation, and “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Yes, it is by the Word that we know we are saved by grace. And is by the Word that we know we are saved to do the good works that God prepared beforehand; those works that He identified in His law: to put God first and do His will, to not worship anyone or anything beside Him, to not use His name falsely, either in prophesy or in teaching, to keep His Sabbath Day Holy, and not follow after our own hearts, to honor our parents, to not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet that which does not belong to us, among many others.

The Word is the Torah, and that Word became flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus Christ, and then He died and was risen from death, and He said He would come again to judge the living and the dead, separating the wheat (those who believe in Him and obey Him) from the chaff (those who reject Him or the commandments He gave or both). We have to do the Word, which means to live just like Jesus did, to “be perfect like your Heavenly Father is perfect.” The “perfect law of liberty” is the law of God, for it is His love language for us. If we were to do the things God commanded and refrain from the things He commanded we don’t do, our life would be fully blessed, even amidst every conceivable hardship. Obedience and trust in the Lord brings total joy. When we look at this Torah, the “perfect law of liberty” and continue in it, and we are not forgetful hearers but doers o the work of the law, “this one will be blessed in what he does.” Here it is in no uncertain terms.

James continues by giving a few examples from the law of practicing lawlessness. Those who believe the law is done away with actually deceive their own heart, thinking they will be just fine living in disobedience to the Lord. Sadly, these ones are usually the loudest and most adamant in the church. They don’t bridle their tongue because they are false teachers, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. But they don’t teach or do the commandments of God, and for this they will be called “least” in the Kingdom of God, which means that they won’t make it there at all. To be pure and undefiled in our faith, we must love one another in our actions, like visiting orphans and widows in their trouble, and we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Again, we must be perfect, like our Heavenly Father is perfect. With the power of the Holy Spirit, who helps us, we must follow the “perfect law of liberty,” which God gave us in His Word.

—

“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 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,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 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? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
James 2:1-13

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
James 1:17

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
James 1:27

James is addressing the “royal law” in these verses, which of course is the law that was given by the King, Yeshua (Jesus). We read in Exodus 20 that “God spoke all these words,” when He gave Man the Ten Commandments. We read in John 1 that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” and “Through Him all things were made.” Thus we know that Jesus spoke all these words to Moses, and He is the Word of God that gave us the “royal law.” We know that James is speaking about the Commandments of God here, because he quotes several of them, “do not commit adultery,” and “do not murder,” as well as “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These are all commandments of God from Torah—Exodus 20:13-14 and Leviticus 19:18 to be exact. Just because he lists only three commandments, does not mean he excludes the others; rather by listing three he points to ALL of the others by giving these examples. Thus, we know that James is talking about the whole law of God in this passage.

Now, many preachers have taken “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all,” and turned this verse upside down, saying this is somehow a reason to reject the law. Nothing could be further from the Truth. We know from John’s writing in 1 John 3:4 that “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness,” which basically says the same thing as what James is saying here. Jesus says in Matthew 7 that those who “practice lawlessness” will be destroyed, even if they call Jesus Lord. In Hebrews 10:28, we see the point made even more clearly: “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” This all comes from several verses in Torah, but most poignantly from Ezekiel 18:20: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” There is nothing untrue about these statements, and none of this has changed. This is the Truth today as much as it was the Truth when it was written. The Word of God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

So what is James’s point in these verses? First: Keep the law. Second: Show mercy to all, just as Jesus showed mercy to you. And this is why he speaks about partiality. We must treat everyone who professes faith in the Messiah the same, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or what they’ve accomplished in this life. They are brothers and sisters, standing shoulder to shoulder with us in the faith, and they all have something to offer to the Body of Christ. The issue James was facing is that Messianic Jews were not accepting Messianic Gentiles, or vice versa, and some brothers and sisters were rejecting other brother and sisters on account of worldly measures. It does not matter if you’re rich or poor, famous or humble, if you are a brother or sister in Christ, then you are equal as sons and daughters of the Father and there ought to be no partiality among the church.

This goes for the walk of faith also. For we are all on the narrow path up the mountain toward the summit, which is Jesus. However, we are not all at the same elevation on our walk. Those who are further along in their path of understanding can see a greater landscape below; they see the lay of the land and understand how the Torah and the Gospels fit together perfectly and do not contradict in the least. Those who are not as far in their understanding don’t have a view of this landscape yet, and they may even reject God’s commandments because they have been deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothing. James instructs us to show no partiality, for this is sin. It is our duty to follow Jesus, who showed us such lovingkindness, long-suffering and mercy that He came in the flesh and died for us. As we walk up the narrow mountain pass, we must show lovingkindness, long-suffering and mercy to all, no matter where they are in their walk or how deceived they may be, though we certainly ought to speak the Truth at all times, for only the Truth leads up the mountain.

To drive his point home, James shows us how it is good to keep the whole law, but if we stumble in one point, we violate the whole thing and are guilty of sin that leads to death. Here’s what he says specifically: “Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” Right before this, he writes, “if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” In other words, he is holding up these three laws as equal, and we are commanded to follow all of them, and not just one or the other. So it is very easy to conclude by reading this passage that the one who does not love his or her brother as themselves is guilty of violating the whole law, even if they have never murdered anyone or committed adultery. And anyone who stumbles in one point of the whole law is guilty of all.

The Lord summarizes His commandments many times in Scripture, all throughout, and no place is better than in the Sh’ma of Deuteronomy 6, where He says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart…” In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus adds “with all your mind,” not because the mind is separate from the soul, but because He knows we must “take every thought captive” to obey the Lord’s commandments, for “the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Of course, Jesus says the second most important commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Commandments One through Four fit into the Love the Lord your God side of this equation, and Commandments Five through Ten fit into the “love your neighbor as yourself” side. It is by the commandments that we know what God means when He commands us to “love,” because the commandments are His love language.

In Matthew 5, Jesus makes it clear to us that it is not enough to follow the commandment, “though shall not murder,” but we also have to refrain from saying “you idiot” to your brother, also, for that is spiritually identical to taking your brother’s life, for he has been murdered inside your mind and your heart. Likewise, it is not enough to obey the letter of the law, to “not commit adultery,” but we must not even look at a woman (or man) with lust in our hearts, because that is the same “in spirit and truth” as actually committing the act of adultery. The royal law, the perfect law of liberty is much more than simply following the letter, but it has to be something that defines us in our very core. As God says in Deuteronomy 6, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

In other words, the law has to become a part of you; it indeed has to define the very heart, or core, of who you are. Everything you think, everything you speak, and everything you do, your entire being, everywhere you go, and the way you run your house, must be done according to the Spirit of God’s law. We looked at Hebrews 10:28 above, that violating Moses’s law leads to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Hebrews 10:29 make the same point as James today: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” We insult the Spirit of Grace when we break or reject not just the letter of the law, but the Spirit of the law. This is a far stricter judgment than before the coming of Christ. Before, the answer was in black and white; since Christ, the answer is a matter of what is in our innermost being.

Yes, you receive the Holy Spirit of God because you obey God’s law in the Spirit of Jesus Christ with love (John 14), and then the Holy Spirit helps you keep the law. But by no means did even one jot or tittle of the law get thrown away or changed (Matthew 5). Every bit of it is there that has always been there, since creation, when God rested on the Seventh Day and hallowed it. We rehearse our eternal union with Him in marriage, we rehearse the Marriage Supper of the Lamb every Saturday when we keep the Sabbath according to God’s commandment in Spirit and in Truth. We do what the Lord told us to do when we are faithful with our spouse, both in deed as well as in our thoughts and in our hearts. This is how we can call Him “Lord, Lord,” because we DO what He says. We become doers of the Word, and not just hearers only.

As James concludes this passage, He says, “speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” We will be judged in this way, whether we truly have the faith that changes us or not, whether we truly obey our Lord and do His will or not. His death and resurrection saves those who repent and hear the good news, who “go and sin no more.” His death and resurrection will not save those who do not do what He commanded, unless they repent and turn toward Him and follow Him. Now “mercy triumphs over judgment,” James says, and this is true. For Christ’s sacrifice IS enough for our salvation—nothing else is needed. However, if we turn our back on that salvation by rejecting the one who saved us, by rejecting what He commanded us to do, then we should not expect to continue in the kindness of His salvation. He will say “depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. … I never knew you.” And He didn’t. The Lord forgets the righteousness of the one who turns away from Him. He forgets the sins of the one who repents. (Ezekiel 18).

When James says, “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy,” He simply quotes Torah law, which Jesus also taught. “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15) This brings us back to the whole point of James’s writing this passage. You see this principle identified strongly in the story of Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery, in Genesis 50:16-20. Joseph says to the brothers he now rules over: “Fear not, for am I instead of God? Although you intended me harm, God intended it for good.” Leviticus 19:17 says, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” and Exodus 23:4 says “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.” There is no difference in God’s law; for there is no difference in God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Now that His law is written on our heart by the Holy Spirit, rather than on tablets of stone, we have no excuse but to keep it with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and we had better love our brother as ourselves, also.

—

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
James 2:14-26

Luke 10:25-37

Ephesians 2:8-10 is a great summary of James 2:14-26. There is no doubt that we are saved by our faith alone, and that no works of the law can justify us. This means, the one who has blameless righteousness, the one who keeps the Sabbath, the Feast Days, and does all of the works of the law,  if they do this as a result of blind obedience to the letter, they are nothing and have nothing without faith in the Messiah Yeshua. We read in Acts 4:14, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” But James’s point in these verses, and the point of Ephesians 2:10 is that when we are justified by this saving faith, we ought to turn our hearts toward the Lord and begin doing the works that He commanded. So then, how can someone say they are saved if they do not do the works that God commanded, the “good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” James says, “faith without works is dead.” That means the one who says they love Jesus, but doesn’t keep the Sabbath, the Feast Days, and all the works of the law may want to consider whether they truly have faith.

As I’ve pointed out before, we do not have the power to do the works of the law on our own, for as James pointed out, even breaking one of the commandments leads to death. God knows this, which is why He provided a helper, His Holy Spirit, to give us His power to keep the commandments in spirit and truth, with love. Jesus made this abundantly clear in a verse I’ve quoted many times, but will quote again because it couldn’t be more clear and I want you to see this: “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” Yes, the Lord will help us keep His law. Yes, the Holy Spirit will write the law on our hearts, so when we have the faith to follow Jesus, He will help us keep the law. He will convict us when we err, and He will redirect us when we fall. He will pick us up and set us back in the right direction, when our heart is to obey. Without the heart to obey, we will fail, and we will fall.

We could say that the one who does not have works experienced no justification to begin with if they do not show the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in them sanctifying them. This may not be so, but it could be. We are all on different places in our walk with God along the narrow path. Perhaps the Holy Spirit’s conviction has been sidelined by the tradition of men, which makes strong and lofty arguments, which couldn’t be more false, about the law’s irrelevance in the Christian life. Those who quench the Holy Spirit’s conviction on account of their tradition are practicing legalism, which Jesus condemns strongly in Mark 7, “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” What’s frustrating and disappointing to me is that these same ones who are doing this accuse those of us who are keeping the law of God that we are practicing legalism. No, my friends, we are practicing “righteousness.” We know, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

Consider: Did Abraham believe God’s promise that God would give him a son that would have descendants as numerous as the stars in Heaven and do nothing? No, in fact, when God asked Him to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham acted, as we see in Hebrews 11:17-19: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” When God asked Abraham to go out of the land he was raised in into the land of Canaan, he went, as we read in Hebrews 11:8: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” It was faith to believe in the promises of God, but to believe, one must act on that belief and do the things that God asks us to do to fulfill our end of the bargain. Again, these actions don’t save us, but they prove that our faith is legitimate and keep us walking in the Way according to the promises of God.

Now, James refers to alms when he speaks about sending away the “brother or sister who is without clothing and in need of daily food,” but he uses this as an example to prove his point, that we must “love one another,” just as Jesus loved us. This too is a Commandment of God in Torah, and Jesus said it was the second most important one. If you tell this person “go in peace, be warmed and filled,” that is not faith, it’s weakness, it’s selfishness, it is evidence of the flesh, that we care more about our own provisions than taking care of a brother or sister. And so James explains this metaphorical example here: “even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” In Luke 6:45-46, Jesus says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” Among the things that He said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) Read the Old Testament and New Testament all together, every day, to learn all of the things said by the Word of God, who became flesh and dwelt among us.

James seems to get a little edgy in his remarks when he says, “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” The demons believe in Jesus and they know he rose from the dead. In fact, when He walked the Earth, the demons followed Him around and asked Him what He was doing on Earth before the time. They know their days are numbered; they know that the Messiah is going to destroy them on the Last Day, and yet they still rebel. They do not do the works of God, but they rebel against them, even though they may fully believe that this will lead to their destruction. How many do you know who put the present before the future. Didn’t Esau sell his inheritance for a bowl of soup? When you consider that our inheritance is a “mansion” in the “kingdom of Heaven,” is this trade worth it? Why then do some rebel against God’s commandments like the demons do making their faith useless?

“You see,” James continues, “that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” He’s not saying that our works save us, but that our works prove we are saved and keep us on the narrow path to glorification in the Kingdom of God. Without such works, or if we do dead works—rebellion, of the flesh, of following after the world, of seeking the desires of our own heart—do you think God is going to allow these into His kingdom? He will certainly not! As Jesus says in Ezekiel 18:23, “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” Why then did He die for us? What was the purpose of this if not to cover our sins, our rebelliousness, our lack of righteousness, and our inability to follow the law fully our whole lives, without fail. Even David, one of the most righteous Kings of Israel, “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” That “except” clause condemns David to die in Hell, except that He repented in Psalm 51:9-11: “Hide Your face from my sins and wipe out all my guilty deeds. Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

Even the most righteous king, besides Messiah Yeshua, needed to repent. And so too do we. Mark 1:15 records Jesus’s first words of His ministry, “repent and hear the good news.” Yes, we are covered by His blood, and He has promised to resurrect us from the dead on the Last Day, just as He was raised as the First Fruits of salvation (1 Corinth 15). But we must turn, we must repent, and then we must “go and sin no more.” It wasn’t just the woman caught in adultery Jesus said these words to in John 8:3-11, but He also told the paralytic who He healed by the pool to “go and sin no more” in John 5:1-15. We know from 1 John 3:4 that “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” We know from Matthew 7:23 that even to those who say, “Lord, Lord” to Jesus, calling Him their savior, He will say to some of them who have turned their back on His commandments, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” He never knew them, because of their sin. God forgets the righteousness of those who fall away (Ezekiel 18:24), but the Lord will not remember the sins of the ones who repent, and “go and sin no more.” (Ezekiel 18:22)

James’s point in all of this section is the same. “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead,” he says. This isn’t anything new. This is the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, the same message that Jesus has preached since He created Man on the sixth day and rested on the seventh day, hallowing the day. Don’t let Satan tell you that you will not die if you break God’s commandments, for the Lord has said, “the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will die.” “You will surely die.” But God also sent a Son to crush the head of the serpent, even though the serpent would bite at His foot. He has given us an amazing salvation through His good grace as a free gift if we grasp onto it, and love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Loving Him, trusting in Him, having faith in Him, means doing what He has commanded, for faith without works is dead. Repent, and hear the good news. “Go and sin no more.” Let go of the traditions of men, for they lead to death. Live as if the promises of God were a precious pearl that you would sell everything you have, even your very own life, to obtain, because this is the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

—

“Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.”
James 3:1-12

“and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.”
Ephesians 5:4

When God asked me to become a pastor in 2020, I was terrified, specifically because of James 3:1: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” As men, we do stumble, and God forbid a moment of weakness for one of us leads a soul astray from the Lord. But for as many good teachers as there are, there are also evil teachers, and James also warns those who follow in this calling that they had better be sure it is from the Lord, lest they bring destruction on their heads. This is analogous to when Paul, Peter and Jesus Himself, say, “beware of false prophets” … “they are like wolves in sheep’s clothing.” And yet, Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Adam was cursed for his sin of violating the commandments by having to plant in the field amid “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3). False prophets, false preachers, these are a part of the curse for sin, but they will be thrown into the fire on the last day. The fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control ought to be produced by teachers who have been called by the Lord, for these fruits of the Spirit are how we know who is of God.

The Lord greatly blesses His righteous teachers throughout Scripture, especially in the Kingdom to come, but He is very harsh toward false teachers throughout Scripture, and makes it clear what He is most opposed to: Ezekiel 13:1-12 describes this best: “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ Thus says the Lord God: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! … They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ But the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. … Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people … “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace…”

And so James is warning those who do become teachers not to speak blasphemy, for the Lord is quite clear about this sin in Exodus 20:7: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” To take the Lord’s name in vain is to do what Ezekiel describes above; to say, “Hear the Word of the Lord,” when the Lord has not spoken. I would be very concerned if I was a teacher who opposed the Word of the Lord, which is recorded in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, which is interpreted in “spirit and truth.” 2 Corinthians 3 speaks to the dichotomy between those who have received the Holy Spirit and can interpret Scripture “through Christ” and “of the Spirit” and those who have “a veil,” and “their minds … blinded.” Paul speaks to those of Israel who lack “eyes to see and ears to ear,” as Jesus often said, but this can apply to anyone who reads Scripture and cannot see, because they do not truly follow Christ in faith, keeping the commandments of God in love.

As teachers, we can “use great boldness of speech,” like Paul and like James, “because we have such hope” in Christ, of our salvation through His blood. To clarify, “not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” If we are in Christ, we understand that Paul is not saying that the law ought to be discarded, but rather that it ought to be interpreted by the Spirit. If we interpret the letter in the flesh, it kills through misinterpretation; but if we interpret the Scripture by the Spirit, it gives life with its Truth. Paul makes this even more clear in verses 14-17: “Until this day the same veil [the veil that Moses put over his face] remains unlifed in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.” It is only in the light of Christ, through faith in Him, by His Holy Spirit, that the veil covering our eyes is lifted and we can truly understand the law in all its glory.

To make things certain, Paul repeats himself: “But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” In both cases, we’re reading Torah, the law of God given to Moses, but in the first case, where there is no Spirit, the law appears to be judgmental and awful, something to hide our face from with a veil. Israel cowered before the Lord in the wilderness on account of the glory of His perfect law of liberty, because they were found lacking, and so are we. But “when one turns to the Lord,” the second case, “the veil is taken away” and we can look upon God’s glory, the beauty of His law, which is His love language, and see that He intended it for our good and not our destruction. In Christ, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” And in Christ, we can see and teach that the law of God given to Moses is the “perfect law of liberty,” meant for our good and not for evil, meant to give us a future and a hope. Our hope is in Christ, and if He is truly in us, then we can see and not be blind.

I say all this to reemphasize: “Let not many of you become teachers.” If you are a teacher who is blinded without the Spirit of God in you, the law becomes an evil thing to you, even a dirty word. God has one thing to say to these teachers in Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” In Ezekiel 13, these are those who say “peace, peace, when there is no peace.” The ones who say “grace, grace, when there is no grace,” for as Paul writes, “Christ is not a minister of sin” and He will reject the lawless. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:8: “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully…” Yes, the law condemns those who violate it, but that’s not God’s intent for us. He desires “mercy and not sacrifice.” He intends us to obey His commands, and even says, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” How can any teacher miss this? They lack the Spirit of God. “Let not many of you become teachers … we will incur a stricter judgment.”

And so as followers of Yeshua, we must not teach unless the Spirit of God calls us to do so; we must not teach unless we are willing to teach the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. In 1 Timothy 3, we read “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach.” An overseer and pastor or teacher is the same role. The desire is not enough, though, as we see in 1 Corinthians 12:18; For “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” We see this repeated in Ephesians 4:10-12: “He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. And HE HIMSELF GAVE SOME TO BE apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,…” Unless Jesus calls you Himself in an unmistakable way, not by a small whisper, but without question, you ought not teach. I personally “tested the Spirits” to make sure the calling was from God, and He confirmed it three times.

Even though called by Christ, we still “stumble in many ways.” Thank God He is forgiving in Christ, but God forbid we lead one astray in our stumbling. By the Holy Spirit, we must aspire to be “a perfect man,” able to bridle the tongue and to bridle the whole body as well. We must “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) The metaphor James uses is beautiful, and it ought to be quoted to fully examine it: “Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.” As teachers, the Spirit of God must be in us so that we can properly interpret God’s law and thus direct the entire Body of Christ to obey it the way God intends. The rudder directs the whole ship, but the pilot steers. Who is the pilot? Is it you or is it the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ? It had better be Christ and the Word He has given us.

And so as James moves on to his final metaphor regarding the tongue, he speaks directly about those who have become teachers of the Gospel. “So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.” How easy is it for a Pastor to destroy a man by telling him that it is OK for him to live in sin, that Jesus has covered that sin and he is forgiven in it. “Christ is not a minister of sin!” But an entire forest can burn in Hell on account of that lie. What great things does the tongue boast? That we can say a prayer, live like Hell, and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven? Yes, that is one of the greatest lies pervading in the Church today, and it has burned down many forests that would have grown for the Lord. The Word of God is clear: We must repent, believe in Jesus, and sin no more, learning the law of God given to Moses in the synagogue every Sabbath so the Holy Spirit can convict us to live a more perfect life in Christ. The Holy Spirit removes the veil so that we can see God’s Truth for the love and liberty that Christ intends for us.

“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” (Matthew 15:11)

As Man, created in the image of God, we have dominion over “every kind of beasts and birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea,” and have we done our diligence to exercise this stewardship with love; yes, using the gifts that God has given us in His creation for our good, but not abusing them to their ill, or the ill of all mankind. And because we have not properly tamed the beasts of the field, how can we even hope to tame the tongue? “It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.” On account of our fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.” God speaks to Adam, but also to you and me and every teacher who might preach His Word. Cursed is the ground where the Word of God is sown on account of our sin. It shall bring thorns and thistles (false teachers) forth to confuse us, and we may only pick up the herbs of the field, rather than the fruit that God plans for us. But we must yield fruit or we will be cast into the fire. We must walk righteously in Christ and obey His commandments, and only then can we bear fruit in the good soil.

God forbid we ourselves become a thorn and thistle, that uses our tongue to “curse men” while we “bless our Lord and Father” out of the other side of our mouth. This is blasphemy. “My brethren,” James writes, “these things ought not to be this way.” Our Lord gives us a different way: “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45). Our Lord also says, “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:24) Luke 6:37: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” We must be very careful when we speak, especially as pastors; unless our Word is from God, it ought to be burned up.

We cannot be a fountain that sends out both fresh and bitter water, a fig tree that produces olives or a vine that produces figs. If our water is salty, it cannot be made fresh—not without a full and honest repentance and return to the Lord our God Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:15-20, the Lord says: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” What are our fruits? Do they reflect the Truth of Scripture? Does the Holy Spirit speak through us? Do we have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control? These are the fruits of the spirit, and you shall know them by their fruits.

—

“Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
James 3:13-18

James is clearly filled with the same Holy Spirit as Paul—and there is only ONE. The evidence for this is in their message, which is the same. Wisdom, which became flesh in Jesus Christ, dwells in those who are living “in Him” and “by Him,” by following Him. Those who have His Holy Spirit are going to exhibit the “fruits” of our Messiah’s Holy Spirit, and they will not exhibit the works of the flesh—also known as “dead works,” which are violations of God’s law. If we are “wise and understanding,” as James points out, we will “SHOW” that we possess God’s wisdom by our behavior in word and deed. Wisdom is “gentle,” James writes, and “gentleness” is a “fruit of the spirit,” according to Galatians 5:22-23. Wisdom is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” We see in our verse from Galatians “the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Jesus, however, did not come to bring peace, but a sword. He says in Matthew 10:24: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” This doesn’t contradict what James is saying in the least, but fully embraces it. The sword Jesus brings is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we will interpret the Word by the Spirit, with love, and obey God in all things, loving Christ first, and secondly, loving our neighbor as well as our enemy as ourself. Now this is both a sword that divides and a sword that brings peace all at the same time. How could we not have peace knowing our salvation is in Christ, and our obedience by His Spirit plants us soundly in His army. How could we not be assured as we go out with our shoes clad with the “Gospel of Peace,” which we know to be a sword that divides the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats. Ultimately, if we don’t obey God with the Spirit in love, then we aren’t obeying at all, and perhaps we even lack the Holy Spirit of promise, and this is James’ point.

We see in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 that “love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” James says that the “earthly, natural, demonic ‘wisdom’ is that which has bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, and arrogance; a false sense of worldly wisdom, or fleshly wisdom that will “lie against the truth.” We know from Psalm 119:142, among other places, that, “[God’s] righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And [God’s] law is truth.” We also know that Jesus was the Word who became flesh, and He Himself is Truth. Pity those who ignore the law or rebel against the law, those who reject or rebel against Jesus—pray for them and be patient—, but if you lie against God’s law and call it void or accursed, this is a demonic wisdom, according to James.  Those who call Jesus accursed do not have the Spirit of God, we read in 1 Corinthians 12:3.

When one rails against the law, or rejects Christ, one or the other or both, this brings about “disorder and every evil thing.” How could it not? God’s law is meant for our good. It showcases God’s love for us, explaining to us what we ought to do. It is God’s love language. Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished the greatest act of love of all time, covering our former sins, yes, but also impelling us by the power of the Holy Spirit to obedience in God’s commandments—His way, not our way. Only when we choose this path. The saints are those who endure in the obedience of God’s commandments and faith in Jesus. (Revelation 14:12). Let us not be arrogant or full of hypocrisy, for this is not love, but self seeking. Let us be unwavering in our love for God in Christ and our love for one another, but let us also be unwavering in doing what He told us to do.

Again, from 2 Corinthians 3, we know that the “spirit of the law” is what we need to heed, and “not the letter.” In order to obey the spirit of the law we must have Christ dwelling in us, and 2 Corinthians 3:15-17 highlights the same dichotomy as James 3:13-18, and I’ve added commentary in brackets: “But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart [the heart of the one without the Spirit, that is]. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away [because they now have the Spirit]. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Yes, when we believe in Christ and receive His Spirit (See John 14), we can then obey the commandments with the “gentleness of wisdom,” purity, peace, Godly reason, with both mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without hypocrisy.

It’s critical that as we go out to do the work the Lord asked of us in Matthew 28, we can only spread His Truth with peace, and not anger, jealousy, ambition, or arrogance, for in these selfish tendencies, we may be responsible for leading one astray. What horror that would be, and forgive me Lord if I’ve ever been guilty of it. Have mercy on me, in fact, a sinner, I pray, for without the Lord’s mercy, and our own example of it, how can we possibly share the wisdom of God? Seeds are planted to grow good fruit in others when we first produce the good fruit of the spirit ourselves, having the faith and trust in our Messiah Yeshua and showing our love for Him and each other by following Him and keeping His commandments. That is why the Lord said, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Doing the Lord’s work isn’t for our own benefit, it is for His. It’s not for our glory, it is for His. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” (Colossians 3:23)

—

“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?”
James 4:1-12

The dichotomy between life and death is clear in James 4:1-2. Is our heart on the flesh and the things of the world, or is it on God and His designs. Is our heart greedy and miserable in what we don’t have or when things don’t go our way? Or do we rejoice in the gifts we’ve received and when God gives us circumstances to make us stronger in our faith and desire to serve Him. We all have draws to the World and the flesh, and sometimes we stumble in it. We all seek our own way when we allow our flesh to take over, but this is not God’s desire for us. God wants us to repent of our wicked ways and turn toward Him. When we “draw near to God … He will draw near to” us. We must “cleanse our hands” and “purify our hearts,” to turn away from sin and double-mindedness. We can’t love the World or the things of the flesh and love our God; we can’t “serve God and mammon.” We must humble ourselves before Him, and God will meet us in that humility.

As we turn to love one another, as the Lord loved us, it’s important that we turn away from the impulse to speak against one another, especially when we disagree on a matter of doctrine. It’s not up to us to judge whether a brother or sister is obedient to the law; that’s God’s job. It’s up to us to be doers of the law with the power of the Holy Spirit and to devote ourselves to this choice for the sanctification of our own souls. We cannot be friends with the world as we pursue love, because that is hatred toward God. But rather, we ought to listen to the Spirit that He has sent to dwell within us, lest we quench the Spirit. Of course Scripture (the Old Testament in this usage) is meant for a purpose; namely, to teach us how to humbly submit to our Lord and the faith needed to build a relationship with our Heavenly Father through Christ, with His Spirit. It’s all grace—grace to the humble—grace to inherit the New Heaven and the New Earth—grace toward each other. Humble yourself, and you shall be exalted by the Lord. Walk in His ways

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
James 4:13-17

James, who wrote earlier in his letter that we should adhere to God’s Word and do it, writes here that we ought to surrender to God’s will and accept it. We know nothing about the future, we know only about the present, and we ought to spend our present time praising God and thanking Him, for everything we have is from Him and for Him, and whatever He wills is what will be. Yes, we have a free will to chose a path for ourselves, but if we choose any other path than the one God desires, the end leads to death. How can we boast in our arrogance about our own way? We ought to praise God for the narrow way He has given that leads to life. It is certainly sin and nothing but sin if we know this narrow way—Jesus—and do not choose to follow Him. I have no desire to be a spiritual trail blazer, but only to follow the one trailblazer who leads to life. His way is the right way and I desire no other way. And so if God wills it, I will live and follow Him all the days of my life until He comes.

—

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”
James 5:1-6

““Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21

The first few verses of James 5 are definitely reminiscent of Matthew 6:19-21. Like Jesus, James writes that we cannot store-up our treasures here on Earth, but ought to focus on doing God’s work here to store up treasures in Heaven, though James takes a tone of rebuke. Those who do focus on the wealth and pleasures of this life will be destroyed on the Last Day. We cannot serve God and mammon. As we come into the last days, we especially must focus on serving God rather than storing up treasures for ourself. The stakes are even higher. It’s absolutely true that these verses do not speak against work for provision, but rather work for the purpose of excess or selfish pleasure. We must focus first on the Kingdom of God, and everything we need will be added to us. Part of doing this is to keep God’s fourth commandment to work six days of the week, but then give the seventh day to Him to rest in Him and take pleasure in His company. When we do this, we put Him first in our lives.

The verse switches gears midway through and speaks to a very important message that many modern Christians could miss. “Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you, and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of the Sabbath,” James writes. The wealthier Christians were keeping Sabbath themselves, but they were paying laborers to work on the Sabbath for them. This is a grievous sin that the Lord hates. Exodus 20:8-11 indicates that we must not do any labor or work on the Sabbath, but then stresses that this blessing applies not just to “you,” but also “your son,” “your daughter,” “your male servant,” “your female servant,” “your cattle,” or “your stranger who is within your gate.” In Nehemiah 10:31, we read, “if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the seventh year’s produce and the exacting of every debt.”

On the Sabbath, the Lord of the Sabbath Jesus Christ wants us to spend the day in rest with Him, for His burden is easy, and His yoke is light. He will not let us rest in Him if we ourselves are causing others to work when they should be resting. If others choose to work on their own, that is between them and God, but God forbid we actually cause others to work. James writes about those who do this: “You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.” By forcing others to work on the Sabbath, we condemn them to sin so we can live in luxury. Both the righteous who turns from his righteousness and the one who lives for the world while paying lip service to the Lord will die for their sin. Instead, we must love the Lord and keep His commandments, putting Him first always in our lives and in the lives of those who are under our care.

—

“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.” James 5:7-12

James instructs us to be patient regarding the returning of the Lord, and patient we must be. For “no one knows the day or the hour.” This saying Jesus used in Mark 13 and Matthew 24:36 is a Jewish idiom referring to the “new moon sighting” for the Feast of Trumpets, which is called Yom Teruah. This feast, which is prophetically significant for the day that Christ returns, is the only holy convocation that occurs on the first day of the month. So, literally, no one knows whether the new moon will be sighted on one day or the next, marking the first of the month, and no one knows the hour during which it will be sighted. Hear me carefully: I am not saying Jesus will return on the Feast of Trumpets, but I am saying that the Feast of Trumpets is a prophetic template that points to this glorious day. We read in Revelation 11:15 about the “last trumpet”: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”

In Matthew 24:4, Jesus says, “Take heed that no one deceives you,” and there have been many who have erroneously tried, but failed, to predict the day. However, in Matthew 24:42-44, Jesus says, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” We must be ready. Right now. Today. This very moment. And in 2 Peter 3:1-13, the apostle warns us not to let your guard down. In verse 3-4, he writes, “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’” In verse 9 he writes, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” We must use every opportunity we have to repent, and turn toward the Lord fully with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

So, in his exhortation to “be patient,” what James is really saying is for us to be prepared and endure in your faith. Just like a farmer who waits for the early rains during the Spring Holy Convocation feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost) and the late rains, during the Fall Holy Convocation feasts (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, Eighth Day), because both bring about harvests, we too must be patient as we wait for the Lord’s return. In our endurance, we ought to strengthen our hearts, for James writes, “the coming of the Lord is near.” How near? Well, as Peter wrote, “the Lord is not slack concerning His promise,” but also “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” He’s waiting on “the fullness of the Gentiles to come in” (Romans 11:25) and He’s also waiting for “the Gentiles to “provoke them [the Jews] to jealousy” (Romans 11:11) so they recognize their Messiah and call out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:39)

As Jesus pointed out near the end of Matthew 24:45-51, we cannot be like the “evil servant” who “says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards.” James says we ought not “complain … against one another,” so that we ourselves are not judged. This is the same thing. We must exhort and correct our fellow Christians with gentleness. For “the Judge is standing right at the door.” Jesus said, “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” James then points to the prophets of old, not naming them. Consider Jeremiah, who was hung in a cage and spat on for speaking God’s word, and Isaiah, who Manasseh sawed in half after he prophesied the coming of our Lord Yeshua. James notes, “we count those blessed who endured,” meaning, they will be among us when the Lord returns.

James directly references Job, who despite losing everything he had, still blessed the name of the Lord and endured in his faith. For this, we know Job saw Jesus, “for I know that my redeemer lives,” he wrote. He too was saved by his long-suffering faith, and was mightily blessed for it with a better family than when he first began. In Matthew 19:29, Jesus said, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” We must be like Job if we expect to inherit Heaven, and James makes this point clear. The Lord is “full of compassion and is merciful” to those, like Job, who love Him and trust in Him and keep His commandments, no matter what happens in this life. But as James started chapter 5, he finishes: don’t be presumptuous about your future, but fear. “Let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under judgment.” Do what you say, practice what you preach, obey God’s commandments because you say you follow Jesus.

—

“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.”
James 5:13-18

James 5:13-18 is James’s version of Paul’s “pray without ceasing.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul writes “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” When Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6, He gave us a pattern: First, we ought to praise God, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Holy is your name,” and then ask for the fulfillment of His promises, “Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven,” followed by supplication: “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This is all wrapped up with more praise and thanksgiving: “For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever. Amen.” Whether we are “suffering;” “cheerful;” “sick;” repenting from sin; or needing of healing, physical, emotional or spiritual, the answer is prayer. “The prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

There are different levels of prayer James highlights here. For personal suffering or joy, we can pray on our own to God through Christ Jesus, our intercessor. If we are sick, we may need the elders to pray over us on the Sabbath when we meet, or perhaps a visit may even be in order. James notes that the elders ought to anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord; this goes for a sick person or a sick building, but it doesn’t have to be sick to do this. Anointing with oil can also help consecrate a person or a place. At our church, we have done both. We’ve anointed our ministry with oil; our overseer prayed over my wife and me, and all the members of our church, and used oil on our foreheads in the name of the Lord to strengthen us in the Holy Spirit (Leviticus 8:12, Exodus 28:41). I’ve blessed my house in the Lord’s name with oil, I’ve blessed the place where we do Bible studies with oil, literally driving out demons. The witches who used to gather there were forced out by the Holy Spirit. I’ve blessed the homes of fellow workers in the Lord with oil, driving away curses caused by the occult. (Exodus 40:9) “The prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” Prayer with faith also protects us from the evil one.

And yet, this testimony is meant to increase faith, with joy. I do not intend any other purpose. Recall also how Jesus said in Luke 10:20, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” We ought to have faith with humility, for while we act with faith, it is the Holy Spirit who has the power of God to work through us who have faith.

Scripture unveils some nuance regarding the physical application of olive oil. Consider Psalms 23:5: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.” Here David refers to the Lord anointing him with the Holy Spirit, and certainly the oil in the lamps of the virgins of Matthew 25 represents the same thing. But in 1 Samuel 16:13, we see Samuel physically anoint David with olive oil: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” This was the Holy Spirit. And so it is clear that with the physical act—as James says, “pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,” there is a spiritual power that comes from this symbolism. Faith is what brings the Holy Spirit into us, but there is power in doing those works, such as pouring oil on a man or woman’s head, or rubbing it over the doorways of a sick home, with prayer in the name of Jesus, which bridges the gap between the Spiritual reality and this physical world and brings God’s forgiveness, sanctification, protection and blessings.

Here we see additional physical examples of anointing with olive oil: In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we see in Luke 10:34, He “came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.” In Luke 7:46, Jesus rebuked the disciples as the woman poured spikenard on Him to prepare His body for burial: “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.” In Mark 6:13, the disciples “were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.” Yes, this is a powerful tool of ministry, and one we ought to regularly employ. However, the key is faith, for “The prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” A man who is not living according to the Will of God cannot expect His prayers to be answered. Proverbs 15:29 says, “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” 1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Consider Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 5:23-24: ”Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” We cannot walk in righteousness if we have not forgiven our brothers and sisters, or even sought their forgiveness for ways in which we have wronged them. If we do not forgive others, how do we expect God will forgive us? If we are living in sin, how can we expect Him to hear our prayers, our praise and our worship? We read in Isaiah 1:12-15, “When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. … … Your New Moons and your appointed feasts, My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.” The Lord is not saying to stop praying here. He’s not saying to stop keeping His feasts or His Sabbath. The context is clear: “I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting” and “Your hands are full of blood.” If we are walking as unrepentant sinners who are not mourning the innocent shedding of blood, not only will the Lord not hear our prayers, but He will reject any other sacred act we might consider, from singing worship songs, to prayer, to anointing with oil, to keeping the Sabbath and keeping God’s consecrated meetings. We must be righteous in order for the Lord to turn His face toward us. The Saints endure through obedience to God’s commandments and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12)

James finishes these verses with an example of a righteous man; namely, Elijah, who “was a man with a nature like ours,” and yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.” Do we have faith like this? If so, we can do works like this in the name of the Lord. Jesus grew frustrated with the apostles because they could not cast out demons from a young boy who had epileptic seizures that threw him in the fire or in water. In Matthew 17:19-20, “the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ … … So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’” But in Matthew 14:22-33, Peter walked on water on account of his faith. Many point out that he stumbled and began to sink when he observed the world around him, but consider this: He cried out, “Lord save me!” And then the two of them walked together on water back to the boat. We ought to have faith like Peter, acknowledging that without our Lord, we can not accomplish anything, but with our Lord, we can walk on water. This ought to be how we approach the strength of our prayers, also.

—

“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20

I love James’s final words in his letter of exhortation to all who call upon the name of Jesus, for our single most important duty as Christians is to follow our Master, who called on all men and women to repent and hear the good news. This is the substance of the Great Commission. Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20). If we love our Lord and Savior Jesus, we will keep His commandments. (John 14:15) Scripture defines Scripture. We know that God’s “law is Truth.” (Psalm 119:142). We also know that “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) Thus, we know, as James writes, that to turn a sinner from the error of his way is to restore them to the Truth of Scripture, to bring them back into a thoughtful and full-hearted obedience to God’s commandments in all faith in their salvation through Messiah Yeshua by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We know that “the soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) But we also know that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). When we turn a sinner away from their lawlessness, and lead them back to obedience in Christ, the Lord forgets their sins and accounts their faith as righteousness. Whether we are loving our friends or loving our enemies, the purpose of this love is to shine the Lord’s light into the lives we encounter and exhort them to continue their walk with the Lord. To love the Lord is to keep His commandments, to love one another, is to do as God commanded us. The Lord says in Luke 17:3: “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” Paul makes a similar statement in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, and particularly in verses 11-12, “Now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. … Do you not judge those who are on the inside?”

The point is that our exhortation using the Word of God ought to call a brother or sister who is sinning to repentance and then to obedience to the Lord, for to do this is what it means to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” or better yet, “to love one another, as [Jesus] loved [us].” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:9-11, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” The purpose of exhorting a brother or sister to turn away from lawlessness and turn toward obedience in the Lord is to create life in them; as James says, “to save their soul from death and … cover a multitude of sins.”

The whole Scripture is a book about God’s redemptive power and desire for Man to choose Him and His ways over Man and Man’s ways. He has given us the free will to choose, so that our relationship can be authentic and pure, and He has given us every opportunity to choose Him and obey, even coming to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Everything He does is about this fundamental choice. Do we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves? Or do we love ourselves and the ways of the World and the flesh more than Him? Do we keep the commandment of God and the faith of Jesus? Do we think, speak and act in a way that proves this? Or do we not? We have the Mark of God if we do, but the Mark of the Beast if we don’t. There is only one direction for us to go. God wants us to turn toward Him and follow Him in all His ways, and that includes bringing as many of His people with us as we can. Many are called, but few are chosen. To endure until the final day, this is the call upon each of us, and so let us exhort one another to turn toward God and live.