Day 218 – Friday, October 31, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

James 1

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

Greeting to the Twelve Tribes

1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:

Greetings. 

(James 1:1, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James opened his letter to the Jewish believers with a slightly more brief wording. He simply offers his return address and addressed the letter to the twelve tribes scatters abroad.
• His greetings is commensurately brief.

Profiting from Trials

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

(James 1:2–8, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James then jumps right into a doctrine and practical living teaching.
• He offers a peculiar statement, in that it is counterintuitive. Who should be joyful in trials? James said that Christians should be!
• He did not just leave the reader there, though. He explained that trials have a purpose. They produce patience, which Christians should embrace to the fullest.
• He then touted wisdom as desirable, and pointed to God as the source of all wisdom. Ask of God, for He will give wisdom without restraint.
• A final thought came next. James said not to be double-minded with one’s faith. Instead, one should ask in faith without doubting.

The Perspective of Rich and Poor

⁹ Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, ¹⁰ but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. ¹¹ For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits. 

(James 1:9–11, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James then uses a comparison to demonstrate the futility of man’s life.
• A lowly brother glories in his exaltation, but a rich man looks forward to humiliation.
• A rich man is like a field of grass that withers in the hot summer wind.

Loving God Under Trials

¹² Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 

(James 1:12–18, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James further taught on endurance, but shifts his focus to enduring temptation. He spoke of the blessings of that endurance. The crown of life awaits those who endure and overcome.
• He then warned against blaming God for temptations. Instead, he focused attention to the sinful nature of man, and how he is drawn away by lust to commit sin, which brings death.
• James summed up this discussion by warning against deception. The only good gifts come from God, and that will never change, because God never changes. His great gift is the word of truth that saves us.

Qualities Needed in Trials

¹⁹ So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; ²⁰ for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19–20, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• James inserted a nugget of wisdom here: Be quick to listen, slow to respond, and definitely slow to angry actions. Be righteous, not wrathful.

Doers—Not Hearers Only

²¹ Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. ²⁷ Pure and 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 1:21–27, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Finally, James gave a discussion on doing in addition to hearing.
• First, he warned against allowing filthy thinking or actions to root out the word of God.
• Then James made the challenge to not just hear the word, but to do the word.
• James used a mirror as an object lesson here, saying that hearing without doing is like looking at yourself in a mirror and then walking away only to forget what you look like. If a person looks into the great word of God (the mirror) and continues to live it, he or she is blessed. However, those who look in that mirror and then continues in sin, their religion is useless.
• James then described pure religion to sum up the chapter. Pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to stay clean of the world’s sinfulness.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.