James 1:15

     The Greek word for "lust", as noted in the last section, is epithumias {ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah} which means "a personalized self-longing (espec. desire for what is forbidden), desire, to lust after".  James is, in this verse, basically comparing the act of sin with the birth of a child.  That is, once we give in to our selfish desires, it conceives sin.  Notice that the Greek meaning of the word "lust" is "desire or a self-longing" to commit a particular sin.

     So starting in verse 14 James notes that we can be "drawn away" by our own lusts. Now he notes that being "drawn away" by our own lusts can lead to actually committing the sin and/or conceiving the sin.  And he then reminds us that the result of sin is "death", possibly both spiritual and physical.  Now we must remember that first, thinking about the sin is sin itself.  Jesus taught us this in Matthew:

Matthew 5:28  "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust [ epithumias ] after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart"

     As Jesus tells us, we only have to "think" of committing sin and we have already done so.  A person may never actually do the act that they are thinking about, but they have still committed a sin because of their desire to do it.  I've actually heard some Christians say, "Well since I've already committed the sin thinking about it ... I just might as well go ahead and do it."  " NO ! "  That is a wrong thought process.  Thinking about the sin is "one" sin ... giving in or committing that sin is a "second" sin.

     Now I realize in the above verse from Matthew Jesus was talking about committing Adultery and many say to themselves "I'd never even "think" about committing adultery".  However this applys to any type of sin.  Let me give you an example from my own life:

     I've had two main jobs in my life.  The first as a Computer System Analyst, from which I retired after 35 years, and the second is being a CDL driver.  I know ... seems like a strange combination ... going from one to the other.  But I never really liked being inside, which I was for 35 years, so I went for a second job that would get me outside more.
     Anyway ... I took a job as a concrete truck driver.  Every quarter we would get a bonus is we didn't have what they considered an "accident".  Now to them an "accident" was considered hitting "anything" whether on the road or on the job.  On many construction sites they have what are known as corner markers.  They are put there by professional surveyors and if one of them is moved even slightly the surveyors need to come back in and redo their survey.  So hitting one of them was considered an "accident" for which the bonus was lost.
     One day while driving this 38 ton concrete truck on a construction site ... I backed into one of these corner markers.  Now ... "no one" saw me hit it ... there were other concrete trucks that had already been on the site ... there were more trucks coming ... the men on the construction site were down in a hole ... so they didn't see me do it.
     "Hmmm" I thought, "No one knows I hit it ... and if I tell my boss I'll lose my bonus which I really could use."  Driving back to our plant I continued wondering if I should report this "accident" or not.  Now ... what was I doing?  Committing sin ... I was actually thinking about not reporting that I had hit the marker.  My thought was ... "They will never know that I hit it anyway!"
     Just thinking about being dishonest ... I was committing a sin ... if I didn't report it ... I'd be committing another sin!  I asked there in my truck for the Lord to forgive me for thinking such a thing.  I went into the office and told the boss that even though no one saw me, I had hit one of the markers on the job site.  His mouth dropped open and he stared at me with a strange look for a second and then said, "I appreciate you being honest about this however you know that you will loss your bonus.  Are you sure you hit it?"  I told him that I was sure.
     The next day the boss said, "Oh ... by the way.  I let them know that you hit that marker and they said that they were done using that marker anyway so it wasn't a big deal."  And then he said with a smile, "So I guess you don't lose your bonus now."  I went away with a smile and said to myself, "God Is Good!"

     Now in the second part of this verse, James reminds us that once sin is conceived, it gives birth to death.  Death, as I already noted, can be both physical or spiritual.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they died in their spirits and began to die progressively in their bodies ( Gen. 2:17 ).  The apostle Paul teaches the same thing in Romans:

Romans 5:12  "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;  and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

     So we all, Christians and unbelievers, experience a physical death because of our sin nature.  The result of sin on unbelievers is they will experience a spiritual death along with God's judgment:

Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death;  but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

     Now the good news is that everyone's sins can be forgiven, and we don't have to experience spiritual death ( i.e., separation from God's presence for eternity in the lake of fire, not annihilation of the soul ), if we simply follow the Scripture:

Romans 10:9-13  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;  and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek:  for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

James 1:17

     Now that James has told us were those negative things in our lives come from ... he proceeds here to tell us where the good and perfect things in our lives come from.  The Greek word "Every" used here denotes not just some of the good and perfect gifts but " ALL " of the good and perfect gifts we receive are from God.  Sometimes as Christians we don't always realize that "every good thing that we have" in this life is by the grace of God.  And all to often our prayer life is centered around "what we want" instead of being thankful for "what we have".

     The Greek word used here for "good" is agathos {ag-ath-os'} which means "beneficial, useful, practical, good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy".  The Greek word used here for "perfect" is teleios {tel'-i-os} which means "perfect, nothing lacking in them; i.e., it is perfectly matched to the person or the situation".

     We also see in this verse God the Father's "immutability".  That is, God never alters His purposes or changes His nature.  We also see this in Malachi 3:6 as well as in Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Isaiah 46:9-11; and Ezekiel 24:14.

Malachi 3:6  "I the Lord do not change."

     This is shown to us by James' use of the Greek word for "variableness" which is parallage {par-al-lag-ay'} which means "to interchange, a shifting, mutation, change, fickleness, variableness".  God never alters His purposes or changes His nature.  Scripture tells us that God never changes His being ( or essence ), or His character and nature.  Since God gives us every good and necessary gift, we do not need to give in to Satan when he tempts us.  "It is only when we begin to doubt God's goodness in giving us what we need that we will be attracted to Satan's enticements."

James 1:18

     The Greek word used here for "begat" is apekuesen {ap-ok-oo-eh'o} which means "to generate by spiritual birth, beget, bring forth".  Here we, of course, see our salvation portrayed by James' statement "the word of truth".  That is, God "begat us" by spiritual birth through His sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ.  This sacrifice by God of His Son for our salvation is the " GREATEST GOOD GIFT " He has ever given us.  If you have not already accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior please read:

James 1:19

     In the previous verses James told us about the trials and temptations that we have as Christians.  He gave us the source of them and also told us that we are God's "first fruits" though the gospel.  "Now starting in this section of his letter he proceeds to tell us how we are to live for Christ".

     James starts here with "Wherefore".  Whenever we see a "Wherefore" or "Therefore" starting a verse of scripture we immediately know that the writer is basically saying "Based on what I just said".  Always keep that in mind as you read scriptures.  If you start reading the bible at a "Wherefore" or "Therefore" it is always a good idea to back up a little and learn why the writer is using that word.  The best interpretation of this particular "Wherefore" would be "Because of what I just said you know...".

     Now James starts this verse out by letting us know that we are his "beloved brethren".  The Greek for "beloved" is agapetos {ag-ap-ay-tos'}, which is derived from the Greek word "agape" which basically means "loved, dear, worthy of love, indicating a close relationship".  Here it is best interpreted as "Loved Ones".  He also uses the same Greek word here that he used in verse 1:2 for "brethren" which is adelphoi {ad-el-fos'}.  He is letting us know here that we are part of the same family and his "Dearly loved brothers and sisters in Christ".  He wants us to know that we are loved and that he has something "very important" to tell us!

     The first thing he tells us is this, "be swift to hear"!  The kind of "hearing" that James is talking about here is "listening," and not just "hearing."  In fact the Greek word here he uses for "hear" is akouo {ak-oo'-o} which means "to attend to, consider what is or has been said, to listen with understanding".

     James is saying that we need to be "good listeners".  Whether we are listening to a pastor, a brother or sister in Christ, our spouse, our children, our friends, to the lost that seek advice, etc.  We need to be "good listeners"!

     Recently one of my daughters was talking with an old friend of hers that she had lost contact with.  This friend told my daughter, "I really need us to be friends again".  My daughter said, "I think we are still friends".  They said, "Yes I know we are still friends but I really need you as a good friend again.  ALL MY OTHER FRIENDS talk to me about their lives however when I start to tell them how I'm feeling and thinking they basically don't listen or change the subject.  You, however, ALWAYS LISTEN to what I have to say.  I need a friend that listens to me!"

     "Listening" is probably one of the hardest things for us to do.  In this day and age it is very hard to find someone that is a good listener!  This is one thing that we need to do as Christians, learn to listen with understanding!

     The second thing James tells us is that we must be "slow to speak".  If we are busy talking, then we are not listening or learning.  Before we speak we need to pause for a second and make sure we are saying what we really want to say.  In Proverbs we are told:

Proverbs 29:20  "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words?  there is more hope of a fool than of him."

     It seems that the Christians that James was writing to had a problem with their mouths  ( James 3:1-17;  4:6-12;  5:9 ).  We must be constantly willing to listen to God's Word and voice, and not to be so quick to give our own opinions.  Tommy Higle says:

     "When eagerness to hear the Word of God is replaced by speaking one's own ideas the result will often be heated and bitter arguments."

     This is why James gives us this third gem.  He says we are to be "slow of wrath".  The Greek word used here for "wrath" is orgen {or-gay'} which means "violent passion, anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath".  We definately shouldn't be losing our temper over "discussing" God's Word.  We also should never be losing our temper when discussing anything with someone, whether it be the word of God or any other subject.  J. Vernon McGee puts it this way:

     "It is good to be a fundamentalist, but don't start fighting about every little jot and tittle of theology with everybody in sight who disagrees with you.  After all, you don't have all the truth."

     And I think this is what James is trying to tell us.  If we are to grow and mature as Christians, then we need to stop telling everyone how much we know and start listening.

James 1:20

     James again uses the same greek word for "wrath" here that he did in verse 19.  He tells us that having "wrath" or "anger" does not produce the type of righteousness that God wants in our lives.  God wants to help us grow spiritually, and cannot accomplish His work in us "if we are busy arguing and fighting."

J. Vernon McGee put it this way:

     "You may feel that you are angry because you are a defender of the faith, but, my friend, the wrath of man simply does not work the righteousness of God.  Don't kid yourself that you are angry for His sake, because He's not angry - He's in the saving business."

     We need to stop kidding ourselves, close our mouths, and open our ears so that God can complete the work which He started in us.

James 1:21

     If we are going to grow and mature in our walk with Christ we need to change our way of walking or "lay apart" things that were once part of our life.  James tells us that to grow spiritually, we must first "lay apart all filthiness".

     The Greek word used here for "filthiness" is ruparia {hroo-par-ee'-ah} which means "filth, pollution, defilement, moral dirtiness".  We need to get the sin ( moral filthiness ) out of our hearts and mind, our actions and attitudes.  This is the only place that this Greek word is used in the bible.

     The Greek word used here for "superfluity" is perisseia {per-is-si'-ah} which means "immoderate and especially luxurious living, habits, or desires".  The Greek word used here for "naughtiness" is kakias {kak-ee'-ah} which means "malignity, malice, ill-will, desire to injure".  We need to stop our strong habits and desires of ill-will toward others and souly concentrate on the things and ways of God.

     Then James says a very important and beautiful thing ... He says that we are to "receive with meekness" ( humility ) the "engrafted word".  The Greek word for "engrafted" is emphutos {em'-foo-tos} which means "implant, divinely given".  The term engrafted puts a picture in my mind of one grafting a branch from one tree into another, such as grafting a Macintosh apple tree limb into a Rome apple tree.

     However the term "implant" give me the picture of something being implanted inside of something else such as when a person receives a hip replacement.  The artifical hip in implanted into the persons body.  So here James is saying the the "word" is "implanted" in us ... that is, God has "implanted" the word within our hearts, our very being!

     The expression, "able to save your souls," is deep in Judaism ( your soul is the essence of you ).  The Greek word used here for "souls" is psuchas {psoo-khay'} which means "spirit, the rational and immortal soul, life ( which is implied here )".  James isn't talking about losing your salvation, but the destruction of your soul in life experiences.  "When Christians fight and argue, and fail to grow, they can lose heart, or back slide."  These worldly experiences take their toll on a babe in Christ.

James 1:22

     The Greek word here for "doers" is poietai {poy-ay-tace'} which means "a performer, doer, one who obeys or fulfils the law, practicers".  Literally he is saying, "Be continually practicers or performers of God's Word."  This is not an "option" for the believer, but a command!  Not to obey makes a person a hearer only, who is deceiving themselves ( they betray themselves ).  Notice that they do it to themselves.  Many Christians drop out of church each year and blame their spiritual condition on someone else.  James says that this type of person has no one to blame but themselves for their spiritual condition.

James 1:23-25

     Pastor David Buffaloe explained these verses very well when he said:  In verses 23 through 25, James says that the person who doesn't obey God's Word is like a man who looks in a mirror, sees his natural face and doesn't like what he sees, so he turns away forgetting what he saw.  They don't see themselves as they really are, and are fooling themselves.  But the doer of the Word is the one who stoops down to look intently into the mirror and sees what needs to be corrected in light of God's Word.  They are the ones who put into practice what they have heard.  "They see themselves as God sees them and they don't forget.  The believer that obeys God's Word finds liberty and will be blessed in what he does."

James 1:26-27

     James closes this chapter in verses 26 and 27 by talking about true religion.  First he tells us that if anyone "seems" to be religious but his tongue, his speech, is anything but religious ... he is deceiving his self.  There is an old saying that goes something like this:

     Now the above saying is the opposite of what James is saying, however, the meaning is clearly there.  Another old saying is "practice what you preach".  When we proclaim ourselves to the world as Christians ... We must not only "talk the talk" but also "walk the walk".  It is "our duty" to "practice what we preach" which shows the world that we belong to Jesus Christ and not to the world itself.

     A religious person whose behavior is inconsistent ( in word or deed ) with the Christian faith is "worthless and self-deceiving".  James tells us that real faith is consistent in both word and deed ( in this case they controlled their mouths, and ministered to orphans and widows ).

     Its amazing that most Christians think that it's the Pastor's job to visit people, but this verse says it's "everyone's job" whose faith is genuine.  William MacDonald tells us that we need to ask the following questions to put our faith on trial to see if it's real or not:

• Do I read the Bible with a humble desire to have God rebuke me, teach me, and change me?

• Am I anxious to have my tongue bridled?

• Do I justify my temper or do I want victory over it?

• How do I react when someone starts to tell an off-color joke?

• Does my faith manifest itself in deeds of kindness to those who cannot repay me?