Introduction to the Book of James

2. “Introtothe
Epistleof
James”
James 1:1

3. Introduction…
•The Book of James is so practical and
down to earth that it’s been called ‘The
Proverbs of the NewTestament’
•Full of practical illustrations of “doing”
rather than just “hearing”
•Only truly Born-again Believers will really get this
•So often the church gets its theology twisted up
and thinks that somehow our ‘works’ make us
Christians

4. “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ,To the twelve tribes who are dispersed
abroad: Greetings.
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you
encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing
of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let
endurance have its perfect result, so that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James 1:1-4, NASB

5. A. Configuration of the Book
•James teaches us to apply the doctrines
we’ve learned from other books
•It talks about how to turn trials and tests
to joy; it talks about listening and doing; teaches
showing no favoritism; also it talks about faith
and deeds; taming the tongue; wisdom;
submitting ourselves to God; boasting about
tomorrow; a warning to rich oppressors; patience
in suffering; and it finally about prayer in faith.

6. A. Configuration of the Book
•These are tools we can use every day and
every night of our lives
•Do you know that you can sit under the best
teachers of all time, and still learn nothing?
•Judas is the prime example– if you don’t apply
what you learn as a Christian (not the other way
around), judgment will turn against you in the end
•James teaches us we are responsible for what we
learn

7. B.The theme of the book…
•Spiritual maturity, v 4

8. “4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing.”
James 1:4, NASB

9. B.The theme of the book…
•Spiritual maturity, v 4
•Is there a difference between
Spiritually Mature Christians and
Physically Mature Christians?
•Think of the church house as either a
Launchpad or a nursery
•Christianity is like this dude
•If we don’t constantly apply what we
learn, we backslide…

10. C.The author…
•Not James the disciple– brother of
James, son of Zebedee– son of thunder
•He was probably dead before this was
written– Herod got him in 44 A.D.
•Not the other disciple James,
“the Lesser” he had neither the stature nor
influence to have written this
•We strongly believe James the Greater, or James
the Just wrote this epistle

11. C.The author…
•Half brother of Jesus, son of Mary and
Joseph, also called “Old Camel Knees”
because he spent so much time praying
•Within 10 years of Pentecost, he became
very influential in the church, especially
the Hebrew church we just finished studying
•Peter reported to him on his release from prison
(Acts 12:17).
•Paul acted on James advice (Acts 21:18-26).

12. C.The author…
•He was a very strict Jew himself, but
was author of the tolerant letter to
Gentile Christians (Acts 15:13-29)
•He endorsed Paul’s evangelism to Gentiles,
but was himself mainly concerned with the Jews
•His life work was to win Jews, and “Smooth their
passage to Christianity”, quoted O.T. 45 times
•Josephus says martyred inTemple,62-66 AD,
Ananias the HP wanted him to denounce Christ

13. D.The bondservant…
•V1

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

15. D.The bondservant…
•V1, the Jewish believers he was
writing to knew him well, that’s why
any further introduction was
unnecessary
•Simply id’d himself as a sevant
•If I was Jesus’ brother…
•The awl to the ear…
•Greek- Kyrios– Lord– One God

16. Take Home!
1. Let us be Bondservants of
Christ– become the kind of
Believer that’s more
concerned about His wants
than our own
2. Our identity is in Him, not
in our own
accomplishments