James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. JAMES 1: 1-12
It is said that Martin Luther called the book of James the epistle of straw. Luther is not alone in his misunderstanding of James epistle for many have placed it in opposition to the epistles of Paul. The argument being that while Paul teaches a salvation of grace James teaches a salvation of works.
This is far from anything James has said and in fact both James and Paul's witness of the salvation delivered to believers is without contradiction. The fact that James brings is that as we walk in the faith of YHWH's life living through us by our joining to the messiah Yeshua our actions will reflect that change.
When we say that our faith and trust is in Yeshua it can mean a great many things; forgiveness, providence, wisdom, ability, or anything that may apply to our life and living. The scriptures show us plainly and even our own lives, when we are honest, show us that our trust and reliance is not always in YHWH. Our trust often lies in our self or our what we have come to accept as truth from family, friends, teachers, or ministers. These false trust manifest themselves in our lives through thoughts and actions that are not in line with Paul's proclamation that we are dead in Messiah and by the Spirit The Father's life is our life.
When the believer places faith in Messiah he gains an inheritance of being made one life with YHWH much like the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph were given the promised land. Despite the fact that the land was a gift they could not earn it was necessary for them to possess that land. The strength and ability to possess the land was not present in those who obtained the inheritance but instead it was obtained by faith alone. This faith was not that they could overcome their enemies but instead that if they trusted YHWH, when they went out to battle, YHWH would defeat their enemies.
How often is the believer ready to accept a lesser portion? We easily come to the place where forgiveness, wisdom, or providence is enough. However our Father chastises those He loves.
Yeshua said "And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, The old is better." For this very reason we often come into temptations that we are brought to a point of decision. Will we continue to trust our denominations, our education, our own understanding, or will we trust the Spirit of God to reveal by the witness of scripture and righteousness the faith that will make us as He is. we shall become as James has said perfect, entire, and wanting in nothing.
James also gives us the challenge of Elijah (how long will you sit on the fence serve YHWH or the imaginations of men), the wisdom of Messiah (no man can serve two masters without coming to love one and hate the other), and the encouragement of Hebrews (let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us).
Some in the church say if you have trials and temptations it is because your faith is not complete. Only our Messiah walked in perfect faith; the rest of us are being brought to the fullness of His faith. Instead of judging the faith being perfected in the brethren by YHWH through temptations instead judge yourself whether you are in the same working of faith if you have none.
