Intro to James
James' letter is often one of the first books new believers are encouraged to read because it's so practical. It addresses the seeming tension between faith and works. Are we saved by faith or do works play a part in faith? Because of James' focus on works, some people try to create a false rift between he and Paul who focuses a great deal on faith. ("It is by grace you are saved through faith, not by works so that no one can boast...") But the reality is that both authors understand that "faith without works is dead."
James, the author of this book is widely believed to be the brother of Jesus. James was not a believer at first. And who could blame him? Would you believe it if your sibling claimed to be God incarnate? But eventually he came to believe and became the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
The book of James is written to "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations." This, of course, mean that it was written to Jewish Christians, who most likely had been a part of the church in Jerusalem, but because of the persecution that broke out after the martyrdom of Stephen, fled for their lives to other parts of the empire.
As mentioned earlier, James focuses a great deal of attention on living out our faith through good works. We always have that tension between receiving the gift of God as a free gift and performing acts of good. Our good works are the result of our salvation, not the other way around, but both are vital part of who we are. We see a great deal of similarity between Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and James' teaching in this book.
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