James is perhaps one of the most memorable and practical books in the New Testament. Some actually refer to it as “The Proverbs of the New Testament.” It is filled with helpful illustrations and examples of what a believer in Jesus should look like. In fact, many scholars have struggled with the practical nature of this epistle. The great reformer Martin Luther called it an “epistle of straw” because it was seemingly works-based due to its heavy emphasis on how a believer ought to live. However, once we grasp the original intent of this book, we will see that its purpose is to encourage authentic faith in the life of every Christian.
The title of this book comes from the name of its author. There are several men who go by the name “James” in the New Testament. However, this epistle was written by James, the brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:35) and leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15), around A.D. 48-49.
This book was written to scattered Jewish Christians who were under persecution and poverty. These Christians were dispersed into house churches scattered into twelve tribes outside of Palestine. As a result of these troubling challenges, conflict in the church emerged. James writes in order to encourage believers in how they are to interact with one another and trust God through the difficulty. His hope was for them to remain authentic believers in Jesus through all circumstances.
Our mission, as a church, is to Mature and Multiply. The primary theme of James is to illustrate what genuine faith looks like; which, in essence, is Christian maturity. James is full of practical teaching on how to lead a godly life. The topics covered in James should help further develop our new and young church family into deeper maturity in Christ.