James is an intensely practical book, filled with exhortations to Christians about the way they should live their lives now that they have been given new life in Jesus. It is filled with allusions to and quotations of the teachings of Jesus, and it includes more imperatives per word than any other New Testament book. For these reasons, James has been called “the Proverbs of the New Testament.”

—Greg Gilbert

Source: Content adapted from James: A 12-Week Study by Greg Gilbert. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission.

One thing is clear—the dominant theme is, faith that is real works practically in one’s life. That is, true faith is a faith that works. James shows us how to have a living, visible, productive faith in a fallen world. In this respect, it is significant that this brief book has fifty-four imperatives.[1] James is a “Do this! Do that!” book that, taken to heart, will dynamically affect our lives on every level. We will not be the same at the end of this study if we prayerfully ask the Spirit to apply what we learn.

1. Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Epistle of James and the Epistles of John, p. 5, says in note 6, “I have counted only true imperatives and not the participles that take the place of the imperative. Expanding the use of the imperative, C. Leslie Mitton in The Epistle of James (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1966), p. 235, mentions sixty occurrences.”

—R. Kent Hughes 

Source: Content taken from James: Faith That Works by R. Kent Hughes, ©1991. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

James depends more than any other New Testament author on the teaching of Jesus. It is not that James directly quotes Jesus—although James 5:12 is virtually a quotation of Jesus’ teaching about oaths in Matthew 5:33-37. It is, rather, that he weaves Jesus’ teaching into the very fabric of his own instruction. Again and again, the closest parallels to James’ wording will be found in the teaching of Jesus—especially as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. And the topics he addresses as well as the particular slant that he takes on these topics mimics Jesus’ own emphasis. The author of the letter seems to have been so soaked in the atmosphere and specifics of Jesus’ teaching that he can reflect them almost unconsciously.  

—Douglas J. Moo  

Source: Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2021.

James constantly engages his readers with rhetorical questions, sometimes in rapid sequences (James 2:4-7; 2:14-21; 3:11-13; 4:1-5; 4:12-14). James raises and answers objections that he supposes his readers may have (James 1:13; 2:18; 4:13-14; 5:13-14). An imaginary figure speaks on four occasions, to articulate a godless perspective toward poverty (James 2:3) or the needy (James 2:16) or business plans (James 4:13), or to object to James’s teaching (James 2:18)…James also engages his people with abundant illustrations, using horses, springs of water, boats, fire, mirrors, farm work, flowers, mist, travel, and Old Testament heroes… Finally, James speaks in paradox: tests are joy (James 1:2), and the rich should boast in their humiliation (James 1:10)… James always puts his rhetoric to the service of his goal: to promote a life consistent with faith in Christ the Lord. 

—Daniel Doriani  

Source: James (Reformed Expository Commentary), Daniel Doriani, Copyright 2007, P&R Publishing, Philipsburg, NJ. http://www.prpbooks.com/.

James has more in mind than the truism “We grow strong through adversity.” He wants us to see the world a certain way. The goal of life is not to find maximum pleasure. Christians do not live for sensual pleasure. Our goal is maturity and endurance, not self-actualization (as popularly understood) and a pain-free life. As James sees it, God fashions maturity and endurance by means of the trials that befall us. Do we take responsibility and endure, or doubt and blame God? Our response to trials reveals our heart condition. This is the first concern of James’s letter to the Christian Jews under his care. His word about trials, therefore, speaks to more than hospital rooms, flooded farmlands, or unemployment lines. He speaks to all of life when he says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” for God brings us to maturity by them. This is James’s first teaching, and it holds for all of life.  

—Daniel Doriani  

Source: James (Reformed Expository Commentary), Daniel Doriani, Copyright 2007, P&R Publishing, Philipsburg, NJ. http://www.prpbooks.com/. 

James insists that the kind of faith that truly justifies results in transformation. It’s a faith that moves beyond believing what is true and even having a fitting emotional reaction. It’s a faith that rests in God’s promises and acts on those promises. It’s a faith that is ultimately inseparable from good works.

—Chris Bruno

Source: Chris Bruno, quoted from his article, “Does James Really Contradict Paul?” This article originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition. 

Let us be careful where we lay the blame of temptation. Read James 1:14 carefully. Testings of character come from God (see Genesis 22:1), but temptations to do evil never come from him; they come from the adversary through our own corrupt nature (see James 1:13), appealing for us to meet a proper desire in an improper way (see James 1:14). Instead of wrong things coming from God, we find that only good and perfect gifts come from above, from the Father of lights who never changes (see James 1:17). Our God is a God who loves to give. Alexander the Great supposedly said to one of his subjects who was overwhelmed by his generosity: “I give as a king!” Our Father in heaven gives to us as the infinite God.  

—Henrietta Mears  

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.  

So if someone says they lost their faith because of a certain crisis, then I would say that’s good, because they need to get rid of that faith. It’s worthless. The faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. Anyone can praise God when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. But if you can praise God when the roof caves in, when the bottom drops out, and when things go wrong, it says to me that you’re a true follower of Jesus Christ.

—Greg Laurie

Source: Laurie, Greg. “Still Thankful.” Harvest (November 5, 2020).

There is a tendency in spiritual circles to think that others (and therefore, God) should be impressed by how much we know. Information equals godliness and spiritual value. We might not say it in those terms, but this terse message is preached loudly by how we live… But (this message in itself is not) affirmed by the Bible. In fact, it is quite the opposite. James tells us that we should prove ourselves doers of the Word and not merely hearers “who delude themselves.” In layman’s terms, knowledge alone deludes us or deceives us into thinking we are spiritual because of how much we know instead of how we live.

—Eddie Rasnake

Source: Rasnake, Eddie. The Book of Ephesians. Following God Through the Bible. Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 2003. Retrieved from Grace Quotes at gracequotes.org.