When faith acts and obeys God's will, the church is effective in reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. James uses his letter to address the relationship between works and faith - that faith produces obedience. The book of James starts off "James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" and goes right into the theme of faith in the midst of trials and sufferings. James is speaking to the church that had been scattered following the martyrdom of Stephen.
BOOK OF JAMES BIBLE HOW TO
And he wrote one of the letters that is in our Bible today, giving wise instruction on God’s wisdom, trials, words, obedience, prayer, and more!Īccording to ESV.org, James wrote this letter around AD 40-45 to the “twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (1:1) which means it was meant for Jewish-background believers who were scattered “throughout most of the ancient Mediterranean world.” It seems that these Christians are being tested in their faith because James spends considerable time encouraging them and giving them perspective on trials and suffering, instructing them on how to live lives of prayer and action, using the wisdom that God will graciously provide them even in the midst of hard times. He eventually became the leader of the Jerusalem church and was instrumental in motivating the Jewish-background believers to prioritize sharing the gospel with Gentiles ( Acts 15:13-20). During Jesus’ life, the Bible records that “even his own brothers did not believe in him,” ( John 7:1-10), but after Jesus’ and resurrection, “he appeared to James,” ( 1 Corinthians 15:7) and James believed.
The book of James was written by James the half-brother of Jesus ( Matthew 13:55). This is the main theme of the book of James. Rather, we are accompanied and resourced by the God who is all-wise and infinitely good so that we are able-through prayer and faith-filled action-to have joy regardless of our circumstances. But we know that in the midst of these hard times, we are not alone. We still go through hard times as believers.
Now my problems are solved!” But the Christian life is not that simple. Sometimes, when we share our testimonies as Christians, it can sound like: “Before I found Jesus, I had problems.