Introduction
James, being more succinct than Paul, limits his greetings to a single verse (James 1:1). This letter is written to the Hebrew people who were living away from Israel. Although most Christians today don't fit in his intended audience, we can all benefit from the things he shared with that group.
Temptation
In James 1:2-4, he begins his lessons. He first tells us that we need to be joyful when we are accosted by temptations. What? Who in the world would be happy to run the risk of failing God by being tempted? Those of us who aren't good at resisting temptation would certainly say "Not me!". And yet he goes on to say that as with all things, our faith in God will see us through. Did Paul not write that God would not permit us to be tempted more than we are able to stand (1 Corinthians 10:13)?
Christ suffered the same sorts of temptations that we face today, directly from Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). He rebutted the words of Satan with scripture, and was able to come through all of the temptations He suffered, both from Satan and from man, without sinning (Hebrews 4:15).
So what does James say about temptation? With faith, we can overcome. Temptations and the faith we exhibit during our trials will increase our patience. And that end the end, we will be perfect and entire, without want for anything. Why is patience tied to temptation? Because at the root, most temptation has a basis for wanting something that we shouldn't have instead of waiting for the perfect thing that God wants to give us. There are many examples from life that apply. Are we tempted to steal because we don't have what we want now, rather than waiting for God to provide? Are we tempted to commit sexual sin because we don't have what we want now at the cost of waiting for God's will to be revealed? Many are.
In James 1:12-16, James furthers these thoughts about this subject. He warns that we are not to blame God for temptations. God created mankind sinless originally, and made one simple rule that mankind was not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because that would separate them from God's presence and would lead to their death (Genesis 2:9,16-17). This death would be both an eternal consequence of not being right with God and also likely an immediate consequence due to being cut off from access to the tree of life which sustained them.
It was Adam and Eve's choice to eat the forbidden fruit that brought an understanding of the temptations into mankind's lives directly that we have had to deal with since. Satan obviously tempted them in the garden to disobey God's one commandment, and they listened to him and fell from grace (Genesis 3:1-11,14-15). But it was not God's will that mankind suffer with temptations. That was all on man.
James lays out how temptation works and its final outcome. When you fail to withstand temptation for something that you want, your own lust being the prime driver, you eventually fall into a sinful state due to that lust. The lust might be for flesh, for something you see, or a pride based desire, for example (1 John 2:16). The temptation itself isn't a sin to you. Everyone is tempted. Even Christ was tempted. The temptation is never the problem. The problem is letting yourself give into the temptation. The lust for something will eventually cause sin, and dying in a sinful state puts you on unalterable course to eternal death and separation from God.
Giving in to temptation may have direct and immediate consequences, or the consequences may play out over time. One thing is certain... the perfection of our lives in heaven will be lost to us if we don't handle temptation properly. We must take up our cross and bear it every day instead of giving into temptation (Luke 9:23,14:27). Heaven is something to think about and focus on when Satan is tempting you. There, we won't have any need to want any good thing. Remember that God won't let Satan tempt you directly or through others more than you are able to withstand. You just have to make the choice to withstand the temptation.
Put on the whole armor of God, and having done all, stand fast (Ephesians 6:13). Pray continually (Acts 6:4). Be strong through Him. Do not err or wander off in your course. The way to eternal life is narrow and the gate is strait (Matthew 7:14). Don't fall off the path or hit the wall trying to enter. Eternity is a long time to suffer for having made the wrong choice.
Wisdom
James 1:5-8 indicates that any time we need wisdom we should ask for it and God will give it. He goes on to say that you need to ask in faith without any wavering about your request. If you can do that, God says He will grant wisdom liberally and won't take you to task for asking for it. How much better would our lives be if we asked for more wisdom every day to meet the trials and troubles that are going to come our way? We might see a night and day difference some days.
James goes on to say that if you are unsure about your request, you may as well hang it up. Young translates the verse as a two-souled man instead of double minded. Literally, there are two separate souls fighting for control for what is desired. That may seem extreme, but it puts another light on double minded which we tend to think of as just not sure of what to pray for in a particular situation. In Young's translation, it would be like two different minds both attempting to have dominance about a result.
This hearkens back to the temptation passage. We are supposed to put the old man to death and live as a new man in Christ. If you haven't succeeded in this, then there are two natures that can be fighting over every decision you make. We must overpower the old man with the help of Christ and His blood and put that man to death (Romans 6:6). Then we won't be double minded and at as much risk from temptations and can ask for things like wisdom from God without anything holding us back or working at cross-purposes to what is best for us in His eyes.
Social Status
In James 1:9-10, James says that those who are poor should rejoice when they are exalted, and that the rich should rejoice in being made of low position. Why would this be so? He warns that just as the sun shines down with blazing heat on the grass and it withers away without water to nourish it, so the rich will fade away with all that they have. Certainly, this is true eventually. Everyone dies, and all that they have either is sold to pay off the creditors, goes to someone else in the family, or perhaps is given to some worthy charitable organization to help others. Regardless, everything that we thought was important to have on earth will make no difference eternally. Eternity is obviously far longer than even the longest lived person has lived on earth.
We need to focus on building up eternal rewards in heaven where moth and dust can't destroy. We may end up casting our crowns at Jesus feet (Revelation 4:10), because, after all, we wouldn't be in heaven without Jesus sacrifice on the cross and we wouldn't have healing without the punishment His body bore in stripes, just to name a couple of the big reasons we aren't worthy of anything compared to Him. I suspect that regardless of how big our eternal rewards are piled up, they won't mean much to us there. Our biggest joy will be in individuals who come to us and say, I'm here because of you, either in whole or in part. What you did, or said, or prayed, or sacrificed either made or helped make the difference in my life. I'm not in the lake of fire, and you were part of the reason. That will be something that matters.
But the rich tend to get consumed with getting richer rather than the things of God. Jesus said it was harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven (Matthew 19:24). Some have said this is an error in the original documents due to age and it should have been translated cable to go through the eye of a needle. Others make reference to having to unburden a camel to get it to go through a smaller man gate at night after the main gates of a city were shut. In any case, Jesus says it's a tough thing to accomplish.
In James 1:17 he completes this thought saying that the things that God bestows on us are far more precious than anything we could want that earth provides. This is a hard concept for many to understand. It is particularly hard for those well off or poor to understand. When lives are very easy or very tough, it is easy to focus on the wrong things. The gift of salvation from God is ultimately more important than any measure of social status we can look at today. The things that God gives are pure and well understood. We don't have to worry that they will turn around and bite us like some earthly gifts we might acquire or He might give us in our own lives might. Winning the lottery might sound good. But it is said you learn who your real friends are when you do win one. How many people end up worse off than they were before because of a big windfall? We never have to worry about that with God's gifts to us.
Our Nature
In James 1:18, James rejoices that God made us to be one of the pre-eminent of His creation. Of all His creation, we are the only one that the Bible specifically says will have some form of eternal life outside of God and the angels. All the rest of the creation will pass away. I know that there is debate about pets in the church. Some have had dreams where they saw their pet in heaven. All I can say for sure is that the Bible is silent on that subject. I do know that God loves us. Could He create our pets for us to enjoy eternally? I'm sure He could. I'm not sure what it would be like with a bunch of cats all fighting for eternity over who was loved the most and gets to occupy my lap this century. The fur might fly. So I'm generally of the won't be there persuasion. But mankind was created with a singular place.
Because of that, James goes over some principles by which we should live (James 1:19-27). First, we should listen to each other, not speak hastily, and not get angry quickly. Epictetus said:
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
around 2,000 years ago. Maybe he'd heard James as well, or vice versa. But it is a true statement none the less. We've just finished another political season here as I write this. Wouldn't it be fantastic if politicians lived by that precept? I realize that we all fall to this from time to time. We all have opinions. You're reading mine on what James wrote. Other pages on my websites will let you read lots of other opinions, whether on the Bible or on Christian topics, or off the wall stuff including politics.
It's seemed to me that the last couple of election cycles have been filled with much more wrath than normal. I do know that James 1:20 does speak the truth. It is hard to believe someone is a Christian if they are going off about politicians or if they're a politician going off on other politicians. It's a struggle I personally have. And it's recent. I don't remember getting quite so animated about most of the political pairings in the past. If my candidate won, it was good. If they didn't win, it wasn't a disaster. I can definitely say that handling political discussions and exhibiting a Christ like manner while doing it is a good test of the witness of God's righteousness working in you.
In James 1:21 he continues his discussion on how we should live. We are to put apart all filthiness and naughtiness. Young translates the last as superabundance of evil. We are called to turn from our wicked past. We are called to help the old man to die by receiving God's word. This can come by reading the Bible, listening to words of prophecy in our own language or via tongues and interpretation, receiving words of wisdom and knowledge, and concentrating on other helps to being a Christian whether from evangelists, missionaries, pastors, teachers or authors. Once we have His truth in us, listening to the Holy Spirit connect all we have heard and read directly to how we are living and the choices we are making is an ongoing process. God's word is sharper than the sharpest sword and is an important tool in maintaining salvation.
Clearly, only recognizing we are a sinner in need of forgiveness, Christ's blood, and accepting that His sacrifice on the cross for our sins is our only redemption is paramount. But God's word and the Holy Spirit play a big part in getting us to the place where we realize that we need saved. They also help us to live with Christ as King in our lives and help us not to fail in our walk to eternity. We need to meekly realize that it is nothing we did, but Christ's sacrifice that saves us. It is not of our works lest anyone should be boastful when they get to heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9).
James 1:22-25 challenges us to do what the Bible tells us to do, and what the Holy Spirit tells us to do as well, for that matter. It doesn't matter whether the word comes from God through the Bible or live and in person through the Holy Spirit's gifts or whether He speaks to us directly. We need to do what He tells us to do. There is the dangerous warning later in James 4:17 that if you know to do good and don't do it, then it is sin to you. Every Christian should reflect on that.
If you don't continually try to put God's words into practice, James uses the image of a person looking in a mirror who walks away and forgets what he has seen when he looked there. The danger is that if you forget the kind of man you should be, Satan will, through temptation, draw you back to what you were before. If you are a doer of the word, you will be too busy doing His works to fall back into temptation. There is both eternal salvation and blessing for those who are saved and don't backslide into sin.
Finally, James closes out the first chapter with James 1:26 where he challenges us to control our tongues. If we can't control our tongues and tempers which frequently lead to harsh or wrong words, then we probably haven't really killed the old man at all, and the religion we think we have is for nothing. That might not be a constant problem in your life. But if you see it cropping up, then you're probably not where you need to be with God.
I'm sure that someone who has had a problem with their tongue their whole life will have some issues getting and keeping it under control in all situations life sends their way until the Holy Spirit takes full control. But this is a yardstick that James sets up that if you see someone who has no control over their tongue at all, it is probably a good indication that their religious experience was just for show.
In James 1:27 he concludes saying that when you find someone who is helping orphans and widows when they are in trouble and manages to keep from sinning regardless of what they have to do in the world, you've probably found someone with whom God will be happy. We need to try to help those in need more than we do. And we certainly need to live without being contaminated with the world. That doesn't mean living apart from the world, although there are some who have that calling. We can all be thankful for the monks that kept making copies of the scripture so we would have the Bibles we have today. It does mean that we should stay true to God regardless of what temptations the world throws at us on a daily or nightly basis.