I’ve been teaching a Men’s Bible Study early Thursday mornings on the book of James. Here are the notes and questions that we used for discussing James 1.13-27.

James 1.13-15

• “Tempt” (v 13) is the same Greek word as “trial” (vv. 2-3). The word has at least two meanings:
  • To test, by putting something/someone under stress for some reason; this is the meaning in v 2.
  • To persuade someone to sin; more generally to attempt to make someone/something fail? Like a TPS report from Office Space? This is the meaning in v 13.
  • James says: God does (or allows) the one, not the other.
• How do our desires lead us into temptation?
• Is the desire for things wrong in and of itself? Should we feel shame or guilt over our desires for wrong things?
• In v 13, James says that “God isn’t tempted”. But Jesus was tempted (Matt 4, Luke 4). How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? Is it enough to simply say that Jesus was tempted by evil because during his incarnation he was truly human in every way?

James 1.16-18

• Note what James says about God’s nature; what God gives us is always “good & perfect”, even if it’s difficult or painful. Everything God does or even allows in our lives, he weaves into his plan for us, & his plan for us is good.
• V 18 is the true ending of the first large paragraph (large section) of the letter (1.2-18). Notice how James closes this section. It begins with talking about God’s purpose for the trials we face, and closes by reminding us about God’s faithful goodness.
• What are “firstfruits”? How are we the “firstfruits of all he created”? We are cherished & special to God; salvation here is foretaste.
  • This reminds me of Paul in Rom 8.29; “Those whom he [God] foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son, so that he [the son] would be the πρωτὀτοκος [“firstborn”] among many brothers.”
  • πρωτὀτοκος is literally translated “first-born”, but with the idea that he is the model that subsequent members of the family will follow, something like a prototype.

James 1.19-21

• Has anger ever been a trap for you? Think of a time when you could have saved yourself trouble by being quicker to listen and slower to react.
• How do we get better at responding (listening, thinking, acting deliberately) instead of reacting?
• As a close to 1.19-21, “moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent” seems strange. I think it serves as a hinge into next paragraph.

James 1.22-25

• This idea (the word of God is like a mirror) is a rabbinic trope. This about it: what do mirrors do? What do we use them for?
• How is the Bible like a mirror? How can we use this aspect of the word better and more consistently?
  • Note from v. 25: “looks intently (παρακύψας, “stop/bend over and examine”) and continues (παραμείνας) in it, not forgetting what they have heard but doing it …”
    • παρακύψας, “bend over and examine”; John 20.11 uses this word for Mary bending over to see into the tomb. It does not = just casually glancing at something, but looking with intent and intensity, urgency; what you’re looking at is important.
• What happens when Christians forget what they are supposed to look like?
• Can you think of examples from your own life where you listened to (or read) the word but didn’t put it into practice? What happened?
• Do you sometimes have a specific framework that you read the Bible through that keeps you from hearing what it says to YOU? 
  • For example: maybe you sometimes read the Bible with an agenda that takes the focus off of you and your obedience. Maybe you read to confirm your priors, so that you find there ammunition for attacking others rather than hearing God speak into your life and situations?  I think this is a very human tendency, we should all be on guard against it.

James 1.26-27

• Definition of religion that God approves of:
  • Controlling what we say (looks back at 1.19 and ahead to 3.1-18)
  • Caring for those who can’t care for themselves
  • Not becoming polluted by the world.
    • Is this last phrase linked to “moral filth” in 1.21?
    • In today’s American church, I think we tend to jump to sexual purity when we see these terms (“moral filth”, “keep from being polluted”. But I don’t think the warning is limited to that area. I think it also includes selfishness, gossip, divisiveness, discrimination, etc.