James 1:13-27

(James 1:13-27)

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

There are two tests. It is a delusion from Satan and a test of God. Satan stumbles, but God gives faith through trials. The test from Satan is ultimately due to greed. When greed manifests itself in action, people are deceived by Satan. 『But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. The test given by God is Job. God told Job to hit his life. Job was indulged in his own righteousness, but through trials, Job realized and repented, and God accepted righteousness.

 

If we look at 1 Peter 1:3-7『Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 』.

Therefore, in order not to be tested by Satan, James says to abandon evil.『Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.』

 

There are two things in godliness. One is vain piety, the other is true piety. Then, we think of godliness that we usually think of as "when thinking on our own, worshiping with a sincere heart and living a holy life." However, James says that these standards prevent true godliness.『If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.』

 

James speaks of the dangers of "the vain godliness of those who consider themselves godly" (self-righteousness). Here, "godliness" is used to describe a person who performs externally godly acts, such as worshiping, fasting, or helping a poor person. Thus, the pious man James says is "a person of religious faith expressed in religious acts of the first century, such as prayer, fasting, worship, and relief. A person who considers himself godly is "he is convinced that he is godly through religious deeds.

 

By the way, James says that if such a person "does not gagged his tongue" his piety is in vain, so he becomes a deceiver. Here, "a person who has not gagged his tongue" means a person who makes his own words without any restrictions. When a person "does not gagged his tongue and makes fun of him" means that the person's godliness is in vain. Such a person acts like an outwardly godly person and deceives his mind because he is confident that he is a very godly person.

 

In Chapter 3, James deals with the seriousness of the problem of intemperance. Ethical conduct, especially religious acts that do not follow the control of speech, is of no use before God. And in James 2:14, it was said that such faith is dead, and thus it cannot bring salvation.『What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 』

 

For those who consider themselves godly, the standard of godliness is self. He himself has the standard of "I am godly." This is godliness that comes from comparison with others. If our godliness evaluates it by our own standards, we are proud of our criticism of others. If this happens, the condemnation of others and the pride of oneself will burst out like a person who does not bite the tongue. This is all in vain piety.

Luke 18:9-14 『And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 』

 

 In Jewish society, the Pharisees are then more godly people. ``Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 』 ames contrasted with "pure religion and undefiled" as opposed to fake piety. In particular, here James presents the problem of relief to to the fatherless and widows in their affliction.

In Deuteronomy 16:9-12『Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.  And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:  And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.  And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes. 』

 

The Bible said, "Count the seven weeks from the first day of healing the grain." This day is also called " Feast of Weeks" or "Pentecost, or the feast of harvest." During this season, God told the people to rejoice with servants, Levites, guests, orphans, and widows. He also told me to join the orphans and widows at the next Sukkot. Not only " the feast of harvest", but also "Sukkot," and Deuteronomy chapter 14 tells the people to pay tithing every three years, which is to be used for Levites, orphans, widows, and strangers. The reason why you tell the people to do this is "Remember that you have become slaves in Egypt."

 

What God wants is mercy, not sacrifice, and compassion, not religious deeds. In Matthew 9:9-13,『And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.  And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 』

 

 Customs officers are people who are not godly. However, Jesus said that customs officials were more justified than the Pharisees. There is no room for mercy in the Pharisees. It is full of self-righteousness. But the publican was mercy and mercy of the Lord.

 

James speaks to the end. True religion is 『Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. 』 The word "undefiled" here means moral purity rather than conscious purity.

 

The moral behavior of the saints is a naturally occurring morality that appears as a born again person. James said that it was true godliness to protect him from being stained by the world. It is true godliness not to be stained by the flow of the times of the world, the thoughts and values of the world. To reach true godliness, only those who have died of the world and those who have died of sin are possible.