leading a mere lifeless profession of orthodoxy, irrespective of moral conduct, without compassionate love (ii. 8, 16), that such an idle, barren faith (ii. 20) is dead (ii. 26), yes, dead in itself (ii. 17), utterly without avail in the sight of God, at the time that men shall be judged by the Gospel, (ii. 12), for then "judgment is without mercy to him that hath shewed no mercy” (ii. 13). James is but enforcing the same truths, taught so forcibly by Christ Himself, "By their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven" (Matt. vii. 20, 21); "I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. xii. 36, 37).

(4) James uses the word justify in the same sense as Paul, to declare righteous in the sight of God, but he is not speaking, as Paul does, of the justification that takes place at the time when by faith we appropriate the merits of Christ, and receive the forgiveness of our sins,—but of that justification of which Christ also speaks in Matt. xii. 37, which takes place in the day of judgment, at the time when the final salvation (ii. 14) shall be awarded to the believer (ii. 12). In one sense this takes place at the particular judgment which overtakes every individual at death; in another sense it occurs at the final judgment at the last day, for this latter is but the grand and final completion of a process begun in the case of each individual here on earth, and definitely determined at the moment of death.1

1 For the details of exegesis see notes on James ii. 14-26. Huther, Scott, and Major, in general, take the same position. SCOTT: "The subject of St. James is not so much Justification (according to scientific theological termin

THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES.

CHAPTER I.

I. ADDRESS AND GREETING.

I. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting,

I. James. The writer of the Epistle is James, a younger brother of our Lord, not one of the twelve (John vii. 5), who became a believer after our Lord's resurrection (1 Cor. xv. 7; Acts i. 14), and who was at the head of the church at Jerusalem until his martyrdom in 62 A. D. A servant. Greek bondservant. One bought with a price (1 Cor. vi. 20; vii. 23), bound for life, who must be continually engaged in the service of his Master. Observe

ology), as it is Judgment by works; including, however, in that expression the continuous Judgment which is always accompanying the course of human action, the current record of the Book out of which mankind will be judged at the last day." HUTHER: "Paul denotes by the word to justify that declaration of righteousness or acquittal by God, by which the believer is placed in a new filial relation to God; whilst James means that declaration of righteousness or acquittal by God, by which he who is born again as a child of God receives the salvation imparted at the Judgment. Justification (so called by Paul) is conditioned on the part of man only by faith; the future salvation, however, will only be adjudged to him in whom faith has proved itself to be a working principle. Paul also makes the attainment of salvation, or the future inheritance of the Kingdom of God, conditioned on the works of the Justified (Rom. viii. 4, 13; xiii. 8–10; 1 Cor. vi. 7-11, 13; Gal. v. 6, 19–21; 2 Cor. v. 10: Gal. v. 25."

the writer's great humility; he might have described himself as "the Lord's brother." Of God and of the Lord. The co-ordinate mention of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ implies their co-equal dignity. Jesus. The same as Saviour, the personal name by which our Lord was known among men (Matt. i. 21, 25). Christ. The Greek for Anointed, the official designation ascribed to our Lord, the same as the Hebrew Messiah (John i. 41). To the twelve tribes. The address is general, to the twelve tribes.1 The letter was addressed to the Jewish believers residing among the dispersed tribes of Israel. (See Introd. pp. 13-15.) Which are of the Dispersion. At Christ's time "the Dispersion" was a technical term for the Hellenistic and other Jews who were scattered within and beyond the limits of the Roman Empire, outside of Palestine. It is highly probable that James wrote more especially to the Syrian Dispersion. Many of these Christian Jews were scattered abroad by the persecution which arose against the Church at the time of the death of Stephen (Acts viii. 1; xi. 19). Greeting. Greek, wisheth joy. A Greek form of salutation, found also in the letter of Lysias to Felix (Acts xxiii. 26), and in the Apostolic decree (Acts xv. 23). There is no announcement of grace and peace (the addition of mercy being peculiar to I and 2 Timothy), and in this respect this Epistle stands alone.

1 PLUMPTRE : “The superscription is interesting as showing that the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel, though they had been carried into a more distant exile than Judah and Benjamin, were thought of, not as lost and out of sight, but as still sharing the faith and hope of their fathers. . . . The legend as to the disappearance of the Ten Tribes, which has given rise to so many insane dreams as to their identification with the Red Indians of America, or our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, appears for the first time in the Apocryphal 2 Esdras (xiii. 39–47).”

2. ENDURE TRIALS WITH PATIENCE.

2-4. Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; knowing that the proof of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

2. Count it all joy. That is, entire, pure, unmixed joy (Phil. ii. 29). Every trial should be regarded as a ground for joy, unmixed with sorrow. In the same measure as believers grow in peace they grow also in Christian joy. Peace is the inward testimony that we have by faith found grace and salvation in Christ. Joy denotes not only that we have found peace, but also that we are living and moving in the new, blessed fulness of life in God. My brethren, Also in ii. 1, 14; iii. 1, 10, 12; v. 12, 19; "brethren" alone, in iv. 11; v. 7, 9, 10; "my beloved brethren," i. 16, 19; ii. 5. This address shows fellowship in nationality and of faith with his readers. When ye fall into manifold temptations. Or trials; here used of outward trials as in 1 Pet. i. 6, of afflictions of all kinds, including persecutions, oppression, and adversity. The inner trial, or temptation proper, arising from one's own lust, is referred to in i. 13, 14.

3. Knowing. A hint that they ought to know. That the proof of your faith. The same expression is found. in 1 Pet. i. 7. Trial tests faith, and the testing of faith produces the grace of endurance. James, just as Paul, regards faith the very foundation of the Christian life (i. 6; ii. 1, 5; v. 15). Faith is here used subjectively, in the sense of assured confidence in the Gospel, whose contents are Jesus Christ. Faith is the mother of all virtues, the root from which they spring. Worketh patience. The active grace of endurance, trial patiently undergone, as in Rom. v. 3; 2 Thess. i. 4. In 2 Cor. i. 6; vi. 4, it

denotes the passive act of endurance. Chrysostom calls patience the queen of virtues, and says it is typified by Rebecca.

4. And let patience have its perfect work. Major suggests that the meaning of the original Greek can best be expressed in colloquial English, "Let patience make a complete job of it.” Endurance, if it is continued until it attains its end, leads to the perfection of Christian character. The Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark vii. 26) is an illustration of the testing of faith, endured to the end. That ye may be perfect. Not in the strict sense, because if so the soul could not improve or make progress. "In many things we all stumble" (iii. 2), though all are exhorted to aim at perfection (Matt. v. 48). The word "perfect is used in the N. T. of Christians who have attained maturity of character and understanding (Col. i. 28; iv. 12; Phil. iii. 15). And entire. Sound, healthful, complete in all parts of the spiritual life. Lacking in nothing. A negative explanation, corresponding to the positive entire.

3. BELIEVING PRAYER GAINS WISDOM.

5-8. But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.

5. But if any of you lacketh wisdom. If you need a higher wisdom to see trial in its true light. As Paul is known as the Apostle of Faith, John the Apostle of Love, Peter the Apostle of Hope, so James is the Apostle of Wisdom. Paul's prayer for wisdom (Eph. i. 17-23) may serve as a divine commentary on this whole passage. Let him ask of God. As Solomon did (1 Kings iii. 9-12).

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