James (Understanding the Bible Commentary | UBC)
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Discover how believers in the early church understood and applied the words of Jesus to their daily lives in this insightful exposition of the hard-hitting and practical Epistle of James. This book uncovers the beautiful harmony between faith and works, showing each to be an essential aspect of the Christian life.
Top Highlights
“But James is not trying to encourage believers to stuff their doubts deep within and to drum up an emotional feeling of certainty, but to commit themselves. Faith for James is a single-minded commitment to God that trusts in God because God is God. Thus faith remains resting in God despite doubt and holds on through testing. Faith is the ‘but if not’ of Daniel’s friends (Dan. 3:18); the ‘though he slay me yet will I trust him’ of Job (Job 13:15). It is a confident trust in God or a resting in God despite the outward circumstances.” (Page 30)
“Thus the best gift of all, referred to repeatedly in James, is wisdom, which helps one in the test. Therefore the deeper message is: God does not send the test; he gives the good gift of wisdom that enables us to stand in the test. He gives the antidote, not the poison.” (Page 37)
“To say God gives such good things, of course, is to deny that he gives evil things, for the two are incompatible.” (Page 37)
“One sign of trust in God is the ability to see beyond present circumstances.” (Page 31)
“He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin’ (Prov. 13:3). ‘Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him’ (Prov. 29:20). ‘Do not get upset quickly, for anger resides in the lap of fools’ (Eccles. 7:9). The truly wise and godly person in scripture is not the one who always has something to say but the person who listens to others, prayerfully considers, and only then speaks in measured tones.” (Page 39)
Peter H. Davids is a visiting professor in Christianity at Houstin Baptist University. He has taught in seminaries and universities in Germany, Austria, the USA, and Canada, among other countries. He has written multiple commentaries and books on James, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter–Jude and coedited the Dictionary of the Later New Testament.