20James: Faith for Living One of the earliest, perhaps the rst, New Testament book to be written was the epistle of James Its practical, nondoctrinal emphasis reveals the kind of message that God wanted to share with the Christian community in published form very soon after Jesus ascended to heaven I PREPARATION FOR STUDY Think about the primary message of Scripture It is accurate to say that the Bible dwells mainly on two themes: “The Way to God,” and “A Walk with God.” No one can w a l k with God who has not rst been restored to God Much of the New Testament tells us the way a sinner can come to God and be eternally saved That way is by God’s grace, through one’s faith in Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8) The epistle of James, on the other hand, was written to instruct Christians — those who have been reconciled to God through Christ — how to walk with God in this life Thoughts, words, and deeds are the ingredients of a person’s daily living The important question here is, What kind of thoughts, words, and deeds should be part of the life of a Christian who walks with God? James was written to give us God’s answers to that question Those are some of the things you will be observing as you survey this important book II BACKGROUND A THE AUTHOR To know the author of a book is to understand and appreciate better his writing We not have an abundance of information concerning the man James, but what we know makes us feel that James is no stranger to us after all.1 And what is more, we as Christians know the divine Author of this epistle in an experiential relationship, which is the master key to our understanding of its message So before we survey his epistle, let us think about the man James Personal name The English name “James” in the New Testament translates the G r e e k lakobos This is from the Hebrew lakob, translated “Jacob” in the Old Testament Family background To learn something of the author’s family background, we rst need to identify which James this is Actually, there are four di erent New Testament persons with the name James: James the son of Zebedee (Matt 4:21; Mark 1:19; Luke 5:10) James the son of Alphaeus (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; 15:40; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) James the father of Judas the apostle (Luke 6:16, Berkeley) James “the Lord’s brother” (Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3; Gal 1:19) There is strong support that the epistle’s author was the last-named James This is the view followed by this study guide James really was a half brother of Jesus, both having the same mother, Mary, but not the same father (Joseph was only the legal father of Jesus; Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, Matt 1:20.) James had sisters and at least three brothers besides Jesus: Joses (Joseph), Simon, and Jude (Matt 13:55) The home environment in which James was reared ... James really was a half brother of Jesus, both having the same mother, Mary, but not the same father (Joseph was only the legal father of Jesus; Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, Matt 1:20.)... New Testament persons with the name James: James the son of Zebedee (Matt 4:21; Mark 1:19; Luke 5:10) James the son of Alphaeus (Matt 10:3; Mark 3:18; 15:40; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) James the father... father of Judas the apostle (Luke 6:16, Berkeley) James ? ?the Lord’s brother” (Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3; Gal 1:19) There is strong support that the epistle’s author was the last-named James This is the