WHY DID JAMES NOT WRITE ABOUT THE WORK OF CHRIST?

[heavenly_bound]

​Why is it that Apostle James does not mention anything about the the work (Crucifixion, death, burial, quickening, raising, ascension and session) of Christ in his epistle?

How come that An apostle who did not even believe in Christ during His earthly ministry was appointed to direct the church at its infancy?

Could it be that this situation has contributed greatly to the struggle the church has been having between grace and law till this day?
correct me if what i say is wrong pls

​

 

[NarrowRoadDisciple]

Perhaps James' was writing an exhortation to believers?
Perhaps it can be assumed everything that James wrote was based on the finished work of Christ?

Perhaps God can use many people for His purposes? Remember, the first will be last, and the last will be first?

Perhaps only those that have been indoctrinated into certain mindsets and doctrines have a struggle with the words of James which line up perfectly with the grace of God and the finished work of Christ?

 

[EarsToHear]

There has been more controversy among the scholars about James, the message, and the book, and who he is, than any other author of the New Testament. The author was not James the disciple and the brother of John, but he was the half brother of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 13:55. At that time Jesus had been gone for a long time, and when he returned to the home of His family, He attended their synagogue. The things that Jesus taught, those things that He said astonished the congregation, and they wondered where Jesus had obtained such great knowledge and wisdom.


Matthew 13:55-56
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

 

[Grace777x70]

I believe that the book of James was one of the earliest writings of any apostle. He was also writing to Jews so it would have a "Jewish law bent to it" - in that he would be relating things to the law of Moses and of their Jewish traditions. and be trying to "marry" Christian values in with the Jewish system of belief.

At the start of the church - they didn't believe that Jesus had died for the Gentiles too. You can see the progressive nature of the revelation of the gospel of the grace of Christ unfold through the book of Acts.

Paul's gospel of which he got directly from Christ Himself - it explains what happened from the cross to the throne and also what happened to the believer that is in Christ now.

We as the church should be living in the epistles of Paul but all scripture is useful to us as long as we filter it all through the finished work of Christ.

Without doing this - we will be mixing up the Old Covenant with the New Covenant and it will water down both covenants and thus we will not experience the purpose of any of them like we should.

The Old Covenant was to bring us to Christ - now we are to live in the New Covenant exclusively.

 

[heavenly_bound]

Perhaps James' was writing an exhortation to believers?
Perhaps it can be assumed everything that James wrote was based on the finished work of Christ?

Perhaps God can use many people for His purposes? Remember, the first will be last, and the last will be first?

Perhaps only those that have been indoctrinated into certain mindsets and doctrines have a struggle with the words of James which line up perfectly with the grace of God and the finished work of Christ?

There is no assumptions here pls. The epistle is clear!
Also,how can he be extorting Christians without mentioning the very work that made Christians Christians?

 

[heavenly_bound]

There has been more controversy among the scholars about James, the message, and the book, and who he is, than any other author of the New Testament. The author was not James the disciple and the brother of John, but he was the half brother of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 13:55. At that time Jesus had been gone for a long time, and when he returned to the home of His family, He attended their synagogue. The things that Jesus taught, those things that He said astonished the congregation, and they wondered where Jesus had obtained such great knowledge and wisdom.


Matthew 13:55-56
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

yes we know there has been a lot of controversies but i will appreciate what you think, especially in regards to my questions. Thanks

 

[mcubed]

There has been more controversy among the scholars about James, the message, and the book, and who he is, than any other author of the New Testament. The author was not James the disciple and the brother of John, but he was the half brother of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 13:55. At that time Jesus had been gone for a long time, and when he returned to the home of His family, He attended their synagogue. The things that Jesus taught, those things that He said astonished the congregation, and they wondered where Jesus had obtained such great knowledge and wisdom.


Matthew 13:55-56
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

James or his Hebrew name Juda is Y-shua’s brother. He is a Jew, some would say writing to Jews but G-d saw fit for His Book to be for all peoples. I do not see controversies. If you take all the other 65 Books it fits right in. unless G-d’s Word missed it and it does not belong.

 

[mpaper345]

​Why is it that Apostle James does not mention anything about the the work (Crucifixion, death, burial, quickening, raising, ascension and session) of Christ in his epistle?

How come that An apostle who did not even believe in Christ during His earthly ministry was appointed to direct the church at its infancy?

Could it be that this situation has contributed greatly to the struggle the church has been having between grace and law till this day?
correct me if what i say is wrong pls

​

Paul covered the Gospel quite well,and oh yeah,those 4 Gospel dudes did too,so I think it is covered quite well without ole' James having to cover it,if God wanted him to cover other things.The fact that James is in the Bible,would point to the fact that he believes the Gospel,and covers in more areas how to be pleasing to God,for the Gospel means nothing in your life,if you are not pleasing to God in how you behave,and lifestyle.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God,and James focused on what God wanted him to focus on,which James kind of reminds me of the book of Proverbs,for he still preaches the Gospel in his own way,and going more in to different areas of how to be pleasing to God than Paul did.

God had Paul focus on what he was supposed to,preaching the Gospel like a big dog,and telling us about it,and had James focus on what he was supposed to,going to more different areas of how we should behave to be pleasing to God,and he still said he was a servant of God,and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like the disciples all displayed Jesus in a different way.

Matthew: Christ is the Son of David, rightful heir to the Messianic throne. Here we see Christ's royal genealogy, the visit by the magi from the East to announce His kingly birth, and the proclamation of His laws in the Sermon on the Mount.
Mark: Here we find Jesus as the Servant of God. Although Jesus came as God to earth, He completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father in heaven and took on the form of a servant. Anything extraneous to that theme is excluded, which is why the narrative contains no references to Jesus's birth or youth.
Luke: To Luke, Jesus is the Son of Man—fully human but unlike any other human being in His perfect submission to God's will. For this reason, Luke traces the genealogy back to Adam (the first human).
John: John presents Jesus as the Son of God—fully divine. Jesus is not only flesh and bones, but He is also the Creator of all things in the beginning. Jesus reveals His nature as "I am," a title God gave as His own.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God,and if God does not have someone cover something,someone else will surely cover it,and God will have them write whatever He will have them write.

 

[p_rehbein]

​Why is it that Apostle James does not mention anything about the the work (Crucifixion, death, burial, quickening, raising, ascension and session) of Christ in his epistle?

How come that An apostle who did not even believe in Christ during His earthly ministry was appointed to direct the church at its infancy?

Could it be that this situation has contributed greatly to the struggle the church has been having between grace and law till this day?
correct me if what i say is wrong pls

​

Are you speaking of James? Or Paul?

 

[bikerchaz]

There is no assumptions here pls. The epistle is clear!
Also,how can he be extorting Christians without mentioning the very work that made Christians Christians?

Why do we try and find fault, you said no assumptions yet you wrote;

Could it be that this situation has contributed greatly to the struggle the church has been having between grace and law till this day?
correct me if what i say is wrong pls

These words are an assumption. I see no difficulty, I feel no disharmony. Only where the Spirit is not, does there exist confusion. Only those with a mind of the flesh would there seem to be a dis-jointedness.

How come that An apostle who did not even believe in Christ during His earthly ministry was appointed to direct the church at its infancy?

There is some studying to do here, you do not know your scriptures.

I am not here to judge, just say what is, and Jesus is. Our relationship with Jesus will lead, our relationship with the living word of life, the Son of the living God with our brother from Father is all, and in that relationship (talking, conversation, two way conversation) is everything we need to know.

And to say from one small epistle that things are not right does not sit well with the Spirit. Anyone reading this, if you have ears to hear and a heart consumed by Jesus, you will know.

 

[p_rehbein]

Some worthwhile reading:

Epistle of James | Theopedia

Epistle of James

The Epistle of James was written to Jewish Christians of the first century A.D. living in gentile communities outside Palestine, in an effort to expose hypocritical practices and to teach right Christian behavior.

 

[p_rehbein]

Chapter 1 gives several references to what Jesus taught during His Ministry..........verses 2 through 6....... verses 8 through to the end of the Chapter.

Chapter 2 starts with an almost exact teaching from Christ. The rest of the Chapter continues to reveal what Christ taught.

Chapters 3 and 4 continue to reveal the teachings of Christ...........

Chapter 5 is my favorite Chapter from James. Lots of very good Truth included therein.

What EXACTLY is your problem with the Epistle of James?

If your only argument is "Who wrote it?" Well.........that argument can be made about ANY of the Epistles!

Let's consider Hebrews.................

James 5:9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

 

[p_rehbein]

 

[Adstar]

There is no assumptions here pls. The epistle is clear!
Also,how can he be extorting Christians without mentioning the very work that made Christians Christians?

Well if the congregation he sent the letter to already knew the basics of the way of salvation then why is there any need to mention it to them..

 

[Grandpa]

Chapter 1 gives several references to what Jesus taught during His Ministry..........verses 2 through 6....... verses 8 through to the end of the Chapter.

Chapter 2 starts with an almost exact teaching from Christ. The rest of the Chapter continues to reveal what Christ taught.

Chapters 3 and 4 continue to reveal the teachings of Christ...........

Chapter 5 is my favorite Chapter from James. Lots of very good Truth included therein.

What EXACTLY is your problem with the Epistle of James?

If your only argument is "Who wrote it?" Well.........that argument can be made about ANY of the Epistles!

Let's consider Hebrews.................

James 5:9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

Half the time it seems like James is speaking to un-believers.

Then he switches, mid thought, and speaks to believers again.

He seems to be trying to address Christians in all their stages of their walk with Christ.


From the baby who thinks all he has to do is say the prayer and poof he's done, full fledged Christian. To the spirit led Christian who no longer needs a person to teach them.


James 1:27 [FONT=&quot]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.

[/FONT]James 4:4 [FONT=&quot]Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.


[/FONT]That's what I see, anyway.

 

[Grace777x70]

I personally see no conflict with the book of James and the truth of Christ as shown by Paul's epistles.

What some have done in the past is try to "apply" what James says through the lens of the mixing up of the covenants and thus James "seems" to contradict some truths in Christ.

Without reading all scripture through the lens of what Christ has already done in His finished work on the cross, death, burial, quickening by the Spirit, resurrection and ascension - we will be forever mixing up spiritual truths and not really walking in what Christ has done for us as new creations in Him and thus the potential to mis-interpret any scripture will remain with us.

 

[heavenly_bound]

James or his Hebrew name Juda is Y-shua’s brother. He is a Jew, some would say writing to Jews but G-d saw fit for His Book to be for all peoples. I do not see controversies. If you take all the other 65 Books it fits right in. unless G-d’s Word missed it and it does not belong.

yes you are correct. God saw it fit to include this epistle in the bible the same way He saw it fit to include Abraham's lies, David's adulatory and murder too!

my question is this, should we treat the epistle of James which does not mention anything about the work of salvation, the same as the other epistles?

i asked this question bc this epistle is always used to counteract what other disciples especially Paul says concerning the person and work of Christ!

 

[heavenly_bound]

I personally see no conflict with the book of James and the truth of Christ as shown by Paul's epistles.

What some have done in the past is try to "apply" what James says through the lens of the mixing up of the covenants and thus James "seems" to contradict some truths in Christ.

Without reading all scripture through the lens of what Christ has already done in His finished work on the cross, death, burial, quickening by the Spirit, resurrection and ascension - we will be forever mixing up spiritual truths and not really walking in what Christ has done for us as new creations in Him and thus the potential to mis-interpret any scripture will remain with us.

well said bro. That's is exactly my preoccupation with this very epistle!! They still do it even today; thus making the presentation of the free grace of God a difficult task. for example any one who wants to argue about unconditionally free grace always quotes James!!!

 

[Grandpa]

yes you are correct. God saw it fit to include this epistle in the bible the same way He saw it fit to include Abraham's lies, David's adulatory and murder too!

my question is this, should we treat the epistle of James which does not mention anything about the work of salvation, the same as the other epistles?

i asked this question bc this epistle is always used to counteract what other disciples especially Paul says concerning the person and work of Christ!

I think it is important to know what the different stages in a persons walk with Christ are before you can say you must treat James different than the other epistles.

Each epistle addresses different problems and situations.

James is mostly addressing Christians who have not developed much, if at all. Perhaps these people that James addressed have said a prayer and think that's it, they're in.

If the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, as Galatians says, then there is lots of work that must be done in order for us to come to Christ and receive His Revelation and Rest. Lots of work in working out your salvation with fear and trembling, studying scripture to make yourself approved, asking for understanding and knowledge and wisdom.

The epistles are like a big puzzle that all fit together perfectly. If you try to make one contradict another then you are using a hammer to put your puzzle together. That's not the way puzzles go together. The pieces should fit together easily.

Although I am not good at actual puzzles.... I would rather use the hammer...

 

[heavenly_bound]

Paul covered the Gospel quite well,and oh yeah,those 4 Gospel dudes did too,so I think it is covered quite well without ole' James having to cover it,if God wanted him to cover other things.The fact that James is in the Bible,would point to the fact that he believes the Gospel,and covers in more areas how to be pleasing to God,for the Gospel means nothing in your life,if you are not pleasing to God in how you behave,and lifestyle.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God,and James focused on what God wanted him to focus on,which James kind of reminds me of the book of Proverbs,for he still preaches the Gospel in his own way,and going more in to different areas of how to be pleasing to God than Paul did.

God had Paul focus on what he was supposed to,preaching the Gospel like a big dog,and telling us about it,and had James focus on what he was supposed to,going to more different areas of how we should behave to be pleasing to God,and he still said he was a servant of God,and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like the disciples all displayed Jesus in a different way.

Matthew: Christ is the Son of David, rightful heir to the Messianic throne. Here we see Christ's royal genealogy, the visit by the magi from the East to announce His kingly birth, and the proclamation of His laws in the Sermon on the Mount.
Mark: Here we find Jesus as the Servant of God. Although Jesus came as God to earth, He completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father in heaven and took on the form of a servant. Anything extraneous to that theme is excluded, which is why the narrative contains no references to Jesus's birth or youth.
Luke: To Luke, Jesus is the Son of Man—fully human but unlike any other human being in His perfect submission to God's will. For this reason, Luke traces the genealogy back to Adam (the first human).
John: John presents Jesus as the Son of God—fully divine. Jesus is not only flesh and bones, but He is also the Creator of all things in the beginning. Jesus reveals His nature as "I am," a title God gave as His own.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God,and if God does not have someone cover something,someone else will surely cover it,and God will have them write whatever He will have them write.

like Abraham lies, David's adulatory and murder etc right? So these too where given by inspiration of God?

What does it really mean by "all scripture is given by inspiration of God"

if we interpret ever scripture literally, we will end up with the notion that God is in support of Abraham's lies , David's murders and adulatory etc!

Now James just preach the gospel in his own way as you put it! so what was his message? we know that the gospel is the message of the cross!!

so can someone explain to me how is it possible to think that James preached the gospel without any mention of the gospel(good new of the cross) itself!!

God expect us to rightly divide the worth of Truth bc in the bible, there are thinks that differ; things that do not co mingle; things that are mutually exclusive!!