Laws in the Letter of James

"The Letter of James, also called The Epistle of St. James the Apostle, is a New Testament writing addressed to the early Christian churches ("to the twelve tribes in the dispersion") and attributed to James, a Christian Jew, whose identity is disputed. There is also wide disagreement as to the date of composition. The letter is moralistic rather than dogmatic and reflects early Jewish Christianity. The writer covers such topics as endurance under persecution, poverty and wealth, control of the tongue, care for orphans and widows, cursing, boasting, oaths, and prayer. The only New Testament reference to anointing of the sick (5:14) is cited, mostly by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologians, as a probable reference to what they consider one of the seven sacraments." – Encyclopaedia Britannica

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. – James 1:2-3

Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:4

If you lack wisdom, ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to you. – James 1:5

Ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. – James 1:6-8

Let the lowly one glory in his exaltation. – James 1:9

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. – James 1:12

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. – James 1:13

You are tempted when you are drawn away by your own desires and enticed. – James 1:14

When desire [for a temptation] has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. – James 1:15

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17

Of His own will [God] brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. – James 1:18

Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. – James 1:19-20

Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your soul. – James 1:21

Be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only, deceiving yourself. – James 1:22

A hearer of the word, and not a doer, is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. – James 1:23-25

If you think you are religious, and do not bridle your tongue but deceive your own heart, your religion is useless. – James 1:26

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. – James 1:27

Do not hold the faith of Christ with partiality. If someone wearing gold rings and fine apparel should come into your assembly, and also a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool," you have shown partiality, and become a judge with evil thoughts. – James 2:1-4

God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him. – James 2:5

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself;" you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and the law convicts you as a transgressor. – James 2:8-9

Whoever keeps the whole law, yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of all. – James 2:10

So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. – James 2:12

Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy; Mercy triumphs over judgment. – James 2:13

Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. – James 2:17

A man is justified by works, and not by faith only. – James 2:24

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. – James 2:26

Teachers shall receive a stricter judgment. – James 3:1

We all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. – James 3:2

The tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature: and it is set on fire by hell. – James 3:5-6

No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. – James 3:8-9

Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing; these things ought not to be so. – James 3:10

Show by good conduct that you do your works in the meekness of wisdom. – James 3:13

If you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. – James 3:14-16

The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits; without partiality and without hypocrisy. – James 3:17

The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. – James 3:18

Wars and fights come from your desires for pleasure that war in you [inner conflict]. You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. – James 4:1-3

You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. – James 4:3

Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. – James 4:4

Submit to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you. – James 4:7

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you; cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. – James 4:8

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. – James 4:10

Do not speak evil of one another. He who speaks evil of and judges his brother, speaks evil of and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. – James 4:11

There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? – James 4:12

He who knows to do good and does not do it, sins. – James 4:17

Be patient. Establish your heart [in God, not in the world of appearances]. – James 5:8

Do not grumble against one another, lest you be condemned. – James 5:9

Take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. – James 5:10

We count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end the Lord intended – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. – James 5:11

Above all, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment. – James 5:12

The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. – James 5:15

Confess your trespasses to one another [with perfect discretion]; and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. – James 5:16

He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. – James 5:20

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