Paper Example on Teaching of James

Introduction

James, a servant of God, wrote the book of James with the aim of reaching out to Jewish believers and encouraging them to endure and practice perseverance to ensure that they uphold a Christian livelihood. In chapter 1 James educates believers on testing their faith and helps them to "prove yourselves doers of the word" James chapter 1:22. He teaches them that, by putting their faith into action they submit themselves to Jesus Christ (Maxwell & John 2018). The primary focus of the paper is the teaching of James and his contribution in encouraging people to remain faithful to the one and only God.

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Perseverance

How are Christians expected to react when faced with trials and difficulties? Should they fear, run away and avoid the situation or show courage and stand up to them? Surprisingly, none of the provided solutions is correct. When faced with temptations Christians are faced with a challenge to prove their faith and perseverance. When encountered with such situations James advice Christians to believe in the lord and uphold our faith towards him to get required wisdom to address the situation effectively (Barker & Burdick 1985).

Most Christians tend to blame temptations on God while others believe that the trials are payback for the sins they have committed. What type of Christian are you and what category do you fall into?

Greeting

James picks off his first verse with a "greeting," in Hebrew a greeting is meant to stand for "I wish you joy" (Maxwell & John 2018). He then explains this to the readers by stating the kind of joy that he was speaking about. "Count it all joy when ye fall into temptation." Through this James explains human nature and addresses the evil desires that Christians hold within themselves and how to overcome them. In this chapter James majors around spiritual temptations and through the letter he states that "every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his evil desire and enticed" (Maxwell & John 2018). Thus meaning that the real temptations may not tempt us in this way strongly but the spiritual attractions are centered on our desires (Paget & James 2002).

In this case, it's visible that the flesh determines the difference between spiritual and physical temptations we face in life. However the two tend to work hand in hand with each other, this is because physical temptations play a significant role in initiating our evil desire to tempt us spiritually. Do you have control over your evil desires? What is the best way to control the physical and spiritual desires which we encounter every day?

Spiritual Temptation

Instead of always saying, "Here we go again" when overcome by trials James expects us to face the temptations and trials presented to us with joy (Maxwell & John 2018). Are the trials evil? Why does God allow them to happen? Trials are evil and can cause one to fail in many levels. However, the main reason to rejoice is that temptations present us with a rare chance to please the almighty on the highest level we can afford to attain. Overcoming lust is a great deal hence making it something to be appreciated spiritually. "When ye fall..." through this James was trying to create an illusion of falling and according to him "every man is tempted when he is drawn away (from his normal safe spiritual self, abiding in Christ) of his own lust" (chapter 1:14) when the desire we lust for is unattractive then there is no real trial (Maxwell & John 2018). While tempting Jesus, the devil led him away from his supreme spirituality to make a loop to enable his to lure him entirely.

When faced with trials and tribulations, we should rejoice because it provides us with a beautiful opportunity to grow in the lord and develop a permanent spiritual fruit. When the devil entices us and draws us away, we should lean on to the lord in faith that "he can keep us from falling." Temptation does not come only spiritually, whether a friend is rude to us, or their character is annoying the ability to try to understand them and not judge them based on their character, and love them defines the measure of our faith and strength in the lord which can only be strengthened by "hearing and hearing by the word of God." (Romans, chapter 10:17). Every single step we take in the spiritual world developed by faith is tested by a spiritual trial in the form of a temptation (Maxwell & John 2018).

Semi Spirituality

Time to time again James warns us against semi spirituality where we are not entirely influenced by the word of God. According to James, "he that watereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed."

(Maxwell & John 2018). As Christians, we tend to waver around physically and spiritually. However In (Peter chapter 1:5), we find proof that Jesus is aware of this in that, he did not scorn peter when he requested for support and strength. Instead, he was eager to satisfy it. Through the text, James constantly tries to explain to us the significance of being committed wholly to Gods word (Gregersen 2000). "let not that man( the waverer) think that he shall receive anything of the Lord" (James chapter 1:17), James explains this further through his "hot or cold" and "black and white" approaches to squash the idea that most of us Christians hold of a little faith being able to stir up response from God. According to his text faith is termed as an "absolute state" It's either one is praying in total faith or spitting out empty words (Maxwell & John 2018).

Double Thinking

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James chapter 1:8). Physically one can serve even more than two masters, but in our hearts spiritually we can only help one master. The lack of a wholly spiritual personality and mind towards one master is what results in temptations and sin. By tuning our conscience according to the word of God as Christians, we can determine our stand spiritually (Barker & Burdick 1985).

According to James, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life." (James chapter 1:12).

Are there moments when temptations overgrew you? Do you feel that you lack enough faith, making you vulnerable to temptations? Through this passage, James inspires us when we as Christians are entangled by the needs of the flesh and those of the spirit. As a Christian whenever one walks through temptation and endures it, at that moment, he or she becomes crowned in heaven crowning us with a victory during judgment.

Moment of Temptation

When faced with temptations people tend to assume that the trial was put in place by God causing bitterness and anger. However according to verse13 "let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God." The cause of temptations if often our desires and wrongly responding to them (Paget & James 2002).

Application

In his letter James warns Christians, "but be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your selves." (James chapter 1:22).

Spiritually self-deceit is the act of hearing the word and understanding it and still go against it. "For not the hearers of the law are justified before God, but the doors of the law shall be justified." Thus making it essential that as Christians we should apply the word within our lives and minds. We should all strive to create a mental effort consciously to allow Gods word to control our words and mental energy when interesting situations encounter us.

Work Cited

Barker, K. L., & Burdick, D. W. (Eds.). (1985). The NIV study bible, new international version. Zondervan.

Gregersen, N. H. (2000). Trial and temptation: An essay in the multiple logics of faith. Theology Today, 57(3), 325-343.

Maxwell, John C. NKJV, Maxwell Leadership Bible, Ebook. Thomas Nelson, 2018.

Paget, James Carleton. "James. The wisdom of James, a disciple of Jesus the sage (New Testament Readings.)." (2002)