From this point we will begin to use the Book of Acts as a guide to look at the development of the New Testament as it actually occurred. In order to understand the New Testament we must see it as a series of consecutive events. For over 500 years now men have developed an ever-changing traditional Christianity with a Bible made up of numbered sentences (verses) and books that are completely out of order when compared to the sequence in which they actually occurred.
Chronological exposition is practically unknown. An example of chronological exposition is the series just completed explaining why water baptism is not to be practiced by the church today. That particular supposition is more easily explained and understood by examining events related to it in the order they actually occurred. And, contextual criticism is mostly ignored. Any idea that comes into the heart of man can be supported or seemingly proven with isolated scripture verses, their context is not considered.
That’s why there exist today scores of denominations and countless other groups with different doctrinal positions. They all claim to have started with the church Jesus founded. And they all claim to be scripturally accurate. Yet, how can that be, since they are all different? The New Testament is a record of the development of the church in its first 100 years. Yet, none of those denominations or groups resemble the church described in the New Testament!
The first New Testament epistle is the Book of James, written around AD 45. There are three prominent men in the New Testament named James. The first is James, the brother of John, one of the inner circle of Jesus’ favorite disciples (James and John were probably cousins of Jesus, their mother being Salome, a sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother). The second is also a disciple, otherwise known as James the Less. The third is James, the brother of Jesus. This James did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah until after His resurrection. It is this James that is the writer of the epistle. It is also this James who became the spiritual leader of the church in Jerusalem after the martyrdom of James, the brother of John, by Herod as discussed in the last lesson.
The Book of James is called a general epistle, since it is not addressed to a specific church. The principle theme of this epistle deals with the difference between an intellectual understanding of truth and the practical application of truth in one’s life and conduct. James’ argument is precise: it is not enough to define faith with mere words; instead, faith must be expressed or lived out...otherwise it’s worthless. This first epistle deals with a problem that is still prominent in religion today, which is, that many professed Christians understand an intellectual concept of God, but few ever submit themselves to a daily life-changing relationship with God that guides their conduct.
Of all the letters found in the New Testament, this one has the strongest Jewish influence. James mentions Jesus Christ only twice (1:1, 2:1). There is no mention of the gospel message, the incarnation, the public ministry of Jesus, His death or resurrection. And, absent these themes, with the exception of the two references above, it could have just as easily have been part of the Old Testament. The meeting place is the synagogue (in 2:2 some translations have “assembly”, some “congregation”, but the original is sunagoge, translated synagogue 55 times elsewhere). Many illustrations are drawn from the Old Testament; yet, they are consistent with the doctrinal positions found in Paul’s letters.
So, why do we find a New Testament book with such a heavy Old Testament influence? We have only to examine the timing of its writing to see the answer. As I mentioned in the last lesson, the gospel message had only been preached to the Jews until Peter went to the house of Cornelius in Acts 10. This was about 10 years after Pentecost. It was then several more years before the council in Jerusalem met to settle the question regarding the gospel message being taken to the Gentiles, as described in Acts 15. James wrote this letter probably some time after Peter had taken the gospel to the Gentiles, but before the council met to settle the controversy. His focus was still restricted to the Jews as evidenced by his introduction, “to the twelve tribes scattered abroad” (1:1).
I think the message James conveys in his letter can pretty well be summed up in 1:22-25. “And become doers of the Word, not mere listeners who deceive themselves (by reasoning against the Truth). If anyone only listens to the Word but does not obey what it says, he is like one who looks carefully at his own face in a mirror, and after seeing himself (recognizing his faults and weaknesses), walks away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But he who has looked intently into the perfect law of liberty and continues looking into it, and is not a mere listener who forgets but a doer who obeys – he will be blessed in what he does.”
Now, let’s break this passage down just a little. Above, where you see “deceive themselves”, the word “deceive” is from paralogizomai, and means to delude or beguile, literally, to deceive by false reasoning, hence, my parenthetic “(by reasoning against the truth)”. Excuse me for expanding this thought, but to me James’ logic here is clear; the Word of God is not an intellectual exercise, an interesting history lesson or a philosophy to be discussed, disproven or dismissed; it is a practical guide for living and must be followed with actions.
He then uses the illustration of a man who looks at himself in a mirror and recognizes his faults and weaknesses, but walks away and disregards what he has seen. Now, the “mirror” is the Word of God that will reveal and expose us; and this careless disregard is the deception James is talking about. And if there is anything that is obvious in the human condition, it is our ability to either excuse or ignore our faults.
So, what is James’ conclusion? In the last sentence of the paragraph above he tells us we have to pay close attention to what we see in that mirror and continue to pay close attention to it. He starts by saying “he who has looked intently”. The word translated “looked” is parakupto, and means, to stoop down or lean over (to get a better or closer look).
Then he expands the definition of the “mirror” and uses the term “perfect law of liberty”. It is important that we look at this in detail. “Perfect” is teleios, and means, preeminent, above or before all others. “Law” is from nomos, an assigning or distributing, here referring to the conditions, commands, etc. of the New Covenant. We know it refers to the New Covenant, described in Hebrews 8:6 as the “better covenant” (“better” coming from kreisson, better, stronger, superior; compare Hebrews 7:22), as opposed to the Old Covenant that was “found faulty” (memphomai, to blame or find fault) in Hebrews 8:8.
And, finally, we come to the word James uses to define this “perfect law” – the word is “liberty”. This is eleutheria, and means, freedom or independence. Now, if you’ve found the rest of this lesson a little boring and you’re about to nod off, sit up, slap yourself in the face, focus and try to pay attention. This is one of the most important words in the New Testament. If you look at Galatians 2:4 and 5:1, Paul uses this word to describe the freedom believers have in Christ from the bondage produced by religious restrictions and rules. In 1Corinthians 10:29 he asks the question, “why should my liberty be determined by another’s conscience?”
Let’s make the application. My relationship with God is never to be determined by the restrictions and rules others try to impose on me. The New Covenant guarantees me the freedom and independence to pursue Him without the interference of others. All religion tends to be built on a foundation of rules and expectations (do this, don’t do that). They promote a varied, often changing morality (what is accepted by one group is often forbidden by another, and what may be forbidden by a group can eventually become acceptable to them if their growth or survival depends on it).
As I have emphasized before, the New Covenant in Christ is based on a foundation of the freedom to pursue an individual, personal relationship with God absent the interference of others. We are all to have God as our own personal teacher (John 6:45), and Jesus Christ came to show us the way to the Father. “If anyone intends to go where I’m going, he must ignore his own interests, be willing to suffer the evil and injustices of this world, and follow My example.” (My contextual expansion of Mark 8:34) And, His example is found throughout the Gospel accounts, “Now in those days it happened that He went up into a mountain to pray, and spent the entire night talking to God.” (Luke 6:12) Relationship with God was never the group exercise religion presents it to be.