Posts by Kevin Collins
Concluding the Book of James (James 5:19-20)
One final time, James addresses “my brethren” with pastoral concern. This seems to underlie his pastoral concern motivating the entire purpose of the letter. He is concerned about those among the brethren (professing believers) who err or wander from the truth. They think that they can be saved and not be doers of the Word,…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Prayer – Part 4 (James 5:13-18)
Click here to read part 1. Click here to read part 2. Click here to read part 3. In James 5:17–18, James illustrates the power of persistent prayer in the life of Elijah. Although we do not live in a miraculous age where God will work miracles through us directly, the principle of God’s working…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Prayer – Part 3 (James 5:13-18)
Click here to read part 1. Click here to read part 2. Working through the difficult interpretive decisions of James 5:13–18 is important, but let’s not miss the main concern of the passage: the prayer of faith. Whose prayer and whose faith? Verse 14 is clear that it is the elders who are doing the…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Prayer – Part 2 (James 5:13-18)
Click here to read part 1. In the previous post we began laying out two interpretations of James’ meaning in James 5:14–16 regarding prayer for sickness. In this post we’ll critique those interpretations. But first, why do most find it difficult to decide between interpretations 1 and 2? Lexically: the words can be taken as…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Prayer – Part 1 (James 5:13-18)
The body of James’ letter expands on the theme of being a doer of the Word (James 1:22 sets up the body of the letter, which encompasses James 1:19–5:12). The book of James is bookended by addressing circumstances of suffering (James 1:2–18 and 5:13–18). A living faith is evidenced by being a doer of the…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Honesty – James 5:12
James 5:12 seems to be the last example of worldliness—living without reference to God. This fits into James’ application to be a doer of the Word (James 1:22) by keeping oneself unspotted from the world (James 1:27). James has been addressing different examples of worldliness since the beginning of chapter 4. Now he comes to…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Perseverance through Persecution (James 5:7-11) – Part 2
Click here to read part 1. James 5:7 clearly relates back to the previous section (“therefore”). Based on the reality of the situation described in James 5:1–6, James commands patience or perseverance. What are you to do if you find yourself in a helpless situation? Resistance is futile according to James 5:6. James returns to…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Perseverance through Persecution (James 5:1-6) – Part 1
In James 4:1–12, James began addressing the last example of being a doer of the Word—keeping oneself unspotted from the world. He continues that theme of worldliness since worldliness is living without reference to God. And each of the following subsections can best be understood as living without reference to God. Arrogantly living without reference…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in God-Dependence (James 4:13-17)
We have been outlining the book of James in relation to one key command found in James 1:22—be a doer of the Word, demonstrating a living faith. This command is then applied to several examples based on James 1:26–27. In James 4:1–12, James began addressing the last example of being a doer of the Word:…
Read MoreA Living Faith Evidenced in Godly Affections: Part 4 (James 4:1-12)
Click here for previous posts on James 4: part 1, part 2, and part 3. James has addressed the manifest problem of quarreling and fighting. Then he pinpointed the source of such a problem. Finally, he revealed the solution to that problem incentivized by the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Now the believers need to apply that…
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