Timelessly packed with practical wisdom, cutting rebuke, and sound doctrine, the epistle of James continues to dispense rich instruction for believers today. Despite this, some people not only struggle to understand its content but also claim that it is meant only for the Jewish people. Can this be true?
In my time as a Christian, I’ve stumbled upon and wrestled with this claim being pushed by certain individuals and groups, namely that James is only for Jews. The proponents of this view believe this not arbitrarily but contextually, at least in their own minds.
The Basic Argument
Essentially, their argument goes as follows.
James is writing in particular to a Jewish audience. This is deduced from the explicit words in verse 1 of chapter 1, “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.” This is also deduced from the scattered teaching in the book that is predominantly extracted from the Old Testament, thus for Jews.
While these things are certainly true, some people go so far as to claim that James is actually delineating a different form of faith and salvation for the Jews than for the Gentiles when he says things like “faith [without works] is dead”, “faith apart from works is useless”, “Abraham [was] justified by works”, “faith…completed his works”, etc (James 2:14-26 ESV).
Two Responses
One must admit this thinking and its subsequent conclusion is somewhat understandable. James says that faith without works is dead while Paul says that we are justified by faith apart from works. Thus, we can see (what looks like) a serious discrepancy, if not a contradiction.
What are we to make of this?
A Biblical Response
First, we must establish that James is one part of the broader New Testament and that the New Testament is the second half of the even broader Bible. Being a part of the Bible means that the epistle of James is Holy Scripture. This is not insignificant, for it necessitates that James is divinely intended for us as men (and women) of God. Paul tells us of Scripture: it is “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
So, despite the fact that the “the twelve tribes [of Jews] scattered in the Dispersion” are the original recipients of the letter, we can see that James as Scripture is meant for every child of God: to read, study, learn, and apply. We must not and cannot allow our historical contextualization of a book of the Bible to prevent us from coming under its divine authority. It is for us.
A Logical Response
Second, if we boil down the initial argument to its basic form, we begin to see profoundly problematic implications. The argument essentially says, “Since we are not Jews, especially not the Jews scattered in the Dispersion, then the book was not intended for us and thus, we should not follow its teaching.” If this logical methodology is followed consistently then it dictates that we must inevitably render the Bible irrelevant. Allow me to demonstrate.
Barring any potential time-travelers, we are not the Theophilus that Luke wrote to, the Philemon that Paul wrote to, nor the first-century church. According to the argument then we should toss out our New Testament. But don’t stop there—we are not Old Covenant Jews either, so we should also dismiss the entire Old Testament. Indeed, why follow anything in the Bible? We aren’t the original audience.
Are you beginning to see the mammoth problem?
But why the difference in faith?
We must recognize the general thrust and theme of both the book of James and the book of Romans before we can reach any solid conclusions. While faith is discussed in both books, it is not approached in the same way. In Romans, Paul is treating deep doctrines of man’s sinfulness, God’s wrath and justice, and faith in salvation whereas in James we see various pictures of what faith looks like in practice when coupled with wisdom in the day-to-day life of believers.
To say it another way, Paul approaches faith from the perspective of salvation. James approaches faith from the perspective of its practice. In some sense he is also describing authentic Christian faith, hence “faith without works is dead.” This contrast must be duly noted or our understanding of the nature of faith will be muddied. For further study, see Hebrews chapter 11.
In Conclusion
While the Jews were its original audience, the book of James is Holy Scripture. Thus, it is for every believer for all time. When James speaks of faith he shows that it is not only spiritual but also practical. He shows us that faith works.
So read and drink of James as you would any other book of the Bible.
It’s for you.
…“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?
mark 4:21 esv