Before we look at our verses for today, I want to remind you that the underlying theme of the Epistle of James is spiritual maturity.

James was aware that many of his fellow Jews who had accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah were not living lives that reflected the principles of His kingdom…love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Just before His crucifixion Jesus had prayed for His followers to experience love and unity so that the world would know that they belonged to Him. James was not seeing this and as the leader of the church in Jerusalem, appointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, he felt compelled to urge "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" to live lives that would not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called (2:7).

The approach to spiritual maturity described in the Epistle of James is the only approach he understood at that time…the Old Covenant way…do the right thing! Before we get too critical of his approach, let’s remember what Jesus told the rich young ruler when he asked "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 18:18) Jesus also took the Old Covenant approach when He said, "Keep the commandments." It was the only way, at that time! The New Covenant would not come until the death of Jesus and the Holy Spirit would not come until Pentecost. The Old Covenant approach always does what it was intended to do…it drives an unbeliever to God and a sincere believer to dependence upon God’s mercy and grace.

Now, let’s look at today’s verses, James 1:4-8:

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (NASB95)

Webster says that endurance is the ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially: the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity (a marathon runner’s endurance).

I don’t see Jesus anywhere in Webster’s definition because it’s an egocentric approach to facing hardship or adversity…it’s an Old Covenant approach…the focus is on the individual, not on God…but it’s not now the only possible approach. As a result of our supernatural "new birth," we now have a choice…we can face hardship or adversity either in the flesh (using our own resources) or in the Spirit (allowing Jesus to be Jesus in us, uniquely and individually). There is an endurance that comes from practice, persistence and dogged determination, but the endurance that lasts eternally comes from putting our trust in Jesus to do in and through us what we could never do ourselves.

James urges his readers to allow this endurance to have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Our English word translated perfect is the Greek word teleios (tel ·i·os) that has several meanings (brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness), but when it is used to describe humans it means consummate human integrity and virtue; full grown, adult, of full age, mature.

Most commentators explain that James is not talking about absolute perfection here but maturity. But James goes further by compounding his call to perfection with our English word complete that is translated from holokleros (hol · ok ·lay·ros) that means free from sin, faultless; complete in all respects. And if that’s not enough, he adds lacking in nothing! Sounds like absolute perfection to me! Let me point out that the word used here for perfect is the exact same word used in Matthew 5:48 to describe God…how absolutely perfect is that?

Only Jesus could perfectly respond to this call…and the only way you and I can respond in a way acceptable to God is to allow Him to express His life in and through us.

I have added a verse to Wayne’s little poem: "You can’t, He never said you could. He can, and always said He would. Don’t ask, ‘What would Jesus do?’ Just let Jesus be Jesus in you!"

I believe that God placed it there for at least two reasons:

As we will see later, the people to whom James wrote had problems with their praying (James 4:1–3; 5:13–18).

When we are going through God-ordained difficulties, what should we pray about?

James gives the answer: ask God for wisdom. The Jewish people were lovers of wisdom, as the Book of Proverbs gives evidence. Someone has said that knowledge is the ability to take things apart, while wisdom is the ability to put them together. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. All of us know people who are educated fools: they have brilliant academic records, but they cannot make the simplest decisions in life.

Why do we need wisdom when we are going through trials? Why not ask for strength, or grace, or even deliverance?

For this reason: we need wisdom so we will not waste the opportunities God is giving us to learn to depend on Him. Wisdom helps us understand how to use these circumstances for our good and God’s glory.

Warren Wiersbe gives a personal example:

Word counts can be misleading, but I find it interesting that in the Epistle of James, the words that refer to Deity (God, Lord, Jesus, Christ and Spirit) appear 37 times and the words that refer to humans (I, me, you, they, them, us, brethren or man) appear 165 times!

I’m amazed that, with no exceptions I could find, commentators seem to have no problem with an egocentric approach to prayer where the focus is on the "quality" of my faith, instead of on the graciousness of God. The Old Covenant made it clear that God would not act "for" us if we did not do certain things…God’s blessings were conditional. Yet even while under the Old Covenant, Jesus gave us a glimpse into the future when God would, once again, as He had already done with Abraham, ratify a New Covenant that was unconditional. One of the best examples of this is found in Mark 9:24, when He told the father of a demon-possessed boy that if he believed, He could heal his son and he responded, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

Under the New Covenant, God’s blessings are not conditioned upon our faith or obedience…that’s not to say that God forces His gifts on anyone, but it’s wonderful to know that the quality of my faith and obedience does not disqualify me from receiving God’s best.

Perhaps it’s the same reason that most of them point to Abraham as a great example of "obedience to God" when the Scriptural account is clear that his life was a mixture of obedience and disobedience until God told him to offer Isaac! When will we learn that explaining away God’s truth will never set us free?

One of the greatest evidences of the trustworthiness of the Bible is its faithfulness in revealing its key players as they really were…warts and all! If our teaching is to be trusted, we must do the same. When we read of the faithfulness of those listed in Hebrews 11 as examples for us, I think it’s important to be honest about their flaws as well as their faithfulness. Abraham was a liar and a coward…twice he gave his wife to another man to save his own skin. Noah got drunk. Jacob was a deceiver. Moses was a murderer. And Rahab was a prostitute. A key phrase that describes them all and is so often overlooked in this passage of Scripture is found in verse 34: …from weakness became strong. They are encouraging examples that document God’s capacity to use anyone, not because of their ability, but because of their availability. God’s strength is made perfect in human weakness (2Corinthians 12:9)! Our focus must always be on Him!

My friend Jay proposes an idea that I find quite interesting: The law was not only given to show us our inability to satisfy God’s requirements and drive us to Him for mercy and grace, but it was also given as a guide for getting the most out of living in this world. He correctly points out that even non-believers who incorporate the principles of God’s Law into their lives and business practices prosper more than those who don’t.

There is a proverb that says, "Man who chases two rabbits, catches neither." From a human perspective, we understand that an unstable person, a person with divided interests, will not usually succeed. Single-mindedness…keeping your eye on the target, is the best way to hit the bull’s eye.

We must be careful, however, not to use human concepts and methods in approaching God. The Old Covenant has been described as "spiritual capitalism" and was a system of rewards and punishments…it appeals to our flesh, but the New Covenant operates on a very different premise: God says, "I won’t make you pay, accept the pardon and live." The New Covenant flies directly in the face of this often heard expression, "There ain’t no such thing as a ‘free lunch’!"

With God there is!!

Click Here to Go Back