Some Things James Had To Say

My Brethren, count it all joy, when YOU fall into various Trials, knowing that the testing of your Faith produces Patience.  But let Patience have its Perfect Work, that YOU may be Perfect and Complete, lacking nothing.  If any of YOU lacks Wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to All, liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in Faith, with no doubting.  Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been Approved, he will receive The Crown of Life which The Lord has Promised to those who Love Him.  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my Beloved Brethren.  Every Good Gift and every Perfect Gift is from Above, and comes down from The Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His Own Will, He brought Us forth by The Word of Truth, that We might be a kind of firstfruits of His Creatures.  So then, my Beloved Brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce The Righteousness of God.

 

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness The Implanted Word, which is able to Save your Souls.  But be Doers of The Word, and not Hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a Hearer of The Word and not a Doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he who looks into The Perfect Law of Liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful Hearer but a Doer of The Work, this One will be Blessed in what he does.  Pure and Undefiled Religion before God and The Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the World.

 

What does it profit, my Brethren, if someone says he has Faith but does not have Works? Can Faith save him?  If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of YOU says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but YOU do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?  Thus also Faith by itself, if it does not have Works, is dead.  But someone will say, “YOU have Faith, and I have Works.”  Show me your Faith without your Works, and I will show YOU my Faith by my Works.  YOU Believe that there is One God.  YOU do well.  Even the demons Believe and tremble!  But do YOU want to know, O foolish man, that Faith without Works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father Justified by Works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  Do YOU see that Faith was working together with his Works, and by Works Faith was made Perfect?  And The Scripture was Fulfilled which says, “Abraham Believed God, and it was accounted to him for Righteousness.”  And he was called The Friend of God.  YOU see then that a man is Justified by Works, and not by Faith only.  Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also Justified by Works when she received The Messengers and sent them out another way?  For as the body without The Spirit is dead, so Faith without Works is dead also.  Who is wise and understanding among YOU?  Let him show by Good Conduct that his Works are done in The Meekness of Wisdom.  But if YOU have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against The Truth.  This wisdom does not descend from above, but is Earthly, sensual, demonic.  For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.  But the Wisdom that is from Above is first Pure, then Peaceable, Gentle, Willing to yield, Full of Mercy and Good Fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Now The Fruit of Righteousness is sown in Peace by those who make Peace.  Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from YOU.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to YOU. 

Cleanse your hands, YOU sinners; and purify your hearts.  Humble yourselves in The Sight of The Lord, and He will lift YOU up.  Therefore be patient, Brethren, until The Coming of The Lord.  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the Earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.  YOU also be Patient.  Establish your hearts, for The Coming of The Lord is at hand.  My Brethren, take The Prophets, who spoke in The Name of The Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.  Indeed We count them Blessed who endure.  YOU have heard of The Perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by The Lord, that The Lord is very compassionate and Merciful.  Brethren, if anyone among YOU wanders from The Truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will Save a Soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.