At the same time, I've had a harder time figuring out how this letter fits in with all of Paul's writings. How exactly do these good works impact my salvation? What if I'm not a doer of the Word?
Larry Crabb's reaction to James helped me put this letter in a broader perspective and to better understand James' focus on good works:
"Your letter seems scattered. It leaves me feeling scattered. Your words in this letter strike me as a random collection of good tips on how to live well: welcome troubles...be quick to listen...be slow to speak...be slow to anger...Then you tack on some depressing advice for rich people...That's followed by a strong challenge to be patient when life gets hard, to pray when I'm struggling or sick, and to restore shrinking-back Christians to life on the narrow road.
"All of that's good, of course. But it seems so scattered. So, yes...I do feel scattered as I listen to Your directions on how to live well...
"[God:] By faith you are already saved from an eternity without Me...And I'm telling you now that by works you can save your soul from a life that eternity will reveal was wasted...You are justified before Me by faith in My Son, not by living well...That's My gift to you. It's guaranteed. But you can now be qualified to rule with My Son in the coming kingdom by living well before others in the world...In this fifty-ninth letter, I guide you toward living the life of good works that qualifies you to rule as coheir with My Son." 66 LLThe idea of living intentionally and not wasting my life has always resonated with me, so how is it that I've missed the truth that living well, according to God's ways, qualifies me to live as a coheir with Christ?? It puts so much in perspective!
"When grasped, the prospect of living as a coheir with My Son, in both the already and the not-yet eternal kingdom, will energize you to press on, to reveal My character and My plan by the way you live and relate, and to love Me and others at any cost to you, whether you are joyfully encouraged or despairingly discouraged." 66 LLLord, I pray that when the days are hard (as they often are) You will encourage my heart with this truth. This mind-blowing offer does energize me to lean into You and to trust Your Spirit to guide me into living well, regardless of cost and circumstance. Remind me that, because of Jesus, I can love at any cost. May my life accurately reflect Your character and Your plan by the way I live and relate. I really, really don't want to waste this one and only life You've given me.
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I was actually not looking forward to reading James because it has represented to me all the misconceptions of the Christian life that I've been trying to shed. However, reading it through the lens of relating to the Trinity and reading it in the language of the Message has breathed new meaning into it that I've missed for years. Here's just a few observations:
"Don't try to get out of anything prematurely"... in other words, let pain, suffering, waiting, hoping do its complete work of forming Christ in me. "Persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life"- not blessings, not prosperity, not ease, not comfort, not even relief from the pain, but LIFE. "Lead with your ears" - being curious in the Spirit to hear what God is doing in someone instead of listening for where I can interject "wisdom" or instruction or my own experience. And being a "man or woman of action" is partially defined later in the chapter as reaching "out to the homeless and loveless in their plight" - not ministry action nor acting in my strengths, but revealing God's glory to those without place and without God.
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