He takes the known Ten Commandments and frames it for the new life through Jesus as summarized in James 2:8. He used this book as encouragement that the trials they would face would not be a waste and that spiritual maturity is born through perseverance. During this time, people were threated daily for this faith. James uses Jewish traditions to draw out the wisdom they are used to hearing and applies it to practical Christian living.

Theme 3: Trials and Temptation – 4:13-5:18.

Per the Passion Translation Bible introduction, the themes are broken down as follows: There are three main themes in James: Wealth, Wisdom, and Trials. This is based on James’ comment, “I am writing to all the twelve tribes of Israel who have been sown as seeds among the nations.” His goal was reaching those who had converted from Judaism and were scattered throughout the Roman Empire to help them keep their newfound faith and strengthen it. The intended audience of this book is thought to be targeted toward Jewish Christians. It is thought to be written between 45 and 47 AD and broken into three main themes that we will discuss in the next section. The book of James is a New Testament book that falls between Hebrews and 1 Peter. Like Jesus, he was also killed for his faith around 60 A.D.

Many scholars believe that James did not become a believer until after Jesus died and rose again. He was an apostle of the church of Jerusalem. Jacob, or James, was a powerful voice in the early church, as well as the younger brother of Jesus ( Galatians 1:9, Mark 6:3). James was not widely accepted until the 1600s when King James sponsored the translation called the “ Authorized Version.” In Exodus 3:15, we read, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors-The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.” If you have ever heard the book of James referred to as the ‘book of Jacob’ that is why.

“James” is actually the result of a translation of the Jewish name Ya’akov and the Greek name lakobos.

Book of james by francis chan