James 1:13-27 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:13-18

I. We are here taught that God is not the author of any man's sin. Whoever they are who raise persecutions against men, and whatever injustice and sin they may be guilty of in proceeding against them, God is not to be charged with it. And, whatever sins good men may themselves be provoked to by their exercises and afflictions, God is not the cause of them. It seems to be here supposed that some professors might fall in the hour of temptation, that the rod resting upon them might carry some... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:19-27

In this part of the chapter we are required, I. To restrain the workings of passion. This lesson we should learn under afflictions; and this we shall learn if we are indeed begotten again by the word of truth. For thus the connection stands?An angry and hasty spirit is soon provoked to ill things by afflictions, and errors and ill opinions become prevalent through the workings of our own vile and vain affections; but the renewing grace of God and the word of the gospel teach us to subdue... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:13-15

1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, "My temptation comes from God." For God himself is untemptable by evil and tempts no man. But temptation comes to every man, because he is lured on and seduced by his own desire; then desire conceives and begets sin; and, when sin has reached its full development, it spawns death. At the back of this passage lies a Jewish way of belief to which all of us are to some extent prone. James is here rebuking the man who puts the blame for temptation on... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:13-15

From the beginning of time it has been man's first instinct to blame others for his own sin. The ancient writer who wrote the story of the first sin in the Garden of Eden was a first-rate psychologist with a deep knowledge of the human heart. When God challenged Adam with his sin, Adam's reply was, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." And when God challenged Eve with her action, her answer was, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate." Adam said, "Don't... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:16-18

1:16-18 My dear brothers, do not he deceived. Every good gift and every perfect boon comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is none of that changeableness which comes from changing shadows. Of his own purpose he has begotten us by the word of truth so that we might be, as it were, the first-fruits of his created things. Once again James stresses the great truth that every gift that God sends is good. James 1:17 might well be translated: "All giving is good." That is to... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:19-20

1:19-20 All this, my dear brothers, you already know. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness which God desires. There are few wise men who have not been impressed by the dangers of being too quick to speak and too unwilling to listen. A most interesting list could be compiled of the things in which it is well to be quick and the things in which it is well to be slow. In the Sayings of the Jewish Fathers we read:... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:21

1:21 So then strip yourself of all filthiness and of the excrescence of vice, and in gentleness receive the inborn word which is able to save your souls. James uses a series of vivid words and pictures. He tells his readers to strip themselves of all vice and filthiness. The word he uses for strip is the word used for stripping off one's clothes. He bids his hearers get rid of all defilement as a man strips off soiled garments or as a snake sloughs off its skin. Both the words he uses... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:22-24

1:22-24 Prove yourselves to be doers of the word, and not only hearers, for those who think that hearing is enough deceive themselves. For, if a man is a hearer of the word and not a doer of it, he is like a man who looks in a mirror at the face which nature gave him. A glance and he is gone; and he immediately forgets what kind of man he is. Again James presents us with two of the vivid pictures of which he is such a master. First of all, he speaks of the man who goes to the church... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:25

1:25 He who looks into the perfect law, which is the law in the observance of which a man finds freedom, and who abides in it and shows himself not a forgetful hearer but an active doer of the word, will be blessed in all his action. This is the kind of passage in James which Luther so much disliked. He disliked the idea of law altogether, for with Paul he would have said, "Christ is the end of the law" ( Romans 10:4 ). "James," said Luther, "drives us to law and works." And yet beyond... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:26-27

1:26-27 If anyone thinks that he is a worshipper of God and yet does not bridle his tongue, his worship is an empty thing. This is pure and undefiled worship, as God the Father sees it, to visit the orphans and the widows, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. We must be careful to understand what James is saying here. The Revised Standard Version translates the phrases at the beginning of James 1:27 : "Religion that is pure and undefiled is....." The word translated religion is... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:13-18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - James 1:19-27

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:13-15

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:13-15

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:16-18

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:19-20

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:21

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:22-24

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:25

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - James 1:26-27

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