God the Generous Giver

James the brother of Jesus played an important role in the Apostolic era, serving as a key leader in the church in Jerusalem and often as its spokesman. The book of Acts tells us about two key events in which James played a pivotal role. At the Jerusalem Council, he provided scriptural warrant for including gentiles in the church without their having to undergo circumcision, and he helped the church carefully and lovingly formulate a pastoral letter on the matter (Acts 15:1–35). When Paul came to Jerusalem with the monies from the gentile churches given to alleviate the suffering of the Jewish Christians, James and the elders of the Jerusalem church welcomed Paul and gave him wise counsel for how he could assuage fears that he taught Jewish Christians to forsake their heritage (21:17–26).

In both episodes, James displayed great wisdom. That wisdom comes to us also in the epistle that he wrote, the New Testament book of James, which is sometimes called “the Proverbs of the New Testament.” We are now going to take a break from our study of Acts and spend a few days looking at some of the wise teachings found in the book of James.

James wrote his epistle to an audience made up mainly of Jewish Christians living outside their ancestral homeland (James 1:1; see Acts 11:19). These Jewish believers were facing many trials, and James wrote to them with instructions on how to deal with life’s afflictions. In James 1:2–4, he stresses the importance of maintaining our joy in our suffering, knowing that enduring trials cultivates in us the virtue of steadfastness. In turn, steadfastness will assist us as we aim at the completion of our sanctification, which begins in this life but will be fully achieved only when we are glorified.

That brings us to 1:5, where James tells us what to do if we lack wisdom, the assumption being that we cannot have joy or steadfastness in suffering without wisdom. The answer to a lack of wisdom is to ask for it from God, who gives generously to all (v. 5). Certainly, the Lord is generous, but the Greek word translated “generously” also has the sense of “simply” or “undividedly.” James is saying that God does not give to His creatures with divided motives but simply out of the goodness of His heart. He does not say that He is giving us one thing while really giving us another, and He intends only good for His people when He gives us gifts. He is therefore eminently trustworthy.