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Quotes & Things David Collins

Bible Commentary - James

James 1:26. One might ‘think’ himself to be religious but genuine piousness is evidenced by a temperance that permeates every area and aspect of one’s conduct. If there is any one thing in respect to which its influence is not felt, despite other evidences of piety that might exist, this will demonstrate that all those appearances of religion are vain.

James 1:27. Christians must keep themselves from all worldly influences that defile and corrupt the mind.

James 2:10. If a man keep the law of the land in every respect, yet one day be caught stealing an apple from a grocer, he is charged and counted as a thief. His appeal to having kept the law perfectly up till that point holds no sway, he is judged a law-breaker and must serve his sentence.

James 4:11. The prohibition is generally true but even more so of one’s brethren. James is here addressing those who have made fault-finding their hobby and who delight in announcing the motives of their brethren. These sins destroy the body of Christ (Galatians 5:15).

James 5:9. James here forbids the brethren to grumble or complain against one another. Someone with such a spirit will find fault and complain at every occasion. They are persons who always have, as Barnes says, “a sour, dissatisfied, discontented temper; they see no excellence in other persons; they are displeased that others are more prospered, honored, and beloved than they are themselves; they are always complaining of what others do, not because they are injured, but because others seem to them to be weak and foolish; they seem to feel that it becomes them to complain if everything is not done precisely as in their estimation it should be. It is needless to say that this spirit - the offspring of pride - will make any man lead a wretched life; and equally needless to say that it is wholly contrary to the spirit of the gospel.” Such complaining is the result of unrighteous judgements and, as James says, "Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?" (James 4:11-12).