How Faith Works: Studies in the Book of James

How Faith Works: Studies in the Book of James

The book of James is one of the most profoundly practical yet one of the most over-looked books in the New Testament. J. I. Packer says this: “Of the five wisdom books of the Old Testament, it has been classically said...that the Psalms will teach you how to pray, Proverbs how to live, Job how to suffer, the Song how to love, and Ecclesiastes how to enjoy. That dictum seems to me wonderfully insightful, and it is totally reinforced by James, the New Testament writer, who speaks to all these themes most forcefully within his five brief chapters.” [Truth and Power, 153] When you think about it, James is the New Testament’s book of Wisdom. Because we have been loved by God, we show that forth in fruitful work. As a church, we will order our common life together around this book of wisdom and truth, not antithetical to a gospel of grace, but rather the logical outworking of that work of Christ in our lives.