April 5 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 95—James 5:7–12

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. ¹² But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Devotional:

"Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord" (v. 7). The obvious question is, what is the "therefore" there for? We know that James has said a lot about trials. He's said a lot about practical Christian living.

But having gone through James, we also see that the epistle advocates the simplicity of salvation by God's grace alone. It's impossible to explain this letter and the ways it expresses itself unless behind it all there is a salvation that depends 100% on God, that cannot be gotten by human merit or effort, and that comes to the individual through bare reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ (i.e., through faith alone).

It completely twists the epistle of James to imagine that it makes salvation depend on your works. Instead, like Paul, James advocates working out what God works in you. He's no moralist who says, "Follow these steps and pick yourself up by your own bootstraps." No, he's a preacher of free grace who says that the God who freely saves you also fully saves you. God does not save you just from punishment. God also saves you from sin. God not only gives you a new record, but he also gives you a new heart.

In fact, that's where James starts, with the new birth—"Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures…" (1:18). Out of this, God through James insists that there will be practical, visible evidence when a person is a genuine child of God. When God gives you a new heart, it makes a difference. Therefore, God insists through James on what he also says through Peter—"be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure…" (2 Pet. 1:10).

In James, he especially hones in on three specific earmarks of a new heart—"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" (1:26–26). You control your tongue. You care for the needy. You cleanse yourself from worldliness.

Then he expounds on these in turn. Chapter 2 focuses on care for the needy. Chapter 3 focuses on control of the tongue. Chapter 4 focuses on cleansing yourself from worldliness.

In James, he explains that his purpose in sending trials is to set apart and purify those who truly belong to him. And so—what is the "therefore" there for? This begins the conclusion of the epistle. The focus now shifts not just to the new record you have in the righteousness of Christ, not just to the new heart you have by the Spirit of Christ, but now to the new hope that you have in the second coming of Christ.

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.