The good reason for Trials according to the Book of James

One of the blessings that I've enjoyed over my summer break is having the time to memorize Scripture. My wife and I have begun again to memorize the Book of James. I am happy to say that I can get pretty well to the end of chapter 2. I plan on writing on Scripture memorization later, but for now I wanted to share what I've learned from my study of this great book.(BTW the picture above is of the Judean Wilderness where Jesus was tempted).

Verses 1:12-18, examined in this blog post, deal with the nature of temptations as a sinful response to trials and the nature of what God truly grants to those who are His. By way of background information, the theme of trials begins in 1:2, where James is asking his audience to consider it pure joy whenever they “face various trials of many kinds,” (NIV). His reasoning lies in the fact that the purpose of these trials of faith is their spiritual perfection, as it will develop perseverance (cf. v. 3), then maturity, and so on to completion (cf. v. 4). Despite the unpleasantness of the trial, James is telling them that the trials that they face do have a divine purpose, and because of the possible positive outcome (which is contingent on their perseverance) they ought to see these trials as a joy. Trials, therefore, can be seen as coming from God for their welfare. James then goes on in verse 5 in the same vein to describe how God grants wisdom to those who ask. He focuses here on the kind and generous manner in which God gives this wisdom, without finding fault in the person asking. The only conditional requirement that James brings up here is the unwavering faith of the one who asks. In following James’ train of argument, if the believer responds with perseverance, along with divinely granted wisdom, he will be perfected. I think that Martin Dibelius is correct in stating that verses 9-11 are unrelated with what precedes. 9-11 discusses separately the spiritual state of the poor and the rich; however, James goes back to the theme of our response to trials in verse 12f then the theme nature of God’s gifts and giving from verse 5 to verses 16-18. Verses 9-11 are speaking to the spiritual aspects of poverty and wealth and not about trials per se.


The Right Response to Trials

Verse12 then begins with James giving more information on what the desirable repose to the trials of life ought to be. He again goes back to the theme of the perseverance that should mark our reactions to trials by writing that such a man is “blessed” (NIV). Kurt A. Richardson in his commentary notes that “blessed” (makarios) here in the Greek ought to be understood in light of Jesus’ Beatitudes on being “blessed” (cf. Matthew 5:3-11). An emotional happiness is not likely the direction that James is taking his audience as a motivation for persevering through trials, but rather, in light of verse 3, a motivation to prove one’s right standing in his faith in God. The blessedness is the knowledge that one has a true tested faith and thus a strong relationship with God, which has stood despite external pressures which would threaten one to doubt his faith. This point of view is strengthened further in light of Jesus’ Beatitudes, which no doubt James had in mind here. The Beatitudes enumerate the various trials that one faces who possesses a faith in God, and which will be tested by external hostility, be it for example mourning (Matt 5:4) or persecution (Matt 5:10). The “blessedness” James is writing about thus marks a person’s standing in the Kingdom of God, and thus a right standing with God as His subject.

The man who perseveres under trials will be blessed in an ultimate way by receiving the “crown of life.” The meaning of this term is a picture of the eternal life that God grants to the true believer. Evidence for this is where Jesus Christ uses it in His letter to the Church in Smyrna, in a very similar context, where He is exhorting the Church to persevere (Rev. 2:10). In that letter Christ is telling the Smyrnian Church to persevere to the point of death. This context renders the term “crown of life” as meaning life after death, not temporal life. Since James did not obtain this term from John, writing his letter several decades before John penned his letter from Christ’s dictation, it may have been a familiar word picture used in the early Church for the eternal life given to believers from God. In both usages, the believer is encouraged to persevere through trials to obtain the “crown of life.” This reward for perseverance is only for those who love God, and who have as a consequence been promised this crown.

In a simple reading, it is clear that the giving of the crown is contingent on the recipient both loving God and persevering under trials. A harmonization of these two contingencies is easily obtained by recognizing that the trial is for the purpose of proving their love for God. Where there is no perseverance there is no genuine love, thus rendering the promise of God non-binding.