James in Three Peanut Shells

Peanut Shell No. 3--Poverty and Irony in James:

The proceedings of the Jerusalem Counsel, the first church

counsel in history, are recorded in the fifteenth chapter

of Acts.  The two main speakers are Peter and James.

The question being decided was the great theological

question of the ages, whether works are required for

salvation.  At the time, the question of works centered around

the rite of circumcision.

Both Luke, in the fifteenth chapter of Acts, and Paul, in the

second chapter of Galatians, confirm the outcome of this

counsel.  Salvation is the gift of God through Faith in our

Lord Jesus Christ.

At the Jerusalem Counsel in Acts 15, James verbalized his

concern for, about charitable works and holiness, such as

avoiding fornication.  This is no different than any free-grace

pastor or teacher of today stressing that the doctrine of

eternal security, or justification by faith alone, not license to

sin, and that Christians are called to holiness, not debauchery.

In Acts 15, James unmistakably clarifies this exact point,

teaching that the works of the law, such as avoiding

fornication, are for "the Gentiles [who have] turned to God."

That is, those in Christ are called to holiness as a way of life

to honor our Triune God.  Those without Christ are never

called to holiness as a means of securing eternal salvation,

not by James, Paul, Jesus, Peter, or any other person in the

Bible.  Although James' commitment to holiness and good

works was evident as early as the Jerusalem Counsel, as well

as in his Epistle, His commitment to grace was unassailable.

So why does James address the issue of poverty using the

two soteriological terms "saved" and "justify".  Even more

perplexing, why does James address the issue of poverty

using soteriological terms against the backdrop of the terms

"faith" and "works," the greatest soteriological controversy of

his age (and of every age)?  There are two reasons.

First, James was consumed with the tragedy of poverty.

James addresses the poor at least six separate times in his

epistle:  James 1:9-10; 1:27; 2:1-7; 2:14-17; 2:25 and 5:1-9.

As a percent of the total length of his epistle, James is more

devoted to the question of the poor than any book in the

Bible.  James' concern for the poor is not only expressed in

His own epistle, it is even recorded by Luke in the fifteenth

chapter of Acts, and by Paul in the second chapter of

Galatians!  This was James' passion.

Poverty not only kills men physically, it abases their

Spirit and destroys their dignity.  It should not be

surprising, therefore, that James is the one book in

the New Testament to remind us that man is created

in the very similitude of God (James 3:9).  His dignity

transcends his circumstance.

Second, James needs to impart his passionate concern for the

poor to his readership in a forceful way.  Rhetoric is the art of

giving life to simple words, and James has a propensity for

irony in his epistle.  Irony deals in unlikely comparisons,

unlikely contrasts, and unlikely coincidences.  An example of

irony is seen in James 4:9-10:  "Be afflicted, and mourn, and

weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy

to heaviness.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,

and he shall lift you up."  Making oneself heavy and

depressed to be lifted up is ironic.  Irony is a sophisticated

literary device that requires not only a highly intelligent

writer, but a readership that is both intelligent and literate.

And James uses irony as a literary device more frequently

than any other book in the Bible!  It is visible, at least, in

James 1:9-10; 2:10; 2:13; 3:3-6; 3:9; 3:10-12; 4:4 and 5:13.

James was one of the two "keynote" speakers at the

Jerusalem counsel, where the defense of the doctrine

of Grace was first set forth.  James was also consumed

with the poverty and suffering of the brethren.

Ironically, poverty (along with war) is the most

vexing earthly question repeated generation after

generation, and eternal salvation is the most important

spiritual question in the universe.  And it is indeed

ironic that one is eternally saved by faith alone, apart

from any works of charity or obedience to God's

laws, and yet, in virtually every other aspect of life,

one saves their own life, or the lives of others, by their

works.  And it is a further irony that one is justified

before God by honoring His Son, believing on Him

alone as the Savior of the world, and yet, before

his fellow man, one is justified by works alone, and

apart from faith.  Who among us could not be held

captive by such rich irony?  Least of all, could we expect

James, the master of irony, to fail to draw upon this ironic contrast?   Indeed, it would have been odd (dare we say . . .

even a bit ironic?) if James, the master of irony, had failed to do so.

Because irony is a sophisticated literary device, however,

those unskilled in rhetoric or literature should not imagine

themselves to be teachers of passages using this literary

technique.  Perhaps this is why James 2:14-26 is the most

abused text in Scripture, used by simple minded teachers to

defend salvation-by-works.

Perhaps this is also why James exhorts that not every one is

fit to teach God's Word, and if the unfit suppose themselves

fit, and pervert God's Word, they will answer for it.  (James

3:1)