theological themes of -...

Theological Themes of The Epistle of James

James deals with one topic which he addresses through four evidences.

1. True Spirituality: a. Faith in action. b. Self-Control. c. Unselfish, Generous, Impartial, Patient. d. Submits to God through Prayer.

James teaches what True Spirituality means, and also teaches the mechanics needed in order to be “Truly Spiritual.”

The Believer’s Response

In verse 19, James identifies true spirituality by explaining what a truly spiritual mindset looks like for a believer.

James identifies three parts to this mindset which is founded on peace within dependence upon God to lead and direct.

James gives two commands to the diaspora.


The first of the commands comes from the phrase, “iste mou agaphtoi adelfoi” (pronounced, “is-teh moo ah-gah-pae-toi ah-del-foi”).

This is a command to apply what has been learned in verses 2-18 to the circumstances presented in trials and the process of testation.


iste mou agaphtoi adelfoi

This you know my beloved brethren

The command begins with the present active imperative verb iste (pronounced, “is-teh”) which means “to acquire knowledge.” In this sense, iste identifies a process of acquiring knowledge relative to a specific topic. It is not merely to know something, but rather that something has come to be known.


iste mou agaphtoi adelfoi

This you know my beloved brethren

As a perfect tense verb, iste identifies a completed action in the past which produced results that continue through the present. Therefore, James identifies that the diaspora have acquired knowledge about a particular topic and the result of their acquisition is that they possess such knowledge.


iste mou agaphtoi adelfoi This you know my beloved brethren

Iste is also an imperative mood verb which identifies that there is a command being given by James to the diaspora.

The combination of the perfect tense and the imperative mood is quite rare in Koine Greek, being used in only two concrete examples, Ephesians 5:5 and James 1:19 being those two.



By combining these two parts of speech together, James identifies a command to put into action that which has already been accomplished. Today we call this “application.”

Iste is also in the active voice which identifies that the subject (the diaspora) is supposed to perform the action themselves.



The literal translation of iste is “having acquired knowledge on a topic in a completed action in the past with the result being that you are in possession of knowledge of that topic, perform the action to know that knowledge.”

In other words, James is saying, “You know it so use it!”



What is it that the diaspora have come to know? All the things that James has taught them concerning trials and the process of testation in verses 2-18.

James is telling them to use what they have learned. But he goes on to give another command as well which governs the diaspora’s use of what they have learned.


estw de paV anqrwpoV

But everyone must be

James establishes his second command as being logically connected to the first. In other words, James says there is a relationship which exists between using what you know and this second command.

The conjunction of soft-contrast, de (pronounced, “deh”) is used to express a logical connection between two thoughts which are related, but are not themselves the same things.


de

But, logically connected

When contrast is conveyed in Koine Greek the predominant conjunctions used to establish depth of differences between two or more items are de and alla (pronounced, “ah-lah”). de is used for soft contrast, that is in the sense that white and off-white are different, but not extremely so.


de


When extreme contrast is being expressed, Koine Greek uses the conjunction alla to identify such as the case. Alla expresses an extreme contrast such as the contrast between black and white.

In that James uses de, there is a soft contrast being expressed.


de


This soft contrast emphasizes the existence of a relationship between the two commands James is giving, but identifies that they are not the same things. They differ one from the other in spite of their relationship.


de


In using de, James establishes a logical relationship that connects his command to use what has been learned with his second command.

This logical relationship is expressed by James in his second command to the diaspora.


de estw paV anqrwpoV

But, everyone must be

This second command identifies how the diaspora is able to carry out the first command. In essence, James is saying, “You have to use what you learn, but if you’re going to do that, then you have to do this…”

estw paV anqrwpoV establishes James’ second command.




estw is the 3rd person singular imperative that grammatically identifies the second command James is giving. It literally means “he/she/it is to perform the continuous action to exist in a specific state of being.”

Context dictates whether the 3rd person reference is personal or relative, or masculine or feminine.




The reference here which comes from understanding paV anqrwpoV is literally that “every man” is to estw.

James is contextually referring to every individual which makes up the diaspora. This includes women as well. While specifically writing to the diaspora, James is identifying another aspect of true spirituality to all church age believers.




James is commanding every believer to “perform the continuous action to exist in a specific state of being.”

That state of being then is given by James as a three step response of the believer to whichever circumstance they encounter, including the process of testation.


tacuV eiV to akousai

quick to hear

Step 1 James gives in order for the believer to properly carry out the command to use what they have learned is identified through the phrase tacuV eiV to akousai (pronounced, “tah-koos eis tah ah-koo-sai”).

This is an action which is the result of a truly spiritual mindset.



quick to hear

tacuV is an adjective which means, “immediately” in the sense of without delay.

That is to say, tacuV identifies the recognition of a given stimulant which triggers an immediate response from the believer.

The emphasis of tacuV is on minimal delay between the trigger and the response.



quick to hear

The imagery of eiV to akousai is vivid in the original language, largely do to the prepositional connotations in conjunction with the infinitive employed.

In its basic literal form, eiV to akousai reads “into the hearing.”



quick to hear

The preposition eiV denotes motion of an object or person from one location to another, in this case, denoting motion of the believer into “hearing.”

This motion is described by tacuV, therefore the movement of the believer into hearing is to be immediate, having been triggered by an external stimulant or event.



quick to hear

The understanding is that a circumstance (contextually a trial or the process of testation) is encountered which triggers the believer into immediate action. That action is that the believer immediately goes “into hearing.”



quick to hear

to akousai is literally “the hearing” and by placing the definite article with akousai, James establishes a specificity about akousai.

akousai is actively employed in the Greek New Testament and generically references the believer’s listening relationship to God the Father.



quick to hear

akousai comes from akouw (pronounced, “ah-koo-oh”) which means “to listen” in the sense of hearing a noise and responding positively towards it.

The understanding from akouw is that the individual hears something and then responds affirmatively or positively to it.


A positive or affirmative response is one which responds to what is heard or commanded by affirming the value, nature, or quality of the command or its commander.

I.e.: A positive response to the cross is one which affirms God’s plan of salvation as possessing value through volitional dependence.



quick to hear

So James is commanding that the believer perform the action to exist in the state of responding to trials and the process of testation by immediately moving into a mindset of listening and responding positively to what is heard.


This is the first step James gives in order for the believer to be able to implement that which has been already learned.

This will be discussed in more depth at our next session.

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