Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
“WISDOM: PATH TO PERFECTION” – James 1:1-18
SUMMARY: GOD’S COMMON SENSE GUIDE
I. 1:1-27 THE MANIFESTATION OF PERFECTION
A. 1:1 JAMES TO THE JEWS
IAkobos, TheOU kai KuRIou IeSOU ChrisTOU DOUlos,
James, bondman of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
tais DOde-ka phuLAIS [5443] tais en te di-a-spoRA, CHAIrein.
to the twelve tribes :in the Dispersion, greeting.
B. 1:2-18 WISDOM: PATH TO PERFECTION
1. 1:2-4 PERFECTION THROUGH TRIBULATION
a. 1:2-3 PRESSURE BRINGS PATIENCE
PAsan chaRAN heGEsas-the [2233], a-delPHOI mou,
Count it all joy, my brothers,
HOtan pei-rasMOIS [3986] pe-riPEse-te [4045] poiKIlois [4164];
when you fall into manifold temptations;
giNOSkon-tes HOti to doKImi-on [1383] huMON tes PISte-os ka-terGAze-tai hu-po-moNEN.
3 knowing that the proving of your :faith works patience.
b. 1:4 PATIENCE BRINGS PERFECTION
he de hu-po-moNE ERgon TElei-on eCHEto,
But let patience have perfect work,
HIna Ete TElei-oi kai hoLOkle-roi [3648], en me-deNI leiPOme-noi [3007].
that you be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
2. 1:5-11. PERFECTION THROUGH WISDOM
a. 1:5 GOD BRINGS WISDOM
Ei de tis huMON LEIpe-tai soPHIas [4678],
But if any of you lack wisdom,
aiTEIto paRA tou diDONtos TheOU,
let him ask of :God,
PAsin hapLOS [574] kai me o-neiDIzon-tos [3679];
who gives to all simply and upbraids not;
kai doTHEse-tai auTO.
and it shall be given him.
b. 1:6 FAITH BRINGS WISDOM
aiTEIto de en PIStei, meDEN di-a-kriNOme-nos [1252]:
But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting:
ho gar di-a-kriNOme-nos Eoi-ken KLUdo-ni thaLASses,
for who doubts is like a sea wave,
a-ne-mi-zoMEno kai hri-pi-zoMEno [4494].
driven by wind and tossed.
c. 1:7-8 UNBELIEF BRINGS NOTHING
me gar oiEStho [3633] ho ANthro-pos eKEInos HOti LEMpseTAI [2983] ti
For let not that :man think that he shall receive anything
paRA tou KuRIou;
of the Lord;
aNER DIpsu-chos [1374], a-kaTAsta-tos [182] en PAsais tais hoDOIS auTOU.
8 a doubleminded man, unstable in all his :ways.
d. 1:9-10 HUMILITY BRINGS EXALTATION: RICHES BRING NOTHING
KauCHAStho [2744] de ho a-delPHOS ho ta-peiNOS [5011] en to HUpsei auTOU:
But let the humble :brother glory in his :exaltation:
ho de PLOUsi-os, en te ta-peiNOsei [5014] auTOU:
10 and the rich, in his :humiliation:
HOti hos ANthos CHORtou pa-reLEUse-tai.
because as a flower of the grass he shall pass away.
e. 1:11 DEATH BRINGS EQUALITY
aNEtei-len gar ho HEli-os [2246] sun to KAUso-ni [2742],
For once the sun has arisen with the scorching wind,
kai eXEra-nen ton CHORton [5528]; kai to ANthos auTOU eXEpe-sen,
and it has withered the grass; and its flower is fallen,
kai he euPREpei-a [2143] tou proSOpou [4383] auTOU aPOle-to [622];
and the grace of its :fashion is perished;
HOUtos kai ho PLOUsi-os en tais poREIais auTOU ma-ranTHEse-tai [3133].
thus also shall the rich man fade away in his :goings.
3. 1:12-18 PERFECTION THROUGH ENDURANCE
a. 1:12 ENDURANCE BRINGS A PROMISED CROWN
MaKAri-os [3107] aNER hos hu-poMEnei [5278] pei-rasMON [3986];
Blessed the man that endures temptation;
HOti DOki-mos geNOme-nos, LEMpse-tai ton STEpha-non [4735] tes zoES,
for when he has been approved, he shall receive the crown of :life,
hon e-pegGEIla-to [1861] tois a-gaPOsin auTON.
which He promised to them that love him.
b. 1:13-14 MAN, NOT GOD, BRINGS TEMPTATION
meDEIS pei-raZOme-nos leGEto HOti, A-PO TheOU peiRAzo-mai;
Let no one say when tempted [that], I am tempted from God;
ho gar TheOS aPEIraSTOS [551] es-tin kaKON,
for :God is unversed in evils,
peiRAzei de auTOS ouDEna:
and he himself tempts no one:
HEka-stos de peiRAze-tai,
14 but each is tempted,
huPO tes iDIas e-pi-thuMIas [1939] e-xelKOme-nos, kai de-le-aZOme-nos [1185].
being drawn away by his own :lust, and enticed.
c. 1:15 LUST BRINGS ENTICEMENT
EIta he e-pi-thuMIa, sul-laBOUsa [4815], TIKtei [5088] ha-marTIan:
Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin:
he de ha-marTIa a-po-te-lesTHEIsa [658] a-po-kuEI THAna-ton [2288].
and the sin fullgrown brings forth death.
d. 1:16 LUST BRINGS SIN AND DEATH.
me plaNASthe [4105], a-delPHOI mou a-ga-peTOI.
Be not deceived, my beloved brothers.
e. 1:17 THE FATHER BRINGS GOOD GIFTS
PAsa DOsis a-gaTHE kai pan DOre-ma TElei-on AnoTHEN es-tin,
Every good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
ka-taBAInon [2597] aPO tou paTROS ton PHOton [5457],
coming down from the Father of the lights,
par’ ho ouk Eni pa-ral-laGE [3883], e troPES [5157] a-poSKIas-ma [644].
with whom is no variation, neither shadow cast by turning.
f. 1:18 HIS WILL BRINGS US NEW LIFE
Bou-leTHEIS [1014] a-peKUne-sen heMAS LOgo a-leTHEIas,
With intent he brought us forth by the word of truth,
eis to EInai heMAS a-parCHEN [536] ti-na ton auTOU ktisMAton [2938].
that we be a kind of firstfruits of his :creatures.
NOTE: James through Jude are sometimes called the “Catholic” Epistles. It appears that the Holy Spirit led their writing to be especially for the early Messianic Jewish believers – before the coming of Gentile believers into the church. The Holy Spirit through Numerics led for the placement of these 7 letters to follow the book of Acts, and to precede Paul’s letter to the Romans. James and Jude were half brothers of Jesus.
In the light of this, we can look upon the Gospels as being equivalent to Elementary school, Acts is Junior High. The 7 Catholic Epistles are High School. The 14 letters of the apostle Paul fit in with our Universities. And the Book of Revelation then becomes University Graduate School.
James has special meaning as the first of the seven Catholic Epistles. It is so practical, and has such a wealth of wisdom in its balance between faith and works. Martin Luther did not see it in this light, and called it a “Right Strawy Epistle.”
Ivan Panin discovered that Bible Numerics linked these 7 epistles in an unusual manner with the 7 major planets of our solar system.
I see the Book of James as one portraying “Practical Christianity,” with a 7-fold pathway of Wisdom. It is the New Testament equivalent to the Book of Proverbs.
This portion under consideration in this first lesson – I see as Wisdom leading us into “The Path to Perfection.” The division of the book into these sections – in large measure is based upon the sentence, sub-paragraph, paragraph and chapter equivalents laid out by the numeric phenomenon discovered by Ivan Panin. His introduction to the Greek Numeric New Testament published by Oxford Press first introduced me to this in 1945 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The summaries are not inspired as are the Greek and English texts. I leave a space above these summaries. Cross them out and insert your own. You will find this exercise to be most rewarding.