From Brother to Bondservant | Sermon 01/30/2022

James 1:1

James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, writings an epistle introducing it with his very name. In the Greek, it is Iakobos or what is typically translated Jacob; which was the name of his grandfather. But James appeals to neither of these things. Jesus is no longer his old brother but his Master in faith. He calls himself a bond-servant, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

James is no longer the unbelieving and callous brother but a follower of Christ who gives considers his status of the ultimate loyalty and devotion. He recognizes after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to him that Jesus is Lord, He is divine. He addresses his letter to the general population of Jewish-Christians spread throughout the Roman empire.

His letter is as a preacher giving nuggets of encouragement, exhortation, and warning to a young church. Grace has touched James and now that belief, that faith instructs himself and all other Christians on the righteous way to live the Christian life.