THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN HAVING
JAMES AS A BOOK OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We need to see that God inspired James to write the Epistle of James with a purpose. This purpose is to expose James’s mistake. James’s own writing exposes his fault. In a later message we will see more concerning the purpose of God in having James as a book of His holy Scriptures. The purpose of God is just to expose James; however, throughout the centuries most of the readers of the Bible approve James. The whole Scripture was written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, but not every word in the Bible is the word of God. The word itself may not be the word of God, but it was recorded by some writer under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). The word in the Scripture and the scriptural record itself are two distinct things. For example, the word in Genesis 3:1 is the word of Satan, but the record of that word is through Moses. Moses wrote that word under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
PAUL’S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE LAW
Now let us read Galatians 5:1-4 to see what Paul’s attitude was concerning the law:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled with a yoke of slavery again. Behold, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You have been brought to nought, separated from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Paul shows us that the yoke of slavery is the bondage of the law, which makes the lawkeepers slaves under a binding yoke. To deviate from Christ to the law is to be entangled or held in a snare. We need to stand fast in the freedom from the slavery of the law, not deviating from Christ, not falling from grace.
(Crystallization-Study of the Epistle of James, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
