Peter's word in Matthew 17:4, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah," is also clearly not the word spoken by God, but the word spoken by Peter under his vague vision concerning Christ's person and His commission. Peter did not realize that his word offended God and contradicted God's economy.
It was after Peter saw the vision of Moses and Elijah's coming to converse with Christ in His transfiguration on the mountain that he spoke this word, which was stopped by the voice from heaven, "This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!" (v. 5). Moses and Elijah should not be ranked with Christ. They are far, far inferior in their person and ministry. Moses' ministry was the ministry of law. Elijah's ministry was the ministry of prophecy. But Christ as the Son of God has the ministry of grace for accomplishing God's eternal economy to establish the church as His Body.
This stopping word spoken by God indicates that Peter should not rank Christ with Moses and Elijah. It also indicates that he did not know the preeminence of Christ both in God's old creation and God's new creation (Col. 1:15-18). In the old creation and in the new creation of God, Christ must have the first place. Peter could not differentiate that Christ's commission received from the Father for His New Testament economy is much higher than Moses' ministry of law and Elijah's ministry as a prophet. Thus, Peter and all others should listen only to Christ as the Son of God, the Beloved, in whom God has found His delight.
Peter's word was spoken under his vague vision that brought down Christ's most high person and His most divine commission to the lower level of Moses and Elijah, but it was written by Matthew in his Gospel, even the Gospel of the kingdom of the heavens, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God for the purpose of God to teach and enlighten Peter and his two contemporaries, John and James, and also all the believers in Christ in the entire age of grace that they may have a clear vision concerning Christ's person and His commission.
These illustrations show that in the Bible, which is a book of God's inspiration, a number of words are not by God but by man and even by God's enemy, Satan. This is the view we need in evaluating James. We have seen that James mixed the Old Testament with the New Testament, the Old Testament economy with the New Testament economy, God's old people with God's new people, and man's fallen old man with man's regenerated new man. In this he was altogether wrong and his standard was too low.