In 1:17 and 18 James says, “All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom is no variableness or shadow cast by turning. Having purposed, He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a certain firstfruit of His creatures.” These verses indicate that the Father of lights brought us forth to be the firstfruit of His creatures. This refers to the divine birth, our regeneration (John 3:5-6), which is carried out according to God’s eternal purpose. The fact that we have been brought forth by the word of truth means that the word is the seed of life, by which we have been regenerated (1 Pet. 1:23). Therefore, James indicates that we possess the divine life through the divine birth.
On the one hand, James addresses his Epistle to the twelve tribes. On the other hand, he speaks regarding the divine life received through the divine birth. The twelve tribes are something altogether of the Old Testament, whereas the divine life received through the divine birth is certainly a matter of the New Testament. What a mixture there is in the writing of James! He mixes the Old Testament with the New Testament. How could those regenerated by God, begotten of Him, still be addressed as the twelve tribes? How could James speak to the twelve tribes and then say that God has brought them forth to be a certain firstfruit of His creatures? Nevertheless, this is what James did in this book. How could the twelve tribes be brought forth by God to be a certain firstfruit? When we compare 1:1 with 1:17 and 18, we see how cloudy was the situation with James, as indicated by this Epistle.
At this point I wish to say that we should not be attracted to a person simply because he is godly. Throughout the centuries, many godly people have been in a cloudy condition with respect to God’s economy. They were under a cloud, veiled by their godliness. It is possible for us to be misled by a godly person just as Paul was misled by the godly James in Acts 21. It is not easy to avoid the influence of a situation that is spiritually cloudy.
In Acts 21 Paul took James’ suggestion to go to the temple with certain ones who had a vow and to pay the charge for them. We may think that in doing this Paul was broad and acting according to his word to the Corinthians: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order that I might gain Jews; to those under law, as under law (not being myself under law), that I might gain those under law” (1 Cor. 9:20). But in Acts 21 the Lord was not as broad as Paul supposedly was. On the last day of the vow, the seventh day, a disturbance took place, and Paul was arrested. If we read Acts 21 carefully, we shall see that the Lord did not agree with what was happening in Jerusalem, and He came in to deal with it.
In 1:21 James says, “Wherefore, putting away all filthiness and abundance of malice, receive in meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” In this verse James likens the word of God to a plant of life planted into our being and growing in us to bring forth fruit for the salvation of our souls. This surely is a wonderful matter. However, this also is mixed with Old Testament matters in James’ writing.