Practical Stuff from James' Letter Quiz

Answer: In faith, without doubting

He should ask in faith and he shouldn't doubt, because the person who doubts is like a stormy sea being pushed around by the wind and shouldn't expect to get anything from God. Reference: James 1:5-7

Answer: True

Proverbs 10:15 says that a rich person's wealth is like his/her strong city. James points out that it won't last forever, though: the rich person will fade away in the same way that grass is dried up by the rising sun (James 1:11). Since the life of a rich person is so fleeting, rich Christians should take pride in how God has made them humble: "the one who is rich should boast in his humiliation" (James 1:10 HCSB), or from the New Living Translation, "those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them."

Answer: True

"A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:12 HCSB). The crown of life is mentioned again in a letter that Jesus dictated to John to be sent to the church in Smyrna: "Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will have affliction for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10 HCSB).

Some Christians think that the crown of life means a literal crown that Jesus will give to believers after Jesus' return; some believe that it is simply a symbol of eternal life in heaven.

Answer: No one, we're tempted by our own sinful desires

James says that God doesn't tempt anyone but "each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires" (James 1:14 HCSB). Then the evil desires give birth to sin, and then sin grows up and in turn gives birth to death. Galatians 5:16 gives advice on how to resist temptation: "I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh/ sinful self/ corrupt nature" (HCSB, alternate readings from Easy-to-Read Bible and God's Word Translation).

Answer: False

"An indecisive/double-minded/doubting man is unstable in all his ways" (HCSB, alternate readings from footnote), according to James 1:8; then later in verse 23 if someone hears the law but doesn't do it it's like looking in a mirror and forgetting what one looks like.

In contrast, James says, "the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works- this person will be blessed in what he does" (vs. 25 HCSB).

Answer: False

In fact it is just the reverse: "If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,' but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?" The same idea is found in John's first letter: "We must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action" (1 John 3:18 HCSB). James then discusses a type of faith that doesn't have good actions to go with it that is useless and doesn't save anybody.

Answer: Not many

James said that not too many people should become teachers because the teachers will be judged more harshly and everybody stumbles, or "gets tripped up," as the New International Reader's Version says. Then James says that if anyone could avoid making mistakes with what he says he would be a perfect, mature man who can control his entire body. Next comes a rather famous passage about how chaotic and powerful the tongue is. Reference: James 3:1-6

Answer: the wisdom that is from above

James contrasts two types of wisdom. If someone's heart is full of selfishness and envy, they should not lie by bragging about it; that type of arrogant "wisdom" doesn't come from above but is "earthly" and "demonic." The person who does have wisdom should show it by behaving well and being gentle, because the type of wisdom that comes from above is "first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy" (James 3:17 HCSB). Reference: James 3:13-18

Answer: Their own sinful wants

Earlier James had said that God doesn't tempt anyone and that people are tempted to do wrong because of the wants of their own sinful selves, and here James says that his readers were fighting with each other for the same reason. James describes how they fought with and envied each other, but they didn't get what they wanted.

The reason they didn't have what they wanted was that they didn't ask, or they asked with bad intentions, so that they could use it for sinful reasons. Reference: James 4:1-3

Answer: True

The person who wants to be a friend to the world becomes God's enemy, according to James. God's Spirit that is inside the Christian strongly wants us to be loyal to God, not the world: "the Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously," or in the simplified New International Reader's Version, "The spirit that God caused to live in us wants us to belong only to God." Reference: James 4:4-5

Answer: humble

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6, quoted from Proverbs 3:34). James instructs his readers to "submit to God." God will come close to whoever comes near to Him. Sinners should clean up their lifestyles ("clean your hands") and indecisive people should purify their hearts. Both should be sorrowful. If someone humbles himself in front of God then God will honor him. Reference: James 4:7-10

Answer: the law

"He who criticizes a brother or judges his brother criticizes the law and judges the law" (James 4:11 HCSB). The Living Bible interprets it this way: "If you do [criticize and speak evil about each other], you will be fighting against God's law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong." James says that there is only one judge who can judge and destroy people; it's not our job to judge our neighbors. Reference: James 4:11-12

Answer: rich people

James warns the rich: "Come now, you rich people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are moth-eaten. . . Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts" (James 5:1-4 HCSB). Rich people are not always shown in a negative light in the Bible: Abraham was rich, according to Genesis 13:2, and Proverbs 10:22 says that "The Lord's blessing enriches." Plus, Moses told the Israelites that "the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant He swore to your fathers" (Deuteronomy 8:18 HCSB).

The rich of James' time and place, however, are described as guilty of oppression: "You have condemned- you have murdered- the righteous man; he does not resist you" (James 5:6 HCSB).

Answer: anoint him with oil

The sick person should get the elders, who should pray for him and anoint him, pouring olive oil onto him in God's name, according to James 5:14. Olive oil was apparently used as medicine in Bible times, and it is sometimes associated with healing in the New Testament.

In the famous story of the man who the Samaritan helped, the Samaritan put olive oil and wine onto the wounds of the injured victim, according to Luke 10:34. The twelve disciples anointed people with olive oil when they healed them, according to Mark 6:13. Christian writer and theologian R.C. Sproul says that olive oil might be a symbol for God's healing power (Reformation Study Bible on James 5:14). James says that after the elders treat the sick person as described, "The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health," and "if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:15 HCSB).

Answer: This is the message that you've heard from the start: love each other.

The correct answer comes from 1 John 3:11, not James: "For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another" (HCSB). (James does refer to, Love each other, as "the royal law prescribed in the Scripture," but the idea of having heard the message since the start isn't there.) The other statements are either directly repeated or rephrased from James 1:23-24, 2:16, and 4:6.