Tiago 1
Steven Cole · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 1:2
Cole on JOY - Biblical joy in times of trials is not natural optimism. It is the joy of hope (Ed: absolute assurance of future good) in God and His sure promises. This radical attitude results from a deliberate choice. The choice is, “Will I trust in God and His promises, or not?” As James says, it is our faith that is being tested. We do not know if our faith is genuine until it stands up under the test. You can buy a jacket that claims to be waterproof. If you wear it on dry days, you have not put the jacket to the test. The test of that jacket is, if you get caught in a downpour, does it keep you dry? If it does, you say, “That’s a good jacket!” It’s easy to proclaim, “I trust in God!” Anybody can say that. But, the test of your faith is when you really do choose to trust God in a severe trial. Afterwards, you know that your faith is genuine, because it brought you through the trial. But the point is, when you are faced with a trial, you have a choice: Will I trust God and the promises of His Word, as I have professed to do, or not? To trust God and experience His hope and joy in the midst of trials is a radical attitude that James commands us to adopt. (James 1:1-4 A Radical Approach to Trials recommended) BRETHREN My brethren (adelphos) (also in Jas 1:2; 2:1, 14; 3:1, 10, 12; 5:12, 19) - He is referring to true believers addressing them with a feeling of warmth and love, as well as identification, which would assure them that they are not alone in their trials. He later refers to them as "beloved brethren" again emphasizing his pastoral affection for them (Jas 1:16, 19, 2:5). As an aside brethren does not exclude "sistern" or sisters in Christ - "my brothers and sisters" is therefore quite appropriate. Matthew
Tiago 1:2
Cole comments that "Some of the readers had probably been members of the church in Jerusalem, but they had scattered into many locations because of the persecution that arose after the death of Stephen (Acts 8:1; 11:19, 20). Because of anti-Semitism in the Roman Empire, these believers in Christ were often the brunt of hostility both from the pagan world, as well as from their own people. Word got back to James of some of the difficulties that these brethren were encountering: affliction from without (Jas 5:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and, as often happens at such times, conflicts within (Jas 2:1-13; 4:1-12). Some were lapsing into a superficial, formal religion that professed orthodox beliefs, but practiced selfish, ungodly lifestyles (Jas 1:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27; Jas 2:14-26; Jas 3:9, 10, 11, 12). As a pastor, James writes to these scattered Jewish believers to make the point: True faith shows itself in practical, godly living. He develops several themes: endurance through trials; the dangers of riches and encouragement to the poor; the law and love; faith and works; the coming of the Lord; and, humility. But his main point is that true biblical faith works. (James 1:1-4 A Radical Approach to Trials recommended) Various (4164) (poikilos) means existence in various kinds or modes, diversified, manifold, variegated, many colored. Poikilos was used to describe the skin of a leopard, the different-colored veining of marble or a robe embroidered with many different colors and thence passes into the meaning of changeful, diversified, applied to the changing months or the variations of a strain of music. Poikilos stresses not the number of trials but the great variety or diversity of the trials, "multicolored", like Joseph's coat of many colors (Ge 37:3 - where Lxx for "many" = poikilos). In Mt 4:24 poikilos is used of the great variety of torments of body and mind among the people whom Jesus healed. In He 2:4 poikilos describes the variety of the manifestations of God's power in connection with the preaching of the gospel. Various trials would include those common to all men as well as those related to the fact that they are believers (cp 2Ti 3:12) Peter writes to believers experiencing fiery trials… In this you greatly rejoice (continually "jump for joy" - there is no way this would be possible in our natural state - it has to speak of Spirit enabled supernatural ability to rejoice! It speaks of the believer's moment by moment need to submit to and depend on the Spirit, walking by the Spirit - Gal 5:16- +) even though now for a little while, if (the idea is since they are… ) necessary you have been distressed by various (poikilos) trials (1 Peter 1:6+, read 1Pe 1:7 [+] which gives the context to help understand how future hope energizes present rejoicing even in painful circumstances) But note that God's provision for our "multicolored" trials is "multicolored" grace… As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold (poikilos) grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10+) Comment: God's grace is sufficient for every trial whatever its color. God will certainly prune us but never without purpose, for as Vance Havner said "Some secular uses of peripipto include as a description of ships meeting by chance at sea (Herodotus), to encounter unjust judgments, to be caught in one's own snare (Herodotus), to fall on one side (Plutarch). The grace, the groans and the glory are all part of the eternal purpose. Where there is no groaning there is no growing now, nor glory to come. Guy King gives an interesting illustration of manifold grace from manifold trials (temptations)… We find that Peter joins Paul in magnifying the grace of GOD. There is an interesting Greek word, poikilos, which occurs several times in the New Testament, and which Peter uses twice, both in his First Epistle, and which is translated "manifold": (a) "Ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations," (1Pe 1:6+) (b) "Good stewards of the manifold grace of GOD," (1Pe 4:10+) Put those two things together. On the one hand, let the five digits, all so different in character, from the thumb to the little finger, stand for the manifold trials and testings of life. On the other hand, let the five digits stand for the manifold grace. Now put the right hand over the left, and observe how the fingers of the grace hand exactly correspond to those of the temptations hand. Only an illustration; but an illustration of a beautiful fact - that whatever may be the need, there is at hand just the very grace to meet it. (Colossians 4:15-18 His Kind Regard) Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain. Trials (3986)(peirasmos from peirazo = to make trial of, try, tempt, prove in either a good or bad sense) describes first the idea of putting to the test and then refers to the tests or pressures that come in order to discover a person’s nature or the quality of some thing. Think of yourself as a tube of "spiritual toothpaste". Pressure brings out what's really on the inside! Peirasmos connotes trouble or something that breaks the pattern of peace, comfort, joy, and happiness in someone’s life. Trials rightly faced are in fact beneficial to the saint as Peter (as James 1 explain), but wrongly received and processed can "evolve" into temptations to commit sins. It is axiomatic that Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us while God tests us to bring out the best for He ever seeks to make us more like His Son. Note that some translations render peirasmos with the word temptations (ASV, TLB, Wesley, Young's Literal, Amplified, Darby, KJV), but the context does not suggest that it is being used in the sense of solicitation to evil or temptation to sin (as in Jas 1:13,14) for one would hardly be urged to rejoice in such a setting. Peirasmos in Septuagint - Ex 17:7; Deut 4:34; 6:16; 7:19; 9:22; 29:3; Ps 95:8+ (Ps 95:9 uses peirazo) That which is intended as a test may in fact become a temptation for the person tested because of his inner response to the situation. Hiebert - The noun peirasmos denotes a testing being directed toward an end, to discover the nature or quality of the object or person tested. The verbal form peirazo denotes the action of putting something or someone to the test. Such a test may be applied with either a good or bad intention. In a good sense, the test may be applied in order to demonstrate the strength or good quality of the object tested. When the testing is applied with the evil aim that the object will be led to fail under testing, then the thought of temptation comes in. Since it is a melancholy fact that men often break down under the testings of life, the term peirasmos is often used with the meaning of temptation, a solicitation to evil. Under either meaning, the term "has always the idea of probation associated with it."' Both the noun and the verb are rare in secular Greek,' but they are common in the Septuagint and the New Testament. Since the Scriptures are concerned with moral values, the concept of testing is an essential one in the Bible. In human experience, the two aspects of testing and temptation may be closely related. That which is intended as a test may in fact become a temptation for the person tested because of his inner response to the situation. Well aware of this close connection in actual experience, James deals with both aspects of peirasmoi in this opening section of his epistle. In Jas 1:2-12 he deals with the nature and use of external tests that come to the believer in daily life, while in Jas 1:13-16+ he deals with the experience of temptation to evil. In Jas 1:17,18+ he shows that God's beneficent activities toward the believer establish that He cannot be associated with peirasmos in the sense of solicitation to evil. God does test the faith of His people, but He does not allure them to evil. (James Commentary) William