Evidence of Salvation: James – Are we caught with the goods?

What do I mean? I remember a true story about a thief that broke into a famous confectionary. He filled his pockets with the chocolates and headed home. Unable to wait he began to consume them. Making it home safe he delighted in the fact he had gotten away with it. Suddenly a knock came on his door…the Police! Handcuffed and confused, he asked how did they find him? They said “Easy, we just followed the candy wrappers from the store to your front door!” 

If we are honest, should not our Christian Character be that evident? From Scripture, James appears to be a man whose life spoke loudly about what he believed. If anyone asked, “What does a Christian look like?” James would be convicted! If we desire, we also can be “caught with the goods” as it were. God’s Character can blend with ours so that those that know us will see “Jesus with skin on!” 

James was the half brother of Jesus, to know more of his story read these Scriptures: Acts 12; 15; 21; 1 Cor 15:7; Gal 2:9–12. In Church History he became known as “Old Camel Knees” because his knees looked like that due to his fervent prayer life. 

James 1:1: From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! 1 

    The word slave carries a lot of baggage for most of us, so I choose to emphasize one of the older version’s renditions where they use the word “bondservant”. I believe the word “bond” more accurately communicates James’s intention concerning our relationship with our Lord. We do not stop being individuals when we become Christians. But it also is not a religion that is simply a list of “do and don'ts”. 

    Being born again is unexplainable because it is not of this world. How God Almighty has His Spirit unite with our spirit is beyond our comprehension, but it's still true. So, I believe the word “bond” communicates well what James means. Consider the definition: 

Define: Bond – Something that binds a person to a certain line of behavior (the bond of matrimony) 

    Why would James write to the “Twelve Tribes?” Perhaps at this point in history, the church was mainly made up of Hebrews that had been converted, or perhaps it just was the direction God took James in.

    It is important to remember that God gives different burdens to His children. According to history, Peter continued to seek out the Jewish people to share the good news of Christ with. Paul, a Pharisee, was given the burden by God to reach the gentiles, which many Pharisees considered less than dogs. 

    No burden is more “inspired” or better than another. The important issue is to find from God what He's laid on your heart to do because having no burden at all brings to light a serious problem in your walk with Jesus Christ. No child of God that takes hell seriously can ignore people who do not know about eternal life with God. 

The So What: Do you have to tell people you are different, or can they see it? If someone asks you why you do what you do, or live the way you live, do you share how God changed you? Do you try to help others know God by the way you live, or do you just preach at them? If evangelism a technique or a process that people receive by the way we live?

1 Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Jas 1:1.