James
James was written by the human half—brother of Jesus who identifies himself simply as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He writes to the Jewish believers who are scattered abroad in the Greco—Roman world of the first century BC. The book of James is similar to Wisdom Literature like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Sermon on the Mount. The author employs a series of short messages which give advice, counsel, and wisdom to the readers. The audience is clearly those who are already in the faith and are addressed as ‘brothers,’ which is the Greek word “adelphos.” “Adelphos” includes all in Christ, without distinction as to gender or station in life, so brothers and sisters without ranks. That James is addressing those who have already been adopted into God’s family by faith in Christ is abundantly clear by the term ‘brother’ (see James 1:2, 9, 16, 19; 2:1, 5, 14, 15; 3:1, 10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, and 19). James is not addressing the ‘lost’ to become found, but rather is telling the ‘found’ how to grow, gain the greatest reward and fulfillment from life and not lose their way.
