James 1:19–21 (MSG) Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So, throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
James 1:19–21 (BLB) Know this, my beloved brothers. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow unto anger; for man’s anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, having put aside all filthiness and abounding of wickedness, receive in humility the implanted word, being able to save your souls.
I decided to use a contemporary version and a literal version of James just to show that the contemporary captures the intent of the writer. The message version says what is needed in plain English removing the need for commentary. However, there are still ideas to be pondered in each of the letters in the New Testament like a picture that reveals how close societies are over the last two thousand years. In fact, an argument could be made to illustrate how humanities behavior and mannerisms haven’t changed much since the day Adam and Eve were ejected from the garden.
Taking a closer look at James (actual name is Jacob), we see that our anger should not be front and center but placed in confinement behind us. James tells us that our anger does not produce God’s righteousness in us. Anger brought forward illustrates a self-righteousness and can deceive us to believing that our anger is a righteousness anger. It is not that we should not get angry, it is that our anger needs to be tamed as the statement suggests in “be slow unto anger.” James tells us to put aside our anger, our revenge, our getting even that produces nothing but unbridled wickedness, and allow God to work in us the very idea of cultivated salvation. It is not a work of self, or faith in self that gets us beyond the human emotion of explosive anger, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, and a faith in Christ that permits God to produce peace and mercy within us. Remember what we are reminded of in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” These attributes in the garden are not magically placed in us, they are cultivated (grown, matured) in us during our walk with Jesus (Yeshua). Again, these cannot be cultivated on our own, and through our own strength, and understanding, these are grown in us as our surrender to Jesus increases and become more like Him.
God Bless and Prosper you in the Faith.
Mike Kovach
25 September 2021
The Christian Underground Journal
TheChristianUndergroundJournal@gmail.com
Notes:
Strong’s Concordance
Word Transliteration: logos
Definition: a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech
Usage: speech, divine utterance, analogy.
(MSG) The Message Bible
(BLB) Berean Literal Bible
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