INTRODUCTION:

As James writes this letter, it seems as though he has a stack of issues and complaints that have been brought to him for consideration and response.  Now he comes to an issue that is written in bold letters and highlighted in red!  He uses some fiery language here in his response to the rich people among his readers.  If you are a wealthy person yourself, don’t take these words of his personally until you understand the context!  James is disappointed in them and he disapproves of their actions.  He is not condemning wealth, but he is condemning some of the ways that they have gained that wealth, and the ways they have misused it.

In order to understand what is going on, and why it so wrong, we will have to leave our twenty-first century technology and see things through the minds of his first-century readers.  As we will soon see, technology has changed, but people haven’t

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!   PROCEED WITH ENTHUSIASM!

Thanks for coming to this “construction site!  The concrete has been poured but isn’t hard yet.  Some forms are being constructed but nothing has been nailed to the ground yet!  You and I are a “work in progress”, and until we leave this earth, there will always be work to be done.  More will be added to this study very soon.  I hope you will be studying along with me in James, Chapter 5.