Is James Doctrine for Us Today?

James is not a book written to or addressed to you. Notice who James is writing to,

Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

James is writing to Jews under the “Kingdom” program. In this program they required to prove their faith with works.

The grace program is a completely different program, with different conditions and criteria. The grace program does not ever need works to prove salvific faith. This is because Jesus has already done all the work that was needed to redeem us. Paul therefore says,

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith [only]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Our doctrine, the principles we need to understand and apply in practicing our Christian faith, comes from the books of Romans to Philemon. Paul is our apostle (Rom.11:13), and the letters he wrote are addressed to us.

We can learn about God’s plan for the Jews, and we can get an understanding of how the two programs works by studying the rest of the Bible, but when it comes to doctrine and what we need to know and apply, it is only Romans to Philemon, therefore, James is not applicable to us today.