James

Reformed Expository Commentary

by Daniel M. Doriani

With 59 commands in 108 verses, the epistle of James contains an obvious zeal for law. James, in his imperatives, directs us to the royal law, the law of King Jesus (2:8). Because of this, the hasty reader will not see much of the gospel in James, but as Doriani reveals in his insightful commentary, the double mention of God's grace at the rhetorical climax of the book shows that the gospel of James is still the message of God's grace for sinners.

Genres: Theology, Reference, New Testament, Biblical Studies

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2007

About the author

After a decade as senior pastor of Central Presbyterian church in Clayton, Missouri, Dr. Doriani returned to Covenant Seminary full time in October 2013 to serve as vice president of strategic academic projects and professor of theology.

In this role, he teaches two core courses for the Master of Divinity (MDiv) program—Christian Ethics and Reformation and Modern Church History—as well as some elective courses on exegesis and church life. He also speaks in churches and conferences on behalf of the Seminary in ways that advance the mission of Covenant.

Dr. Doriani previously served in various roles at the Seminary from 1991 to 2003, including professor of New Testament, dean of faculty, and vice president of academics. While pastoring at Central, he continued teaching as adjunct professor of systematic theology. He has extensive teaching and pastoral experience as an interim, assistant, associate, and solo pastor, and has been involved in several planning and study committees at the presbytery level in both the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). He was chair of the PCA’s Theological Examining Committee from 1999 to 2000. Among his many books are Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible (P&R, 1996); Putting the Truth to Work: The Theory and Practice of Biblical Application (P&R, 2001); The Life of a God-Made Man (Crossway, 2001); and commentaries on Matthew, James, and 1 Peter in P&R’s Reformed Expository Commentaries series. He is also a contributing blogger for The Gospel Coalition.

Dr. Doriani and his wife, Debbie, live in Chesterfield, Missouri, and have three grown daughters.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent commentary on the book of James. I particularly appreciated Doriani's comments on the overall structure and organization of the epistle and on the progression of James' arguments and line of thought.

[Justin Orman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best commentary I’ve read on James. It does not deal with technical issues, so one would best look elsewhere for that. But for explaining the text, seeing the broad picture of James, and thinking pastorally, this is the best I used in teaching through the epistle.

[Bob Hayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to keep up with all of the new commentary series available these days. Critical, expository, application, practical, scholar's, layman's, preacher's, everyman's – commentaries come in all shapes and sizes. They also run the whole gamut of theological positions. One can find a commentary to fit almost anyone's personal taste. This is actually a good thing, as non-English speaking people could certainly attest. Availability of good resources (along with some less useful ones) is a blessing we must not take for granted.

When I asked for a book from P&R's Reformed Expository Commentary series, to sample, I wasn't sure quite what to expect. As it turned out, I was totally unprepared for how truly excellent a commentary actually can be.

James, by Daniel Doriani, is a joy to read – and use. I've been putting it to use in a men's Bible study on the book of James. And the book serves well to that end. Not only is it an able study tool, but it would serve as excellent devotional reading material. It has the right balance of practical theology and careful scholarship.

The Reformed Expository Commentary series purposely aims to keep the volumes more pastoral and accessible to lay leaders within the church. The authors of each book in the series are pastors committed to the Reformed understanding of Bible doctrine as embodied in the Westminster Confession of Faith. Don't let that scare you. Even if you are not reformed or Calvinist-leaning, you should be thankful for the Westminster Confession of Faith. People who ascribe to it are likely to be conservative Bible-believing scholars. They are chained to the text of Scripture, which the WCF does a good job of handling (albeit as a Baptist, I differ in at least one point).

As a pastor-scholar, Doriani is able to bring an exposition of the text to us in his commentary. He doesn't merely break down the text, but he applies it and is free to connect the text to parallel passages in Scripture that develop the same theme. While the book goes out of its way to apply the sense of Scripture, it doesn't become merely a written sermon. Doriani traces the flow of the text well, and seeks to cover all the questions laymen and scholars alike would have. Still, this is not a critical commentary that might delve deeply into the Greek; and so it will not be the only resource one should consult for study.

The tone of the commentary allows for more of the author's personality to come through. We see this in Doriani's treatment of James' teaching on the elders praying over the sick and anointing them with oil. He shares how his study of the book of James led him to encourage his church to follow James chapter 5 in their practice. He relates two touching stories of God's healing in answer to the prayer of the elders (and the simple faith of following God's teaching in this matter). The personal story however, does not turn into a soap-box in any sense. Doriani is careful to cover how faith is not something obligating God to heal in every case, nor is sin behind every illness. His treatment of this passage alone, is worth the price of the book.

The most transformational passage I encountered in my own study of James (with Doriani's help) has been chapter 1:12-17. Doriani confronts the confusing nature of verses 13 and 14 which seem to say God would never “tempt” anyone. Doriani brings out that God does “tempt” Abraham and also Moses and the Israelites, etc. Of course “tempt” can mean “test”, or “trial”, and context is king here. But Doriani helped me to really get the sense of of the overall teaching of that passage. Here is an excerpt that is especially helpful.

So there are two potential paths in any test. Testing met with endurance makes us mature and complete; it leads to life (1:3-4, 12). Or testing met with selfish desire leads to sin and death (1:14-15). “Death” is more than the death of the body, tragic as that is. Rather, just as faith and endurance lead to eternal life (1:12; cf. Matt. 10:22), so selfish desire and sin lead to eternal death (Rev. 20:14-15).

This is the worst possible result of testing, and a idea we might prefer to avoid. Therefore, James commands, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers” (1:16 ESV). James warns his readers against blaming temptation and sin on God. He hopes his readers see the truth. Sin begins in our hearts which are all too willing to follow evil desires. How foolish it is to succumb to temptation, then blame the results on God.

Because of our sin, tests can lead to spiritual death, but God designed them to bring us good. Tests stand among God's gifts, not his curses. But if our sinfulness leads us to fail life's tests, how can we escape our failures? The final two verses [17-18:] offer an answer. (pg. 39)

This insight is going to stick with me my whole life, Tests offer two alternative responses: endurance & faith or selfish desire/doubt/blaming God. Our choice is important, we must not be deceived. But this topic (covered in verses 12-16) flows right into verse 17 which says every good gift comes from God. Tests, in the context of James chapter 1, then, are God's gifts to us!

The extended quote above also serves to illustrate Doriani's style in two ways. Notice first, the end of the first paragraph, where he looks beyond the focus of the text in James to the teaching of other Scripture as well. Second, the last paragraph above shows how Doriani is always looking for the gospel. We do fail life's tests, what then?

This gospel focus serves readers well as they encounter James through this book. James can be seen as merely a book of practical advice or a collection of commands, yet sprinkled throughout the book are elements of Gospel. And it is the gospel which makes sense of James. Doriani shows us how to see James as complementary to Paul, and warns against a legalistic approach to the book.

I cannot more highly recommend this resource. If other titles in the series are as well put together, and as helpful as this book, I am going to want to collect them all. I suspect you will too.

My thanks go out to Presbyterian and Reformed Publishers for providing me with a review copy of this book.

[Rodney Tripp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding commentary... I would say this... near the last 50 pages Mr. Doriani writing seem to drag a little. The last 50 pages seem the author was just trying finish the book. And in some commentaries Authors seem to fall in the trap of providing filler pages. Even though I indicate this issue in the book, this is one book you still should get for your library. I am actual looking forward to read Mr Doriani next Reformed Expository Commentary Book. WOW what a commentary, ... all in my opinion.

[C.S. Wachter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this commentary as part of a group study on James. It is well-written and easy to understand. A worth-while and informative read which helped me grasp the book of James in a deeper manner than I had understood it before.

[Mark Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Highly recommended.

[Nick Roark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

[Gage Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great commentary. Been using this resource throughout our series in James. I really appreciate Doriani’s perspective and the way he exposits the text.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful and easy to read, somewhat devotional, alongside our study in the book of James.

[Jim Hahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite commentary of James that expertly navigates the complexities of works and faith in an approachable presentation

[Spencer Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful commentary on James! The editing isn’t the best (a few grammatical errors), but still valuable for studying a book that can seem perplexing and disjointed.

[Todd Wilhelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the autumn when I first studied James in earnest, a friend suffered a viral infection of the heart. While it was not a heart attack, it mimicked many of the symptoms of one. My friend felt listless; he looked gray and lifeless. One day at church, I told him that James 5 instructs elders to lay hands on the sick and to pray for their healing; I suggested that he call the elders for this very purpose. Two weeks later, he told me he wanted to proceed. No one in our church had done this before, so we did something very Presbyterian: we studied the matter another six weeks and hoped he didn’t die in the meantime.

At last, we appointed a night for prayer and the elders gathered. Our church’s pastor (I was a college professor at the time) summoned the elders. Before we prayed, he told us not to expect a dramatic physical healing, since God heals in many ways. I appreciated his motive, but there was no need to restrain my enthusiasm; my doubting heart was already skeptical enough. (To make matters worse, my one prior experience with prayers for healing came when I was an unbelieving teenager. My parents asked me to let them and certain friends pray over me for a then-chronic illness. I wanted no part of it, but was afraid to say so. The prayers had no effect at all.)

My friend knelt down in the middle of a circle of elders. We anointed him with oil, laid hands on him, and began to pray. Since I had started the process, I was appointed to offer the closing prayer.

As soon as we began to pray, I had an overwhelming sense that God was, at that moment, healing my friend. My arms felt what I can only describe as bolts of fire pulsing through them. As I grasped my friend’s shoulder, heat and energy burned in my hand. I felt that my one hand could lift all of his 230 pounds to the ceiling or push him through the floor if I wished.

I knew God was healing him. I wanted to shout, “We must stop praying that God will heal John and start praising God that he has healed him.” But I was too astonished, too unsure of my sensations, to say a word to anyone that night. For four days, I kept my experience to myself.

Four days later, after church, my friend beckoned to me with a wild grin, “Dan, watch this.” At once, he dashed up a flight of steps. I dashed after him and met him at the top. He smiled, “And I’m not even breathing hard.”

“I knew it,” I exclaimed, and told him what I had felt a few nights earlier. And he told me, “I knew it, too.”

Since that day, I have joined with elders to lay hands on the sick and pray for them. I have never again felt that fire. And while I occasionally feel a flood of warmth and emotion, I have learned that my feelings about God’s healing may have no connection. A small number have experienced immediate healing from serious illness. More have recovered gradually and under the care of physicians. Many have found spiritual healing - great peace and spiritual renewal in times of crisis and suffering, whether they recovered physically or not. And some have apparently gained no physical or spiritual benefit at all.

James: Reformed Expository Commentary, by Daniel M. Doriani, pages 189-190

Daniel M. Doriani (M.Div., Ph.D., Westminster Theological Seminary; S.T.M., Yale Divinity School) is senior pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, Clayton, Missouri. He previously was dean of faculty and professor of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary.

[Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent commentary on the book of James. You do not have to be a seminary student to read this commentary. Each chapter reads like a well-written sermon. This commentary would be great for preachers’ preparing notes as they preach through James and would be equally great for anyone to read in his or her own private devotional time.

[Byron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great commentary on James ... thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good broad overview of the book of James, suitable for getting to know the book without too much detail.

[Jennifer Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

insightful commentary. conservative but thought-provoking. I appreciated it.

[Jon Anderson]

Read for Journey Group in Fall 2017