The New Testament epistle of James has been a controversial book over the years. Some have felt that his emphasis on showing faith by works contradicts Paul’s writings that salvation is by faith, not works. But Sam Allberry shows in James for You: Showing You How Real Faith Looks in Real Life that the two writers are really saying the same thing. They are just looking at faith and works from different angles.
One of the main things I appreciated in Allberry’s books is that he showed how the book flows together. We tend to–or at least, I have tended to–read the paragraphs as isolated topics. For instance, James 2-3 talks abut the sin of showing partiality, then faith without works, then taming the tongue, then wisdom from above, then worldliness. But each paragraph leads into the next.
Allberry describes James’ style as “practical, pithy, and very direct.” James was the half-brother of Jesus, and his book is “soaked in the words and wisdom of James’ older brother. He may not be named much in this letter, but his presence is felt throughout.” Like Jesus, James uses simple, everyday illustrations.
Some of the themes James deals with, in addition to faith and works, are wisdom, obedience, dealing with trials, needs of the poor, responsibility of the wealthy, the danger of double-mindedness, the dangers of the tongue.
A few quotes that stood out to me:
Faith needs the pushback of trials for us to grow spiritually. Trials and difficulties are an opportunity to cling on to the promises of God more tightly.
It is what God can accomplish through suffering that is good, not the suffering itself. It is an opportunity to gain the most valuable thing on earth: a faith that is complete and lacking nothing; maturity and depth in our relationship with God.
Good behaviour in one area does not cancel out law-breaking in another.
And so the battle is with the will. James is not saying that Christians will automatically be able to experience joy in suffering. We are called to “consider” trials in this way. We need to fight to think about them in the right way: consciously to force our perspective and vision above and beyond the present suffering, so that we look forward to the good that God will, over time, produce through them.
I have not read anything else by Sam Allberry–I had not even heard of him before. But I appreciate the insights he brought to the study of James.
Stray Thoughts 
Thank you for the review, Barbara. The book sounds good from your review. I’ve not read any of his books either and have kind of steered clear because of the controversy surrounding him a few years back. The book of James has always been a favorite of mine, so I might give this book a try. Thanks.
I didn’t know there was any controversy around him. I don’t remember hearing his name before seeing it on this book.
Good review; I like the quotes you chose and it’s really timely since the devotional from our church that I read at lunch has been focusing on James too. Good thought that our sufferings are not good in and of themselves, but due to their result of what God accomplishes through them.
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It’s so true that we tend to read scripture in bits and pieces. I have to remind myself that when it was first written, there were no chapters or verses. It read like a regular book.
My small group is studying James and we, too, felt the struggle to get a true flow of the letter. We’ve looked at chiasms that helped, however. Those are good quotes. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts