Глава I

Writing and greeting (1). Instruction in trials (2–11): about temptations and patience (2–4), about wisdom and prayer (5–8), about the worthlessness of wealth (9–11). The nature and source of temptations; the all-perfect God is the source of all good and salvation (12–18). Bordering anger and tongue, fulfilling the law (19–26). The essence of piety (27). James 1:1. James, servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad, rejoice. Calling oneself a servant of God and Jesus Christ is quite understandable in the mouth of Saint James, as a true apostle of Christ: according to the remark of Blessed. Theophylact, “the apostles of the Lord place above all worldly dignity the fact that they are slaves of Christ.” With this strange name for himself, the Apostle perhaps meant to arouse the faith and humility of his readers, as well as to arouse their trust in himself. Contrary to some commentators of modern times (like Galtzmann, Jülicher), the expression: “to the twelve tribes scattered” does not at all mean spiritual Israel or the Church of Christ scattered between Jews and pagans - such symbolism or allegorism is completely alien to the message of St. Apostle James, - which means, in the literal sense, precisely the extra-Palestinian Judeo-Christians; probably these were “predominantly Christian communities of Trans-Jordan, Damascus and Syria, where Christianity, as can be seen from Acts. 9 et al., spread very early” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). The appeal to the readers with the wish to “rejoice” (χαίρειν), partly reminiscent of the greeting used by the Greeks and Hellenistic Jews (see 1 Mac 10:18, 25; Acts 23:25, etc.), however, the Apostle has a specifically Christian meaning, as in the district message of the Jerusalem council, edited by the same apostle (Acts 15 et seq.), it is precisely the meaning of joy in the Lord Jesus as God the Savior and Redeemer. Himself filled with joy and bliss, even during the most difficult tests of faith, St. The Apostle prayerfully wishes his readers, first of all, this high and unattainable joy for worldly disasters. James 1:2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, James 1:3. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance; James 1:4. But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be complete and complete, lacking nothing. The wish for joy (v. 1) in the mouth of the Apostle signifies his deep Christian outlook on life. With this view of St. The apostle illuminates for the readers their own life, apparently full of sorrows. “The apostle recognizes temptation and sorrow for God’s sake as both praiseworthy and worthy of joy, because they are the strongest bonds and the return of love and contrition, which is why it is said: “child! when you begin to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation” (Sir 2:1), and Christ said: “in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart” (John 16:33). For without deeds one cannot receive crowns either in the world or from God” (Blessed Theophilus). Temptation (Greek πειρασμός, Hebrew mass a) in the language of Holy Scripture, in addition to the general meaning: test, test, experimental inquiry (see, for example, Gen. 22:1; Deut. 8:2, etc.), usually has a closer and more specific meaning in the area of moral life itself: inclination, seduction to something vicious, bad, sinful (for example, Matt. 4:1; Lk. 4:2), moreover, this seduction or inclination of the human will can come from the evil will of the devil or people, and equally stems from a combination of circumstances and various objects. “All objects, actions and circumstances that test faith and the rules of Christian morality are temptations. Of course, not in their essence they are temptations, but in relation to them a person: for one person, something with which another is not tempted at all is a temptation” (Bishop Michael). In this case, by “various temptations” the Apostle apparently means most closely the external misfortunes of the readers of the epistle: the hardships of poverty, the temptations of wealth, persecution from different sides, etc. A Christian, according to the Apostle, must meet and accept any such temptation not only without cowardice, murmuring, or despondency, but even with complete, unalloyed joy. “Temptations bring great joy to the zealous because through them the test of such is revealed, and the test leads to perfect action” (Blessed Theophilus). According to the deeply correct remark of the Reverend. Michael, “this is such a height in the apostle’s contemplation of the law of moral development, to which the highest minds of pagan antiquity did not ascend and to which one can ascend and build only in Christianity, which not only indicated, but also gave a person the grace-filled strength to ascend to such a height.” To complete the understanding of temptations, one should only compare with the instructions of the Apostle (Art. 2 et al.) the commandment of Christ the Savior about the prayer of Christians to God the Father: “Do not lead us into temptation” (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4). Obviously, in addition to temptations of an external, so to speak, spontaneous nature, there are purely mental or spiritual temptations, which pose a great danger of spiritual fall and spiritual death. This property of temptations is well known to St. To the Apostle James, as his words in James show. 1:13–15. So, if we must accept the temptations sent by God with complete submission to His will and complete joy and complacency, then from temptations that threaten our faith and morality, we must be protected both by the sinlessness of our lives and by prayer to the Heavenly Father for their reflection from us, under the condition, if, of course, it is the will of the Lord. But with such a difference in temptations, “patience is useful in each of their types” (Blessed Theophilus). The Apostle James also speaks about this quality of trials and tribulations. 3, and Ap. Paul (Rom. 5:3). Patience, υπομονή, means constancy in virtue and forms an essential condition for true Christian perfection. Therefore it is said further, v. 4: “And have patience, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Only with patience are obstacles on the path to moral perfection removed, and only with patience do all individual virtues unite and gain strength in the human soul, and Christians in this case can have hope that they will be “perfect” (τέλειοι) - will fully achieve the goal of their existence, “in all its fullness, without any lack” (ολόκληροι, έν μηδενί λειπόμενοι ). James 1:5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to everyone generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. The work of patiently and complacently enduring trials, indicated by the Apostle (vv. 3-4), is not an easy task to accomplish and at the same time inaccessible to ordinary human understanding: only true wisdom can help a person in both respects. “He calls wisdom the reason for a perfect action, for he knows that the test of faith and patience in temptations is not the lot of all people, but of those who are wise in God, which is why he arouses those who wish to show faith and patience to pray for wisdom” (Blessed Theophilus). Wisdom, Greek σοφία, Heb. Chokmah generally means correct understanding, knowledge of Divine and human objects, and mainly means the practically correct determination of the goals of action and the means to achieve them. So - on the Old Testament biblical basis (Prov. 1 et al.), in the same way - in the New Testament, for example, in Ap. Paul (Col. 4:5; Eph. 5:15) σοφία more than once means the wisdom of Christian behavior. Undoubtedly, in a similar sense he speaks of wisdom and St. Ap. Jacob. This is not simple rational human wisdom, but that wisdom of life that comes from above and is full of good fruits, which Ap later speaks about. Jacob (James 3:17). “He speaks not about human wisdom, but about spiritual, for in it he indicates the reason for the perfect action, and this reason is heavenly wisdom, strengthened by which we can completely do good” (Blessed Theophilus). According to the apostle’s instructions, one who lacks it should pray for such and such wisdom. The apostle demonstrates the possibility and ease of receiving what is asked from God by deliberately using expressions about God that show that giving good things to those who ask is an integral property of the Divine (“the giving God”), and that the love of God’s giving lies in the fact that God gives to everyone “simply and without reproach” (άπλως καί μή ονειδίζων) - out of pure love for mankind and without any reproaches that occur with human charity. James 1:6. But let him ask with faith, without any doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, lifted and tossed by the wind. James 1:7. Let such a person not think of receiving anything from the Lord. James 1:8. A person with double thoughts is not firm in all his ways. There cannot be a reason in God for the non-fulfillment of a person’s request for wisdom or any other gift, but such a reason can lie in a person, in his inner mood. First and most of all, for anyone asking God for wisdom (or anything else), firm faith is necessary, alien to any doubt or hesitation. “If he believes, then let him ask, and if he does not believe, then let him not ask, for he will not receive anything that he asks. The doubter is also the one who asks with arrogance... The doubter is the one who is far from firm action, and is perplexed whether this or that will come true or not” (Blessed Theophilus). On the contrary, the prayer of a Christian asking for wisdom should be alien to any hesitation, which the apostle likens in terms of instability, mobility and unreliability to a wave of the sea (v. 6, b.); prayer must be firm and stable, based on the unshakable foundation of faith. “Just as a beneficent God is all compassion and goodness, so the person asking must be all faith and confidence” (Bishop George). In Art. 8 the Apostle, repeating figuratively expressed in Art. 6, the thought of the perniciousness of doubt and hesitation, calls a person possessed by this illness of doubt and hesitation “double-minded,” δίψυχος, as if having two souls, one of which strives for God, the other for the world; hence the instability and disorder in all his ways, in all his moral activities. “A double-minded person is one who is confused, unsettled, imperfect, double-minded, a hypocrite... otherwise the apostle calls a double-minded person someone who is unsettled, who does not strive strongly for either the present or the future, but rushes here and there, adheres to the future and the present (Blessed Theophilus.) “Reject your own double-mindedness and do not hesitate at all to ask the Lord and receive” (“Shepherd” of St. Erma, Zapov. 9). James 1:9. Let the brother who is humbled boast in his height, James 1:10. and the rich man by his humiliation, because he will pass away like a flower on the grass. James 1:11. The sun rises, the heat sets in, and the heat dries up the grass, its color falls, the beauty of its appearance disappears; so the rich man fades in his ways. True wisdom, necessary for a person to correctly understand the meaning of temptations in the matter of moral improvement and given to a person by God as the fruit of true prayer, teaches a person to evaluate various objects and phenomena of life differently than how ordinary human wisdom evaluates them. Thus, two opposing phenomena of social life - poverty and wealth, the incorrect use of which can always lead a person into temptation, are assessed differently by worldly wisdom, and completely differently by spiritual, evangelical wisdom. The first recognizes poverty as a great evil, and wealth as an indisputable good. On the contrary, true wisdom from God sees good or evil not in poverty or wealth in themselves, but in this or that attitude of a Christian to poverty or wealth. True wisdom teaches the poor, but who suffers his poverty according to the law of Christ, by the height of his Christian title, which remains in force even in complete external humiliation, and the rich, but who wants to use wealth in a Christian way, she teaches to boast of his humiliation, his humility, namely, free poverty - in case the rich fulfill Christ’s commandment to sell their property and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21 ) or, at least, a proper attitude towards fleeting wealth and its godly use. The apostle proves the need for the rich to have such an attitude towards wealth by comparing wealth with quickly dying herbs and flowers under the action of the scorching sun with heat (v. 11). Under the word καύσων, transferred to Slavic-Russian. translated by the word “heat”, according to Old Testament biblical usage, one should mean the mighty east wind itself, Heb. Pyax-kodim or simply kodim (see Gen. 4:6, 23, 27; Exod. 10:13, 14, 21; Jer. 18:17; Ezek. 17:10, 19, 12; Ps. 77:26), otherwise called “shamum.” This wind in prophetic speech, in addition to its own meaning, also has the meaning of an image of the destructive effect of the wrath of God (for example, Hos. 13:15). James 1:12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because, having been tested, he will receive the crown of life that the Lord promised to those who love Him. Combining what was said earlier (from v. James 1:2) about temptations or trials that befall people, the apostle now shows the final result of patiently enduring various life trials, namely: bliss - having passed through the crucible of trials (James 1:2) and having been purified in it morally, as gold is purified through fire, a Christian man has the firm hope of being crowned with the crown of true life in union with God forever. Love for God and Christ, expressed in a Christian’s patient enduring of various trials, will make them worthy to accept this high reward, according to the false promise of the Savior (Matthew 5:10–11). “Apostle,” says St. I. Chrysostom, - exhorted enough to endure temptations with joy, so that the matter stands firm and patience is perfect; both happen by themselves and are not done without a purpose. The apostle tries to convince - to fulfill the above through another exhortation, when he says that he who suffers temptation is blessed according to the promise. For such a one, leading the fight in the manner of fighters, will be a tried man, experienced in every way. Therefore, after he has experienced sorrows, he is given the crown of life, prepared by God for those who love Him.” James 1:13. When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone, James 1:14. but everyone is tempted, being carried away and deceived by his own lust; James 1:15. lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin that is committed gives birth to death. Hitherto the Apostle spoke about temptations in general, without distinguishing them by their source of origin and their very nature, and pointed out their high beneficial significance as tests for the will and faith of a person (James 1: 2, 4, 12). Now, bearing in mind the tendency of weak-willed people and those of little faith to justify their falls in temptation by indicating that temptations are sent by God, the Apostle invites readers to strictly distinguish temptations by origin and essence. Those trials or hardships that the Apostle has hitherto spoken about are sent to people by God for a good, saving purpose - to confirm people, through trials, in goodness and lead them to true good, to life in the true sense. Examples of such tests in the Old Testament include the test of faith of Abraham (Gen. 22), Job (Job.1; Job.2 et al.) and the Israelites during their wanderings in the desert (Deut. 8:2). In all these and similar examples of testing people by God, if they withstand the test, the result or fruit of the temptation is patience, moral strength, moral perfection of the tested, and the end of everything is eternal blissful life (James 1: 2-4, 12). But there are completely different temptations that come from the devil or arise in the soul of the person himself. In the verses under consideration, the Apostle speaks about these last temptations, and the image of temptation given by the Apostle has great religious and psychological value, completely outlining the entire process or progressive course of development of temptation in the human soul. First of all (v. 13) The Apostle with all decisiveness eliminates every thought of a sinner, as if temptation to sin and evil can come from God: such a thought radically contradicts the basic concept of God as an all-holy and all-good being - “God is not tempted by evil (θεόζ απείραστός έστι κακών), and He Himself does not tempt anyone." The word απείραστός should be conveyed exactly as it is conveyed in the Russian translation - in the sense that God is absolutely alien to evil, certainly not affected by any innate evil. The Slavic translation: “there is a tempter to the evil”, like the Vulgates: intentator - are not accurate, especially since, if such a transfer were accepted, a tautology would be obtained with the subsequent expression: “and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” According to Art. 14–15, the true source and real basis of temptation lies in man’s “own lust,” ιδία επιθομία. “Whoever, through sin and intemperate life, invents temptation for himself and, as if in a constant storm, plunges into danger, he,” says the Apostle, “is tempted not from God, but from his own lust” (Blessed Theophilus). Wanting to show how temptation arises in a person’s soul (v. 14) and with what disastrous consequences it ends (v. 15), the Apostle, for greater clarity, uses a comparison of this mental process with the conception and birth of a child. The producers of sinful temptation in the soul are, on the one hand, a person’s own lust, which has its basis in original, innate sin (cf. 1 John 2:16), but increases and strengthens under the influence of the conscious inclination of each individual person; on the other hand, it is the free will of man, deigning to lust. Lust is a more passive factor, however, its effect on a weak will is as strong and destructive as the effect of a harlot on the man she seduces. The will of a person, deigning to temptation, is already an active, fertilizing principle, from the criminal union of which with lust comes the conception and then the birth of an equally criminal child - sin, and sin then, in turn, gives birth to its offspring - death, namely, eternal spiritual death. And since temptations of this nature have sin and death as their fruit, it is clear that they cannot come from God, Who is holiness and true life itself. It is also clear that people’s attempts to justify their falls in temptation by referring to God have no support. But still in the considered articles. 13–15 this idea is argued only from the negative side, and therefore in the following vv. James 1:16–18 The Apostle proves it in a positive way. James 1:16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning. Having give in Art. 17 and 18 are a positive and strongest refutation of what is mentioned in Art. 13 errors, the apostle in v. 16 exclaims: “do not be deceived (do not be deceived, μή πλανασθε), my beloved brethren” - an expression common in the apostolic epistles (see John 3:7; 1 Cor. 6:9–10, 15:33). The very refutation is expressed in Art. The 17th consists in the thought that from God, by His very nature, only good and perfect things come; therefore, He cannot be the culprit or cause of temptations that lead man to sin and destruction: this would contradict the properties of the unchangeable being of God. The Apostle very characteristically calls God the Father of lights, ό πατήρ τών φώτων. Should we understand the heavenly bodies with the majority of interpreters by the word τα φώτα or with other interpreters (Blessed Theophilus) to see here the name of angels - both are in accordance with biblical usage and are justified by the biblical idea of ​​God as the Creator of the heavenly lights (for example, Ps. 136:7), and angels (Job. 38:7), which are in different ways and to varying degrees a reflection of the Divine Light - in any case, here lies the idea of ​​the absolute purity and holiness of God's being: the light of the heavenly lights and even the light of angelic forces is subject to fluctuations and changes; on the contrary, God has eternal and unchanging light, always equal to itself; He does not hesitate between evil and good; only good always comes from Him. “With the God of lights there is no change, for He Himself cries through the prophet: “I am and do not change” (Mal. 3:6), and the expression “change of walls” means that in God one cannot even imagine any change” (Blessed Theophilus). James 1:18. Having desired, He begat us with the word of truth, so that we might be some firstfruits of His creatures. As the highest manifestation of God’s love and goodness, the Apostle points to the rebirth of people by the word of truth (λόγῳ ἀληθείας), as proof of the same position that only good can come from God. “Rebirth, this most perfect gift emanating from the Father of lights, is a matter of the good will of God. Resting in the depths of the divine being, it is the complete opposite of what sin produces; it is the latter, like a conceiving mother (hence the use of άποκύειν vm. γειναν) that gives birth to death, and God, as if also becoming like a mother, gave birth to us into a new life” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). The greatness of this benefit is shown by the fact that it was given to people undeservedly, solely by the all-good will of God - “desired”, βουληθεὶς. “He said “desired,” because there are people who think that the world was formed by chance” (Blessed Theophilus). Undoubtedly, here we are not talking about the creation of the world and man, but about the rebirth of man through the preaching of the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 1:5; 2 Tim. 15), called the power of God (Rom. 1:16): faith in the Gospel lays the foundation for the spiritual rebirth of a person, who by this faith assimilates the redemption accomplished by Christ, enters into a new covenant with God, and is reborn for a new, holy life. The purpose of spiritual rebirth is indicated by the Apostle with the words: είς τό είναι ήμας απαρχήν τινα τών αύτου κτισμάτων, so that we may be some firstfruits of His creatures. Here the Apostle, having in mind the custom of the biblical Jews - in fulfillment of the requirement of the law (Ex. 22:29, 23:19, 34:22; Lev. 2:12; Num. 18:12; Deut. 18:4, 26:10; Proverbs 3:9; Ezek. 20:40) to bring as a gift to God and the sanctuary its first and best fruits (decides bikkurim) of the earth, calls the first-fruits of the Christians the first-fruits of the spiritual field (as in Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 3:9) in the sense of the primacy of time and dignity (primi et honoratissimi, according to Ikumen). At the same time, the Apostle considers Christians in relation to the whole world, as the creation of God. The renewal must affect the whole world, since all creatures await, according to Ap. Paul (Rom. 8:19–21), restoration to primitive perfection; such a restoration began with the first coming of Christ, and will end at His second coming. Christians, according to Ap. According to James, these are the first beginnings, the first bearers of this renewal, who, due to their small number, are called “a certain firstfruits.” By blessed Theophylact, the words “a certain firstfruits” mean advantage and highest dignity, and “creation” refers to visible nature.” If, therefore, God, out of one free love and goodness, wanted to revive people and make them the beginning of the renewal of the whole world, then can He tempt a person to evil and destruction? Giving in Art. 18 the last basis for refuting the destructive error (James 1:13), the Apostle, at the same time, in mentioning the “word of truth” that regenerates man, proposes a topic for his subsequent speech (James 1:19–27) about the attitude of Christians to this word of truth. James 1:19. Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to become angry, James 1:20. for the anger of man does not create the righteousness of God. James 1:21. Therefore, putting aside all uncleanness and the remainder of malice, meekly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. The word of the truth of the Gospel - in order to be able to bear good fruits in the lives of people, first of all must be listened to and perceived with the proper mood. What is needed, first of all, is complete readiness and diligence to hear the word of the Gospel. At the same time, the Apostle inspires his readers and all Christians to listen and assimilate the word of truth most of all, and least of all to strive for speeches, for an abundance of words. Here, on the contrary, great moderation and caution are needed (cf. James 3:1–2). It is even more necessary to avoid passionate anger, which expresses the mood of a carnal man, immeasurably far from the truth of God (20). On the contrary, Christians, having expelled from their hearts all impurity and every remnant of selfishness and malice, must meekly accept into their souls, as into fertilized soil, the plantings of the gospel truth, produced visibly by the preachers of the Gospel, and in an invisible way by God Himself - in spiritually grace-filled rebirth (v. 21, see James 1:18). Apostolic exhortation (v. 19) regarding slowness in speech, it resembles the admonition of the Old Testament sage: “Be quick in your listening and answer with patience” (Sir. 5:13); For the original readers of the message, who came from Jews, this instruction was especially clear and impressive, but its general meaning also has great psychological value and importance. Blazh. Theophylact, regarding this apostolic instruction, notes: “You need to be quick to listen, not simple, but active, stimulating to apply what you hear to action. For it is known that whoever listens diligently and attentively will be ready to carry out what he has heard, but whoever, on the contrary, is slow to get ready for something and puts it off, may subsequently fall completely behind the undertaking. Therefore, regarding the study of divine objects, the apostle commands speed, and regarding what is associated with danger, slowness. These are: words, anger. For talking in anger does not end well.” James 1:22. Be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves. James 1:23. For whoever hears the word and does not do it is like a man looking at the natural features of his face in a mirror: James 1:24. he looked at himself, walked away and immediately forgot what he was like. James 1:25. But whoever delves into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and remains in it, he, being not a forgetful listener, but a doer of the work, will be blessed in his action. The word of truth, in order to lead people to salvation, must not only be carefully and attentively listened to, but, like a grain accepted and assimilated by the earth, it must be planted in the soil of the human heart and give a corresponding sprout, i.e., be expressed and manifested in good deeds; the whole life and activity of a Christian person must be an expression and implementation of what the word of truth teaches. He who does not put the words of truth into his life only deceives himself, mistakenly thinking that the divine word will be useful for him in this case, will bring him bliss (v. 25), salvation, which in reality cannot be: perfection and bliss are achieved not by simple hearing or knowledge of the word of truth, but by activity in accordance with the recognized word of truth (cf. Matt. 12:24-26). The Apostle further clarifies this truth with a clear example: the word of God, which communicates the truth to man (James 1:18), is likened by St. Jacob's mirror, and if in the mirror a person examines the image of his external existence (πρόσωπον τής γενέσεως), the inner appearance of a person, the image of his moral being is depicted in the word of God; but just as a person who sees the features of his face in the mirror and does not make any application from his observation, for example, does not straighten his head, soon and without a trace loses from his memory the impression received when looking in the mirror, so a person who listens to the word of the Gospel truth and does not fulfill it, does not have the word of God “abiding” (John 5:38) in him, forgets about it, and it does not bring him saving fruits. “From an ordinary mirror, the Apostle transfers his speech to a mental mirror, without deducing anything from the example presented in brief words. He should have said this: whoever listens to the law and does not fulfill it is like a man looking at his face in a mirror. As this one looked at himself, he walked away, and immediately forgot, both he and he, seeing from the Law of Moses why he was created, namely for the glory of God and for life in the image of God who created him, did not fulfill anything of what he saw, but acted exactly the same as the one who looked in the mirror: he should have used what he saw, but he, like that one. And it is not without purpose that the Apostle does this by keeping something silent: he concentrates the listener and forces him to listen to this not in passing. For “blessed are not such listeners, but those who combine action with listening” (Blessed Theophilus). Hearing and studying the word of the Gospel is useful and saving only if this hearing and study is followed by active fulfillment of the rules and covenants of the Gospel. The word of the gospel truth (James 1:18), as the word sown in our hearts (James 1:21), written not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3), is a divine word that fully corresponds to our true nature. In this sense, it is “a perfect law, the law of freedom” (νόμον τέλειον τὸν τῆς ἐλευθερίας, James 1:25), in comparison with the Old Testament law, which another apostle calls the law weak and imperfect (cf. Heb. 7:28) and the law of slavery (Gal. 5:1): “that was an external law, fractional, enslaving the will, but this is an internal law, acting internally on the will of man” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). On the freedom of the law of the Gospel Ap. Paul says: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). “To the words “the law is perfect” (Apostle James) added “the law of freedom” to indicate its distinctive feature - freedom; for the law of Christ, having freed him from carnal slavery, places him who comes to Him in freedom, makes him through this freedom more attentive and frees him from oblivion, which is harmful to all that is good” (Blessed Theophilus). If in the Old Testament righteousness consisted of keeping “the commandments and justifications of the Lord” (Luke 1:6), then in the passage in question in the Apostle (v. 25) speaks of such penetration into the law of nature, of such assimilation of it, which leads to the implementation of the law. The “law of freedom” is not only a law that is freely executed, but also a law that gives you freedom, but all this is subject to the Christian’s “staying” (παραμείνας) in this law, that is, if he makes it a permanent law of his life and activity, and with a person’s desire to be not a “forgetful listener,” but a “doer of deeds.” “By the bliss that is promised to the executor of the law, we mean, first of all, the bliss of the work itself, as can be seen from the expression έν τή πυιήσει αύτου (“in one’s doing”), and then the future bliss, which pours joy into the heart of a person when doing it in this life” (Bishop George). James 1:26. If anyone among you thinks he is pious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his piety is empty. James 1:27. Pure and undefiled piety before God and the Father is to look after orphans and widows in their sorrows and to keep oneself undefiled from the world. The law of the Gospel is certainly perfect; but the attitude of people towards this perfect law can be formed in the image and example of the attitude of the Jews towards the Law of Moses: St. warns against such an incorrect attitude towards the law of the Gospel. Jacob in v. 26–27, arming yourself here, vv. 26, as well as below James 3:1-8 against sins of the tongue, especially against the passion for teaching. This vice was apparently very widespread in the Jewish and then Judeo-Christian society of the Apostle’s time. “According to the concept of the Jews, he is pious who is faithful in his deeds, because he does not seem to belong to the crowd. The Jews, fulfilling the prescriptions of the law to the finest detail, thought highly of themselves, believing in their observance all piety towards God, and, occupied only with them alone, dreamed of acquiring bliss through them... Restraining from such an opinion, the Apostle gives real instruction. Having mentioned the performer of the work and calling him blessed, he immediately corrects the evil that is born in many during the execution” (Blessed Theophilus). Thus, according to the Apostle, empty (μάταιος), insignificant and vain piety is possible both when fulfilling the law of Moses and when following the perfect law of Christ: the Apostle warns against this danger of ostentatious piety in Art. 26. Verse 27, in contrast to false piety, calls true piety (θρησκεία) and characterizes it from two sides. The first feature of true piety that has value in the eyes of God is “to look after the orphans and widows in their sorrows”: of course, this is only a particular example, just one of the types of active love and true piety, chosen, probably, as a favorite image among the sacred writers of the Old (and then the New) Testament to represent selfless love and charity (for example, Deut. 10:18, see Job 29:12–13; Ps.67:6). This active love and charity, in order to be truly saving, must be based on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (James 2:1). “So, if you want to be pious, show piety not in reading, but in fulfilling the law, which consists especially in showing compassion for your neighbor, for compassion for your neighbor is a kind of likeness to God. “Be,” it is said, “merciful, just as your heavenly Father is” (Luke 6:36); only our mercy must be free from partiality” (Blessed Theophilus). “This is how we can become like God—namely, mercy and compassion. Therefore, if we do not have this, we are deprived of everything” (St. Golden). Another feature of true, pure and immaculate piety, according to the Apostle James, is keeping oneself undefiled from the world. The world, ό κόσμος, is understood here in the sense of the Evangelist John’s view of it (John 7:7, 12:31; see 1 John 5:19) - as the totality of all forces hostile to God and good. To protect your soul from all the impurity of the world, which lies in evil, to resist evil and fight against it - this, together with deeds of mercy and love, is an essential sign of true service to God. You might be interested in: