Practical exposition of James

The fine reception given to our book "Practical Exposition of I Peter" has encouraged us to write this book on the epistle of James. James, like I Peter is a very practical book, and a neglected one. Occasionally we hear, "Why do we so seldom hear preaching out of the book of James?" The author has often preached out of it, but we cannot answer for others. Perhaps the book is not too well understood by some, and it may be too practical for others. Some have thought of it as a Jewish epistle not for the church. We believe to neglect it means to definitely suffer loss. Some have been confused by the portion in the second chapter that deals with faith and good works. It has been thought that James teaches salvation by good works in contradiction to Paul's teachings on salvation by faith. James does not teach that works produce salvation, but he does teach that works prove salvation. He does teach that if faith does not produce good works, then it is a dead faith, or really no faith at all. We have arranged the book exactly as we did the one on I Peter. Many have appreciated the verse by verse dealing, the Scripture references on the top of the page, and the paragraph headings. Like I Peter, we have tried to make it simple and interesting reading for the average reader, yet a ready reference work for the busy student. - Introduction.