Written by James, the brother of Jesus.

According to history and Acts 15 it seems that James was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem.

1. Suffering and the mature believer
   1. God’s purpose: the perfect work (James 1:1-12)
   2. God’s goodness: the perfect gift (James 1:13-20)
   3. God’s Word: the perfect law (James 1:21-27)
2. Service and the mature believer
   1. Faith proved by love (James 2:1-13)
   2. Faith proved by works (James 2:14-26)
3. Speech and the mature believer
   1. Exhortation (James 3:1-2)
   2. Illustration (James 3:3-12)
   3. Application: true wisdom (James 3:13-18)
4. Separation and the mature believer
   1. The enemies we must fight (James 4:1-7)
      1. the flesh (James 4:1-3)
      2. the world system (James 4:4-5)
      3. the devil (James 4:6-7)
   2. The attitudes we must avoid (James 4:8-17)
      1. pride (James 4:8-10)
      2. criticism (James 4:11-12)
      3. self-confidence (James 4:13-17)
5. Second Coming and the mature believer
   1. Patient when wronged (James 5:1-11)
   2. Pure in speech (James 5:12)
   3. Prayerful in trials (James 5:13-18)
   4. Persistent in outreach (James 5:19-20)

Conflict among us is the result of conflict within us.

Fighting among members of a group is a result of the war going on inside the individual members of that group. It is interesting that James uses the word ‘fights’ to describe what happens between two people, and uses the word ‘war’ to describe what happens inside one person. What happens on a group level is a small indication of what is going on within a person.