THE NINE LITTLE LETTERS - PART 3: James & Titus

---

As the temperatures change from the blistering heat of Summer 2026 to the cold, lonely and freezing tempuratures of Winter, the Lakeland Sunday Night Bible Blog (Lakeland SNBB) is going to stay warm and cozy studying the "Nine Little Letters" of the New Testament.  

Click Here for 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude and Philemon (Part 1),  

Click Here for 1 & 2 Peter (Part 2) and 

Click Here for James and Titus (Part 3).

 Finishing up from November 8 through December 27, 2026 will be the 8th and 9th Bible Blogs of James and Tittus.  

To study the Bible Blogs for James, click Here. 

To study the Bible Blogs for Titus clickr Here.  

Author, Title, Date

The Epiustle of James is traditionally attributed to James, the half brother of Jesus, the Christ (Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3).  He was also known as James the Just. He was a prominent leader in the early Christian church in Jerusalem.  James encourages practical Christian living and urges believers to demonstrate their faith through actions. It addresses trials, wisdom, and the power of prayer, highlighting the importance of controlling one’s tongue and caring for the needy. James calls for genuine faith, warning against favoritism and encouraging perseverance, humility, and righteousness.

The Epistle of James was likely written around AD 45-49, making it one of the earliest New Testament writings. This period was marked by the dispersion of Jewish Christians due to persecution, which is reflected in the opening address to “the twelve tribes of the Dispersion” (James 1:1). 

Purpose

James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered abroad who were facing many trials and temptations. James emphasizes the importance of faith being demonstrated through actions, addressing issues such as favoritism, the use of the tongue, and the need for patience and prayer.  

Audience

James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered abroad who were facing many trials and temptations. James emphasizes the importance of faith being demonstrated through actions, addressing issues such as favoritism, the use of the tongue, and the need for patience and prayer.  The letter was intended for a broad audience rather than a specific individual or congregation.  

Importance of This Letter

The early church faced challenges such as poverty, persecution, and the need for practical guidance in living out the Christian faith.   The Christian movement was believed by the Jewish religious leaders to be doomed to failure as soon as those leaders  murdered Jesus of Nazareth.  Acts 9 tells us that Saul of Tarsus was permitted by the Sanhedrin to expand his geographical area for persecuting Christians outside Judea and into Asia.  Saul was converted on the way to Damascus of Syria and became known as Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  The hope that Christianity offered was far superior to the persecutions of the Jews and Romans on the Christians, and served to strengthen believers for the thousands who faced death for their beliefs. 

There are many religions in the world, each with its own set of beliefs, practices, and traditions. Some of the major religions include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.  James starts here with the Tests of Faith on November 8, 2026. He answers the question of how one can tell if they are worshiping inside a genuine faith or some kind of cult or false religion.  On November 15, the topic moves to Partiality, Faith & Words.  James provides a bit of a different look at the relationship between faith and works.  Paul said, "For by Gace ye are saved, through faith.  It is the gift of God least any man should boast" (Eph 2:8-9). James says, "Yea,  a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:  shew me thy faith  without thy works,  and I will shew thee my faith by my work ...  But wilt  thou know, O vain man,  that faith without  works is dead? " (James 2:18 ?20).  At first, the two leaders seem to disagree, but if each is taken in context, they agree fully.  Paul is speaking of Faith that saves us is by the grace of God, having nothing to do with works.  James is saying that AFTER a person is saved, his salvation is shown by his works.  If his salvation does not result in works, his faith is dead.  

At Tanksgiving time, James explaing how teachers need to be careful of what they say and need to show wisdom in their words.  On November 29, James warns us to "Watch Out!"  He list a number of issues Christians need to avoid.  On December 6, James finishes with more warnings on the misuse of wealth and other final warnings for this letter.
 

Greetings from James (James 1:1)  

It would seem that the “from/to” statements of most of the books of the Bible would have been settled centuries ago, but not for James. While hardly anyone disputes the name of James as the writer, they still argue over which James that might have been or if the name was a pseudonym. Most agree that there is no way it could have been the Apostle James, son of Zebedee and brother of John, “the Apostle Jesus loved” (John 19:26, 20:2, 21:7 & 21:20). Acts 12 testifies that James was the first Pastor of the church at Jerusalem and was executed for such far too early to have written this letter. The other James mentioned is the one who was the brother of Jesus (Matt 13:55, Mark 6:3 & Gal 1:19). The primary issue some scholars have with the letter being written by the half brother of Jesus is that the quality of the Greek language used in writing that book was far too advanced for a member of a carpenter’s household.  Many of the references say that still leaves them with Jesus’ brother as the author but maybe through a better-educated transcriber. Nevertheless, most commentators hold to James, the brother of Jesus as author. 

Verse 2 tells us to whom James was writing and this information is at least equally as important. Being written “to the twelve tribes of Israel who are dispersed aboard,” tells us that James will not spend a lot of time explaining elements of the faith they should have learned from being raised as Jews. He may reference some of the teachings of Judaism, but he will likely assume they have that background along with the 550 prophesies of the coming Messiah firmly settled. 

Notice also that he is addressing the twelve tribes dispersed abroad rather than those remaining in Israel. That tells us he will have to deal with the heavy persecutions by the Jewish Synagogues, the Roman Empire and the local pagan religions. The local Sanhedrims had the authority to severely flog but not the power od death. They required Roman permission for capital punishment. Every gain of a Jewish family by the Christian church was an equal loss for the synagogue in labor and in tithes and offerings. The local cults had control over many of the businesses and jobs. 

Joyful, Humble & Holy (James 1:2-11)  

James starts right in on the trials, tribulation and persecution issues by telling persecuted people they should experience joy in their persecutions. When Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle, he experienced more suffering than most people could endure in a lifetime. He says, “22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; 26 in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches” (2 Cor 11:22-28). Paul, was a Jewish leader in the Grand Sanhedrin of Jerusalem until he was visited by the risen Christ on the road to Damascus to increase his span of horror against Jesus’ church (Acts 9).  He was an expert on suffering and pain for Christ, but now he says as a Christian leader, that we should joy in our trials, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (vss. 3-4).  We can also find joy in our trials knowing that the devil never wastes his time bringing trials against those who are no threat to him. 

James also says that if we feel we lack wisdom, we should ask God for it, but we must ask as we believe and not in doubt. Coming to the Lord in faith is the way to receive abundantly (vss. 9-11). In discussing how a person should come, he suggests coming in focus; not double-minded or uncertain. The model James set up here is one of both humility and perseverance.  Humility speaks of knowing who you are in Christ, while perseverance speaks of confidence and certainty in the Lord. The combination is the result of the trials we receive and our growth through them.

Seeking Crown; not Mammon (James 1:12-18)  

James continues his use of the humility and perseverance model in verse 12 with assuring us that the person who withstands these trials, once approved of God, will receive “the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” It is this crown that Paul mentions in his last letter to Timothy as he prepares in the final days of his life. He says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing” (2 Tim 4:7-8). This crown we receive might sound like one of pride or accomplishment, but in Revelation 4:4, it shows all of the 24 Elders, representatives of the Old and New Testaments (12 Tribes of Isreal and 12 Apostles of Christ), the righteous of all generations receive the crowns and sit on thrones before the Lord. Note that they are with Christ at the beginning of the Tribulation Period. Verse 4:10 says that we cast those crowns, Stefanos crowns of victory before the Lord, singing of His praise and unique worthiness. 

On the idea of temptation, recognize this, James documents that no one can say he is tempted by God, because He cannot be tempted by evil, nor can the Lord tempt us with evil (vs. 13). But James repeats what we knew from Jesus’ own temptation, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). James says that when this lust conceives it brings sin which leads to death (vs. 16). These temptations are Satan’s tools, and they have worked for all time. 

James sums that every good thing and every perfect gift we get is given from above (vs. 17). God’s intent has never been to lead us into sin or its resulting destruction. He has always exercised His will to bring us forward by the word of His truth. From this He knew we would become the first fruits among all His creation. Know also that God has made provision for us even in the process of being tempted. Paul writes that, “God will not allow you to be tempted above what ye are able, but He will make, with the temptation, also the outlet, for your being able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13). 

Faith is Not Favoritism (James 2:1-7)  

The character of Satan as presented in C. S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters, is proven over and over again. Satan works very hard to make everything around us a distraction from our dire need to acknowledge and fully endorse Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Those who have not made that decision before death will face the Great White Throne of Judgement (Rev 20:11-15), and it is very clear there are no winners at that judgement. Those who have made those declarations can face death knowing that their sins were already judged and paid for by the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ (John 19:30) and proven accepted by God in Jesus’ resurrection. That payment is so complete that Paul could say in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus” (ASV). But just as Lewis writes, “When a man’s soul is saved the devil’s work is not over, it is only just changed.” 

Here, James tells us that Christians must not display attitudes of personal selection and/or pride over being a part of God’s Kingdom. Likewise, we must not display attitudes of accepting certain people into our congregations because of their obvious spiritual wealth or lack thereof, but we must welcome all in the name of Jesus Christ. James gives the illustration of accepting a rich man but rejecting a poor man, but the application is for spiritual wealth as well. He says in Verse 4 that we have “made distinctions among ourselves and have become judges with evil motives.”  

James asks them if they noticed that “God chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs to the kingdon which He has promised to those who love Him?” (vs. 5).  He says that they have already dishonored the poor man by treating the rich with favoratism – they have judged with evil motives. It is almost like these people have forgotten that it was the rich who oppressed them and personally dragged them into the courts?” (vs. 6). Are they not the ones who have blaspheme the fair name by which we have been called. You see, Satan tries to prevent you from becoming a Christian, but once you have, he works hard to make you fail at acting like one.   

Love Neighbors as Self (James 2:8-13)  

James knows that not all Christians are acting so poorly. Therefore, if you are already fulfilling the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well (vs. 8, & Lev 19:18, Matt 5:43 & 19:19, Mark 12:31 & more). However, if we are showing this partiality described here, we are committing sin and are convicted as transgressors of the law (vs. 9). James is not phrasing that verse as a double charge but rather, he is saying that the behavior is sinful, but that sin is identified as transgressions of the law. This multiplies the practice as both personal and corporate sin. Neither your sin nor the transgression of your church or synagogue, caused by their toleration of your sin is innocent in this matter. 

Verse 10 deserves a separate paragraph because of its extremely wide relevance to all of us. Some, even today, would teach that there are some sins more severe than others. Some even try to categorize them by saying some are mortal sins and some are venial sins with the mortal bringing a more severe punishment than the venial. But here, James stresses the point that if you have kept the rest of the law flawlessly, you have still transgressed the entire law. Look at the words of James, “For whosoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (KJV).  James strengthens his comment by using what many would say are the worse sins, the sins of adultery and murder. He says if you murder but do not commit adultery, you are still a transgressor of the whole law. But Jesus explains it even more severely saying, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt 5:28). He takes the transgression out of committing the act to even committing the act in you mind. All of this is said to help us realize the truth of Paul, “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom 3:10, 23). Without Christ, there is no hope of salvation!

Paul says it well when he says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). What a contrast: certain, unforgiveable death versus certain, undeserved mercy. Why would anyone choose to burn when they could be pardoned?

Dead Faith (James 2:14-18)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Greetings from James (James 5:1)\

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Author, Title, Date

 Titus is part of the Pastoral Epistle.s 1 Timothy and Titus were written around the same time (62-65 AD), while 2 Timothy was written later (67 AD).  At first glance, Titus seems as though it is just a shorter version of  the first letter Paul wrote to Timothy.  It addresses a lot of the same issues, particularly the  importance of choosing spiritually strong, theologically sound leaders who both live in way that  is above reproach, as a positive example to the outside world and are not afraid to call out false  teachers.  But upon deeper examination, we can see the difference between the two. Timothy was in  Ephesus, where the church had been in existence for 12 years, and false teachers had cropped  up and had been leading the people astray from the truth. Titus was in Crete, where he was  organizing new churches out of the believers there. There were already some false teachers in  Crete, even before they had officially established their churches. Paul is using what he had  learned from Ephesus to get Titus to start the church at Crete on the right track, with a firm  foundation of strong leadership and sound doctrine.1   

Titus was written by Paul around the same time as 1 Timothy,  around A.D. 62–63. Paul was writing from Nicopolis, Macedonia, where Titus would later join  him. Paul had been released from his imprisonment in Rome (where he wrote Philippians and  Colossians) and had been traveling to many churches to help with problems they were having.  When he visited Crete, he left Titus there to finish setting up the churches, and he and Timothy  went on to Ephesus, where he left Timothy to settle troubles they were having there.

Date of the Letter  Conservative scholars believe  Paul went  on to Macedonia, leaving his two “fixers” in those cities to organize the churches, stop false  teaching, build strong leadership and strengthen their communities.2   In the book of Titus, Paul gives us a very brief guideline for what is most important in  establishing a healthy church:  - - -  Build on a firm foundation of the truth  Establish strong leaders who know sound doctrine and live it out in their lives  Live together in unity, supporting one another in community    It is only by having strong, healthy churches that we can successfully accomplish our mission to  advance the Gospel to the world. 

Purpose

Titus was not mentioned in the book of Acts, so we don’t know much about his early life or  career. He was noted in Galatians as a Gentile believer who became a companion of Paul,  journeying with him and Barnabas to Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1–3). He was then dispatched to  Corinth, where he successfully reconciled the Christian community there with Paul, who had  founded it. After he was freed from his imprisonment in Rome, Paul then left Titus on the island  of Crete to help organize the church there, which is what this letter is about. After he  successfully did that, he met again with Paul in Nicopolis and went on to Dalmatia.  

As with the letters to Timothy, this letter was to encourage Paul's fellow workers to press on under the Lord to furnish the ministerial needs of the church doing its birthing and early adolesence.  As Titus served as an evangelist, he no doubt provided the early training for the pastors and saints at several of Paul's churches.     

Audience

 Titus' letter was written to the dispersed believers just like 1 Peter and Jude.  These were likely the people in the dozens of churches Paul had planted and many missionaries encouraged and trained through the years.  These were mostly Gentile believers rather than Jewish believers.  Titus tries to stay away from quoting Jewish traditions and ritual observance.   

Importance of This Letter

 The Christian movement was believed by the Jewish religious leaders to be doomed to failure as soon as those leaders  murdered Jesus of Nazareth.  Acts 9 tells us that Saul of Tarsus was permitted by the Sanhedrin to expand his geographical area for persecuting Christians outside Judea and into Asia.  Saul was converted on the way to Damascus of Syria and became known as Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  The hope that Christianity offered was far superior to the persecutions of the Jews and Romans on the Christians, and served to strengthen believers for the thousands who faced death for their beliefs. 

Paul wrote three pastoral letters trying to help the pastors he put in place to handle several of the administrative and behavior issues in the church.  The letter to Titus begins by repeating Paul lesson the Timothy concerning the qualifications for church leaders.  In Chapter 2, he continues instructions but switches to behaviors for the member of the church.  Last, Paul advises on Godly Liviving and Concerns.  He writes of several issues and answers regard the Christian and his or her interactions.  

From Paul to Titus (Titus 1:1-4)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION 

Qualifications of Elders (Titus 1:5-9)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION  

Rebels, Gossips & Deceivers (Titus 1:10-14)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION 

Behavioral Standards for All (Titus 3:1-3)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION 

God’s Kindness Contrasted (Titus 3:4-7)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION 

Contrasted to Win Others (Titus 3:8-11)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION