James is correcting the worldly thinking which is influencing his distant Christian friends. They are living in Jewish communities where too much respect is paid to the rich and the poor are too easily dismissed.
The triumph of mercy

James is correcting the worldly thinking which is influencing his distant Christian friends. They are living in Jewish communities where too much respect is paid to the rich and the poor are too easily dismissed.
Although he doesn’t mention it directly, what happened on the cross to the Lord Jesus feeds into the ideas which James presents in his letter.
How did the world begin? Was it simply the result of the forces at work in the universe? How did we begin?