James 1:1-4 - How God Uses Trials to Grow Your Faith (Session 2)

James 1 explained: joy in trials, Christian suffering, testing of faith, endurance, and bond servant meaning. A verse-by-verse Bible study on spiritual growth through hardship.

This episode of Reasoning Through the Bible begins a verse-by-verse study of James chapter 1, focusing on James 1:1–4, joy in trials, Christian suffering, testing of faith, spiritual endurance, and the meaning of being a bond servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The opening verse of James introduces the important biblical concept of a bond servant or bond slave, describing a believer who willingly belongs to and serves the Lord. This episode examines how James identifies himself through surrender rather than status and how this speaks to Christian identity, obedience, discipleship, and full allegiance to Christ.

The study then turns to one of the best-known teachings in the Book of James: believers are to count it all joy when they face various trials. This message does not deny pain, but explains that God uses trials to strengthen faith, produce endurance, and mature His people. The episode also clarifies the important distinction between trials, temptations, and the consequences of sin, making this a helpful study for anyone seeking biblical clarity on suffering and growth.

Key themes in this episode:

• James 1:1–4
• Joy in trials
• Purpose of suffering
• Testing of faith
• Endurance and perseverance
• Bond servant / bond slave meaning
• Christian surrender
• Practical Christian living
• Spiritual growth through hardship
• Deity of Christ in James 1:1

Bible passages discussed:

• James 1:1–4
• 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
• Matthew 6:24
• Philippians 1:29

Reasoning Through the Bible provides Bible exposition, doctrinal teaching, and practical biblical application for listeners who want to study Scripture carefully and faithfully.

Transcript

Joy and Bondage in James

Glenn 0:15

Today on Reasoning Through the Bible , we're going to learn about joy in the Lord . But in order to get to joy in the Lord , between here and there we're going to see a great deal of suffering and trials . We're also going to learn about how we are bond slaves to the Lord . Hi , my name is Glenn and this is Steve . You've joined us for a study of the book of James . You're in luck because we're starting at the beginning of the book . So if you have your copy of the Word of God , turn to the New Testament book of James and we're going to learn again about suffering and trials and count it all joy when we go through that . So , Steve , this is going to be a real interesting study and we're already going to be in deep water here in the very first part of the book .

Steve 0:59

I just love going through these epistles . That the apostles , and then also James , along with Paul , writes the things that they have to impart to their recipients is just something that's amazing to me that we can still glean information out of it here hundreds of years later .

Glenn 1:18

That's because it's the inspired Word of God and he makes a very miraculous book . So if you have your copy of the Bible , turn to the New Testament , book of James . In chapter one we see three main themes . We see the first one we're going to get to today is take joy in the midst of trials . We also see in chapter one to resist temptation and we're also going to see resting in truth .

Glenn 1:45

So let's go ahead and read James , chapter one , verse one says this James , a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ , to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad , greetings . Well , steve , we've just gotten our foot in the door and we already got several interesting things . This is , of course , his greeting . It actually uses the word greetings , one of the few times that's used in the Bible . But we have here at the beginning where he calls himself a bond servant , or some of the translations say bond slave or some of them just say slave . Let's talk about that for a minute .

Glenn 2:21

What is a bond slave and what the distinctions are ? If you were with us in our study at all , we did a three part series on the idea of slavery in the Bible , so we would refer you to there . We go into quite a bit of detail about what this means , but the idea here is that it is a obligation . The main point here , steve , is that we've got this man , james , who refers to himself as a slave or a bond servant . It helps us to learn a little bit about what that means . There's a bond , there's an obligation . It means he's been bought with a price and paid for . Therefore , he is not just under the tutelage but under the obligation to . He has sold himself , he has been bought by the Lord God . He is a servant of the Lord God wholly and completely , not just part time . It's not just a work relationship , it's not just a contract , it's a bond and he's under an obligation . He's done so willingly . That's what he's really saying here . Don't you think that's ?

Steve 3:20

the key , that word there that you said willingly . The Greek word is doulos . It's also used several times throughout other epistles in the New Testament . That's what a bond servant is . This is a servant of God , or the word doulos is a servant that has voluntarily gone into service for somebody . His life is devoted to the person that he's serving . There . It's also translated as a slave , but it's a type of slave . It's one that is there voluntarily , fully committed to the person that they're serving . So that's what James is relaying here . He is a bond servant of God . He has voluntarily dedicated his life to serve God .

Glenn 4:05

The main application , I think , for us in this to realize is that James is saying here he no longer works for himself , no longer works for himself , he's under a bond , he is a slave to the Lord , god , he serves the Lord . That's what he's saying here . I think we can really learn from that , steve , in the sense that who do we work for ? Who am I here for ? Am I here for me ? Am I here to so I get something out of this Christian life , or am I here to serve him ? Am I here for his glory ? That's the real answer and question really that we should ask ourselves . We need to look ourselves in the mirror and say who am I here for ? Who am I working for ? I should be here to serve the Lord , god . James no longer works for himself and I should follow suit . Who owns us is one of the questions that we should ask . God speaks to the church and he says you are not your own , for you've been bought with a price . Says that in 1 Corinthians , 6 , 19 and 20 . Jesus said no one can serve two masters in Matthew 6 , 24 . We're either a servant of Christ and in a bond obligation to him , or we're serving ourselves . There's no halfway in between , there's no part-time Christians . You're in a bond obligation to the Lord , serving him or not . That's how we should look at ourselves and , as we pointed out when we went through Colossians , when it says here God , it means Father . For those of you that might want to chase that down , look at our study in Colossians , where we went through Colossians 1 , verses 2 and 3 , 1.15 through 17 and chapter 3 , verse 1 . We made a big point out of here that when he says here a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ , what he's saying here , the grammatical application in the Greek means that there's one bond and that one bond obligation is to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . He's equating Jesus with God the Father , because the bond obligation is to the Father and the Son . It makes that quite clear here If we compare to those other passages , like in Colossians , it is not saying that it's God on one hand and then Jesus on the other , as if they're two different beings . No , no , no .

Glenn 6:28

His emphasis here is on the bond obligation . There's one bond and that one bond obligation is to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ . That's the point here . It's really a support for the doctrine of the deity of Christ that we have right here Again . Right out of the chute , we're in deep water . He's saying here that Jesus is God . It's yet another support for the deity of Christ . Further in verse one , this man is a leader of the church because he's writing to the 12 tribes who are dispersed abroad . So , steve , what else can we get out of this verse ?

Steve 7:03

I wanted to mention that non-believers don't understand this concept of being a bond servant or wanting to voluntarily serve Jesus and God , as James puts here . It's something that's foreign to them , because us and our fleshly way here in the world , we want to serve ourselves , we want to work to promote ourselves , we want to work to be the best that we can be . Those are non-believers . But whenever you become a believer in Jesus Christ , your life changes . Paul writes many times in his epistles that we're to die to ourselves . He says that we're crucified with Christ . Paul also says that our citizenship is in heaven and that we should also store up our treasure in heaven Jesus mentioned , because that's where we're going to be and we're going to serve him , for in the kingdom that's to come . So why wouldn't it be that we're here on earth at this time , that we would go ahead and say we are bond servants of God and the Lord Jesus Christ ? That's something that's foreign to non-believers , but to us believers it's something that's natural .

Glenn 8:15

In most of our world today . People want freedom . They want the pride of I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps , nobody's going to be owning me , nobody's going to be over me . The entire Christian life is opposite to that . The entire Christian life is we voluntarily submit to God . We voluntarily put ourselves into the obligation of him .

Glenn 8:37

The idea here of a bond servant or a bond slave is the idea that we had a sin debt that we could not pay . He came and paid it for us . He paid our bond and therefore he owns us and we voluntarily submit to him . We can either be rude to him and mean to him and say I don't care that you paid my debt , I'm going to go try to do it myself anyway , of my own pride , in which case all I'm going to do is end up in sin and death . But if I voluntarily accept his payment and voluntarily put myself under him , then he will wisely guide my life . He will wisely lead me into green pastures . He will wisely lead me out of the messes that I've made for myself and lead me into his glorious will , because that's what it means to be a Christian .

Glenn 9:28

James , when he says a bond servant or a bond slave . He is wholly , entirely committed to the Lord Jesus . It's not a part-time thing , it's not a sometimes thing . It's not a club that you go join and say I'm a Christian like I'm a member of some other club . This is an entire change of worldview .

Steve 9:46

So a real quick question before we move on , Glenn , for our audience of believers , are you a bond servant of the Lord Jesus Christ ? Have you decided that you're going to serve him and die to yourself ? That's a question that all believers should ask themselves . As we go through James , we're also going to find out some practical ways of living . That are going to be other questions that the audience is going to need to ask ourselves .

Glenn 10:15

Now , steve , let's consider this man , james , again . Who was he ? He was the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ . He was a leader in the church . He was an apostle from Jerusalem . He had done great things . He could have listed off all his credentials here . Look at me . I'm this great person , I'm in a position of power and influence , but he knows none of that . He says I'm a bond slave to the Lord . Why would he do that instead of listing off all of his credentials and his power and influence .

Steve 10:47

He could say I'm a relative of Jesus , he is my brother , but he doesn't say that . He says I am a servant of Jesus . We mentioned in our last session that in Matthew it's recorded his brothers and sisters didn't believe in who he was . Now we see James that is totally committed and sold out to Jesus .

Glenn 11:12

Again in verse one . He says here that he is writing to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad . So we have there , steve , he's writing to Jewish people . He is a Jew who is writing to other Jewish people . That's one of the reasons we hold that it's a very thoroughly Jewish book . It doesn't seem like , as we said in the opening , that those twelve tribes are lost . It seems that they knew exactly where they were . We also need to mention you can be Jewish and put your faith in Jesus Christ at the same time . You don't stop being Jewish just because you become a follower of Christ , any more than if you're Swedish or German or Russian or Italian and you become a Christian . You don't stop being Swedish or German or Russian or Italian . You're still those ethnicities , you're just a Christian . Now , same thing with Judaism . Judaism is both a religion and an ethnicity . A Jewish person can be Jewish today and not practice the religion . That happens a lot . They're still Jewish . So they may not follow the religion of Judaism if they're following Christ or they may .

Glenn 12:21

There's nothing says they can't . There's nothing wrong with a Jewish believer in Jesus Christ following the Mosaic law . It's just that now they're followers of Christ . Now moving on , steve , if you could start at verse two and read down through verse four .

Steve 12:37

Consider it all Joy , my brethren , when you encounter various trials . Knowing 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 .

Glenn 12:50

So in verse two it speaks of various trials . So , Steve , what's a trial ?

Steve 12:55

So the word here that you use for trial is also translated as temptation , another part . But the direct meaning of the word here means to make trial or to try or to attempt . It's talking about a trial or a temptation of putting to the test , or spoken of persons only . But the more broader sense that it was used in at the time talks about trying to learn the nature or character of someone or something , that's by submitting such to thorough and extensive testing . So when James is mentioning here that , to consider it all Joy when you encounter various trials or temptations , it's a testing to prove out , to see what it is , what's the character of the person that's there . So , james , is clear here we should be happy and joyous whenever we come up these situations so that we can prove out that we are a faithful follower of Jesus Christ

The Purpose and Joy in Trials

Steve 13:58

.

Glenn 13:58

The phrase he uses here says various trials . The word various there means many different kinds of Christians . Don't just have one kind of trial , You've got various trials . It's the same word that's used over in 1 Peter 410 when it says manifold grace of God . So just like there can be various or many kinds of trials , there can be various , many kinds of God's grace . That's what he's saying in 410 . The word various literally means multicolored or rainbow . So there's this gradation or many types of trials that we can have . So just like there's lights of trials , the good news is there's various types of God's grace . So here's a question , Steve are trials useful ? Can they have a purpose ?

Steve 14:46

Yes , they do have a purpose .

Steve 14:48

I can say that confidently from my life that the trials that I have gone through have always strengthened my faith in Jesus Christ and my faith in God , because I've known through those trials that God is with me .

Steve 15:06

Again , it's something that nonbelievers won't understand , that you really can't explain how that works , but I know that that's something that's been the case in my life . Now , going through them and the pain sometimes of these trials that you go through it's not pleasant , but on the other side of the trial and the outcome of it is something that you can look back on and that you can say I understand why it took place . It's also something that you can take joy in just as James here is encouraging others to do , in that you came through that trial and that your faith in God and your faith in Jesus Christ helped you to come through that trial , and that you can then understand . Okay , now I understand why it happened and I can understand that I can bear up to these trials and these burdens by staying close to God and Jesus Christ , because when push comes to shove , in the end there's nobody else there sometimes except for Jesus Trials have a most definite purpose .

Glenn 16:14

They prove to us that our faith works . And I think of in manufacturing plants . Anytime they build anything for the first time , somebody goes and tries it out , and they're not trying to get it to fail , they're proving that it'll work . That's why we do trials . Anything you're going to make , you're going to go okay , let's try it out . Prove that this works . That's why you do trials . So trials prove that it works , the way it's designed . It strengthens things and it makes sure that it works correctly . That's why we have trials . So God puts us through trials , to strengthen us , to prove that our faith is genuine , not so much to God but to ourselves . I mean , he knows our hearts . We don't have to prove anything to him . It's proving him to us . That's why we go through trials . I remember , right after I got saved , god blessed me by helping me lose my job and I was quite poor . Thank you very much . But God always came through . I never missed a meal , my bills got paid in the end and I learned to trust God . Those were trials , but they proved God's faithfulness to me . It strengthened my faith . In the end , I can trust him now , no matter what the situation is and , as you pointed out , steve , he says when you go through trials , not if so . Therefore , there's other places in the New Testament that mentions this exact same concept . God says it's been granted to us to suffer for Christ's sake . It says that in Philippians 1.29 . Think of that . We're granted the privilege of suffering for Christ's sake . It says in Philippians .

Glenn 17:51

Remember Joseph in Genesis ? He went through a long series of trials and , no fault of his own , his brother sold him into slavery . He got falsely accused by a landowner and very influential person and put in prison for a long period of time where he was forgotten about . He went through years of trials . What did Joseph say at the end of the book ? He said you meant it for evil , but God meant it for good , to save many people and keep us alive . He could look his family in the eye and say there was this purpose that God had for leading me through all those trials , which was to save the rest of the family . God always has a purpose for the trial . Now , he may not always tell us what the purpose is , but there's always a purpose . He doesn't put us through things for no reason . There's always a purpose . It builds our faith . So next question , steve what are we supposed to do when we encounter a trial ? Suddenly , we get to this trial . It's painful . What do we do ? It tells us in verse 2 , what do we do ?

Steve 18:58

Well , we consider it all joy , which again is counterintuitive to consider it joy . But the first word there in verse 3 is knowing . So , through these trials or these temptations that come about , and that we take joy in it's because we're going to end up knowing that our testing or our faith is going to produce endurance . So the result on the other side of it is that we get a more of a firm conviction and a knowledge that's there that can't be shaken . It firms up that faith that we have .

Glenn 19:36

We already said , these trials are painful . They're not pleasant as a general rule when you go through them . How can we count it joy when it's painful ? I mean trials , by definition , are difficult . That's why it's called a trial . But he says count it joy . James is a very practical book . How am I supposed to and I'm experiencing pain down in a valley Am I supposed to count it joy ?

Steve 20:00

I think because the once you go through a trial and you come out the other side and , as I mentioned before , you can look back and you say you can understand that God was there with you through it , that Jesus was there with you through it , that then that sets it up for the next trial that you have . You know that God is going to be there with you through that . When you go through it , you can consider it joy . Now again , I've been through as you have as well been through some trials that are very painful and that you wonder . And I know that I have friends and they wonder you know God , why would you allow this to happen to me ? But on those friends as well as my life , you get closer to God through that . So that helps set up future trials .

Steve 20:52

I think what James is talking about here he says by the trial because he was going through trials . We see in Acts and some of the others how the first , the early church , how they were treated , they were beaten , they were told to stop other things . So James is speaking , I think , from a firsthand perspective as well . He's gone through these trials and he's saying , when these things come about , consider it joy because you know that it strengthens your faith and it's going to give you that endurance to live your life . I think that's how you can count it as joy is because your past trials can help you with your future trial , that you know that are still going to happen to you .

Glenn 21:35

That's exactly what he's saying here . Again , if we look at verse 2 , consider it all joy , my brethren , when you encounter various trials , knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance . So the endurance is the good thing . Yeah , the trial is painful , but look what it produces . It produces a good thing called endurance . Could you ever get the endurance without the pain of the trial ? I submit no .

Glenn 22:00

So what I don't think he's saying here is to deny the pain and pretend it's not hurting . I don't think he's saying that . When he says count it all joy when you go through various trials , I think he's saying count it joy because look at the end result , Keep your eye on the end result . That's joyful . Look what I'm going to get at the end . I'm going to be stronger , I'm going to be able to minister to a lot more people in a lot more different circumstances . I don't think he's saying pretend it doesn't hurt . I think he's saying consider it joy because if you keep your eye on the fruit that's going to come from this , that you can consider joy . If we realize we're in the will of God and that God is using this , then we can indeed have a deep seed of joy , even when it hurts on the outside . Don't you think that's true , Steve ?

Steve 22:52

That word joy there it can also be steadfastness . Think of a house that's built on a beach close to the ocean and you have a hurricane or a typhoon that comes along and it endures that typhoon or that storm , the wind blowing on it and the waves that are blowing on it After that storm passes . It's there that proves itself that it has a steadfastness , that it endured that storm . That's the word picture that I get whenever I see this . You weather the trial . Afterwards you can take joy in that you're left standing , that you have that steadfastness , or then that you endure through it .

Glenn 23:37

Is it true that painful circumstances are good ?

Steve 23:42

Painful circumstances can be good if you stay close to the Lord . It brings you closer to the Lord . God is there and many times he's the only one that's there .

Glenn 23:54

That's really where I was going . I'm not personally ready to say pain is good . What I'm saying is that these trials , these painful circumstances , produce a good thing . That's really the point of this . When are we and this is what you were just saying when is the time that we're closest to the Lord ? When's the time where we're ?

Steve 24:14

closest to the Lord . Whenever we get in a situation where we have no place to turn to but the Lord , that's been . My experience is that when these situations come up , I've learned to go directly . Sometimes in my earlier journey I would maybe try to get out of it myself , but I've learned now that whenever a trial comes up , something that comes up , I go directly to the Lord . I go and seek Him directly because I know that he's going to be there with me through it .

Glenn 24:41

Here's a question , steve what's the difference between a trial and a temptation ? I think there's a difference . This is talking about trials . In a few verses down he's going to talk about temptations . I think there's a difference in trials and temptation . A trial is not a temptation to sin . I'm not being tempted to sin by a trial . A trial is a painful , difficult circumstances . That in the end , I'm going to be better because of A temptation is something that I'm tempted to get away from the Lord and go sin . That's the distinction , I think . Therefore , wouldn't you agree that a trial can come from God but not a temptation ?

Steve 25:25

Let me go back to the gist of the word itself , used in the context of how it was used in that day , to try to learn the nature or character of someone or something by submitting such someone or something to thorough and extensive testing . So , yes , the temptation is different from a trial . In that way , in this perspective of how James is using it here , james is using it in a positive sense , he's not using it in a negative sense , dr .

Glenn 26:00

Darrell Bock Since I know there's a lot of very hurting people that are going to listen to this want to be real clear on a couple of things . One is that we're not saying the pain is good . What we're saying is that the trial can produce a good thing . We're also saying that God always has a purpose for it . We might not see that purpose .

Glenn 26:20

Remember Job in the Old Testament . He went through all kinds of trials and God never says why . He never tells Job , why Even by the end of the book he never tells Job why he allowed all these things . What we do know is that God always has a purpose . At least one of those purposes is to bring glory to him , to bring glory to God . So think of it , steve .

Glenn 26:43

Whenever we are to go through a difficult trial , painful circumstance whether it be poverty or sickness or persecution or whatever state and we're able to get through that and still have calmness about us and still glorify the Lord and give him credit . He gave me the strength to get through it . What does that do to the nonbelievers around us ? That gets their attention when that person look at all they went through and they're still praising God . That's a good witness . That's one of the beauties of the trial is because God gets the glory through these things and we're able to speak to people , and talk to people that wouldn't listen to us otherwise without this trial . It gives us the faith to get to the next one .

Glenn 27:32

I always remember David went up against Goliath . Well , what did he say ? Oh , I've already gone up against a lion and a bear , this would be no problem . Well , sometimes you go through lions and sometimes you go up against bears , and sometimes you go up against giants , but they all build our faith . The other thing I want to use to just qualify this for our audience , steve , and I think you would agree with this we're not saying every painful circumstance is necessarily a trial from God . Yes , god can bring in like he did with Job and like he's saying here James painful , difficult circumstances for a good , greater purpose . But every time I'm hurting isn't necessarily a trial from God . If I go out and sin and suffer because of my own sin , I did it to myself . It's not a trial . It's because I foolishly went out and disobeyed God . That's why it

Consequences of Sin and Practical Teachings

Glenn 28:23

hurts so bad .

Steve 28:23

What you're describing . There is a consequence . That's a consequence of a sinful act or a sinful thing that we did . That's not something that is a trial or a temptation . From that perspective , that is something that we have brought about against ourselves . Those are consequences . Those , I don't believe , is what James is talking about here .

Glenn 28:45

So our time is short for today , so we'll go ahead and stop here . We hope you're seeing that there are some great teachings , some great nuggets of gold , silver , precious stones here in James , as there is in everywhere in the Word of God . But it's very practical , very useful book , very applicable to our lives today . We trust that you'll be back with us next time as we reason through the Bible . Thanks for watching .

Steve 29:10

May God bless you .