James 1:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

NIV: because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

NASB: for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.

CSB: for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

NLT: Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

KJV: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

NKJV: for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Why should we, as God's children through faith in Christ, learn to control our anger, to slow it down, to keep it in check? For James, the bottom line is this: Anger doesn't work. Practically speaking, anger is an ineffective tool for contributing to the righteousness of God. Letting anger fly may be a great tool for getting our own way. The world tells us that anger can manipulate or intimidate those around us. Anger gives us the feeling that we are in control of the people in our lives, even making ourselves feel better for a few moments. But even from a non-spiritual perspective, this comes at a high price. We lose our integrity, the trust of others, and our self-control when we live by anger.

James' teaching here reveals a huge idea: We were created for far more than simply getting the superficial things out of life. Part of our purpose as believers is to be used by God to help contribute to His righteousness, to help accomplish His purpose in the world. We have a glorious, eternal purpose, far greater than what we can achieve through anger or sin.

James distinguishes between "human anger" or the "anger of man" and, presumably, God's anger. Everything God feels and expresses is righteous, including His anger. Human anger, by contrast, is nearly always an expression of human selfishness, fear, or desire to control the world around us. Those who trust the Father to be in control, to provide what is needed, to bring justice when the time is right, can afford to let go of human anger.

James 1:19–27 emphasizes that those who truly trust God don't settle for merely appearing religious. They give up trying to control the world with their words and their anger. They humbly receive the Word God has planted in them, listen to it, and proceed to do what it says. Part of what the Word says to us is that we should keep control over our words, to care for those who are weak and suffering, and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world around us.

How important is it for Christians to trust God? It's so important, James writes, that we should call our worst moments joyful things, because trials help us trust God more. People who trust God ask Him for wisdom—and then take what He gives. People who trust God make a bigger deal about their rewards in the next life than their wealth in this one. People who trust God don't blame Him for their desire to sin; they give Him credit for all that is good in their lives. They look into His Word, and they act on what they see there.

This first chapter in the book of James sets the course for the rest of his letter to Christians worldwide. God wants us to trust Him more, and more deeply, as we learn more of Him. This is so important to God that He calls on us to find joy, even in hard times, because hardship helps us trust God more. Those who really trust God will ask Him for wisdom, will be excited about their status in eternity, will recognize Him as the source of all good in their lives, and will work to act on what they find in His Word.

The book of James is about specifically understanding what saving faith looks like. How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believer's life? What choices does real trust in God lead us to make? Those are the questions James answers. Most scholars believe the writer was Jesus' half-brother, a son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus' birth. James may not have come to believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Eventually, though, he became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. This is possibly the earliest-written of all the New Testament books, around AD 40–50. James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered around the known world.