James for You: Showing you how real faith looks in real life

God's Word for You

by Sam Allberry

Expository Bible-study guide to James, showing how real faith looks in real life. What is the difference between genuine faith and counterfeit faith? How do we know for sure that our faith is real? How can we know joy even in trials, and patience even in suffering? James is a book full of practical, life-changing help for real life. James For You makes clear its teaching and applies its challenges to the experiences of everyday Christians as Sam Allberry brings his clarity, wisdom and humor to every page. You can read through this book as a normal book… work through it as part of your daily Bible-reading routine… or use it to help you teach this letter, whether in small groups or from the pulpit.

Genres: Christian, Faith, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian Living, Christianity

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2015

About the author

Sam comes from Sevenoaks in Kent, but studied theology at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, and has since worked at St Ebbe's Church, Oxford, and now serves at a church in Maidenhead. Hobbies include reading, watching The West Wing and anything to do with South-East Asia.

Reviews

[Matt Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend! An excellent introductory commentary on James that really seeks to fulfil James’ own exhortation to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful and accessible commentary on James' letter. Allberry breaks down the book into digestible chunks with thoughtful and practical questions at each checkpoint, although I didn't quite understand why each chapter was split into halves and how each division was made. I recently preached on James 2:14-26 with less time to prep than planned (I started writing the sermon text the night before haha), but reading the relevant passages in this book aided in solidifying key points. A strength is that Alberry seeks to read James' letter as a cohesive and organised whole, rather than as a smattering of disconnected topics on practical wisdom. A weakness is that the commentary can feel a little lean at points, and for the sake of accessibility, sometimes doesn't show complete working in landing a conclusion (e.g. comparing different ideas)

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise commentary at a lay level. It is more of a devotional or application commentary, but while it doesn't go deeply, verse by verse into the book of James, there is plenty of food for thought in this book. A glossary is provided for terms that may not be familiar to everyone, making this book accessible to anyone. This was my first book from this series, but it won't be my last.

[Nick Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful breakdown of James. I find Allbery's imagery, and especially his wording extremely helpful and challenging when understanding big ideas

[EllaCait Downs]

used for a bible study!

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really accessible, helpful little commentary — great for everything from sermon prep to personal devotions. The questions at the end of each section are a lot more probing and practical than you find in some other commentaries or studies.

[Allison Heredia · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid study

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing study and even better when done with a friend!

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5*
Here is Allberry's closing question: 'How has the Spirit been prompting you to love Jesus more, and work harder and more wholeheartedly in living for him?'
Work harder. This is what I've come to expect of teaching from the book of James, and this question very much reflects the rest of the book. It is on the whole missing the actual Gospel, and only focusing on the outworkings of the Gospel. So we're left with ourselves and our own struggle with double-mindedness, and haven't had much time devoted to beholding Jesus, the One who was never double-minded, who covers over our sin and does all that we fail to do, and who woos us back to Himself when our love for Him is feeble. The book of James is obviously a very practical book, but we should be pointed to Jesus at every turn, as we're confronted with our failings and sin, and our half-heartedness and double-mindedness, and to lift our eyes to see the man who alone was perfect and who suffered in our place. And who yes, does help us live for Him, and is our hope when we fail to. But it was this constant going to Jesus and His perfection and His Gospel that Allberry often missed out. A good example of this is when he was looking at the taming the tongue part in James 3:8, and the inability of man to do this, Allberry says that with God all things are possible. To which I'd agree, that the Spirit now helps us as we endeavour to tame our tongue, but surely the first and main focus should have been on Jesus Himself, who did that impossible thing, tamed His tongue, so that He could plead for us and die in our place for all that ways we fail to honour God with our tongue.

Obviously, James gives lots of challenges and practical wisdom, and it is right to maintain those when you teach through James, but if we're not shown how those things ultimately point us to Jesus Himself and His sufficiency and His perfect Gospel, then I think we will be tempted to either puff ourselves up with pride in how well we're living for Jesus or feel despair in how 'rubbish' a Christian we are.

Now, that is not to say that Allberry didn't remind us of the Gospel, because he did, but the overall tone and focus was more on us and what we do, than on Christ and what He has done.

[Justin Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While my rating for this book expresses my opinion of the content in it, I would be hesitant at this time to recommend it due to concerns over other teachings (not found in this book) that are affirmed by Sam Allberry through his ministry, Living Out. I won’t expand on this as critiques of Living Out are not hard to find online, nevertheless, they are concerning enough for me to feel this qualification of my rating is necessary. If that changes, I hope to be able to amend the review by removing this disclaimer at a later date.

As for the book itself, I found it mostly helpful. It isn’t the best book on James I used as I taught through the epistle (in my judgment), and I feel like the author has a tendency to make connections that are tenuous at best. While James may have these connections in mind, the way he presents them hardly seems to suggest he expected his readers to come to the conclusions that the author does here. For all that, there is much good insight here as well and a generally good explanation of the text overall.

[Rachel Menke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our church has been going through the book of James and I thought it would be a helpful add-on to read this book as we progressed through the text. I’ve liked Allberry’s writing since I first read him and this book was no exception. I had found others in this series to be effective in helping me to not only better understand the text but also to better apply it and Allberry excels at this. James is a very practical book but it can also be a bit confusing and has several (as Allberry would put it “dodgy parts”) which can be and have often been misinterpreted. These are dealt with well and clearly using the text as the guide. One of the best things about this book are the illustrations Sam Allberry comes with! So many of them are now stuck in my mind helping me not only apply James in my life this fall but hopefully for the rest of my life! I highly recommend this book and this series for anyone looking for a solid resource to accompany their Bible study

[Mason Frierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among all the commentaries on James I have read I found this one by Sam Allberry to be the best: theologically sound, contextually sensible, pastorally sharp and reasonable in length. He takes the whole letter into consideration when interpreting a seemingly random passage in the flow of the letter and points out the rationale behind its place in the letter. He also brings the whole counsel of God in the discussion and puts Christ and the gospel at the center. If you were to get just one commentary on James, I would recommend you to get this one.

[Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent commentary that allows for not only a proper exegesis of the text, but also has several illustrations, stories, and other helpful ways that brings the Scriptures alive in a way that I haven't experienced before. We used this at our church to teach through the book of James with our student ministry and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to use this either as a teaching resource or even a personal quiet time devotional!

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book as I lead a Bible study through James and the participants all had their own copies as well. It was a fantastic study resource and helped this book really “click” in our minds and come alive. This is the second book from this series I’ve used and I’ve so appreciated how approachable they are for even those very new to Scripture while not skimping on truth and challenge for those much more well versed.

[Cho Yim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would recommend to anyone wanting to grow from the book of James.
Appreciated how the author unified a lot of passages from James and showed how they connected. The teaching is clear with great illustrations, the application is insightful, and the self-reflection questions are helpful. Looking forward to checking out the other books in the God's Word For You series.

[Brandon Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very solid, modern commentary on James that doesn’t require you to be a seminary graduate to understand or appreciate. It’s definitely written from a Reformed perspective, but even as a Methodist I have no problem saying that ideas presented are applicable in any theological setting.

Well written, and highly recommended.

[Makayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already loved and appreciated the book of James so much, but I think Alberry does a nice job making everything super relevant and understandable, and you just can't get around the conviction you feel when reading the book of James! Super enlightening little book to go along with my daily Bible reading.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book we read in Sunday School at church. There were some really good insights that I made marks about. It is helpful to have people give their input, but at the same time, it must be remembered that humans don't always have the correct meaning. This is all a learning process and should never replace the Bible.

[Lauren Merrifield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a good time with this one. I liked the format and the way Sam Allberry walked through the text slowly and clearly. I really appreciated how he emphasized the through line of the book and of each thought so the reader knew how James got to each point and understand that he isn't just willy nilly jumping from topic to topic.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally recommend this commentary series! Different authors for different books of the Bible. Used this as a companion to the James study with a group of women and it added a lot of insight to the study and offered some great visuals to spur on discussion.

[Cassie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent commentary and I’d highly recommend it for people diving into studying the Bible for the first time. Personally, I found it didn’t add a lot on top of my personal study and study notes/references but it was fun to try!

[Matt Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allberry was a good conversation partner during sermon prep for application. The commentary was fine but probably not enough for anyone preaching through James. But for thinking through applications it’s helpful. I also found the questions at the end of the chapter useful.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was a late pick up to use with my teaching of James, and like the other books in the “For You” series this book was solidly Biblical, but this was the best one I have read yet. Such good insight and depth of teaching! Highly recommended

[Paul Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource for Sermon prep but also private Bible study devotion. I like the questions for reflection at the end. I would personally recommend this as a resource to anyone, both layman and Pastor.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very lay-friendly book about the book of James. I wouldn’t call it exactly a “Bible study”... it doesn’t direct the reader to dig in and study. But the author does work through the entire book and offers excellent insights, explanations, and examples.

[Joshua D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical, very readable and very helpful

I used this book for my quiet time. It was fruitful and challenging. This is a great commentary series, and I enjoyed this particular author.

[Theresa T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

He does a great job breaking down James. Some of the discussion questions were a little off but that didn’t detract from the overall strength of the analysis. Each chapter (in Janes For You) usually breaks down a passage into two parts. That can be a little weird if you’re doing a study group around it. If you’re reading this for a Bible study group, I recommend doing a chapter (of James For You) at a time instead of doing Part 1 and Part 2 of a chapter over separate meetings.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is possibly the best "For You" volume I've worked through. It's a devotional commentary through James, but that doesn't mean it's lightweight - and the applicatory thoughts and questions are particularly helpful. A good companion for preachers, teachers and home group leaders.

[GreatHeart Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A high level faith-filled commentary

Great for pastors, lay leaders, and those looking to dive deep into the biblical text. This is a wonderful commentary by a top notch scholar. I highly recommend

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

We studied James in our bible study group and I found this book incredibly helpful. It is a very easy to read and thorough guide, I would highly recommend it and any in this series.