Were the people Jesus was teaching and preaching to under the Law??? The answer is yes, of course...They were devout law abiding Jews...
At what point were they no longer under the law???
When did the events in James take place and when was it written???
Like Paul’s epistles was the book of James written to the church???
Who was James written to???
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There is much disagreement about James. It should be no surprise that a book that seems to contradict the Letters of Paul to such a stark degree should have opponents even within the Church tradition. I’m just going to throw out a few points where there is a lot of agreement (even if it is not majority agreement).
James is an old Epistle some argue that it may have been written as early as 50 AD. That could put it even earlier than the first Letters of Paul. I have my doubts about that, but it could be true.
James like Matthew is wary of the Antinomian tendencies of Pauline preaching. By Antinomian, I just mean the rejection or diminished-stature of moral norms/laws that can arise when one asserts Justification by Faith alone.
The book was almost certainly written to Jewish Christians (again like Matthew). But who (or where those Christians were) is not revealed. Since the Epistle is so old, they were probably somewhere in Palestine, but that is not certain.
No James and Matthew are not wary of the Pauline epistles...The mysteries of the church were not even revealed yet when Matthew and James were written...
By Antinomian, I just mean the rejection or diminished-stature of moral norms/laws that can arise when one asserts Justification by Faith alone.
The diminished -stature of moral norms can arise just as well if one asserts justification by Faith + works...Just look at your religion...Most of the clergy are queers...No one believes the scriptures...Divorce is forbidden but annulment is encouraged in it's place...Every Catholic I know drinks to the state of drunkenness which seems to be alright as long as it's done in the presence of a Mary statue...
What you obviously have no clue about is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and his influence upon the spirit of the born again Christian...You people seem to attempt to please Jesus by the works you do...WE attempt to please Jesus because we love him and he loves us...No strings attached...
Why shouldn’t I just believe that both Matthew and James are heretics?