NOTES for Jam 1:16-27
Speaking of Christian life, James mentions the “free fullness of the Torah” or the “fullness of the Torah in freedom”; the corresponding Greek expression allows both interpretations, while the Russian Synodal translation offers “the perfect law of liberty.” This is, of course, not only or even primarily about the Torah as legislation or a moral code, but about what was called the inner Torah in Gospel times. The Torah was then viewed not only as an external law but also as an inner spiritual and moral imperative, as God's will addressed directly to the person. Each commandment became for that person an intention of God Himself addressed directly to them, which they were free to accept or ignore.
Such a Torah became the word of God, God's call addressed directly to the person. It was this inner Torah that the learned rabbis of those times had in mind when they spoke of the “easy yoke of the Torah,” which one voluntarily takes upon oneself in order to set out on the path of righteousness and be freed from the burden of sin weighing upon one. Yet freedom from sin's power was possible only by receiving the Torah in all its fullness, submitting one's life to it completely, and becoming what was called a “living Torah” in Gospel times. Only then did the Torah become the “Torah of freedom,” freeing a person from sin's power.
Before Christ, no one had achieved this, and the first and second generations of Christians saw Christ as the sole example of this living Torah: He had indeed been free from the power of evil and sin from the very beginning. In following Christ, however, His disciples hoped that with their Teacher's help they too could be freed from sin's power and become a living Torah like Him. This is what the apostle reminds the recipients of his epistle of.
He urges them not to stop at outward things alone, as probably often happened in the church communities of the time, where merely being present at the assembly, listening to the reading and preaching, and taking part in the breaking of bread was considered sufficient. All this may touch a person outwardly, but without corresponding inner work nothing will come of it. The person will remain as they are and, once they have left the church assembly, will soon forget the beautiful words and lofty ideals. This is not Christian life, but only its illusion, as the apostle reminds his readers.