God is in the habit of giving people something better than what they deserve. George Stulac writes:
By instructing his readers to ask for wisdom, James is pointed them to God’s grace. This is one example of what underlies the whole epistle - James’s confidence in the grace of God and his intense desire for his readers to place their own reliance there.
To be human means to be flawed and imperfect. It means even to be sinful and corrupt. Human beings are born into a bad situation, a situation out of which they cannot get themselves.
The abstract concept of grace take a specific and concrete form in the person of Jesus. The core of His message is to tell people that they can’t earn their way into heaven, and should stop trying to do so.
Jesus presents Himself as offering, freely and equally to all, admission into heaven. That which we can’t earn for ourselves, He gives as a gift. George Stulac continues:
James then leads his readers into God’s grace by calling attention to four facets. As they come in the Greek word order, first God is the one who “is giving.” The word is didontos, a present active participle; it is God’s constant nature to be gracious and giving. Second, God gives to all (pasin). The call to live by faith is extended to everyone, and no one is left without an invitation to trust in God. Third, God gives generously (haplos), emphasizing that God gives freely and without reserve. Fourth, God gives without finding fault, or without reproaching.
The ability to display grace - to be gracious - is not only ethically good, but is also a display of power. Only a powerful being can give gifts which are so good and so many.
Thus we see that Jesus is not only generous, but is in control. The title ‘Lord’ indicates that Jesus is powerful as well as graceful. Ed Potoczak writes:
Our Lord’s nature is entirely about forgiveness. He loved us and forgave us before we even knew him. He even died for us before we were born. We can be brave and strong, but we are also called as knights of the King’s court to forgive those we live with, work with, and meet on a daily basis. By relying on Jesus and his strength and peace we can work out our differences and if the other party will not reconcile with us, we can forgive him or her as a follower of Christ and move on. The God of mercy expects his knights to be sincerely merciful.
Grace, then, is not a product of weakness, but rather flows from strength. God’s omnipotence is the source of His grace.
The ability to give many and great gifts belongs only to a most powerful Being. The vassal can be gracious, but the king much more so, and the vassal's graciousness is empower by the king’s.
