Do we not all need to hear this? I know I need to hear this. It is so easy for me to get angry for no reason, or angry at my wife, or be quick to give my opinion, instead of hearing someone, but this is not the attitude that produces the righteousness of God.
So what does this passage mean? Well, first we can conclude that God does get angry, we need to avoid the extreme that He is never angry. We see this in Matt 3:5; it is not correct to say that Jesus was just a softy, but it is true to say that He was God, so His anger was always righteous! We cannot excuse ourselves as always having righteous anger.
Bede, an early church commentator in the 600's AD, says "Even if anger seems justified in human terms, it can never be right in God's eyes. A human judge who looses his temper, even if his decision is a right one, cannot imitate the justice of God, who always judges in perfect tranquility of mind."
Also, Oceumenius, another early christian commentator, gives the solution, "it might be wrong to be slow in other things, but when it comes to anger, tardiness is the right policy."
Maybe that is what James means, slow to speak, slow to anger - this is what prevents us from irrational,unrighteous anger - slowness.
Here is our beautiful paradox in this practice. Are we to get angry? Yes, but no. Are there unrighteous things that should duly anger us? Yes, in love, but not in temper or raw emotion.
O, how I need to repent, and submit to this teaching of Scripture, by God's grace and Christ life in me. - Ty
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