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C.        Lesson Three, James 2:1-13

James teaches us to practice the truth. It is to be a lifestyle. Hearing and talking the Word is never the same as doing the Word. One who is properly related to God is also properly related to His body. We must stand with confidence and serve with benevolence. Genuine Believers are servants without partiality or prejudice. Prejudice and partiality are hindrances to spiritual progress and maturity. Those who demonstrate these traits are immature and in need of the discipline of God.

The Believer’s ministry must be without condemnation, prejudice, walls, retaliation, profanity, or idolatry.

James uses “brothers” as a form of equality. Studies of ancient letters of the period, in which James lived, show many aspects of relationship within letter writing. Whenever “brother” or “sister” is used in correspondence, it is considered to be a letter to peers.  All of us are children of God and God is no respecter of persons (Ac.10:34).  Keep in mind that James was the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.   If he wanted to, he could use this to claim some sort of partiality for himself. However, James places himself as an equal among the brethren.  An old Jewish proverb says that each individual is worth the creation of the universe. If a man were to destroy one (1) man, it would be as if he were destroying the entire universe. This tells of the value of every human being in the eyes of God.

Value can be seen with the natural eye but true worth cannot. Samuel had all of Jesse’s sons to pass before him, looking for the next King of Israel. They were all handsome boys and would have made a good choice by human standards. However, God does not look on the outward man. He looks on the condition of the heart (1Sa.16:6-7).

The world that James lived in was very bias. Many forms of prejudice dominated it. This has been the trouble that the people of God have had to face since the very beginning. James admonishes his readers to keep this in mind and not be participants of the same evils that are practiced outside of the Righteous Community. Christ came to restore all men to the place Adam possessed before his fall. In Him, there is no bond or free, Jew or Gentile. We are all one body (1Co.12:13).

1.         Showing partiality does not become Believers (v.1).

Too much distinction in the churches of today is made between the rich and the poor.  James chose this example in dealing with the various forms of partiality.  There was competition among the brethren in James’ day.  This competition took place individually, among people, and corporately for positions in the ministry.

To show favoritism is to give special attention to people because of their wealth, clothing or position.  To do so is wrong for several reasons: 

a.         It displeases God, who does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart (1Sa.16:7).

b.         It is not motivated by genuine love for all (v.8). 

The admiration of social status judges with evil thoughts (v.4). Instead of honoring our glorious Lord and accepting persons on the basis of their faith in Christ, we unjustly favor the rich or influential from an evil motive for the advantage we might receive.

2.         The same problem is facing us today. 

It may occur among friends.  This is the reason many cannot maintain friendships, for competition and jealousy divides them.

It can happen in the family, as siblings strive in competition for dominance.  It can happen in the work place, where it is often a “dog-eat-dog” struggle.  Unfortunately, it is even in our churches.  Here, men and women strive for prestige, influence, and control of what is, or will happen.

3.         Our behavior toward others reveals much about our relationship with God.

John the Beloved hit the nail on the head when he spoke about our ability to say we love God, and yet hate our brother. John said that person is a liar.  It is plain, “...for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1Jn.4:20).

Often we tend to judge people by their appearance, notoriety, or popularity.  We tend to judge people by their past instead of their potential future.

4.         Jesus never showed partiality.

One Pharisee, though insincere with the words, testified that Jesus always spoke the truth, without partiality (Mt.22:16).  He said, “...we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.”  Jesus never judged anyone by outward appearance, but rather by their heart.  Sinners were called “lost sheep,” while the Pharisees, in their religious hypocrisy, were called “vipers and wolves.”

Jesus was accused of being a “friend of sinners.”  This is true, for to Zaccheaus, a Publican, He said,”I’m coming to your house today.”  In testimony to us about His mission, and for the woman at the well, the Scriptures tells us that “...He must needs go through Samaria” (Jn.4:4).

Jesus was never condoning, and yet neither condemning.  To the woman caught in adultery He said, “...neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.”  In testimony of this principle, Luke tells us that He came “...to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk.19:10).

Jesus looked upon everyone as to his or her potential. He called Simon, which means a “leaf,” Peter, in the Greek “petros,” which means “a rock.”  Jesus took Matthew, a Jewish tax collector, into His band to become an apostle and a writer of a Gospel letter.

Jesus knew the sting of rejection.  In Isaiah, there is testimony of the fact that He was “...despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief...”  Mankind A...despised, and we esteemed Him not.”   Even though He bore our grief’s and carried our sorrows, we were happy to “...esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”   He went through the worst beating a man could suffer, with wounds, bruises, chastisement, and stripes.  All of humanity has gone astray, turning to their own way, while the Father “...laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”   While Jesus was oppressed and afflicted, He did not rail upon those soldiers, for “...he opened not his mouth...” Like a lamb, He went to the slaughter without opening His mouth (Is.53:3-7).

Jesus, living in human flesh, felt all that we feel. The writer of Hebrews testifies that we have a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities...” (He.4:15).

5.         We must look upon others through the eyes of Christ.

It is up to us to love people as Christ does, accept them because Christ cares for them and is working on them.  It is for us to be like our Master.

This is where grace comes in, God’s ability in us, making us to become like Him (vs.5-13).  We have to acknowledge our mistakes and failures (vs.5-7).

6.         God has chosen those who are poor (2:5). 

The poor are special and precious to God (Is.61:1; Lk.4:18; 6:20; 7:22).  Often, it is the poor in this world who are the richest in faith and spiritual gifts and who, in their need, cry out most intensely to God in sincere hunger for His Presence, mercy, and help (Lk.6:20-21).  The economically depressed, around the world, learn that they cannot put their trust in material possessions.  Therefore, they respond more readily to Jesus’ invitation (Mt.11:28). Often the poor are those who have not set their affections on the riches of this world but rather on God and His priorities. They are those who seek first the Kingdom and its righteous, rather than the wealth of this world. These are the ones to whom the Kingdom of God belongs. One (1) commentator called them the last, least, lost, little and the dead. These are the greatest in the Kingdom because God is their priority.  He did not come to heal the well but the sick.

Many men were discriminated against because of their faith and race.  They were being oppressed and taken advantage of in court by the elite.  James says that they are discriminating against others among them who are less fortunate.  They were not fulfilling the Royal Law of Love (v.8).  While Jesus was here, He spoke of the “first” and the “second” Commandment.  First, we are to “...love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”  Then, He tells us to “...love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mt.22:37-40). The Royal Law is the intent and goal of the Law as we mentioned above. The true intent of all of the Law was for man to have a proper relationship with God and his fellow man. James here uses the Old Testament passages to remind his readers of this truth. This portion of his sermon is derived from the Book of Leviticus (Le.19:11-18), Exodus (Ex.23:1-9), and Deuteronomy (De.1:17). Please read these passages they will set the context of the sermon James is teaching.

God is the judge we will face over our actions, or inactions (vs.9-10).  We can throw a chair through a glass window or shoot a pellet through it. Either way, the glass is broken.  There are certainly different levels of sins as well as punishments, yet when the Law is broken, it is broken.  God has given the Believer liberty, but this liberty is not a license to sin.  We are to let our walk match our talk.

Mark tells us, quoting Jesus, “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mk.11:26).  Mercy and justice both come from God. We are not competitors for God’s grace, but co-receivers.  If we want judgment, all we have to do is bring judgment against our brother.  Hold him up for sentencing a while and the same judgment we are judging him with will come to us.  Sin brings judgment, while repentance and forgiveness bring mercy. 

7.         The man who keeps the whole law except one (1) is guilty of all (2:10).

James is not saying that if we break one (1) Commandment, we have broken them all. He is saying that we are guilty of breaking “The Commandments,” no matter which one we have broken. A man may be in prison as a murderer, and look across the aisle and say to another fellow, “I’m not a rapist. I never broke that law.”  That is true; yet, he is behind bars, for he is a murderer. Prisoners have actually murdered other prisoners because they considered his crime a terrible thing.  They did not have to go to the penitentiary to find that attitude.  People outside of prison are guilty of looking down upon others in the same way.  We all stand before God as lawbreakers.

Man must not teach others to be Lawbreakers. Those who do so are the least in the Kingdom of God (Mt.5:19).  We must also keep in mind that keeping the “Law” is not a method of “Salvation.” James is in no way implying that we keep the Law as a means of earning or keeping Salvation. Salvation is not gained or lost in keeping or breaking the Commandments. However, we are judged according to the righteous standards of God’s Word. Paul teaches that Lawbreakers are those who walk according to the flesh. We have been given the Holy Spirit, as a means of obeying the righteous requirements of the Law (Ro.8:4).  We must also keep in mind the context of the entire Epistle of James. We are in pursuit of spiritual maturity. No one who is a habitual lawbreaker can be called mature.

8.         Jesus declared the second (2nd) Great Commandment to be, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

James calls this the Royal Law. It sums up man’s responsibility to his neighbor. He who fulfills it will love all men and look with contempt on none. Therefore, to have respect of persons, preferring one (1) above another is to violate the letter and spirit of this sacred precept, thus committing sin and are convicted by the law as a transgressor.

For such a person to pretend to be righteous before God is sheer folly. The Law was violated already and so the person had no reason to expect any blessings on the ground of legal obedience.  It is not necessary to break every Commandment of the Law in order to stand condemned as a criminal in the sight of God. To offend in one (1) point is to be guilty of all. The slightest infringement of the Law indicates the self-will and lack of submission of the heart. It only takes the breaking of one (1) link of a chain to drop the man who is suspended over a cliff’s edge to his death.  The breaking of the weakest link shatters the chain, and the man falls to his doom.

The same law, which forbade adultery, prohibited murder. A person need not be guilty of both to be under judgment. To violate either command marked a person out as a transgressor of the Law. How hopeless then the efforts of anyone to be justified on the ground of his own obedience.

That Law, so terrible to sinners, is a Law of Liberty to the regenerated one, because it commands the very behavior in which the one (1) born of God finds his joy and delight. Let the Christian then be careful that he does not act inconsistently with his profession, for “...he shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy.”  Under the Divine Government, men reap as they sow.  By the judgment with which they judge others, they are themselves judged. However, the Scripture also says that “...mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”  It is not the desire of God to deal harshly with anyone. He is not willing that any should perish. He is ever ready to forgive and bless where sin is recognized and confessed. As objects of such mercy ourselves, we are called upon to show mercy and compassion to others, no matter how lowly their condition may be.

This leads naturally to insistence on the importance of a faith that is manifested by good works, and with this, the rest of the chapter deals.

The law of Liberty can be seen in the writings of Paul.  In Galatians, Paul lists the Fruit of the Spirit (Ga.5:22-23).  There is no law against such things because this is the aim of the Law and the Spirit. In the verses just prior to the list of the Spirit’s fruit, Paul lists the works of the flesh.  The works of the flesh are in direct contrast to the Fruit of the Spirit. The Law does have something to say about those who are involved in these practices. Those, who walk uprightly before God, have nothing to fear of the Law. However, those who are involved in the practice of evil, thinking that God does not see, are just deceiving themselves. The Law was given for instruction, not condemnation.

9.         We are to speak and act like God (2:12). 

We must speak and act from the perspective of those who will be judged by God and the Law that gives freedom, i.e., the Law and love of God poured into our hearts by God’s Spirit.  God will condemn all showing of favoritism, for it transgresses the Law of Love.

                        10.       It is through the finished work of Christ that mercy triumphs over judgment (v.13).

Paul tells us that we are not to boast. It is because we are “...His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ep.2:9-10).  It was the mercy of God that brought us triumph over judgment.

This was a free gift to every man.  Paul said to the Galatians that there is “...neither Jew nor Greek.....bond nor free.....neither male nor female...”  We are “...all one in Christ Jesus,” and “...heirs according to the promise” (Ga.3:28-29).

How we treat others is the acid test of our commitment to our God. God may be testing us to see how we will respond. It is for us, as Believers, to respond in kindness, mercy, love, forgiveness, and grace.  Our attitude is important here, for quickly we often forget.

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