JAMES 2:1-13

As we begin this morning, I would like to remind you of the foundational thoughts about this book of James.  TO…scattered.  People were those who had made known to themselves the Messiah at Pentecost.  They were Christians who had not yet ceased to be Jews.  The main  purpose of the epistle may be gathered from its opening and closing words.  It begins with “count it all joy, my breathren…” Closing with “Be ye also patient…”  It was written to exhort and comfort Christian brethren undergoing trials—testings and penalties which were already coming because of their Christian faith. 

The argument of the epistle is that true Christian faith must express itself in practical goodness.  The emphasis is on good works…a necessary  emphasis.  There is no contradiction between Paul, with the primary emphasis on faith and James with his insistence on good words.  James is not arguing for good works as a MEANS to salvation, but as the PRODUCT of salvation. 

THE PROOFS OF TRUE FAITH.  James expressing these principles in severe tones; yet always there is a warm brotherliness.

Chapter is clearly devoted to IMPARTIAL BENEVOLENCE as a further proof of true faith. 

"Why do you let him do that when you don't allow me to do this?" “my parents loosened up when she was born.”  It is one of the more humbling experiences of parenthood to be caught in an inconsistent treatment of one's children. They are so quick to notice the injustice! And many adults are still wounded by the feeling that they were (or still are) on the short end of their parents', a teachers’, or friend’s favoritism.  (Wes and Aunt Essie’ comments and “not walking on the vacuumed rug.”   Our sensitivity to partiality is an evidence of our desire for justice to be real. It is no small matter to us.

Nor is it a small matter to God. Through Moses he charged the people of Israel to believe and to remember his divine purity on this issue: "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes" (Deut 10:17). That is why the oppressed could trust him, for it follows immediately that he "defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing" (Deut 10:18).

The persistent, inescapable principle of being related to God as his people is that his character and ways are binding upon us as well. We are to be holy as he is holy. So God equally charged the people of Israel to care for the fatherless and the widow and the alien and to appoint judges who would "judge the people fairly" and "not pervert justice . . . show partiality . . . [or] accept a bribe" (Deut 16:18-19). Partiality is an issue for James because God's righteousness is the issue for James. God does not show partiality; therefore we must not show partiality.

One account of James's martyrdom gives us a vivid example of impartiality.  James was held in such high regard as one who "does not respect persons" that when the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem were alarmed by the numbers who were believing in Jesus as the Christ, they appealed to James to make a speech to calm the crowd! When they presented James to the crowd, the speech he gave was hardly what they wanted, for he declared Jesus to be the Christ in such strong terms that many became believers then. According to the account in, it was this incident that led to James's death. The authorities were so angered by his speech that they cast him to the ground and stoned him to death--while he prayed for God to forgive them.

Thus James's reputation as "the Just" is quite appropriate as he follows a very familiar line of Old Testament thought about justice. The chapter division in our text should not be allowed to disguise the continuity from 1:27 to 2:1. James says Don't show favoritism because that would be an instance of "being polluted by the world." Impartiality is binding on us because of the same standard of justice that compels us to "look after orphans and widows in their distress." If James were speaking this as a public address, we would expect a slow, deliberate and emphatic pronunciation of each word: My brothers! Don't . . . show . . . favoritism! Do not compromise purity, because God Himself is pure.

God's impartiality is asserted in 1 Peter 1:17, Acts 10:34, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25 and Romans 2:11. We can see something of the reason for this concern by what James makes of the issue.

We will not grasp accurately the thrust of James's message if we fail to see that the continuing, underlying issue on his mind is to encourage the integrity of faith in the lives of his readers.

James has been writing to Christians, discussing how important it is to practice what is preached; to be not just hearers of the Word, but also doers of it. We have talked about James has said earlier in chapter one…that a true relationship with God is demonstrated by keeping a bridle on your tongue, showing love towards those in need, and keeping yourself unstained by the world.


Now, the world stains us not only with outright sinful temptations,  but also by its attitudes and philosophies. Paul taught,
Rom. 12:2 ...do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...
James gives us an example of how conformity to the world's philosophies can stain us with sin.

2:1 Holding Your Faith With Personal Favoritism
Here is a great example of how to remain unstained by the world - don't take the world's attitude of "personal favoritism."
"Personal favoritism" is one long word in the Greek language in which James was writing. It comes from two words - the first meaning "receive" or "take," and the second meaning "face" or "person." The word James uses literally means, "taking at face value," or "receiving someone by what they appear to be." In other words, he is saying, "Don't let your Christianity be influenced by people's face value, by what they initially appear to be."


You see, the world has trained us to respect the smart and belittle the dumb. We love the beautiful and hate the unattractive. We admire the famous and disregard the nobody. We all do it, every day. We make judgments about people based on how they look, how they speak, how they stand, what kind of car they drive, or where they work.


It's not a sin to make the observation, but we enter into sin when we decide that someone isn't worthy of our friendship, of our smile, of our time, or our efforts. And worst of all, we make decisions about who is worthy of salvation based on people's face value. We determine how important they are in the kingdom of God by their outer appearance.


Many have made distinctions by appearance as well. I think of the prophet Samuel, who was a very godly man. After King Saul had proven himself to be wicked, the Lord told Samuel,
1Sam. 16:1 "...I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.”
Samuel came to Bethlehem and had a big dinner for Jesse and his sons. When Jesse's oldest son, El-ee-AWB, walked in, Samuel thought, "Look at this guy - he's tall, strong, and handsome. This must certainly be the guy that the Lord has chosen."
1Sam. 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God {sees} not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
God makes judgments based on people's hearts, not their beauty, their income, or their race. When we had the opportunity after worship to introduce ourselves to someone else, some may have only sought out the friendly faces, the people their age, those that appeared to be on the same social level, or the same ethnic persuasion. It is instinctive, but it is wrong. Although we are naturally partial to those who are similar to us, we are supposed to be ridding ourselves of natural, sinful tendencies. We are supposed to be becoming more like the Lord.



“Man looks on the outer…God looks at the heart!”  If we are to be more like Him, we need to do as He does and follow what He says. Jesus said,
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
And Paul wrote,
Rom. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God.
Prov. 24:23 ...To show partiality in judgment is not good.
This is a serious matter that not a lot of us have dealt with yet in our lives. But the Lord wants us to deal with it, so he has brought it out through James.

2:2-4 Special Attention To The Rich
Now James gives us a specific example of this behavior - the distinction we make between the rich and the poor. In churches throughout the ages, this has been a terrible problem. Those who donate large sums of money are catered to, given the primo pew position, greeted warmly and treated specially. The poor, the dingy, and the unkempt are told to sit in back. When we make this distinction, he says we have become judges with evil motives. The Law spoke strongly against this. In Leviticus we read,
Lev. 19:15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.’

I thank God that we don't have such a system in place here. However, we are still guilty of making those distinctions in other ways, both less obvious and less public.
Father."


2:5-7 Rich And Poor
In his example of the rich and poor, James points out that the rich, by and large, have no heart for God, and no mercy on us. As for the poor, why are we discriminating against them, when God has chosen so many of them for salvation? As the Corinthians were told, 1Cor. 1:26-29 God has chosen the poor, but we have despised them - what's wrong with this picture?

2:8-9 Fulfilling With Love
Love is the fulfillment of the Law. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the Law, He said,
Matt. 22:37-40 ...“‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
So, if you love God and love people, then you are fulfilling the requirements of the Law.
And perfect love does not show partiality. If we are discriminating against people for whatever reason, we are not loving as Christ loved. If that is the case, we are sinning, for we are falling short of God's standard, breaking the two greatest commandments of the Law. And James is going on to show us just how serious it is to violate the Law of God.

2:10-11 Guilty Of All
Sin is sin. We can act pious and say, "I thank God that I'm not on drugs. I thank the Lord that I'm not a thief." Yet, if we are violating the Law - even with sin that we think of as small - what's the difference? Is adultery less offensive to God than murder? Is showing partiality to some people less offensive to God than theft? He has given us the whole Law, the whole picture of righteousness - not that we could pick and choose what we agreed with, or wanted to follow, but to see true perfection, real righteousness.

2:12-13 Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment
As we heard Jesus say already, love is the fulfillment of the Law. Thus, love is the perfect law of liberty. Although law and liberty sound like opposites, they are not. Our own nation is founded on the citizens' liberty, which is given by laws. The law that forbids murder gives you liberty to free speech, since your speech may make someone want to kill you. The law that forbids theft gives you liberty to make money and be financially secure, since your finances may be the object of someone's greed.
Love is the law of liberty, because it gives us freedom by giving us boundaries.


Jesus told us that our works will all be judged. When your Christian life is reviewed, will it show a person that loved others? Will it show a person that showed no partiality? Will it show a person who was always merciful? As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a huge crowd followed them.
Matt. 20:30-34 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And the multitude sternly told them to be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, {we want} our eyes to be opened.” And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
When the blind men cried out for mercy, they received two responses: the crowd sternly told them to keep their mouths shut. But Jesus reached out mercifully. Which response would I, you, we, have given? Mercy triumphs over judgment.

AND HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE????