James 2:1-13 "Partiality and the Law of liberty"

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

Last time I preached we covered James chapter 1. This morning we will carry on with chapter 2. At the rate of one chapter a year, it may be longest anyone took preaching through this book.

In review of the historicity of the letter, James was more than likely the head of the church in Jerusalem. He wrote this letter specifically to Jewish converts who were dispersed throughout the land in order to teach that a true saving faith in Jesus Christ will result in good works. Due to the subject matter as well as his and the audience's background as Jews, one might easily think he teaches one is saved by Faith and Works. However James says nothing contrary to the “Faith Alone” teachings of Paul. It is still true we are saved by faith alone and James stresses from that faith good things will come, now to what extent they come, well it is different for all.

If you will please turn to James 2. And I will read verse 1 through 13.

To begin, let’s consider these verses divided into two sections. The first section will be verses 1 through 7 and the second section will be 8 through 13.

In verses 1 through 7 James confronts the believers use of partiality. Then in verses 8 through 13 he discusses the implications of those who do use it, as well as offering a correction to the way of thought for those with faith in Christ.

Verse 1 : “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism [or in some versions rendered “partiality”].” NASB

The attitude of partiality is not a good thing. For the early Jewish Christians, the Mosaic Law is may be fresh on their mindm so when James opens up verse 1 with the command, “do not hold your faith...with an attitude of personal favoritism [partiality]” they may have very likely thought of Deuteronomy 1:16-17 when Moses instructs the appointed judges. He commands them:

“You shall not show partiality in judgement; you shall hear the small and great alike.”

The Jewish Christians understood that their faith in Jesus come with the view that the law had been fulfilled in Him. They understood that its regulatory function ceased with Christ’s death, however it was still profitable to understand the law as a revelation of God’s character. Since God said “You shall not show partiality, then it was in His character tt not show partiality, specifically in judgement.

Other scripture speaks the same truth, such as in Proverbs 24:23,

“To show partiality in judgement is not good.”

Or Proverbs 18:5,

“To show partiality to the wicked is not good, nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgement.”

James attaches their new found faith in Christ to the Law, reminding them as believers, that as they see God’s character in the law, it is also the character of Christ as well as a character goal for them. Simply put, an attitude of partiality is not befitting a believer in Christ.

Verse 2 - 3 : 2 “For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool…” NASB

To make his point personal to the reader, James gives an illustration. It could be fictional, or maybe a re-telling of an actual incident. Either way the meaning is the same.

In his illustration there are three characters, a seemingly rich man, a poor man, and you as you read it, me as I read it, them as they read it. James plants the reader directly in the described situation, as the third character we will call the church greeter?

The seemingly rich man, and I say seemingly because James does not call him a “rich” man but a man wearing accessories and clothes characteristic of a rich man, which I am sure is meant to imply a rich man. Whether on purpose or not the thought that he may not really be rich, maybe he is just trying to make people think he is, really adds to the absurdity of the possible motives of the church greeter. As this seemingly rich man enters, there is a poor man behind him, dressed in dirty clothes, and the church greeter who is ushering them in offers them a place to sit or stand. To the seemingly rich man, a “good place” to but to the poor man a place in the back possibly, to stand. And if he wishes to sit, then by all means down by my feet.

I can see the facial expressions of the church greeter now, smiling through all of this, especially with the seemingly rich man (thinking to self “this guy is really blessed by God, look at him, I will shake his hand maybe that blessing will rub off on me!) and when he goes back to the poor man, still smiling but forced (thinking to self “Persevere...remember persevere in this good work!”) It might seem a bit absurd, especially since the offense is obvious, but this sin speaks loudly against the heart of the church greeter. James a rebuke to the situation which comes in the form of several questions. This is a good tactic in arguing, as it causes the opposition to think of the answer and the rebuke on their own. They end up rebuking themselves.

Verse 4 In these actions “...have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?” NASB

One of the basic characteristics of God, Christ, and the believer, is unity amongst God’s people. James points out in question form, “Have you not made distinctions or separations among yourselves?” The church greeter has divided those in his midst. People he is supposed to be caring for and encouraging unity amongst.

But by making the distinctions, the third character has made himself a judge, and not a good one at that, but one that judges with evil motives or reasonings. Let’s consider those motives. According to the historical background study, the early churches, especially those scattered abroad were likely very poor. You can imagine a poor assembly of believers, dispersed amongst a hostile people. You can also imagine the reaction of some of it’s members when a rich man, even a seemingly rich man shows interest in it. It’s on the day of that man’s visitation the sermon title is changed from “Persevere through hard times” to “The Believers duty to tithe!”

Proverbs 28:21 says:

“To show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread a man will transgress!”

It is not absurd to think the motive behind the action of the church greeter could have been in hopes of gain for the sake of the assembly, or worse even himself. As for the poor man, there was seemingly nothing to be gained from him. “Put him in the back!” One aspect of why his actions were wrong is that his decision to treat them accordingly was based on their outward appearance. The rich man may not have even been rich, but he was treated as such. Another aspect is found again in the greeters thoughts, possibly, “what can either one of them do for us”. These are evil motives. The heart of the truly faithful says “what can I do for them.” It is a serving heart and it’s primary desire should be to serve others rather than convince others to serve them.

You see, instead of exposing the truth of the two he judged, which he obviously hoped to do, the church greeter exposed the truth of his own heart. This is a theme James employs several times in his letter, he illustrates an action, then teaches the condition of the heart based on those actions.

James confronts the practice of judging others later in his letter. In James 4:11 & 12 he writes:

11 “Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?”

With an attitude of partiality, the greeter makes himself a judge. According to James quote above, he is no longer a doer of the law, but a judge of the law, however, the truth is there is only one Judge, and he is not it. Then who is he? Maybe it is better if the believer not make judging others a practice or at least not do it so flippantly.

Verse 5-6a: “Listen my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man.” NASB

Consider the teaching of Christ from the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:3:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Consider too what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27:

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong...”

Or even in Mary’s Magnificat from Luke 1:52:

“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.”

It is common knowledge in Christianity that God has chosen and made use of the poor more than the rich. James does note though, that just because you are poor does not mean you will enter into the kingdom. He is simply saying a large number of those who love Him are poor. Heirs to the coming kingdom, heaven are those who have placed faith in Jesus, and they include both the poor and the rich, and all sorts in between.

At the beginning of verse 6, James points out that the greeter’s partiality of the seemingly rich man, actually ended up dishonoring the poor man, because he treated him exactly the opposite of how God treats them. The greeter honored the rich and dishonored the poor. He treated them based on his own understanding of their outward appearance and judgemental thoughts, which is opposite of how God wanted him to handle it.

I want to point out too, that James’ issue wasn’t so much that the greeter honored the rich man, but that he dishonored the poor man. The correct actions would have been for the greeter to treat them the same. Why not take them both to sit in the good place, and have a genuine smile about it?

Verse 6b-7: “Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you to court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? NASB

In verse 5 and 6, James characterizes the poor in a way opposite of the thinking as exhibited by the church greeter. He offers the true biblical view of the poor, while the church greeter’s view was a worldly position. The world honors and dishonors according to outward appearance, but God sees the heart.

Here in the rest of verse 6 and 7 James reminds the reader of the reality of how the rich have typically responded to the new believers in very negative ways. Because of the rich, they were mixed up in court hearings, oppressed and opposed and for them to claim Christ meant to be ridiculed and slandered by the rich. This is still true today, the slander of God, and oppression of His people continues although seemingly more widespread across the economic spectrum.

Yet, here the church greeter was paying special attention to the seemingly rich individual. He honored the one with a track record of despising the Lord. To dishonor the individual chosen by God, then honor the one who despises God, whose side is this guy on?

In conclusion of this first section, the old phrase “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” comes to mind. James has confronted the issue of partiality and the judgement of your neighbor, along with how it exposes the absurd and evil motives of the one who practices it rather than those who are judged. It also causes divisions among the people and perverts the truth of God’s perspective. The partial mind forsakes God’s truth for man’s own understanding, so that he might be the judge. Quite the opposite of the true character of God as expressed in the Law of Moses, and as witnessed in Jesus.

The correct action for the church greeter to take, would have been to treat each individual graciously and take them both to the good sit, just as the royal law would direct.

CHECK TIME END ABOUT 11:45

In the next section James deals with the implication of being one who practices partiality how serious it is and how as a believer they should instead view their neighbors with the royal law in mind.

Verse 8: “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall lover your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.” NASB

The king of God’s Kingdom is Jesus Christ. He is royalty, and the royal law is his. You could say it was his heart. The king is above the law, as he is the author of it. It is from his heart that it comes. It is a reflection of his character. It is this law not the law of Moses that James directs the believer to keep in mind. If we seek the heart of the king, and act on the spirit of the written law, there is no law against that.

Consider Paul’s take on the Royal Law, Galatians 5:14:

“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The church greeter, instead of making his own judgements and distinctions of the people around him, should instead be viewing them as he views himself, loving them as he loves himself. He should have treated the seemingly rich man and the poor man as equals and showed them both favor, wondering not how they can serve him, but how he might be able to serve them.

Verse 9-11: “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He [GOD] who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” NASB

In light of the Royal Law, that supersedes the Old Testament law, to show this kind of partiality is a sin and the one who acts on it is a transgressor. Not just because it offends just the Old Testament Law, but it offends the Royal Law as well. It offends the heart of the king which will govern the coming kingdom. James teaches clearly that one broken law is the same as breaking all the law. In his day, as well as ours, people are tempted to keep a balance sheet on their behavior. Some ways of thinking have adherents tallying their sins and works like a credit sheet. For every broken law they lose a point, and for every kept law they gain a point. According to James, if you break one law, you are plunged into an eternity of debt towards God. In truth, there is no sheet to balance out, you either owe it all to God, or you believe Christ paid it all off, setting you free and clear.

Another issue was lack of reverence for the severity of sins, the thought that sins like partiality were not as great as sins such as murder. However in verse 11 James shows that the author who wrote one wrote the other. If one law is broken you are guilty of breaking all of them. In terms of position before God, everyone is a transgressor and needs salvation.

But if we consider sins in terms of consequences, all sins are not equal. Pastor Waterhouse commented one day, that sin ranges from being grumpy on Sunday morning to murdering someone. The consequences of each sin are significantly different. One may cause you to sit alone for the rest of the day, the other places you on the spot of taking someone’s life away, and spending the rest of your life locked away if not sent to death yourself. Yet spiritually, before God, one broken law makes us guilty and in need of a savior. So while playing favorites may seem harmless consequentially, practicing is a sin.

What shall the believer do?

Verse 12: “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.” NASB

Paul writes in Galatians 5:13:

”For you were called to freedom brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:16-17:

“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as a bondslave of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

James writes in chapter 1:25:

“But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

In Christ we are set free, liberated from the guilt of the Old Testament law. We do, however live under the Law of Christ which sets us free to be as good as our heart desires to be. While we have this great freedom though, James reminds us, there is still judgement for the believer, but it is in light of the Royal Law. In this judgement the life of the believer is examined to determine the motives of the deeds they lived out. In our freedom, how did we choose to live?

Verse 13: “For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.” NASB

In this last verse James continues with the future judgement lingering over us. God will not show partiality in His judgement of us, He will show no mercy to those who chose to show no mercy, but what is at stake is not our salvation. Our salvation is not based on our life or good works, but the good and righteous life of Christ. At our judgement there are rewards that await us for the good that comes from our freedom, and we will suffer a loss of rewards for our disobedience.

In closing of today’s study, consider Paul’s description of the believer's future judgment in 1 Corinthians 3:14-15. He speaks of a day when our life will be presented and tested with fire, and

14 “If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved...”