Be partial to impartiality
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Deconstruction Zone
Deconstruction Zone
As the body of believers, as the church, may we be a place that does not construct walls, barriers with people, but deconstructs them by not being partial.
For there is no partiality with Christ (Rom1:14)
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
There was a problem in the first century church, just as there is one today, it may not see very prevalent to us here at Westside, but we need to be careful to watch out for it. Paul knew his obligation to all people not just certain people.
There is no race or social status with Christ (Gal3:27-28)
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Being in Christ removes all social, racial barriers.
In Christ all are in all (Col3:11)
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
In christ, who is all, and in all, and that all is in us when we are in Christ.
being impartial is found in Old Testament too (Deu1:17)
17 ‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
The Lord knows the inside even that much more than the outside, so don’t be partial (Mt23:25-26)
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
(insert illustration: Homeless man in sanctuary)
True value in the kingdom has nothing to do with bank accounts or social status, gold rings or fine clothing, it has to do with heart. So know where you store up your treasures, don’t be partial (ref to Mt6:19-34)
Our passage today seems to have some Old Testament roots, look at (Deu10:16-19)
16 “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. 17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
18 “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 19 “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Partiality, maybe we need a reminder not to be partial (Act10:34-35)
34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
How do we certainly understand like Peter came to? By looking at God’s Word!
Sin of Partiality
Sin of Partiality
Partiality, is defined as (noun) unfair bias in favor of one thing or person compared with another; favoritism. Can you see why this can be damaging to the church, the body of believers? May we look at the passage and see what we can learn so we do not fall into the sin of partiality.
1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 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,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
I will address (v.1) in a few minutes, but needed to keep things in context here.
Jewish Christians often showed partiality to Gentile Christians
Problem addressed in our passage is between the rich and the poor (vv.2-4; Mt5:3; Psm51:17)
Partiality is contrary to God’s plan and also poor can be more than just poor financially can’t it?
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Or how about this one
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Partiality and discrimination was done away with already as mentioned (Rom1:14; Gal3:27-28)
Do you ever feel discriminated against, or partiality held against you? That again is contrary to God’s plan, so we need to learn to be impartial.
Partiality was a big deal then, and it is a big deal today, partiality brings division not unity and we are to be one!
How we can be partial today
Preferential treatment of people (attention, hospitality)
Partiality due to race or perceived social status
Partiality between friends and stranger (visitors)
As much as we want to say there is equality today, there is much division that can happen by being partial. It is just as relevant today as it was in the days this epistle was penned.
Why we can’t show partiality
Why we can’t show partiality
Partiality is contrary to Gods plan as mentioned, how we treat people can honor God or bring dishonor to God.
1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
Our faith is in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. He is the object of our faith, and is our hope (Jam2:1; 1Tim1:1)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,
We are to be imitators of Christ, so we cannot show partiality (Eph5:1; Lk6:40)
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
40 “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.
If we are not careful in what we say, what we do, the glory due to the Lord can be tainted by partiality.
We can be judges with evil thoughts (Jam2:4); so be careful not to be partial (Mt7:1; Jn7:24; Ps109:31)
4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
we know that God judges the unjust judges so don’t be unjust by being partial
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
Jesus teaching is pretty point blank there isn’t it, but maybe better keep in context
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
now look at this
24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
righteous judgment is not partial but in accordance to God’s Word; so be careful not to be partial outside of God’s Word
31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.
The Lord will be by those who are needy from those who judge, so don’t judge and be partial outside of the Word
Don’t be partial by despising those the Lord has honored (Jam2:5)
5 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?
The gospel has been preached to the poor (Lk7:22)
22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Most who are receptive are the poor (1Cor1:26-29)
The poor who know they are broken (Mt5:3) both physically and broken spiritually (Ps51:17) are oftentimes more apt to receive the message and respond to the message, so don’t be partial against the poor
26 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,
28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God.
Don’t be partial for God has chosen to honor all men (Act10:34-35)
34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
God welcomes the man who is not partial! So don’t be partial
Easy to give way to the affluent and push aside the needy; so be careful and don’t be partial (Jm2:6-7; Jam5:4)
According the Mt5:3 the poor in spirit are rich in faith and theirs is the kingdom of God, so don’t get puffed up, be humble and impartial
How the church then was dishonoring God was by oppressing the poor (v.6) and look at what James says later in the Epistle
4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
They were withholding wages from the poor who needed them the most, know that God hears the cries, so don’t be partial.
Overcoming partiality - living God’s Royal Law
Overcoming partiality - living God’s Royal Law
We have looked at partiality, we have looked at why we cannot be partial, now it is time to look at how we can overcome partiality.
8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 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 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.
12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
We do it by fulfilling God’s Royal law (Jm2:8; Jm1:25; Mt22:36-40; Rom13:8-10)
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.
The law of liberty, God’s royal law is defined in (Jm2:8) - loving our neighbor (expand on this issue, defining who is your neighbor
Do it by loving our neighbor as proclaimed by Christ (Mt22:36-40)
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Do it as taught by Paul (Rom13:8-10)
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
We do it by treating everyone equal, since we have all things in common (Act2:44-45)
44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
We do it knowing that are all the same (Gal3:28)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
That is just in case you forgot it from earlier.
We do it in knowledge of coming judgment (Jm2:12-13)
One day we will be judged by the law of liberty, the law of Christ, the gospel.
The law of liberty has set us free (Jn8:31-36; Col2:20-22)
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
the law of liberty, the royal law as given in the written word of God sets us free. and we are shown mercy so we can show mercy
We do it showing mercy so be shown mercy (Mt6:14-15)
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
We do it by loving as Christ loved (Jn13:34-35)
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We do it knowing only Christ can give us the love we need so we can then live and not show partiality to others by our love, for God is love (1Jn4:7-8)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
We can do it because God’s love lives in us (1Jn4:12-13)
12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
and we can be partial to be impartial by loving in word and deed (1Jn3:18)
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
(Encouragement slide 1)
we can be partial to being impartial by fulling God’s law of liberty
we do it realizing we have broken God’s moral law
When we know, discover, believe and receive God’s love through faith
When we apply God’s love through faith we can be impartial to others because God is not partial to us, so be partial to impartiality.
(Encouragement slide 2) prayer (exit slide)