In the Book of James, James wanted to help Christians to practice God's Word. And so, he gave us a simple test: He sent two visitors to a Church service, a rich man and a poor man; and he watched to see how they were treated. The way Christians behave toward people indicates what they really believe about God! We cannot, and dare not, separate human relationships from divine fellowship.
John said: "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20, NKJV)?
In the first part of James 2 (James 2:1 - 13), James examines four basic Christian doctrines in the light of the way we treat other people: The Deity of Christ, the grace of God, the Word of God and the judgment of God:
The Deity of Christ (James 2:1 - 4)
James said: "My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, 'You sit here in a good place,' and say to the poor man, 'You stand there,' or 'Sit here at my footstool,' have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts" (James 2:1 - 4)?
Jewish people in that day coveted recognition and honor, and vied with one another for praise. Our Lord's parables in Luke 14:7 -14 deal with the problem, and also His denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 13.
We have this same problem with us today. Pyramid climbers are among us, not only in politics, industry, and society, but also in the Church. Almost every Local Church has its cliques, and often, new Christians find it difficult to get in. Some Church members use their offices to enchance their own images of importance. Many of the believers James wrote to were trying to seize spiritual offices, and James has to warn them (James 3:1).
Jesus did not respect persons. Even His enemies admitted (Matt. 22:16). He did not look at the outward appearance; He looked at the heart. He was not impressed with riches or social status. The poor widow who gave her mite was greater in His eyes than the rich Pharisee who boastfully gave his large donations. Furthermore, He saw the potential of the lives of sinners. In Simon Peter, He saw a rock. In Matthew, the publican, He saw a faithful disciple who would one day write one of the four Gospels.
We are prone to judge people by their past, not their future. When Saul of tarsus was converted, the Church in Jerusalem was afraid to receive him! It took Barnabas, who believed in Saul's conversion, to break down the walls (Acts 9:26 - 28). We are also prone to judge by outward appearance rather than by the inner attitude of the heart. We do not enjoy sitting with certain people in the Church because they "are not our kind of people." Jesus was the Friend of sinners, though He disapproved of their sins. It was not compromise, but compassion, that caused Him to welcome them, and when they trusted Him, forgive them.
When visitors come into our Churches, we tend to judge them on what we see outwardly rather than what they are inwardly. Dress, color of skin, fashion, and other superficial things carry more weight than the fruit of the Spirit that may be manifested in their lives. We cater for the rich because we hope to get something out of them, and we avoid the poor because they embarrass us. Jesus did not do this, and He certainly cannot approve it.
I believe it is not difficult to practice the deity of Chrsit in our human relationships. We need to look at everyone through the eyes of Christ. If the visitor is a Christian, we can accept him because Christ lives in him. If he is not a Christian, we can receive him because Christ died for him. It is Christ who is the link between us and others, and He is a link of love. The basis for relationship with others is the Person and the work Jesus Christ. Any other basis is not going to work.
The Grace of God (James 2:5 - 7)
James said: "Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen 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. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called" (James 2: 5 - 7).
The emphasis here is on God's choosing, and this involves the grace of God. If salvation were on the basis of merit, it would not be by grace. Grace implies God's sovereign choice of those who cannot earn and do not deserve His salvation (Eph. 1:4 - 7; 2:8 - 10). God saves us completely on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross and not because of anything that we are or have.
God ignores national differences - He shows no partiality (Acts 10:34). The Jewish believers were shocked when Peter went to the Gentile houshold of Cornelius, preached to the Gentiles, and even ate with them. In the sight of God, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile when it comes to condemnation (Rom. 2:6 - 16) or salvation (Rom. 10:1 - 3).
God also ignore social differences. Masters and slaves (Eph. 6:9) and rich and poor are alike to Him. James teaches us that the grace of God makes the rich man poor, because he cannot depend on his wealth; and it makes the poor man rich, because he inherits the riches of grace in Christ (James 1:9 - 11).
Paul said: "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ..." (1 Cor. 1:26, 27).
The poor of this world become rich in faith; as sons of God, they inherit the wealth of the Kingdom.
In James 2:6, 7, James gave a stern rebuke. He was saying, in a way, "When you despise the poor man, you are behaving like the unsaved rich people." In that day, it was easy for rich persons to exploit the poor, influence decisions at court, and make themselves richer. Unfortunately, we have the same sins bing committed today; and these sins blaspheme the very Name of Christ. Our Lord was poor, and He too was the victim of injustice perpetrated by the wealthy leaders of His day.
The doctrine of God's grace, if we really believe it, forces us to relate to people on the basis of God's plan and not on the basis of human merit or social status. A "classy Church" is not a Church that magnifies the grace of God. When He died, Jesus broke down the wall that seperated Jews, and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11 - 22). But in His birth and life, Jesus broke down the walls between rich and poor, young and old, educated and uneducated. It is wrong for us to build those walls again. We cannot rebuild them if we believe in the grace of God.
The Word of God (James 2:8 - 11)
James said: "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are covicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:8 - 11, emphasis added).
In recent years, believers have waged battles over the inspiration and authority of the Word of God. Certainly, it is a good thing to defend the truth of God's Word, but we must never forget that our lives and ministries are the best defense.
James reached back into the Old Testament for one of God's laws, "... but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: ..." (Lev. 19:18). In His parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us that our neighbor is anyone who need our help (Luke 10:25 - 37). It is not a matter of geography, by opportunity. The important question is not, "Who is my neighbor?" but "To whom can I be a neighbor?"
Why is "love your neighbor" called "the royal law"? For one thing, it was given by the King. God the Father gave it in the Law, and God the Son reaffirmed it to His disciples (John 13:34). God the Spirit fills our hearts with God's love and expects us to share it with others (Rom. 5:5). True believers are "taught by God to love one another" (1 Thess. 4:9).
But "love your neighbor" is the royal law for a second reason: it rules all the other laws - "Love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10). There would be no need for the thounsands of complex laws if each person truly loved his heighbors.
But the main reason why this is the royal law is that obeying it makes you a king. Hatred makes a person a slave, but love sets us free from selfishness and enables us to reign like kings. Love enables us to obey the Word of God and treat people as God commands us to do. We obey His Law, not out of fear, but out of love!
Showing respect of persons can lead a person into disobeying all of God's Law. Take any of the Ten Commandments and you will find ways of breaking it if you respect a person's social or financial status. Respect of persons could make you lie, for example. It could lead to idolatry (getting money out of the rich), or even mistreatment of one's parents. Once we start acting on the basis of respecting persons and rejecting God's Word, we are heading for trouble. And we need not break all of God's Law to be guilty. There is only one Lawgiver, and all of His Law are from His mind and heart. If I disobey one law, I am capable of disobeying all of them. And by rebelling, I have already done so!
Christian love does not mean that I must like a person and agree with him on everything. I may not like the way he talks, or his habits, and I may not want him for a close friend. Christian love means treating others the way God has treated me. It is an act of the will, not an emotion that I try to manufacture. The motive is to glorify God.
Also, Christian love does not leave the person where it finds him. Love should help the poor man do better; love should help the rich man make better use of his God-given resources. Love always builds up (edifies) (1 Cor. 8:1); hatred always tears down.
The Judgment of God (James 2:12, 13)
James said: "So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:12, 13, emphasis added).
Every orthodox statement of faith ends with a statement about the return of Jesus Christ and the final judgment. Not all Christians agree as to the details of these future events, but the certainty of them none denies. Nor would any deny the importance of a final judgment. Both Jesus (John 5:24) and Paul (Rom. 8:1) assured us that true Christians will never be judged for their sins, but will be judged in the follwing three areas:
1. Our words will be judged
What we say to people, and how we say it, will come up before God. Even our careless words will be judged (Matt. 12:36). Of course, the words we speak come from the heart; so when God judges the words, He is examining the heart (Matt. 12:34 - 37). Jesus emphasized caution when speaking in some of His warnings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:21 - 26, 33 - 37; 7:1 - 5, 21 - 23).
2. Our deeds will be judged
It is true that God remembers our sins against us no more (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 10:17); but our sins affect our character and works. We cannot sin lightly and serve faithfully. God forgives our sins when we confess them to Him, but He cannot change their consequences.
3. Our attitudes will be judged
In James 2:13, James contrasted two attitudes: showing mercy to other, and refusing to show mercy. If we have been merciful toward others, God can be merciful toward us. However, we must not twist this truth into a lie. It does not mean that we earn mercy by showing mercy, because it is impossible to earn mercy. If it is earned, it is not mercy! Nor does it mean that we should "be soft on sin" and never judge it in the lives of others.
I once heard someone said, "I don't condemn anyone, and so God won't condemn me." How wrong he was!
Mercy and justice both come from God, so they are not competitors. Where God finds repentance and faith, He is able to show mercy; where He finds rebellion and unbelief, He must administer justice. It is the heart of the sinner that determines the treatment he gets. The Parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt. 18:21 - 35) illustrates this truth. The parable is not illustrating salvation, but forgiveness between fellow servants. If we forgive our brother, then we have the kind of heart that is open toward the forgiveness of God.
We shall be judged by "the law of liberty." Why does James call God's Law as "the law of liberty?" I believe when we obey God's Law, it frees us from sin and enables us to walk in liberty (Ps. 119:45). Also, law prepares us for liberty. A child must mature enough to handle the decisions demands of life. He is given outward discipline so that he might develop inward discipline, and one day be free of rules.
Liberty does not mean license. License (doing whatever I want to do) is the worst kind of bondage. Liberty means the freedom to be all that I can be in Jesus Christ. License is confinement; liberty is fulfillment.
Finally, the Word of God is called "the Law of liberty" because God sees our hearts and know what we would have done had we been free to do so. The Christian student who obeys only because the school has rules is not really maturing. What will he do when he leaves the school? God's can change our hearts and give us the desires to do God's will, so that we obey from inward compulsion and not outward constraint.
James' message for this section (James 2:1 - 13) is - our beliefs should cantrol our behavior. If we really believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God is gracious, His Word is true, and one day He will judge us, then our conduct will reveal our convictions. Before we attact those who do not have orthodox doctrine, we must be sure that we practice the doctrines we defend. Jonah had wonderful theology, but he hated people and was angry with God (Jonah 4).
One of the tests of the reality of our faith is how we treat other people. Can we pass the test?
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