James 2......impartiality and reality
The chapter divides readily into two parts to reveal truth which is both stimulating and challenging.
Verses 1- 13 The need for public impartiality...respect of persons is ungodly!
Verses 14-26 The need for personal reality.......faith without works is dead!
James pulls no punches, he has no time for fake religion, he was surrounded by it in Judaism and he saw in the Lord the pure light of reality, and he would have us bask in its rays.
Verses 1-13 Impartiality
The teaching of James is that we are the miraculous children of a Father who has begotten us by mighty power; a Father who is the originator and emanence of all that is light, and who gave us new birth that we should be like Him as models for all who will later believe (1 verse 18 “...that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures”). The bible is clear that God is no respecter of persons and He would not have His people behaving like this. Seven times over the bible asserts there is no respect of persons with God (2nd Samuel 14 v14; 2nd Chronicles 19 v7; Acts 10 v34; Romans 2 v11; Ephesians 6 v9; Colossians 3 v25; and 1st Peter 1 v17). The last of these sums it up perfectly “If ye call Him Father (R.V.) who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” Therefore He will not have His people acting like this and again seven times over it is enjoined on His people to act impartially (Deuteronomy 1 v17; 16 v9; Proverbs 24 v23; 28 v21; 1st Timothy 5 v21; James 2 v1; 2 v9. Two scriptures stand out in this regard Deuteronomy 1 v17 “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment....” and Proverbs 28 v21 “To have respect of persons is not good, for, for a piece of bread that man will transgress”. The word for persons is actually “faces” and it must be obvious this kind of attitude is rife in Christian communities and it should be absent altogether. James now develops a very powerful argument against this trend.
Respect of faces detracts from the glory of our Lord Jesus (2 vv 1-4) “My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory(or who is the glory) with respect of persons”. He takes up the everyday example of one attending the synagogue with expensive, gaudy clothing, and another with shabby dress and the relative reception of them...”the man with the gold ring and goodly apparel...” and the “poor man in vile raiment”. The rich, prosperous man is exalted and the poor man abased. The undue exaltation of men, of any man, detracts from the one who is Lord of them both. He is the glory, He alone is the glory and any respect of faces in His presence is demeaning to Him. No man, however rich or prosperous or influential occupies a higher seat than another in the presence of majestic glory. Paul will also remonstrate with the Corinthians who were exalting men on sectarian grounds, thus detracting from the glory of God. When men are exalted, God is debased and “no flesh should glory in His presence”. Such behaviour constitutes us as judges of people, and that role belongs alone to the Lord. In the presence of Majesty we are all on the same level, it could never be otherwise. James takes up the obvious discrimination of his day, but there are other issues that would enter this discussion apart from rich and poor: discrimination of race/ of intellectual capacity/ of family connections/ of sectarian associations/ of cultural background/ of social standing...all of these and more have no place in the gatherings of God’s people. The word he uses for assembly is just “synagogue” which simply means a gathering together of people of the same mind and there is no room for any discrimination amongst us except that which discriminates between good and evil. The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is at stake. The existence of “cliques” is an insult to Him, and a detraction from Him. He is the glory, the only glory, and it must become evident in our corporate gatherings
Respect of faces contradicts the sovereign call of God (2 vv5-7) “Hearken my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him”. This behaviour is contrary to the will of God. He puts it in terms of God’s sovereign choice. Now the bible never explains the choice of God and we need not enquire or debate the matter. Statement after statement asserts that in the matter of salvation God has chosen many for eternal blessing, in the same way scripture asserts that provision has been made for all. What we cannot explain, we accept. What we do know is that God is no respecter of persons and His choice remains in the mystery of His eternal being. Those who profess to know the meaning of this are deceiving themselves and all who listen to them. Nevertheless there is an abundance of truth that God’s salvation was initiated by His own choice, and as it has turned out, most of those He has saved are from the ranks of the poor. He saves rich and poor and He does not share with any the reasons for His choice, the reality is most of those chosen are poor people materially. He underlines this by describing them as “rich in faith” and “heirs of the kingdom”. Paul emphasises this to the Corinthians “Ye see your calling brethren (that is just by observing those who are saved) how that not many (it does not say “not any”) wise after the flesh, not many noble, not many mighty are called; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world....and the weak things of the world,....and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, ....and the things that are not......”1st Corinthians 1 vv26-28. To dishonour the poor from among whom God takes the majority of His people, is to dishonour God and run contrary to His sovereign choice. Again, he says, look at the attitude of the rich toward believers.
Rich men oppress believers, they drag you before the tribunals (in order to discredit you) and they blaspheme the worthy name by which ye are called! Why would you give preference to this set of people in your gatherings? Salvation is available to them, but there are not many, so why are they being given special place? Material riches have no place in the kingdom of God. Modern believers need to be reminded of this.
Respect of faces breaks the royal law (2 vv8-11) “If ye fulfil the royal law according to scripture “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, ye do well”. The force of this is challenging. What is meant by the royal law? According to the old testament Israel were given over 2000 laws, being an expansion of the Decalogue where God gave the terms of His dealings with mankind. Four of the commandments had to do with our responsibilities to God, and six with our behaviour toward our fellow man. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He replied “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind: this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” Matthew 22 vv34-40. So Jesus sums up the entire old testament in two major laws, if you like “royal laws”. Love God and love your fellow man are the key to all God’s commandments required for eternal life. Unable to reach this standard prior to the Divine intervention, now that we are saved we ought to keep these as “royalty” in our thoughts and in our actions. It is made clear in Romans 8 v4, that we were saved in order that “the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us...”. Any form of respect of persons violates this crucial demand of God from all His people. Respect of persons is sin, and is a clear transgression of this royal law. Furthermore this one failure renders us culpable of breaking the entire law, for one transgression makes us guilty of the whole. We are well versed in our salvation from the demands of law, but are we the same for our responsibilities to the law? Love for God, love for our neighbour remains the demand of God to all. My neighbour is anyone with whom my life is involved, whether it refer to location, work, or family or church. Potentially it means all human beings and God expects His people to honour the standard of the law.
Respect of faces will bring us unfavourable judgment in the future (2 vv12-13) Believers do not face any judgment in the sense of eternal condemnation. However we do face the judgment seat of Christ as an assessment of our lives and service. The details of this judgment are not secret but open to all and the standard is the “law of liberty”, the scriptures we have been given for our guidance. Our conformity to them will determine our reward or otherwise. “So speak ye and so do ye as those that shall be judged by the law of liberty”. Those who reject Christ will be judged by the word in the last day (John chapter 12 vv47-48); similarly the believer’s life will be judged by the word. The phrase “the law of liberty” proclaims that the word was not designed to enslave us, but on the contrary to liberate us. Only adherence to the word of truth which saved us can truly free us from the enslaving power of sin. This book is the key to spiritual freedom, and it is according to it’s precepts we shall be assessed. One of the primary principles in the word of God is to shew mercy (loving kindness) to those less privileged than ourselves, and unmerciful treatment such as respect of persons will be met with similar inflexible judgment. The reality is that “mercy rejoices (glories) against judgment”, and actions of mercy toward others will ensure a favourable judgment. Eternal rewards are at stake in our behaviour and we must know what to expect for the standards are written plainly for us to see. We have all but forgotten the warning of the Lord in Matthew chapter 7, that unjust judgment on others will bring similar Divine judgment on us. Says James “He shall have judgment without mercy, that has shewed no mercy”.
Verses 14-26 Reality This section is dominated by the principle of faith operating by works (v14, v17, v18, v20, v26). The matter under discussion is the reality of faith, that is, for it to be real, there must be evidence. This raises difficulties in the mind of some when compared to the teaching of Paul and others that justification before God is by faith alone. Here James establishes that justification is by works and not faith alone(verse 21). The answer surely is that while Paul is speaking of saving faith, James is speaking of living faith, and the two are complimentary, not contradictory. Paul is viewing the unregenerate man, and how He can be right with God; James assumes the regenerate man (chapter 1 v18) and questions the reality of faith if it does not issue in works. The two principles are easily understood when we consider Paul’s statement in Romans 1 v17 “....the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith...”, that is conversion faith leads to continuing faith. We are somewhat obsessed with initial faith in our interpretations, the bible is not, insisting that faith is a lifelong trust in Christ. Our salvation is not of works...but it is unto good works-Ephesians 2 vv9-10, the two are complimentary. God saved us to change us which is the whole burden of this letter. The clue to the meaning of this section is in the opening phrase of verse 14 “What does it profit....”. He is thinking of the profit, the future reward of the believer. He has in the previous verse viewed the day when we will all be assessed, and now he quantifies faith as having value only if accompanied by works. He takes up the most obvious of all cases, that of human bodily need, and asks if we cannot relieve the destitute, if we have not even basic humanitarian concerns, how is our faith in God, in any way real?? It may be he was referring to actual situations he knew about, in any case the apostle John takes up the same in 1st John 3 v17 where he questions the reality of faith if we cannot supply the need of a brother when we have it in our hand to do so. The modern applications of this are many. In the same way he says “Faith which is by itself is dead”, in other words non existent. Faith which is a mere profession is no faith at all, faith in the giving God who provides for all, and has mercy on all, if it withholds mercy, is no faith at all. Biblical faith is not defined by profession, but by reality, by works, by action. Paul defined faith as hearing the word of God in Romans chapter 10, but hearing God’s word must issue in deeds as per James in chapter 1. James is not teaching works alone, but faith plus works.
He refers to faith which is merely intellectual in verse 19. “Thou believest there is one God(some render it “God is one”), the demons also believe and tremble”. They give assent to the existence of God, but they will not bow to Him, their faith is purely intellectual, not spiritual, they do not not acknowledge His authority, yet must fear His superiority. Faith is not a mental assent. Faith that does not accept His person, in all that He is, is worthless and empty and dead.
He now cites two great examples of faith from the old testament, clear illustrations of what he is saying.
Abraham (verses 21-24) He refers to Genesis chapter 22, the culmination of Abraham’s faith, when he offered up his son Isaac. In these verses he gathers together three scriptures....Genesis 15 v6, being initial faith, Genesis 22 vv16-18 which is progressive faith and Isaiah 41 v8 which is perfect faith, he was “the friend of God”. The portion in 22 vv16-18 is revealing and ends with the promise of God to him “because thou hast obeyed my voice”. This comes about 40 years after Genesis 15 (his initial faith), at which time his faith had progressed to the giving up of his beloved son. Abraham proved his faith by his loyalty first to God and his unquestioning obedience of Him. He draws two conclusions from this; first, that “faith wrought with his works”, and, second that “by his works faith was made perfect” (matured, brought to full growth).
Rahab (verse 25) “But likewise was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the spies and had sent them out another way?”. Rahab had faith in the God of Israel before the spies came. This is made clear in Joshua 2 vv8-15 “I know that the Lord hath given you the land....for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea......for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath...”. This is an utterance of faith if ever there was, and her faith was matched with works when she risked her life and that of her family by harbouring the spies, and ensuring their safe retreat. Here again is a supreme illustration of the truth here taught.
Faith demonstrated by works, not empty profession, doctrine expressed in deeds, faith that produces fruit, is the message of James and of the holy scriptures.
The chapter divides readily into two parts to reveal truth which is both stimulating and challenging.
Verses 1- 13 The need for public impartiality...respect of persons is ungodly!
Verses 14-26 The need for personal reality.......faith without works is dead!
James pulls no punches, he has no time for fake religion, he was surrounded by it in Judaism and he saw in the Lord the pure light of reality, and he would have us bask in its rays.
Verses 1-13 Impartiality
The teaching of James is that we are the miraculous children of a Father who has begotten us by mighty power; a Father who is the originator and emanence of all that is light, and who gave us new birth that we should be like Him as models for all who will later believe (1 verse 18 “...that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures”). The bible is clear that God is no respecter of persons and He would not have His people behaving like this. Seven times over the bible asserts there is no respect of persons with God (2nd Samuel 14 v14; 2nd Chronicles 19 v7; Acts 10 v34; Romans 2 v11; Ephesians 6 v9; Colossians 3 v25; and 1st Peter 1 v17). The last of these sums it up perfectly “If ye call Him Father (R.V.) who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” Therefore He will not have His people acting like this and again seven times over it is enjoined on His people to act impartially (Deuteronomy 1 v17; 16 v9; Proverbs 24 v23; 28 v21; 1st Timothy 5 v21; James 2 v1; 2 v9. Two scriptures stand out in this regard Deuteronomy 1 v17 “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment....” and Proverbs 28 v21 “To have respect of persons is not good, for, for a piece of bread that man will transgress”. The word for persons is actually “faces” and it must be obvious this kind of attitude is rife in Christian communities and it should be absent altogether. James now develops a very powerful argument against this trend.
Respect of faces detracts from the glory of our Lord Jesus (2 vv 1-4) “My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory(or who is the glory) with respect of persons”. He takes up the everyday example of one attending the synagogue with expensive, gaudy clothing, and another with shabby dress and the relative reception of them...”the man with the gold ring and goodly apparel...” and the “poor man in vile raiment”. The rich, prosperous man is exalted and the poor man abased. The undue exaltation of men, of any man, detracts from the one who is Lord of them both. He is the glory, He alone is the glory and any respect of faces in His presence is demeaning to Him. No man, however rich or prosperous or influential occupies a higher seat than another in the presence of majestic glory. Paul will also remonstrate with the Corinthians who were exalting men on sectarian grounds, thus detracting from the glory of God. When men are exalted, God is debased and “no flesh should glory in His presence”. Such behaviour constitutes us as judges of people, and that role belongs alone to the Lord. In the presence of Majesty we are all on the same level, it could never be otherwise. James takes up the obvious discrimination of his day, but there are other issues that would enter this discussion apart from rich and poor: discrimination of race/ of intellectual capacity/ of family connections/ of sectarian associations/ of cultural background/ of social standing...all of these and more have no place in the gatherings of God’s people. The word he uses for assembly is just “synagogue” which simply means a gathering together of people of the same mind and there is no room for any discrimination amongst us except that which discriminates between good and evil. The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is at stake. The existence of “cliques” is an insult to Him, and a detraction from Him. He is the glory, the only glory, and it must become evident in our corporate gatherings
Respect of faces contradicts the sovereign call of God (2 vv5-7) “Hearken my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him”. This behaviour is contrary to the will of God. He puts it in terms of God’s sovereign choice. Now the bible never explains the choice of God and we need not enquire or debate the matter. Statement after statement asserts that in the matter of salvation God has chosen many for eternal blessing, in the same way scripture asserts that provision has been made for all. What we cannot explain, we accept. What we do know is that God is no respecter of persons and His choice remains in the mystery of His eternal being. Those who profess to know the meaning of this are deceiving themselves and all who listen to them. Nevertheless there is an abundance of truth that God’s salvation was initiated by His own choice, and as it has turned out, most of those He has saved are from the ranks of the poor. He saves rich and poor and He does not share with any the reasons for His choice, the reality is most of those chosen are poor people materially. He underlines this by describing them as “rich in faith” and “heirs of the kingdom”. Paul emphasises this to the Corinthians “Ye see your calling brethren (that is just by observing those who are saved) how that not many (it does not say “not any”) wise after the flesh, not many noble, not many mighty are called; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world....and the weak things of the world,....and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, ....and the things that are not......”1st Corinthians 1 vv26-28. To dishonour the poor from among whom God takes the majority of His people, is to dishonour God and run contrary to His sovereign choice. Again, he says, look at the attitude of the rich toward believers.
Rich men oppress believers, they drag you before the tribunals (in order to discredit you) and they blaspheme the worthy name by which ye are called! Why would you give preference to this set of people in your gatherings? Salvation is available to them, but there are not many, so why are they being given special place? Material riches have no place in the kingdom of God. Modern believers need to be reminded of this.
Respect of faces breaks the royal law (2 vv8-11) “If ye fulfil the royal law according to scripture “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, ye do well”. The force of this is challenging. What is meant by the royal law? According to the old testament Israel were given over 2000 laws, being an expansion of the Decalogue where God gave the terms of His dealings with mankind. Four of the commandments had to do with our responsibilities to God, and six with our behaviour toward our fellow man. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He replied “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind: this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” Matthew 22 vv34-40. So Jesus sums up the entire old testament in two major laws, if you like “royal laws”. Love God and love your fellow man are the key to all God’s commandments required for eternal life. Unable to reach this standard prior to the Divine intervention, now that we are saved we ought to keep these as “royalty” in our thoughts and in our actions. It is made clear in Romans 8 v4, that we were saved in order that “the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us...”. Any form of respect of persons violates this crucial demand of God from all His people. Respect of persons is sin, and is a clear transgression of this royal law. Furthermore this one failure renders us culpable of breaking the entire law, for one transgression makes us guilty of the whole. We are well versed in our salvation from the demands of law, but are we the same for our responsibilities to the law? Love for God, love for our neighbour remains the demand of God to all. My neighbour is anyone with whom my life is involved, whether it refer to location, work, or family or church. Potentially it means all human beings and God expects His people to honour the standard of the law.
Respect of faces will bring us unfavourable judgment in the future (2 vv12-13) Believers do not face any judgment in the sense of eternal condemnation. However we do face the judgment seat of Christ as an assessment of our lives and service. The details of this judgment are not secret but open to all and the standard is the “law of liberty”, the scriptures we have been given for our guidance. Our conformity to them will determine our reward or otherwise. “So speak ye and so do ye as those that shall be judged by the law of liberty”. Those who reject Christ will be judged by the word in the last day (John chapter 12 vv47-48); similarly the believer’s life will be judged by the word. The phrase “the law of liberty” proclaims that the word was not designed to enslave us, but on the contrary to liberate us. Only adherence to the word of truth which saved us can truly free us from the enslaving power of sin. This book is the key to spiritual freedom, and it is according to it’s precepts we shall be assessed. One of the primary principles in the word of God is to shew mercy (loving kindness) to those less privileged than ourselves, and unmerciful treatment such as respect of persons will be met with similar inflexible judgment. The reality is that “mercy rejoices (glories) against judgment”, and actions of mercy toward others will ensure a favourable judgment. Eternal rewards are at stake in our behaviour and we must know what to expect for the standards are written plainly for us to see. We have all but forgotten the warning of the Lord in Matthew chapter 7, that unjust judgment on others will bring similar Divine judgment on us. Says James “He shall have judgment without mercy, that has shewed no mercy”.
Verses 14-26 Reality This section is dominated by the principle of faith operating by works (v14, v17, v18, v20, v26). The matter under discussion is the reality of faith, that is, for it to be real, there must be evidence. This raises difficulties in the mind of some when compared to the teaching of Paul and others that justification before God is by faith alone. Here James establishes that justification is by works and not faith alone(verse 21). The answer surely is that while Paul is speaking of saving faith, James is speaking of living faith, and the two are complimentary, not contradictory. Paul is viewing the unregenerate man, and how He can be right with God; James assumes the regenerate man (chapter 1 v18) and questions the reality of faith if it does not issue in works. The two principles are easily understood when we consider Paul’s statement in Romans 1 v17 “....the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith...”, that is conversion faith leads to continuing faith. We are somewhat obsessed with initial faith in our interpretations, the bible is not, insisting that faith is a lifelong trust in Christ. Our salvation is not of works...but it is unto good works-Ephesians 2 vv9-10, the two are complimentary. God saved us to change us which is the whole burden of this letter. The clue to the meaning of this section is in the opening phrase of verse 14 “What does it profit....”. He is thinking of the profit, the future reward of the believer. He has in the previous verse viewed the day when we will all be assessed, and now he quantifies faith as having value only if accompanied by works. He takes up the most obvious of all cases, that of human bodily need, and asks if we cannot relieve the destitute, if we have not even basic humanitarian concerns, how is our faith in God, in any way real?? It may be he was referring to actual situations he knew about, in any case the apostle John takes up the same in 1st John 3 v17 where he questions the reality of faith if we cannot supply the need of a brother when we have it in our hand to do so. The modern applications of this are many. In the same way he says “Faith which is by itself is dead”, in other words non existent. Faith which is a mere profession is no faith at all, faith in the giving God who provides for all, and has mercy on all, if it withholds mercy, is no faith at all. Biblical faith is not defined by profession, but by reality, by works, by action. Paul defined faith as hearing the word of God in Romans chapter 10, but hearing God’s word must issue in deeds as per James in chapter 1. James is not teaching works alone, but faith plus works.
He refers to faith which is merely intellectual in verse 19. “Thou believest there is one God(some render it “God is one”), the demons also believe and tremble”. They give assent to the existence of God, but they will not bow to Him, their faith is purely intellectual, not spiritual, they do not not acknowledge His authority, yet must fear His superiority. Faith is not a mental assent. Faith that does not accept His person, in all that He is, is worthless and empty and dead.
He now cites two great examples of faith from the old testament, clear illustrations of what he is saying.
Abraham (verses 21-24) He refers to Genesis chapter 22, the culmination of Abraham’s faith, when he offered up his son Isaac. In these verses he gathers together three scriptures....Genesis 15 v6, being initial faith, Genesis 22 vv16-18 which is progressive faith and Isaiah 41 v8 which is perfect faith, he was “the friend of God”. The portion in 22 vv16-18 is revealing and ends with the promise of God to him “because thou hast obeyed my voice”. This comes about 40 years after Genesis 15 (his initial faith), at which time his faith had progressed to the giving up of his beloved son. Abraham proved his faith by his loyalty first to God and his unquestioning obedience of Him. He draws two conclusions from this; first, that “faith wrought with his works”, and, second that “by his works faith was made perfect” (matured, brought to full growth).
Rahab (verse 25) “But likewise was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the spies and had sent them out another way?”. Rahab had faith in the God of Israel before the spies came. This is made clear in Joshua 2 vv8-15 “I know that the Lord hath given you the land....for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea......for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath...”. This is an utterance of faith if ever there was, and her faith was matched with works when she risked her life and that of her family by harbouring the spies, and ensuring their safe retreat. Here again is a supreme illustration of the truth here taught.
Faith demonstrated by works, not empty profession, doctrine expressed in deeds, faith that produces fruit, is the message of James and of the holy scriptures.
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