James 2:1-13

English Standard Version James 2:1

2 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

James came right to the point; we know exactly what his concern was. Personal favoritism is hardly a glorious characteristic, and it is inconsistent for a Christian who worships the glorious Lord Jesus Christ to practice it

“Have not” (v. 1) really means “practice not.” We are not simply to have faith; we are to practice it in our daily lives. We must not believe in “God” in a vague, general way as many church members do (and even Satan—v. 19); we must have a personal faith in Jesus Christ specifically.

Note first that the admonition is addressed to believers; we are assured of this by the salutation “My brethren.”

Assembly is literally synagogue. In the early history of the church, Jewish believers met in Jewish synagogues until their unbelieving Jewish brethren forced them out. This reference suggests that James probably wrote this epistle early in the history of the church.

How do we show love to others? By accepting them for what they are and seeing them as persons for whom Christ died. We are not to judge others or condemn them.

Preferring the rich to the poor is a terrible sin, for Christ became poor that we might be rich in Him.

Romans 2:11 (ESV) 11 For God shows no partiality.

1 Timothy 5:21 (ESV) 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.

English Standard Version James 2:2

For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

“The ‘gold ring’ was an emblem of the upper-level Roman ‘equestrian’ class, although James may not intend quite so specific an identification.”

While Jews commonly wore rings (cf. Luke 15:22), few could afford gold ones. However, there are some reports that in the ancient world the most ostentatious people wore rings on every finger but the middle one to show off their economic status (some ancient sources indicate that there were even ring rental businesses)

fine apparel. This word refers to bright, shining garments and is used of the gorgeous garment Herod’s soldiers put on Jesus to mock Him (Luke 23:11) and of the apparel of an angel (Acts 10:30). It can also refer to bright, flashy color and to brilliant, glittering, sparkling ornamentation.

If you knew that in ten minutes you would have a half-hour meeting with Donald Trump, would you comb your hair, brush your teeth, think about what you would say? What if you knew that in ten minutes you would meet with a homeless man? Would you expend the same kind of energy?

English Standard Version James 2:3–4

and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

sit … in a good place. A more comfortable, prominent place of honor. The synagogues and assembly halls of the first century sometimes had benches around the outside wall and a couple of benches in front. Most of the congregation either sat cross-legged on the floor or stood. There were a limited number of good seats; they were the ones the Pharisees always wanted

the usher, who represents all the believers, manifested evil motives in judging where to seat the two visitors. His motive was what the church could obtain from them, rather than what it could impart to them. The Christian and the church should primarily seek to serve others, rather than getting others to serve them

Mark 10:45 (ESV) 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The expression filthy clothes does not necessarily mean that the man’s clothes needed cleaning. He is dressed poorly, in keeping with his humble circumstances in life.

If you knew that in ten minutes you would have a half-hour meeting with Donald Trump, would you comb your hair, brush your teeth, think about what you would say? What if you knew that in ten minutes you would meet with a homeless man? Would you expend the same kind of energy?

On the high-school campus, so often the goal is to see the quarterback or the head cheerleader saved. The real key, however, is to go for the kid who sits in the back of the cafeteria all alone, for he’s the one who is most often the one ready to listen. The same holds true where you work. We tend to get all excited about the people we highly esteem financially or professionally, economically or intellectually. But it’s the poor people who will be most responsive to the gospel and most welcoming of us. Because we so often waste our time trying to impress people who are impressed with themselves, we need to change our perspective.

Sammuel and David

1 Sammuel 16:6-7 6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” 7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 

This is what James is getting at. We’re all vulnerable; we’re all guilty of treating people differently, depending on how we view them outwardly. But almost without exception, the irony is that the people we try to impress the most are those who care about us the least—while the people who really would be open to receiving from us are those for whom we think we don’t have time.

On the high-school campus, so often the goal is to see the quarterback or the head cheerleader saved. The real key, however, is to go for the kid who sits in the back of the cafeteria all alone, for he’s the one who is most often the one ready to listen. The same holds true where you work. We tend to get all excited about the people we highly esteem financially or professionally, economically or intellectually. But it’s the poor people who will be most responsive to the gospel and most welcoming of us. Because we so often waste our time trying to impress people who are impressed with themselves, we need to change our perspective.

English Standard Version James 2:5

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

Since God has chosen the poor of this world to be the heirs of His kingdom, it is inconsistent for Christians to withhold blessings from them

Matthew 5:3 (ESV) 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 6:20 (ESV) 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:  “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

English Standard Version James 2:6

But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?

When a Christian dishonors the poor he or she treats them exactly opposite from the way God treats them

How inconsistent it is to despise one’s friends and honor one’s foes.

The oppression in view could have been physical and/or legal (“personally drag you into court”).

English Standard Version James 2:7

Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

The rich not only typically oppose Christians but they also typically speak against Christ (“blaspheme the good name”). This was as true in James’ world as it is in ours.

The last part of verse 6 and verse 7 may sound like James was prejudiced against the rich. But he was only describing the behavior of some rich people in order to emphasize the foolishness of giving them preferential treatment.

English Standard Version James 2:7–8

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

James did not mean that Christians should avoid honoring the rich but that we should love everyone and treat every individual like we would treat ourselves

The royal (Gr. basilikos) law is royal in that it is the law of the King who heads the kingdom (Gr. basilikon) that believers inherit (v. 5). It is also royal in that it is primary: it governs all other laws dealing with human relationships (Matt. 22:39; cf. Lev. 19:18). Moreover it is “conduct of a high order that is worthy of a king.”

English Standard Version James 2:9

But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

if. Better translated as “since,” the Greek construction of this conditional statement indicates that this practice was in fact happening among James’s readers

show partiality. The form of this Greek verb indicates that their behavior was not an occasional slip, but a continual practice

In this verse James used the verb form (“show partiality”) of the same Greek word that he used in verse 1, namely, prosopolepteo. The type of preferential treatment that James dealt with in this pericope (section of text, 2:1–13) violates the royal law, because it treats some as inferior and others as sources of special favor (cf. Acts 10:34). It also violates specific commands found in God’s Word that reveal God’s will in interpersonal dealings (Matt. 7:12; cf. Lev. 19:15).

Acts 10:34

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,  

Matthew 7:12

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 

 Leviticus 19:15

15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 

  The poor person is as worthy of our discipling and pastoral care and love as the person who has the means to rescue our church from its budget crisis.

“Anyone who shows favoritism breaks the supreme law of love for his neighbor, the law that comprehends all laws governing one’s relationships to one’s fellowmen.”

English Standard Version James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

The Law of God is not a series of detached injunctions but a basic unity that requires perfect love of Him and neighbors (Matt. 22:36–40). Although all sins are not equally damaging or heinous, they all shatter that unity and render people transgressors, much like hitting a window with a hammer at only one point will shatter and destroy the whole window. 

We become guilty of all in the sense that we have violated God’s law, not that we have violated every commandment in that law. One can never claim to behave righteously because he or she keeps only part of God’s laws.

“The Jew was very apt to regard the law as a series of detached injunctions. To keep one of these injunctions was to gain credit; to break one was to incur debt. Therefore, a man could add up the ones he kept and subtract the ones he broke, and, as it were emerge with a credit or a debit balance.”

“Our obedience to God’s will cannot be on a selective basis; we cannot choose that part that is to our liking and disregard the rest. God’s will is not fragmentary; the entire law is the expression of His will for His people; it constitutes a grand unity. To break out one corner of a window pane is to become guilty of breaking the whole pane. He who crosses a forbidden boundary at one point or another is guilty of having crossed the boundary.”

English Standard Version James 2:11

For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

James illustrated this point with a hypothetical case involving two very severe violations of the law. Not all sins are equally serious, in that the consequences of some sins are greater than others, but all sins are equally serious in that any sin is a violation of God’s will.

James goes on to say it’s not only how we view others externally, but how we think about ourselves internally that matters.

It’s like the space shuttle. The space shuttle is designed to go up into the heavenlies. But if any one part of it is not functioning properly or is flawed in any way, it won’t lift off. So, too, you may not have killed anyone or committed adultery. But if you’ve lied, your shuttle is grounded.

English Standard Version James 2:12

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

 The law of freedom (1:25) is the law of God that liberates us now: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Gal. 5:1). It is the same as the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2) in contrast to the Mosaic Law. As free as we are under the law of Christ, we need to remember that God will judge us (Rom. 14:10–13; 1 Cor. 3:12–15; 2 Cor. 5:10). We need to speak and act accordingly, specifically, without prejudice toward others.   

 “Since he is speaking to believers, the judgment to which he refers must be the judgment of believers at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).”

English Standard Version James 2:13

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

A person who shows no mercy and compassion for people in need demonstrates that he has never responded to the great mercy of God and, as an unredeemed person, will receive only strict, unrelieved judgment in eternal hell

God will not judge us with partiality. He will punish the unmerciful unmercifully. We need to understand this statement in the light of other revelations concerning how God will judge believers. We are in no danger of losing our salvation or even experiencing God’s wrath. However, we will suffer a loss of some reward if we sin by practicing unmerciful favoritism

2 Corinthians 5:10

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Matthew 5:7

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Matthew 6:15

15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  

Matthew 7:1

“Judge not, that you be not judged.

Matthew 18:23–25

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

John 8:1–11

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

The ultimate reason that He could exempt her from condemnation is that He would take her condemnation on Himself and die in her place

“Don’t judge a person because they sin differently from you.”

For Christians it is sometimes harder to be impartial toward sinners who flaunt their sin than it is to those who acknowledge that they have sinned. However, because Christ died for all, we should reach out to all as He did

Mercy triumphs over judgment. The person whose life is characterized by mercy is ready for the day of judgment, and will escape all the charges that strict justice might bring against him because, by showing mercy to others, he gives genuine evidence of having received God’s mercy.

Luke 6:38

give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

 He was speaking not of money but of mercy. In other words, if you are merciful to others, if you are forgiving toward others, if you are kind and compassionate with others, then when you need mercy and grace and kindness—and you will—it will be given to you.