BS: james 8
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3: The Word of God
3: The Word of God
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well;
9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
In recent years, believers have waged battles over the inspiration and authority of the Word of God.
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.
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. D. L. Moody often said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather!”
D. L. Moody often said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather!”
James reached back into the Old Testament for one of God’s laws:
, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” ().
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
In His Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us that our neighbor is anyone who needs our help (). It is not a matter of geography, but opportunity. The important question is not, “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor?”
In His Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us that our neighbor is anyone who needs our help.
).
It is not a matter of geography, but opportunity.
The important question is not, “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor?”
Why is “love thy 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.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
). God the Spirit fills our hearts with God’s love and expects us to share it with others (). True believers are “taught of God to love one another” ().
God the Spirit fills our hearts with God’s love and expects us to share it with others.
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
). True believers are “taught of God to love one another” ().
True believers are “taught of God to love one another”.
9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
But “love thy neighbor” is the royal law for a second reason: it rules all the other laws..
). There would be no need for the thousands of complex laws if each citizen truly loved his neighbors.
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
There would be no need for the thousands of complex laws if each citizen truly loved his neighbors.
“Love is the fulfilling of the Law” (). There would be no need for the thousands of complex laws if each citizen truly loved his neighbors.
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.
Christian love does not mean that I must like a person and agree with him on everything.
I may not like his vocabulary or his habits, and I may not want him for an intimate 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 (); hatred always tears down.
We only believe as much of the Bible as we practice.
We only believe as much of the Bible as we practice. If we fail to obey the most important word—“love thy neighbor as thyself”—then we will not do any good with the lesser matters of the Word. It was a glaring fault in the Pharisees that they were careful about the minor matters and careless about the fundamentals (). They broke the very Law they thought they were defending!
If we fail to obey the most important word—“love thy neighbor as thyself”—then we will not do any good with the lesser matters of the Word.
It was a glaring fault in the Pharisees that they were careful about the minor matters and careless about the fundamentals
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
). They broke the very Law they thought they were defending!
The Judgment of God ()
The Judgment of God
The Judgment of God
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
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Every orthodox statement of faith ends with a statement about the return of Jesus Christ and the final judgment.
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 () and Paul () assured us that Christian believers will never be judged for their sins; but our works will be judged and rewarded (; ).
Both Jesus and Paul assured us that Christian believers will never be judged for their sins; but our works will be judged and rewarded.
Nor would any deny the importance of a final judgment. Both Jesus () and Paul () assured us that Christian believers will never be judged for their sins; but our works will be judged and rewarded (; ).
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
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9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
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Our words will be judged.
Our words will be judged.
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.
What we say to people, and how we say it, will come up before God. Even our careless words will be judged (). Of course, the words we speak come from the heart; so when God judges the words, He is examining the heart (). Jesus emphasized caution when speaking in some of His warnings in the Sermon on the Mount (, ; , ).
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
Of course, the words we speak come from the heart; so when God judges the words, He is examining the heart (). Jesus emphasized caution when speaking in some of His warnings in the Sermon on the Mount (, ; , ).
Of course, the words we speak come from the heart; so when God judges the words, He is examining the heart ().
Jesus emphasized caution when speaking in some of His warnings in the Sermon on the Mount (, ; , ).
Our deeds will be judged.
Our deeds will be judged.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
for additional insight.
for additional insight.
It is true that God remembers our sins against us no more (; ); 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.
Our attitudes will be judged (v. 13).
Our attitudes will be judged (v. 13).
James contrasted two attitudes: showing mercy to others, 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 don’t condemn anybody,” a man once told me, “and 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.
We shall be judged “by the Law of liberty.” Why does James use this title for God’s Law? For one thing, when we obey God’s Law, it frees us from sin and enables us to walk in liberty (). Also, law prepares us for liberty. A child must be under rules and regulations because he is not mature enough to handle the decisions and demands of life. He is given outward discipline so that he might develop inward discipline, and one day be free of rules.
We shall be judged “by the Law of liberty.”
We shall be judged “by the Law of liberty.”
Why does James use this title for God’s Law?
For one thing, when we obey God’s Law, it frees us from sin and enables us to walk in liberty ().
Also, law prepares us for liberty.
A child must be under rules and regulations because he is not mature enough to handle the decisions and 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.
There is one obvious message to this section: our beliefs should control our behavior.
There is one obvious message to this section: our beliefs should control 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 attack 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 ().
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 attack 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 ().
One of the tests of the reality of our faith is how we treat other people. Can we pass the test?
