If you aren’t a Christian, this verse should comfort you in knowing you will not be rejected by the Church. If you are a Christian, this section is teaching you to treat all people with an equal outpouring of God’s love, no matter their background, their physical appearance, their reputation, etc. Verses 1-13 are primarily focused on the way disciples treat rich and poor people, but verse 1 makes it clear that all forms of partiality are incompatible with faith in Jesus. Real faith is more than just an intellectual acknowledgment that Jesus is our Lord.ġ. Real faith motivates us into good works and obedience to God. Rahab the prostitute was “justified by works” when she hid the Israelite spies in the Old Testament. Simply expressing belief in God is not enough, even the demons believe God exists.Ībraham was “justified by works” when he obeyed God and moved to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.” James asked the disciples, what good is it if a person has faith but doesn’t have works (actions motivated by their faith)?Ī person who expresses faith, but doesn’t act on that faith, is like a man who encounters a needy person and verbally expresses his hope that their needs will be met, but puts forward no effort to meet them. The Necessity of Faith and Works (1:14-26): If we are merciless in our judgement of others, God will not extend mercy to us. Rather than judging people based on “evil thoughts,” we need to make sure we are living as those who will be “judged under the law of liberty.”
Partiality is a sin and it is a violation of God’s law.
The disciples needed to apply Jesus’ teaching (“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”) equally to rich and poor people. He asked them, “Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?” James was perplexed as to why Christians would prefer rich people. God chose “those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith.” Giving preference to the rich while disregarding the poor was out of line with the example of the Savior. James didn’t want the disciples giving preference to rich people who visited their churches. Partiality and favoritism are not Christian virtues. The Sin of Treating People Differently Based on Their Wealth (1:1-13): Here in chapter 2, James told the Church the way they treated people shouldn’t change based on the size of a person’s bank account. In chapter 5, he warned rich people not to allow their riches to corrupt their hearts to the point of abusing others. In chapter 1, he spoke of the fleeting nature of wealth. It was a topic that was very important to him. James discussed the relationship between rich and poor disciples at least three times in this book. HOW THIS CHAPTER FITS INTO THE LARGER MESSAGE OF THE BOOK: Showing Favoritism to Wealthy People in the Church.
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