My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 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, 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? 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? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [James 2:1-9, ESV]
Generally, when I write these verse-by-verse studies, I try to break up passages into very small chunks, so that we can give God’s Word the attention that it is due. In the past few essays in our study through the book of James, we have covered more than what we normally cover in a single essay. My reason for writing about so much of the text at once is not to cut back on how much work I have to do (it is much easier to write a little bit about a verse or two than it is to write page after page about a long passage of Scripture), it is to ensure that the actual meaning of the text can be accurately conveyed in its entirety. This essay will cover nine verses, which is the most I have written about in a single essay. There are four verses after verse 9 that also pertain to the sin of partiality, but I believe that the four verses in question are relevant to more than just the way we look at different people. Therefore, I have chosen to dedicate this essay to examining the sin of partiality, based on verses one through nine. Without further ado, let us examine God’s Word together.
My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
The beginning of this passage is fairly straightforward. As Christians, we hold to the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is also referred to as the Lord of glory, which is a beautiful way to describe our Lord. It is also worth noting the way James addresses us in this verse. We are not being talked down to, nor are we being instructed by some distant authority, we are being educated by a brother in Christ (who just so happens to be one of the half-brothers of Christ). In keeping with what James describes as a religion “that is pure and undefiled before God the Father” [James 1:27], he addresses us in love. We are brothers in Christ.
Some translations will render the beginning of James 2:1 as “my brothers and sisters”. There has been a debate about whether or not Bibles should include “and sisters”, as well as other language to explicitly include women in the Bible. I have been meaning to write an essay that explains both sides of this debate, but that is something for another day. While we are on the subject of James 2:1, I do want to mention that, while the text does not explicitly mention women, women are absolutely included. We are all united in Christ, and in Christ there is neither male nor female, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free. The word that James uses (which has been translated as “brothers”) was not used to refer to as sisters (generally). However, the word was not used to refer to men in particular. James is addressing those who are his brothers in Christ, which includes people such as myself, despite me having no familial relationship with James, nor any interactions with him. If I am included as a brother, then my sisters in Christ are certainly included. In short, there is too much emphasis placed on gendered language in the Bible. Jesus Christ died for all of us.
We are addressed in love, we are told how we must act as we hold to the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, but what does James mean by the word “partiality”? Partiality can also be described as favoritism. As previously mentioned, we are all one in Christ Jesus, so we are not to treat others differently based on their appearance, race, nationality, or anything else.
I would also like to mention that this instruction applies to the way we treat people who are not living lifestyles that honor the Lord. As Jesus said, it is not the healthy who need a physician, it is the sick. When an unmarried couple enters into the church, we must welcome them. That does not mean that we must condone their behavior, nor does it mean that we should treat them as if they were a married couple, but we are not to look down on them. We are all sinners, and we were all living in sin before we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are all loved by God. This is the same way that we should treat a homosexual who enters the church. We must not encourage their behavior (Scripture makes it clear that homosexuality is a sin), but we must correct them in love. When people live in sin, their lives revolve around sin. It is no simple matter to change one’s lifestyle. That sinful lifestyle is somebody’s life, and we must be gracious and loving as we encourage them to repent and seek the Lord.
Treat all people with love, with dignity, and with the grace that Jesus Christ has shown us.
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, 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?
This is the central theme of the passage. James gives us a very helpful example of how we are not to behave. In the first part of the example, we are met with a man who is wearing a gold ring and fine clothing. Gold has always been valuable (I know, history buffs, but do not get distracted), and fine clothing is fine. We have a man with a very wealthy, very nice appearance, entering into our assembly.
Next, we are met with a man who is poor, wearing “shabby clothing”. If fine clothing is fine, then shabby clothing must be shabby. This man is not well dressed, likely not well groomed, and is wearing clothing that is less than ideal. We have two men in our assembly: one rich, and one poor.
In this example, we make the incorrect decision, and we treat the two men differently because of their appearance. We give the good place to sit to the man who looks nice, while we tell the poor man to sit at our feet.
James asks us a rhetorical question, but this question explains what we have done by treating the two men differently. We did not just treat people unfairly, we have become judges with evil thoughts. There is only one Judge.
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?
In verse 5, James reminds us that God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. Verse 5 reminds me a lot of what is said in the Beatitudes.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 5:3, ESV]
James is not saying that only poor people will make it to Heaven, he is saying that those who are poor in spirit are the people who will be made rich in faith, who will be heirs of the Kingdom. Those who are humble in spirit will be blessed by the Lord. The poor man is fully aware of his poverty, he is fully aware of how other people are more wealthy than he is, but he comes to God as he is, presenting himself with all of his faults, all of his shortcomings, and all of his needs. The poor man would wear fine clothing and a gold ring if he could, but the reality is that he cannot afford such things. Nevertheless, the poor man comes before the Lord.
This is not to say that the rich man is necessarily in the wrong for being rich. The problem that James addresses in this passage is the one who passes judgement on those who enter into his congregation. James is not making any statement about wealth, poverty, or anything in between.
But you have dishonored the poor man. 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?
Here we see James contrast the poor with the rich. James refers to the persecution of the early Church, and how the rich were the ones persecuting Christians. The rich were in control of the government, the rich were powerful, and the rich were persecuting Christians. Why would we treat the people who persecute our fellow brothers and sisters with more kindness than we would treat the people that have done us no wrong?
Again, James is not saying that we should remember the way Christians have been persecuted by the rich whenever we see a rich man enter into church. The point is not that we should treat the poor man with more kindness than we treat the rich man. The point is that we are to treat all men and women with the same grace, the same love, and the same mercy that our Lord has shown to us.
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
James tells us that, if we are fulfilling the royal law, we are doing well. The “royal law” is the law that is above all others. The royal law is the law of love, and it is upon the royal law that all other law is founded. We previously discussed what James describes as religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father, and how it consists of love and purity above all things. The royal law places love above all other commandments, and the royal law comes directly from the Mouth of God.
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” [Matthew 22:34-40, ESV]
In other words, the greatest commandment is that we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds. The second commandment, which is equally important to the first commandment, is that we love our neighbors as ourselves. It is upon love for God, and love for others, that all the Law and Prophets are founded.
On the other hand, if we show favoritism, we are committing sin. If the most important commandment is that we love others as we love ourselves, by showing favoritism, we are breaking the most important commandment of all. By breaking the commandment that serves as the basis for the Law, we are convicted by the Law. If the foundation of a building goes, the rest of the building goes with it. If we break the foundation of the Law, we are convicted under the Law.
We interact with many people throughout each day, and we have many opportunities to show love to others, just as Christ shows love to us. We must use every opportunity to treat others with love, mercy, and grace. We cannot allow our views of others stand in the way of obeying the greatest commandment of all. If we love one another, God abides in us [1 John 4:12, ESV], but if we do not love one another, God does not abide in us. Show others the love that Christ has shown to us, and use that love to draw others to Him.
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