James 2:1-13

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: James (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

• Show random pictures people that will cause others to pass judgment on them based upon who they are what they have done.
• Show James 2:1-4
• Did you journey through a series of emotions as you watched these pictures?
• How many of you passed judgment on these people as their pictures scrolled by?
• Of these people… who would you talk to and who would you ignore if they walked into Pinheads and sat down among us?
• Who would you show favoritism to and who would cause you to quit coming to Pinheads?
• Would it make a difference if they were believers or not?
• Would it make a difference if they were cruel to others?

THE SIN OF FAVORITISM
James 2
1 My brothers and sisters (fellow believers), do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. (not of) 2 For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy (dirty, shabby) clothes also comes in, 3 if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,”

• The imagery of providing comfortable elevation of feet above the filth of the floor and then assigning the poor man a place on that floor is as crass as could be.

4 haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

• Can favoritism or partiality coexist with the glorious Christ of faith? Impossible.
• Special respect of persons based on their high social standing is antithetical to faith in God.
• Believers must never mix faith with partiality.
• If they do, it is just another case of double-mindedness.
• When favoritism dominates, the obedience of faith is compromised and undermined.[1]

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

• God does display preferential treatment, but toward the poor (2:5) with the intent to demonstrate the greatness of his grace.
• The emphasis here is on God’s choosing, and this involves the grace of God.
• If salvation were on the basis of merit, it would not be by grace.
• Grace implies God’s sovereign choice of those who cannot earn and do not deserve His salvation (Eph. 1:4–7; 2:8–10).
• God saves us completely on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross and not because of anything that we are or have.[2]
• Always the pressing question remains: Is the community of believers united around the principles of Christ rather than those of the fallen world?
• 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 - Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one may boast in his presence. 30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.[3]

6 Yet you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you?

• If James is having to bring this concept to their attention, it is obviously something they have done in the past.
• Seems like common sense if you have a new heart.
• But sometimes you have to teach common sense…
• Look at these instructions…
• Warning label on a wheelbarrow: "Not intended for highway use"
• Warning label on a baby stroller: "Remove child before folding"
• Warning label on a thermometer: "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally"
• Warning label on a jet ski: "Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level"
• Warning label on underwear tag: “Always wash your butt”

8 Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.

• James reached back into the Old Testament for one of God’s laws, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Lev. 19:18).
• “royal law” - it rules all the other laws. “Love is the fulfilling of the Law” (Rom. 13:10).
• There would be no need for the thousands of complex laws if each citizen truly loved his neighbors.[4]

9 If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all. 11 For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.

• “law of freedom” is different than the law mentioned in vs. 9-11.
• “law of freedom” – Be obedient to the Spirit.
• “Obey” means to act according to the Spirit.
• Make a choice… it’s still you having to do something.
• Submit to the Spirit in you to actually do it for you.
• You’ve already proved you can’t do it in your own strength.
• When you walk away and say, “What just happened here?”

13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.[5]

• Failure to show mercy to those in need calls into question whether there has been any true act of repentance in face of God’s mercy.[6]
• The importance of mercy in human relationships is so essential because mercy is a direct indicator of repentance toward God.[7]
• 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 from the new heart and leads to submission.
• The means is the power of the Spirit within (“for the fruit of the Spirit is love”).
• As I act in love toward another, I may find myself drawn more and more to him, and I may see in him (through Christ) qualities that before were hidden to me.[8]
• The true heart of others may be hidden in their own journey… but in your journey, the Spirit will lead you to love all without judgment.

Justin Bieber Video

[1] Richardson, K. A. (1997). James (Vol. 36, p. 108). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 351). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Co 1:26–31). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 352). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jas 2:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Richardson, K. A. (1997). James (Vol. 36, p. 126). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[7] Richardson, K. A. (1997). James (Vol. 36, pp. 125–126). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 352). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.