"Discrimination is one of the great social tensions of our
times. All sorts of people band together to exclude others from
enjoying their special privileges. Sometimes the discrimination
is based on race or color. Other instances reflect a favoritism
arising from differences in religion, sex, age, wealth, or culture
.Such
unkind conduct may not be too surprising in a world where selfishness
and protection of one's own interests are the guiding principles.
However, a higher standard is expected from those who profess
the Christian faith
Some Christians do not exhibit the sort
of biblical conduct that is appropriate to their faith. The charge
of "too many hypocrites in the church" is frequently
heard. When Christian believers display the same defects of character
as their unbelieving neighbors.' (Kent p. 74)
2:1 "My brethren, do not hold your
faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal
favoritism."
"My brethren"-We will
have more success in helping our brethren improve themselves or
change their ways, if we treat them as brethren. There is a lot
at stake here! We must let the brother or sister, whom we are
correcting know that we deeply love them and are not out to destroy
them (2 Tim. 2:24-26). We are to appeal to our brethren, as if
they were members of our own physical family (1 Timothy 5:1-2).
"do not hold your faith"-"do
not combine this faith of yours with flattery of human greatness"
(Knox). That is, there is no room in Christianity for a worldly
sort of personal favoritism or snobbery. These are two things
that must not be combined. "Do not hold your faith
..with
an attitude of personal favoritism", utilizes the present
imperative verb with the negative word me (Greek). This
usage commonly ordered the cessation of an action already in progress
(2:6)' (Kent pp. 74-75). The word "hold" means basically
the same thing as to have, hence to believe in (1 Tim. 1:19).
The idea is stop having the habit of trying to combine worldly
attitudes with Christianity. Carefully note that showing personal
favoritism is just as bad as not bridling your tongue (1:26),
failing to help those in need or failing to keep oneself unspotted
from the world (1:27). In the sight of God, prejudice and immorality
are both sins.
"in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ"-The
word "glorious" means, "brightness, splendor, radiance"
(Arndt p. 203).
Points To Note:
"with an attitude of personal favoritism"-"the
fault of one who, when responsible to give judgment has respect
to the position, rank, popularity or circumstances of men"
(Vine p. 179). "This word signifies regard shown to persons,
not on account of their real worthiness, but on account of their
station, riches, and other external circumstances"
(Macknight p. 357). See Luke 20:21; Leviticus 19:15; Acts 10:34;
Romans 2:11; 1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Peter 1:17.
Points To Note:
2:2 "For if a man comes into your
assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there
also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes."
"For if"-A concrete
example is now given, an application is made. The truths that
God has given were never meant to remain on the theoretical level.
"into your assembly"-Which
means that first century Christians also had visitors to their
services (1 Corinthians 14:23). It seems clear that the rich
man and the poor man in this context are visitors and not regular
members. In fact, both of them could be unbelievers.
"assembly"-The Greek
word sunagogen is translated here "assembly".
It is the same word that is often translated "synagogue".
This doesn't mean that Christians were still worshipping in Jewish
synagogues. Rather, Christians from a Jewish background often
used the terms synagogue and church as synonyms for the gathering
or congregation of God's people. 'Numerous instances of this
term to refer to Christian congregations can be cited from early
Christian literature' (Kent p. 78). It is a mistake to say that
this word was only used for the worship service of the Jewish
synagogue. Vincent notes, "literally a gathering or congregation,
in which sense the word is common in the Septuagint (Greek translation
of the Old Testament Scriptures), not only of assemblies for worship,
but of gatherings for other public purposes" (p. 737).
We must reject the idea that there was a stage in the early church
in which it was virtually the same as Judaism. Peter on the day
of Pentecost made it clear to devout Jews that they were lost!
(Acts 2:1-41)
The respect of persons in this context is based on wealth. But
many other temptations to elevate or discriminate against people
also exist, race, color, gender, age and so on. The people of
God must never find themselves defending any kind of prejudice.
"with a gold ring and dressed in
fine clothes"-Whereby people would immediately see
that he was a wealthy man. The statement "gold ring",
is literally, a gold-fingered man (Robertson p. 28). Thayer says,
'gold ringed, adorned with gold rings' (p. 674). This seems to
indicate that this individual would be wearing many gold rings.
An ancient writer mentions one man who wore six rings on each
finger. Barclay notes, "The more ostentatious of the ancients
wore rings on every finger except the middle finger, and wore
far more than one on each finger. They even hired rings to wear
when they wished to give an impression of special wealth"
(p. 75). "Fine clothes"-"bright, shining, radiant"
(Arndt p. 465). The idea seems to be, bright or shining apparel.
Possibly either bright in reference to color or due to ornaments.
"poor man in dirty clothes"-the
clothing often wore by the poor or a beggar. A person who may
have had only one change of clothing. 'squalid (seedy), cheap
and or dirty' (Woods p. 108).
2:3 "and you pay special attention
to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit
here in the good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand
over there, or sit down by my footstool.'"
"pay special attention"-Draper
notes, "One of the great dangers of the church is to look
for people who can help us instead of looking for people we can
help. Too many Christians want to be blessed instead of being
a blessing. Some churches seem to build their fellowship out
of those who can contribute something rather than finding those
who need help" (p. 74)
Points To Note:
"You stand over there"-no
one was willing to give up their seat for the visitor who was
a poor man.
"sit down by my footstool"-sit
down on the ground besides my footstool, that is take a seat on
the floor next to my feet. Such was a place of extreme humility,
conquerors often placed their feet on the necks of their victims
(Hebrews 1:13). Notice the contempt being shown to the poor
man, he is rudely told to stand or find a place for himself on
the floor. Remember, these might be two non-Christians! For
no one to move or give up his seat so the poor man could rest
and concentrate on the teaching being presented was inexcusable.
It was as if the poor man was simply being tolerated instead
of welcomed.
Points To Note:
We must always examine our own actions to make sure that we aren't
being rude to our visitors. Do we ignore their presence? Walk
right by them without speaking? Allow them to leave without being
welcomed and invited back?
2:4 "have you not made distinctions
among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?"
"made distinctions"-this
same word is translated to be at odds with oneself, doubt or waver.
Woods gives two ideas: "Do you not recognize differences
among you based upon material considerations? Is it not true
that you fawn upon the rich, when they enter your assemblies,
and do you not treat with contempt the poor? If the second, the
meaning is, when you show partiality, on the basic of economic
standing or other material and worldly considerations, are you
not exhibiting doubt (disbelief) in the teaching of our Lord"
(p. 110). Distinctions based on such external things were not
to exist among Christians (Galatians 3:26-29).
"judge with evil motives?"-"prejudiced
judges" (TCNT). Such a distinction is anything but righteous.
They were fawning over the rich and treating the poor with contempt
because their motives were sinful. They were hoping to receive
something from the rich man, if nothing more than his approval.
Evil thoughts, wrong motives eventually demonstrate themselves
in conduct (Matthew 15:19). We sometimes fool ourselves into
thinking that we can keep such motives well hidden. But please
note how a very simple event (two men visiting services) brought
these evil motives right out into the open. Note that it was
evidently very usual for Christians to have rich visitors-just
like today! "What prompts people to show special regard
for the rich? Usually the motive is a selfish one. There is
lurking in the back of the mind the idea that some day it may
be necessary to ask favors of the rich, and it is therefore expedient
to flatter them. Why bother with the poor? They can never do
anything for us, anyway. Ah, how many sins stem from simple selfishness?"
(Woods p. 111)
2:5 "Listen, my beloved brethren:
did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"
"Listen, my beloved brethren"-When
a rebuke must be given, remember this person is still your beloved
brother or sister. These Christians need to correct themselves,
but James wasn't willing to label them as hopeless and neither
did he snub them because they had slipped.
"choose the poor of this world
to be rich in faith"-Please note that James isn't
teaching that God excluded the rich from salvation. Rich Christians
did exist (1 Timothy 6:17). "James did not mean that there
was any merit in poverty, nor that poverty was the cause for their
election by God, nor that all the poor will be saved and none
of the rich. He was merely recognizing that God had certainly
not discriminated against the poor as a class. In fact, far more
of the poor had responded to the gospel..then had the rich and
powerful (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)" (Kent p. 80). Remember,
God has chosen that salvation will be offered to all and within
the possibility of all (John 3:16; Mark 16:16). God wanted that
poor man saved! God didn't discriminate against the poor, Jesus
died for beggars as well as the rich.
"poor of this world"-Which
should remind us that poverty is temporary, poverty in material
things is a "this world" problem. But even in this
life, a poor man can be rich in spiritual things (1:9; Ephesians
1:3).
"rich in faith"-We
sometimes forget that faith brings many riches with it. Riches
such as confidence, contentment, happiness, meaning, purpose,
encouragement, strength, comfort and so on. See 1 Peter 1:5 and
James 1:5.
"and heirs of the kingdom which
He promised"-This poor individual in the world's estimation
has a great inheritance. The kingdom of God on the earth is the
church (Revelation 1:9) and the kingdom of God also includes the
future reward for all the righteous in heaven (2 Peter 1:11; Matthew
25:34; Ephesians 5:5).
"which He promised to those who
love Him?"-Such an inheritance is conditional. Please
note that God choose to save people that love Him. God doesn't
force people to love Him. Of course, those who love God are obedient
(John 14:15). And this poor man can love God just as much as
any rich man. Economics do not inherently prevent a man from
loving God. Poverty doesn't have to affect a persons moral character,
one can be very poor and very moral. But today, how many people
blame crime and sin inherently on economics?
2:6 "But you have dishonored the
poor man. It is not the rich who oppress you and personally drag
you into court?"
"But you have"-The
situation described in the previous verses wasn't hypothetical,
these Christians had been demonstrating prejudice based on external
appearances. They had actually fawned over the rich and shown
contempt for the poor. In contrast to God who had not discriminated
against the poor, these Christians were. In fact, they were hindering
the poor man from seeing that Christianity is for everyone.
"dishonored the poor man"-to
treat shamefully, insult. Poor people have feelings too! The
poor man knew that he was being treated with contempt when they
told him to stand over there or sit on the floor. The poor man
would see no difference between the actions of these Christians
and the actions of those in the world. In contrast, God commands
us to honor all men (1 Peter 2:17). Each man or woman is created
in the image of God (James 3:9), and Jesus died for every man
and woman, this is reason enough to treat everyone with courtesy
and respect. See Proverbs14:21. In the Old Testament God made
it clear to His people that the poor were important to Him (Psalm
68:10; 69:33; 140:12). They had not simply ignored the poor
man, they had definitely treated him with contempt, as if he was
an unwelcome guest.
"Is it the rich who oppress you"-"Oppress"-"exploit,
dominate" (Arndt p. 410). By this question, James reminds
his readers that the rich as a group had been some of the most
powerful opponents against the gospel. "The rich, whom they
were favoring over the poor, were the very ones who had added
to their misery through much persecution and oppression' (Woods
p. 116).
"and personally drag you into court?"-That
is forcibly dragged against your will, the term implies violence
and harsh treatment. Jesus warned His disciples concerning such
mistreatment (Matthew 10:17; John 16:2; Matthew 5:11). Barclay
notes, "No doubt this was for debt. At the bottom end of
the social scale men were so poor that they could hardly live,
and moneylenders were plentiful and extortionate
If the creditor
met a debtor on the street, he could seize him by the neck of
his robe, nearly throttling him and literally drag him to the
law courts
They had no sympathy; all they wanted was the
uttermost farthing" (pp. 78-79). Persecution also probably
took the form of lawsuits (Hebrews 10:34), in which Christians
were singled out. Nothing has really changed, to this day various
wealthy unbelievers have a tremendous influence on legal verdicts,
especially in nations in which there is a tremendous gap between
the rich and the poor. Evidently, these rich unbelievers found
that corrupt judges would uphold their false accusations or unrealistic
demands.
2:7 "Do they not blaspheme the
fair name by which you have been called?"
"blaspheme the fair name"-To
blaspheme is to speak reproachfully, disrespectfully and evil
against the things of God. The phrase "fair name" means
the "unobjectionable, blameless, excellent" (Arndt p.
400).
This verse should really hit home with us. For we often tend
to idolize actors, musicians, sport's heroes, political giants
and so on who blaspheme the name of God. Why is it that we at
times insist on drooling over someone who is ridiculing and opposing
everything that we hold dear? Who insults and ridicules the
very God whom we serve?
Points To Note:
"James was not denouncing wealth per se as evil.
Neither was he advocating reverse discrimination, whereby the
poor are to be favored at the expense of the rich. He was arguing
against favoritism of any kind" (Kent p. 82).
It would appear that James is answering in these next verses (2:8-13)
an argument that these Christians have put forward. It appears
that his readers are defending their actions towards the rich
man by saying that they are only practicing love for their neighbor.
James anticipates that some of his readers will try to justify
their actions by appealing to the command that says we need to
love our neighbor as ourselves.
2:8 "If, however, you are fulfilling
the royal law, according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your
neighbor as yourself', you are doing well."
"If however, you are"-Which
suggests that not everyone was guilty of the above hypocrisy.
"fulfilling"-to carry
out, accomplish, perform and keep.
"the royal law"-Which
is defined in this verse as being the command to love our neighbor
as ourselves. The word royal means: "of or belonging to
a king, kingly, regal, hence metaph., principal, chief" (Thayer
p. 98).
Points To Note:
Various views exist concerning why the above command is called
"the royal law": 1. It is a law which governs or includes
all other laws concerning how we treat others, it sums up every
command which applies between us and others (Matthew 22:39-40;
Matthew 7:12). 2. It is a law made by the King Himself, with
whom there is no respect of persons. It is a law which the King
Himself practices. 3. It is a law which is fit for royalty,
Christians are a royal priesthood and children of the King (1
Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). 3. Clearly it is a principal
law (Romans 13:9-10; Galatians 5:14), which includes all other
laws.
We should note that the principle to love one's neighbor as yourself
is found in almost all of the world's religions. But it is usually
expressed in a negative form, i.e. "whatever is hateful to
yourself, do not to your fellow man". It doesn't rise to
the positive form, "however you want people to treat you,
so treat them" (Matthew 7:12). It is much easier to keep
the negative-than it is to keep the positive. In addition, in
other religions the negative form of this law is typically limited
to a select group of people, i.e. people of their own race, religion
or culture.
"according to the Scripture"-Leviticus
19:18. Jesus then quoted, confirmed and made this principle a
part of the New Covenant as well (Matt. 18:19; 22:34-40; Luke
10:26-28; Mark 12:28-34). Woods notes, "He who loves God
supremely will discharge fully his duty to God; he who loves his
neighbor as himself will, in similar fashion, perform every obligation
owed to his neighbor" (p. 120).
Point To Note:
The above comment has some tremendous fall out. Concerning talking
to others about the Bible, we often tend to excuse ourselves as
being too busy or not very good as such things. The bottom line
is that if we really love your neighbors, we will want to make
every effort to see that they have a chance to hear the gospel
message. When we start loving our neighbors as ourselves, we
will have the motivation we need to evangelize.
"you are doing well"-Note
that we can do well! Pleasing God is not an impossible task.
2:9 "But if you show partiality,
you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
"if you show partiality"-There
is not room for partiality in the command to love neighbor as
self. It would be a perversion of the command to elevate one
neighbor above all others or to fawn over certain neighbors and
neglect others. Especially when we judge people as important
or not important on the basis of external factors.
"you are committing sin"-James
doesn't mince words. Let us be impressed that James labels as
"sin" what the world often considers to be a small or
socially acceptable misdeed. This behavior wasn't some trifling
fault. The word "committing" means: "lit., 'work
sin', the phrase is rather stronger than the more common 'to do
sin'. The position of 'sin' is emphatic: 'it is sin that ye
are working'" (Vincent p. 742). (See Matthew 7:23) That
is, you are actively involved in violating the will of God.
"are convicted by the law as transgressors"-The
very law that some here might have appealed to as justifying their
conduct toward the rich man, actually ended up condemning them.
It is noteworthy that the first instance of the law to love neighbor
as self (Leviticus 19:18), is found near a passage that condemns
partiality (Leviticus 19:15).
Points To Note:
2:10 "For whoever keeps the whole
law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."
"For whoever"-This
principle applies to everyone.
"keeps the whole law"-James
is obviously not teaching that Christians are still under the
Law of Moses (2:12; 1:25). Yet, Christians are clearly under
the New Covenant which contains many laws.
"yet stumbles in one point"-'sin
in one respect' (Arndt p. 727). That is violate one of the laws
or commandments.
"he has become guilty of all"-We
recognize the same principle concerning the laws which govern
this nation. One doesn't have to violate every law to be a law-breaker.
There are people in prison because they violated one or just
a couple of laws.
Points To Note:
2:11 "For He who said, 'Do not
commit adultery,' also said, 'Do not commit murder.' Now if you
do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become
a transgressor of the law."
Points To Note:
2:12 "So speak and so act, as those
who are to be judged by the law of liberty."
"So speak and so act"-present
imperatives-do so as a habit. "We are to live continuously
both in our words and actions in view of the way we are to be
judged" (Roberts p. 98). "You must continue talking
and acting" (Wms).
"are to be"-the idea
is that judgment can happen or arrive at anytime. The Christian
knows that the Lord could come at any time and must always be
prepared (1 Thess. 5:1-3).
"judged by the law of liberty"-"a
law that brings liberty" (Beck); "the law that makes
free" (Bas). The law of liberty is the gospel message,
the words of Jesus Christ (John 12:48; 8:31-32). The word "judged"
doesn't mean "condemned", but it does mean that we will
all be confronted by this law and those who have been disobedient
will be condemned.
Points To Note:
2:13 "For judgment will be merciless
to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment."
"For judgment will be merciless
to one who has shown no mercy"-In the context, their
terrible treatment of the poor man was a demonstration of having
no mercy. The law of liberty condemns that type of behavior.
See Matthew 5:7; 6:14-15; 18:23-35; 25:40. Here we find incentive
to treat the poor man with proper respect, for none of these Christians
and none of us can afford to face a judgment in which there is
no mercy. This judgment will be merciless, because the person
who fails to demonstrate mercy is violating the law of God, judgment
without mercy would be strict justice, every sin getting its full
punishment---this is the type of judgment that awaits every unbeliever
and every unfaithful Christian.
"mercy triumphs"-"to
exult over" (Thayer p. 331). "glories in the face of"
(Mon). That is the Christian who has been merciful can face the
coming judgment with confidence and assurance.
"over judgment"-Please
note that James is not teaching that mercy is the opposite of
keeping the commands of God. Rather, showing mercy in the context
involves keeping the command to love your neighbor as yourself.
Those who continue to despise the poor can expect to receive
no mercy at the judgment. The law of liberty cannot be contrasted
with mercy, rather it defines, commands and exhorts Christians
to be merciful. For example, when we approach a brother or sister
privately concerning a sin in which they are involved, we are
showing mercy. James is not teaching that being merciful covers
habitual rebellion to God in other areas of our life, or makes
up for not being a Christian. But rather, if we are doing the
best we can to abide by God's law, and seeking forgiveness for
when we sin, showing mercy to those in physical and spiritual
need, then God will extend mercy to us at the last day (1 John
1:5-10).