Bible Study on James 2, verses 8 to 13, the power of mercy

 

James 2:8 ¶  If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9  But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11  For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12  So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

James calls the second of the most important laws that Jesus Himself underscored the royal law, the law of Christ, as John Gill noted.

Matthew 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

James warns them and us not to elevate the rich above the poor in regard to their standing in Christ.

Leviticus 19:15  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

To break only one commandment is to break all of them, James insists. This is further evidence of the need for Christ as we will all break one of God’s commands from the Law given to Moses regularly, I suspect. Without Christ we are helpless and hopeless before a Holy God. We should act as we should, under Grace, in keeping with our position before God.

He gives a warning that if you expect mercy you better show mercy and God’s mercy is greater than judgment and our mercy is more important than our judgment. I can see the truth of this as we are all worthy of God’s condemnation and those who are His are blessed by His grace and mercy.

Clearly in the churches James was referring to there was this duplication of the social statuses of the world at large, which the Holy Spirit, through James, is telling us not to permit within the church. I would put forth things as objected to by God such as the old habit of having a prominent pew with a plaque denoting the names of rich donors who had provided it. I’ve seen that in old churches. It is suspect, to say the least. Such distinctions have no place in the church.