So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. James 2:12

James 2:1–13 – Doing the Word: Directions for life to a scattered church from The Letter of James
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost – July 19, 2020 (am)
   

This is a powerful passage of Scripture with much to say to us in our day. It’s set up in 1:26-27 with a statement about false and true religion. True religion [bridles the] tongue (26). Think about that! It’s startling! If you don’t bridle your tongue, your Christianity is a sham (Piper Bloodlines 181). True religion also [attends to the oppressed] in their affliction; James uses orphans and widows as examples (27). And it [walks in moral purity] (27). If we think we’ve embraced Christ by faith but are missing any of these, we’re [deceiving ourselves] (26).

Then our passage opens with the central charge that is issued in this whole thought-unit. It’s stated in the negative: show no partiality (1). Then it is echoed twice in the positive: love your neighbor as yourself (8), then speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty (12). This is what true religion looks like. These are core elements, essential fruits. Let’s (1) look into this text then (2) reflect on it.

(1) Let’s Summarize What James Is Teaching Here

As we just said, show no partiality (1) is his central charge. He tells his readers how to displace it, what to do instead: love your neighbor as yourself (8). Don’t look at people as servants to fulfill your (perception of your) own best interest. Rather, devote yourself to pursuing their truly best interest. Love them!

Then he tells them why this is so important, what’s at stake: their [words] and [actions] will be judged by God, under the law of liberty (12). This is the second time James has used this language. Last time he used it to describe what he called the perfect law (1:25). In c.1, the perfect law, the law of liberty (1:25), was equated with the word (1:22) which James called his readers to be doers of. And that, in turn, was the same thing as the word of truth (1:18) by which we are brought forth or born again. It is the implanted word which is able to save our souls (1:21). So, this law of liberty is nothing less than the gospel which sets us free in Christ, God’s perfect law of love written on our hearts! (cf. Moo 88)

And the rest of what James says here is just basis, reasons why his readers should hear his charge and honor it.

In vv.2-7, if you show partiality to the man whose [shiny] clothing and [accessories] display his [wealth], favoring him over the man whose [filthy, smelly] clothing shows that he is poor, have you not made distinctions among yourselves, James asks, and become judges with evil thoughts? (4) The word distinctions here is the same one translated doubting and doubts in 1:6, the disposition toward God that produces [double-mindedness] and [instability]. So, [making] distinctions like this exposes our unstable faith, how we [doubt] God. James says that when we show partiality like this, we display a confidence in this world’s resources that can only grow up in a heart that doesn’t fully trust God as Provider and Protector (4). So, not only do we [dishonor] the poor [person] (6) with our partiality, we devalue the [riches] of God’s kingdom which is their promised inheritance (5). And we [dishonor] the glory of God, the Lord of glory (1) Who saves us, by favoring those who oppress the poor and blaspheme Him with their self-orientation self-sufficiency.

In vv.9-11, James directly labels this partiality, sin (9); it offends the royal law (8) of the Lord of glory (1) and makes His creatures [transgressors] of His law (9)—and not just at one point of the law, but of the whole thing! (10-11) Theologians calls this the unitary concept of the law (Davids, 116) and it can sound pretty harsh. But let’s think about this; an illustration can help us with this passage.

Imagine visiting a foreign country where you were caught on camera shoplifting a piece of candy at their version of a convenient store. Store security turns you over to a police officer who takes you directly to a courtroom where a Judge is waiting. What’s the charge, he asks?

Theft, the officer replies.

The Judge looks at you and says, Is this true?

And you say, Yes, Your Honor it is, thinking, what could be the penalty for taking a piece of candy?

The sentence is death! He thunders, and brings down His gavel in confirmation.

Death?! you say. What kind of justice is that?!

In our land, He says, if you’re guilty of one crime you’re guilty of them all: theft, rape, murder, the whole legal code!

But that’s not fair! you protest. I didn’t commit rape or murder! I stole something worth less than a quarter! How does that land me on death row?!

Our standard of justice is not a book of stand-alone laws, He answers, it’s the character of our King. If you deviate from His perfect and holy character, you cannot live in our land.

You’ve heard a bit about this righteous King and His benevolent reputation, so you ask, But, is there no mercy here? Might I ask for mercy?

Ah, mercy, says the Judge! Yes, there is mercy here. Then He issues a new pronouncement even more striking than the first. He says, The Son of our King has paid the required penalty for the offenses of all who ask for mercy. You can be declared innocent of your transgression by His great mercy. In our land, mercy triumphs over judgment (13). We call it “the law of liberty” (12). By the grace and mercy of our King, His Son can set you free from the debt of your sin. All we require, He continues, is that you honor our King by exhibiting the same love and mercy toward others that you yourself have received from Him—that you live by our royal law, “the law of liberty,” everywhere you go.

Yes, you reply, it will be a pleasure to do that, Your Honor! But what happens when I fail, for I know that I will?

You just return to Me where you will again receive mercy.

That is amazing, Your Honor! It will be a delight to live in this way, you say. But just one thing: may I meet the Son of your King? I would like to say, thank you, for His amazing gift of love and mercy!

Yes, you may, says the Judge, I who speak to you am He.

This is how the balance of this paragraph plays out. This is the foundation of the charge in v.1. 1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. When you … speak and… act as those who are judged under the law of liberty (12), showing mercy (13)—when you love your neighbor as yourself (8) and show no partiality (1)—then you are [living] well (8-9). James is amplifying here just what true religion looks like—that which is pure and undefiled before God, the Father (1:27). He’s helping us see how and why we need to be doers of the word and not hearers only (1:22). Deceiving [ourselves] in this area bears eternal consequences. He’s urging us to receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save [our] souls (1:21), to give ourselves fully to the work of God which He has done in our hearts, and to let that flow forth as [impartial] love and mercy toward others.

(2) Let’s Think About What It Means in Our Day

So, what does that mean for us today? I’d say most centrally it helps us identify the very things that continue even now to keep us from living out the royal law (8) of liberty (12), the great commandment, that we’ve received from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. It is still way too easy for us to judge people based on their appearance. Long enough ago for me to feel safe mentioning it, but way too recently for me to feel any better about it, we saw a sharp young couple show up at Grace Church one morning, new to our area, and one of our longstanding Members said to me after meeting them briefly: These are the kind of people we need at our Church. It took my breath away to hear it. But, my friends, on any given day or in any given circumstances, any one of us could have said it. God help us all. Grace Church doesn’t need anyone among us except the Lord of glory doing His work within us, helping us to show no partiality as [we] hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (1). This is what we need! And we need it desperately!

When some come in among us who look a little different or dress a little different or smell a little different, how do we respond? Does it scare us, like it’s a threat—I’m not sure I feel safe around that person? Or does it spook us, like it’s an omen—soon there’s going to be more people like that here? Or does it anger us, like it’s a failure—what are we doing to attract people like that? We’ve got to stop it! It’s way too easy to have such thoughts. And too often we don’t even recognize what they represent, that they expose us as judges with evil thoughts who [make] distinctions among [people] (4) because we don’t really trust what God is doing among us. What is this going to cost me? That’s our question.

(May I take a moment, thought, to commend this body for its welcoming spirit. I hear it about you all the time. But it doesn’t just happen; we must be vigilant to protect that quality as a work of God’s grace among us.)

But these are the easier challenges to see. There are so many other ways that we show partiality, both as a pattern of life but also within temporary situations. Who’d have thought just a few months ago, for instance, that we’d be tempted to show partiality, to form [judgments] against one another, based on whether we’re wearing a mask or observing social distancing? Who’d have believed we could spend the full measure of grace we’re willing to extend to one another on that basis alone? I’m not talking just to one side or the other. Nor am I favoring one side or the other or trying to change the view that anyone holds. And I’m surely not suggesting this is just a Grace Church issue! I’m just asking, who’d have believed we’d even be able, not to mention willing, not only to entertain thoughts but also to make expressions of frustration toward one another on this basis alone?

But once we see that we are able to see that all it takes is new little virus to expose the weak spots in our love for one another, we’re actually being well-served by this passage of Scripture. We’re being reminded of the depth of our need for mercy. We’re reminded that we’re just not able to love [our] neighbor as [ourselves] in our own strength, as an act of our own will! No matter how long we’ve walked with the Lord, this just doesn’t come naturally to us! And every new circumstance is a new opportunity to learn that—a new occasion on which we need to receive God’s mercy, to see it triumph over our judgment, to enable us to embrace the royal law of the Lord of glory by faith, and so to be lifted by Him out of trap of our own unstable doubt and [judgmental thoughts] and self-will.

We are the poor man in shabby clothing [who] comes in (2) to the shower of God’s mercy and the favor of His love! And we must never lose sight of that in our fellowship here.

James poses a question: 5 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? Answer: Yes! And we are those heirs! As we trust Jesus as Savior and receive His [promise] of life, we become heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Rom.8:17).

Conclusion

This is what our Lord Jesus Christ enables in us. It’s a work that desperately needs to be done. And it’s not done once for all. It needs to be continually done in our hearts as an ongoing work by His love and mercy. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty is an emphatic, present tense, ongoing activity that can only be obeyed, enacted, achieved in us by the love and mercy of God (Moo 101).

(I want to commend to you c.13 in John Piper’s Bloodlines where he applies the text to race relations. Look it up and read it soon, while our study is fresh in mind, and see how relevant it is in our day.)

So, that is our final word today, our take-away, our closing charge: 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. Show not partiality (1). Rather, love your neighbor as yourself (8) and so fulfill the royal law of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory (1).

Next Sunday: Faith Apart from Works Is Dead, James 2:14-26