Nick.LaPrell.org

James Chapter 2

II recently agreed to do a teaching on James 2 for a married couples fellowship my wife and I attend. I will attempt to reproduce the teaching here.

The context of James is important to understanding its purpose and meaning. The book of James is believed to have been written by James, the brother of Jesus, though some scholars will disagree. The book is addressed to the 12 tribes of Israel and is possibly the first new testament book to have been written. James is aimed at the very early Christian church which was mostly made of Jews. The purpose of James was to explain how Christians were to live and describe the expected results of their faith in Jesus Christ without the establishment of any new doctrine.

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? ( James 2:1-7 )

We often forget that, no matter how close we are to the Lord, we are just as much sinners as those who never knew Him. James understands that it is human nature to treat rich and powerful people different than poor people. The secular world may observe that rich people have more time and money to benefit society while poor people are a drain on society. Jesus Himself was born into poverty, however, and we know that God uses both people, which means that we have no right to favor one over the other. Rich and poor are equally sinful and equally forgiven.

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ( James 2:8-9 )

Again, we are called to love our neighbors. There is no clause for the exclusion of the poor, old, unattractive, or even mean and spiteful. We are called to love all of our neighbors by no less than Jesus Himself.

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ( James 2:10-11 )

As simple as this statement is, I think it is a breakthrough. Violation of any one law is still violation of the law. If you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, having never robbed a bank, stabbed a person, or set fire to a building is not a valid defense.

James starts this chapter off by warning of about partiality. First, partiality to people, but now, partiality to the law, and even the Word of God. We have seen the rise of the seeker sensitive movement that is partial to all the uplifting parts of the bible, yet ignores anything that might offend someone. Some churches like to ignore parts of the bible that condemn homosexuality or premarital sex. Still others prefer to ignore such important parts as the bible as those that claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.

If we are partial to only the parts we like, then we destroy God's word! If Jesus is no longer the only way to salvation, than what good is the bible? The fact is, the bible is offensive. It makes us sweat from time to time. It convicts us of our wrongdoings. If we take these areas with partiality, then we destroy the positive messages as well.

We were studying the bible's view on the sin nature of man kind in a world religion class I took in college. One of the students said that she didn't get it. "If it is saying what it seems to be saying, then I am very offended!" she said. I responded, "then you are understanding the message perfectly." If we were to take the sinful state of man with partiality, then what reason would we have for a savior?

So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ( James 2:12-13 )

The first half of James 2 is wrapped up by making a final call for mercy, and repeating the words of Jesus, reminding us that we receive mercy when we show mercy.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ( Matthew 6:15-14 )

It is always important to note that the forgiveness spoken of in this context is relational and not part of salvation. Our sin separates us from God and when we do not forgive others, we sin. The more we follow after Jesus, the stronger our relationship is with Him.

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ( James 2:14-17 )

This is one of my favorite passages of the bible, but I believe it is also one of the most commonly misunderstood. When James is asking if faith can save, he is not speaking of salvation. The word "save" appears several times in the book of James, and each time, it is the Greek word sōzō, which means to protect, heal, or preserve.

James is asking a very simple question. How is your faith in Christ going to feed that hungry man if you do nothing? Faith without works is dead. We accept the grace of God through faith, but without works, we are of no use to Him here.

(EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that referring back to the original Greek could be misleading and insinuating that it is a different word than is used when speaking of salvation. In fact, the word is the same, however, the definition is important to understand that it can mean both physically and spiritually. In this context, I believe James is using the word both ways. He is outwardly speaking of the physical (saving a poor man from hunger, for example), but he is also questioning whether the absence of such works might be an indication that we are not saved spiritually through our faith. If our faith is not in the Lord, it profits us nothing. If we have faith in the church, or in people, we aren't saved. James points to a handy indication that we have faith in the Lord, and that is that works are present. If we have faith in God, that triggers us to "save" others physically by doing good works, which is an outward indication to ourselves that we are "saved" in a spiritual sense.)

Ironically, this passage is often taken with partiality, even as we were warned only a few verses prior. Several people have told me that this part of the bible is proof that faith alone cannot bring salvation. In their partiality, the are ignoring the following:

I have even hear some people claim that salvation by grace through faith alone is Paul's teaching and contradicts the rest of the bible. My usual reply is that if the bible contains errors, it is useless as a proof text. The reality is that no contradiction exists here because James was speaking about the importance of works as a result of our faith and never claimed that those works are required for salvation.

But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ( James 2:18 )

Faith is not a tangible thing that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell. James is telling us that the only evidence we have of the faith of another is their works.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ( James 2:19-22 )

Belief and faith are two very different things. Demons believe in God. We have faith. Our faith leads us to do works. Abraham, as a result of his faith in the Lord, had the faith to offer his son Isaac as God had requested.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. ( James 2:23 )

Again, we see that Abraham's salvation was obtained through his faith. His actions were merely a demonstration of that faith.

You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. ( James 2:24 )

This verse requires a little closer examination. At first glance, it appears that we're back at the idea that works is a requirement of salvation. The word "justified" in the original Greek is dikaiŏō, which means "to show as innocent." The justification one receives from his or her works is the demonstration of their faith, not salvation.

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. ( James 2:25-26 )

This amazing closing reminds us again, that while our faith has saved us from a life apart from our Creator, it has done nothing for anyone else unless it causes us to do good things. We can see one of the most famous examples in the story about the thief on the cross.

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." ( Luke 23:39-43 )

Here we see that the thief never once attended church, he never tithed, he never helped the poor, he was never baptized. We know of his faith in Jesus because he spoke out against the people mocking Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him. This was the only work of faith in his life, yet Jesus still promised the thief that he would be with Him.

When the thief on the cross realized who Jesus was, there was probably a time of great grief as he realized the potential he had to be used by God. Looking at the last few hours of his life, strung up on a cross, it was too late for him to demonstrate his love for God in any other way, and it was his own fault. Yet God used the man to further demonstrate His great mercy and grace.

Let us see the thief as an example of God's unconditional love for us, and a reminder not to waste our life away living for anyone or anything else.