James 2

1. Do not try to mix faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our glory, with the practice of treating rich men better than poor men.

He who rules over the poor to make more for himself, or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. Proverbs 22:16

2 – 4

If a rich man, comes into your group with a gold ring and good clothes and there also comes a poor man dressed in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the rich man and say, “Sit here in a good seat!”

But you say to the poor man, “Stand over there, or sit here under my footstool.”

Does not this prove you that you are treating some of your brothers differently than others, and you have become judges with evil imaginations?

Not showing respect is always wrong. Peter treated some brothers differently from others in Galatians 2:11-14, and was rebuked by Paul.

5. Pay attention, my dear brothers, has not God chosen the poor men of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom that He promised to them that love Him?

Jesus told what will happen to the rich who do not care about the poor, in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Luke 16:19 - 31

6 – 7

And if you act this way you are not showing honor to the poor man.  Is it not true that the rich use their power over you?  Is it not the rich who take you to court? Is it not the rich who speak against the glorious Name that you are known by?

At the time when the book of James was written, the Jewish leaders were arresting Christians.  Followers of Jesus would have no reason to expect anything good from these leaders.

8 – 9

If you obey the royal law: "Love your neighbor in the same way that you love yourself,"  you are doing well. But if you treat rich men and poor men differently, you are breaking this royal law.

Everyone agrees with this royal law.  It becomes hard to put this law into practice when we have to make a decision on how we are going to treat people.

10 – 11

Anybody who keeps the entire law but breaks a single commandment is guilty of the whole law. For he who said, you shall not commit adultery also said do not kill.  If you do not commit adultery, but you kill, you are breaking the law.

If you look carefully, you will find parts of the Sermon on the Mount in the entire New Testament.

If you ignore the smallest commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5:19

12. So speak and act like those who will be judged with the law of freedom.

Live as a person who knows that he is going to brought before a judge and examined.

The Ten Commandments did not give us freedom.  The Gospel gives us the freedom to do what is right, not because we have to, but because we want to.

You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John 8:32

13. To him who does not show mercy, God's judgment will have no mercy but mercy rejoices over judgment.

There is a law which cannot be escaped: whatever you do to others will be done to you. It is a good idea to find a way to think, pray and act with mercy or else you will not receive mercy yourself. Galatians 6:7

But go and learn what this means: “I DESIRE MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE.” Matthew 9:13

To obey is better than sacrifice... 1 Samuel 1:22

14. My brothers, what good is it if you say you have faith, but you never practice it? 

James is saying, “Can that type of faith save anyone?”

15 – 16

If a brother or sister needs clothing or food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace.  Stay warm! I hope you have enough to eat!” but you do not give them what they need.  What good is it?

James is asking, “What is the use of that kind of faith?” How many people can you find in the Bible who were appreciated for the things they did for others? See also 1 John 3:17.

17. In the same way, faith that is not put into practice is dead.

Some people say, “I don’t need to ever do anything to show my faith because then I would be saved by works. For this reason, I do not do any good works.”

Both Jesus and James never said that we would be saved by works. What they teach us is that we display (or shine) our faith with our works. What else could Matthew 5:16 mean?

Faith is something that is invisible (Hebrews 11:1). If we do not do anything which can be seen, then our faith remains invisible.

18. Someone will say, “You claim to have faith but I do a lot of good things!”  I would answer that man by saying, “Let me see how strong your faith is without these good things that you do.  I will let you see how strong my faith is by putting it into practice.

Just listening to the law does not make us right with God. It is obeying the law that causes God to see our sins as covered. Romans 2:13.

19. You may say that you believe there is one God.  Good.  The demons also believe there is one God and they are afraid!

James is writing to Jews who were proud of the fact that they believed in God and recited Deuteronomy 6:4 “The Lord our God is one.”

20. But are you willing, you foolish man, to see that faith that is not put into practice is worth nothing?

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding ... Hebrews 6:1.

21 - 22

Is not it true that our father Abraham practiced his faith when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Do you see how the things that he did were because of his faith and made his faith complete?

Abraham was seen as righteous by God before he had done anything to display his faith. When his faith was mixed together with his works then his faith was made complete. This happened thirty years before He offered Isaac on the altar (Romans 4:1-11).

23. And the Scripture was complete, which says, “Abraham trusted God, and it was put to his credit as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.”

Abraham lived in Hebron which is called “the city of God’s Friend” by the Arabs. It would be very powerful if the people around us saw that we are close friends with God! See also Genesis 15:6, Isaiah 41:8.

24 – 25

Do you see that a man is justified only when he puts his faith into practice? Was not Rahab the harlot also justified as she put her faith into practice when she welcomed the spies and sent them safely back by a different way?

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Matthew 23:23.See also Joshua 2:1-21, 6:25.

26. A body without a spirit is dead and faith that is not put into practice is also dead.

Martin Luther did not understand James’ emphasis on the display of our faith by works.
Luther was saved while reading Romans 1:17, a passage which balances this one.

We can understand how Luther relied on that which brought him to Christ. Sometimes we are all tempted to over-emphasize the personal convictions of the church we attend.

When our personal convictions become more important than the fundamentals of the faith we need to remind ourselves that truth out of balance is not truth.