James Chapter 2:1-13

Recap of Chapter 1:


James immediately starts with discussing faith.

• Verse 2 notes that you should consider it joy when you fall into trials because the testing of your faith produces patience.

• Verses 5 and 6 note that we should ask G-d for wisdom and have the faith that He will generously give it to us.

Chapter 2:

Read James 2:1-4

Pray

Genuine faith is shown in this chapter.

Read 2:1-13

We see that we are not to make distinctions and judgments by deciding ourselves that one person is better than another. We should see them how G-d sees them. If we are rich or poor, we need to view ourselves as G-d views us.

Verse 8 and following shows us that we are going against God’s laws and that we are not
following that which summed up all the law and the prophets (Mat 22:34-40)


Genuine faith is not merely knowing what you should do, but acting upon it. Chapter 2:2 notes that this is taking place in the assembly or synagogue. If this was happening in the congregation, one can imagine what was going on outside. This is a reminder to me that we need to be careful of our actions. Other people are watching us. DC Talk noted on one CD that:

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Our partiality with things as easy to see as rich and poor infect the rest of our lives. We begin to pick and choose which laws we want to follow. (Read James 2:9-11)

Our goal is to follow him in everything.

Faith

Humility
Note that 1 Pet 5:5-7, James 4:6, Prov 3:34 all say same thing.
We don’t have anything to boast about. 1 Cor 1:26-29
If we boasted in anything it would be Jer 9:23-24

James 2:1-13
1My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2For 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, 3and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? 5Listen, 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? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

8If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11For 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. 12So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Hebrews 11:1
1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:6
6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

John 13:17
17“If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Romans 1:5
5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake

Romans 16:25-26 (specifically 26)
25Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith

Prov 3:34
34Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.

1 Peter 5:5-7
5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”a
6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

James 4:6
6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”b

James 4:6
6But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Numbers 12:3
3(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

Job 34:19
19Who shows no partiality to princes
Nor regards the rich above the poor,
For they all are the work of His hands?

Jer 9:23-24
23This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
24but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

1 Cor 1:26-31
26For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29so that no man may boast before God. 30But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

Galatians 5:13-15
13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful naturea; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”b 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Matthew 22:34-40
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’b 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’c 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

James 1:9-11
9But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.