The Royal Law - Part 2
James 2:9
James 2:9
“But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
Just as God’s law of love can fulfill all the Law and Prophets...the sin of favoritism opposes and breaks all the laws of God. Let’s review Showing favoritism turns us into lawbreakers and we are found guilty of not just one sin within the law but we are found guilty of the entire law. According to the writings of the Apostle Paul the Law was put into place to expose our sin and lead us to the Savior. Galatians 3:19 says, “It (the law) was added because of transgressions (meaning to expose our sins to us) until the Seed (referring to Jesus) to whom the promise (made to Abraham) referred to had come.” Continuing in Galatians 3:23-25 Pau says, “Before this faith (in Jesus) came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith (in Jesus) should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified (found “not guilty” of our sin) by faith. Now that faith (in Jesus) has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”
James is making the same point here. In Jesus’ time the religious leaders of the Jewish people were called Pharisees. They were supposed to teach the people the Laws of God and lead them to the Messiah but instead they rejected Jesus and continued to lead the people away from Christ, teaching a system of salvation by works. One particular teaching of the Pharisees was said that if you obeyed the law more times than you failed, then you would go to heaven. Their views remind me of a weight scale where every time you failed to keep the Law a weight was put into the Hell side and each time you obeyed the Law a weight was placed into the side for Heaven. Then at the end of your life you would be judged by which ever way the scale tilted.
People still try to live their lives by doing good deeds just like the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. Without true salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ… without the ability to love God and love their neighbors, how can this be possible? Where is the assurance when you are always wondering if you have done enough to tip the scales to your favor?
James continues to drive his point home in verse 11, “For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not commit murder’. If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” It seemed rather strange to me that James would use these two examples in relation to the sin of favoritism, but as we look deeper into the meaning of Scripture it fits very well.
James is quoting from the 10 commandments given to Moses by God. Remember the book of James is a letter written to his congregation…. a congregation made up of Jewish believers. Therefore he is using examples they relate to. James purposely picks out two commandments, do not commit adultery and murder, to illustrate how terrible the sin of favoritism can be. In his example at the start of our study he spoke of the church casting aside a poor beggar and giving all their attention to a wealthy man. This is a clear violation of the great “love commands” and the end result is they are found guilty… they are found guilty in the same way an adulterer and a murderer would be found guilty.
Did you know the punishment for adultery (Duet. 22:22) and murder (Lev. 24:17, 21) were the same according to the Law in the Old Testament. James picked out the two sins of the Law with a punishment was death… why? We need to understand that all sin is wrong and all sin carries the same curse in Scripture. The sin curse began with Adam and Eve and carries the penalty of death. If we begin to classify our sins into lesser and greater offenses we begin to walk down the same path as the Pharisees. Many religions today teach this same line of thinking and it even penetrates the minds of most Christians today, but James puts favoritism in line with adultery and murder.
How many times have we excused ourselves of complaining, favoritism, and gossip for example? We would be offended if someone compared us to a murder or an adulterer yet that is exactly...let me say it again… that is exactly how God sees our sin. We have no right to take the ugliness of any sin and make it less than it truly is.
Let me ask you something. What would it be like if just one church...in one community...stopped excusing their supposed “petty” sins and began to love people the way God intended them to? Imagine for a moment a place where people felt genuine love for God and that loved for God overflowed into the lives of other people. Some say it is impossible to have such a church, but it is merely a matter of obedience… a matter of choice among each Christian to choose God over their own selfish desires. I believe in the power of God that lies within the believer. I believe we can love others the way God designed us to.
