10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
11 For 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.
12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
***
V. 9 - “But if you treat people according to their outward appearance, you are guilty of sin, and the Law condemns you as a lawbreaker. ” -
“But if you treat people“ - The word “if” could be translated "since" in this verse. James is stating they are doing this: treating people according to their appearance (whether it is clothes, or speech patterns, or race and ethnicity). If you show “partiality”, that is: treating people differently… You are committing sin.
In this case, James is not referring to a single slip, but actions that happen continually.
Don’t think that I am saying one “oopsie” doesn’t count as a sin. Making value judgements of a person’s worth based on appearance is a sin. It means you are not seeing that person needs Jesus for salvation just as you need Jesus. Neither of you will spend time in eternity if you don’t believe and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is too easy to value someone who arrives at church in a Mercedes SUV differently than others; or wears a nice dress and jacket rather than blue jeans and a sweat shirt.
We Americans pride ourselves as being one of the most egalitarian communities on earth. But we still are swayed by our perceptions when we see the house where someone lives, or their clothes, or their automobile. It is especially easy to look “down” on someone obviously less wealthy than we or our friends. This shows a lack of compassion for others and their circumstances, and a heightened estimation of our own personal self-worth.
Why is this not just a matter of credit/debt with respect to law? As a result of the rich people's actions the “royal law” is violated. The attitude is a case of ‘money plus grace’ saves us. In this instance, James is addressing the actions of some of the rich people in the church.
This is a call for mercy. Mercy for the well-off who show disdain toward others, and mercy for the resentment and envy the poor may have toward others. Mercy saves us all - dollars and possessions get you nothing.
V. 10 - “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”This statement is significant! The Law of God is a whole, not detached (isolated) injunctions. In our legal system, there are gradations of offenses - e.g., First or Second degree murder, etc. The penalties if convicted vary with the seriousness of the crime. To be sure, there were gradations in the Law - different offenses required different sacrifices to ‘pay’ for those sins. Minor offenses required minor sacrifices, etc. There was even a sacrifice if you had committed a sin (offense) that you weren’t aware you had offended the Lord. (You broke a law you weren’t aware existed.) However, if you were told that the thing you were going to do was a sin, and you did it anyway - there was no recompense available.
V. 11 - “For 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.”“Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. “ - All that is a ‘minor detail’. It does not matter if the sin was ‘little’ or ‘huge’; you broke the Law. You do not have the wherewithal to cover your sin. You come up short, period.
V. 12 - “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.” -What is the “law of liberty”? Look back to Jam 1:25, “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” (NASB95) The same law is called the law of liberty and perfect law. We have been set free to live and act because we want to do it, rather than being forced to obey.
The commentary by Jameson, Faucet and Brown said it this way, “that is, the Gospel law of love, which is not a law of external constraint, but of internal, free, instinctive inclination. The law of liberty, through God's mercy, frees us from the curse of the law, that henceforth we should be free to love and obey willingly. If we will not in turn practice the law of love to our neighbor, that law of grace condemns us still more heavily than the old law, which spake nothing but wrath to him who offended in the least particular.” (See note 1)
What is the goal? Pursue the physical health and spiritual well-being of neighbors with the same intensity as for yourself. The ‘old system’ required knowing the Law and obeying it. Well, actually that is only partially so. Yes, there were lots of rules beyond the 10 Commandments. But God also knew that it was going to be almost impossible to keep those myriad laws. God instituted a sacrifice for those who unknowingly broke a law. That is, if you broke a law and you didn’t know you sinned, there was a sacrifice to cover that sin. Almost every person who brought a sacrifice to the tabernacle or temple came with that baggage.
Jesus simplified it: Do this one thing - Love the Lord your God. See: “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And He said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.’ “ (Matt 22:36-40 )
That does not mean what Jesus has commanded us to do is easy. But it is not hard or impossible to do. God has given us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead and guide us in our daily Christian life.
We can’t say we didn’t know what we are to do. Our actions show what we believe. Jesus does not need to judge and convict us. Our disobedience demonstrates our unfaithfulness, that we have rejected Jesus and what He commanded. See: “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” (Jhn 12:48) The Father compares our actions to Jesus’s commands - that is the judgement.
V. 13 - “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”James has the antidote to playing favorites (which is sinning) - "Speak and Act..." Show mercy! No mercy shows that you have not responded to God's mercy. Paul said in the letter to Philippians: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Phil 2:3-4 )
Don’t be confused, showing mercy - in this instance, treating people the same way no matter how they are dressed, or how much money you may think they have - shows that you have accepted what the Lord Jesus requires of you. No matter how rich you may be, you are a pauper with respect to God Almighty. You are so poor you cannot buy your way into heaven. You may be the child of a king or a president. Too bad, that means nothing if you do not have Jesus as Lord and Savior. Being a child of God, a believer in Jesus as Savior is the only credential needed. But you did not earn that credential. It is a gift, unearned, in spite of your sin.
Do not make judgments. You are not able to determine what God thinks about another person, whether He has forgiven that person. Your lack of forgiveness - that is what James is talking about - shows that you don’t see your need for forgiveness from the only One who can actually forgive your sin. See: “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Mat 6:14-15) And: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” (Matt 7:1-2)
God is compassionate and forgiving, and expects us to be forgiving also. See, for example: Mat 18:32-35 - “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
We live in the United States of America where life is mostly not harsh or cruel. We do not know true cruelty and oppression. And as we progress in our Christian faith, we can become self-satisfied in our spiritual condition. A slight by a non-Christian, such as a raised eyebrow, a grimace causes us to be offended and oppressed. We live in a country that recognizes Christianity as a valid religion or faith. We are unaccustomed to persecution or torture. When trouble does come we waver because we are weak. Our emotions and feelings take our focus off of the Lord and on our circumstance. Paul said this to Timothy: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” (2 Tim 3:1-5)
What is the highest principle? Mercy triumphs over judgement.
Note 1: Jameson, Faucet and Brown, “Bible Commentary”, pub, date ***
No comments:
Post a Comment