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Scripture Reading: James 1:18, 25; 2:8, 10-12; 4:11
We have seen that James made the great mistake of uplifting the Old Testament law of letters, but his mistake is covered by a beautiful cloak. James treasured the law of letters through Moses, and he seemingly mentioned another law that he called the perfect law of freedom (James 1:25). In the past we thought that this perfect law of freedom was the law of life. But actually, the words perfect and freedom are the top cloak to cover James’s mistake. Jeremiah prophesied concerning the law of life that would be written in our hearts (Jer. 31:31-34), and Paul spoke of the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). In our crystallization-study to get into the intrinsic significance of the Bible, we now realize that James was not speaking of the law of life but of the law of letters.
James seemingly talks about three kinds of laws: the law of letters (the Mosaic law), the royal law, and the law of freedom. James 2:8 says, “If indeed you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well.” James appreciated the law so much that he called it “the royal law.” Psalms 1, 19, and 119 uplift the law to the uttermost, but even the psalmist in those three psalms did not appreciate the law as highly as James did.
James 2:10 and 11 say, “Whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point has become 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 murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” No doubt, when James refers to the law in verses 10 and 11, he is speaking of the Mosaic law. He continues in verse 12 by saying, “So speak and so do as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.” According to the context, the royal law, the Mosaic law, and the law of freedom are one and the same law.
James was one hundred percent for the law. He taught people to observe, to keep, the Mosaic law. When James spoke of the royal law, he was speaking of only one commandment of the Mosaic law, that is, to love our neighbors. He was for perfection, and a perfect man should love his neighbors. This is a high point of human perfection, so James called this the royal law. By this we can see that he appreciated the law more highly than the psalmists did.
James 4:11 says, “Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.” This indicates clearly that James wanted the believers to be doers of the law of Moses. If the royal law refers to the Mosaic law, surely the law of freedom also refers to the Mosaic law. He says that this law is perfect.
We may wonder how James could consider the Mosaic law as the perfect law, the law of freedom. Psalm 19:7 and 8 say, “The law of Jehovah is perfect, / Restoring the soul; / The testimony of Jehovah is faithful, / Making the simple wise; / The precepts of Jehovah are right, / Making the heart joyous.” The term the perfect law did not originate with James but with the psalmists. Surely James must have been a lover of the Psalms. The thought of freedom regarding the law is also in Psalm 19. Psalm 19 tells us that the law of Moses is perfect and that it causes people to be restored and to rejoice. To restore the soul is to make one’s dead soul alive. This is to release him. Restoring and rejoicing imply release, liberty, freedom.
Psalm 1 says that the one who meditates in the law day and night will be like a tree growing beside streams of water (vv. 2-3). The law is likened to flowing streams, and these flowing streams make a person living and released. Thus, the thought of the law being the perfect law of freedom was already in the Psalms.
James uses another two terms to describe the Mosaic law, which he appreciated. James 1:18 says that God brought us forth by the word of truth. In Psalm 119:43 David says that the word of the Lord’s law was the word of truth. The New Testament teaches us that God regenerated us by the word of the gospel, not by the word of the law. Paul says that he begot the Corinthians through the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15). Then Peter says that God regenerated us with an incorruptible seed, and this incorruptible seed is the living and abiding word of God (1 Pet. 1:23). These are New Testament gospel terms, but James says that God regenerated us with the word of the law. This shows us the mixture of James.
James 1:21 says, “Receive in meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The implanted word here also refers to the Mosaic law. Psalm 119:11 says, “In my heart I have treasured up Your word / That I might not sin against You.” This is the implanted word. If the law were only outside of people, it would not work out anything for them. They have to keep the law in their heart. The law has to be implanted in them. Then this law will keep them from sinning against God. This is also the liberty to which James refers.
Thus, all the different terms used by James for the law refer to the Mosaic law. The law, the royal law, the perfect law of freedom, the word of truth, and the implanted word refer to the same Mosaic law. By this we can see how highly James appreciated the law. It is no wonder that he was so zealous for the law. But the New Testament teaches us that the age of the law is over. The law should not be used in the age of grace. The law was given through Moses. That was of the old age, the age of the law. But grace came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). The age of Moses is over. Now the age of grace is with Christ.
Even Peter made a mistake by putting Moses and Elijah on the same level as Christ. When the Lord Jesus was transfigured on the mount, Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Matt. 17:4). By this word Peter gave the Lord Jesus the same rank as Moses and Elijah. But while Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!” (v. 5). This means that the law, represented by Moses, and the prophets, represented by Elijah, are over. When the disciples lifted up their eyes, they saw Jesus only (v. 8). Therefore, in the New Testament, the age of grace, there is no ground for the law.
The top seer of God’s eternal economy was the apostle Paul. Paul did not appreciate the law in any of his writings. Instead, he said that we are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). He said that he died to the law (Gal. 2:19) and that no one can be justified by God through observing the law (3:11). Paul belittled the law to the uttermost, but James uplifted the law to the heavens. What a mistake he made! However, not many have seen that James was mistaken to the uttermost in the matter of the law. James’s mistake was covered by his beautiful portrait of the law.
Humanly, everyone appreciates the doers of the law. Whoever keeps the law by loving his neighbor is a good man. Keeping the law fits with the natural concept of fallen people. Acts 21 shows that James was zealous for the law, but in Galatians Paul says that we are dead to the law, the law profits us nothing, and we are not under the law. After he had written Galatians, Paul went to Jerusalem where James had become a high authority, just because of the human concept. He was made the first of the three pillars in the church at Jerusalem (2:9). He was greatly appreciated by the Jewish believers because he was zealous for the law. When Paul came to Jerusalem, James advised him to do something to keep the law in order to appease the Jewish believers, and Paul was ensnared (see footnote 1 of Acts 21:26, Recovery Version).
We need to see that God inspired James to write the Epistle of James with a purpose. This purpose is to expose James’s mistake. James’s own writing exposes his fault. In a later chapter we will see more concerning the purpose of God in having James as a book of His Holy Scriptures. The purpose of God is just to expose James; however, throughout the centuries most of the readers of the Bible approve James. The whole Scripture was written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, but not every word in the Bible is the word of God. The word itself may not be the word of God, but it was recorded by some writer under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). The word in the Scripture and the scriptural record itself are two distinct things. For example, the word in Genesis 3:1 is the word of Satan, but the record of that word is through Moses. Moses wrote that word under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
Now let us read Galatians 5:1-4 to see what Paul’s attitude was concerning the law: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled with a yoke of slavery again. Behold, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. You have been brought to nought, separated from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
Paul shows us that the yoke of slavery is the bondage of the law, which makes the law-keepers slaves under a binding yoke. To deviate from Christ to the law is to be entangled or held in a snare. We need to stand fast in the freedom from the slavery of the law, not deviating from Christ, not falling from grace.
