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Scripture Reading: James 2:1-26
In this message we shall consider chapter two of the Epistle of James.
Verse 1 says, “My brothers, do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with respect of persons.” This verse indicates that this Epistle, especially this chapter, was written to the New Testament believers in the Lord Jesus Christ of glory. Here James tells us not to have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with respect of persons. This certainly is a virtue of Christian perfection. If we have the faith of the glorious Lord, we should not have respect of persons.
In verse 2 James continues, “And if there comes into your synagogue a man with gold rings in splendid clothing, and there also comes in a poor man in filthy clothing.” Here “synagogue” is the anglicized form of the Greek word sunagoge, composed of sun, together, and ago, to bring; hence, a collecting, gathering, congregation, assembly; by transition, the place of gathering. It was used in the New Testament to denote the congregation (Acts 13:43; 9:2; Luke 12:11) and the congregating place (Luke 7:5) of the Jews, where they sought the knowledge of God by studying the Holy Scriptures (Luke 4:16-17; Acts 13:14-15). In Jerusalem there were quite a few synagogues of various kinds of Jews (Acts 6:9). This word, used here by James, may indicate that the Jewish believers considered their assembly and assembling place as also one of the synagogues among the Jews. If so, this bears, as the whole Epistle does, a Jewish character, and may indicate that the Jewish Christians regarded themselves as still a part of the Jewish nation, as the chosen people of God according to the Old Testament, and that they lacked a clear vision concerning the distinction between God’s chosen people of the Old Testament and the believers in Christ of the New Testament.
We see once again that although James was a very godly man, he did not have a clear vision concerning God’s New Testament economy. I am concerned that in the years to come certain saints may think that it is good enough to be like James, godly and perfect in character and behavior. As we have pointed out, we need to be balanced in our Christian life; that is, we need to care for God’s New Testament economy and also have in our daily living the necessary practical Christian perfection. We have seen from this Epistle that, on the one hand, James indicates that we need practical Christian perfection and that, on the other hand, this Epistle serves as a warning that even a godly man may not have a clear vision of God’s economy. This was the reason in the foregoing message we considered James’ word in Acts 21. The mixture in Jerusalem between the old and new dispensations was a cause for God’s allowing the Roman army to destroy the city. Nothing is more offensive to God than opposing His economy. Of course, if we have poor character, that will be offensive to Him. But poor character is not as serious a matter as being opposed to God’s economy.
Concerning a rich man and a poor man who may come into the synagogue, James asked the recipients of his Epistle, “And you look upon the one wearing the splendid clothing and say, You sit here in a good place; and to the poor man you say, You stand there, or sit under my footstool; have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil reasonings?” (vv. 3-4). Any distinctions that existed between the rich and the poor among the Christian brothers were a shame to the Lord and to the salvation of His divine life.
A poor brother reading these verses may commend James. However, one with a clear vision concerning the distinction between God’s economy in the Old Testament and in the New might say, “James, you are clear that there should be no distinction between rich and poor, but you are not as clear that there is a distinction between the two dispensations.”
In verse 5 James goes on to say, “Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor in the world, to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him?” The kingdom of God here is also the kingdom of Christ, which will be inherited by the overcoming believers in the coming age (Eph. 5:5; Gal. 5:21; 1 Cor. 6:10; Rev. 20:4, 6). The reality of this kingdom should not be practiced in the Jewish synagogue, but in the Christian church, which is the Body of Christ (Rom. 14:17).
In verse 5 James speaks the second time about loving God (see 1:12). We believe in the Lord for our salvation (Acts 16:31); we love God (1 John 2:5, 15) for our overcoming so that we may receive the promised kingdom as a reward.
We cannot receive the kingdom simply by believing. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the kingdom will be a reward. Receiving this reward requires that we love God. In order to receive salvation, it is adequate that we believe in the Lord. But if we would receive the reward of the kingdom, we need to love God.
In 2:2 James speaks about the synagogue, and in 2:5, about the kingdom. This indicates that he puts these two matters together. What a serious mistake! This is a further indication that James was lacking with respect to God’s economy. It is not possible to practice the reality of the kingdom in a Jewish synagogue. This can be practiced only in the church life.
In verses 6 and 7 James says, “But you have dishonored the poor. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you to the courts? Do they not blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?” The Greek word rendered “courts” may also be translated “tribunals.” James’ word in verse 6 is also a mixture. I do not believe that the rich brothers in Christ dragged the poor brothers to the law courts. Rather, I believe that James is referring here to wealthy, unbelieving Jews, who took certain brothers to court. According to verse 7, these rich ones blasphemed the honorable name by which the believers are called. Literally, “by which you are called” is “which is called upon you.” Here James indicates that it is a rich unbeliever who blasphemes the name of the Lord.
Verse 8 says, “If indeed you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.” The royal law refers to the commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the king of all laws, and covers and fulfills all laws (Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:8-10). Loving God and loving our neighbor are the greatest requirements of the law. All the law hangs on these (Matt. 22:36-40).
In verse 9 James says, “But if you respect persons, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.” This indicates that to respect persons is contrary to the law, and anything contrary to the law is sin. Having respect of persons is against the royal law, the commandment to love our neighbor as ourself. To say to a poor man, “You stand here, or sit under my footstool,” is not to love. We would not like to be treated in this way. The point in verse 9 is that those who respect persons commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
In verse 10 James goes on to say, “For whoever keeps the whole law, yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” The word in verses 8 through 11 indicates that the Jewish believers at James’ time were still practicing the keeping of the Old Testament law. This corresponds to the word in Acts 21:20 spoken by James and the elders in Jerusalem to Paul. James, the elders in Jerusalem, and many thousands of Jewish believers still remained in a mixture of the Christian faith and the Mosaic law. They even advised Paul to practice such a semi-Judaic mixture (Acts 21:17-26). They were unaware that the dispensation of law was altogether over and that the dispensation of grace should be fully honored, and that any disregard of the distinction between these two dispensations would be against God’s dispensational administration and would be a great damage to God’s economical plan for the building up of the church as the expression of Christ. Thus, James’ Epistle was written under the cloud of a semi-Judaic mixture, under a background that made matters obscure.
In verse 11 James says, “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.” According to the context, this verse indicates that telling a poor brother to sit under our footstool is equal to killing him. To treat a poor brother in this way is to commit murder, for to despise a poor brother is to kill him.
Verse 12 continues, “So speak and so do as those who are about to be judged by a law of freedom.” “So” both times does not refer to what has gone before, but to what follows. The law of freedom here and in 1:25 refers to the same law, which is the law of life. James 2:8-11, as also 4:11, speaks of keeping the law of letters. James 2:12 speaks of judgment upon the believers by the law of life. The believers should speak and do according to the law of life, which surpasses the law of letters. They should live according to the law of life. This kind of living surpasses the keeping of the law of letters. The unbelievers will be judged by the law of letters, which is the law of Moses, at the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). The believers will be judged by the law of life, the law of freedom, which is the law of Christ, at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10).
When I was young, I could not understand 2:11 and 12. I knew that in the New Testament God does not want us to keep the Old Testament law. But here James talks about keeping the Old Testament law. His word corresponds to what is recorded in Acts 21. But then in verse 12 James tells us that we shall be judged by another law, by the perfect law. Now I understand that in the mind of James the Old Testament law and the New Testament law were mixed. James did not make a distinction between the Old Testament law and the New Testament law.
First James talks about keeping the law, and then he speaks about being judged by Christ according to the law of freedom, according to the law of the New Testament. This indicates that James mixed these laws together.
According to the clear revelation of the Bible, there will be three major judgments to come. The first will be the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). This judgment will be carried out in the air, and it will be executed upon all the raptured and resurrected believers. That judgment will not be related to salvation or perdition. Because that judgment will concern believers, the question of salvation will have been eternally settled. That judgment will determine whether the believers will receive a reward or suffer loss. God’s intention is first to give us salvation. Then if we live by God’s salvation, we shall receive God’s reward. We receive salvation in this age, the church age, and we receive the reward in the next age, in the age of the millennial kingdom. This judgment of the believers is the first major judgment that is coming.
The second major judgment is recorded in Matthew 25. This judgment will take place after the Lord comes back with the overcoming saints and destroys Antichrist and his army at Armageddon. Then the Lord Jesus will set up His throne of glory in Jerusalem. All the living Gentiles will be gathered before the Lord to be judged. As the Lord judges them, He will divide them into sheep and goats. The goats will go to the lake of fire, and the sheep will be transferred into the millennial kingdom to become the nations. Second Timothy 4:1 says that God has appointed the Lord Jesus to judge the living and the dead. According to Matthew 25, He will judge the living at the throne of His glory at the beginning of the thousand years.
At the end of the thousand years there will be the third major judgment. This will be the judgment of all dead unbelievers, a judgment that will take place at the great white throne. By these three judgments the Lord will clear up the situation among human beings.
When the Lord Jesus judges the believers at His judgment seat, He will not judge them according to the law of Moses or according to His gospel. Instead, He will judge them according to the law of freedom, that is, according to the perfect law. In 2:12 James refers to the judgment of the believers according to the law of freedom at the judgment seat of Christ.
On the one hand, James warns the believers that they will be judged by Christ according to the New Testament. On the other hand, he charges the recipients of this Epistle to keep the Old Testament law. This indicates again James’ lack of a clear view according to God’s economy. It indicates that he did not have a clear vision about the distinction between the Old Testament and New Testament. He mixed the two dispensations together; that is, he mixed the law of the Old Testament with the law of the New Testament.
In 2:13 James says, “For the judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” To despise a poor brother is to have no mercy. Anyone who despises a poor brother in this way will not receive mercy when he appears before the judgment seat of Christ.
Here James is telling us not to despise our brother. If we despise a brother, this means that we do not have mercy on him. Then when we come before the Lord to be judged, He will not show mercy to us, because we have not shown mercy to our brother. Therefore, we need to show mercy, for, as James says, mercy triumphs over, boasts over, judgment. If we have mercy on our brother today, we shall receive mercy from the Lord at His judgment seat.
I appreciate James’ word in verse 13. What he says here may be likened to gold. However, in his Epistle he mixes gold with clay. Therefore, the readers of his Epistle need to distinguish between the gold and the clay.
Let us come now to 2:14-16, a section that speaks of being justified by works in relation to the believers. Many talk about this portion without realizing that it concerns our relationship with other believers. If we say that we have faith, we should love the brothers and sisters. This means that we are justified by deeds of love in relation to the believers.
Verse 14 says, “What is the profit, my brothers, if anyone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” Here James is not talking about being saved from perdition, but is speaking about being saved from judgment at the judgment seat of Christ. The context indicates this.
However, when many Christians read the Bible, they think that “saved” means to go to heaven. They may not realize that the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ is not a matter of heaven or hell. As we have seen, that judgment concerns reward or the suffering of dispensational punishment. If someone says he has faith but does not have any works of love, this means that he does not love the brothers and sisters. Therefore, when such a one stands before the judgment seat of Christ, he will be judged without mercy. We need works of mercy and love in order to be saved from merciless judgment. Hence, to be saved in verse 14 is to be saved from merciless judgment at the judgment seat of Christ. But if we do not show mercy toward fellow believers, we shall not receive mercy from the Lord at His judgment seat.
Verses 15 and 16 prove that this understanding of “saved” in verse 14 is correct: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and lacks daily food, and anyone of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, yet you do not give them the necessities of the body, what is the profit?” In verse 14 James is concerned for us; in verses 15 and 16 his concern is for those who are not properly cared for by us. The Greek word rendered “is” indicates that the brother or sister has been in this condition for some time. If we do not care for the necessities of the saints, we are caring neither for them nor for ourselves.
One day we shall be judged by Christ. If we care for the needs of the saints, exercising mercy on them, at the same time we are taking care of ourselves in relation to the Lord’s judgment of us. Because of our merciful and loving work toward the saints, we shall be saved from merciless judgment at the Lord’s judgment seat.
It is shameful for the necessities of the poor saints not to be cared for in the church life. However, James’ word in verse 16, for the strengthening of his view of practical Christian perfection, carries the flavor of the Old Testament concern for needy people (Deut. 15:7-8).
In verses 17 through 19 James goes on to say, “Even so faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder.” Faith is of life; it is living and works through love (Gal. 5:6). Otherwise, it is a dead faith, not genuine (James 2:20, 26).
In verse 20 James says, “But are you willing to know, O vain man, that faith without works is useless?” The Greek word rendered “useless” also means barren. Some manuscripts read “dead.”
In verse 20 James uses the expression “vain man.” According to James, a person is vain if he only believes but does not have love. Anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus but does not love the brothers is vain. In this sense, a vain man is one who has faith without love. As James says, faith without works is useless.
In verse 21 James asks, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?” Immediately James continues in verse 22, “You see that faith worked together with his works, and by works faith was completed.” It was in Genesis 15 that Abraham believed in God, and in Genesis 22 that he offered Isaac his son. This indicates that there was a period of time wherein Abraham’s faith was completed. It was necessary to have his faith testified. Abraham first believed in God, and later his believing was testified by offering up Isaac to God. Likewise, our believing in the Lord Jesus also needs to be testified or vindicated. For example, I hope that a young person who believes in the Lord will have his faith testified or vindicated to his parents by a change of attitude and behavior. This means that an outward work of love testifies, vindicates, the faith that is within us.
In verses 23 and 24 James says, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, And Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith only.” In verse 23 James again mixes things. The first part of this verse refers to Genesis 15:6, when Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness; the second part of the verse refers to a later time when Abraham was called a friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8).
In verse 24 James continues, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith only.” To be justified by faith is for receiving the divine life (Rom. 5:18); to be justified by works is through living the divine life. Since the living is the issue of life, to be justified by works is the issue of being justified by faith. Abraham’s offering of Isaac and Rahab’s receiving the messengers and thrusting them out (Josh. 2:1-21; 6:23) are both works which issued from their living faith. A living tree surely brings forth fruit. To be justified by works does not contradict being justified by faith. The latter is the cause, bringing forth the first, and the first is the effect, the outcome and proof of the latter.
In verses 25 and 26 James concludes, “And in like manner was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works in that she received the messengers as guests and thrust them out by a different way? For as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” The spirit gives life to the body (Gen. 2:7); the works indicate and express the life that is in the faith.
This chapter begins with having no respect of persons (vv. 1-13), and arrives at the practical care for the necessities of the poor saints, which is the justifying work of faith (vv. 14-26). According to James’ view, these virtues may be considered characteristics of practical Christian perfection.
