James 2:1-9

[clark thompson]

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James 2:1-9

New King James Version (NKJV)

 
Beware of Personal Favoritism

2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
 
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
 
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.


                                                            these are my thoughts please share yours
      1 We should not have a worldly view of Christianity but have a heart like Christ.
      2-4 These is an example of who people tend to act. People are more likely to pay more attention to the rich than the poor man we as believers are to stand out and meet there needs. Rich people have needs just may be fewer than poor people but all need salvation. Scripture does show one in need is easy to turn to Christ than those who have everything they need and more. We are not to turn away rich people though because it might be harder to reach them but we are reach out to all people both the rich and the poor an those in between.
        5 We are not to hold on the things of this world the Lord may bless with treasures as believers but we need to make God incharge of our finances. Those who are poor can still put what they have beofore God but it is less comon.
       6-7 Rich people often treat poor people wrong and take power over them. Sometimes rich people are rich because how they treat people and sometimes rich people are the most money hunger.
       8-9 We are not to judge we are to show people Christ because we are sinners both the rich and the poor and all need Christ. One can not go to heaven because they have nothing or because they have something but it is only our faith in Christ that allows us to enter in those gates.

                                                                Better to be a servant of the King than to be a king in hell

[Zant Law]

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The Sin of Partiality (NAS)

1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 For 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, 3 and 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," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives ? 5 Listen, 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? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court ? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called ? 8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

What these first nine verses of James 2 are describing is the sin of favoritism. And that sin of course is described in verse eight, " you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Verse 8 describes this as the royal law, basically this is how Christ referred to it.

[clark thompson]

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It also shows in verse 5 about those who are rich in faith in Christ and in verse 6 how the rich treat the poor and verse 7  how the rich treat God

[Zant Law]

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It also shows in verse 5 about those who are rich in faith in Christ and in verse 6 how the rich treat the poor and verse 7  how the rich treat God

Is it possible to favor the poor over the rich? Is the rich man also your neighbor, and should not the commandment to love your neighbor, also apply to the rich man? Just a personal note here, every time I've been dragged into court it has been by someone who was less fortunate financially than myself.

9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

James is using this text to show us the sin of favoritism. Back in James days the rich were given great advantage over the poor even when it came to participating in worship in the synagogue. This analogy of a rich man being favored over a poor man was a very real and observe every day in real life.

In today's world you can see his favoritism working both ways, and our instructions are not to participate in making those kind of partiality appraisals. Not because of a man's wealth, his skin color or any other superficial outwardly appearances. In short we are not to judge the book by its cover.

[macuser]

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We have to be very careful here, there is a fine line to walk, does not the Scripture say, "thou shall not covet?" When judging someone indiscriminately because of what they possess here on earth, can bring you very close to violating God's commandment.