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James 2:5-13
~18 min read
💭 Consider this: Who might you have failed to treat as your ‘neighbour’? How can your conduct towards him/her change to reflect the indiscriminate love God shows us?
TRANSCRIPT
We will consider the second part of the theme: ‘The Sin of Showing Partiality.’ Our text is taken from James 2:5-13. In our previous message, from James 2:1-4, we learned from James about the principle of why showing partiality is wrong. He gave us the illustration of showing partiality in the church, where special seats were given to the rich, whereas the poor were disregarded.
From verses 5 to 13, James will move on to talk about the contradiction: why showing partiality is contrary to our Christian faith, and the transgression: how showing partiality is a transgression of God's law. Now, we have to bear in mind that James was speaking in the context of the church, so he was speaking about showing partiality in the church.
Oftentimes, people do not think much about being partial or showing favouritism. Some think it is all right; it is just a matter of perspectives, and it is up to the individual's rights. Others think it is a small matter; it is just being discourteous or inconsiderate. But the reality is that many people are hurt and stumbled by the impartial treatment happening in the churches.
Today, we have several Indian friends attending our church. Welcome to you. Allow me to use a very popular person in India as an illustration. He is none other than Mahatma Gandhi, sometimes known as the father of India. In his autobiography, Gandhi wrote that once he read the Gospels seriously and considered Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus, he could find a solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.
So one Sunday, he decided to attend the worship service at a nearby church and talk to the minister about Christianity. When he entered the sanctuary—you know how Gandhi used to dress, right? Because of that, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested he go to worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. Later he wrote, ‘I do not reject Christ. I love His teachings. It is just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ.’ And he ended with this most famous saying: ‘If Christians were to live according to the teachings of Christ as in the Bible, all of India would be Christians today.’
Of course, we do not agree with everything he said, but that was a most sobering statement made by someone who was stumbled by Christians showing partiality in the Church of Jesus Christ. Showing partiality is not a small thing. It could prevent people from coming into the church, it could turn people away from the church, it could take away the love and warmth of the church and turn it into a cold and lifeless institution, and it could prevent and hinder the work of the Gospel in a most devastating way. Ultimately, it is a sin against the Almighty God.
III. The Contradiction
Let us look at our text and consider our first point: the contradiction. Beginning with verse 5, James said: “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” Verse 6: “But ye have despised the poor.”
Notice James began with ‘Hearken, my beloved brethren.’ Though he was rebuking the people with the truth, yet he presented it with a heart of affection, a heart of love. Sometimes we may want to present a particular truth or stress an essential doctrine, but that does not mean we need to scream and shout, or fight and quarrel. We ought to present the truth with love, with a heart of passion.
Why do we want to speak the truth? It is not only to correct but to build up people's lives. Even if we have to rebuke, we rebuke with love. So here, James was saying, ‘Beloved brethren, think about it for a moment: to show partiality to the rich and to disregard the poor cannot possibly be consistent with the character of God.’
Why? Firstly, it is contrary to God's sovereign choice. God has sovereignly chosen the poor. Of course, He also chose some of the rich. James was not speaking about those believers who were humble, the poor in spirit; he was referring to those believers who were poor in the economic sense, those who were in financial poverty.
All of us would agree that God is no respecter of persons, right? When He saves a person, He does not take into consideration the person's wealth or the lack of it. He saves both the rich as well as the poor. Salvation is by God's sovereign choice. When God chose the poor believer, that poor believer may be hungry, but he has the Bread of Life (John 6:35) . He may be thirsty, but he has the Water of Life (John 4:14; Revelation 21:6). He may be poor, but he has eternal riches (Matthew 6:19-20). He may be rejected by men, but he has been eternally accepted by God (Romans 8:1). He may not have a house, but he has a glorious home in heaven (John 14:2-3). So, in that sense, he is rich in faith.
As a believer, he is a child of God (John 1:12), and he has an inheritance in the kingdom which God has promised to all those who love Him (1 Peter 1:4). The word ‘kingdom’ speaks of the entire sphere of salvation. He belongs to the kingdom of God. One day, he will rule in Christ’s millennial kingdom together with his Saviour. (Revelation 20:6) He will dwell in the new heavens and the new earth for all eternity. (Revelation 21:1-3) In heaven, there's no such thing as poor, no second-class citizens. Everyone will be rich in the things of God. Every believer will have the same eternal life, the same heavenly citizenship. Everyone stands equal in the eyes of God. Every believer is precious, and God has reserved this heavenly inheritance for you and me if we are true believers. (Revelation 21:7)
So, when we disregard the poor, when we show partiality toward them, we are actually despising and rejecting the sovereign choice of God in salvation. The moment we show partiality toward the poor, our action contradicts God's sovereign choice. In a sense, we are saying, ‘I don't care about who God has chosen. This person sitting beside me, he is poor. He is not well-dressed, he does not even have a car, he does not live in the same neighbourhood as me, he does not have the same educational and social status as me. I will not accept him.’
When we do that, we are despising and rejecting God's sovereign choice in salvation. He is no respecter of persons. He chooses the rich as well as the poor. As far as salvation is concerned, wealth is of no significance or consequence at all. We are all equal. As one theologian rightly said, ‘At the foot of the cross, the ground is level.’ The rich and the poor should be accorded equal honour. Discrimination and showing partiality is not only irrational, it is totally contrary to God's sovereign choice in salvation.
Then James moves on to the second contradiction. Look at the second part of verse 6: “Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?” Verse 7: “Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?”
Here James was not saying that all the rich men oppress the poor. We need to understand the historical context. Remember, James was writing this letter to the Jews who were scattered abroad throughout the world outside of Palestine. They were being persecuted; they lost their jobs, they lost their homes, and they were extremely poor. The rich were the ones who oppressed them. The rich were the ones who dragged them to court to sue them, to take away all their belongings.
And why were they being persecuted? Because of their newfound faith in Christ. They had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, so they were being persecuted. When they (refer to the rich or persecutors that) persecute the believers, they are persecuting the Lord Himself. They are blaspheming that worthy name to whom all the believers were called. The word ‘worthy’ means beautiful, excellent, and honourable, referring to the name Jesus Christ. There's only one name that can save us, and that name is Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” It is by the name of Jesus Christ that all the believers were saved. Yet these people blasphemed that worthy name.
One good example was the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were rich and wealthy, belonging to the upper class during Jesus' time. They violently opposed Him; they slandered His name. Remember, when Jesus healed the sick and cast out the demons, they accused Him of being possessed by the power of the Devil. (Matthew 12:24) Even after Christ's resurrection, they still persecuted the church continuously. (Acts 4:1-3, Acts 5:17-18)
So, James was saying to the people in the church: when you go against the poor, you are going against God's sovereign choice in salvation. When you esteem the rich, you are siding with the persecutors and blasphemers. Your behaviour is totally contrary to that of a believer. If you say you are a Christian, then you should not behave like that.
Some people may be wondering, how could these people be so blind and ignorant to take the side of the persecutors and blasphemers, people who did not believe in Christ, and at the same time reject the poor believers because of their poverty? How could they be so blind and ignorant? But the truth is that sometimes we are just as blind and ignorant as them.
Take a moment and consider those people who respect the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel preachers. People who tell the world, ‘Come and believe in Jesus, and you will be blessed with money, good health, and prosperity.’ The gospel is about good health, good wealth, and good prosperity. They exploit the people and fill their own pockets with millions and millions of dollars, yet these people would rather listen to them than to those faithful, poor preachers.
What about those people who love the worldly celebrities and singers who influence them to go down the path of immorality? Yet they are so devoted to them, so much so that they would watch all their movies and attend every one of their concerts, when these people are the ones who drag them into immorality.
What about in the church? Where people would listen attentively to those multimillionaires, to suit their desires, to beckon to their call, even though these people do not support the church in any way, nor do they serve in the ministry of the church. And at the same time, those who are faithfully serving and facing issues and challenges in the ministries, they are being neglected.
Are the people today not doing the same thing as in the days of James? Most certainly! But in different shapes and forms, that’s all. They support those who ought not to be supported, and they neglect those who ought to be supported. Sometimes people do that because of fear. After all, they are the majority; they are rich and powerful.
But we ought to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who always speaks the truth. On one occasion, Jesus warned the people to beware of the rich, high, and mighty who love to walk around in long robes, waiting for people to greet them in the marketplaces. They love the chief seats in the synagogues; they love the seats of honour at banquets. (Mark 12:38-39) And they publicly put large amounts of money into the offering boxes, not because they love God, not because they wanted to glorify God, but because they wanted to be admired by the people as an outward show of spirituality. Then Jesus saw this poor widow who put in two small copper coins, worth about 1 cent. Jesus did not give credit to the rich, but instead, he commended the poor widow. Jesus said, for they, the rich, gave out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she, the poor widow, gave everything; she gave out of her poverty. I'm paraphrasing what Jesus said in Mark 12:41-44.
Dear friend, you and I must not be blind and ignorant. We must be bold enough to give credit where credit is due, regardless of whether the person is rich or poor, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.
IV. The Transgression
Let us move on to our second point: the transgression. Look at James 2:8, "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well."
The word ‘royal’ carries the idea of supreme and sovereign. When a sovereign king gives a law, it is legal, authoritative, and binding. Here, the Royal Law is a reference to the Ten Commandments, which were summarised by our Lord Jesus: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)
Notice the first five commandments (Exodus 20:3-12) have to do with God:
- Thou shalt have no other gods.
- Thou shalt not make graven images.
- Thou shalt not take God's name in vain.
- Thou shalt remember the Sabbath.
- Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother. (Our parents are God's representatives on this earth.)
The second set, from six to ten commandments (Exodus 20:13-17), have to do with our neighbours:
- Thou shalt not kill.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- Thou shalt not steal.
- Thou shalt not lie.
- Thou shalt not covet.
THE BOOK OF JAMESFacing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 1]James 1:1-4
Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]Facing Trials With A Joyful Spirit [Part 2]James 1:1-4
The Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialThe Need For Wisdom In Times Of TrialJames 1:5-8
Trial Is No Respecter Of PersonsTrial Is No Respecter Of PersonsJames 1:9-12
How To Deal With TemptationHow To Deal With TemptationJames 1:13-15
Remember Who God Is And Who We AreRemember Who God Is And Who We AreJames 1:16-18
Be Receptive To The Word Of GodBe Receptive To The Word Of GodJames 1:19-21
Doers of the WordDoers of the WordJames 1:21-25
Be Responsive To The Word Of GodBe Responsive To The Word Of GodJames 1:22-25
Are You Transformed By The Word?Are You Transformed By The Word?James 1:26-27
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 1]James 2:1-4
The Sin of PartialityThe Sin of PartialityJames 2:1-13
The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]The Sin Of Showing Partiality [Part 2]James 2:5-13
Show Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineShow Me Your Faith, And I Will Show You MineJames 2:14-20
Faith In ActionFaith In ActionJames 2:21-26
A Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherA Warning To Want-To-Be TeacherJames 3:1-2
Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)Seminar: The Role of the Sunday School Teacher (Part 2 of 2)James 3:1-13
The Power Of The TongueThe Power Of The TongueJames 3:3-6
The Taming Of The TongueThe Taming Of The TongueJames 3:7-12
The Danger Of False WisdomThe Danger Of False WisdomJames 3:13-16
The Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomThe Blessing Of Heavenly WisdomJames 3:17-18
Dealing With Conflict In The ChurchDealing With Conflict In The ChurchJames 4:1-6
War And PeaceWar And PeaceJames 4:1-10
What Constitutes True SalvationWhat Constitutes True SalvationJames 4:7-10
Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilJames 4:11-12
God’s Plan Or My Plan?God’s Plan Or My Plan?James 4:13-17
Physically Rich But Spiritually PoorPhysically Rich But Spiritually PoorJames 5:1-6
How To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleHow To Be Patient In Times Of TroubleJames 5:7-11
Simply Speak The TruthSimply Speak The TruthJames 5:12; Matthew 5:33-37
What To Do When It HurtsWhat To Do When It HurtsJames 5:13-18
The Value Of The SoulThe Value Of The SoulJames 5:19-20
