James comforted believers by saying God would show no mercy toward those who don’t practice mercy when judging others (James 2:13). But, to whom was James pointing? He explains that believers are not to express their faith by judging with partiality (James 2:1), but how was this being done? Notice the phrase “Lord of glory” or “glorious Lord” (depending upon the translation) in verse-1. The word Lord is added by the translators; it is not in the Greek, and in my opinion, it shouldn’t have been added. The Greek word doxa (G1391, glory) may refer to the world, to God or to believers. So, how does James use the word?
When James mentions having respect of persons, he seems to be referring to the Old Covenant text (Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17; 16:19; 2Chronicles 19:7; Proverbs 24:23; 28:21), and in each case it has to do with judgment. The Greek word, doxa (G1391), is often translated honor or praise, and it refers to men in John 5:44 (honor) and John 12:43 (praise). In both instances it has partiality in view. In other words, James was saying believers were using their faith in Christ in a manner that judged between brethren, praising or honoring one over the other. Paul also mentions something very similar in 1Corinthians 1:11-13. There he spoke of favorite teachers. Yet, if the Lord inspires all, the one who isn’t very articulate is just as much ‘inspired’ by the Lord as the brother who is eloquent. In other words, a powerful speaker may be inspired by the Lord, but the power is of the flesh. He appears more impressive than the man or woman of less presence, but he isn’t more inspired.
Moreover, James wrote that this kind of thing was done for ulterior motives (Jude 1:16), because one was judged or placed well in the church, while the other was judged inferior (Isaiah 65:5a), meaning he was excluded in much the same way that circumcision excluded gentiles from fellowship with the Jews. Yet, God had judged this kind of “religion” as a smoke in his nostrils that irritated him all day (Isaiah 65:5b).
The whole affair was wrong. Paul even took measures to be less impressive that he could have been (1Corinthians 2:1-5), and James reminded his readers that God had chosen the humble in this world to be rich in faith and heirs to the Kingdom (James 2:5). He also reminded them it was the rich in themselves who had earlier oppressed them (remember many of them were scattered due to previous persecutions), and such people even blasphemed the worthy name of Christ, by which name believers are called (James 2:6-7).
Next, James turned to the Law; keeping it doesn’t make one righteous. Even if one kept the entire Law except for one point, he became a transgressor of the whole Law by offending in that one point. Similarly, believers can’t keep the royal law and practice favoritism (G4382) with respect to the brethren, but how was favoritism or partiality practiced?
Consider James 2:14-16. Some brethren ‘had faith’ the Lord would care for those in need: be warmed, be filled, but this kind of faith cost them nothing, —‘I have mine, and, if you only believe, you’ll have yours.’ No love was shared, no honor given, no brethren-like care expressed. One could also use this kind of faith toward inspired but unimpressive teachers: “Be powerful; be filled with the Spirit, and you will have the respect due you!” But, favoritism demands one to hold back what was due until the less impressive brother was powerful or filled with the Spirit. What good is that faith, and how would anything like it honor Christ who gave himself for us?
While such ‘faith’ may be good news for the one, whose life is blessed in the flesh, it certainly has nothing to offer those in want. Nevertheless, some believers had fallen for this lie preached by the high ranking Jewish ‘converts’ or visitors. They were told, if one had enough faith, all things would come to him, whether riches or power. Therefore, they considered the poorer and unimpressive brethren to be lacking in faith. Therefore, their encouragement was “be warm” and “be filled,” or in other words, have the faith to “be warm” and have faith to “be filled,” and all will be well with you. In effect, the brother of low degree was despised by the believer who was blessed in or impressed by the flesh. Suddenly, no responsibility was felt to satisfy one’s brother’s need or just due. The royal law, which says love one another as oneself, demands that the one who is prosperous share his worldly goods with his poorer brethren, or to treat brethren of power and brethren of less presence alike.
James used the biblical examples of Abraham, the father of the Jews (James 2:23), and Rahab (James 2:25), a gentile who was received into the Jewish faith, to express how faith, without the works that flesh out one’s faith, is useless and empty. In fact, that kind of faith is dead (James 2:26).
The epistle of James was written to the churches scattered throughout the empire (James 1:1), because an empire-wide trial had come upon the church (James 1:2). This trial had to do with false doctrine (James 1:26), which separated brethren by exalting one believer over the other (James 2:1). Such error seemed to have this world’s goods in view, with the idea of hording one’s goods for oneself (James 2:15-16). This was falsely called faith (James 2:18), because, if one truly had faith, he would share his worldly wealth with his poorer brethren and depend upon God to continue to provide for all, which included the brother who shared what he had. This is the true and undefiled religion, which is acceptable to God (James 1:27).
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