In James 2:8-13 the author of this epistle seems to be speaking of more than one law. He begins by mentioning the royal law (James 2:8), but, then, he quotes from the Mosaic Law (James 2:11), which some call the moral law. He finishes up his argument with the mention of the law of liberty (James 2:12). Some scholars seem to believe James is speaking of three different laws: claiming the Greeks and Romans referred to the chief law as that of the king or the royal law, and loving one another was the Law of Christ, the King of kings. On the other hand, the mention of murder and adultery points to the Mosaic or the moral law (Exodus 20:13-14), and the law of liberty points to the Gospel, which liberates us from the Mosaic Law. Other scholars want to combine either the royal law or the law of liberty with the moral law, saying that it is nothing more than the moral law written on the hearts of men in the New Covenant (cp. Jeremiah 31:31-34). So, was James speaking of one law? …three? …or was it two?
Personally, I believe James is speaking of two different laws, and the two are opposed to one another. First, he mentions the royal law, which I don’t believe has anything to do with Greek or Roman custom. Why would it? We are speaking of the Gospel of Christ. While some things, pertaining to the Gospel, can be illustrated well by pointing to how things were done in the first century by either Jews or gentiles, the law which we obey is not one of them. Indeed, Jesus is the King of kings, and he did tell his disciples that he has given us a new law: love one another as he has loved us (John 13:34; 15:12), and it can be called the royal law, because it was given by the King, or because it is the law of his kingdom (cp. James 2:5).
The law of liberty, on the other hand is, as some have put it, the Gospel, which liberates believers from the moral law (the Mosaic Law). The law of liberty and the royal law are one and the same, because the Gospel is the good news about the love of God for mankind. The Gospel defines or gives a picture of the love of Christ for mankind. So, one might say that the law of liberty is the looking glass, into which we look (cp. 2Corinthians 3:17-18) to understand how to obey the royal law, which demands that we love one another **as** Christ has loved us.
The Mosaic Law is in every way, holy, just and good (Romans 7:12). It is not evil in itself, but it demands our lives, when we disobey it. It was meant to show the terrible gravity of evil and wickedness (Romans 7:13). The royal law / law of liberty is full of mercy, while the demands of the moral law are opposed to mercy. Mercy (love) rejoices against judgment (James 2:13).
Immediately after he mentions the royal law, James talks about being a transgressor, but this makes no sense when speaking of love. If one fulfills the royal law, one loves one’s neighbor as oneself (James 2:8), but, if one shows partiality (James 2:9), one is a transgressor! Yet, if love bears all thing, hopes all things and endures all things, how is one able to transgress love? Therefore, showing partiality has to do with another law, and is, indeed, a part of the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17; 16:19). Showing partiality has nothing to do with loving one’s neighbor, but, rather, it has to do with perverting judgment, usually by accepting a bribe, and such a thing is condemned by the Mosaic Law.
Moreover, James argues that one cannot simply keep part of the Law and fulfill its demands (James 2:10-11). One must keep the whole law perfectly, if one is to be saved from its judgment (death). This is quite the opposite of what was taught in Judaism during the first century AD, as we are able to understand from the Babylonian Talmud:
Said Rab Judah: This is its meaning: HE WHO PERFORMS ONE PRECEPT in addition to his [equally balanced] merits[1] IS WELL REWARDED, and he is as though he had fulfilled the whole Torah. Hence it follows that for these others [one is rewarded] even for a single one! (Kiddushin folio 39)
This, of course, is faulty reasoning. The policeman who arrests a person for murder doesn’t care that you’ve never broken the law before, nor is he interested in the fact that you murdered no one, if he stops you for running a stop sign. The law is quite specific, and you must keep the whole law, if you wish to avoid being punished for even a single infraction. This faulty reasoning continues even today, when folks believe they should be rewarded in life, simply because they aren’t as bad as someone they consider to be a wicked person, such as a pedophile.
Nevertheless, if one chooses to live by the moral law and judges others by its standard, they will find themselves being judged by the same merciless standard, which they embrace and use against other folks. What we sow we shall reap. If we so to the Mosaic Law, we shall reap death, because it is a law that is powerless to save, but mighty to kill (James 2:13). If one wishes to be judged by the law of liberty, one needs to sow to the Gospel, living as a follower of Christ (James 2:12), seeking to do as he did, allowing oneself to be changed into his image more and more, as one looks into the looking glass of the Gospel of Christ (cp. 2Corinthians 3:17-18).
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[1] That is, his good deeds and bad are exactly balanced, and then he performs a precept, thus tipping the scale.
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