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THE ROYAL LAW. James 2:8-13. 09/08/2024. #9.
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
1. The Royal Law
a. The Law of God contains many laws (Exodus 20)
b. The Royal Law superintends all other laws
a1. Leviticus 19:18 given as the guiding principle of God: love your neighbor as yourself
a2. Luke 10:25-37 Jesus defined anyone who is in need as our neighbor
a3. Matthew 22:34-40 loving God and man are the greatest commandments
c. By loving God with all our hearts, we will not injure our neighbors, covet their things, steal from them, lie about them, commit adultery against them, or harm them in anyway
a1. This includes showing favoritism, condescension, or patronization
a2. Love does not slight, keep track of wrongs, or expect repayment for love (I Corinthians 13)
d. I John 4:7-11 love demonstrates that we are children of God and His disciples (John 13:34)
2. The fatal flaw
a. Most people tend to dismiss their faults as minor flaws of little consequence
a1. To show partiality did not seem to be as grave as murder, thievery, or adultery
a2. James corrects this error
b. If we sin against any part of God’s law, we have sinned against all the law
a1. The law is a unit (a whole system)
a2. One who gossips cannot brag that he has not committed murder or adultery
a3. Isaiah felt righteous until he saw the Lord on his throne (Isaiah 6:1-6)
c. James states that all sins will be judged
a1. I Corinthians 3:12-15 every sin and idle word will engender loss of reward
a2. Guilt is applied where sin in committed
d. None of our excuses for sin will be accepted
a1. This is my personality
a2. This is the way I was brought up
a3. This is how I feel
a4. I’m just like my dad (or mom)
e. Amazing the number of believers who know what the Bible says, but ignore it
f. Judgment of works are going to be based on the law of liberty = freedom to do what is loving and right
a1. Jesus sets us free from sin and its power
a2. John 8:31-36 freedom to show moral character is to be released as a slave to sin
3. Reciprocal judgment
a. Matthew 18 those who do not forgive will not be forgiven; those who don’t show mercy won’t be shown mercy
a1. Matthew 7 our judgment is based upon how we judge others
a2. There is room to properly judge sin, but love also covers a multitude of sin (I Peter 4:18)
b. Mercy triumphs over judgment
a1. Jesus offered forgiveness to the woman at the well, the man stricken with palsy, and the man lowered through the roof
a2. Matthew 18:15-18 even in church discipline, the chief goal is mercy and restoration; not judgment
c. We represent Christ and what men see is how they will view our Lord (mercy or judgment; love or disdain)
Key passage: Matthew 22:34-4034 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”