Jameschapter 2
26 verses · BSBJames book hub →
A.Gold Rings Above Rags: Partiality Breaks the Royal Lawvv. 1-13
1 My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the noble name by which you have been called? 8 If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. 13 For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
B.Faith Without Works Is a Corpsevv. 14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? 17 So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? 21 Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Chapter summary
Faith in the Lord of glory cannot be held 'with respect of persons,' and James stages the scene, the man with a gold ring given the good seat, the poor man in vile clothing told to stand.
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Chapter summary
Faith in the Lord of glory cannot be held 'with respect of persons,' and James stages the scene, the man with a gold ring given the good seat, the poor man in vile clothing told to stand.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Faith in the Lord of glory cannot be held 'with respect of persons,' and James stages the scene, the man with a gold ring given the good seat, the poor man in vile clothing told to stand. Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith? The royal law is 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'; stumble at one point and you are guilty of all. Then the famous half: 'What doth it profit… if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?' A hungry brother sent away with 'Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled' settles it. 'Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself' (2:17); the demons believe, and shudder.
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.
Context
Epistle · James — James overview
- A. 1–13 Gold Rings Above Rags: Partiality Breaks the Royal Law
- B. 14–26 Faith Without Works Is a Corpse
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
James 211 verses
- James 2:1My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.
- James 2:6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- James 2:8If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- James 2:9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- James 2:14What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
- James 2:15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
- Read James 2: 5 more there →
Matthew 54 verses
- Matthew 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 5:7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
- Matthew 5:18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
- Matthew 5:21You have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not murder’ and ‘Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’
- Read Matthew 5 →
Matthew 73 verses
- Matthew 7:1“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
- Matthew 7:21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
- Matthew 7:26But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
- Read Matthew 7 →
Leviticus 192 verses
- Leviticus 19:15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
- Leviticus 19:18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- Read Leviticus 19 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
Galatians 52 verses
- Galatians 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
- Galatians 5:14The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Read Galatians 5 →
James 12 verses
- James 1:22Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- James 1:25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
- Read James 1 →
Matthew 252 verses
- Matthew 25:35For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
- Matthew 25:42For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,
- Read Matthew 25 →
Genesis 222 verses
- Genesis 22:9When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.
- Genesis 22:16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,
- Read Genesis 22 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.