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James 2 – Favoritism and Faith Only
How is the sin of negative favoritism like faith only? Does James speak of these contextually together in his sermon on practical Christianity?
Contextually, notice the progression:
1. BAD TREATMENT OF POOR – “if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (CSB’17 James 2:3-4)
2. ROYAL LAW – “Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (CSB’17 James 2:8-9)
3. BAD TREATMENT OF POOR – “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” (CSB’17 James 2:14-17)
If we treat the poor by saying, “stay warm and be well fed” (2:17) and then walk away, we have done the same outside the assembly as in – ignoring people as equal to ourselves by telling the poor to sit at our feet!
In James 2, they claim to have faith. One way this is seen in their assembling, but their faith is nonexistent in practical reality outside their assembly.
Faith in God without works towards the poor is like a love which speaks but doesn’t act, which isn’t love at all.
No one wants to be guilty of being accused of not loving our neighbor, but too many willingly separate faith in God without expressing it in works towards helping others.
Whether in the assembly or not, whether we make the poor sit at our feet or politely in fake faith minus true love send them away, we have sinned.
This is how faith only is like boasting of love in words only. By keeping our money for ourselves, we are showing favoritism to ourselves!
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