We all remember the story of the testing of Abraham’s faith (Gen. 22). Abraham’s faith withstood the test and proved its vitality; the Lord confirmed it from heaven. In James 2, God puts all of us through very different kind of test. Yet, as Abraham’s testing did, this test also helps to gauge whether the faith we profess is indeed living faith.

The Test of Favoritism (1-4)⤒🔗

James outlines the test as follows: Two visitors come to your worship service. The first is very well dressed and clearly has considerable wealth at his disposal. The other has shabby clothes and has obviously bottomed out financially. The question is this: How do you treat these visitors? Do you treat them differently? Do you first reach out to the one who is well-off and make him feel at home, even flattered? Do you make the poor person feel his poverty and act as if tolerating his presence is doing him a favor? If so, you have fallen into the trap of favoritism; you have failed the test (vv. 1-4).

James calls this sin “respect of persons” or “par­tiality” (vv. 1, 4). This refers to the fact that you regard people’s external appearance or demeanor as indicative of their spiritual worth, and you treat them accordingly. You are prejudiced by what should not influence you at all. This is the first thing we can learn from James’s test: a momentary act can betray a world of thought that does not mesh with true faith. It can reveal whole worlds of thought we rarely stop to scrutinize. But this doesn’t mean God does not know of them or that they are unimportant. James writes, “Are ye become judges of evil thoughts?” (v. 4). James means that your judgment has been improperly influenced by evil thoughts, whether you are conscious of them or not. Such a judgment cannot proceed from true faith.

The second thing we can learn from this test is that faith and favoritism do not mix. James writes unequivocally: “Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect to persons” (v. 1). What he means is this: If you truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now exalted in heaven as the only Lord of glory, you cannot be carried away with any appearance of earthly glory, whether it is riches, power, or prestige. The Lord Jesus was once the Man of suffering, but is now exalted above all principality and power. He alone is worth our wor­ship. Don’t divide your allegiance between Him and any earthly person, no matter how glorious they may appear.

The Tragedy of Favoritism (5-13)←⤒🔗

The tragedy about favoritism is that it goes directly against what God has done and what He demands of us. James makes both of these things clear in James 2:5-13.

What has God done? James explains: “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hatch promised to them that love him?” (v. 5). God has not normally chosen people who are rich and well dressed. In fact, when you trace God’s people throughout the ages, you find quite the opposite. They have been wandering patriarchs (Deut. 26:5), enslaved shepherds (Ex. 1-2), poor widows like Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 1), etc. In each case, God showed mercy to the poor and weak, the exact opposite of the prejudice James warns the church against. Sadly, the church today is exhibit­ing this prejudice more often than the mercy God has shown, and God’s name is being blasphemed as a result (vv. 6-7). People are saying, “Look at those people who call themselves the children of God. See how they favor the rich and leave the poor out in the cold? What kind of God do they worship?”

Notice how James sets forth the gospel of God’s love for poor sinners as something that should inspire Christians. We should emulate God’s concern for the poor and weak, and certainly not give cause to people to blaspheme the Lord.

What does God demand? What is His will for His people? James makes this clear in verses 8-13. He writes, “If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” (v. 8). Here James shows that God’s law demands love for our neighbor. God’s law is not some harsh code that concerns externals alone; no, love is the fulfillment of the law. God gave this law to a poor band of slaves, whom He freed from their misery. As King, He took them as His people. That is why this law is called a “royal” law (v. 8) and a “law of liberty” (v. 12). You certainly cannot claim the law on your side if you act with partiality. In fact, in the Judg­ment, you will be shown no mercy if you have not acted in mercy towards those around you (v. 13). If you judge people with evil thoughts now, God will judge you harshly at the last.

The Truth about Faith (14-26)←⤒🔗

Someone may object: But does not faith save, no matter what you do or don’t do? How can James threaten a merciless judgment upon those who claim to be believers? He can because what is called faith is not necessarily saving faith. James writes, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hatch faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?” (v. 14). A bare profession of belief should not be mistaken for saving faith. True faith is not a mere assent to certain doctrines; true faith needs to be living faith, and living faith will show itself in fruits — that is, good works.

At this point, many become confused. To them, it sounds like James is contradicting what Paul teaches about faith and works and justification. Doesn’t Paul clearly teach that we are saved by faith alone, without the deeds of the law (e.g., Rom. 4:5)? Indeed. However, we can easily reconcile Paul and James. Paul emphasizes that works done before or along­side faith contribute nothing to justification. James emphasizes that true and living faith results in works, which display the genuineness of that faith.

In what follows, James gives two illustrations of dead faith (vv. 15-20) and two illustrations of living faith (vv. 21-26). First of all, dead faith is like some­one with only words and no actions. It sees people in need, but can’t muster more than a few words to wish them well (vv. 15-16). Are such words going to accomplish anything? No, they are empty and vain. The second illustration is the faith of the devils: they believe and even tremble. But is this true faith? Definitely not. It bears no fruit.

To illustrate living faith, James focuses on two Old Testament saints, Abraham and Rehab — one a man, the other a woman; one the father of Israel, the other a Gentile; one a rich nomad, the other a poor harlot. But both were chosen by God and rich in faith. Both had more than an empty profession. Their works showed the genuineness of their faith. When God tested Abraham’s faith, its vitality appeared. God put on display for angels, archangels, devils, and all mankind the justification of the faith of Abraham: “Now I know that thou dearest God, seeing thou haste not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Gen. 22:12). God showed that Abraham was His friend (2 Chr. 20:7; Asa. 41:8). Likewise, Rehab believed in a true and living way. God overcame her by mercy, and her life in turn was marked by mercy. James concludes: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (v. 26).

No one should rest content without this living faith. If we find ourselves lacking, we should seek the kind of faith Luther describes:

“Oh, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly. It does not ask whether there are good works to do, but before the question rises, it has already done them, and is always at the doing of them. He who does not these works is a faithless man. He gropes and looks about after faith and good works, and knows neither what faith is nor what good works are, though he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works.”

Questions:←⤒🔗

1. Find the ten questions in this chapter. Why does James use so many questions?
2. Christ is called “the Lord of glory” in verse 1. How does a vision of His glory impact how we relate to others in the church?
3. Many people see similarities between James 2 and Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels. Compare James 2:5 and Matthew 5:3, 5; James 2:8 and Matthew 22:36, 39-40; James 2:13 and Matthew 18:33-35. What has James learned from His brother?
4. Though believers are justified by faith alone, why can faith never remain alone (James 2:17)?
5. Verse 5 refers to being “rich in faith.” Discuss how Abraham and Rehab were both rich in faith. How can we have these riches?