James 2:10-13

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Text 2:10-13

James 2:10

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.

11.

For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12.

So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty.

13.

For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.

Queries

120.

By what logic can we reason that to break one part of any law is to break it all?

121.

How much is included by the expression whole law?

122.

Who is the he that said Do not commit adultery? (James 2:11).

123.

The two main themes of the epistle so far, speech and conduct, are both covered in one place in this segment of Scripture.. by what six words?

124.

How can mercy glory against judgment?

125.

What is the law of liberty of James 2:12?

126.

What in the model prayer given by Jesus is the same as James 2:13 a?

127.

What can James 2:13 have to do with the over-rating of riches about which James has been talking?

128.

There are two great principles, one covering the Old Testament, and one covering the New Testament. Can you find them in this segment of Scripture and put them in your own words?

Paraphrases

A. James 2:10.

All the parts of the law form one whole law, and a man cannot break any part without breaking the whole law.

11.

For one God gave the whole thing and if you break any one commandment, you have disobeyed the same God who gave the other parts.

12.

So you would be better off to speak and act as men who are under the New Testament law of grace rather than under the Old Testament law of the covenant.

13.

For if you insist on sticking to the letter of the law, you shall be judged by the letter of the law. The free gift of grace gives you much more than you have earned under the law of justice.

B.*James 2:10.

And the person who keeps every law of God, but makes one little slip, is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is.

11.

For the God Who said you must not marry a woman who already has a husband, also said you must not murder, so even though you have not broken the marriage laws by committing adultery, but have murdered someone, you have entirely broken God's laws and stand utterly guilty before Him.

12.

You will be judged on whether or not you are doing what Christ wants you to, so watch what you do and what you think;

13.

For there will be no mercy to those who have shown no mercy. But if you have been merciful, then God's mercy towards you will win out over His judgment against you.

Summary

If you are hiding behind the law of loving your neighbor in your treatment of the rich, and you do not love the poor the same way, then you have broken a part of the law; therefore you are a lawbreaker and will be judged as such. You had better stay under the grace of Christ in your speech and deeds, for as a lawbreaker you need His grace!

Comment

An oft repeated teaching of both the Old and the New Testament is the fact that a sinner is not fit to stand in the presence of God. Any transgression makes a man a sinner. Men like to measure their righteousness percentage-wise. We act as if we would like to be able to say I am only 22.9% a sinner, and 77.1% righteous. God says, however, that if we are .1% a sinner, we are a transgressor of the law and not fit for heaven. One jot, one tittle of transgression, is enough to completely condemn us, and we are no more qualified to stand in the presence of God than the 100% sinner. When I measure my own meritorious works, my righteousness is as filthy rags; for one filthy thread contaminates the entire suit. (And who, save God, could possibly count my filthy threads?) If we could only understand the principle and stop using our bird-brain logic to rationalize our position before God, then in our ignorance plead for God to please be just with me and give me what I really deserve. What folly for us to appeal to the justice of God when we have earned nothing but death! By what self-deception do we try to hide behind the very law that condemns us? What brazen blindness must overcome us before we would dare to demand that God give to us what is our just due. This is a principle that every Christian must understand before he can begin to appreciate what Jesus has done for us. It is a general principle of the law of God that God will tolerate no transgression, and that no transgressor shall stand in his presence. Any one sin whatsoever makes man a transgressor against God, completely incapable of earning heaven, with absolutely no right to demand anything of God. Having told one lie I stand as guilty as the murderer, or the thief, or the drunkard, or the adulterer, or the man who has done all of these. This is the law-principle. The principle condemns me whether I take the law from the Old Testament or from the New Testament. This law-principle is the main lesson of the Old Testament and thus made the O.T. a tutor to lead the human race to Christ. By this principle, I know I stand condemned and in desperate need of a Savior.

The subject of guilt under the law in James 2:10 comes about by the possible appeal the Christian is making for his treatment of the rich. The law says love your neighbor, and this rich man is my neighbor.. I am merrily keeping the law! Then if so, I am merrily being condemned by that same law when I fail to treat my poor neighbor the same way! Although the principle is spelled out carefully many places in both covenants, James here repeats it with clarity. it is that important!

A second principle is introduced in James 2:12-13. This is the principle of grace and mercy under Christ. Under this principle I wear a robe of righteousness that is not my own. Because I put my faith in Jesus so completely that I put myself in subjection under Him, God counts this faith as if I were righteous, for He counts Christ's absolute righteousness as if it were my own. This is all possible because of Jesus-' death on the cross, although all the ramifications of it I do not understand. God said that it was so, and even though I do not understand it all, I put my complete confidence in His Word. This is the principle of grace, wherein I am given that which I have not earned: forgiveness and Christ's righteousness. Thus my appeal is not to the law of God, but rather to the grace of Christ. Herein I have liberty to serve Jesus and to walk and talk with God, for my sins have been taken away by grace. For this reason I prefer to be under this law of liberty rather than the law of justice. If justice prevails in my life, I die. By God's grace, Christ fulfilled the law of justice and I now live by the law of liberty.

James 2:13 states that judgment is without mercy to him that showed no mercy. Jesus put it a different way, but said the same thing in the model prayer: forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12). I am not protected by the law of liberty unless I live under the law of liberty. For Christ to forgive me I must live the forgiving life, for this is the only way I can live in Christ. Rather than trying to justify the action of favoritism to the rich by appeal to the law, I should rather observe the Spirit of Christ and view all men, both the rich and the poor, through the eyes of compassion and love and liberty. This would govern both the way I talk and the way I live.

James 2:12 seems to summarize all that has gone before. Almost all to this point could be classified as instruction concerning speech and deeds of the Christian. So speak ye, and so do by this second principle. the law of liberty. Herein is the mercy of John 3:16; but I am only covered in this mercy when I choose to do (i.e., live) this mercy. The relationship of these deeds to the faith that saves involves the rest of chapter 2.