5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? 7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
COMMENTARY
5. Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6. But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you [2], and draw you before the judgment seats?
7. Do not they blaspheme that worthy name[3] by the which ye are called?
With the plea, “Hearken, my beloved brethren,” James went on to explain why their preferential judgment was wrong. He made his point with four questions, each of which called for an affirmative answer. First, “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith,” to inherit His promised kingdom (1:9). Second, “Do not rich men oppress you [2]” and are guilty of extortion and slander. Third, are the rich the ones who constantly “draw you before the judgment seats?” Fourth, aren’t the rich the ones who ‘blaspheme that worthy name of Jesus.” Believers belong to Him, not to the rich exploiters. James’ readers would have to agree with these contentions and recognize that insulting the poor and favoring the rich were wrong and unreasonable.
God’s choosing[2]is emphasized here, and this involves God’s grace. If salvation were based on merit, it would not be by grace. Grace implies God’s sovereign choice of those who cannot earn and do not deserve His salvation (Eph. 1:4-7; 2:8-10). God saves you and I entirely based on Jesus Christ’s work on the cross, not because of anything we are or have.
God ignores national differences (Acts 10:34). The Jewish believers were shocked when Peter went to the household of the Gentile believer Corneilus, and there he preached to them and even ate with them. The first church council’s focus was “Must a Gentile become a Jew to become a Christian.” The answer the Holy Spirit gave them was “No!” “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile in the sight of God when it comes to condemnation (Rom. 2:6-16) or salvation” (Rom. 10:1-13).
God also ignores the social differences, masters, and slaves (Eph. 6:9) and rich and poor alike. James teaches us that the grace of God makes the rich man poor because he cannot depend on his wealth, and it makes the poor man rich because he inherits the riches of grace in Christ. (See James 1:9-11.) “7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them” (1 Sam. 2:7-8).
From the human point of view, God chooses the poor instead of the rich. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty things; (1Corinthians 1:26-27). The poor of this world become rich in faith; as sons of God, they inherit the kingdom’s wealth.
Christians will sometimes defer to those in power, and this could refer to the national, state, and local level – president, congress, governors, judges, mayors, city council members, etc. There are many positions where people can exert power over us – police, the boss, military service, etc. The irony of this is that deferring to those who are “in power” sometimes means giving more power to those who are already hurting the Christians and their message. Eugene Peterson translates James 2:5-7 this way: “Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdoms first citizens, with full rights and privileges. The kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are, abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who exploit the new name – “Christian” – used in your baptisms?
This group of deceivers does not just include people who are pretending to be spiritually important. Have we ever tried to throw ourselves vigorously into this category on occasion because we wanted to be spiritually elite (whatever that means) to impress others? Have we puffed ourselves up in the “fine clothing” of arrogant spirituality and bragging? Have we worn the “gold ring” of false humility and name-dropping?
It is possible to be poor in this world and rich in the next (1 Tim. 6:17-18), or rich in this world and poor in the next. Or you could be poor both in this world and the next or rich in this world and the next. It all depends upon what you do with Christ and the material wealth He has given you. God promises the kingdom to “those that love Him” (James 2:5), not to those who love this world and its riches.
James gave a stern rebuke in James 2:6-7. “But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?” When you despise the poor man, you are behaving like the unsaved rich people.
In that day, it was easy for rich people to exploit the poor, influence decisions at court, and make themselves richer. Unfortunately, we have the same sins being committed today, and these sins blaspheme the very name of Christ. Our Lord was poor, and He too was the victim of injustice perpetrated by the rich of His day. The rich typically showed no mercy or concern for the poor. They would take the poor into court, most likely for not paying a debt. Wealthy moneylenders often took advantage of the poor. A creditor, if he met a debtor on the streets, could grab him and drag him into court. But economic persecution was not the only opposition these believers faced from the wealthy -- there was religious persecution. These rich people are the ones who slander Jesus Christ either by speaking evil of Him or by insulting Christians. James pointed out the irony that Christians would show favoritism to those who were known to slander Christ.
The doctrine of God’s grace, if we believe it, forces us to relate to people based on God’s plan and not based on human merit or social status. A “class church” is not a church that magnifies the grace of God. When He died, Jesus broke down the wall that separated Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11-22). But in His birth and life, Jesus broke down the barriers between rich and poor, young and old, educated and uneducated. It is wrong for us to build those walls again. We cannot rebuild them if we believe in the grace of Good.
8. If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
In recent years, believers have waged battles over the authority and inspiration of the Word of God. Indeed, it is good to defend the truth of God’s Word, but we must never forget that our lives and ministries are the best defense.
James looked back into the Old Testament for one of God’s laws, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:18). In His parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us that our neighbor is anyone that needs our help (Luke 10:25-27). It is not a matter of geography but an opportunity. The important question is not, “Who is my neighbor?” but “to who can I be a neighbor?”
Why is “Love thy neighbor” called “the royal law?” For one reason, it was given by the King. God the Father gave it in the law, and God, the son, reaffirmed it to His disciples (John 13:34). God the Spirit fills our hearts with God’s love and expects us to share it with others (Rom. 5:5). True believers are “taught by God to love one another” (1 Thes. 4:9).
But Love thy neighbor is the royal law for another reason: it rules all the other laws. “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.” (Rom. 13:10). There would be no need for the thousands of complex laws if each citizen truly loved his neighbors.
But the main reason why this is the Royal Law is that obeying it makes you a king. Hatred makes a person a slave, but love sets us free from selfishness and enables us to reign like kings. Love enables us to obey the Word of God and treat people as God commands us to do. We obey His Law not out of fear but out of love.
Showing respect for persons can lead a person into disobeying all of God’s Laws; take any of the Ten Commandments, and you will find ways of breaking it if you respect a person’s social or financial status. Respect of persons could make you lie, for example. It could lead to idolatry (getting money out of the rich) or even mistreating one’s parents. Once we start acting based on respecting persons and rejecting God’s Word, we are heading for trouble. And we don’t have to break all of God’s Laws to be guilty. There is only one Law Giver, and all of His Laws are from His mind and heart. If I disobey one law, I am capable of disobeying all of them, and by rebelling, I have already done so.
Christian love doesn’t mean that I have to like a person and agree with him on everything. I may not like His vocabulary or habits, and I may not want him for an intimate friend. Christian love means treating others the way God has treated me. It is an act of the will, not an emotion that I try to manufacture. The motive is to glorify God. The means is the power of God within (“for the fruit of the Spirit is love”). As I act in love toward another, I may find myself drawn more and more to him, and I may see in him (through Christ) qualities that were hidden to me before.
Also, Christian love does not leave the person where it found him. Love should make the poor man do better; love should make the rich man better use his God-given resources. Love always builds up (1 Cor. 8:1); hatred always tears down.
We only believe as much of the Bible as we practice. If we fail to obey the more important Word -- “love thy neighbor as thyself” -- then we will not do any good with the Word’s lesser matters. It was a glaring fault in the Pharisees that they were careful about the minor issues and careless about the fundamentals (Mat. 23:23). They broke the very law they thought they were defending.
The law is royal or regal because the King of kings decrees it, is fit for a king, and is considered the king of laws. The phrase, usually given in Latin, is known throughout the Roman empire. Obedience to this law, nonpreferential love, is the answer to the evident disobedience to God’s law, prejudicial favoritism -- “love thy neighbor as thyself.”
10. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
James was aware that some would tend to dismiss their offense of prejudice as a trivial fault. They would hardly consider themselves as lawbreakers. James went on to make it clear that this was no minor offense. Whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. There are no special indulgences. Utilizing the extreme instances of adultery and murder, James showed the absurdity of inconsistent obedience.
The truth is, any sin is against the Divine authority, and he who has committed one transgression is guilty of death; and by his one deliberate act dissolves, as far as he can, the sacred connection that exists between all the Divine precepts and the obligation which he is under to obey, and thus casts off in effect his allegiance to God. For, if God should be obeyed in any one instance, he should be obeyed in all, as the authority and reason for obedience are the same in every case; he therefore who breaks one of these laws is, in effect, if not in fact, guilty of the whole. But there is scarcely a more common form of speech among the rabbis than this, for they consider that anyone sin has the seeds of all others in it.
“For he that said,” - that is, the authority that gave one commandment also gave the rest, and he who breaks one resists this authority; so that the breach of any one commandment may be justly considered a violation of the whole law. It was a maxim also among the Jewish doctors that, if a man kept any one commandment carefully, though he broke all the rest, he might assure himself of the favor of God; they taught that for a while: “He who transgresses all the precepts of the law has broken the yoke, dissolved the covenant, and exposed the law to contempt, and so has he done who has broken even one precept. They also taught, “that he who observed any principal command was equal to him who kept the whole law;” and they give for example, “If a man abandons idolatry, it is the same as if he had fulfilled the whole law.” To correct this false doctrine, James says this in the 11th verse: “Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.”
General notes
[1] “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world?” This seems to refer to Mat. 11:5: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” These believed in the Lord Jesus and found His salvation; while the rich despised, neglected, and persecuted Him.
[2] The administration of justice was at this time in a miserable state of corruption among the Jews, but a Christian was one who was to expect no justice anywhere but from his God. The words “oppress you” and “draw you before the judgment seats” show how grievously oppressed and maltreated the Christians were by their countrymen, the Jews, who made law a pretext to afflict their bodies and rob them of their property.
[3] “Blaspheme that worthy name.” They took every occasion to slander the Christian name and the Christian faith.
[4] “The royal law.” Royal is used to signify anything that is of general concern, is suitable to all, and necessary for all, as brotherly love is. The commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” is a royal law, not only because God ordains it and it proceeds from His Kingly authority over men, but because it is so helpful, suitable, and necessary to the present state of man.
[5] “But if ye have respect to persons,” in judgment or in any other way, ye sin against God and your brethren, and are convinced “convicted,” by this royal law, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;” as transgressors, having shown this sinful acceptance of persons, which has led you to refuse justice to the poor man, and uphold the rich in his oppressive conduct.
[6] “For whosoever shall keep the whole law.” This is a rabbinical form of speech. The point made here by James is if you leave out one part of the law, you are guilty of the entire list of laws.
[7] “For he that said.” The Authority that gave one commandment also gave the rest, and he who breaks one resists this Authority: so that the breach of any one commandment may be justly considered a violation of the whole law.
