JAMES 1:27

The Bible says in James 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” God is a father. As a father He cares for everyone in the world in the way that a father should care for his own. What is a father? A father is a life-giver. Once he has given life then he has certain responsibilities to care for that life. As a Father, that is what God does. He cares for His own. And His Spirit that is within us motivates us to be more like Him. If our heart of compassion does not go out to those who are in need, such as the fatherless and the widows, then anything that we might be involved with is not pure religion and undefiled.

The Bible also tells us in James 1:27 that we should keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.” Remember that Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. The word “church,” the ekklesia, means those that are called out: called by the Lord and called out of the world. There is a certain part of the world’s system that is anti-christ. For the most part the organized religions of the world, the governments, the educational system, the entertainment business, and even the corporate world are against God and His Christ. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.” “Come out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord.” Sometimes you hear people try to define separation from the world in terms of what places you can or cannot go to, or in terms of what things you can or cannot watch or listen to. But such things too easily become legalistic and negative. It is better to say it the way the scripture says it: “Love not the world.” What you truly love will make the difference. That is not surprising when we consider that Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “love God with all the heart, and all the mind, and all the soul, and all the strength.”

The Bible says in James 2:1, “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.” To have respect of persons means to treat people differently based upon their appearance or financial condition. Why would someone who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ not be a respecter of persons - because God is not a respecter of persons. God loves everyone equally. Everyone really is equal from a spiritual standpoint. Everyone has sinned. No one brought anything in to the world, and no one will take anything out. We are all equals. If anyone gets saved, it will be through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As far as unspiritual human beings are concerned, the amount of money that you have has always been a major factor in determining how you get treated by others. This should never be the case with believers, because it is not the case with God. James 2:2-4 says, “For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?”

People should be given the same honor and the same respect no matter what is their financial condition or status. If you do otherwise, according to James, you have become “judges of evil thoughts.” By treating a person with money better than someone who does not have so much money, you have set yourself up as a judge and you have concluded that the rich person is a better person. To judge others is a terrible sin. If you treat everyone equally, you will not commit that terrible sin.

If you do want to make a comparison between rich and poor, there are a couple of other important things to remember. James 2:5 says, “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?” Notice carefully what James says about the poor. He says they are rich in faith. They are poor in regards to money, but they are rich in faith. This is a general principle that is true throughout all the centuries. The common people heard Him gladly. It is much more likely that someone who is poor will come to know the Lord than someone who is rich. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven.” This whole idea is in contrast to what some say today. Some people falsely say that if you serve the Lord, you will prosper financially. That is not what James indicated. He said that the poor of this world are rich in faith.

Normally you cannot be rich in both faith and money. There are exceptions, but it is not likely to happen. “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Most people who are rich love money. That is how they became rich or that is how they stayed rich. Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon. Either you will love the one or hate the other.” Of course, it is possible to be rich and also love God. If you are rich and love God, then that means that you do not serve your money, but you serve God. You realize that the money you have has been given to you to administer for God’s glory and for the furtherance of His kingdom. One day we will all give an answer as to how we used our resources and opportunities. Those who have hid them in the earth will regret it greatly. Some people have been rich and also loved God, but it is not what usually happens. That is the point that James is making.

Not only do rich people tend to not know or love God, but also they tend to be the ones who persecute and oppress those who do believe. James 2:6 says, “But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?” We should not give too much honor to those that are rich. After all the rich and powerful are the ones who over the course of human history have done the most to persecute the believers and to oppress the poor. In addition, the unbelieving rich do things that we know that no one should do. James 2:6 says, “Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?” There is nothing more revealing about a person’s true spiritual condition than in what way they use the name of the Lord. One of the ten commandments says, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Should you give the highest place of honor to those who do not honor God?

The whole question of treating someone or some class of people better than others can be settled by the principle that is given in James 2:8. It says, “If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.” Jesus emphasized this teaching in the gospels, but it is actually first found in the book of Leviticus. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” If we follow this teaching for everyone, then we will treat everyone the same, whether rich or poor.

Whenever we do not treat everyone the same, we are violating this great commandment and we are committing sin because that is not the way things should be. James 2:9 says, “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”

Now that James mentions the law, he points out a very important truth about the law that everyone should know. The Bible says in James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” The law is seen as a composite. The law is made up of many individual commandments, but in order to be a keeper of the law, one must keep all the individual commandments without fail. Whoever fails in point is guilty of violating the whole law. The same point is made once again in James 2:11 that says, “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.” With the law it is all or nothing. Of course, we do not do away with the law. It still has a purpose. The moral principles of the law are still a guide for our behavior, but the great problem of mankind is the fact that once we have sinned in one point, we are guilty of violating the whole law and we can no longer be justified by the keeping of the law. The righteousness of the law is found in Christ. If you have sinned in any point, then you cannot be made righteous by the keeping of the law. Your only hope is faith in Christ. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” That is our problem. Romans 5:21 says, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In James 2:12 the Bible says, “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” This is the second time that James has used the phrase “the law of liberty.” Based upon the principle that James had just given, normally we would think of the law as the law of bondage or the law of judgment or the law of condemnation. But we come out of the bondage of the law through faith in Jesus. We have a new freedom. We are free from our sins and we are free from the condemnation of the law so we view the law as the “law of liberty.” We are not under a weight of legal principles. We are free to serve to God, having already been justified and declared righteous through Christ. Always remember that it is the law of liberty. Some people teach law to Christians as if they are under the yoke of bondage.

In regards to our treatment of others there is one more important thing that James has to say in James 2:13. He says, “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment.” Make sure that you remember to practice the principle of mercy in your relationship with others. God has shown mercy to you. God has seen your faults and failures, and if you have trusted in Jesus, you are not being dealt with after the principle of judgment and condemnation. Jesus told us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Cold and cruel is the heart that knows no mercy. If you are going to be like God, you must be merciful. If you want mercy for yourself, you must be merciful. What you have given to others is what will be given to you. Jesus said in Matthew 5:7, ”Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

James said, “Mercy rejoices against judgment.” Judgment is a terrible and a powerful thing. The judgment of God destroyed the world in the days of Noah. The judgment of God will be poured forth upon the earth once again at the return of Christ. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.” Many shall come to the judgment and be condemned and be destroyed by it. A fearsome and a terrible force is judgment. But there is something that is more powerful. There is something that conquers judgment. Mercy is more powerful. According to James, “Mercy rejoices over judgment.” If you know the mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ, then you will have nothing to fear at the judgment.

It is wonderful to have saving faith in Christ. It takes a conversion experience to have that kind of faith. You do not get that kind of faith from your family nor from your religion. You get it only by being born again through Jesus Christ. How do you know if you have real Biblical saving faith? In the next several verses James addresses that subject. James 2:14 says, “What does it profit, my brothers, though a man say he has faith, and has not works? Can faith save him?” True faith results in a changed life. An important part of any salvation experience is repentance. You do not have saving faith if you have never turned from your evil ways to start doing good things. “If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new.” If you have some kind of faith that does not result in good works, then you do not have biblical saving faith.

___________________________________________________