Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the
Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.
James the half-brother of Jesus is the author of this
letter. It would appear in this letter he was addressing a problem that had occurred
in the church. The church had become partial to wealth. They had gone so far as
to give special seats to those that were wealthy while telling the poor to
stand off to the side (James 2:1-3). This favoritism is contrary to our faith in
Jesus Christ. Throughout the word of God we see that God is the defender of the
poor (Psalms
34:6, 35:10, 140:12, Isaiah 41:17,
58:6-7, Ezekiel 22:29,
Zechariah 7:10,
Luke 4:18,
14:13-14, 1 John 3:17,
Proverbs
14:31, 21:13, 29:7).
The righteous person knows the rights of the poor, but
the wicked one does not understand these concerns.
When we do not seek justice for the poor and vulnerable then
we are going against our faith; this is an unmistakable message of God’s word.
In fact, to not seek justice for the poor is evidence that wickedness and not
righteousness is in our hearts. That is a hard saying I know. However, we cannot
ignore that God holds us to account for how we treat the poor. James 2:9-11
even puts it on the same level as murder and adultery.
James calls “Love your neighbor as yourself,” the royal law.
He seems to be tying this back to Jesus who is our king. James is saying there
is something elevated about the command to love others. Loving others holds a
special place in the kingdom of God. James is saying that if we actively
fulfill Jesus’ command to love others that we are doing well. In this context
he is also challenging us to love those that really have nothing to offer us in
return (see Luke 14:13-14). It is honorable to love the poor.
It is this active loving of others that is the fruit our faith.
If there is no evidence of love then James concludes that our faith is dead
(see James
2:15-17, 26 ). Further dead faith cannot save a person’s soul (see James 2:14).
This seems to make love extraordinarily important to our faith. To see love and
faith connected to each other in such dramatic language seems to make love of
primary importance in our walk with God. Let us not grow weary in loving well
those around us.
God Bless You,
~BJ Olson
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