The Royal Law

Jas. 2:8-13

Introduction

Favoritism is a sin as we have seen last week. Here, James was telling us that there is a way to stop it. The solution, obey the Royal Law.

I. The Royal Law (Jas. 2:8)
A. James reached back into the Old Testament for one of God’s laws, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’ (Lev. 19:18). In His Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us that our neighbor is anyone who needs our help (Lk. 10:25-37). It is not a matter of geography, but opportunity. The important question is not, “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor?” Remember your neighbor includes the poor and the rich also.
B. Why is “love thy neighbor” called “the royal law”?

First reason, it was given by the King. It is decreed by the King of kings, and is considered the king of laws
God the Father gave it in the Law, and God the Son reaffirmed it to His disciples (Jn. 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 of God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9).
Second 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 neighbours.
This law of love is to influence the Christian’s treatment of all men. This should especially be evident in the Church.
Jesus dealt with the supreme importance of love when He answered the Pharisee’s question concerning the greatest law.
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:34-40). This is the Golden Rule (Matt. 7:12). The common saying “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you”
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.
Illustration 1: Grace of Giving/Love of Enemies
In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor.
“No, Peter,” General Washington said. “I cannot grant you the life of your friend.”
“My friend!” exclaimed the old preacher. “He’s the bitterest enemy I have.”
“What?” cried Washington. “You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I’ll grant your pardon.” And he did.
Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata—no longer an enemy but a friend. Lynn Jost The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford

II. Partiality. (Jas. 2:9)
A. Partiality is sin.
B. But if ye have respect to persons – In judgment, or in any other way; ye commit sin against God, and against your brethren, and are convinced, and are convicted, by the law; by this royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 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.

Illustration 2: Aristotle
For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely, he would not be wrong.
Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle’s death. In 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant.
The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their eyesight. They continued to say Aristotle was right. Bits & Pieces, January 9, 1992, pp. 22,23

III. Sin Classified (Jas. 2:10)
A. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 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 2:9-11) When we are prejudice and show partiality we violate the royal law.
B. Man has the tendency to classify his sin. They put sin into different categories and as long as they don’t commit the sins in certain categories, they feel pretty good about themselves.

We hear about “white lies” and “black lies.” We hear about “little sins” and “big sins.” (mortal &venial sin among the Catholics) I heard a man say once, “Well I might be a little prejudice, but I’ve never killed anyone and I’m not a thief.” James stops them. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (Jas. 2:10)
You can’t be prejudice and claim to be a good Christian. James argues that though you may not have committed adultery, stole or killed anyone, you have nevertheless, guilty of all.
One does not have to break all the laws to become a lawbreaker. To commit one sin makes one a sinner, and hence disobedient to God’s will. The Law demanded perfection. Only Christ could fulfil it and bear the “curse” of it for us (Gal. 3:13, 24, Rom. 7:12-13.) God who gave “one” command, gave “all” the other commands. To break any one of them is to “become a breaker of the Law” (verse 11).

IV. The Defeat of Partiality. (Jas. 2:12)
A. James makes it clear that a day of judgment is coming. When Christ judges nothing will be hidden from Him.

All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom they have to do. (Heb. 4:13)
Nothing can be hidden from Him—He knows everything about us—even the secret things. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (Eccl. 12:14)
Nothing, not even the smallest detail, will escape His scrutiny. For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. (Prov. 5:21) God knows everything about you, every detail, every experience, every thought, every word, every work, every secret. If we have unconfessed and unforsaken sin in our life, the very thought of such a judgment ought to cause us to tremble.

B. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. (Jas. 2:13). God will show no mercy to the person who refuses to show mercy to others. You go through life falsely judging people and having no mercy on them, that is exactly how you will stand before God.

However, James says, mercy rejoiceth against judgment. In the day of God’s judgment, He will take into account how we judged others.
Were our judgments of others merciful or unmerciful? Blessed a re the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matt. 5:7)
He will judge us the same way we judged others. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 Jn. 4:17)
Mercy and justice both come from God, so they are not competitors. Where God finds repentance and faith, He is able to show mercy; where He finds rebellion and unbelief, He must administer justice. It is the heart of the sinner that determines the treatment he gets. Our Lord’s parable in Matt. 18:21-35 illustrates the truth. The parable is not illustrating salvation, but forgiveness between fellow servants. If we forgive our brothers, then we have the kind of heart that is open toward the forgiveness of God.
We shall be judged “by the Law of liberty.” Why does James use this title for God’s Law? For one thing, when we obey God’s Law, it frees us from sin and enables us to walk in liberty (Ps 119:45) Psa. 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. Also, law prepares us for liberty. A child must be under rules and regulations because he is not mature enough to handle the decisions and demands of life. He is given outward discipline so that he might develop inward discipline, and one day be free of rules.
Liberty does not mean license. License (doing whatever I want to do) is the worst kind of bondage. Liberty means the freedom to be all that I can be in Jesus Christ. License is confinement; liberty is fulfilment.
Finally, the Word is called “the Law of liberty” because God sees our hearts and knows what we would have done had we been free to do so. The Christian student who obeys only because the school has rules is not really maturing. What will he do when he leaves the school? God’s Word can change our hearts and give us the desire to do God’s will, so that we obey from inward compulsion and not outward constraint.
There is one obvious message to this section: our beliefs should control our behavior. If we really believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God is gracious, His Word is true, and one day He will judge us, then our conduct will reveal our convictions. Before we attack those, who do not have orthodox doctrine, we must be sure that we practice the doctrines we defend. Jonah had wonderful theology, but he hated people and was angry with God (Jonah 4).
One of the tests of the reality of our faith is how we treat other people. Can we pass the test?

V. Conclusion:
Our neighbours are the people who needs our help. Its not a matter of geography but opportunity to do good to others. This is a challenge to all of us professing Christians. What would you do my friend? Will you always be ready to do good for others?