James 2:1-7: Respect of Persons
2024-06-15
James 2:1
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. (James 2:1)
Here, we see the second and final usage of the name “Jesus” (the first time being James 1:1). It seems some have taken issue with the lack of use of our Lord’s name. However, anywhere you see the term “Lord,” this is speaking of Jesus, for James refers to “the coming of the Lord.” The word “Lord” is used 15 times. Also, Jesus is the main perfect gift from above (James 1:17). He is the “perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12). His name is “that worthy name by the which ye are called” (James 2:7). He is the husbandman that “waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth” (James 5:7). It seems silly to say that Jesus is absent from this letter. And it is a longer discussion to say here that the epistle of James is the Word of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Bible is the narrative that puts the Lord Jesus Christ into word form. What native language does God speak? He speaks Jesus.
We see that we read “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,” not faith in Christ. This is His faith that we have received from Him. This is most precious. We believe because we have received His faith. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Faith is not of ourselves. And again, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:22). We believe, but Christ also has His faith which imputes on us the righteousness of God.
The Lord of Glory
Jesus is “the Lord of glory.” This is the chief word for glory (from where we get “doxology”), elsewhere also translated “worship,” “honour,” and “praise.” These are all things that are designated to God. Jesus is God, though not the Father, and is complete Deity. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Isaiah saw the Son of God, Jesus Christ’s glory. “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him” (John 12:41). “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).
Though the Lord Jesus has His own glory, He does not seek His own glory. “He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him” (John 7:18).
Jesus Christ perfectly glorifies the Father. “Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified” (Isaiah 49:3). He causes other people to glorify the Father. “But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men” (Matthew 9:8).
When He comes again, all shall see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31).
With Respect of Persons
Considering the Lord Jesus Christ is the God of glory, we should not have respect of persons. Why? Because He does not have respect of persons.
Consider 2 Chronicles 19:4-11. King Jehoshaphat set up judges in every city, warning every one of them that they represent the LORD in judgment. If they represented the LORD, they must not take bribes or have respect of persons. Moreover, he set up Levites, priests, and other chiefs of the people, warning them similarly. They were to judge rightly and courageously. To stand before men of reputation expecting favoritism because of position, and you do not give it, you will need courage.
Therefore, it is written, “These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment” (Proverbs 24:23). If you are wise according to God’s wisdom, you will not be biased towards certain people for your own purposes.
Again, consider Romans 2:1-11. God will “render to every man according to his deeds,” good for good and evil for evil. Clearly, this is hypothetical, because not a single person has done good. We will get to the verse that says “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10) in a few verses. God does not let sin slide for some and not others. It does not matter whether he is Jew or Gentile. It does not matter if they do the whole law except for just “that one time...” Hell is wide open toward everyone equally. Christ Himself is the only difference between the saved and the unsaved; He is no respect of persons.
Down here, there are freemen and slaves, bosses and servants. But for God, everyone is under Him. “And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him” (Ephesians 6:9).
Even among Christians, there are no “favorites.” “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” (1 Peter 1:17).
James 2:2
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; (James 2:2)
Presumably, this hypothetical situation happens in the local church setting, though the word for “assembly” is “synagogue.” Given that the original recipients were primarily Jewish people, they may have been a little more accustomed to such a term, even in the Christian congregation setting.
In our hypothetical setting, we have a wealthy man who was very showy with his wealth. Though gold rings are common in our society because many use them to identify themselves as married, I would think this would not be so common in that era. The “goodly” apparel is also translated as “gorgeous,” “bright,” “gay” (in James 2:3, the next verse), and “white.” These were bright garments that would have brought attention to anyone in the congregation. His ring and clothes say, “Hey, look at me! I’ve got bucks!”
Contrastingly, we see “a poor man in vile raiment.” The word for vile is used only once (here), but a word of a similar root is translated “filth” in 1 Peter 3:21. Instead of the first man, whose outfit screams, “look at me,” the clothing of this second one would naturally repel any others in the assembly. Dirty clothes, maybe even smelly... Who knows? There is nothing in this poor man that draws others to him.
James 2:3
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: (James 2:3)
The congregation is quick to “respect” the rich man. Think of the two men in these examples. Why respect the rich man? Perhaps the man could benefit the congregation in some way. He gives or would possibly give nice “tithes.” He could build us a nice building. He could give us clout in the community.
As we will see in future verses, however, rich people were a source of persecution for Christians. So, if the Christians in our hypothetical situation were nice to this guy, maybe he will be nicer to them? They could get relief from debt. Maybe that lawsuit would go away.
Because of the influence and money this man has, in this example, they may want to place him in a place of honor, the “good place.”
To this man that many would wish to go away, they might want him in a more hidden place or off to the side. He would be told to stand rather than sit. If he was to sit at all, it would be “under my footstool.”
We discuss the footstool in another place. It is a lowly place. Eventually, the enemies of the Lord will be made His footstool. If you are under someone’s feet, you are not thought well of them. Feet are gross and sweaty, and in those days, had filth from the streets on them that required washing whenever you went into a home. It is like the people in this congregation thought they were doing this poor man a favor by letting him exist.
James 2:4
Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (James 2:4)
If one honors the rich and humiliates the poor, that truly is being a respecter of persons and is being partial. “He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want” (Proverbs 22:16). This is judging from an evil disposition. Recall how we saw God Himself is not a respecter of persons. “The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all” (Proverbs 22:2).
Recall for a moment our Lord Jesus Christ, who “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). And again, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Which of the two men in the example are closer to being like Jesus in economic status and way of life?
“For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:2-3). We see here how the Lord was like this poor man, and how He was despised. He had no special appearance, and He was rejected. How much more He was despised when He was on the cross. People hid their faces from Him. History repeats itself when people hide from the poor.
When we do this, we are “judges of evil thoughts.” If we ever have this situation, let us recall the Lord’s estate in this life.
James 2:5
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? (James 2:5)
Here is the third time that the brother of the Lord says, “beloved brethren.” James meant the upcoming verses in the most tender way possible while also being firm.
Judging from this passage, most people were probably in the middle of the two extremes, just as is the case today in our society. The people judging between the gold ringed-man and the filthy dressed man do not seem to be in either category. Otherwise, they would deem one of the two men much like themselves and not separate them out for special treatment.
“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith” does not mean that the rich cannot have faith at all. It does seem to mean that the people of most faith seem to be not rich. The poor have less to trust in this life and are more eager for the next. Compare this with the Lord’s words, “Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24).
Now some clarification should also be made here. There are those that are poor because of no fault of their own. There are widows and orphans. Businesses and livelihoods get destroyed and natural disasters wreck lives. There are those who are physically disabled. They are poor beyond their control, and there is nothing they can do about it. The believing poor I believe are the subject here. “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich” (Proverbs 28:6).
However, there are people that are poor that should not be. “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich” (Proverbs 10:4). This is an example of a lazy person who would not work and became poor. The person who otherwise would be quite similar worked hard and became rich.
“He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich” (Proverbs 21:17). A person can become poor by living a luxurious life and being a drunkard. He spent all his money on trash, or he could not keep a job because he was a drunkard. Either way, this person would not be poor if he had controlled his lifestyle.
I do not believe that these are the poor in scope here.
The poor who are rich in faith are “heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him.” Again, this does not mean that there are no rich that will be in Christ’s kingdom. However, it seems that most people that will be in His kingdom are not those who have all this world’s good.
Consider 1 Corinthians 1:25-31. God intentionally uses weakness to show His strength so that it is obvious that such an act is from Him. Think Gideon and his 300 men. It is those things that the world despises that silences the world, so that all will glory in God and no flesh will glory.
“...the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him...” His kingdom is promised to anybody who loves Him. Who loves Him? Well, one would have to be a believer. We see this summation on the matter: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:2-3).
And what are His commandments? “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us” (1 John 3:23-24).
James 2:6
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? (James 2:6)
The previous illustration of the gold-ringed goodly-clothed man and the vilely dressed man was not some unfounded hypothetical situation after all. James had it on good authority that the scattered 12 tribes practiced this somewhat regularly when he said, “But ye have despised the poor.” If you make them stand during church because they are poorly dressed and look homeless, or you stick them under your feet, you have a low opinion of them. They are despised. These same men who were perhaps of the lowly estate of our Savior were rejected by the assembly of Christians. “The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends” (Proverbs 14:20). Let this never be said of us.
However, we see more of the role of the rich in the lives of the believers. Though the believers are enamored with these affluent people, they are the ones that are taking advantage of them. With their money, they can wield authority. I think of SLAPP lawsuits as a modern example, where someone with power and money can use the law to intimidate anyone who speaks against them, and the victim has no financial way to fight back. They have seemingly limitless resources to crush the average person under their feet. Also, if you fall into debt, they can bring you to court, and there is no mercy in them. “The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly” (Proverbs 18:23).
James 2:7
Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? (James 2:7)
Lastly, the rich of their day tended to be the ones who blaspheme the name of Jesus. Think of all the movie stars and musicians and the filth they pump out in their movies and music. How about the politicians. Almost all of them claim to be Christians, but almost none of them reflect the character of Christ. Many of these famous people seem to be sexually immoral and on drugs, living decadent lifestyles. Their cutthroat ways against average people demonstrate their hate for Christ.
“...that worthy name...” “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). That worthy name of Jesus is the only authority in the world that can save us from our sins and give us power to walk worthy of Him.
“...by the which ye are called...” We have the family name. The wife takes the husband’s name, and the children have his name. Together, the single family has the same name. It is the same spiritually; we have His name. What a glorious thought.
One last thing before moving on. We recall that we should not be respecter of persons. We might think that because the poor are chosen to be of great faith that we are to favor them. There is something in the Scriptures in going in the opposite extreme. We could have mercy on them just because they are poor. But we read, “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour” (Leviticus 19:15).