The Sin of Partiality
2:1 My brothers,1 show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good2 is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
(ESV)
Greeting
1:1 James, a servant1 of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
Testing of Your Faith
2 Count it all joy, my brothers,2 when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass3 he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.4 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Footnotes
[1] 1:1
For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
[2] 1:2Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 16, 19
[3] 1:10Or a wild flower
[4] 1:17Some manuscripts variation due to a shadow of turning (ESV)
Categories
Going Deeper
1 John 1-5 (5.20.23)
Grab your Bible, and let’s go deeper into 1 John 2.
Dr. John Stott says it so well describing the letters of John when saying, “Against this backdrop of the current uncertain, postmodern world, to read the letters of John is to enter another world altogether, for its marks are assurance, knowledge, confidence, and boldness.”
He goes on to say, “The author’s purpose in writing is known from his own definition of it. He wrote the Gospel for unbelievers in order to arouse their faith, and the letters for believers in order to deepen their assurance. His desire for the readers of the Gospel was that through faith they might receive life; for the readers of the letters that they might know they already had it.”
Certainty About Who We Are in Christ
1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
First of all, he is writing to the Church—to those showing evidence for salvation. He is saying, “Your sins are forgiven. You can be certain of this. Nothing more to prove, nothing more to accomplish; it has been done by Jesus.”
1 John 2:13a I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
Notice, he says, “You know”! “You know” is affirmation language. These are reminders of who we are. It is a plea for certainty. He is saying to those of us who are alive in Christ, “YOU KNOW.”
1 John 2:13b-14 I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Don’t forget … You know! You have! You are! John is saying to his brothers and sisters in Christ, “Be certain! Remember, you overcame the evil one. You are strong in Christ, and the word of God abides in you!” John wants them to be certain, so he says two of these things twice: (1) “You know him who is from the beginning,” and (2) “You have overcome the evil one.”
Before we move on to verse 15, notice verse 14 more closely:
1 John 2:14b I write to you … because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Notice 2 things: (1) the evidence of strength and (2) the evidence of victory over temptation and sin. Why do they have these evidences? Because the Word of God abides in them!
How does one navigate this uncertain world? How do you grow in maturity in faith and life in Christ? The word of God! Don’t minimize the crucial place of the word of God here. We need to receive it and need it to abide in us. When we do this, we abide in Christ, and we abide in His great accomplishment on the cross that defeats the accusations of the devil. We overcome the evil one by the word of God, because day by day this word is abiding in us.
It is living in us. The gospel—the great story of redemption, and the great Christ of redemption, and the great God of redemption, and the great process of redemption, and the great effects of redemption—this gospel, this word of God, is not something believed once and left behind. We believe the word of God and then it “abides” in us.
Some of you really need this. You need to stop trying to fight the evil one and all his lies and temptations against you on your own. John is saying, “Know who you are in Christ. Know that, in Christ, you have defeated the evil one. Don’t kind of know it; know it—claim it— live out of it—abide in it! Be certain in His victorious work on your behalf!”
Life in Certainty and the Good News
1 John 2:20-21 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
“You have …” Did you hear it again? This is John’s “be certain” language again! “You have” means you are possessors of … possessors of what? What do we have? God’s anointing–which is Christ’s victory over death on your behalf, the never-ending presence and counsel of the Holy Spirit, and the truth of God.
Notice, he didn’t say “you might have.” He says, “you have.” Look at verses 24 and 25:
1 John 2:24-25 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise [not might be the promise] that he made to us—eternal life.
Twice in verse 24, John stresses that the truth that should remain in them is truth that came to them through their ears at the beginning of their Christian walk: “what you heard from the beginning.” This was the preaching of the gospel by the apostles. Here, John makes an effort to avoid the saying that what the Church needs is new revelation. It does not. It needs to let the original apostolic, gospel-centered teaching about Christ abide in them.
Now verse 25 says, “And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.”
This is good news! Why? Because the promises of God bring certainty. God doesn’t go back on His promises! They are iron-clad. They are rooted in His very nature which is truth and faithfulness! This is cause for certainty in our lives!
1 John 2:27b But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
Beloved, you can be certain that if Christ alone is your Lord and Savior, the One to whom you trust your entire life, the One you desire more than any other, know that:
- You have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; abide in Him.
- Your certainty needs to be built on your new identity in Christ.
- Your power needs to come from your life in Christ.
- ● Your instruction needs to come from the word of God.
- Abide in Him! Be certain in Him as you live in this uncertain world!
By His grace and for His glory
Joshua “Shepherd” Kirstine
Soldiers For Jesus MC
Chaplain Council
SFJbible.com