James 2:1-26

James 2:1-4:

^2:1My brothers, you must not have the belief of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory in a reception-of-face; ^.2for if-ever a gold-ringed adult-male may go into your synagogue in shining clothing and also a poor-person may go into (your synagogue) in filthy clothing, ^.3but you may observe upon the (adult-male) carrying the clothing, the shining (clothing), and you may say, “You must beautifully sit-down here”, and to the poor-person you may say, “You must stand there” or “You must sit-down under my footstool” – ^.4you were throughly-judged (to have a reception of face) among yourselves and you became judges of evil through-calculations, didn’t you? – (yes.)

Again as in James 1: 2, 16 and 19, James addresses the holy-people who are descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel/Jacob as his “brothers.” Not only were those to whom he was writing all of the Judean/Israeli background, but they were brothers in the holy spirit category. All holy-people are brothers in the spirit category because all of us have received the same gift of holy spirit and we are therefore all children of God our Father.

My brothers, you must not have (not hold)…

the belief (the faith, the information that God has made known to us to have confidence-in with assured certainty and surety)
- of (regarding, pertaining to) our Lord Jesus Christ (our Master is Jesus the Anointed-one, the Messiah)
  - of glory (he has been made glorious, given the importance, splendor, and renown by God his Father and our Father)

…within the sphere of action of a reception-of-face. The ‘reception of face’ is taking a person's outward-appearance at face value, receiving the face or countenance which is presented or turned to your eyes to be seen by you, like an actor on stage would wear a mask and present it forth to take-on the outward-appearance of another person to make the audience think of him in a different way. It is having partiality or favoritism based on a person's outward-appearance. Don’t be a receptor or respecter of persons, of faces, of "masks," even when there is no intention of pretence on the part of the one presenting himself before you.

For example: if it should ever happen that…

a grown-man wearing one or more gold rings (a demonstration of his wealth) would come into (enter) your synagogue (the location where you gather together, your assembly, not referring specifically to the Judean synagogues even though the holy-people/Christians also met in those types of buildings from time to time) in splendid, ornate clothing which is shining (bright, brilliant, radiant, beaming-light)
and also a poor-person (someone who is beggarly, crouching in the begging position in need of certain things, poor materially) would enter your assembly in filthy (dirty) clothing,
but you would observe (attentively look at, mentally envision, be mentally aware of and contemplate, even though you do not see the ‘big picture’ with your physical eyes) upon the man bearing (wearing) the clothing, specifically the shining clothing,
- and you would say, “Emphatically you must beautifully sit-down here (seat yourself in a manner that has a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness in this location close to me)”,
and to the poor-person
- you would say, “Emphatically you must stand there (not near me)” or “You must sit-down under my footstool (into the position of being on a par with the footstool underneath my feet, an inferior seat as the lowest level in complete submission, subjection to me)”

…you were throughly-judged to have a reception of face among yourselves (you were wholly distinguished, discerned, judged to be different because of having a reception of face; in this scenario you would be judged through-and-through whereby a decision would be made by God regarding you separating or differentiating you as having partiality among yourselves)

and you became judges of evil through-calculations (you caused yourselves to become the ones who make the decisions, the presiding judges having the character and quality of reckonings through-and-through, thorough reasonings, disputes, logical computations that are active with malignancy, exercising badness),
- didn’t you? The Greek construction of this question must receive an affirmative answer: "yes, that would be correct."

[Reference: I Samuel 16:7; Matthew 15:19, 23:6; Acts 10:30; Romans 2:11, 14:1; I Corinthians 2:8; II Corinthians 3:17 and 18, 4:3-6; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 1:27, 3:25; II Thessalonians 2:13 and 14; Hebrews 1:2-4; 10:25.]

Verses 5-13:

^.5You must hear, my loved¹ brothers: God selected-for-Himself the poor-people relative-to the world wealthy in belief and inheritors of the kingdom which He promised to the (people) loving¹ Him, didn’t He? – (yes.) ^.6But you dishonored the poor-person. The wealthy-people oppress you and they draw you into judgments, don’t they? – (yes.) ^.7They blaspheme the beautiful name, the (name) having been called on you, don’t they? – (yes.)

^.8Yet-indeed if you complete (the) kingly law according to the writing, “You will love¹ your neighbor as yourself” you do beautifully; ^.9but if you receive-faces you work sin being refuted by the law as stepping-aside-people.

^.10For he-who may keep the whole law but may stumblingly-fall in one-thing he became² liable of all, ^.11for the (One) having said, “You may not commit-adultery”, also said, “You may not murder”, but if you do not commit-adultery but you murder you became² a stepping-aside-person of law.

^.12Thus you must utter-forth and thus you must do as being about to be judged by means of (the) law of freedom; ^.13for the merciless judgment (will be) to the (person) not having done mercy; mercy boasts-against judgment.

God, by revelation to James, continues to teach and instruct His children on how we are to walk (how to behave, conduct ourselves) during the everyday living of our lives, so that we would live in agreement with that-which God has given us to believe, His will, as we await the Lord Jesus Christ's coming to gather us all together. As regards to the holy spirit category, every holy-person has the spirit of Christ within, and Christ has completed the law of Moses, and therefore all holy-people have spiritually completed that law; it has been fulfilled and cannot be filled-up with anything else in the holy spirit category.

Also, we should understand that the word "love¹" or the verb "to love¹" comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with His love means to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love towards another, whether it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, yourself, your neighbor, or towards anyone else. Before the day of Pentecost (which is recorded in Acts 2:1-4), God told His people how to Godly-love in His revealed spoken and/or written words (and at times certain individuals among His people received holy spirit from God temporarily whereby they received information from Him regarding how to love in different specific situations). It is the carrying out of God's commandments, His Word, which is the correct usage or way to manifest God's kind of love according to His will. It is not the same as the brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the emotional/feelings/sexual kind of love.

James continues: you must hear (be willing to pay attention to what is spoken to be heard, listen attentively to the end of understanding what you hear, referring to what is written here), my Godly-loved brothers (again he addresses these holy-people as his brothers, as verse 1 above, plus he loves them with God’s kind of love, as in chapter 1 verses 16 and 19):

God selected (chose, picked-out) for Himself the poor-people pertaining to the world (low in the worldly social status viewpoint)
who are wealthy in belief (rich within the cause and sphere of action of faith, of what God gives them to believe, which is the belief of the Lord Jesus Christ of glory, referred to in verse 1)
and inheritors of the kingdom (heirs, those who have the inheritance, assigned lot, allotted-portion, which is the kingly or royal dominion and government and rule and territory and power, etc)
- which God promised (God proclaimed or declared the message of His intentions concerning this kingdom) to/for the people Godly-loving Him,
didn’t He? The Greek construction of this question must receive an affirmative answer: "yes, He did.”

But in the example given in verses 2 and 3 above, emphatically you dishonored the poor-person (you esteemed him as being without honor, of no value or worth).

The wealthy people (rich Judeans or Gentiles)…

oppress you (overpower you holy-people by their ability, the capability they have to be exercised against you)
and emphatically they draw you into judgments (they drag you into the means or criteria of judgment in places where judgment regarding certain matters would take place, the tribunals or judgment-seats),
don’t they? Again, the Greek construction of this question must receive an affirmative answer: "yes, they do.”
Emphatically they blaspheme the beautiful name (they speak evilly of, treat with lack of Godly reverential respect, calumniate the name that has a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness),
- emphatically and specifically the name having been called on you,
don’t they? Again, the Greek construction of this question must receive an affirmative answer: "yes, they do.”

A name is a word or phrase given to a person, etc, to be called and known-by, in order to designate and describe the distinguishing and distinctive constitution, character, quality, workings, etc. Here, James refers to “the name having been called on you” – this ultimately refers to the truth that those to whom he is writing are God’s people, they belong to God; God’s name (Yahweh in Hebrew, referring to God in His covenant-relationship to that-which He created) is upon them. The truth that God’s name is called on all holy-people designates us as living within His authority, ability, etc.

Also included in James’ statement (not specifically written by him but he wrote “Lord Jesus Christ” twice in this letter in James 1:1 and 2:1) is the truth that when God raised our Lord Jesus Christ up alive from death, He graced to him a name that is above every name – Lord Jesus Christ, he has God’s name called upon him (refer to James chapter 1 for details) – and God has given all holy-people His own name by means of our Lord Jesus Christ when He placed the spirit of Christ within us. Paul later wrote in-depth regarding this truth in his letters.

James continues: emphatically indeed if you complete the kingly law (if you are bringing the royal, regal law to its ending issue, accomplishing the reigning law belonging-to, proceeding-from, relating-to, characterized-by the King Who is God; the ‘law’ refers to what God has set-up, divided-out and administers to be customarily and rightly used among His people)…

in accordance with the writing (previously written in the old covenant, often referred to as 'old testament'),
“You (singular, individual) will love¹ your neighbor as you are to love¹ yourself (you ought to manifest Godly-love towards that person who is near you from-among God’s people, as you ought to manifest Godly-love towards yourself; this is how to live interacting with one-another)

…you do beautifully (you are presently performing in a manner that has a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness).

But if you receive-faces (if you are showing partiality, being biased when interacting among yourselves, as the example in verses 2-4 above)…

you work sin (you are causing or effecting sin to be operative, you are producing what misses the mark of what God says, that-which has swerved from His Word, it is aberration from God’s law)
being refuted (you are being proved wrong, convicted and convinced of your error)
- by the power of (from under the hand of, the instrumental agent being) the law referred to in verse 8 (the kingly law)
- as people who step aside (willful transgressors, people who are going beside and thus against the law of God; to "step-aside" from something would have to be willful, not a stumbling off course by mistake – people who step-aside would want to change direction from the course that they are in to walk in a different course).

Godly-love – do beautifully // receive-faces – work sin.

For example, he-who would keep an eye on the entire law of Moses (have it in safekeeping, and therefore not neglecting or violating but able to watch-over, take-care-of, maintain, and be observant of everything it commands) except he would stumblingly fall in one-thing (trip regarding one part of it), he became and continues to be liable of all (he is held-in or made-subject pertaining to the consequences of all as though he did not do any of it; breaking one of the laws causes that person to be a lawbreaker).

In truth, the One (God) Who previously said…

“You (singular, individual) may not commit adultery (which is the voluntary action of debasing oneself with/by someone or something which is contaminating or defiling from God's viewpoint)”,

…also said,

“You may not murder (wrongfully kill)” –

…however, if you do not commit adultery but you murder, you became and continue to be a stepping-aside person (transgressor) pertaining to the law of Moses.

In this manner you must utter-forth (all of you holy-people must presently and actively be speaking) and in this manner you must do (be performing) – what manner? – as being about to be judged (in comparison to being on the point of a decision being made regarding your behavior by God)…

by means of the law of freedom (through liberty’s law; the law pertaining to freedom is the law that will be cited when your time of judgment will come; this is the complete law that God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ has set-up, divided-out and administers to be customarily and rightly used among all holy-people, which is the word of truth referred to in James 1:18, 21 and 25; this is not referring to the old covenant law of Moses).

In truth, the merciless judgment (the action of pronouncing sentence without mercy, the process of making a separating decision, the passing of judgment, making a decision in judgment proceeding from God via the Lord Jesus Christ without providing active-relief, not withholding merited judgment, bestowing punishment on those who deserve to be punished relative to the walk/behavior category)…

will be to the person not having done mercy (who did not perform mercy towards others during his lifetime).

Mercy (active relief, withholding merited judgment, not bestowing punishment on those who deserve to be punished)…

boasts against (speaks justifiably loudly, exults itself over)

…judgment (the deserved sentence being implemented against a person).

[Reference: Exodus 20:7 and 13 and 14; Leviticus 19:15-18, 20:10-23; Deuteronomy 1:17, 5:17 and 18, 28:10; Jeremiah 14:9; Matthew 1:21-25, 5:7 and 21-27, 12:31 and 32, 22:35-40, 23:23; Acts 1:3, 3:25, 4:12, 5:41, 10:34 and 38, 11:26, 13:45, 15:14-17 and 26, 21:30; Romans 1:3-5, 2:11 and 22-29, 8:2, 17, 21 and 28-30, 9:15-18 and 23-26, 10:4, 11:11, 13:8-10, 14:10-12; I Corinthians 1:21-31, 6:1-11, 8:6, 12:3 and 13, chapter 13, 15:24; II Corinthians 3:17, 5:10, 8:9; Galatians 2:4, 3:10, 28 and 29, 4:31, 5:1-6,13 and 14; Ephesians 1:18-23, 3:14-19, 5:5, 6:8; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 1:13-22 and 27; I Thessalonians 2:12; II Thessalonians 1:5-10; I Timothy 6:1-5 and 17; II Timothy 1:16-18, 4:1 and 18; Titus 1:9-16, 2:5, 3:5; Hebrews 1:4 and 12, 4:16, 6:10, 11:16, 12:5 and 28, 13:15; James 1:10-12 and 25; I Peter 2:16, 4:14 and 16.]

Verses 14-17:

^.14What (is) the profit, my brothers, if-ever someone may say to have belief but he may not have works? The belief is not able to save him, is it? – (no.) ^.15If-ever a brother or sister may begin-to-be naked and being-left (short) of daily nourishment, ^.16but someone from you may say to them, “You must go in peace, you must be warm and you must be fed”, but you may not give to them the suitable-things for the body – what (is) the profit? ^.17Thus also (is) the belief – if-ever it may not have works it is dead according to itself.

James continues to teach and instruct holy-people (refer to James 1:1) on how we are to walk (how to behave, conduct ourselves) during the everyday living of our lives.

What is the benefit, my brothers (refer to verses 1 and 5 above), if it should happen at any time that…

someone would say that he has belief (faith relative to God and the things of God, that he holds the information that God makes known to have confidence-in with assured certainty and surety)
but the person saying this would not have works (would continue not having deeds, no actions expending his energy, no end-products issuing from himself, no effects that he would produce associated with that belief)?
- The unwritten answer to this question is “none, there would be no profit to/for that person”, which we will realize we continue reading.
The belief that the man speaking has, is not able to save him (the belief without its associated works cannot, does not have the able-power or ability, is not capable to make that man safe), is it?
- The Greek construction of this question must receive a negative answer: "no, it is not."

James continues by explaining what he means. For example: if it should ever happen that a brother or sister would begin to be naked (would start existing in a state of bareness, ill-clad, without wearing clothes) and being left short of daily nourishment (left undone as regards the food needed for that day, lacking the sustenance from food that they would require to eat that day in order to maintain his/her physical life) – but someone out-from you would say to them…

“You must go in peace (actively lead yourselves under, in the sense of going without any argument, under cover, as animals go because they are under a yoke without going from side to side or intentionally stopping to do something else – go peacefully, within the sphere of action of tranquil harmony without strife),
you must be warm (keep warm/heated by your own activities or by others making you warm)
and you must be fed (filled with food, as the animals eat fodder, the hay or grass that is made available to them, whenever they want to, and become fat being satisfied with enough eaten at that time)”,
- but you would not give to them the suitable-things for the body (the appropriate things they need for the purpose of maintaining their physical lives, so they would have enough to live on; you do not present the physical necessities apt to these circumstances which you already have, to that brother/sister who do not have them; you do not do the works associated with the words you speak to them) –

…what is the profit (what benefit is this)? None, there is no profit to the person speaking nor to the brother or sister to whom he speaks.

In this manner also is the belief (which you say you have and you may speak to others) – if it should ever happen that the belief would not have works (you continue not to do the works pertaining-to, proceeding-from and associated with that belief), then the belief is dead according to itself (it is lifeless being by itself, it is inactive because no effects are being produced by you according to that belief to/for yourself or toward those to whom you may speak it).

[Reference: Matthew 25:35-46; Galatians 5:6, 6:10; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:8; I John 3:16-19.]

Verses 18-26:

^.18But someone will say, “You have belief.” I also have works. You must point-out to me your belief without the works and I will point-out to you from my works the belief. ^.19You believe that God is one, you do beautifully – also the devils believe (that God is one) and they shudder. ^.20But do you intend to know, oh empty man, that the belief without the works is workless?

^.21Abraham our father was made-righteous from works having offered-up Isaac his son on the sacrificial-altar, wasn’t he? – (yes.) ^.22Do you observe that the belief used-to work-together with his works and the belief was made-complete from the works? – ^.23and the writing was fulfilled, the (writing) saying, “But Abraham believed God and it was calculated to him into righteousness”, and he was called ‘friend of God’. ^.24You see that a man is made-righteous from works and not from belief only.

^.25But likewise also Rahab the female-fornicator was made-righteous from works having accepted the messengers underneath (her roof) and having thrown (them) out by a different way, wasn’t she? – (yes.) ^.26For wholly-as the body without spirit is dead, thus also the belief without works is dead.

Contrary to what is stated in verse 17, someone will say…

“Emphatically you have belief (singular, individual you presently and actively hold what God has given you to believe, you have faith).”

But I, James, say to you:

Emphatically I also have works (not only do I have belief but as well as that I have works).
You must point-out (indicate as pointing out with your finger) your belief to me without the works (apart from the works associated with that belief – by writing this, James gets his point across that it is not possible to point it out to him without works if that person truly believes what God says being true to and for himself!)
and emphatically I will point-out to you from my works the belief (that I have).

Emphatically you are believing that God is one (singular, one God, the fact that God exists and there is no other true God, only one, He is not divided up into three or more parts) – you are doing beautifully (in a manner that has a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness)…

also the devils believe that God is one and – what is their reaction to this? – they shudder (they brace themselves, stiffen, bristle-up as with the hairs on the skin standing on end). They do NOT do the works associated with this belief!
- [The word translated "devils" is the Greek word daimonion, which was used in Greek mythology/falsehoods to describe supernatural intermediary beings between false-gods and men. In reality, these are the lower-ranking demons, evil spirits, like 'privates,' which take their direction from the higher-ranking evil spirits (daimon) in the devil's "army" which take their orders and direction from the chief or top-ranking devil-spirit himself who is the devil/satan.]

But do you intend (will) to personally know, oh empty man (addressing the person who spoke in verse 18 as being vain, void, empty of contents in this regard), that the belief without (apart from) the works is workless (it does not work, it is not expending energy and thus it lacks active energy, it has no effect being produced resulting from it, it is idle, inactive [some Greek texts read “dead” instead of “workless”])? The following are two examples to prove this point.

Abraham our father was made-righteous (justified) out-from works after he had offered-up (brought, carried, bore upwards making a presentation of his sacrifice to God, which was) Isaac his son upon the sacrificial altar, wasn’t he? The Greek construction of this question must receive an affirmative answer: "yes, he was.” Do you observe (look at, mentally envision, are you mentally aware of, contemplate) that…

the belief (the faith that Abraham had which was the information that God gave Abraham to believe)
- was working together (was actively doing work, producing effects during that past time in conjunction, jointly)
  - with his works (the works that Abraham produced according to his belief)
and the belief was made-complete (caused to reach and arrive at its ending-issue, it was made perfect, it arrived at its ultimate state of completeness) out-from the works?

And the writing was fulfilled (filled-up, made full, accomplished), emphatically and specifically the writing saying…

“But Abraham believed God (he had faith in or trusted that-which God gave him to believe)
and Abraham’s belief of what God said to him was calculated (reckoned, computed, counted) to him into righteousness (for or resulting-in justness, justification; Abraham was being and doing what was just/right from God's point of view)”
- [Abraham believed the words that God spoke to him regarding the Christ (the Anointed-one, Messiah, the redeemer, the savior, God's promised seed of Genesis 3:15); what was written in Genesis 15:6 as prophecy was fulfilled after he had offered-up Isaac his son on the sacrificial altar; refer also to Genesis 22:1-18; Galatians 3:6, 8 and 16; Hebrews 11:17-19],
and he was called ‘friend of God’ (Abraham loved God and God loved Abraham with the brotherly or friendly kind of love, referring to the fact that they talked things over with each other, they discussed their plans).

You see (all of you who are reading or hearing this writing perceive with your eyes and understand in your mind's thoughts) that a man is made-righteous (a person is set-forth by a judicial act making him/her righteous, justified in God’s viewpoint) from works and not from belief only. Belief is not alone and the works associated with that belief are not alone – they should go hand-in-hand working together.

But likewise (similarly) also Rahab the female-fornicator was made-righteous from works after…

she had received the messengers under her roof for their protection (she welcomed them as guests in her house)
- [The word "messengers" comes from the Greek word aggello which means to tell or deliver a message in official service via words and/or actions, and therefore this word can be translated into English as “angel” or “messenger.” In verse 25, these messengers were the human men whom Joshua had sent to spy on the land and bring a message back to him of what they found-out; refer to Joshua 2:1-21, and Joshua 6:17 and 25 where the Hebrew refers to these men as messengers. These men were not spirit-beings but they did the same function for Joshua. In Hebrews 11:31 Paul refers to these same men as: scoping people (spies, scouts, those who were sent to look intensely at the city of Jericho, as a target, to closely watch and view the city). We should note that the Bible shows us that no human-being was or is or will be a spirit-being angel!]
and she had thrown them out by a different way (she cast them out from her house by the window opening and they went on their way; they didn’t exit via the door as they had entered),

…wasn’t she? The Greek construction of this question must receive an affirmative answer: "yes, she was.” Rahab did the works that she did within the cause and sphere of action of the belief that God had communicated to her (refer to Hebrews 11:31 for details).

In truth…

wholly-as the body without spirit is dead (entirely as a physical body apart from the spirit of, pertaining to and belonging to that body is lifeless),
- [Man’s spirit is the consistency and constitution of the soulish living and moving man, and this usage emphasizes the evidence of breathing. The body and soul man is limited to the sphere of action of his fleshy body and his soul-life. It is his soul-life evidenced by breathing that keeps his body living. The spirit of the man excludes God’s consistency and constitution, and it excludes the gift of holy spirit that is currently available to mankind from God Who is Holy Spirit.]
thus also the belief without works is dead (in this manner also the faith apart from the works of, pertaining to and belonging to that faith is lifeless; refer also to verse 17 above).

When a person believes what God says to be true to and for himself, then that person will do the works associated with what God says. In order for the belief that a person has to be profitable to/for that person, he/she must do what God says according to that same belief – any works disassociated from that belief are irrelevant. In this chapter, James is not discussing works of the law of Moses but only uses it briefly as an example! He is writing about the works that are associated with the belief that God gives a person to believe, and these works are the indication or evidence of the belief a person already has. James does not contradict what Paul later wrote in his letters of Romans and Galatians.

[Reference: Genesis 15:1-6, 22:1-18; Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 6:4; Joshua 2:1-21, 6:17 and 22-25; II Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; Matthew 1:5; John 14:12, 15:15; Acts 7:2; Romans 4:3; I Corinthians 2:11, 8:4-6; Galatians 3:6, 8 and 16, 5:6, 6:10; Ephesians 2:10, 4:6; I Thessalonians 1:3; II Thessalonians 1:11; I Timothy 2:5; Titus 3:8; Hebrews 11:17-19, 31 and 33. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (²) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]

James Chapter 3