The nature of law and grace (James 2:8-13)

I want you to take your Bibles with me tonight and turn to James 2. Our text tonight is going to be verses 8 through 13.

As you are turning there, I have to tell you that it’s been a long time since I’ve preached on a text that made my brain hurt as much as this one does. I mean, I read this text early in the week, and I read every commentary I could get my hands on about this text, and it just wasn’t clicking. I felt like I was in physics class or calculus or something.

Last week, I preached on being a “respecter of persons,” which basically means partiality or prejudice. We talked about the rich person and the poor person who enter a church, and one gets treated well while the other gets treated poorly. It could happen anywhere. It could happen here.

And it seems like such a little thing. Everyone is partial, right? Everyone has a little prejudice. No big deal, right?

But the book of James makes a huge deal about it. The book of James gives almost 13 verses to this topic of partiality or prejudice. God absolutely despises this sin, and it is absolutely contrary to the character of God.

It’s not just cultural. It’s not just human nature. It’s not something to be winked at, swept under the rug, and not discussed in polite company. God hates the stuff.

That’s what we covered last week. God hates partiality. Partiality is against God’s nature. When we show partiality, we are showing our own wicked and sinful motivations.

So let’s pick up where we left off last week and see where the book of James is going to take this because it gets really deep, but it is also really practical.

”8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all. 11 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. 12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”

There is a complicated argument in these verses. It’s pretty deep. James is talking about partiality and how bad it is to be partial or to be prejudiced. Likely what these people are doing when they read this is making excuses for themselves, saying things like:

• That’s just the way I was raised.
• You don’t know how bad that guy smelled.
• This is just human nature.
• Partiality isn’t really that big of a deal.

So James takes this, and he uses it to make a point about the nature of sin and salvation.

Now to help us understand what is happening in these verses, I’ve broken it down into three statements. I show you how those statements tie to the text.

Let’s pray and we’ll jump right in to that.

The first point James is making here is:

1. When you break even a little bit of the law, you break the whole thing.

Partiality may seem like a little thing, but it’s still breaking the law. James likens it to adultery and murder.

It’s not like bowling pins. It’s like a window. When you break a law, the others aren’t left standing. When you break one law, the whole law shatters.

2. There is no grace in the law and no law in grace.

If I choose to be judged by my works, I’m condemned. Period.

If I choose to be judged by grace, there are no works in it. Period.

3. If you’ve chosen grace, then give grace to others.