Study
3 From the Book of James is: James 2:1-13
1. Verses 1-7.
On what five grounds (three general and two particular) does James condemn the
snobbish conduct described in Verses 2, 3? With verse 4, cf. 4:11. We, too,
believe in the ‘Lord of glory’. Are we free from the preoccupation with what
people have rather than what they are? Do we love and learn from ‘the rich in
faith’?
2. Verse 8:13.
‘This partiality business is just a minor matter.? How does James deal with
this sterile objection? Why, in a life which may otherwise appear to be
law-abiding, is one form of sin, like partiality, so serious?
Notes
1. Verse 12. Our
freedom is not freedom from the obligations and moral law; it is freedom to
fulfil (verse 18) the just requirements of the law.
2. Verse 13b.
Mercy triumphs over (not justice but) judgement. The same word is translated.
‘condemnation’ in 5:12. Mercy will finally triumph because when the merciless
are condemned, the merciful will be forgiven.
