James: A Letter from Jesus’ Brother
Warnings – James 2:8-13
If you are trusting in Jesus Christ then you are like a traveler on a road heading to the new heavens and new earth, where you will be with Jesus, the glory of the universe, forever. But Jesus said that this road would not be easy. He said that as we travel on this road we would face temptations – like vicious animals which spring out to attack and harm us. But the good news is that Jesus has given us weapons – all the weapons we need – so that we can resist and overcome every temptation which attacks us.
But what’s sad is that there’s one of these weapons which many of us don’t use. It’s a powerful weapon. In some cases it’s the crucial weapon we need to overcome temptations. But we don’t use it. And so there’s many times when we are attacked and overcome when we didn’t need to be.
So what is this weapon? And how can we use it? To answer that let’s turn to James 2. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. James 2 is on page 1011 in the Bibles we are passing out. Last week we saw in v.1 that James is calling us to not show partiality – which means not treating people differently based on factors like money, or popularity, or power. So if Mike Singletary, the coach of the 49ers became part of your home group, you’d love him and welcome him just as much as you would a poor homeless guy who became part of your home group.
And in vv.8-13 James gives us a crucial weapon which will help us when we are tempted to show partiality or to neglect the poor. What is this weapon? It’s a warning. A biblical warning. Warnings are a powerful weapon which God in His love has given us to use so we can fight off temptations. But many of us don’t ever use warnings, either because we don’t think they apply to us, or because we don’t know how to use them.
So this morning I am praying that God will use what James says here so that from now on we can all use the warnings God gives us in His Word to resist sin, overcome temptation. So let’s look at what James says in vv.8-13 --
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 accountable for 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.
Notice that in v.9 James talks about what happens if we show partiality, which shows that in these verses James is continuing the topic he started in v.1. And in vv.8-9 James tells us what happens if we willfully disobey Jesus by showing partiality? What happens? Read those verses again –
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.
In v.8 James says that if we obey Jesus and love our neighbors – then we are doing well. But in v.9 James warns us that if we willfully disobey Jesus by showing partiality – without repentance, without confession -- then we are committing sin and will be convicted by the law as transgressors.
So there’s the warning. If today after the service I shun someone because he is poor, or I show partiality to someone because he is rich, then I am convicted by the law as a transgressor.
So what does that mean? Aren’t we all convicted by the law as transgressors? Yes, that’s taught all through God’s Word. But that’s not what James is talking about. When James talks about the law, he’s talking about the Old Testament as explained by Jesus and His apostles. He’s talking about the Old Testament as explained by the New Testament. He’s talking about the overall message of the God’s Word. He’s talking about the Gospel.
And he’s saying that God’s Word, the Gospel says two things. One is that if you are trusting Jesus, then you are judged, not as a transgressor but as forgiven, as redeemed, as saved. But the other is that if you are continuing in willful sin, like partiality, without repentance, without remorse, then you are not judged as forgiven and redeemed; you are judged as a transgressor.
But James knows that someone might object to this. So in vv.10-11, he raises and answers this objection. The objection is: But what if I’ve kept all the other commands?
James anticipates that someone might be thinking. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that one act of willful disobedience like partiality makes me completely guilty? But what about the fact that I go to church, and don’t lie, and provide for my family? So if I’m keeping all of Jesus’ other commands, what’s the problem with breaking just this one? Breaking just one shouldn’t make me a transgressor.”
Have you ever thought that way? Have you ever rationalized one area of willful sin by thinking that because you keep a lot of other commands, then you’re OK? That a little gossip is OK as long as you go to church and love your kids? That a little porn is OK as long as you read the Bible and don’t lie? That if I break one command, then maybe I’m guilty – but just a little guilty, right? Look at what James says in v.10 --
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable [or guilty] for all of it.
So if you break one of Jesus’ commands then you are as guilty as if you broke all of them. Breaking one of Jesus’ commands is as serious as breaking all of them. Why? James explains why at the beginning of v.11.
11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder."
It’s because God Himself in the Old Testament, Jesus Himself in the New Testament, has spoken these commands to us.
See, we’re not dealing with an impersonal list of laws, like the San Jose Traffic code. We’re dealing with a personal being – Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man. To disobey Jesus’ commands is not just to disobey a command, it’s to disobey Jesus. And to knowingly, willingly, unrepentantly disobey Jesus, is an infinite wrong.
Picture it like this. Jesus Christ is standing in front of you; your Creator; infinite God; ablaze in glory. His wisdom is flawless, His goodness is perfect, His power is infinite.
And because of your sin, you deserve only eternal punishment from Him; but in astonishing mercy He came to earth to be punished in your place. So he endured the pain you deserved. He allowed Himself to be beaten; blindfolded; spat upon. He allowed a crown of thorns to be slammed into his scalp. He allowed His hands to be nailed to the Cross; His feet to be nailed to the Cross. At any moment he could have called it off – and you’d be damned forever. But he endured, endured, endured until all your guilt was paid for.
And even though you were still his enemy, in great love and compassion and mercy He reached down from heaven and subdued your rebellious will, changed your heart, gave you repentance and faith and saved you, loved you, redeemed you, adopted you.
Everything Jesus has done for you has been perfectly, flawlessly good and loving. And now Jesus your Creator, Jesus your God, Jesus your Savior stands before you and says – “Don’t show partiality to that rich person, and love that poor person.” And you say “No. No. I’ll keep the other laws, but I’m not going to love that poor person.”
What does that show? It shows that your heart is in rebellion against Jesus. No matter what else you do, no matter what other laws you keep, you have shown that your heart is not trusting Jesus. Which is why one act of intentional, unrepentant disobedience makes you a transgressor of the law. You are not 1/10th of a transgressor, you are a transgressor.
So with that in mind, read all of v.11 --
If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
So whenever we willfully, knowingly, unrepentantly sin, nothing else we do matters – we are 100% transgressors of the law.
So if that’s true, then how does James tell us to live? James tells us in v.12 -
12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.
Now what is the law of liberty? It’s the same as the royal law, which James mentioned in v.8. It’s the Old Testament as explained by Jesus and the apostles. It’s the Old Testament as explained by the New Testament. It’s the Word of God. It’s the Gospel.
And I think the reason it’s called the law of liberty is because when we embrace it, God’s power goes to work to liberate us from sin’s guilt and power.
But here in v.12 James says not only does it liberate us – it also will judge us. And we are to speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. The day will come when we will all stand before Jesus Christ and He will judge us according to His Word. And what will the law of liberty say? It will say two things:
One is that if you were trusting Jesus, then you are completely forgiven and no longer a transgressor of the law. See, we all are transgressors of God’s Law. We all have refused to bend the knee before Him and trust Him, worship Him, surrender to Him, seek Him. We all have. And so we are all transgressors of the Law – and face eternal punishment.
But the moment you turned to trust Jesus as your Saviour, and Lord, and heart-satisfying Treasure – at that moment all your sins were put upon Jesus, and Jesus was punished because of your sins. And – at that moment all of Jesus perfect moral goodness was given to you, and you were accepted because of Jesus’ perfect goodness.
And understand that there’s only one way this happens: by trusting Jesus. Not by being good enough. You can’t be good enough. But by trusting Jesus. This is pure, undeserved mercy that comes only through trusting Jesus.
So if you are trusting Jesus, then you are completely forgiven and no longer a transgressor of the law. So the day is coming when you will be judged by the law of liberty – and there will only be one issue – did you trust Jesus? If you trusted Jesus – then you are completely forgiven and no longer a transgressor of the law.
But there’s something else the law of liberty will say: that if you continued in known, willful, unrepentant sin, then this shows you were not trusting Jesus, and so you were never saved, you are not forgiven, and you will face God’s judgment forever.
See, the only way you can be saved is by trusting Jesus. But if you are continuing in willful, unrepentant sin – then you are not trusting Jesus. Because if you were trusting Him, then you’d seek to obey Him. But continuing in willful, unrepentant sin shows that you are not trusting Him.
And because you are not trusting Him, you are not forgiven, and you will face God’s judgment forever.
That’s what James is saying in v.13 –
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.
If we show no mercy, if we willfully, unrepentantly shun the poor, then we will face judgment from God without mercy. Think of it: facing judgment from God without mercy. That should make us tremble.
But why will we face judgment without mercy? Not because we weren’t good enough to earn forgiveness. We can’t ever be good enough to earn forgiveness. But because if we willfully, unrepentantly shun the poor, then that shows we are not trusting Jesus. And if we are not trusting Jesus, then we are not forgiven and we face God’s judgment.
But then look at the end of v.13 --
13b Mercy triumphs over judgment.
This means that if you do show mercy – not perfectly, but earnestly, growingly – if you do show mercy, then you will not face God’s judgment. Not because your mercy earned anything from God. But because the fact that you showed mercy shows that you trust Jesus, and if you are trusting Jesus, then you are forgiven and will not face God’s judgment.
Let me say it again. It’s not the showing mercy that saves you. It’s your trust in Jesus that saves you. And the fact that you are obeying Jesus by showing mercy shows that you are trusting Jesus.
So what does this mean for us?
First, understand that God gives us warnings because He loves us. The Bible is full of warnings; both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I’ve got some more examples in the notes, if you want to study some more.
But understand that God gives us these warnings because He loves us – because He will use these warnings to free us from sin’s grip, and to help us overcome temptation.
And second, when you are tempted to sin, use God’s warnings. We can also fight sin with God’s promises, with stories of God’s faithfulness, with descriptions of God’s glory as displayed in Jesus. But we also need to learn to use God’s warnings – because God’s warnings are specially powerful to wake us up from spiritual sleepiness, to jolt us out of spiritual lethargy. So use God’s warnings.
Open up to James 2 or the other warning-passages I’ve listed – and say to yourself – if I yield to this temptation, I could be risking eternity. Preach the warnings to yourself. Talk to Jesus about the warnings. Ponder the warnings until you feel strength and resolve arise.
And third, if you are involved in willful sin, hear God’s warnings. If you have an area of your life in which you are pursuing willful, unrepentant sin – then understand that God loves you. He cares about you. And he has you here this morning so you can hear His warning -- that if you are pursuing willful, unrepentant sin then you are not trusting Jesus, and so you might not be saved, you might not be forgiven, you might face God’s judgment forever.
And fourth, let the warnings lead you, not to moral effort, but to trusting Jesus. Warnings are crucial. But they aren’t enough. All the warnings do is wake us up to the danger. But we need to let them direct us to Jesus. Not to trying harder. But to trusting Jesus.
Because when you turn to Jesus, and trust Him, and cry out to Him, He will show you His glory, He will satisfy you with His presence, so sin’s temptations will lose their power, and you will once again trust Him.
Questions?