Favoritism Versus Love

¹My siblings, y’all must not show favoritism in the way y’all hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

²For if someone comes into y’all’s gathering with a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,

³and y’all pay special attention to one wearing fine clothes and y’all say, “You sit here in a good place,” but y’all tell the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit by my footstool,”

⁴haven’t y’all discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Y’all listen, my beloved siblings. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the empire which ʜᴇ promised to those who love ʜɪᴍ?

⁶But y’all have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress y’all and personally drag y’all into court?

⁷Don’t they blaspheme the beautiful name by which y’all have been called?

⁸However, if y’all fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” y’all are doing right.[#Leviticus 19:18]

⁹But if y’all show favoritism, y’all are committing sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all.

¹¹For ʜᴇ who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.[#Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18; #Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17]

¹²So y’all must speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom.

¹³For judgment is without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy.

Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Good Works

¹⁴What good is it, my siblings, if a person claims to have faith, but has no works? Can that faith save them?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

¹⁶and one of y’all tells them, “Y’all go in peace. Y’all be warmed and well fed,” but y’all don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?

¹⁷In the same way faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder.

²⁰But are you willing to learn, O foolish human, that faith apart from works is useless?

²¹Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

²²You see that faith was partnered with his works, and by works faith was made complete.

²³So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.[#Genesis 15:6]

²⁴Y’all see that a human is justified by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way?

²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.