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The Sin of Partiality

^1 (C1)My fellow believers, ^(C2)do not practice your faith in our glorious ^(C3)Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of ^(C4)partiality toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery.² For if a man comes into your ^(F1)meeting place ^(F2)wearing a gold ring and ^(F3)(C1)fine clothes, and a poor man in ^(C2)dirty clothes also comes in,³ and you pay special attention to the one who wears the ^(F1)(C1)fine clothes, and say to him, "You sit here in this good seat," and you tell the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down on the floor by my footstool,"⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges ^(C1)with wrong motives?⁵ Listen, ^(C1)my beloved brothers and sisters: has not ^(C2)God chosen the poor of this world to be ^(C3)rich in faith and as believers to be ^(C4)heirs of the kingdom which He ^(C5)promised to those who love Him?⁶ But you in contrast have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress and exploit you, and personally ^(C1)drag you into the courts of law?^7 (C1)Do they not blaspheme the ^(F1)precious name of Christ by which you are called?

⁸ If, however, you ^(C1)are really fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "^(C2)YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit" you are doing well. ^(VR1)9 But if you ^(C1)show partiality prejudice, favoritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders.¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole Law but ^(C1)stumbles in one point, he has become ^(C2)guilty of breaking all of it.¹¹ For He who said, "^(C1)DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "^(C2)DO NOT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become ^(F1)guilty of transgressing the entire Law. ^(VR1)12 Speak and act consistently as people who are going to be judged by ^(C1)the law of liberty that moral law that frees obedient Christians from the bondage of sin.¹³ For ^(C1)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but to the one who has shown mercy mercy triumphs victoriously over judgment.

Faith and Works

^14 (C1)What is the benefit, ^(C2)my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no good works as evidence? Can that kind of faith save him? No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.^15 (C1)If a brother or sister is without adequate clothing and lacks enough food for each day,¹⁶ and one of you says to them, "^(C1)Go in peace with my blessing, keep warm and feed yourselves," but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do?¹⁷ So too, ^(C1)faith, if it does not have works to back it up, is by itself dead inoperative and ineffective.

^18 (C1)But someone may say, "You claim to have faith and I have good works; show me your alleged ^(C2)faith without the works if you can, and I will ^(C3)show you my faith ^(C4)by my works that is, by what I do."¹⁹ You believe that ^(F1)(C1)God is one; ^(C2)you do well to believe that. ^(C3)The demons also believe that, and shudder and bristle in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath! ^(VR1)20 But are you willing to recognize, ^(C1)you foolish spiritually shallow person, that ^(C2)faith without good works is useless?^21 (C1)Was our father Abraham not shown to be justified by works of obedience which expressed his faith when he offered Isaac his son on the altar as a sacrifice to God? ^(VR1)22 You see that his ^(C1)faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the ^(C2)works, his faith was ^(C2)completed reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience.²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "^(C1)ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND THIS faith WAS CREDITED TO HIM by God AS RIGHTEOUSNESS and AS CONFORMITY TO HIS WILL," and he was called ^(C2)the friend of God. ^(VR1)24 You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith.²⁵ In the same way, was ^(C1)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works too, ^(C2)when she received the Hebrew ^(F1)spies as guests and protected them, and sent them away to escape by a different route? ^(VR1)26 For just as the human body without the spirit is dead, so ^(C1)faith without works of obedience is also dead.