ROYAL LAW

James 2:8-9 (NASB1995) If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

We all know the royal law this scripture is talking about, to love the Lord with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. The keeping of the royal law results in you keeping the ten commandments. In James, the half-brother of Jesus, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was dealing with a problem, rich people! Are rich people bad? No, the Lord has made us rich. But the rich people He was talking to, those who came into the Body of Christ already wealthy, or those who received their wealth from the Lord, all needed an attitude adjustment. Especially in the world, the tendency is this, if you have wealth, you see yourself better than everyone else. You are above, they are beneath. In the church, the Holy Spirit is saying through James, that this will not be tolerated. Earlier, James gave a real-life example that happened in a local assembly of believers. James told of a rich man coming in dressed in the latest and the greatest with jewelry everywhere and the people give him the best seat in the house. Then, a poor person came in and they told him to sit on the floor. In the eyes of God, these two people are equals. If we have prejudice and judge one greater than the other based on money, we sin. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves; the rich and the poor are both our neighbors. This is

not just in regard to finances, which this passage clearly deals with, but in every area of life we should show absolutely zero partiality. We should have no prejudice. We all came from the dust, and we are all going back to the dust. The poor person is only temporarily poor anyway until they get a hold of the revelation of God’s Word and then, God will raise them up to sit with His princes. Everyone should be treated like the true prince or princess they are. Be careful who you treat less than, especially if they are sons and daughters of God, because they are the apple of His eye. People all around us, daily, show partiality and prejudice, but you and I cannot. It is sin to us, so we will not do it!