James 2:1–13 | 19th July 2026

It's either highlighted by our obedience

or lack thereof to this command of

showing no partiality. So what are we

talking about here? Is James simply

talking about not having preferences or

not having favorites? Is that what he's

saying here? Is he simply saying that

we're not allowed to have likes and

dislikes?

I want us to think about this passage in

three key areas as I see them here. So,

first

let's look at the heart of partiality.

What's really going on here? All right,

verses 2 to 4. And the second is seeing

through God's lens. Do we see how God

sees?

Verses 5 to8. And the third is the

danger of forsaking mercy. Right? So

let's look at the heart of partiality,

seeing through God's perspective and the

danger of forsaking mercy. But we before

we delve into these three areas of the

passage, I want us to consider how James

frames this whole section. It's easy.

James is kind of straightforward. Let's

look at verse one.

My brothers,

show no partiality as you hold the faith

in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of

glory. Straight to the point, isn't he?

There's no ambiguity about this command.

Notice who James addresses here. He

says, "My brothers,

the brethren, the family of God in the

faith, his brothers and sisters in

Christ." This letter is addressed to the

scattered believers, probably uh

predominantly Jewish believers who leave

in the synagogues, the early Christians.

Well, how do I know that this is for

believers? Well, it says in the same

verse, "As you hold the faith."

Faith in who? It's very clear. Our Lord

Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. And

today, if you count yourself with James

as one who holds the same faith in the

same Lord, this is for you. This is for

us. Those who have faith in Jesus today,

the Lord of glory. So, what is James

talking about here? As we've heard in

previous sermons and are going to hear

in the coming weeks, there's a fair bit

of dos and don'ts, isn't there? In this

letter, James is an actionoriented

kind of writer. He would say to us, you

have faith. Well, I'll give you ways in

which you exhibit this. You can exhibit

this. I'll give you the commands that

might perhaps challenge your current way

of living.

Do our actions align with the faith that

we have?

Or is this once again an opportunity to

check our hearts?

And so what is this command?

The command is to show no partiality.

The NIV translation says you must not

show favoritism.

Favoritism in what? In relation to what?

I mean, can't I have a favorite shirt

or a favorite book or a favorite child?

Yes. To prefers to not to the third one.

Okay.

It's kind of simple, isn't it? It's not

that hard to understand

what he commands here, specifically in

the church. Don't show favoritism or be

partial towards someone especially when

it is based on external appearances.

Why would he command this to them then?

And why would he command to us now?

Well, maybe, just maybe, because we do

it.

We show favoritism. Oh, they certainly

did. And James wants to get to the heart

of the issue here. And that's my first

point. The heart of partiality. Why do

we do this? So let's get into the heart

of the matter, shall we? Which is really

the matter of the heart. Show no

partiality.

James gives them a not so hypothetical

scenario.

They might be able to relate when he

says this here. Let's read verses 2 to

4. For if a man suppose a man wearing a

gold ring and fine clothing comes into

your assembly and a poor man in a in

shabby clothing also comes in and if you

pay attention to the one who wears the

fine clothing and say you sit here in a

good place while you say to the poor man

you stand over there or sit down at my

feet. Have you not then made

distinctions among yourselves and become

judges with evil thoughts?

There it is. Straight to the heart

motive. The early believers would have

some mixed numbers in their congregation

in terms of their socioeconomic status.

The ones that are well off are

expressively well off. In fact, you

know, the more rings you wear and

especially gold ones and I was reading

about the specific fingers in which you

wear the rings can signify a lot of

things. It can signify a great deal and

reveal your status in society.

Remember the signant ring the prodigal

son received from his father when he

came back. Remember that? It's more than

just wealth. It can signify their level

of influence

and perhaps authority in society

and fine clothing. Well, that's just

obvious. The material, the type of

material that one wears is a telltale of

their background or their ability to buy

those clothes in the first place. The

point is the rich influential person who

walks into church

into our church service even

is given preferential treatment.

Now is it wrong to be rich? I think the

point is more on our

reaction to this our flattering reaction

to this. There is a distinction being

made based on what is seen on the

outside because now as a result of it

one is being discriminated against

because of this partial treatment of

another. Sit here in the best seat of

the house, the seat of honor.

And you you're kind of cramping the

style of the church. Maybe uh sit down

in the floor.

No tie. maybe just stay outside.

Um James is calling them out in a asking

for a friend fashion. That's just one

example, but I believe the principle

applies to any judgment made that is

based on external appearances. We as

believers

can certainly be, you know, guilty of

this. We can inadvertently or

consciously discriminate.

And when we do, we have become judges

with evil thoughts.

Wow.

Really? Evil thoughts sounds a bit

extreme when we think of evil people.

I don't imagine yourselves being one of

them.

But he says evil thoughts. I mean, you

know, I just I just didn't want to chat

to that person today and I didn't feel

like it. Their accent's a bit funny.

They don't even speak English. You know

what's the big deal?

But if we are to probe into our hearts

and question our motives,

we really have created distinctions and

judge others based on what we see on the

outside. Come on, let's be honest.

Samuel reminds us very very famous

verse. We we learned this in Sunday

school and very um familiar verse. For

man looks at the outward appearance but

the Lord looks at the heart. Guess what?

Our actions as subtle as we may believe

them to be, they betray us. Our inner

thoughts and beliefs express themselves

in our behavior.

And I don't get the sense that this was

a once- off thing in that church or in

any church that happened once or twice.

This may have become a pattern in the

church, a common practice. And I hope in

this church that it's not. It has no

place in God's church. Our treatment of

others in is an indicator of what we

really think and believe in our hearts.

And God's word calls us out for it.

I remember years back now,

Ann and I before we had kids, uh we used

to mind our friends

children. They had two girls. One of

them is a woman now. Crazy, isn't it?

Time flies. But we used to mind them and

they would say things as kids only can,

you know, with pure honesty and lack of

social cues. If they like something or

didn't like something, they would just

say it. I don't like it. Don't like it.

There's something about that raw honesty

that can be refreshing, but it really

doesn't work out well when others or

other people are around, especially when

you're in someone's house and you're

being hosted and you you're there for

dinner and you have this wonderfully

prepared meal served to you and then

your your kid says, "I don't like it. I

don't like it."

Fair enough. So the parents thought

maybe teaching them a more polite way of

expressing something they didn't like.

So they taught them instead of saying I

don't like it. You can probably guess

what I'm going to say, right?

Say it's not my favorite.

I don't like it. It's not my favorite. I

I'm not sure if that's an improvement.

I think that would personally that would

sting a bit more. But in essence, in

essence, that reveals something, doesn't

it? We're all just big kids. I'm just a

big child at times. Maybe most times,

depends who you ask. But James is

saying, "Yeah, we make distinctions

because really deep down we don't like

certain people in the church and we like

others more because maybe what we might

gain from them. We are now picking and

choosing based on what we like and what

can benefit us and not according to the

faith we hold. See the discrepancy.

Show no partiality as you hold the faith

in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of

glory. Remember who you place your faith

in. And isn't he the greatest of all,

the most glorious of all? All of our

preferences

come under him. We are called to have

our identity in our glorious Lord Jesus.

And we don't have to live our lives

solely based on our preferences, our

likes and dislikes, especially in this

church. Because that would be living for

ourselves, would it not?

And not for another.

This is not easy. I get it. Simple to

say it's not easy. It requires conscious

effort, faithful

application of what we know and humble

obedience to what he commands. Believe

you me, I preach this now, but I have a

long ways to go in terms of growing and

applying this. But God in his

sovereignty landed me this text today.

We have catched ourselves when we make

quiet selections in our hearts about who

we want to be around. Maybe this week

pay attention to the moments you or I

might think, "I don't feel like talking

to that person." And instead gravitate

towards someone else. Take that thought

captive. realize that deep down I am

declaring them to be not my favorites

and that I am setting myself up as judge

with evil thoughts. Can you see

something so simple? You know it becomes

very very soon.

Deliberately engage with that person

that you were tempted to avoid speaking

to me. And after the service, during our

picnic, maybe don't be too surprised

when more people come over to talk to

you.

It's okay. It's not you, it's them. Be

glad that they are more hearing the word

and doing it. You might ask, why? Why

should I do this? Why should we do this?

And this is my second point.

Because our God sees things differently.

Seeing through God's perspective. Do we

see what God sees? As Christians, we

must see how God sees things. And that

is what faith essentially is.

Do you see what God sees? He tells us

what he sees to pay attention. Or are we

insisting on seeing how we like to see

it and moving in that direction and

ending up living our lives as we see

fit? Do we lean on our own

understanding? Are we acknowledging him

in all our ways? Are we trusting him?

Proverbs 3, Peter reminded us of this

two weeks ago. Do we count our Lord, the

Lord of glory whenever this particular

command applies?

Look in verse 5 with me. Listen, my

beloved brothers, again, my brothers,

has not God chosen those who are poor in

the world to be rich in faith and heirs

of the kingdom which he promised to

those who love him? It's amazing, isn't

it? This is actually how God sees

things. He considers the poor. When I

read this verse, I don't know about you,

my mind goes straight to

what Jesus says in his sermon on the

mount. Remember Matthew 5, the kingdom

of God. Who is in the kingdom of God?

It's the poor people,

the poor in spirit, the meek, the lowly,

and the merciful. And we'll get to that

later as well. The merciful are there.

It's the complete opposite of how the

world thinks and how we might think as

well when faith is not applied. For the

kingdom belongs to such as these. This

is the guiding principle. If I told you

that Elon Musk is coming through those

door, what would we do?

I don't know. Are we tempted to pander

to him? Maybe a nice word will give us a

millennium or something

or maybe some other rich and influential

person. Do they get a better treatment

than your brother or sister here?

James and the Lord is not merely

concerned with our behavior. Of course,

behavior matters, but that is just the

outworking of what's going on in our

hearts, isn't it? Whether humbly

informed by God's word or not, it really

comes back to ourselves. There's

something that they could give us if we

treated them better. Gaining favor

perhaps or just attempting to improve

our social status

that there might be something we can

gain for ourselves. That's a very

selfish and selfdriven kind of attitude

really. But what a lovely reminder that

God thinks of the poor and he loves them

very very much.

Look at verse six. But you have

dishonored the poor man.

Are not the rich the ones who oppress

you and the ones who drag you into

court? Are they not the ones who

blaspheme the honorable name? The rich

who are called

in James's time. The rich, well, not all

of them, mind you, generally speaking,

they have this reputation of using their

wealth and status to oppress the poor,

even winning legal battles easily

because they can just throw money at it

and just outspend the poor.

And aren't they the same ones that

blaspheme the honorable name of the

Lord? The rich are arrogant.

We dishonor the poor when we pander to

the rich just because they look rich.

The rich here may allude to the rich

mentioned later on in chapter 5 of this

letter, right? They get a full section

and they are characterized as godless

living for themselves and trampling the

poor in the process. In many ways today,

the super rich of the world have taken

advantage of the poor. I'm just thinking

of the many struggling employees that

have been laid off in the name of more

profits for the company. Imagine one of

them walks through the door. How will

you treat them?

Well, the Lord has his own judgment

reserved for people like these.

When we see what he sees, we can act

appropriately in faith. And how would we

do that? Well, one way is to leave the

judgment to him. We don't assume the

position of judge.

Do not dishonor the poor man. Remember

that the Lord has the poor in mind for

his kingdom.

Better be poor here and be rich in

faith.

Maybe we're struggling with this

command.

with this sin. Or maybe not.

Maybe it's actually so natural. It

doesn't even cross our minds. We just

gravitate to the ones we like.

But now with no excuse, we're reminded

again. We can repent. We can once again

act in faith. The Lord would remind us

that the people whom we might be

inclined to ignore,

they are precious to him.

He laid down his life for them

as he has for you. Wonder because really

we are all poor.

That's how God sees we are all poor and

needy. Spiritually poor yet he looked on

us and had mercy on us. There's this

lovely verse in 2 Corinthians 8. We know

this. For you know the grace of our Lord

Jesus Christ. I hope he did. That though

he was rich,

yet for your sake he became poor so that

you by his poverty might become rich.

The Lord Jesus is nothing like any of

the tech modals

who just take and take and take. The

Lord is different. He gives. He gives

generously.

How are we in our treatment of the less

fortunate than us? I mean genuinely in a

real way. Not in an Irish the most

charitable country in the world. Look me

giving.

Do we give when no one looks?

Do we treat others? When no one sees the

the good deed.

He makes us rich in faith. And we would

do well to always remember that because

when we don't when we forget we can fall

into thinking that we are better than we

really are.

Which is why we need to be reminded of

his mercy. Which is my third point. The

danger of forsaking mercy. There is a

danger of forgetting about the true

state of affairs here. We might be led

to believe that this is not a big deal

of a sin much. It's one of those

respectable sins or reasonable sins.

Even then, even now we're showing

partiality

that we can just brush off as light.

Come on. Did Did anyone die?

And we obey generally the more important

commands.

James reminds us that by showing

partiality or showing favoritism based

on outward appearances, we break the

royal law.

That's the royal decree of the king, the

sovereign law, the one that guides all

the other laws. Children,

what is the greatest commandment?

One, we sing this in the children's club

every week. What is the greatest

commandment that the Lord Jesus boil

down?

can say it.

Thank you. Exactly. To love the Lord

your God with all your heart, soul,

mind, and strength, with all your being.

And the second one is like it. What is

it?

It's the second command

to love God and

to love your neighbors as yourself.

And who is your neighbor?

It's the one beside you.

There will always be someone beside you

whenever you're with people. Look at

verse eight. If you really fulfill 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.

I have broken this command.

I suspect that you have too. We have

become transgressors and are convicted

by the law. You and I have certainly

broken the first command. And who could

say we've loved God with all our being

this morning.

Yeah. This it kind of ties together.

Love God, love others. I mean, it's very

hard to argue to say, "Yeah, I love God.

Really have a nice relationship with And

you know, I I blast worship music in the

car and I sing along to it. You know,

you and him, me and him, the Holy Spirit

or type of that kind of language. And

yet you look at another believer less

than favorably,

it doesn't track, doesn't talk. I would

even say we're being hypocrites.

If I truly love God, I would love the

one he loves.

James not finished there. Look at verse

10. He doubles down here. Look at verse

10 and 11. For whoever keeps the whole

law but fails in one point has become

guilty of all of it.

Verse 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.

Not only have I failed the royal law by

not keeping it, I break all of it. I

break all of the law

even if I might think myself outstanding

in other areas. Do you remember the rich

young man, the rich young ruler? Let's

have a look in Matthew uh 19. I'll read

it. And behold, a man came up to him

saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I

do to have eternal life?" And he said to

him, "Why do you ask me about what is

good? There is only one who is good. If

you would enter life, keep the

commandments."

And he said to him, "Seek you, but which

ones?" Jesus said, "Well, you shall not

murder. You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal. You shall not bear

false witness. Honor your father and

mother. And you shall love your neighbor

as yourself."

The young man said, "All these I have

kept."

Other versions would say, "Since I was a

young boy." Wow. Just arrogance.

And then following on, he says, "What do

I still lack?"

Right? The Lord Jesus didn't ask for

information.

You You said it yourself. There's a hard

issue here. There's really no point in

propping up the rules you think you've

kept. It was clear

that the young man was a transgressor

and so so are we. And Jesus says to him,

"Follow me." But I love that little

detail that the Gospel of Mark adds to

this story.

And Jesus looking at him even in this on

this cheeky little young whippers

snapper

loved him and said to him, "Son of your

possessions."

Because at the heart of it, that's not

really how any of this works, is it? In

God's economy doesn't have it doesn't

work like that. We don't keep tabs and

quantify how little we break certain

laws and rules and how often we keep the

others. Here's a reality. If you didn't

know, you'll know. We haven't even kept

the ones we think we have. We're so

quick to justify ourselves by easily

claiming, "But I didn't kill anybody. I

didn't commit murder." Or, "I haven't

had an affair committing adultery."

Again, the sermon on the mount might

have something to say about this. The

heart of the matter is the matter of the

heart. Matthew 5 says, the Lord Jesus

says, "But I say to you that everyone

who is angry with his brother will be

liable to judgment." But I say to you

that everyone who looks at a woman with

lustful intent has already committed

adultery with her in his heart.

God wants to break down my sneaky

legalism and my [clears throat] bent to

circumn the system as it were. And

showing partiality is just one of those

very easy ones to justify because I

could just say, "Well, I didn't have

time. I I always won't have time. Every

week I won't have time or I just happen

to talk to this other person."

God is saying, "Andrew, Andrew, I can

see your heart.

I am challenging your heart, the Lord

Jesus would say, and to remind you,

you've broken this command

and all of the law. Look to me for your

salvation. Let's not delude ourselves

that we're only fractured in some areas

that like a mirror only having that

small crack at the side, but the rest is

okay. There is this one mirror at home

in Mr. Right. John knows this one.

There's a crack through it. To this day,

only John knows who done and who cracked

it. But it's still largely useful. And I

still use it. I still look at myself in

that mirror. Even though has a little

crack. Yeah, we're not that.

We break one law, we break all of it. We

as law breakers are not just slightly

broken with only a piece or two missing.

Well, nobody's perfect. You know, we're

only human.

We are utterly broken, shattered into a

million pieces because of sin,

completely unusable,

beyond repair through our own means. But

this is where the good news, the gospel

comes in gloriously because the bad news

is we have no hope otherwise.

Remember this,

the perfect one was broken so that

broken people like you and me can be

made perfect. If you weren't listening,

but now listen to this. I'll say it

again. The perfect one was broken so

that broken people like me and you can

be made perfect. Jesus' body was broken

in that cross for us so that we can be

restored. Believe that. Unbeliever,

believe that.

Believer, remember that again. And we

will do not forsake his mercy. There's

an amazing thing that happens when I

recall the gospel to myself again and

again. Sometimes in my pride, it's very,

very difficult to do. Don't want to hear

it.

When I consider the unimaginable mercy

that I've received, how can I continue

to treat others without mercy? Look at

verse 12.

So speak and so act as those who are to

be judged under the law of liberty. For

judgment is without mercy to one who has

shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over

judgment. So James wraps it up by saying

it really comes down and boils down to

mercy. Showing partiality and

mistreating others is really a matter of

forgetting or forsaking mercy. So speak

and act as those who are judged under

the law of liberty. And I love this

because he's really saying we're

actually free to love and treat others

equally. Like why do you pick and

choose? We're free to actually treat

everybody the same. He lovingly warns us

of this coming judgment by the great

judge. He sang that song, right?

Fall down sinner, coming judge. He says

at the end, mercy triumphs over

judgment. In one sense, we can read that

as yes, it's always good to have a

posture of mercy towards others rather

than having a posture of judgment. Yeah,

it's good. It's better.

Mercy is better than judgment in one

sense. This reflects the character of

our father. But in another sense, it's

also a reminder that on the last days,

the ones who received mercy are the ones

spared from judgment. We triumph over.

And those who have received mercy, guess

what? They're characterized as ones who

are merciful to others.

James is

really um emphasizing that what you do

stemming from faith will confirm

whether you're in

the kingdom. It's really good. It's such

an encouraging thing that God sends us

this command and trial so that your

faith is proven genuine.

Don't be tricked that later, Lord. Lord,

I've done all these great things for

you.

This is the rubber meets the road. Are

you being merciful?

Then we will be shown mercy on the last

day.

The faith in action can help reassure

our souls. Our sins they are many. But

his mercy is more. When in faith I keep

my eyes fixed on Jesus because really

that is the action. Fixing my eyes on

Jesus constantly.

He gives me his eyes of compassion. Eyes

that do not discriminate, neither

Gentile or Jew. And before I know it,

this isn't about rule keeping anymore,

is it? It's about living free to love

him and free to love others. I mentioned

at the beginning that the answers to the

icebreaker questions those what's your

favorite question are a small way of

defining our identities right is what

Andrew likes what I like to do that's

him well

may we find our true identities in Jesus

the one who loves and treats us all

without partiality

mercy is available to all who come to

him in faith.

Let's pray.

Our father god, we thank you for your

word. Thank you that it cuts to the

heart.

It's difficult to hear. That's why we

strayed away from it. Lord, I'm guilty

of that. But I pray as we've heard it,

Lord, that you would impress it in our

hearts. Holy Spirit, help us. We need

your mercy, Lord Jesus.

be merciful to us. We thank you for my

brothers and sisters, Lord, who are

merciful to me, who I have experience,

their kindness

and their generosity. And so, Lord, help

us to continue to be that people that

love others with no partiality. We ask

this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.