---
title: "People"
description: "Have not the faith of our Lord. The Gospel, the Christian profession. With respect to persons. God is no respecter of persons (Act 10:34), nor should Chr"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2"
---

**Have not the faith of our Lord**. The Gospel, the Christian profession.
**With respect to persons**. God is no respecter of persons (Act 10:34), nor should Christians be. God respects character, not dress, or wealth, or earthly rank.
**Come into your synagogue**. See Revision. The place of worship, whether Jewish or Christian. James, a Jewish Christian of the strictest sort, uses the Jewish term.
**With a gold ring**. An indication of wealth in that age, especially in connection with the fine clothing.
**A poor man,** as shown by his mean clothing.
**And have respect**. Show respect not to the character but to the clothes, by giving one a welcome and a good seat, while the other is treated contemptuously, allowed to **stand** or to sit in a very uncomfortable place. Does not this describe the spirit of half the churches of our time?
**Are ye not then partial?** Show partiality from outward appearance.
**Judges of evil thoughts**. Judge between the two men under the influence of evil thoughts.

**Hath not God chosen the poor, etc.?** Ye choose out the rich for favor, but God hath chosen in most part the poor to be **rich in faith, etc**. See 1Co 1:16-17. God has made poor men heirs of the eternal inheritance.
**But ye have despised the poor**. Those whom God accepts you reject.
**Do not rich men oppress you?** The oppressors of the poor are usually the rich. They are the money lenders, those who bring suit for debt, and hence draw the poor before the **judgment seats**. Perhaps also there is an allusion to the fact that they were the persecutors.
**Do not they blaspheme that worthy name, etc**. The name of Christ. There is an allusion either to the fact that they were already called Christians, or that they were baptized in his name.
**The royal law according to the scripture**. The law of love for one's neighbor, which is the fulfillment of the law. See Gal 5:14.
**But if ye have respect to persons**. Such partiality as that described in Jam 2:3 would break this law, and hence would be a sin, and the sinner would be convicted as a transgressor.

**Whosoever shall keep the whole law**. If the law is broken by "respect of persons," the whole law is broken. He who willfully breaks one command is a law breaker and is guilty before the law.
**He that said, etc**. He that gave one command, gave the other commands. If you break any one of them, you sin against the Divine Lawgiver.
**So speak ye**. So act as one judged by **the law of liberty**. The Gospel, which is not a law of outward compulsion, but of a new and willing spirit. See Rom 8:2, Rom 8:15.
**He shall have judgment without mercy**. We must show mercy if we expect mercy. Our own spirit determines our manner of judgment. See Mat 6:15. If we love our neighbor, God will love us.

**What doth it profit**. Professions are nothing unless their fruit is deeds. Even faith is of no avail unless it demonstrates its life by works.
**If a brother**. A practical application is now made of the royal law.
**Be naked**. Insufficiently clothed.
**Depart in peace**. Express to the needy only kind wishes; that he be warmed by receiving good clothing and fed by food being provided. Such good wishes are worthless unless followed up by active help to the sufferer.
**Even so faith**. Faith that has no power to bring one to obedience and to sway the life is as worthless as good wishes which end in words.
**Being alone**. It cannot stand alone and be of any avail. Only when it shows its power in works is it of the slightest value.
**A man may say**. One may claim works, another faith. They must go hand in hand. One cannot show faith without works. The life lived is the proof of the faith held. If a man lives in obedience to Christ that is proof that he has faith in Christ.

**Thou believest that there is one God**. That is very well, but can that alone save you? Even the demons believe that also. See Mat 8:29. Evil spirits confessed Christ, but this confession of faith did not save them.

**But wilt thou know, etc**. "I will show by proof that the faith that justifies produces works by the case of Abraham, the great father of the faithful."
**Faith without works is dead**. It has no power to make alive unless it has power over the life.
**Was not Abraham our father**. The father of the Jewish race; also the father of all his children by faith. See Gal 3:7-9.
**Justified by works**. By a faith which showed itself in works. This is the argument of James, that faith is of no avail unless accompanied by works. Of this all Abraham's life was a demonstration. He was told when in Mesopotamia to go forth into the land God would show him, and "he went forth, not knowing whither;" an act of faith (Heb 11:8); "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise" (Heb 11:9). Each of these acts of faith secured Divine approval, but the supremest trial was when he offered Isaac. See notes on Heb 11:17. This victory of faith was followed by crowning approval and glorious promises.
**Seest thou how faith wrought**. Abraham's faith was a working faith.
**By works was faith made perfect**. The element of works is essential to make it complete. Without works it is an imperfect, "a dead faith." It must have energy to avail. Abraham's faith "wrought."
**And the scripture was fulfilled**. The scripture quoted is Gen 15:6. The case of the offering of Isaac was a complete outward demonstration that Abraham believed God, as the Scripture said. "He was called the friend of God." Honored as no other mortal had been. See Isa 41:8, and 2Ch 20:7. The Mohammedans still call Abraham El Khalil, "The Friend."
**Ye see then, etc**. The case of Abraham proves that the justifying faith is a working faith.

**Rahab the harlot**. See notes on Heb 11:31. This is one of the long roll of examples of faith shown by works given by Paul.
**For as the body without the spirit**. The body is a lifeless, dead thing, without the spirit. So lifeless is faith it shows an energy in works.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"People's New Testament -  James 2"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2","name":"People's New Testament -  James 2","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Have not the faith of our Lord. The Gospel, the Christian profession. With respect to persons. God is no respecter of persons (Act 10:34), nor should Chr","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament","name":"People's New Testament"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james","name":"James"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/peoples-new-testament/james/2","name":"2"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```