Jesus was against favoritism

JESUS WAS AGAINST FAVORITISM
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
James 2:1 1My brothers and sisters, believersin our
glorious LORD Jesus Christmust not show favoritism.
New Living Translation
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to
have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christif you
favorsome people over others?
English StandardVersion
My brothers, show no partialityas you hold the faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
RespectOfPersons
James 2:1-7
C. Jerdan

In the closing sentencesofthe preceding chapter James has been speaking of
the true cultus or ritual of the Church; and here he warns his readers against
a violation of it which they were in danger of committing, and of which indeed
they had been already guilty, even when assembledfor public worship.
I. THE EVIL HERE CONDEMNED. (Ver. 1.) It is that of Pharisaic contempt
of the poor. The apostle does not, of course, mean that socialdistinctions are
nowhere to be recognizedby God's people. The Scriptures teachno such
doctrine. Batherthey enjoin Christians to "render honor to whom honor is
due" (Romans 13:7). In ordinary societywe are to actwith manly deference
towards our superiors, whether they be such in age, rank, office, knowledge,
wealth, or influence. The apostle refers in this exhortation to the spiritual
sphere. He urges that within the sacredcircle of our Church life resin, octis to
be paid to religious character, and not to material wealth. A true pure faith in
"the Lord of glory" is incompatible with the entire spirit of snobbery, and
especiallywith the maintenance of unchristian distinctions of caste within the
Church. The British Churches of the nineteenth century unhappily need the
warning of this passagealmostas much as the congregations ofthe Dispersion
in the apostolic age (see Kitto's 'Daily Bible Illustrations,' vol. 1. twelfth week,
first day).
II. A PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION OF THE EVIL. (Vers. 2, 3.) The case
supposedis in all respects anextreme one; yet how correctlyit depicts human
nature! It presents the thought of "the influences of clothes," orthat "society
is founded upon cloth" (Carlyle). The deference paid to the gold-ringed man
in presence of the congregationis describedwith dramatic realism. A cordial
welcome greets him when he caters, and he is conducted fussily to a principal
seat;while the poor man in the squalid clothing is coldly pointed to a place
where he may stand, or at most is permitted to sit in an uncomfortable comer.
The apostle's graphic picture suggests to the thoughtful reader other examples
of the same sin. We shall mention only one or two. The arrangements for
seating a congregationamongstourselves sometimes show "respectof
persons," as in the case ofan elevatedand luxurious pew for the lord of the
manor. Ministers in the pulpit are tempted to avoid enforcing practical duties
too pointedly, lesttheir exhortations and reproofs should be unpalatable to
influential families. (Yet how many examples of ministerial fidelity may be

readily recalled]Numerous casesare historical:Elijah, Micaiah, John the
Baptist, Knox, Howe, Massillon, etc.)Church courts are sometimes prone to
mete out different measures to different classesofoffenders. Congregations
have been known to electmen of substance to spiritual office, rather than
those who possessedthe requisite qualifications of mind and character;and,
on the other hand, members of Churches are sometimes actuatedby mean
jealousyof a wealthy fellow-worshipper, even to such an extent that they
would fain, were it possible, abridge his liberty in the exercise of his ordinary
rights as a member of the congregation. In these and many other ways
Christian people have often shown themselves to be "evil-thinking judges,"
and have thereby entailed upon the Church much mischief and damage.
III. THE GROUNDS OF THE CONDEMNATION.The apostle's reproofis
faithful, but it is also affectionatelytender (vers. 1, 5). He indicates from
various points of view the wrongfulness of the partiality which he is
denouncing.
1. Mere earthly distinctions should be indiscernible in the presence of"the
Lord of glory. (Ver. 1.) There is an argument in the very use here of this great
title. Worldly distinctions of wealthand rank should be dwarfed into
nothingness before our minds when we realize that those who assemble in the
house of Godare the guests ofthe Lord of glory."
2. Respectofpersons is inconsistentwith sound Christian principle. (Ver. 4.)
The believer "looks atthe things which are not seen;" and he ought not to do
so with a wavering mind or a vacillating will. Ecclesiasticalservility towards
the rich is a form of mammon-worship; while the one power which the
Church should exalt is that of character.
3. "Godis no respecterof persons. (Ver. 5.) The New Testamentrings with
declarations ofthis truth. The Lord of glory," when he lived on earth, was no
sycophant of the rich. He was himself a poor man. He chose the poor rather
than the rich to possess spiritualmeans in his kingdom. In "dishonoring the
poor man," therefore, the Church was despising one for whom Christ died,
and a possible heir of the heavenly glory.

4. The rich as a class hadbeen the enemies both of Christ and his people.
(Vers. 6, 7.)With a few noble exceptions, the upper classes persecutedthe
Christians in the days of the apostles. Theyharassedthem with lawsuits. They
slanderedthem before the judges. They cursed the blessedName of Christ
which it is the mission of the Church to exalt. It was, therefore, contraryto
"the spirit of a sound mind" to court the rich. To do so showeda deficiencyof
common sense. It indicated a lack of self-respect.And, above all, it was
disloyal to the blessedName. - C.J.
Biblical Illustrator
With respectof persona
James 2:1-7
Respectofpersons
John Adam.
I. THE SIN AGAINST WHICH THE WARNING IS DIRECTED (vers. 1-4).
1. It is stated, ver. 1. "My brethren," he begins, addressing them in a
conciliatorymanner, wellfitted to gain their compliance. He calls on them not
to hold, in a certain way, "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is this which
alike determines the state and forms the characterof the really religious. It is
only by believing with the whole mind and heart that we are united to the
Saviour, and reap the benefits of His greatredemption. "Have not the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ" — that is, hold it not — "with respectof persons." It
is more exactly in than with respectof persons, in the practice of anything so
obviously opposed to its very nature. And it is strictly "in respectings of
persons," the plural being used to indicate the various ways of doing what is
here forbidden. By it we are to understand partiality, favouritism, unduly
preferring one before another, making a distinction among men, not on the

ground of characteror realworth, but of outward condition, of worldly
position and possessions.
2. It is illustrated (vers. 2-4). "For" — this is what I mean, here is a specimen
of the kind of thing I am warning you against — "if there come into your
assembly" — that is, your congregation, orplace of meeting for divine
worship. It brings out the offensivenessofthe proceeding, that it took place in
the sanctuary, where, even more than in a court of justice, everything of the
sort was most unseemly. "If there come in," he says, "a man with a gold ring,
in goodly apparel" — one who appearedby these marks to be a person of
superior position. "With a gold ring," literally, gold-fingered, having his
hands adorned probably with more than a single ring, it might be with
several. "In goodly apparel" — having a splendid garment, as the word
signifies, bright, shining, glittering, either from its colour or its ornaments.
But another enters, and what a contrast!"And there come in also a poor man
in vile raiment." Here is one of mean condition, as shownby his attire, the dirt
and rags with which he is covered. "And ye have respectto him that weareth
the gayclothing," marking the deference paid to him by saying, "Sit thou here
in a goodplace" — sit here, near the speaker, inthe midst of the assembly, in
a comfortable and honourable seat;while your language to the poor is, "Stand
thou there" — stand, that is suitable and sufficient for you; and stand there,
awayat a distance, behind the others, it may be in some remote corner, some
inconvenient position; or, "Sitthou here under my footstool";if you sit at all
among us let it be on the ground beneath, at my feet, in a mean, low situation
of that kind. Supposing them to actin such a manner, he asks (ver. 4), "Are ye
not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?" "Are
ye not partial in yourselves?"do ye not make distinctions among yourselves,
or are ye not at issue with yourselves? Is not this wayof acting at variance
with your principles as Christians? Is there not a wide difference betweenthe
faith you profess and the course you thus pursue? Now, what is it that he
condemns? Is it showing any deference to those of largermeans and higher
station? Certainly not. What he condemns is honouring the rich at the expense
of the poor — cringing to the one and trampling on the other, and doing this,
besides, in the house of God, in the Church of Christ, where all should meet
on the same footing, should be viewed as standing on a common level. Favour

is still shownto the rich man, where it is neither his right nor his interest to
have any, but to rank along with the poorestof his brethren. This is done at
times by softening down or keeping back the truth from fear of offending
certain influential classesorparties. We have a noble example of the opposite
in the case ofHowe when acting as one of Cromwell's chaplains. He found
that a fanaticaland dangerous notion regarding answers to prayer prevailed
at court, and was held strongly by the Protectorhimself — a notion which
some who knew better did their utmost to encourage. Regarding it with
abhorrence, Howe thought himself bound, when next calledto preachbefore
Cromwell, to expose the fallacies onwhich it rested, and the pernicious
consequencesto which it led. "This accordinglyhe did, doubtless to the no
small surprise and chagrin of his audience. During his discourse, Cromwell
was observedto pay marked attention; but as his custom was, when
displeased, frequently knit his brows, and manifested other symptoms of
uneasiness. Eventhe terrors of Cromwell's eye, however, could not make
Howe quail in the performance of an undoubted duty; and he proceededin a
strain of calm and cogentreasoning to fulfil his honourable but difficult task.
When he had finished, a person of distinction came up and askedwhetherhe
knew what he had done? at the same time expressing his apprehension that he
had irretrievably lost the Protector's favour. Howe coollyreplied that he had
dischargedwhat he considereda duty, and could leave the issue with God.
This was worthy of his sacredoffice, and his own noble character. The same
thing is frequently done in the way of pursuing a subservient course of
conduct toward the rich with the view of gaining their favour.
II. THE REASONS BYWHICH THE WARNING IS ENFORCED.
1. The poor are the specialobjects ofthe Divine regard (ver. 5). "Hath not
God chosenthe poor of this world rich in faith?" He has chosenthem in His
eternal decree;and in pursuance of this, chosenthem by separating them to
Himself, through the effectualoperation of the Holy Ghost. And whom has He
thus chosen? "The poorof this world" — the poor in respectof it, in the
things of it, the poor temporally. They constitute the class to which the man in
vile raiment belonged. "Richin faith" — that is, Godhas chosenthem to be
this — He has destined them to it, and made them it by His election. "And
heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him." The

Christian is rich at present. He has large possessions,and these belong to the
domain of faith. Batbe has also glorious prospects. Already he is a son, but he
is also an heir. His inheritance is a kingdom, than which there is nothing
greater, nobler, more covetedhere below.
2. The rich had shown themselves the greatenemies of Christ's people and
person. He appeals to his readers, "Do not rich men oppress you?" lord it
over you, exercise their power againstyou — "and draw you," drag you; for
it implies force, violence — "before the judgment-seats." They did so by
vexatious law-suits, by false charges, by persecuting measures. Notonly so, be
asks, "Do theynot blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?"
The reference is not to the lives of inconsistentChristians, but to the foul-
mouthed charges and curses of avowedenemies of the gospel. The worthy or
honourable name intended is that of Christ. What title, then, had this class to
such a preference? Did their relation to the Church, either in its members or
its Head, call for any specialfavour at the hands of believers? Quite the
reverse.
(John Adam.)
A comprehensive admonition
W. Jay.
I. Observe — A RELATIONSHIP. The apostle addressesthem as his
"brethren."
1. So they were, nationally; they were Jews as well as himself.
2. They were his "brethren" naturally partaking of the same humanity with
him.
3. They were his "brethren" graciously. Here a nobler relation is gendered,
and this comprehends all that "worship God in the Spirit, who rejoice in
Christ Jesus, andwho have no confidence in the flesh."

4. They were His "brethren" impartially, without any distraction; that is, He
was regardless of everything that might seemto render them unworthy the
privilege as to conditions, or gifts, or office.
II. Here is A CHARACTER. "The Lord of glory." You wellknow to whom
this belongs;and this is not the only place where this title is given; for Paul,
streaking of the princes of this world, said, "None of them knew, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Isaiah(Isaiah
33:21)makes use of a similar term as applied to the blessedGod Himself. The
radical idea of glory is brilliancy; the secondidea is excellencydisplayed; and
there are three ways in which this characterwill apply to our Lord and
Saviour.
1. He is "the Lord of glory" because ofHis personalexcellencies. "He is fairer
than the children of men; He is the chief among ten thousand, and the
altogetherlovely." All the glory of creatures, whetherin earth or in heaven, in
their aggregate,is nothing more to His glory than a drop to the ocean, or a
beam to the sun.
2. He is called "the Lord of glory," because He produces and confers all the
excellenciespossessedby creatures. "ByHim kings reign, and princes decree
justice." "WhenHe ascendedup on high, He led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men."
3. There is a world made up entirely of excellencies andglory, when nothing
else is to be found, and of that world He is the only Sovereign, the only
Disposer.
III. A PECULIAR ENDOWMENT. "The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ." Not
that we have this faith in equal possessionand exercise with Him. No, in all
things He had the pre-eminence. He receivedthe Spirit without measure, and
in every one of its graces He excelled.
1. But the apostle does not speak here of the faith He possessedand exercised,
but of that faith, first, of which He was the Author. He is called, "The Author
and the Finisher of faith," and this is as true of the graces offaith as of the
doctrine of faith.

2. When the apostle speaksofthe faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, he means,
secondly, that of which He is the Object. Therefore, they that believe are said
to believe in Him.
IV. A PROHIBITION "Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with
respectto persons." This regards, not its character, but its perversion; its
abuse, and not its nature. "Have it not," says James;that is, let it never be so
seenin you, let it never be so exercisedin you. Here, however, it will be
necessaryto observe that there is a lawful respectof persons, and there is an
unlawful one. The thing, therefore, is not forbidden in every instance, and in
every measure and degree. For, in the first place, it is impossible to respect
some persons. You will never feeltowards a Nero as you would towards a
Howard. And if it were possible, it would be improper. The Scripture justifies
the distinctions and inequalities of life, and rank and office are to be regarded.
But the meaning here is that other things being equal, you should not show
more regard to one personthan to another, because ofsome things belonging
to him which have no relation to casesofduty or conscience.Let us exemplify
the thing four ways.
1. The first is judicially. In a case ofthis kind pending, how very improper it
would be to be lenient to the rich and severe to the poor!
2. The secondclass we callministerial. If God blesses the labours of a minister
to your soul, you will esteemsuch; but you are not to make an idol of straw.
You should regardall the servants of God as equal; you are to view them in
reference to their Master— in reference to their commission — in reference
to their place and office — as all respectable, and equally regardedby God.
3. The third class we callecclesiastical. Here we might refer to the terms of
admission into the Church of God, and to the table of the Lord. These ought
not to be rigid and severe, but whateverthey may be, they ought to be equally
applied to the high and the low, to the rich and to the poor.
4. The last class we calldenominational. All should belong to some Christian
community; but you should never suppose that the party you have joined have
all the truth, and that nothing is to be done without them. Let us never forbid
others because they walk not with us. To conclude, let us learn then to judge

of men regardless ofadventitious circumstances. Letour inquiry be, What are
they morally? what are they spiritually? Thus may we resemble the citizens of
Zion, of whom it is said, in their view a vile person is contemned, while those
who fear the Lord are honoured.
(W. Jay.)
Respectofpersons in religious matters
T. Manton.
We may be guilty of this —
1. By making external things, not religion, the ground of our respectand
affection. "Knowing after the flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:16) is to esteemany one
out of secularand outward advantages. Says : "We must not judge of faith by
persons, but of persons by faith."
2. When we do not carry out the measure and proportion of affection
according to the measures and proportions of grace, andpitch our respects
there where we find the ground of love most eminent (Psalm 16:3).
3. When we caneasilymake greatnessa coverfor baseness, andexcuse sin by
honour, whereas that is the aggravation;the advantage of greatnessmakes sin
the more notable.
4. When we yield religious respects, give testimonies to men for advantage,
and, under pretence of religion, servilely addict ourselves to men for base ends
(Jude 1:16).
5. When Church administrations are not carried on with an indifferent and
even hand to rich and poor, either by way of exhortation or censure.
6. When we despise the truths of Godbecause of the persons that bring them
to us. Matheo Langi, Archbishop of Saltzburg, told every one that the
reformation of the. mass was needful, the liberty of meats convenient, and to
be disburthened of so many commands of men just; but that a poor monk
(meaning Luther) should reform all was not to be endured. So in Christ's time

the question was common, "Do any of the rulers believe in Him?" Thus you
see we are apt to despise excellentthings, because of the despicablenessofthe
instrument. The same words have a different acceptation, becauseofthe
different esteemand value of the persons engagedin them. Erasmus observed
that what was accountedorthodox in the fathers, was condemnedas heretical
in Luther.
(T. Manton.)
Respectofpersons
R. Turnbull.
I. The persons whom St. James admonishedhere are THE BRETHREN to
whom he giveth this attribute, which thing he doth very conveniently,
inasmuch as in the discourse he is to admonish them of a duty of love,
whereunto they ought to be the more prompt. The saints of God may well here
be called brethren —
1. Becausethey have one spiritual and Heavenly Father, which is God, who is
Father of us all, of whom are all things, and we in Him.
2. As because we have one spiritual Father we are brethren, so because we
have one spiritual mother, we are brethren also. Now, as God is our spiritual
Father, so is the Church our mystical mother, which hath brought us forth by
a new birth, in whose sweetbosomwe are nursed, into whose happy lap we
are gathered, and bringeth us up under the most wholesome discipline of
Jesus Christ, that we might be holy and blameless before Him through love.
3. Neitherthat only, but they are also begottenwith one seedof their new
birth and regeneration, whichis the immortal seedof the Word.
4. If Christ vouchsafe us the name of brethren, and so we have Him as a
common brother, then are we therefore also brethren by right among
ourselves.

5. Finally, inasmuch as the saints divide the same inheritance among them,
therefore are they calledbrethren; for brethren they are as Aristotle writeth,
among whom the same inheritance is divided; yea, they which divide the same
lands, living, patrimony, possession. The sons and saints of God communicate
the same inheritance, divide the same kingdom of their Heavenly Father
among them, participate the same goodthings which are above as co-heirs
and joint-heirs of the heavenly patrimony, eternal life; therefore are they
brethren.
II. The saints whom He calleth brethren, being the persons whom He
admonisheth, in the next place cometh THE THING ITSELF, WHEREOF
THEY ARE ADMONISHED to be consideredthat they have not the faith of
Christ in respectof persons, wherewithtrue love, true charity, true religion,
cannot stand or consist.
1. What is here meant by faith? Christian religion, the true service ofChrist,
the professionofthe gospel, whereunto respectof persons is contrary, for if
pure religion and undefiled before Godbe this, to visit the fatherless and
widows in their adversities, and to regardthe poor in their miseries, as before
was taught us, then contrary hereunto is the contempt of the poor and
preferring of the rich, which respectof persons is here condemned.
2. Christ is called the glorious Lord in this place, sometimes to like purpose is
He called the Lord of glory (Psalm 24:7; Acts 7:2; 1 Corinthians 2:8). Christ
may be called the Lord of glory —
(1)BecauseHe is full of majesty, power, and glory, at the right hand of God.
(2)Christ is the Lord of glory because howsoeverHe first came in baseness
and greathumility, yet at His secondappearing and coming He shall come in
unspeakable glory.
(3)Christ is a glorious Lord because He bringeth and advanceth His servants
to immortal glory after His appearing in glory.
3. To have this faith of Christ our glorious Lord in respectof persons is to
esteemthe faith, religion, and professionof Christ by the outward appearance
of men.

1. What is respectof persons? It is to respectanything besides the matter and
cause itself, which only ought of us to be considered, wherebywe decline from
the matter to the man, from the thing to the person, and swerve from
righteous judgment and true estimation of things.
2. Which sin, as pernicious and perilous in all causes,in all persons, atall
times, and in all places, the sacredScripture condemneth as a thing most
repugnant to equity and charity. This evil cannot stand with Christian
profession, the gospelteacheththat with God is no respectof persons, but that
they all which fearGod and work righteousness are acceptedthrough the
joyful tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ, in whom there is neither male nor
female, bond nor free, neither rich nor poor, but they are all alike unto Him.
(R. Turnbull.)
Wrong socialdistinctions
B. Jacobi.
God Himself has made a distinction among men. That one should be rich and
have abundance, and another should be poor and needy, is an arrangementof
the Almighty, just as it is His arrangement and appointment, that all the ears
of corn should not contain the same number of grains, and that all flowers
should not be arrayed in the same gay colours, and that all the stars should
not shine with the same brilliancy, but one star differ from another star in
glory. But we make an evil distinction when we carry that which is of value
only in earthly relations, in civil and socialintercourse, into a sphere where,
according to the appointment of God, poverty and riches are both of the same
value, or rather of no value. For let us only ask ourselves for what purpose do
we assemble in the house of God on appointed days? Is it not that we may feel
the importance, and attend to the concerns of another life, far different from
our earthly and every-day one? Is it not that we may know and enjoy the life
eternal, that we may taste the powers of the invisible world? But all the pre-
eminence which riches can procure for us is as transitory as riches
themselves;the rich man fades away amidst all his affluence, as completely as

the poor man perishes in his state of destitution. How iniquitous is it, then, to
distinguish the rich as such, and to slight the poor as such, in a place where all
are on the same level before God, where all assemble with an equal need of
heavenly grace and gifts, and all have a right to rejoice in the same riches,
even the fulness of the Divine love in Christ.
(B. Jacobi.)
Respectofpersons in church
Autobiography of Bp. Gobat.
It was my custom occasionallyto attend St. Mary's, and the sermons of the
vicar always delighted me. But as the church was always very full, I was often
obliged, though not strong in health, to stand during the whole service. Now,
having observedthat the persons who were best dressedwere always the first
to be conductedto seats, althoughnot seat-holders, I yielded to the temptation
of resorting to an artifice. I happened to possessa large and beautiful ring.
One Sunday morning I put it on and repaired to church as usual. I stoodfor a
minute or two with other people of divers classesnearthe door. Then, taking
off my glove, I raisedmy hand with apparent carelessness to my ear, and
immediately I was led to a comfortable seat.
(Autobiography of Bp. Gobat.)
Without respectof persons
Until the lastfew years of his life Friend Hopper usually walkedto and from
his office twice a day. When the weatherwas very unpleasant he availed
himself of the Haarlem cars. Upon one of these occasionsit chancedthat the
long, ponderous vehicle was nearly empty. They had not proceededfar when a
very respectable looking young woman beckonedfor the car to stop. It did so;
but when she set her footon the step the conductorsomewhatrudely pushed
her back, and she turned away, evidently much mortified. Friend Hopper
started up, and inquired, "Why didst thou push that woman away?" "She's

coloured," was the laconic reply. "Art thou instructed by the managers ofthe
railroad to proceedin this manner on such occasions?" inquired Friend
Hopper. The man answered, "Yes." "Thenletme getout," rejoined the
genuine republican; "it disturbs my cow, scienceto ride in a public
conveyance where any decently behaved person is refused admittance." And
though it was raining very fast, and his horse was a mile off, the old veteran of
seventy-five years marched through mud and wet at a pace somewhatbrisker
than his usual energetic step;for indignation warmed his honest and kindly
heart and setthe blood in motion.
Your synagogue
F. T. Bassett, M. A.
The JewishChristians at Jerusalemstill frequented the temple, and those
among the dispersion the synagogues;hence there is no cause forsurprise in
finding Christians mixed with unconverted Jews atthis period in a common
place of worship. The people sat in the synagogue according to their social
rank or trade, and St. James fastens onthis exhibition of pride on the part of
the higher classesas a ground of convincing them of sin and of violation of the
law which enjoined "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." A further
argument that the Jewishsynagogue is spokenofis that we learn from the
context that strangers came in who were provided with seats that happened to
be vacant. This would occurconstantly in the synagogue,but in the upper
chamber of the Christians it would be most unlikely that persons of wealth
and eminence, as here described, should thus freely enter the congregationof
the despisedNazarenes.A graphic delineation follows of the casual
worshippers, for casual they must have been, as the regular comers Would
have their seats allottedthem. The one is wealthy and proud, the other poor
and lowly. The force of this contrastwill appear the more when we remember
that the Christian portion of the Jewishcommunity was chiefly gathered out
of the lowerranks in the socialscale. The rich man is describedas having a
gold ring or rings on his fingers, for it was a common custom to weara
number of these ornaments; he is clad also in handsome attire, literally"

shining," most likely with reference to the gloss ofthe texture of his raiment;
and the poor man is representedas clothed in shabby attire, most probably
with reference to the soil contractedin labour:
(F. T. Bassett, M. A.)
A man with a gold ring, in goodlyapparel.
Degreesofhonour in the Church
R. Turnbull.
This place taketh not awaydegrees ofhonour from men, neither denieth it
honour or worship to be given to men of honour or worship, albeit wickedand
unworthy. St. James only teacheth not to judge of the faith and religion of
Christ in men by their outward appearance, neither in the public meetings of
Christians to reverence or prefer the rich men of the world, being wicked,
with the disdaining of the poor which are religious, as the words themselves
import when to the rich man we say, "Sit here in a good and worshipful
place," and to the poor, "Sit there," or "Sit under my footstool,"which
argueth contempt of the poor brethren; for if in spectaclesand theatrical
sights, in electionof officers, in parliaments, in assizes andsessions,and in all
well-orderedassemblies ofmen, there is difference of men and comeliness of
persons observed, how much more in ecclesiasticalmeetings oughtthere an
order to be observedwhereofthe primitive Church was careful, appointing
their place for the ministers, theirs for the laity, theirs for them which were to
be catechised, theirs for them which were to do penance and to make open
acknowledgmentof their offences. The same was ratified by councils,
confirmed by fathers; and for the business of the churches or the reproving of
men's vices and correcting of them which fell both and St. writeth that there
were severalplaces for certainpersons assigned. So, then, all difference and
degrees ofmen are not here forbidden, but in Christian assemblies to respect
the rich, with the contempt and disdain of the poor, is condemned.
(R. Turnbull.)

Showing off dress in church
C. F. Deems, D. D.
Perhaps, in the modern church worship, the greatestdiscouragementwhich
the poor feelis in the dress which their rich brethren and sisters are
accustomedto exhibit in the house of God. It is a shame to their poor apparel.
It ought to be a shame to any well-to-do Christian woman when she wears her
gayestand newestcostlyclothing to public worship, and appears with
diamonds and other very valuable and conspicuous ornaments before the
altar of her God. Cannot the Christian women of this age at length have the
courage to refuse to continue to be Sunday advertisements of modistes and
milliners? A lady in New York, whose pew was on one of the wallsides of the
church, and who consequentlyhad the congregationall on one side of her,
suggestedto her milliner that she put a certain bow on the "congregation
side" of her bonnet! What a revelation was that! And was it solitary? Is not
the preparation of many a worshipper made "on the congregationside"? And
is not the house of the Lord thus turned into a show-room, in which those who
have no specialdry-goods to exhibit are neither welcome nor at home?
(C. F. Deems, D. D.)
A gold-ringed man
DeanPumptre.
The custom was one of the fashions of the empire, and had spreadfrom Rome
to Judaea. So Juvenal, in a portrait which unites the two forms of ostentations
luxury noted by St. James, describes one who, though born as an Egyptian
slave, appears with Tyrian robes upon his shoulders and goldenrings, light or
heavy, according to the season("Sat."1:28, 30). So in "Martial" (xi. 60) we
read of one who wears six rings on every finger day and night, and even when
he bathes.
(DeanPumptre.)

The poor to be treated equitably
Jeremy Taylor, D. D.
The tutor of Cyrus instructed him, when in a controversy, where a greatboy
would have taken a large coatfrom a little boy because his own was too little
for him and the other's was too big, he adjudged the greatcoatto the great
boy. His tutor answered, "Sir, if you were made a judge of decencyor fitness,
you had judged well in giving the biggestto the biggest;but when you were
appointed judge, not whom the coatdid fit, but whose it was, you should have
consideredthe title and the possession, who did the violence, and who made it,
or who bought it." And so it must be in judgments betweenthe rich and the
poor: it is not to be consideredwhat the poor man needs, but what is his own.
(Jeremy Taylor, D. D.)
Bowing to an old coat
H. O. Mackey.
The rich man is like him who, walking in the marketwith the cast-offcoatof a
nobleman to which the tinsel star was still sewn, felt elatedand proud — a
greatman truly, because allbowed and raised their hats. Reaching home, he
strutted before the glass with a lord-like air, and caught sight of the star.
"Aha!" cried he, blushing red with shame, "whata fool the world is to bow to
an old coat!"
(H. O. Mackey.)
Judges of evil thoughts.
Our judgments of others
A. L. Moore, M. A.

I. OURS IS A CRITICAL AGE, and we, most of us, have learned how to
criticise. It has been raised to a science. We candistinguish the false from the
true, the impostor from the honest man. We canput the motive to everything
that is done. We can estimate character, we canmeasure the degrees ofvirtue
and of vice; nay, so cleverhave we grown in this accomplishment, that we
discoverthings that never existed, see unkindness where none was meant,
deceitand hypocrisy in the honest and the true, selfishness in some actof
generositywhich we cannot otherwise accountfor.
II. JUDGE NOT.
1. Becausewe cannotjudge aright. Even when there is no beam in our own
eye to obscure our vision, and no want of charity to bias our judgment, we
cannot truly judge of the motives which are at work in another. The French
have a motto, that "To know everything is to forgive everything"; and if this
is not literally true, at leastit embodies a truth, which we are slow enough to
admit, that we often judge by the outside fact and give no credit for the
hidden motive. "Menwho see into their neighbours," says an acute observer
of human nature, "are very apt to be contemptuous; but men who see through
them find something lying behind every human soul which they cannotjudge
and dare not sneer at."
2. It is the very worst policy possible. The man who judges harshly will be
harshly judged. But he who has always a good word to say of another will find
but few critics and many friends. I was much struck by a chance remark
made to me by a friend not long ago. Speaking ofa neighbour, he said: "He
seems a goodsort of man. I never heard him speak againstany one; and that
is the kind of man I like."
3. If you are honest with yourself, you dare not judge. To judge, you must
yourself be at leastfree from the sin which you profess to judge (Matthew 7:5;
John 8:7). It is God's prerogative (Romans 14:4). What if the Mastershould
judge us as we are so ready to judge our fellow men? What if God should take
us at our word, and forgive us as we forgive those who trespass againstus?
(A. L. Moore, M. A.)

Evil thoughts
Evil thoughts, if cherished, blight virtue, destroy purity, and undermine the
stablestfoundations of character. Theyare very much like rot in timber, like
rust in iron. They eatinto the man. And when the process has gone on for
awhile, and there comes the stress of an outward temptation, down they go
into a mass of ruins.
Hath not God chosenthe poor?
The rich and the poor
A. Plummer, D. D.
Let us not misunderstand St. James. He does not sayor imply that the poor
man is promised salvation on accountof his poverty, or that his poverty is in
any way meritorious. That is not the case,any more than that the wealth of
the rich is a sin. But so far as God has declaredany preference, it is for the
poor rather than for the rich. The poor man has fewertemptations, and he is
more likely to live according to God's will, and to win the blessings that are in
store for those who love Him. His dependence upon God for the means of life
is perpetually brought home to him, and he is spared the peril of trusting in
riches, which is so terrible a snare to the wealthy. He has greater
opportunities of the virtues which make man Christlike, and feweroccasions
of falling into those sins which separate him most fatally from Christ. But
opportunities are not virtues, and poverty is not salvation, Nevertheless, to a
Christian a poor man is an objectof reverence ratherthan of contempt. But
the error of the worldly Christians whom St. James is here rebuking does not
end with dishonouring the poor whom God has honoured; they also pay
specialrespectto the rich. Have the rich, as a class, shownthat they deserve
anything of the kind? Very much the reverse, as experience is constantly
proving. "Do not the rich oppress you?" &c. St. James is thinking of the rich
Sadducees, who atthis period ( A.D. 35-65)were among the worst oppressors
of the poorerJews, and of course were speciallybitter againstthose who had

become adherents of "the Way," and who seemedto them to be renegades
from the faith of their forefathers. It was preciselyto this kind of oppression
that St. Paul devoted himself with fanatical zealprevious to his conversion
(Acts 9:1, 2; 1 Timothy 1:13; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Philippians 3:6). "The
judgment-seats" before which these wealthy Jews drag their poorer brethren
may be either heathen or Jewishcourts (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:2, 4), but are
probably the Jewishcourts frequently held in the synagogues.The Roman
Government allowedthe Jews very considerable powers ofjurisdiction over
their own people, not only in purely ecclesiasticalmatters, but in civil matters
as well. The Mosaic law penetratedinto almostall the relations of life, and
where it was concernedit was intolerable to a Jew to be tried by heathen law.
Consequently the Romans found that their control over the Jews was more
secure and less provocative of rebellion when the Jews were permitted to
retain a large measure of self-government. These were the times when women
bedight the priesthood for their husbands from Herod Agrippa II., and went
to see them officiate, overcarpets spread from their own door to the temple;
when wealthy priests were too fastidious to kill the victims for sacrifice
without first putting on silk gloves;when their kitchens were furnished with
every appliance for luxurious living, and their tables with every delicacy;and
when, supported by the Romans, to whom they truckled, they made warupon
the poor priests, who were supported by the people. Like Hophni and
Phinehas, they sent out their servants to collectwhatthey claimed as
offerings, and if payment was refusedthe servants took what they claimed by
force. Facts like these help us to understand the strong language used here by
St. James, and the still sterner words at the beginning of the fifth chapter. In
such a state of societythe mere possessionofwealth certainly establishedno
claims upon the reverence of a Christian congregation;and the fawning upon
rich people, degrading and unchristian at all times, would seemto St. James
to be speciallyperilous and distressing then. "Do not they blaspheme the
honourable name by which ye are called?" The lastclause literally means
"which was calledupon you"; and we need not doubt that the reference is to
the name of Christ, which was invokedupon them at their baptism. That the
blasphemers are not Christians is shown by the clause "whichwas calledupon
you." Had Christians been intended, St. James would have written, "Do not
they blaspheme the honourable name which was calledupon them?" That

they blasphemed the name in which they were baptized would have been such
an aggravationof their offence that he would not have failed to indicate it.
These blasphemers were, no doubt, Jews;and St. James has in his mind the
anathemas againstJesus Christwhich were frequent utterances among the
Jews, both in the synagoguesandin conversation. His argument, therefore,
amounts to this, that the practice of honouring the rich for their riches is
(quite independently of any dishonour done to the poor) doubly reprehensible.
It involves the meanness offlattering their own oppressors andthe wickedness
of reverencing those who blaspheme Christ. It is a servile surrender of their
own rights, and base disloyalty to their Lord. But perhaps (the argument
continues) some will defend this respectpaid to the rich as being no disloyalty
to Christ, but, on the contrary, simple fulfilment of the royal law, "Thoushalt
love thy neighbour as thyself." Be it so, that the rich as a class are unworthy
of respectand honour, yet nevertheless they are our neighbours, and no
misconduct on their side can cancelthe obligationon our side to treat them as
we should wish to be treatedourselves. We ourselves like to be respectedand
honoured, and therefore we pay respectand honour to them. To those who
argue thus the reply is easy. Certainly, if that is your motive, ye do well. But
why do you love your neighbour as yourselves if he chances to be rich, and
treat him like a dog if he chances to be poor? The law of loving one's
neighbour as one's self is a "royallaw," as being sovereignoverother laws,
inasmuch as it is one of those two on which "hang all the law and the
prophets" (Matthew 22:40). Indeed, either of the two may be interpreted so as
to coverthe whole duty of man. Thus St. Paul says of this royal law, "The
whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself" (Galatians 5:14); and St. John teaches the same truth in a different
way when he declares that he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen
cannot love God whom he hath not seen(1 John 4:20). "Whosoevershallkeep
the whole law, and yet stumble in-one point, he is become guilty of all." The
law is the expressionof one and the same principle — love; and of one and the
same will — the will of God. Therefore he who deliberately offends against
any one of its enactments, howeverdiligently he may keepall the rest, is guilty
of offending againstthe whole. His guiding principle is not love, but
selfishness — not God's will, but his own. He keeps nine-tenths of the law
because he likes to do so, and he breaks one-tenth because he likes to do so.

(A. Plummer, D. D.)
The poor chosenby God
T. Manton.
1. God often choosesthe poor of this world. The lion and the eagle are passed
by, and the lamb and the dove chosenfor sacrifice (Matthew 11:25). This God
does —(1) Partly to show the glory of His power in preserving them, and truth
amongstthem, that were not upheld by worldly props.(2) Partly to show the
riches of His goodness.(3)Partlyto discoverHis wisdom by making up their
outward defects by this inward glory.(4)Partly that the members may be
conformed to the Head, the saints to Christ, in meanness and suffering.(5)
Partly because poverty is a means to keepthem upright: riches are a great
snare.
2. There are poor in this world, and poor in the world to come. Though here
you swim and wallow in a sea ofpleasures, yet there you may want a drop to
coolyour tongue.
3. The poor of this world may be spiritually rich (2 Corinthians 6:10).
4. Faith makes us truly rich; it is the open hand of the soul, to receive all the
bounteous supplies of God. If we be empty and poor, it is not because God's
hand is straitened, but ours is not opened.
5. The Lord loves only the godly poor (Matthew 5:3).
6. All God's people are heirs (Romans 8:17).
7. The faithful are heirs to a kingdom (Revelation1:6).
8. Heaven is a kingdom engagedby promise. It is not only goodto tempt your
desires, but sure to support your hopes.
9. The promise of the kingdom is made to those that love God. Love is the
effectof faith, and the ground of all duty, and so the best discoveryof a
spiritual estate.

(T. Manton.)
To the poor
G. Brooks.
I. THE IMPORT OF THE STATEMENT.
1. Notthat only the poor are chosen.
2. Notthat all the poor are chosen.
3. More of the poor are chosenthan of the rich.
II. THE REASONS OF THE FACT.
1. It illustrates the sovereigntyof God.
2. It furnishes a powerful argument for the truth of Christianity.
3. It occasions a magnificentdisplay of the characterand genius of the gospel.
4. It shows the estimate that is formed by God of the value of wealth.
5. It teaches Christians to raise their thoughts to heaven.
(G. Brooks.)
Poverty gives opportunity for manifold virtues
Jeremy Taylor, D. D.
A wise man is placed in the variety of chances, like the nave or centre of a
wheelin the midst of all the circumvolutions and changes ofposture, without
violence or change, save that it turns gently in compliance with its changed
parts, and is indifferent which part is up, and which is down; for there is some
virtue or other to be exercisedwhateverhappens, either patience or
thanksgiving, love or fear, moderation or humility, charity or contentedness,
and they are every one of them equally in order to his greatend and immortal

felicity; and beauty is not made by white or red, by black eyes, and a round
face, by a straight body and a smoothskin; but by a proportion to the fancy.
No rules canmake amiability, our minds and apprehensions make that; and
so is our felicity: and we may be reconciledto poverty and a low fortune, if we
suffer contentedness and the grace of God to make the proportion. For no
man is poor that doth not think himself so. But if in a full fortune with
impatience he desires more, he proclaims his wants and his beggarly
condition.
(Jeremy Taylor, D. D.)
Penury not the deepestpoverty
J. O. Dykes, D. D.
Life has deeper poverties than penury, because it has treasures costlierthan
gold.
(J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
Pooryet good
J. Trapp.
Bettergo to heaven in rags, than to hell in embroidery. Many whom the world
regards as dirt, the Lord esteems as jewels. Judge a Christian not by his coat,
but by his character. Pooryetrich: — A poor sealmay be a rich Christian,
and a rich man may have a poor soul.
(J. Trapp.)
Grateful for poverty
K. Arvine.

In the last will and testament of Martin Luther occurs the following
remarkable passage:— "Lord God, I thank Thee that Thou hast been pleased
to make me a poor and indigent man upon earth. I have neither house, nor
land, nor money to leave behind me. Thou hast given me wife and children,
whom I now restore to Thee. Lord, nourish, teach, and preserve them, as
Thou hast me."
(K. Arvine.)
Little happiness with rich men
H. W. Beecher.
Big bells are very apt to be poorly cast. I never heard of a bell which weighed
a greatmany thousand pounds which, first or last, did not break. And what a
sound a big bell that is brokengives! If you take these overgrownrich men
and ring them, how little happiness you find in them!
(H. W. Beecher.)
Virtue the way to honour
T. Watson.
At Athens there were two temples, a temple of virtue and a temple of honour;
and there was no going into the temple of honour but through the temple of
virtue; so the kingdoms of grace and glory are so joined togetherthat we
cannot go into the kingdom of glory but through the kingdom of grace.
(T. Watson.)
Ye have despised the poor.
Sins of the rich againstthe poor
R. Turnbull.

I. The first evil for which the profane rich men are to be held as execrable is
their TYRANNY; they oppress the poor by tyranny. Men are oppressedby
tyranny divers ways.
1. When they are imprisoned, afflicted, persecutedby the rich and mighty
men of the world.
2. When in the trades of this life they deal hardly, deceitfully.
3. When they wring them by usury, forfeitures, exactions, impositions, and all
manner of extortion.
4. When they wearyand waste the bodies of the poor with toilsome labour
unrewarded.
II. Another and secondevil for which they ought to be held accursedis their
CRUELTY AND UNMERCIFULNESS;for they draw the poor before
judgment seats for their professionand religion.
III. The third sin in the rich men of the world wherefore they are to be held
accursedIS THEIR BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE RELIGION OF
CHRIST, they blaspheme the worthy name whereby ye are named.
1. When they deride, jest, scorn, and scoffat Christian religion, speaking
maliciously and disdainfully againstChrist and His profession.
2. As by their speech, so by their lives, men blaspheme and dishonour the
gospelwhen they which profess religion walk not, neither live thereafter, by
which means the gospelis slandered, dishonoured, and blasphemed.
(R. Turnbull.)
The sin of neglecting the poor
W. Cadman, M. A.
I. GOD HAS NOT OVERLOOKED THE POOR.

1. His sovereigntyhas been exercisedin their favour.(1) Our Lord, when He
undertook man's nature, was born amongstthe poor, brought up in poverty,
and made acquainted with all its sufferings and privations.(2) During the
personalministry of our Lord, while the chief priests rejectedHim and
members of the higher classes among the Jews treatedHim with scorn, "the
common people heard Him gladly."(3)See 1 Corinthians 1:26-28.
2. The poor are interested in God's promises.
3. They are interested in His kingdom (Luke 12:32). As the result of all this
mercy and grace, many amongstthe poor are being prepared for their future
inheritance. There are amongstthem some who are distinguished by their
faith and by their love, as well as by their position and hopes.
II. THE INFLUENCE WHICH THIS TRUTH OUGHT TO HAVE UPON
OUR CONDUCT, as those who wish to serve the Lord Christ.
1. The poor should have the gospelpreachedunto them.
2. Civility and kindness should be shown towards them.
3. Active benevolence.
(W. Cadman, M. A.)
Men who despise the poor
E. West.
These men harden themselves in their sternness;they stand fixed in their own
determination, even as on a rock. It is useless forme to place before such men
that tender object of sympathy, a helpless infant, without one rag to shelterit
from the blast; they will use their ample cloak to hide their faces from the
very misery which that cloak wouldcover. It is needless to tell them that the
fire in the widow's cottage neverburns when they can make themselves joyful
and happy in their coldstern-heartedness. Forsuch men I can but feel
unmitigated and unbounded sorrow. How truly pitiable is he who at the end

of a life, perhaps of fourscore years, falls asleepwithout being able to call to
mind one actof benevolence
(E. West.)
Despising the poor
Anon.
He that's down, down with him.
(Anon.)
Taking undue advantage of poverty
J. Trapp.
Men go over the hedge where it is lowest.
(J. Trapp.)
A threefold sin
J. Trapp.
This is a sin againstrace, grace, and place.
(J. Trapp.)
God honouring, men despising
DeanPlumptre.
The pronoun is emphatic, "Godchose the poor, ye put them to shame."
(DeanPlumptre.)

Dishonouring whom God honours
A. Plummer, D. D.
With Haman — like impiety ye would disgrace "the man whom the King
delights to honour."
(A. Plummer, D. D.)
Professors, yetpersecutors
DeanPlumptre.
There seems, at first, a want of logicalcoherence. The rich man first appears
as gaining undue pre-eminence in the assemblyof Christians, and then as one
of a class ofpersecutors and blasphemers. This, however, is just the point on
which St. James lays stress. Menhonoured the rich Christian, not because he
was a Christian, but because he was rich, i.e., because he was connectedwith a
class, which, as such, had shown itself bitterly hostile to them.
(DeanPlumptre.)
A rogue in the heart
M. Luther.
Many a man has a paternosterround his neck and a rogue in his heart.
(M. Luther.)
Tyranny of money
J. Ruskin.

Money is now exactlywhat mountain promontories over public roads were in
old times. The barons fought for them fairly; the strongestand cunningest got
them, then fortified them and made every one who passedbelow pay toll.
Well, capitalnow is exactly what crags were then. Men fight fairly (we will at
leastgrant so much, though it is more than we ought) for their money; but
once having gotit, the fortified millionaire can make everybody who passes
below pay toll to his million, and build another towerof his money castle. And
I can tell you the poor vagrants by the roadside suffer now quite as much
from the bag-baronas everthey did from the crag-baron. Bags andcrags
have just the same result on rags.
(J. Ruskin.)
Oppression
J. Trapp.
"Oppress you"; yea, devour you, as the greaterfish do the lesser.
(J. Trapp.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
II.
(1) My brethren.—The secondchapteropens with some stern rebukes for
those unworthy Christians who had “men’s persons in admiration,” and,
doubtless, that “becauseofadvantage” to themselves. (Comp. Jude 1:16.) The
lessonis distinctly addressedto believers, and its severity appears to be caused
by the Apostle’s unhappy consciousness ofits need. What were endurable in a
heathen, or an alien, or even a Jew, ceasedto be so in a professedfollowerof

the lowly Jesus. And this seems to be a further reasonfor the indignant
expostulation and condemnation of James 2:14. Thus the whole chapter may
really be consideredas dealing with Faith; and it flows naturally from the
foregoing thoughts upon Religion—or, as we interpreted their subject-matter,
Religious Service.
Have (or, hold) not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with
(or, in) respectof persons.—“Ye know the grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ,”
wrote St. Paul to the proud and wealthy men of Corinth (2Corinthians 8:9),
“that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through
His poverty might be rich;” and, with more cogentan appeal, to the
Philippians (James 2:4-7), “In lowliness of mind let eachesteemother better
than themselves:look not every man on his ownthings, but every man also on
the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God”—i.e., Very God, and not appearance
merely—nevertheless “thoughtnot His equality with God a thing to be always
graspedat,” as it were some booty or prize, “but emptied Himself” of His
glory, “and took upon Him the shape of a slave.” Were these central, nay
initial, facts of the faith believed then; or are they now? If they were in truth,
how could there be such folly and shame as “acceptance ofpersons” according
to the dictates of fashionable societyand the world? “Honour,” indeed, “to
whom honour” is due (Romans 13:7). The Christian religion allows not that
contempt for even earthly dignities—affectedby some of her followers, but
springing more from envy and unruliness than aught besides. True reverence
and submission are in no way condemned by this scripture: but their excess
and gross extreme, the preference for vulgar wealth, the adulation of success,
the worship, in short, of some new goldencalf.
MacLaren's Expositions
James
FAITH IN HIS NAME

Jam 2:1.
THE rarity of the mention of Jesus in this Epistle must strike every attentive
reader; but the characterof the references that are made is equally noticeable,
and puts beyond doubt that, whatever is the explanation of their fewness,
lowerthoughts of Jesus, orless devotion to Him than belongedto the other
New Testamentwriters, are not the explanation. James mentions Christ
unmistakably only three times The first occasionis in his introductory
salutation, where, like the other New Testamentwriters, he describes himself
as the slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ’; thus linking the two names
in closestunion, and proffering unlimited obedience to his Master. The second
ease is that of my text, in which our Lord is setforth by this solemn
designation, and is declaredto be the objectof faith. The last is in an
exhortation to patience in view of the coming of the Lord, to be our Judge.
So James, like Peterand Paul and John, lookedto Jesus, who was probably
the brother of James by birth, as being the Lord, whom it was no blasphemy
nor idolatry to name in the same breath as God, and to whom the same
absolute obedience was to be rendered; who was to be the object of men’s
unlimited trust, and who was to come againto be our Judge.
Here we have, in this remarkable utterance, four distinct designations ofthat
Saviour, a constellationofglories gatheredtogether;and I wish now, in a few
remarks, to isolate, and gaze at the severalstars - ‘the faith of our Lord -
Jesus - Christ - the Lord of glory.’
I. Christian faith is faith in Jesus.

We often forgetthat that name was common, wholly undistinguished, and
borne by very many of our Lord’s contemporaries. It had been borne by the
greatsoldier whom we know as Joshua;and we know that it was the name of
one at leastof the disciples of our Master. Its disuse after Him, both by Jew
and Christian, is easilyintelligible. But though He bore it with special
reference to His work of saving His people from their sins, He shared it, as He
shared manhood, with many another of the sons of Abraham. Of course, Jesus
is the name that is usually employed in the Gospels. Butwhen we turn to the
Epistles, we find that it is Comparatively rare for it to stand alone, and that in
almost all the instances ofits employment by itself, it brings with it the special
note of pointing attention to the manhood of our Lord Jesus. Letme just
gather togetherone or two instances which may help to elucidate this matter.
Who does not feel, for example, that when we read ‘let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of
faith,’ the fact of our brother Man having trodden the same path, and being
the pattern for our patience and perseverance, is tenderly laid upon our
hearts? Again, when we read of sympathy as being felt to us by the greatHigh
Priestwho can be ‘touched with a feeling of our infirmities, even Jesus,’I
think we cannotbut recognise thatHis humanity is pressedupon our
thoughts, as securing to us that we have not only the pity of a God, but the
compassionofa Man, who knows by experience the bitterness of our sorrows.
In like manner we read sometimes that ‘Jesus died for us,’ sometimes that
‘Christ died for us’; and, though the two forms of the statementpresent the
same fact, they present it, so to speak, from a different angle of vision, and
suggestto us different thoughts. When Paul, for example, says to us, ‘If we
believe that Jesus died and rose again,’we cannotbut feel that he is pressing
on us the thought of the true manhood of that Saviour who, in His death, as in
His resurrection, is the Forerunner of them that believe upon Him, and whose
death will be the more peaceful, and their rising .the more certain, because
He, who, ‘forasmuch as the children were partakers offlesh and blood

likewise took part of the same,’has thereby destroyed death, and delivered
them from its bondage. Nor, with loss emphasis, and strengthening
triumphant force, do we read that this same Jesus, the Man who bore our
nature in its fulness and is kindred to us in flesh and spirit, has risen from the
dead, hath ascendedup on high, and is the Forerunner, who for us, by virtue
of His humanity, hem entered in thither. Surely the most insensitive ear must
catchthe music, and the deep significance ofthe word which says, ‘We see not
yet all things put under him {i.e., man}, but we see Jesus crownedwith glory
and honour.’
So, then, Christian faith first lays hold of that manhood, realises the suffering
and death as those of a true humanity, recognises thatHe bore in His nature
‘all the ills that flesh is heir to,’ and that His human life is a brother’s pattern
for ours; that, He having died, death hath no more terrors for, or dominion
over, us, and that whither the Man Jesus has gone, we sinful men need never
fear to enter, nor doubt that we shall enter, too.
If our faith lays hold on Jesus the Man, we shall be delivered from the misery
of wasting our earthly affections oncreatures that may be false, that may
change, that must be feeble, and will surely die. If our faith lays hold on the
Man Jesus, allthe treasures ofthe human love, trust, and obedience, that are
so often squandered, and return as pain on our deceivedand wounded hearts,
will find their sure, sweet, stable objectin Him. Human love is sometimes false
and fickle, always feeble and frail; human wisdom has its limits, and human
perfection its flaws;but the Man Jesus is the perfect, the all-sufficient and
unchangeable objectfor all the love, the trust, and the obedience that the
human heart can pour out before Him.
II. Christian faith is faith in Jesus Christ.

The earliestChristian confession, the simplest and, sufficient creed, was, Jesus
is the Christ. What do we mean by that? We mean, first and plainly, that He is
the realisationofthe dim figure which arose, majestic andenigmatical,
through the mists of a partial revelation. We mean that He is, as the word
signifies etymologically, ‘anointed’ with the Divine Spirit, for the discharge of
all the offices which, in old days, were filled by men who were fitted and
designatedfor them by outward unction - prophet, priest, and king. We mean
that He is the substance of which ancient ritual was the shadow. We mean that
He is the goalto which all that former partial unveiling of the mind and will of
God steadfastlypointed. This, and nothing less, is the meaning of the
declarationthat Jesus is the Christ; and that belief is the distinguishing mark
of the faith which this Hebrew of the Hebrews, writing to Hebrews, declares to
be the Christian faith.
Now I know, and ‘I am thankful to know, that there are many men who
earnestlyand reverently admire and obey Jesus, but think that they have
nothing to do with these old Hebrew ideas of a Christ. It is not for me to
decide which individual is His follower, and which is not; but this I say, that
the primitive Christian confessionwas preciselythat Jesus was the Christ, and
that I, for my part, know no reasonwhy the terms of the confessionshould be
altered. Ah, these old Jewish ideas are not, as one greatman has calledthem,
‘Hebrew old clothes’;and I venture to assertthat they are not to be discarded
without woefully marring the completenessofChristian faith.
The faith in Jesus must pass into faith in Christ; for it is the office described
in that name, which gives all its virtue to the manhood. Glance back for a
moment to those instances which I have already quoted of the use of the name
suggesting simple humanity, and note how all of them require to be associated
with this other thought of the function of Christ, and His specialdesignation
by the anointing of God, in order that their full value may be made manifest.

For instance, ‘Jesus died.’ Yes, that is a fact of history. The Man was
crucified. What is that to me more than any other martyrdom and its story,
unless it derives its significance from the clearunderstanding of who it was
that died upon the Cross? So we can understand that significant selectionof
terms, when the same Apostle, whose utterances I have already Beenquoting
in the former part of this sermon, varies the name, and says, ‘This is the
gospelwhich I declaredunto you, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures.’
Again, suppose we think of the example of Jesus as the perfect realisedidealof
human life. That may become, and I think often does become, as impotent and
as paralysing as any other specimen without flaw, that can be conceivedof or
presentedto man. But if we listen to the teaching that says to us, ‘Christ died
for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps,’then the ideal is
not like a cold statue that looks down repellent even in its beauty, but is a
living person who reaches a hand down to us to lift us to His ownlevel, and
will put His spirit within us, that, as the Masteris, so may also the servants be.
Again, if we confine ourselves to the belief that the Man named Jesus has risen
again, and has been exalted to glory, then, as a matter of fact, the faith in His
Resurrectionand Ascensionwill not long co-existwith the rejection of
anything beyond simple humanity in His person. If, however, that faith could
last, then He might be conceivedof as filling a solitary throne, and there might
be no victory over death for the restof us in His triumph. But when we can
ring out as the Apostle did, ‘Now is Christ risen from the dead,’ then we can
also say, ‘and is become the first-fruits of them that slept.’
So, brethren, lift your faith in Jesus, andlet it be sublimed into faith in Christ.
‘Whom sayye that I am?’ The answeris - may we all from our hearts and
from our minds make it! - ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God:

III. Christian faith is faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.
Now, I take it that that name is here used neither in its lowestsense as a mere
designationof politeness, as we employ ‘sir,’ nor in its highestsense in which,
referred to Jesus Christ, it is not unfrequently used in the New Testamentas
being equivalent to the ‘Jehovah’of the Old; but that it is employed in a
middle sense as expressive ofdignity and sovereignty.
Jesus is Lord. Our brother, a Man, is King of the universe. The new thing in
Christ’s return to ‘the glory which He had with the Fatherbefore the world
was’is that He took the manhood with Him into indissoluble union with the
divinity, and that a man is Lord. So you and I can cherishthat wonderful
hope: ‘I will give to him that overcomethto sit with Me on My throne.’ Nor
need we ever fear but that all things concerning ourselves and our dear ones,
and the Church and the world, will be ordered aright; for the hand that sways
the universe is the hand that was many a time laid in blessing upon the sick
and the maimed, and that gatheredlittle children to His bosom.
Christ is Lord. That is to say, supreme dominion is basedon suffering.
Becausethe vesture that He wears is dipped in blood, therefore there is
written upon it, ‘King of kings, and Lord of lords.’ The Cross has become the
throne. There is the basis of all true rule, and there is the assurance thatHis
dominion is an everlasting dominion. So our faith is to rise from earth, and,
like the dying martyr, to see the Son of Man at the right hand of the majesty
of the heavens.
IV. Lastly, Christian faith is faith in Jesus Christ, ‘the Lord of glory.’

Now, the last words of my text have given greattrouble to commentators. A
greatmany explanations, with which I need not trouble you, have been
suggestedwith regard to them. One old explanation has been comparatively
neglected;and yet it seems to me to be the true one. ‘The Lord’ is a
supplement which ekes out a meaning, but, as I think, obscures the meaning.
Suppose we strike it out and read straight on. What do we get? ‘The faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory.’
And is that not intelligible? Rememberto whom James was writing - Jews.
Did not every Jew know what the Shekinah was, the light that used to shine
betweenthe Cherubim, as the manifest symbol of the divine presence, but
which had long been absent from, the Temple? And when
James falls back upon that familiar Hebrew expression, and recalls the
vanished lustre that lay upon the mercy-seat, surely he would be understood
by his Hebrew readers, and should be understood by us, as saying no more
and no other than another of the New Testamentwriters has said with
reference to the same symbolical manifestation - namely, ‘The Word became
flesh tabernacledamong us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only
Begottenofthe Father, full of grace and truth.’ James’s sentence runs On
preciselythe same lines as other sentences ofthe New Testament, For
instance, the Apostle Paul, in one place, speaksof‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, our
hope.’ And this statementis constructedin exactly the same fashion, with the
last name put in opposition to the others, ‘The Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory.’
Now, what does that mean? This - that the true presence of God, that the true
lustrous emanation from, and manifestation of, the abysmal brightness, is in
Jesus Christ, ‘the effulgence of His glory and the express image of His person.’
For the central blaze of God’s glory is God’s love, and that rises to its highest
degree in the name and mission of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Men conceive of
the glory of the divine nature as lying in the attributes which separate it most

widely from our impotent, limited, changeable,and fleeting being. God
conceives ofHis highest glory as being in that love, of which the love of earth
is kindred spark; and whatever else there may be of majestic and magnificent
in Him, the heart of the Divinity is a heart of love.
Brethren, if we would see God, our faith must graspthe Man, the Christ, the
Lord, and, as climax of all names - the Incarnate God, the Eternal Word, who
has come among us to revealto us men the glory of the Lord.
So, brethren, let us make sure that the fleshy tables of our hearts are not like
the mouldering stones that antiquarians dig up on some historicalsite,
bearing has obliteratedinscriptions and ‘fragmentary names of mighty kings
of long ago, but bearing the many-syllabled Name written firm, clear, legible,
complete upon them, as on some granite block from the stonecutter’s chisel.
Let us, whilst we cling with human love to the Man ‘that was born in
Bethlehem, discern the Christ that was prophesied from of old, to whom all
altars point, of whom all prophets spoke, who was the theme end of all the
earlier Revelation. Let us crownHim Lord of All in our own hearts, and let
us, beholding in Him the glory of the Father, He in His Light until we are
changedinto the same image. Be sure that your faith is a fullorbed faith;
graspall the many sides of the Name that is above every name.
And let us, like the apostles ofold, rejoice if we are counted worthy to suffer
shame for the Name. Let us go forth into life for the sake of the Name, and,
whatsoeverwe do in word or deed, let us do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Glory.
BensonCommentary
James 2:1-4. My brethren — The equality of Christians intimated by this
name is the ground of the admonition; have — That is, hold; not the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory — Of which glory all who believe in

him partake;with respectof persons — So as to give undue preference to any
on accountof their external circumstances;honour none merely for being
rich, despise none merely for being poor. Remember that the relation in which
the meanestof your fellow-Christians stands to Him who is the Sonof God,
ought to recommend them to your regard and esteem. Forif there come unto
your assembly— Convenedeither for religious worship, or for deciding civil
differences;a man with a gold ring — Or, having his fingers adorned with
gold rings, as χρυσοδακτυλιος maybe rendered. For, as the learned Albert
hath observed, those who valued themselves upon the richness and luxury of
their dress, were accustomed to deck their fingers with a considerable number
of costly and valuable rings, frequently wearing severalupon one finger. And
a poor man in vile (ρυπαρα, in sordid, or dirty) raiment, and ye have respect
— Ye show an undue regardto the former, and put a visible slight on the
latter, without considering what may be the realcharacterof the one or the
other. Are ye not partial in yourselves — Or, as ου διεκριθητε εν εαυτοις may
be rendered, ye distinguish not in yourselves, according to the different
characters ofthese two men, to which of them the most respectis due, to the
poor or to the rich; but only regardtheir outward appearance, and are
become judges of evil thoughts — Or evil-reasoning judges, as the original
words may be translated. You reason ill, and so judge wrong;for fine apparel
is no proof of worth in him that wears it.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:1-13 Those who profess faith in Christ as the Lord of glory, must not respect
persons on accountof mere outward circumstances andappearances,in a
manner not agreeing with their professionof being disciples of the lowly
Jesus. St. James does not here encourage rudeness ordisorder: civil respect
must be paid; but never such as to influence the proceedings ofChristians in
disposing of the offices of the church of Christ, or in passing the censures of
the church, or in any matter of religion. Questioning ourselves is of great use
in every part of the holy life. Let us be more frequent in this, and in every
thing take occasionto discourse with our souls. As places ofworship cannot be
built or maintained without expense, it may be proper that those who
contribute thereto should be accommodatedaccordingly;but were all persons
more spiritually-minded, the poor would be treated with more attention that

usually is the case in worshipping congregations. Alowly state is most
favourable for inward peace and for growthin holiness. Godwould give to all
believers riches and honours of this world, if these would do them good, seeing
that he has chosenthem to be rich in faith, and made them heirs of his
kingdom, which he promised to bestow on all who love him. Considerhow
often riches leadto vice and mischief, and what greatreproaches are thrown
upon God and religion, by men of wealth, power, and worldly greatness;and
it will make this sin appear very sinful and foolish. The Scripture gives as a
law, to love our neighbour as ourselves. This law is a royal law, it comes from
the King of kings;and if Christians actunjustly, they are convicted by the law
as transgressors. To think that our gooddeeds will atone for our bad deeds,
plainly puts us upon looking for another atonement. According to the
covenantof works, one breach of any one command brings a man under
condemnation, from which no obedience, past, present, or future, can deliver
him. This shows us the happiness of those that are in Christ. We may serve
him without slavishfear. God's restraints are not a bondage, but our own
corruptions are so. The doom passedupon impenitent sinners at last, will be
judgment without mercy. But God deems it his glory and joy, to pardon and
bless those who might justly be condemned at his tribunal; and his grace
teaches those who partake of his mercy, to copy it in their conduct.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
My brethren - Perhaps meaning brethren in two respects - as Jews, and as
Christians. In both respects the form of address would be proper.
Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ - Faith is the distinguishing thing
in the Christian religion, for it is this by which man is justified, and hence, it
comes to be put for religion itself. Notes, 1 Timothy 3:9. The meaning here is,
"do not hold such views of the religion of Christ, as to lead you to manifest
partiality to others on accountof their difference of rank or outward
circumstances."
The Lord of glory - The glorious Lord; he who is glorious himself, and who is
encompassedwith glory. See the notes at 1 Corinthians 2:8. The design here

seems to be to show that the religion of such a Lord should be in no way
dishonored.
With respectof persons - That is, you are not to show respectof persons, or to
evince partiality to others on accountof their rank, wealth, apparel, etc.
Compare Proverbs 24:23;Proverbs 28:21; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy
1:17; Deuteronomy 10:17;2 Chronicles 19:7; Psalm 40:4. See the subject
explained in the Acts 10:34 note; Romans 2:11 note.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
CHAPTER 2
Jas 2:1-26. The Sin of Respectof Persons:Dead, Unworking Faith Saves No
Man.
James illustrates "the perfect law of liberty" (Jas 1:25) in one particular
instance of a sin againstit, concluding with a reference againto that law (Jas
2:12, 13).
1. brethren—The equality of all Christians as "brethren," forms the
groundwork of the admonition.
the faith of … Christ—that is, the Christian faith. James grounds Christian
practice on Christian faith.
the Lord of glory—So 1Co 2:8. As all believers, alike rich and poor, derive all
their glory from their union with Him, "the Lord of glory," not from external
advantages ofworldly fortune, the sin in question is peculiarly inconsistent
with His "faith." Bengel, making no ellipsis of "the Lord," explains "glory" as
in apposition with Christ who is THE GLORY (Lu 2:32); the true Shekinah
glory of the temple (Ro 9:4). English Version is simpler. The glory of Christ
resting on the poor believer should make him be regardedas highly by
"brethren" as his richer brother; nay, more so, if the poor believer has more
of Christ's spirit than the rich brother.
with respectof persons—literally, "in respectings ofpersons";"in" the
practice of partial preferences ofpersons in various ways and on various
occasions.Jam2:1-9 It is not agreeable to the Christian professionto

regard the rich, and despise the poor.
Jam 2:10-12 The guilt of any one breach of the law.
Jam 2:13 The obligationto mercy.
Jam 2:14-19 Faith without works is dead.
Jam 2:20-26 We are justified, as Abraham and Rahab were, by
works, and not by faith only.
Have not; profess not yourselves, and regard not, or esteemnot in others.
The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ; i.e. faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; not the
author but the objectof faith is meant, as Galatians 2:20 Galatians 3:22
Philippians 3:9.
The Lord of glory; Lord not being in the Greek, glory may be joined with
faith, ( admitting only a trajectionin the words, so frequent in the sacred
writers), and then the words will run thus, the faith of the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ, i.e. the faith of his being glorified, which by a synecdoche may be
put for the whole work of redemption wrought by him, which was completed
by his glorification, as the lastpart of it; or, by a Hebraism, the faith of the

glory, may be for the glorious faith. But the plainest way of reading the words
is (as our translators do) by supplying the word Lord just before mentioned;
Lord of glory, ( Christ being elsewhere so called, 1 Corinthians 2:8), i.e. the
glorious Lord; as the Father is calledthe Fatherof glory, Ephesians 1:17, i.e.
the glorious Father:and then it may be an argument to secondwhatthe
apostle is speaking of; Christ being the Lord of glory, a relation to him by
faith puts an honour upon believers, though poor and despicable in the world;
and therefore they are not to be contemned.
With respectof persons;the word rendered persons signifies the face or
countenance, and synecdochicallythe whole person; and, by consequence, all
those parts or qualities we take notice of in the person. To respecta person is
sometimes takenin a goodsense, Genesis19:21 1 Samuel 25:35. Mostly in an
evil, when either the person is opposedto the cause, we give more or less to a
man upon the accountof something we see in him which is altogetherforeign
to his cause, Leviticus 19:15, or when we acceptone with injury to or
contempt of another. To have, then, the faith of Christ with respectof persons,
is to esteemthe professors ofreligion, not for their faith, or relation to Christ,
but according to their worldly condition, their being greator mean, rich or
poor; this the apostle taxeth in the Hebrews to whom he wrote, that whereas
in the things of God all believers are equal, they respectedthe greaterand
richer sort of professors, becausegreatorrich; so as to despise those that
were poor or low. The Greek hath the word plurally, respects, whichmay
intimate the severalways of respecting persons, in judgment or out, of
judgment. This doth not exclude the civil respectwe owe to magistrates and
superiors upon the accountof their places or gifts; but only a respecting men
in the things of religion upon such accounts as are extrinsicalto religion; or,
with prejudice to others as considerable in religion as themselves, though
inferior to them in the world.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
My brethren,.... As the apostle is about to dissuade from the evil of having
respectto persons, this is a very fit introduction to it, and carries in it an

argument why it should not obtain; since the saints are all brethren, they are
children of the same Father, belong to the same family, and are all one in
Christ Jesus, whetherhigh or low, rich, or poor:
have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respectof
persons:that is, such as have, and hold, and profess the faith of Christ, ought
not along with it to use respectof persons, or to make such a distinction
among the saints, as to prefer the rich, to the contempt of the poor; and in this
exhortation many things are contained, which are so many arguments why
such a practice should not be encouraged;for faith, whether as a doctrine or
as a grace, is alike precious, and common to all; and is the faith of Christ,
which, as a doctrine, is delivered by him to all the saints, and as a grace, he is
both the author and objectof it; and is the faith of their common Lord and
Saviour, and who is the Lord of glory, or the glorious Lord; and the poor as
well as the rich are espousedby him, as their Lord and husband; and are
redeemedby him, and are equally under his government and protection, and
members of his body: the Syriac Version reads, "have not the faith of the
glory of our Lord Jesus", &c. meaning either the glory which Christ is
possessedof, whether as the Son of God, in the perfections of his nature, or as
man and Mediator, being now crownedwith glory and honour, and which is
seenand knownby faith; or else that glory which Christ has in his hands, to
bestow upon his people, and to which they are called, and will appear in, when
he shall appear, and about which their faith is now employed: and since this
glory equally belongs to them all, no difference should be made on accountof
outward circumstances, so as to treat any believer with neglectand contempt.
Geneva Study Bible
My {1} brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of {a}
glory, with respectof persons.
(1) The first: charity which proceeds from a true faith, cannot exist with the
respecting of people: which he proves plainly by using the example of those
who, while having reproach or disdain for the poor, honour the rich.
(a) For if we knew what Christ's glory is, and esteemedit as we should, there
would not be the respecting of people that there is.

EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Jam 2:1. In close connectionwith the thought containedin chap. Jam 1:27,
that true worship consists in the exhibition of compassionatelove, James
proceeds to reprove a practice of his readers, consisting in a partial respectto
the rich and a depreciationof the poor, which formed the most glaring
contrastto that love.
After the impressive address ἀδελφοί μου, he first expresses the exhortation
with reference to that conduct, that their faith should not be combined with a
partial respectof persons. Schneckenburger regards the clause as
interrogative, remarking: interrogationis formam sensus gravitas flagitatet
contextus (so also Kern); incorrectly, for although the interrogation with μή
may not always require a negative answer, yet it is only used when the
interrogator, with every inclination, to regardsomething as true, yet can
scarcelybelieve that it is actually the case;comp. Winer, p. 453 f. [E. T. 641];
Schirlitz, p. 366. This is inadmissible here, as the factmentioned in what
follows, the προσωποληψία of the readers, was undoubtedly true. μὴ … ἔχετε
is thus imperative, as Jam 1:16, Jam 3:1.
The plural προσωποληψίαις is used because the author thinks on individual
concrete instances in which the generalfault manifested itself (Hornejus:
multiplex illud malum in vita est); comp. Colossians 3:22;2 Peter3:12. For
the explanation of προσωποληψία (only here and in Romans 2:11; Ephesians
6:9; Colossians 3:25), foreignto classicalGreek, seeMatthew 22:16;Luke
20:21;Galatians 2:6 (see Meyer in loc.); from the O. T. Leviticus 19:15;
Deuteronomy 1:17, and other places (the verb προσωποληπτέω, Jam 2:9; the
adjective, Acts 10:34). The phrase ἐν προσωποληψίαις ἔχειν τ. πίστιν is not,
with Pott, to be explained according to such expressions as ἔχειν τινα ἐν ὀργῇ,
ἐν αἰτίαις, ἔχεινἐν ἐπιγνώσει (Romans 1:28), for James intends not to
reproachhis readers, that they have a partial faith, or that they convert faith

into the object of partiality, but that they hold not themselves in their faith
free from προσωποληψία. Also ἔχειν does not stand for κατέχειν, whetherin
the meaning prohibere or detinere (Grotius: detinere velut captivam et
inefficacem);but ἔχειν ἐν expresses the relation of internal connectionthus:
Have not your faith, so that it is as it were enclosedin προσωποληψίαις, i.e.
combined with it. Thus was it with the readers, who in their very religious
assemblies made a distinction of persons according to their external relations.
De Wette’s opinion is incorrect, that πίστιν ἔχειν here is to be understood of
“the managementof the concerns offaith.”
Faith is more exactly described as ἡ πίστις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶνἸησοῦ Χριστοῦ
τῆς δόξης]. Mostexpositors (particularly Schneckenburger, Kern, de Wette,
Brückner, Wiesinger)take τοῦ κυρίου as a genitive of object, and make τῆς
δόξης, as a secondgenitive (besides ἡμῶν), dependent on κυρίου;thus: “the
faith in our Lord of glory, Jesus Christ.” Neither the appellation of Christ as
the Lord of glory (comp. 1 Corinthians 2:8; Psalm 29:3 : ὁ Θεὸς τῆς δόξης),
nor the dependence of two genitives (ἡμῶν and τῆς δόξης) on one substantive
(κυρίου), see Winer, p. 172 [E. T. 238], has anything againstit; yet this
constructioncannot be held to be correct, becausethe name Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,
which follows τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, so entirely completes the idea that a second
genitive can no longerdepend on κυρίου;if James had intended such a
combination, he would have written either τὴν πίστιν Ἰησ. Χριστοῦ, τοῦ
κυρίου ἡμῶντῆς δόξης, or τ. π. τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν τῆς δόξης, Ἰησ.
Χριστοῦ.[110]It is evidently an entire mistake to construct τῆς δόξης with
προσωποληψίαις, whetherit be taken as = opinio (Calvin: dum opum vel
bonorum opinio nostros oculos perstringit, veritas supprimitur) or = gloria
(Heisen: quod honorem attinet). Some expositors make τῆς δόξης depend on
Χριστοῦ; thus Laurentius, who explains it the Christus gloriae = gloriosus;so
also Bouman; also Lange: “the Messiahexaltedin His glory above Judaistic
expectations.” Decisive againstthis constructionare—(1)the close connection
of Ἰησοῦ and Χριστοῦ, as when those two names are so directly united as here,

Χριστοῦ is purely nomen proprium; (2) the N. T. mode of expressiondoes not
admit of a more exactstatementof being after Χριστοῦ by a genitive
dependent on it; also in this case the article τοῦ before Χριστοῦ would not be
wanting. In this commentary hitherto (former editions) τῆς δόξης was
explained as a genitive of the object dependent on τὴν πίστιν, and τοῦ κυρίου
ἡμ. Ἰ. Χρ. as the genitive of the subject, in the sense:“faith in the glory
springing from our Lord Jesus Christ,—founded on Him,” namely, τὴν
μέλλουσαν δόξανἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς, Romans 8:18. This construction,
although grammatically possible, is unmistakably harsh. It seems simpler,
with Bengel, to regard τῆς δόξης as in apposition with Ἰησοῦ Χρ.; still the idea
δόξης is too indefinite. The passages citedby Bengel, Luke 2:32, Ephesians
1:17, 1 Peter4:14, Isaiah 40:5, are of another kind, and cannotbe adduced in
justification of that explanation. Perhaps it is most correctto unite τῆς δόξης
as a genitive of quality, not with Χριστοῦ only, but with the whole expression
τοῦ κυρ. ἡμ. Ἰησ. Χρ., by which δόξα is indicated as the quality of our Lord
Jesus Christ which belongs to Him, the exalted One. Similar expressions are ὁ
οἰκονόμος (Luke 16:8), ὁ κριτής (Luke 18:6), τῆς ἀδικίας. At all events, τῆς
δόξης is added in order to mark the contrastbetweenthe προσωποληψία paid
to passing riches and the faith in Jesus Christ.
[110]The genitive, indeed, not unfrequently is separatedfrom the word which
governs it; see Php 2:10; Romans 9:21; and Winer, p. 172 [E. T. 238];but in
that case the intervening word is never in apposition with the preceding idea,
with which it is completelyconcluded.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Jam 2:1-13 take up againthe subjectof the rich and poor which was
commencedin Jam 1:9-11.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
Ch. James 2:1-13. RespectofPersons

1. have not the faith …] Better, do not hold. The Greek for “respectof
persons” (better, perhaps, acceptanceofpersons)is in the plural, as including
all the varied forms in which the evil tendency might shew itself, and stands
emphatically immediately after the negative. The name of “our Lord Jesus
Christ” is used obviously with a specialforce. He had shewnHimself, through
His whole life on earth, to be no “respecterof persons” (Matthew 22:16), to
have preferred the poor to the rich. There was a shameful inconsistencywhen
those who professedto hold the faith which had Him as its objectacted
otherwise. To the name of the Lord Jesus is added the description “the Lord
of Glory.” The first two words are not repeatedin the Greek, but the
structure of the English sentence requires their insertion. The motive of the
addition is clear. In believing in Him who was emphatically a sharerin the
Eternal Glory (John 17:5), who had now returned to that Glory, men ought to
feel the infinite littleness of all the accidents of wealthor rank that separate
man from man. This seems the most natural construction, but the position of
the words “of glory” is anomalous, and some have joined it with “faith” either
as a genitive of the object“faith in the future glory,” or as a characterising
attribute = “the glorious faith.”
Bengel's Gnomen
Jam 2:1. Ἄδελφοί μου, my brethren) The equality of Christians, as indicated
by the name of brethren, is the basis of this admonition.—ἐν) The phrases, ἐν
προσωποληψίαις ἔχειν, and ἐν ἐπιγνώσει ἔχειν, Romans 1:28, are similar.—
προσωποληψίαις, receivings ofpersons)The one (manner of receiving)has
reference to the rich who are strangers to the faith; the other, which is widely
different, has reference to the poor who are Christians.—τὴνπίστιν, faith) in
which the poor abound.—τῆς δόξης, of glory) The pronoun our seems to
show, that this (of glory) does not depend upon the word Lord. It is therefore
put in apposition, so that Christ Himself is calledἡ δόξα, the Glory. Comp.
Luke 2:32; Isaiah 40:5; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Peter4:14. The Glory is Christ
Himself. Thus James both declares Him to be the Son of God, and publishes
His resurrectionfrom the dead, as it becomes anapostle. Christ is Glory; and
therefore faith in Him is glorious, and the faithful are glorious. This glory of
the faithful is far above all worldly honour; no respecterof persons
acknowledgesit.

Pulpit Commentary
Verses 1-13. - WARNING AGAINST RESPECTOF PERSONS. Verse 1. -
The translation is doubtful, two renderings being possible.
(1) That of the A.V. and R.V., "Hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory, with respectof persons."
(2) That of the R.V. margin and Westcottand Hort, "Do ye, in accepting
persons, hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory?"
According to this view, the sectioncommences witha question, as does the
following one, ver. 14. According to the former view, which is on the whole
preferable, it is parallelto James 3:1. The faith of our Lord. "The faith" here
may be either
(1) objective (tides quae creditur), as in the Epistle of St. Jude 1:3, 20; or
(2) subjective (tides qua creditur), "Have the faith which believes in," etc. (cf.
Mark 11:22). Our Lord Jesus Christ. Exactly the same title occurs in Acts
15:26, in the letter written from the Apostolic Council to the Syrian Churches
- a letter which was probably drawn up by St. James himself. The Lord of
glory. The same title is given to our Lord in 1 Corinthians 2:8, and seems to be
founded on Psalm 24:7, etc. The genitive, τῆς δόξης, must depend on Κυρίου
in spite of the intervening Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ. Similar trajections occur
elsewhere;e.g. Hebrews 12:11, where δικαιοσύνης depend, on καρπόν, and,
according to a possible view, Luke 2:14 (see Hort's 'Greek Testament,'vol. 2,
appendix, p. 56). Bengel's view, that τῆς δόξης is in apposition with Κυρίου
Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ can scarcelybe maintained, in the absence ofany parallel
expressionelsewhere. Respectofpersons (ἐν προσωποληψίαις)literally,
receptionof faces. The substantive is found here and three times in St. Paul's
Epistles - Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians3:25;the verb

(προσωποληπτεῖν) only here in ver. 9; προσωπολήπτης in Acts 10:31. None of
them occurin the LXX., where, however, we find πρόσωπον λαμβάνεινin
Leviticus 19:15; Malachi2:9, etc. (cf. Luke 20:21), for the Hebrew ‫ַג‬‫ָׂש‬‫ז‬ ָ ‫ז‬ִ‫י‬‫ם‬.
Bishop Lightfoot has pointed out ('Galatians,'p. 108)that, in the Old
Testament, the expressionis a neutral one, not necessarilyinvolving any idea
of partiality, and more often used in a goodthan in a bad sense. "Whenit
becomes anindependent Greek phrase, however, the bad sense attachesto it,
owing to the secondarymeaning of πρόσωπον as a mask,'so that πρόσωπον
λαμβάνειν signifies 'to regard the external circumstances ofa man' - his rank,
wealth, etc. - as opposedto his real intrinsic character. Thus in the New
Testamentit has always a bad sense."It is exactly this regardto external
circumstances againstwhichSt. James is warning his readers;and the fact
that our Lord Jesus Christhad himself been known, when on earth, as no
respecterof persons (Luke 20:21), would give point to his warning. The plural
(ἐν προσωποληψίαις)is perhaps used to include the different kinds of
manifestations of the sin.
Vincent's Word Studies
Have (ἔχετε)
Rev., hold, not in the sense of hold fast, cleave to, but of possessing, occupying,
and practising, as a matter of habit. Thus we saythat a man holds his
property by a certaintenure. A rented estate is a holding. So of an opinion, or
setof opinions, with which one is publicly identified. We say that he holds thus
and so.
With respectof persons (ἐν προσωπολημψίαις)
From πρόσωπον, the countenance, and λαμβάνω, to receive. To receive the
countenance is a Hebrew phrase. Thus Leviticus 19:15 (Sept.): Οὐ λήψῃ
προσωπον πτωχοῦ: Thou shalt not respectthe person (receive the
countenance)of the poor. Compare Luke 20:21;Romans 2:11; and Jde 1:16.
The Lord of glory
Compare 1 Corinthians 2:8; Acts 7:2; Ephesians 1:17.

MacLarenExpositions Of Holy Scripture
James 2:1
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory,
with respectof persons.
James
FAITH IN HIS NAME
Jam 2:1.
THE rarity of the mention of Jesus in this Epistle must strike every attentive
reader; but the characterof the references that are made is equally noticeable,
and puts beyond doubt that, whatever is the explanation of their fewness,
lowerthoughts of Jesus, orless devotion to Him than belongedto the other
New Testamentwriters, are not the explanation. James mentions Christ
unmistakably only three times The first occasionis in his introductory
salutation, where, like the other New Testamentwriters, he describes himself
as the slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ’; thus linking the two names
in closestunion, and proffering unlimited obedience to his Master. The second
ease is that of my text, in which our Lord is setforth by this solemn
designation, and is declaredto be the objectof faith. The last is in an
exhortation to patience in view of the coming of the Lord, to be our Judge.
So James, like Peterand Paul and John, lookedto Jesus, who was probably
the brother of James by birth, as being the Lord, whom it was no blasphemy
nor idolatry to name in the same breath as God, and to whom the same

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