Lesson 591

(Lesson 591)(03-30-13) James 2:1-12, "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty."

Today's lesson defines more of the problems apparent among modern "Christians". Some "church" members tend to separate themselves out by class, judging that some are of lesser importance than others, within the "church", because of their financial or societal status.

As is vividly apparent by, not only the teachings of Jesus Himself, but also the contents of this text, this hypocritic bias should not be acceptable among God's people.

Another very important portion of today's verifies that there are NO degrees of "sin". This text clearly states the if a person is guilty of one part of the law, he/she is guilty of the whole law. We know that since Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses, that it no longer applies to modern Christianity, however, Jesus gave us a law that does indeed apply to us. When He was asked, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:36-40.

If we violate one portion of this new law, we are guilty of all of it. Therefore, we should NEVER set one person over another within the Church.~