Study of James: What is the Royal Law?
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Peace to Live By Study of James: What is the Royal Law? - Daniel Litton
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[Transcript may not match broadcasted sermon word for word. Sections in bold are extra material that was cut from the broadcast due to time constraints]
Continuing on in James chapter 2. Picking up in verse 8. The text states: “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.” (ESV)
A lot is going on here in this verse. Interestingly enough, James calls the second greatest commandant, or we might even say ‘The Golden Rule,’ he calls it the Royal Law. We’ve been talking about the Law of Liberty and how good that is for us. Now, we have another law. This is the Royal Law. This law comes directly from the throne of God, the supreme King of the Universe. It is a universal law, as it accompanies everyone on the face of the earth. And it is common sensical, as you can see it practiced no matter what people group across the earth you consider.
Again, on the part of James, there is a skepticism. He isn’t convinced his listeners, his readers, are really practicing the Royal Law. Notice how he says “If you really fulfill the royal law…” This ties into what we were talking about last week, with the pretenders, the fakers, or to use a more modern term, the posers. It is either out of their legalism that they do this and that for others, which really isn’t proceeding from their heart’s good intent, or it is out of a desire to be seen in a good light in front of others (what Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount). Either way, it appears the commandant is being practiced, but at the end of the day it is shown to not have any real substance.
Isn’t that why we see a lot of people either deciding not to follow Christianity closely as they grow up, or perhaps not follow it at all. The hypocrisy seen among parents and other adults can often lead young people to really question the validity of the faith that the adults proclaim. They see their parents doing things, perhaps seemingly good things, but then they hear them talk. And the speech, those conversations while driving in the car, or at the dinner table, seem to contradict what they are really supposed to believe, or say they believe. It’s better to just be genuine and authentic, and not try to put on a show. Besides, people will respect you more, children and fellow adults.
Notice too where the Royal Law comes from? From where does it come? It comes from the the Scriptures. So, while it is a universal law that can been seen in all people groups with the naked eye, it is written down for us in a sacred text. The sacred text is the Bible. You see, the Bible is a special text. It is special in that it comes from the hand of God, written down for the world’s sake. He wrote through men and women what he wanted to say. It represents the absolute truth. It can always be depended on as reliable and accurate. Anything that is written then stemming from its truth is also very beneficial for us. This is why even works that do not specially talk about Jesus, but acknowledge the King’s truth, can make good sense and help us greatly. The truth is embedded within the Creation.
So, the Royal Law is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Do you see that you are giving something? We are giving love. What does that mean? In order to give, we need to have. In other words, if we don’t have love within us, coming out from us, how can we give? I said the Level Four Christian is characterized by a predominate attitude of Love. That is, the person understands love better than most. They are able to practice love very effectively because selfishness has been surpassed; it has been relinquished. We know this type of person when we are in their company. Most of us haven’t reached the Level Four state. We may go into for a short amount of time, but soon we find ourselves back at Level Three.
Love can be displayed at any of the Levels of Inner-Self. The point is that it is most predominate at the fourth level. What are some words we could use to describe love? Affection, tenderness, compassion, adoration, appreciation of, caringness, fondness, friendship, goodwill, sympathy, best wishes, good regard. I cannot show care or concern for another if I don’t have care and concern for myself. One cannot show goodwill toward another if they are of ill-will toward themselves. You cannot wish someone well if you aren’t even focused on them, but focused on yourself instead.
What are some specific ways in which the Royal Law is seen in our Universe? It is when a grade-school teacher, upon seeing her class is particularly tired that day, doesn’t drive them hard but rather makes that class easier. It is for the parent who stays up all night putting together that toy so that it will be all assembled and ready to go on Christmas morning. It is for the husband who decides he will watch the kids today while they are out of school instead of leaving the primary responsibility on his wife. It is keeping that appointment Sunday afternoon to see your grandparents even when it has now become inconvenient to do so. This is the type of love we are talking about.
A beautiful thing is, is that the Law of Liberty allows us to fulfill the Royal Law—how we see it—and how we desire. Certainly, at times people tell us of a specific need. We may work to fulfill that need for them. At other times, we get to choose how we will love another. We get to come up with, create, and carry out that good thing that is for another person, the one of which they don’t even realize we are going to do. It’s love from the heart. It’s something that’s going to surprise and hopefully benefit the other person. How they receive the gift will depend on their current Level of Inner-Self.
You see, and this is an important point, that those who are in the Lower Levels of Inner-Self often have a real difficult time accepting love. That’s because they aren’t that familiar with it. They don’t have it themselves, or have only a little bit, and when others try to give it to them, they don’t know what to do with it. They don’t know how to respond. As a matter of fact, negative emotions may even come forth in response to the love. I think one reason for this is the realization that the other person has what they don’t have. There is this immediate jealousy that comes forth upon this realization, and as a result, the person in some way, shape, or form offends the other by not receiving the gift correctly. We’ve all done this.
Again, James says, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (ESV)
Going roundabout back to what we were talking about last week, it is how we treat those who we perceive have wealth within the church versus those we perceive do not. Now in American church-life, we really may not know who has the wealth and who does not as the lines have become even more blurred in recent times. That is, the rich don’t always let everyone know they are rich. A person can look like he’s a normal, average individual and yet be very rich. Likewise, a person can spend more than should to appear to be wealthy when in fact they are really not. The point is, though, is that we are not supposed to be judging on these external appearances, showing favor to those whom we think are rich.
God sees this kind of behavior, favoring the wealthy, as sin. I remember when I was creating a church constitution for possible future use someday that I made the distinct that a certain percentage of elders were forbidden from having a college education, or at least an advanced college education, like a Masters degree. Why is that? Why would I do such a thing? Because I sure wouldn’t want a group of elders who are only highly schooled while leaving out the views of the regular people who have four-year degrees and less. I think it’s important to be conducting business off of the views of everyone, not just the highly educated. You get the drift though and how this could relate in the same way to wealth within the church.
Why is this sin, though? Why does God see it as sin to favor the wealthy? It is because Christianity is offered to all, no matter what one’s monetary status is. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32, ESV). Both the wealthy and those with less are sinners. We’ve all sinned and are in need of a Savior. The only Savior available to take care of our problems is God the Creator, Jesus Christ, who came to the earth and paid the sacrifice acceptable to God for our sins. It is only through his blood that we are made righteous. So, people no matter their wealth have trusted in Jesus. That’s why the people with less are to be welcomed as equals.
God isn’t so concerned about monetary wealth because, as we’ve been talking about, any wealth we accumulate in this world has to be someday relinquished when we transcend into the next life. Our wealth, whatever it is, has to go to someone else. For a lot of us it will be our children. But we cannot take it with us, and it wouldn’t do us any good even if we could. The US dollar has no value in the kingdom of Heaven. What has value for us are the rewards that are waiting for us when we get there, those rewards that we have been accumulating by doing things right in this life (namely, following God and his ways, and not doing things in sinful ways). Remember, all of us have a 401k per se in Heaven, and we get to choose what percentage we want to contribute to that 401k right now.
Continuing in James, he says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” (ESV)
The concept behind what James says here really is the whole foundation for the doctrine of the fallen nature of mankind. So, God considers that if we sin just once, even if we didn’t sin anymore, we are completely guilty and deserving of his everlasting punishment. Sounds harsh, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not for God. We are looking at the commandants of God independently of one another. That understanding, though, is foreign to God. When we sin, the entirety of ourselves becomes tainted. Think of it like this. If we get a disease in our blood, all of our blood is tainted with that disease, not just part of it. It isn’t that only the blood in one arm and one leg is affected, but the rest of the blood within us is okay. No, it’s is all affected. This is how sin really works.
This being the case, this is why, in God’s eyes, every person born into this world is totally depraved in the original sin-nature. This is because any sin of any kind taints the whole person. Even if the person was to do this good work and that good work, if they have any sin inside them, they are completely tainted. Thus, the only way to rectify this problem (and it’s a serious problem) is through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. By trusting in the blood he shed in our place, we can move from becoming completely tainted to completely good, completely whole, a new creation in God’s eyes. So, it’s the total opposite. Now, even those who haven’t accepted Christ’s provision yet are still loved by God, as they should still be loved by us. For God loves the world.
I think James brings up the sins of adultery and murder here because they are very destructive sins. Just like I said in the blood analogy, that a disease will taint all of our blood, so it is with adultery. If a person takes part in the sin of adultery, that causes permanent consequences between the marriage partners. Things can never be exactly the same again. They can be restored to being pretty good, but that sin is big enough that it will most certainly have a lasting effect. And so it with murder. If one person murders another, that affects a lot of people. It takes away the loved one who was murdered from their family and friends, and it affects the image of the person who murdered. Nothing can bring the murdered person back in this life.
I know this is serious talk, but we need to understand that sin—especially big sin—God called out in the Bible for our own good. God doesn’t want us doing sin because it messes things up. That’s why you find a list of the big sins from time to time when reading the Scriptures. The purpose is for us to pay careful attention to those sins and watch ourselves so that we do not find ourselves practicing them. These are the things that are in violation of the Law of Liberty. They are the Law of Enslavement. God didn’t want the Israelites enslaved in the Old Testament, and he does not want us to be enslaved today. Sin enslaves. There is not freedom found in doing whatever we want without regard to the Bible, what James called the law of Liberty.
The thing of it is, when we focus on sin too much, it can cause a lot of unnecessary guilt to crop up in our minds. Really, the guilt is already there and the talk of sin brings forth the guilt. Some might say to you, “That is a good thing. You should feel guilty.” The problem with guilt is that it can be dehibilating. In other words, guilt is like poison in our bodies. It’s not meant to be there. Just as sin isn’t meant to reside in our bodies, our flesh, so likewise then neither is guilt. Wasn’t it not the Apostle Paul who said, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit)”? (Romans 8:1, ESV).
I believe guilt to be a serious problem, and a lot of it is tied to the doctrine of the total depravity of mankind. So what happens is that because people believe they are totally depraved, they think that living in freedom (the Law of Liberty) is impossible in their lives. Since they think it is impossible, life just becomes like a series of football games and the team playing is bad. There are mostly losses because of what the team believes about themselves and their ability. As self-confidence and motivation have been declared sin, there is no way the person can move higher up the ladder, achieve more wins. They are stuck going season after season with the same losing record. Growth doesn’t really happen. They may learn one silly, minuscule fact and then repeat that as a grand esoteric truth that they learned, but really it is small in the whole scheme of things.
As the Apostle Paul said, guilt has to be relinquished. It’s just not part of a healthy psychology. I was thinking about this, and I had the thought, “You know, out of twenty different things I have guilty thoughts over, all but one of them is really authentic.” That is, the vast majority of times we believe we should feel guilty about something, we shouldn’t. There is only a one in twenty chance that we really are guilty, and even then, we need to recognize it, surrender to it, and thus give it up. That’s the way it works. What is regret? Regret is an unresolved issue in the mind. It is guilt over something that one perceives he or she should have done better. So regret present in our minds means that we haven’t let the situation go. We haven’t faced it head on, but have been pushing it down inside ourselves over and over again. The only way regret can disappear is when we face whatever thought, or really series of thoughts, are tied to it. We do that by Giving Up Control like I talked about in week two of our study here. If you need to review that, go back and listen to that sermon.
God didn’t create us to feel continually guilty. Guilt is foreign. Because of the belief that one is totally depraved, there is often this feeling of helplessness in overcoming one’s issues. What about the new creation? What about all things becoming new? Ah, we’ve deliberately forgot about that so we can hold on the guilt! It is so pointless. Have you ever noticed that some of the most trustworthy people are often full of guilt. It is spilling over the edges. So, this shows us then that there is no correlation between one’s external behaviors and how guilty they feel. Some of the best behaved people are full of guilt, and some of the worst behaved have no guilt at all. This is why strictness with children doesn’t work. It is a false belief that guilt produces good behavior.
Our next verse is, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.” (ESV)
First and foremost, notice that we are to be judged under the Law of Liberty. James doesn’t say, “You will be judged under all the commandments.” Or, “You will be judged under the Laws of Right and Wrong, of Do’s and Don’ts.” The Word of God described as the Law of Liberty shows us that God wants us to live in freedom. Living in sin, or living in continual guilt, isn’t freedom. That’s enslavement. Isn’t true freedom, though, being able to choose to do whatever we want to do, whether God sees that as sin or not? Well, yes, of course. That was the original freedom he gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That is the freedom we have as a new creations. God calls that which enslaves ‘sin.’ So, really, what we could do for better understanding is just do a “Replace All” in our Bibles of the word sin, and make it the word “Enslavements.” That actually sounds better, doesn’t it?
Regardless, recognizing the fact that we are to be judged under the Law of Liberty, James then, at the beginning of the sentence, told us to speak and act in a corresponding way to this fact. So, I wouldn’t be speaking or acting from the Law of Guilt. If I am responding from guilt, it is because I am full of fear, anxiety, and I am in the second level of Inner-Self. Guilt is tied to fear. We are guilty because we are afraid God isn’t pleased with us, or one of our fellow humans isn’t happy about something. So many things can be done out of guilt. People can help another move out of guilt, or give them a ride to the airport, or give them money, or not watch a football game, or not buy something, or pretty much whatever you can think of. Guilt can cause us to act weird. Again, though, the only way a person can overcome guilt is to face it head on, analyze it, and then give it up, surrender it. Then we can live under the Law of Liberty as God wants us to.
So, how does a person act who speaks and acts as living under the Law of Liberty? Well, the person does things based on what they want to do. If they want to help someone, they will. If they want to compliment them, they will. If we want to buy someone something or give them money, we do it out of a sense of freedom. You see, then, that these kinds of actions are no longer done from a motivation of guilt. Do you see now? Analyze how much you are doing out of a sense of guilt verses a sense of freedom. Then when it becomes time to respond to something as you normally do, out of guilt, go ahead and do the opposite. Then when the guilt comes to your mind to try to punish you, face it, and give it up, surrender it. Let the thoughts play out in your mind, but don’t react to them. They will eventually subside.
Finally, finishing up, James tells us, "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (ESV)
In as much as we have freedom from God in this and that area, this also means that we are therefore to be merciful toward others (whether they have offended us or done something wrong in general), just as God is merciful toward us. It is important how we live in our relationships with others. We can figure that a person who is on Levels One or Two of consciousness is probably not going to have as good of relationships. For one, this is because the person is more self-focused. They view people with the thought, “What can you do for me.” It’s also true that their general negativity will cause others to naturally dislike them. If you find that people in general don’t like you, it’s probably because you are living on Levels One or Two of the Inner-Self scale. So, that’s something you’re gonna want to take a look at.
Now, whether James is talking about judgement from God here, or judgement from others, the point is that when we are merciful toward other people it makes our lives better. It seems so obvious that it shouldn’t need to be said. An issue is self-righteousness, or a belief that one needs to correct others, to stay on them and make sure they are behaving in proper ways. A sense of righteous indignation toward others misbehavior (or perceived misbehavior) can often be a block to treating others correctly. We have a choice on how we respond to others, and how we do that will come back to us. It will affect people’s perceptions of us. If we are too hard on people, or expect too much from them, they will sense this and begin to dislike us in return. It’s just common sense. Mercy is the way to go.
And it’s not just our external actions that matter, but I believe that even if we act like we are merciful toward another, if that’s a false manifestation of how we really feel, then subconsciously the person can pick up on that. What I mean is that if we really are having thoughts in our heads that we are holding something against the person, or think they are stupid for doing this or that, they will subconsciously pick up on that. And, we will subconsciously be manifesting in our mannerisms and actions what we really think, what we really believe. So, it’s good for our mercy to actually be real, from the heart. This is what pleases God.
- Daniel Litton
Today’s Acknowledgements
Psychologists David R. Hawkins and David D. Burns
Continuing on in James chapter 2. Picking up in verse 8. The text states: “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.” (ESV)
A lot is going on here in this verse. Interestingly enough, James calls the second greatest commandant, or we might even say ‘The Golden Rule,’ he calls it the Royal Law. We’ve been talking about the Law of Liberty and how good that is for us. Now, we have another law. This is the Royal Law. This law comes directly from the throne of God, the supreme King of the Universe. It is a universal law, as it accompanies everyone on the face of the earth. And it is common sensical, as you can see it practiced no matter what people group across the earth you consider.
Again, on the part of James, there is a skepticism. He isn’t convinced his listeners, his readers, are really practicing the Royal Law. Notice how he says “If you really fulfill the royal law…” This ties into what we were talking about last week, with the pretenders, the fakers, or to use a more modern term, the posers. It is either out of their legalism that they do this and that for others, which really isn’t proceeding from their heart’s good intent, or it is out of a desire to be seen in a good light in front of others (what Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount). Either way, it appears the commandant is being practiced, but at the end of the day it is shown to not have any real substance.
Isn’t that why we see a lot of people either deciding not to follow Christianity closely as they grow up, or perhaps not follow it at all. The hypocrisy seen among parents and other adults can often lead young people to really question the validity of the faith that the adults proclaim. They see their parents doing things, perhaps seemingly good things, but then they hear them talk. And the speech, those conversations while driving in the car, or at the dinner table, seem to contradict what they are really supposed to believe, or say they believe. It’s better to just be genuine and authentic, and not try to put on a show. Besides, people will respect you more, children and fellow adults.
Notice too where the Royal Law comes from? From where does it come? It comes from the the Scriptures. So, while it is a universal law that can been seen in all people groups with the naked eye, it is written down for us in a sacred text. The sacred text is the Bible. You see, the Bible is a special text. It is special in that it comes from the hand of God, written down for the world’s sake. He wrote through men and women what he wanted to say. It represents the absolute truth. It can always be depended on as reliable and accurate. Anything that is written then stemming from its truth is also very beneficial for us. This is why even works that do not specially talk about Jesus, but acknowledge the King’s truth, can make good sense and help us greatly. The truth is embedded within the Creation.
So, the Royal Law is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Do you see that you are giving something? We are giving love. What does that mean? In order to give, we need to have. In other words, if we don’t have love within us, coming out from us, how can we give? I said the Level Four Christian is characterized by a predominate attitude of Love. That is, the person understands love better than most. They are able to practice love very effectively because selfishness has been surpassed; it has been relinquished. We know this type of person when we are in their company. Most of us haven’t reached the Level Four state. We may go into for a short amount of time, but soon we find ourselves back at Level Three.
Love can be displayed at any of the Levels of Inner-Self. The point is that it is most predominate at the fourth level. What are some words we could use to describe love? Affection, tenderness, compassion, adoration, appreciation of, caringness, fondness, friendship, goodwill, sympathy, best wishes, good regard. I cannot show care or concern for another if I don’t have care and concern for myself. One cannot show goodwill toward another if they are of ill-will toward themselves. You cannot wish someone well if you aren’t even focused on them, but focused on yourself instead.
What are some specific ways in which the Royal Law is seen in our Universe? It is when a grade-school teacher, upon seeing her class is particularly tired that day, doesn’t drive them hard but rather makes that class easier. It is for the parent who stays up all night putting together that toy so that it will be all assembled and ready to go on Christmas morning. It is for the husband who decides he will watch the kids today while they are out of school instead of leaving the primary responsibility on his wife. It is keeping that appointment Sunday afternoon to see your grandparents even when it has now become inconvenient to do so. This is the type of love we are talking about.
A beautiful thing is, is that the Law of Liberty allows us to fulfill the Royal Law—how we see it—and how we desire. Certainly, at times people tell us of a specific need. We may work to fulfill that need for them. At other times, we get to choose how we will love another. We get to come up with, create, and carry out that good thing that is for another person, the one of which they don’t even realize we are going to do. It’s love from the heart. It’s something that’s going to surprise and hopefully benefit the other person. How they receive the gift will depend on their current Level of Inner-Self.
You see, and this is an important point, that those who are in the Lower Levels of Inner-Self often have a real difficult time accepting love. That’s because they aren’t that familiar with it. They don’t have it themselves, or have only a little bit, and when others try to give it to them, they don’t know what to do with it. They don’t know how to respond. As a matter of fact, negative emotions may even come forth in response to the love. I think one reason for this is the realization that the other person has what they don’t have. There is this immediate jealousy that comes forth upon this realization, and as a result, the person in some way, shape, or form offends the other by not receiving the gift correctly. We’ve all done this.
Again, James says, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (ESV)
Going roundabout back to what we were talking about last week, it is how we treat those who we perceive have wealth within the church versus those we perceive do not. Now in American church-life, we really may not know who has the wealth and who does not as the lines have become even more blurred in recent times. That is, the rich don’t always let everyone know they are rich. A person can look like he’s a normal, average individual and yet be very rich. Likewise, a person can spend more than should to appear to be wealthy when in fact they are really not. The point is, though, is that we are not supposed to be judging on these external appearances, showing favor to those whom we think are rich.
God sees this kind of behavior, favoring the wealthy, as sin. I remember when I was creating a church constitution for possible future use someday that I made the distinct that a certain percentage of elders were forbidden from having a college education, or at least an advanced college education, like a Masters degree. Why is that? Why would I do such a thing? Because I sure wouldn’t want a group of elders who are only highly schooled while leaving out the views of the regular people who have four-year degrees and less. I think it’s important to be conducting business off of the views of everyone, not just the highly educated. You get the drift though and how this could relate in the same way to wealth within the church.
Why is this sin, though? Why does God see it as sin to favor the wealthy? It is because Christianity is offered to all, no matter what one’s monetary status is. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32, ESV). Both the wealthy and those with less are sinners. We’ve all sinned and are in need of a Savior. The only Savior available to take care of our problems is God the Creator, Jesus Christ, who came to the earth and paid the sacrifice acceptable to God for our sins. It is only through his blood that we are made righteous. So, people no matter their wealth have trusted in Jesus. That’s why the people with less are to be welcomed as equals.
God isn’t so concerned about monetary wealth because, as we’ve been talking about, any wealth we accumulate in this world has to be someday relinquished when we transcend into the next life. Our wealth, whatever it is, has to go to someone else. For a lot of us it will be our children. But we cannot take it with us, and it wouldn’t do us any good even if we could. The US dollar has no value in the kingdom of Heaven. What has value for us are the rewards that are waiting for us when we get there, those rewards that we have been accumulating by doing things right in this life (namely, following God and his ways, and not doing things in sinful ways). Remember, all of us have a 401k per se in Heaven, and we get to choose what percentage we want to contribute to that 401k right now.
Continuing in James, he says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” (ESV)
The concept behind what James says here really is the whole foundation for the doctrine of the fallen nature of mankind. So, God considers that if we sin just once, even if we didn’t sin anymore, we are completely guilty and deserving of his everlasting punishment. Sounds harsh, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not for God. We are looking at the commandants of God independently of one another. That understanding, though, is foreign to God. When we sin, the entirety of ourselves becomes tainted. Think of it like this. If we get a disease in our blood, all of our blood is tainted with that disease, not just part of it. It isn’t that only the blood in one arm and one leg is affected, but the rest of the blood within us is okay. No, it’s is all affected. This is how sin really works.
This being the case, this is why, in God’s eyes, every person born into this world is totally depraved in the original sin-nature. This is because any sin of any kind taints the whole person. Even if the person was to do this good work and that good work, if they have any sin inside them, they are completely tainted. Thus, the only way to rectify this problem (and it’s a serious problem) is through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. By trusting in the blood he shed in our place, we can move from becoming completely tainted to completely good, completely whole, a new creation in God’s eyes. So, it’s the total opposite. Now, even those who haven’t accepted Christ’s provision yet are still loved by God, as they should still be loved by us. For God loves the world.
I think James brings up the sins of adultery and murder here because they are very destructive sins. Just like I said in the blood analogy, that a disease will taint all of our blood, so it is with adultery. If a person takes part in the sin of adultery, that causes permanent consequences between the marriage partners. Things can never be exactly the same again. They can be restored to being pretty good, but that sin is big enough that it will most certainly have a lasting effect. And so it with murder. If one person murders another, that affects a lot of people. It takes away the loved one who was murdered from their family and friends, and it affects the image of the person who murdered. Nothing can bring the murdered person back in this life.
I know this is serious talk, but we need to understand that sin—especially big sin—God called out in the Bible for our own good. God doesn’t want us doing sin because it messes things up. That’s why you find a list of the big sins from time to time when reading the Scriptures. The purpose is for us to pay careful attention to those sins and watch ourselves so that we do not find ourselves practicing them. These are the things that are in violation of the Law of Liberty. They are the Law of Enslavement. God didn’t want the Israelites enslaved in the Old Testament, and he does not want us to be enslaved today. Sin enslaves. There is not freedom found in doing whatever we want without regard to the Bible, what James called the law of Liberty.
The thing of it is, when we focus on sin too much, it can cause a lot of unnecessary guilt to crop up in our minds. Really, the guilt is already there and the talk of sin brings forth the guilt. Some might say to you, “That is a good thing. You should feel guilty.” The problem with guilt is that it can be dehibilating. In other words, guilt is like poison in our bodies. It’s not meant to be there. Just as sin isn’t meant to reside in our bodies, our flesh, so likewise then neither is guilt. Wasn’t it not the Apostle Paul who said, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit)”? (Romans 8:1, ESV).
I believe guilt to be a serious problem, and a lot of it is tied to the doctrine of the total depravity of mankind. So what happens is that because people believe they are totally depraved, they think that living in freedom (the Law of Liberty) is impossible in their lives. Since they think it is impossible, life just becomes like a series of football games and the team playing is bad. There are mostly losses because of what the team believes about themselves and their ability. As self-confidence and motivation have been declared sin, there is no way the person can move higher up the ladder, achieve more wins. They are stuck going season after season with the same losing record. Growth doesn’t really happen. They may learn one silly, minuscule fact and then repeat that as a grand esoteric truth that they learned, but really it is small in the whole scheme of things.
As the Apostle Paul said, guilt has to be relinquished. It’s just not part of a healthy psychology. I was thinking about this, and I had the thought, “You know, out of twenty different things I have guilty thoughts over, all but one of them is really authentic.” That is, the vast majority of times we believe we should feel guilty about something, we shouldn’t. There is only a one in twenty chance that we really are guilty, and even then, we need to recognize it, surrender to it, and thus give it up. That’s the way it works. What is regret? Regret is an unresolved issue in the mind. It is guilt over something that one perceives he or she should have done better. So regret present in our minds means that we haven’t let the situation go. We haven’t faced it head on, but have been pushing it down inside ourselves over and over again. The only way regret can disappear is when we face whatever thought, or really series of thoughts, are tied to it. We do that by Giving Up Control like I talked about in week two of our study here. If you need to review that, go back and listen to that sermon.
God didn’t create us to feel continually guilty. Guilt is foreign. Because of the belief that one is totally depraved, there is often this feeling of helplessness in overcoming one’s issues. What about the new creation? What about all things becoming new? Ah, we’ve deliberately forgot about that so we can hold on the guilt! It is so pointless. Have you ever noticed that some of the most trustworthy people are often full of guilt. It is spilling over the edges. So, this shows us then that there is no correlation between one’s external behaviors and how guilty they feel. Some of the best behaved people are full of guilt, and some of the worst behaved have no guilt at all. This is why strictness with children doesn’t work. It is a false belief that guilt produces good behavior.
Our next verse is, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.” (ESV)
First and foremost, notice that we are to be judged under the Law of Liberty. James doesn’t say, “You will be judged under all the commandments.” Or, “You will be judged under the Laws of Right and Wrong, of Do’s and Don’ts.” The Word of God described as the Law of Liberty shows us that God wants us to live in freedom. Living in sin, or living in continual guilt, isn’t freedom. That’s enslavement. Isn’t true freedom, though, being able to choose to do whatever we want to do, whether God sees that as sin or not? Well, yes, of course. That was the original freedom he gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That is the freedom we have as a new creations. God calls that which enslaves ‘sin.’ So, really, what we could do for better understanding is just do a “Replace All” in our Bibles of the word sin, and make it the word “Enslavements.” That actually sounds better, doesn’t it?
Regardless, recognizing the fact that we are to be judged under the Law of Liberty, James then, at the beginning of the sentence, told us to speak and act in a corresponding way to this fact. So, I wouldn’t be speaking or acting from the Law of Guilt. If I am responding from guilt, it is because I am full of fear, anxiety, and I am in the second level of Inner-Self. Guilt is tied to fear. We are guilty because we are afraid God isn’t pleased with us, or one of our fellow humans isn’t happy about something. So many things can be done out of guilt. People can help another move out of guilt, or give them a ride to the airport, or give them money, or not watch a football game, or not buy something, or pretty much whatever you can think of. Guilt can cause us to act weird. Again, though, the only way a person can overcome guilt is to face it head on, analyze it, and then give it up, surrender it. Then we can live under the Law of Liberty as God wants us to.
So, how does a person act who speaks and acts as living under the Law of Liberty? Well, the person does things based on what they want to do. If they want to help someone, they will. If they want to compliment them, they will. If we want to buy someone something or give them money, we do it out of a sense of freedom. You see, then, that these kinds of actions are no longer done from a motivation of guilt. Do you see now? Analyze how much you are doing out of a sense of guilt verses a sense of freedom. Then when it becomes time to respond to something as you normally do, out of guilt, go ahead and do the opposite. Then when the guilt comes to your mind to try to punish you, face it, and give it up, surrender it. Let the thoughts play out in your mind, but don’t react to them. They will eventually subside.
Finally, finishing up, James tells us, "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (ESV)
In as much as we have freedom from God in this and that area, this also means that we are therefore to be merciful toward others (whether they have offended us or done something wrong in general), just as God is merciful toward us. It is important how we live in our relationships with others. We can figure that a person who is on Levels One or Two of consciousness is probably not going to have as good of relationships. For one, this is because the person is more self-focused. They view people with the thought, “What can you do for me.” It’s also true that their general negativity will cause others to naturally dislike them. If you find that people in general don’t like you, it’s probably because you are living on Levels One or Two of the Inner-Self scale. So, that’s something you’re gonna want to take a look at.
Now, whether James is talking about judgement from God here, or judgement from others, the point is that when we are merciful toward other people it makes our lives better. It seems so obvious that it shouldn’t need to be said. An issue is self-righteousness, or a belief that one needs to correct others, to stay on them and make sure they are behaving in proper ways. A sense of righteous indignation toward others misbehavior (or perceived misbehavior) can often be a block to treating others correctly. We have a choice on how we respond to others, and how we do that will come back to us. It will affect people’s perceptions of us. If we are too hard on people, or expect too much from them, they will sense this and begin to dislike us in return. It’s just common sense. Mercy is the way to go.
And it’s not just our external actions that matter, but I believe that even if we act like we are merciful toward another, if that’s a false manifestation of how we really feel, then subconsciously the person can pick up on that. What I mean is that if we really are having thoughts in our heads that we are holding something against the person, or think they are stupid for doing this or that, they will subconsciously pick up on that. And, we will subconsciously be manifesting in our mannerisms and actions what we really think, what we really believe. So, it’s good for our mercy to actually be real, from the heart. This is what pleases God.
- Daniel Litton
Today’s Acknowledgements
Psychologists David R. Hawkins and David D. Burns