1 My brothers,wver. 9; Lev. 19:15; Deut. 1:17; 16:19; Prov. 24:23; Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9 show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,x1 Cor. 2:8; [Acts 7:2] the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place, ”y[Prov. 18:23] while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, ” or, “Sit down at my feet, ” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and becomezJohn 7:24 judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers,a1 Cor. 1:27, 28; [Job 34:19] has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to beb2 Cor. 8:9; Rev. 2:9; See Luke 12:21 rich in faith and heirs ofcMatt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; 12:32 the kingdom,dSee ch. 1:12 which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But youe[1 Cor. 11:22] have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones whofActs 16:19 drag yougActs 8:3; 17:6; 18:12; [ch. 5:6] into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorableh[Isa. 63:19; 65:1; Amos 9:12; Acts 15:17] name by which you were called?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture,iCited from Lev. 19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself, ” you are doing well. 9 But if youjver. 1 show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one pointkMatt. 5:19; Gal. 3:10 has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said,lCited from Ex. 20:14, 13 “Do not commit adultery, ” also said,lCited from Ex. 20:14, 13 “Do not murder. ” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged undermSee ch. 1:25 the law of liberty. 13 FornJob 22:6-11; Ps. 18:25, 26; Prov. 21:13; Ezek. 25:11-14; Matt. 6:15; 18:32-35; Luke 6:38 judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faitho[ch. 1:22] but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 p[Job 31:19, 20]; See Luke 3:11 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 q1 John 3:17, 18 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled, ” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good1Or benefit is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works. ” Show me your faithr[Rom. 3:28; 4:6; Heb. 11:33] apart from your works, and I will show you my faithsMatt. 7:16, 17; Gal. 5:6 by my works. 19 tDeut. 6:4; [Rom. 2:17-25] You believe that God is one; you do well. EvenuMatt. 8:29; Mark 1:24; 5:7; Luke 4:33, 34; Acts 16:17; 19:15 the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 vGen. 22:9, 12, 16-18 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see thatwHeb. 11:17 faith was active along with his works, and faith was completedxSee 1 Thess. 1:3 by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says,yRom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Cited from Gen. 15:6 “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness ” —and he was called az2 Chr. 20:7; Isa. 41:8 friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not alsoaHeb. 11:31 Rahab the prostitute justified by worksbJosh. 2:1-22; 6:23 when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.