Judged by the Law of Liberty James 2:12

James, the “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, told the people within the “twelve tribes scattered abroad” that if they “offend” the “law” of God in “one point”, they are “guilty of all” of it. He used the examples of a person who “commits adultery” as opposed to one who “kills” to demonstrate either one makes the person a “transgressor of the law”. In chapter two and verse twelve of his letter, James refers to those who will be “judged by the law of liberty” where we read:

So speak, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

The verse begins, “So speak, and so do,...” James began with the words, “So speak” or “utter a sound, use the tongue or faculty of speech, articulate sounds, tell and use words to declare one's mind and disclose one's thoughts”, “and so do” which means “make, bring forth, produce, construct, form and fashion”. James challenged his readers not only to “say” but also “do” his further exhortation.

The verse goes on to say, “...as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James continued, “as they that shall be” which means “be about, be on point of doing or suffering something, intend, have in mind and think to be” “judged” which means “separated, put asunder, picked out, selected, chosen, approved, esteemed, preferred, deemed, thought of, determined, resolved and decreed” “by the law” or “the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, esp. the precept concerning love and the name of the more important part (the Pentateuch) which is put for the entire collection of the sacred books of the Old Testament” “of liberty” which means “license to do as one pleases or freedom”. James' readers were to see themselves as those who were to be “separated, chosen, selected and approved” by God as A. R. FAUSSET wrote through “the Gospel law of love which is not a law of external constraint, but of internal, free, instinctive inclination. The law of liberty, through God's mercy, frees us from the curse of the law, that henceforth we should be free to love and obey willingly. If we will not in turn practice the law of love to our neighbor, that law of grace condemns us still more heavily than the old law, which spake nothing but wrath to him who offended in the least particular”.

When we think through these words of James, we realize the importance of having our “doing” to be consistent with our “saying”, and the driving force behind this consistency must be knowing that we have the “law of liberty” in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants everyone to have a relationship with Him, and when we humble ourselves, repent from our sins and turn to Him, we will enjoy the judgment based on “freedom” in His law rather than “judgment” for failure to comply with it. Jesus made it possible for every person to be free from the “judgment” of the law because He took that “judgment” upon Himself. Our part now is simply to believe in His finished work on the cross, and may He ever help us to believe.

Next time James shares about those who “have mercy without judgment”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore