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. – James 2:12-13
The Jewish Law was founded on the Ten Commandments, but it had evolved into hundreds of lesser laws, such as tithing spices, by the time Jesus arrived on Earth. Imagine doling out a tenth of your cinnamon or oregano to give to the church! When a person focuses on law, there’s no way to be perfect enough. There is always something that could be done better.
Today’s verse says mercy triumphs over judgment. When Jesus came, He shifted the focus off of trying to just obey laws to please God onto pleasing Him through love and faith. As it is often said, Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. Has your focus on trying to do the right thing been greater than on developing a loving relationship with God and others? Who you are, your character, and how you relate to God are the most important. Faith, mercy, and compassion should be the driving force of your actions.
While the apostle Paul wrote that salvation is through faith, that doesn’t mean you keep on sinning in order to receive more mercy. “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2). It’s about getting the horse before the cart: a right relationship with God in Christ, then good works stem out of loving God and others. A good way to express your love is to pray for others. Intercede for the United States. Pray that divisions, especially among family and fellow church members, will be healed.
Today’s Verse: James 2:12-13
So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good 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 faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a 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 also Rahab the prostitute justified by works 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.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
