James 2:13

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. The converse of . 'The [hee] judgment (which is coming on all) shall be without mercy to him who showed no mercy.' "Mercy" here corresponds to "love," . MERCY REJOICETH AGAINST JUDGMENT. Mercy, so far from fearing judgment as to its followers, glorifieth against it, knowing that it cannot condemn them. Not that their mercy is the ground of their acquittal, but God's mercy in Christ toward them, producing mercy on their part toward their fellow men, makes them to triumph over judgment, which all otherwise deserves....

13_For he shall have judgment. _This is an application of the last verse to the subject in hand, which confirms altogether the second explanation which I have mentioned: for he shews, that since we stand through God’s mercy alone, we ought to shew that to those whom the Lord himself commends to us. It is, indeed, a singular commendation of kindness and benevolence, that God promises that he will be merciful to us, if we be so to our brethren: not that our mercy, how ever great it may be, shewn towards men, merits the mercy of God; but that God would have those whom he has adopted, as he is to them a kind and an indulgent Father, to bear and exhibit his image on the earth, according to the saying of Christ, “Be ye merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.” (Matthew 5:7.) We must notice, on the other hand, that he coul

1-13 Those who profess faith in Christ as the Lord of glory, must not respect persons on account of mere outward circumstances and appearances, in a manner not agreeing with their profession of being disciples of the lowly Jesus. St. James does not here encourage rudeness or disorder: civil respect must be paid; but never such as to influence the proceedings of Christians in disposing of the offices of the church of Christ, or in passing the censures of the church, or in any matter of religion. Questioning ourselves is of great use in every part of the holy life. Let us be more frequent in this, and in every thing take occasion to discourse with our souls. As places of worship cannot be built or maintained without expense, it may be proper that those who contribute thereto should be accommodated accordingly; but were all persons more spiritually-minded, the poor would be treated with mo...

Verse 13. _FOR HE SHALL HAVE JUDGMENT_] He who shows no mercy to man, or, in other words, he who does not exercise himself in works of charity and mercy to his needy fellow creatures, shall receive no mercy at the hand of God; for he hath said, _Blessed are_ _the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy_. The unmerciful therefore are _cursed_, and they shall obtain no mercy. _MERCY REJOICETH AGAINST JUDGMENT._] These words are variously understood. 1. _Mercy_, the merciful man, the abstract for the concrete, exults over judgment, that is, he is not afraid of it, having acted according to the law of liberty, _Thou shalt love thy_ _neighbour as thyself_. 2. Ye shall be exalted by mercy above judgment. 3. For he (God) exalts mercy above judgment. 4. A merciful man rejoices rather in opportunities of showing mercy, than in acting according to strict justice. 5. In the gre

FOR HE SHALL HAVE JUDGMENT WITHOUT MERCY, THAT HATH SHOWED NO MERCY - This is obviously an equitable principle, and is one which is everywhere found in the Bible. Proverbs 21:13. “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself but will not be heard.” 2 Samuel 22:26, “with the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory.” Compare Psalms 18:25; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 7:1. The idea which the apostle seems to design to convey here is, that th

EXPOSITION JAMES 2:1 WARNING AGAINST RESPECT OF PERSONS. JAMES 2:1 The translation is doubtful, two renderings being possible. (1) That of the A.V. and R.V., "Hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." (2) That of the R.V. margin and Westcott and Hort, "Do ye, in accepting persons, hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory?" According to this view, the section commences with a question, as does the following one, James 2:14. According to the former view, which is on the whole prefe

FOR HE SHALL HAVE JUDGMENT WITHOUT MERCY,.... Strict justice, and no mercy shown him: THAT HATH SHOWED NO MERCY; to the poor brethren, and distressed members of Christ, but has shown respect of persons to the hurt of the poor, and has despised and oppressed them, instead of relieving and comforting them; so the rich man, that neglected Lazarus at his gates, is refused a drop of water to cool his tongue; and the servant that cruelly insisted on his fellow servant's paying him all he owed, justly incurred the displeasure of his Lord, and was by him delivered to the tormentors; and that servant that beats his fellow servants will be cut asunder, and, have his portion with hypocrites; and such who have seen any of the brethren of Christ hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and in prison, and have showed no regard for them, will hear, "Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire": AND MERCY REJOICETH AGA...

II. THE ROYAL LAW: FAITH AND WORKS CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The faith of Christ with respect to persons (James 2:1)_ 2. The royal law (James 2:6) 3. Faith must be manifested by works (James 2:14) James 2:1 Here we have the synagogue mentioned, sufficient evidence that these Jewish believers were still gathering together in the Jewish fashion, and were not an ecclesia, an assembly, gathered out. The Epistle to the Hebrews, written many years after the Epistle of James, exhorted them to leave the camp behind and go outside of it (Hebrews 13:13

This paragraph on Servility suits exhortation of Jews incomparably better than that of Christians, among whom not many rich were found for generations. The scene of James 2:2 is the synagogue, best taken in its literal sense; and acts of oppression towards the congregation of God's poor are familiar to readers of the OT. Give up, he pleads, trying to combine with acts of servility the belief in the Lord of Glory. On the theory sketched in the introduction, the name Jesus Christ was added in the margin by an early reader: as the various efforts of translators and commentators show, the words made the sentence almost impossible Gr. when taken into the text. The worshipper in shabby clothes the adjective corresponds to the noun rendered baseness in James 1:21 is contrasted with the gold-ringed man in brilliant clothes (shining wh

RESPECT OF PERSONS (James 2:1) _ 2:1 My brothers, you cannot really believe that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, and yet continue to have respect of persons._ Respect of persons is the New Testament phrase for undue and unfair partiality; it means pandering to someone, because he is rich or influential or popular. It is a fault which the New Testament consistently condemns. It is a fault of which the orthodox Jewish leaders completely acquitted Jesus. Even they were bound to admit that there was no respect of persons with him (Luke 20:21; Mark 12:14; Matthew 22:16). After his vision of the sheet with the clean