2MY BRETHREN, pay no servile regard to people [show no prejudice, no partiality]. Do not [attempt to] hold {and} practice the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ [the Lord] of glory [together with snobbery]!G3450G80G2192G3361G4102G2257G2962G2424G5547G1391G1722G43822For if a person comes into your congregation whose hands are adorned with gold rings and who is wearing splendid apparel, and also a poor [man] in shabby clothes comes in,G1063G1437G1525G1519G5216G4864G435G5554G1722G2986G2066G1161G1525G2532G4434G1722G4508G20663And you pay special attention to the one who wears the splendid clothes and say to him, Sit here in this preferable seat! while you tell the poor [man], Stand there! or, Sit there on the floor at my feet!G2532G1914G1909G5409G2986G2066G2532G2036G846G2521G4771G5602G2573G2532G2036G4434G2476G4771G1563G2228G2521G5602G5259G3450G52864Are you not discriminating among your own and becoming critics {and} judges with wrong motives?G1252G3756G2532G1252G1722G1438G2532G1096G2923G4190G12615Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith {and} in their position as believers and to inherit the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?G191G3450G27G80G1586G3756G2316G1586G4434G5127G2889G4145G1722G4102G2532G2818G932G3739G1861G25G8466But you [in contrast] have insulted (humiliated, dishonored, and shown your contempt for) the poor. Is it not the rich who domineer over you? Is it not they who drag you into the law courts?G1161G5210G818G4434G2616G3756G4145G2616G5216G2532G846G1670G5209G1519G29227Is it not they who slander {and} blaspheme that precious name by which you are distinguished {and} called [the name of Christ invoked in baptism]?G987G3756G846G987G2570G3686G1909G5209G19418If indeed you [really] fulfill the royal Law in accordance with the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as [you love] yourself, you do well.G1487G3305G5055G937G3551G2596G1124G25G4675G4139G5613G4572G4160G25739But if you show servile regard (prejudice, favoritism) for people, you commit sin and are rebuked {and} convicted by the Law as violators {and} offenders.G1161G1487G4380G2038G266G1651G5259G3551G5613G384810For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles {and} offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.G1063G3748G5083G3650G3551G1161G4417G1722G1520G1096G1777G395611For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the [whole] Law.G1063G2036G3431G3361G3431G2036G2532G5407G3361G5407G1161G1487G3431G3756G3431G1161G5407G1096G3848G355112So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love].G3779G2980G2532G3779G4160G5613G3195G2919G1223G3551G165713For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.G1063G2920G448G4160G3361G1656G2532G1656G2620G292014What is the use (profit), my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no [good] works [to show for it]? Can [such] faith save [his soul]?G5101G3786G3450G80G1437G5100G3004G2192G4102G1161G2192G3361G2041G1410G3361G4102G4982G84615If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day,G1437G1161G80G2228G79G5225G1131G2532G3007G5600G2184G516016And one of you says to him, Good-bye! Keep [yourself] warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do?G1161G5100G1537G5216G2036G846G5217G1722G1515G2328G2532G5526G1161G1325G846G3361G2006G4983G5101G378617So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).G2532G3779G4102G3362G2192G3362G2041G2076G3498G2596G143818But someone will say [to you then], You [say you] have faith, and I have [good] works. Now you show me your [alleged] faith apart from any [good] works [if you can], and I by [good] works [of obedience] will show you my faith.G235G5100G2046G4771G2192G4102G2504G2192G2041G1166G3427G4675G4102G1537G4675G2041G2504G1166G4671G3450G4102G1537G3450G204119You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as make a man's hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!G4771G4100G3754G2076G1520G2316G4160G2573G1140G2532G4100G2532G542520Are you willing to be shown [proof], you foolish (unproductive, spiritually deficient) fellow, that faith apart from [good] works is inactive {and} ineffective {and} worthless?G1161G2309G1097G5599G2756G444G3754G4102G5565G2041G2076G349821Was not our forefather Abraham [shown to be] justified (made acceptable to God) by [his] works when he brought to the altar as an offering his [own] son Isaac?G1344G3756G11G2257G3962G1344G1537G2041G399G2464G846G5207G1909G237922You see that [his] faith was cooperating with his works, and [his] faith was completed {and} reached its supreme expression [when he implemented it] by [good] works.G991G3754G4102G4903G846G2041G2532G1537G2041G5048G4102G504823And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God's will in thought and deed), and he was called God's friend.G2532G1124G4137G3004G1161G11G4100G2316G2532G3049G846G1519G1343G2532G2564G5384G231624You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith [through works of obedience as well as by what he believes].G3708G5106G3754G1537G2041G444G1344G2532G3756G1537G4102G344025So also with Rahab the harlot--was she not shown to be justified (pronounced righteous before God) by [good] deeds when she took in the scouts (spies) and sent them away by a different route?G3668G1161G2532G1344G3756G4460G4204G1344G1537G2041G5264G32G2532G1544G2087G359826For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead.G1063G5618G4983G5565G4151G2076G3498G3779G4102G5565G2041G2076G3498G2532
Dublin, OH
