{"id":5811,"date":"2014-11-11T05:38:50","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T05:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5811"},"modified":"2014-11-19T01:44:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T01:44:59","slug":"james-210-13-mercy-triumphs-over-judgment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5811","title":{"rendered":"James 2:10-13\u2014Mercy triumphs over judgment"},"content":{"rendered":"

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, \u201cDo not commit adultery,\u201d also said, \u201cDo not commit murder.\u201d Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.<\/em> For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. <\/em>James 2:10-13<\/p>\n

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.<\/em><\/p>\n

James continued his instruction on Christian partiality by illustrating that the royal law he described in verse 8 is not subject to the whims or circumstances of life. Those who heard his letter were very familiar with the Mosaic Law and its requirements\u2014just because you were \u201cgood\u201d\u00a0at one point of the law didn\u2019t cut you any slack\u00a0on the rest of it. Everyone in the congregation\u00a0where this letter was first read knew this all too well.<\/p>\n

For He who said, \u201cDo not commit adultery,\u201d also said, \u201cDo not commit murder.\u201d Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.<\/em><\/p>\n

Although he was writing to born again men and women, James drew the connection between embracing the whole Old Testament as a standard to the believer committing his entire life to the law of love. Even if you walked in love with almost everyone, if by your behavior or attitude you dishonored even one<\/em> of your brothers or sisters in the body, your good behavior toward the rest did not absolve you from the dishonor you showed to the one. Remember, our Lord was He who left the ninety-nine to find the one (see Matthew 18:12). That one<\/em> was very important to Him, and He took the manner in which the one was treated very seriously. The good news is that Jesus is just as protective toward you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.<\/em><\/p>\n

James revisits the law of liberty<\/em>. In James 1:25 he wrote, \u201cBut one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does<\/em>.\u201d Not only are you to gaze into His Word and do what it says, but you are to so speak and so act as those who are to be judged<\/strong> by<\/em> it, as well. You are called to submit everything<\/em> in your life to the Word of God, which is the law of liberty. By this you can keep your motives, attitudes, and behaviors in contact with the washing of the water of the Word. By this you also stay humble before the Lord, knowing that you\u2014along with everyone else\u2014are accountable to the royal law, the law of liberty.<\/p>\n

For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.<\/em><\/p>\n

You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You will be rewarded according to the deeds you\u2019ve done in your body here on earth (see 2 Corinthians 5:10); all of your works will be revealed that day by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13). In light of this fearsomely awesome event to come,\u00a0the wisest way to navigate through\u00a0life is by\u00a0James’ sweeping admonition: Judgment will be merciless if you have shown no mercy; however, mercy triumphs over judgment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mercy will be the common denominator at the judgment seat of Christ. His<\/em> mercy poured out toward you\u2014because of your professed faith in Him\u2014has made you His own treasured possession (see Malachi 3:17), and will usher you into your eternal home. I believe that your <\/em>mercy shown\u00a0toward others throughout your life will render you triumphant over any outstanding judgments against you.<\/p>\n

Paul wrote, \u201cEach man\u2019s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man\u2019s work\u2026If any man\u2019s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire<\/em>\u201d (1 Corinthians 3:13, 15). The mercy of our Lord is evident here; despite the flawed works of this man and the deep loss he sustains on that day, yet he, as a new creature in Christ, will be saved. And what is the primary requirement of the Lord for believers? To love the Lord and to love others. Living below<\/em> this standard destabilizes and undermines everything else in your life. Living below this call to love is the same as building with wood, hay, and stubble in your life. Those things burn; judgment is merciless to the one who has shown no mercy. But he himself will be saved as through fire. I believe that a Christian life stingy in mercy is a life built with wood, hay, and stubble.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, mercy triumphs over judgment.<\/em> As you major on mercy toward others in your life\u2014even when you need to confront them with truth\u2014your deeds will be formed of gold, silver, and precious stone (see 1 Corinthians 3:12-14). Despite other flaws that may have nagged you in your life, as you make it your habit to major on the royal law, the law of love\u2014liberally displaying mercy to those you encounter\u2014you walk in the mercy that triumphs over judgment. An earth walk saturated with mercy toward others will be a precious commodity on the day you see Jesus face to face.<\/p>\n

When you are disappointed with yourself\u2014perhaps your behaviors, attitudes, words, or thoughts fall short of the glory of God\u2014you have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ Himself (see 1 John 2:1). Turn to Him with your whole heart and allow His love and forgiveness to wash you. But remember, freely you’ve received His mercy; now freely extend it to others as well (see Matthew 10:8). I believe that as you do, you will be building with gold, silver, and precious stones, not wood, hay, or stubble. And when you arrive before His throne\u2014and you will\u2014the mercy you have shown toward others will cause you to triumph over judgment.<\/p>\n

Sow mercy\u2014reap mercy!<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.<\/em> 1 Peter 3:8-9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, \u201cDo not commit adultery,\u201d also said, \u201cDo not commit murder.\u201d Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5811"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5822,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811\/revisions\/5822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}