Part 3 of James: Don’t Play Favorites

James 2:1-13 (CSB)

This is part 3 of our series on the book of James. Throughout this letter, James is answering this question: What does it look like to live out real faith?

So far, we’ve gone through Chapter 1. In the first half, we learned that every trial presents a test of faith: will we let the trial build our endurance, or will we fall into temptation and miss out on what God wants to do in us?

In the second week, we saw how James is urging us not to forget who we are in Christ. Our actions must line up with our confession of faith. If we are Christians, then we must live like Christians are supposed to live.

He ended that chapter by saying, “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

James is saying: Care for the most vulnerable. Pursue holiness.

Now, Chapter 2 asks: Are you actually doing that?

Let’s read James 2:1-13 which says:

1 My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, 

3 if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” 

4 haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 

6 Yet you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court? 

7 Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you?

8 Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 

9 If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 

10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

11 For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker.

12 Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom. 

13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

If we are truly living out our identity in Christ, it must transform how we treat others.

It’s easy to agree that we should care for orphans and widows, but it’s another thing entirely to live that out on a daily basis. I know that we’ve “moved on” to chapter 2, but James hasn’t. Remember, this was one fluid letter—the chapter divisions were added later. James is still talking about caring for the orphan and widow even though he doesn’t name them again. He’s still confronting the same heart issue: how we treat the most vulnerable reveals the authenticity of our faith. And the first thing he tells us is what we should not do: we must not show favoritism to rich people and ignore the poor.

If we show favoritism, it’s more than just poor etiquette. James says if we do this, “you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”

It’s not that we are to favor poor people over rich people—we are to show no partiality. We are to treat all people the same. We see this message all throughout Scripture. Leviticus 19:15 says, “Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.”

We are not to show favoritism because God does not show favoritism. As Romans 2:11 says, “For there is no favoritism with God.” And in Acts 10:34-35, it says, “Peter began to speak: ‘Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’”

This brings up a crucial theological point. If there is no favoritism with God, then He has not chosen some people and rejected all other people as Calvinism teaches.

Any person who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God. Jesus died on the cross for all people. As John 1:12 tells us, “But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name.”

Personally, I believe Calvinism misrepresents the heart of God. While it’s presented as a theology of grace, it paints a picture of a God who withholds grace and mercy from the majority of humanity. That doesn’t line up with the God I see in Scripture. God is impartial: He invites all to come, and He desires everyone to be saved.

This isn’t just a theological disagreement—it’s a serious issue, because what we believe about God shapes everything. It has practical consequences. What we believe about God shapes how we treat others. If we believe God plays favorites, how can we truly obey James 2 and avoid favoritism ourselves?

In the New Testament, we see how this was a struggle for the early Jewish Christians. They had been conditioned not to associate with Gentiles. Think about Peter’s journey. The Lord told him to take the Gospel message to the Gentiles, and it was difficult for him. It went against everything he had been taught. But in the end, he declared, “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism.”

In James 2, the issue isn’t race, but wealth. The believers were showing favoritism to the rich and dishonoring the poor Christians. This issue goes far beyond just offering a better seat to wealthy people, though. Look again at verses 5-7. It says, “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? Yet you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court? Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you?”

These Christians James is writing to are showing favor to the rich non-Christians over the poor Christians. James is saying: Why are you showing preference to people who don’t love Christ?

In James’ day, that meant giving the best seats to wealthy people who were blaspheming Christ. In our day, I think it looks like changing the Gospel to win the approval of the world. We have so many pastors and leaders within Christianity who are tempted to show favoritism to the wealthy of the world. They crave the approval of celebrities and institutions that openly reject Christ. They water down the Gospel and tailor their messages so they don’t offend the people who blaspheme Christians. James would ask them, “Why would you do this? Why are you catering to those who blaspheme Christ?”

In our lives, this shows up much more subtly. We might shape our values and priorities around what’s popular, not what’s Biblically faithful. We might change our doctrines to be more culturally relative. We might change the way we speak to fit in with non-Christians. I’m all for fitting in with people relationally so I can help win them to Christ, but James isn’t talking about that. He’s talking about choosing to honor those who are “popular” or “powerful” at the expense of the lowly people who are faithful to God but are unnoticed and marginalized by the world.

When we shape our churches and our preaching to gain the world’s applause, we are showing favoritism toward those who are dishonoring the very name we bear. We are forgetting who we are. Why would we want to honor those who are dishonoring Christ, while dishonoring those who belong to Him?

We want to welcome unbelievers to our churches, but in our attempts to do that, we must be careful that we don’t dishonor those who are faithfully seeking the Lord.

I think that’s what James is alluding to in verses 8-9, which say: “Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”

We are to love our neighbor as ourselves but loving your neighbor doesn’t mean showing preference to the popular or compromising truth. If we show favoritism, we’re not being loving, we’re actually committing sin.

Why does showing favoritism make us transgressors of God’s Law? James answers this question in verses 10-13, which say: “For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all. For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you are a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

James is explaining that our good works are not enough to render us not guilty of breaking the law. For even if we were able to keep all of God’s laws except for one, we would still be judged as sinners. Our obedience in some areas of God’s law does not make up for our disobedience in other areas.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains this really well. He writes, “It follows, therefore, that if a man has been guilty of violating the law of God in any one instance, or is not perfectly holy, he cannot be justified and saved by it, though he should have obeyed it in every other respect, any more than a man who has been guilty of murder can be saved from the gallows because he has, in other respects, been a good citizen, a kind father, an honest neighbor, or has been compassionate to the poor and the needy.”

This is why the law is powerless to save us, but thankfully, Jesus did for us what the law could not do. Paul explains this in Romans 8:3-4, which says: “For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

By dying on the cross for our sins, Jesus has fulfilled the law’s requirement in us. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing left for us to do. In Ellicott’s Commentary he says, “Might be fulfilled in us—That we might be examples of its fulfilment.” That means that all of us who have become partakers of this salvation are now able to walk according to the Spirit of God and not according to our sinful flesh. Unlike those who are still bound by sin, we are freed from sin in order to be free not to sin. Christ in us has set us free from sin.

That’s why in verse 12, James returns to what he said in chapter 1 and says: “Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of freedom.” Earlier he said we must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Now he says we must “speak and act” as one who has been set free should speak and act, for we will be judged by the law of freedom.

This law of freedom is also a look back to what he said earlier in James 1:25. He said, “But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.”

Part of speaking and acting as Christians is not showing favoritism. In verse 13 he concludes this thought by adding, “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

In Ellicott’s Commentary, he points out that this must be in reference to the words of Jesus in His parable of the unforgiving servant. Matthew 18 tells us the story. A servant was forgiven of a large debt he owed the king, but he refused to forgive a small debt owed to him. He became furious and would not show any mercy to his fellow servant. The king heard about this and summoned the servant. Picking up the story in verses 32-35, it says, “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.”

James is echoing these words of Jesus: if we withhold mercy, we will be judged without mercy. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Not showing favoritism is more than just preferring some people over other people. If we show favoritism to some people and not to others, we are withholding mercy from those people. Showing mercy means saying, “You belong here, I will show grace and kindness to you, I will come along side you and help you even though you can’t repay me in any way.” We have been shown the greatest grace and mercy ever given through Jesus dying on the cross for us, why would we withhold mercy from anyone?

We’ve reached the end of this section of the letter, but the mirror James mentioned in chapter 1 is still in front of us. Do we see the mercy we’ve received from Christ? Do we see where we’ve shown or withheld that same mercy from others?

If we’ve favored those with power or popularity, we must repent. If we’ve dishonored the poor-but-faithful, then we must confess our sin.

This is why James began this letter by telling us we need to remember who we are. We are to look intently into the mirror of Scripture and let it change us. Then when we put the Bible down and go about our day, we won’t forget what we just read. We must carry it with us, remembering what kind of people we are supposed to be. We are supposed to be full of grace and mercy because Jesus Christ has showered us with grace and mercy by forgiving us of our sins.

But here is the good news: Mercy still triumphs over judgment. Because of Christ, we can receive mercy today. And because of Christ, we can become people who reflect that mercy to others.

The world plays favorites. God does not, so neither should we. So, let’s not speak and act as if we were still bound by sin. We have been set free. Let’s show that same grace and mercy to all people.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we love You and thank You for Your great love toward us. Please forgive us for the times we have shown favoritism and failed to love others as You have loved us. Thank You for Your grace and mercy that forgives and restores us. Help us to reflect that same grace and mercy to everyone, without partiality, so that others may come to know and follow You. In the name of Jesus, our Savior, we pray. Amen.