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Partiality and Respect Of Persons - James 2
Partiality and Respect Of Persons - James 2
I like my friends. I like them so much that I will often cut them some slack whereas I would readily condemn a stranger. I can be even more strict in my judgment of my enemies. Such is the very problem of partiality.
- The bible is clear that God does NOT show such partiality IN JUDGMENT (Deut. 10:17; 2Chron. 19:7; Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25).
- Jesus was known for not allowing such to cloud His judgments and teaching (Matt. 22:16)
- Those who ruled over God’s people were instructed to NOT allow such partiality in their judgments (Lev. 19:15; Deut. 1:17; 16:19).
- The wisdom of Proverbs warned against it (Prov. 24:23; 28:21).
In our judging of right and wrong, we simply must judge by God’s standard and NOT allow external circumstances to cloud such judgments. James deals particularly with perverting judgment in favor of those who are rich, but there are others areas that also interfere with righteous judgment. Men show partiality to family, to friends, to fellow citizens. Judgment is perverted along racial, ethnic, and national lines. Men give special treatment to the educated, the famous, the powerful, the beautiful, the tall, etc. We have all done it. We all despise it when we are the one who is treated unjustly.
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). God will. Hugh DeLong
NOTE: There IS mercy in judgment, especially with God through Jesus. Yet, even in such mercy there is righteous judgment. God has mercy upon our sins, which He has righteously judged and condemned. Such mercy does not pervert the judgment that we have sinned.
Hugh DeLong
