My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? James 2:1
If you were to throw a party this weekend, who would be at the top of your guest list? Perhaps you would invite your closest friends, work colleagues, or the parents of your child's friends at school. While each of us has a handful of loved ones and acquaintances whom we would include on a guest list, Jesus challenges our line of thinking, calling us to invite the most unexpected and overlooked people to be a part of our guest lists.
As Jesus attended a dinner party one evening, He challenged the host’s idea of a guest list in Luke 14. He said in this passage of Scripture to the host of the dinner party, “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet… don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors” (verse 12). This teaching would have certainly surprised the host, who very likely had invited the very people Jesus had just told him not to invite. Instead of inviting friends, family members, and rich neighbors, Jesus said, “Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” (verse 13). Why do we live this way? Jesus answered that question when He said to the host, “Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you” (verse 14). When we reach out to the poor and marginalized, serve them, and share the hope of Christ with them, God will reward us. This, my friend, is the reward we are to look to.
There is no room for partiality in God’s kingdom. James, the half-brother of Jesus, warned against partiality in James 2. He asked a compelling and convicting question in James 2, “How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?” (verse 1). The implied answer to this question is, “You can’t.” Several verses later, James asked another question: “Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith?” (verse 5). The implied answer to this second question is, “Yes, He has.” God has “chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith.” In order to make his teaching against favoritism even clearer, James continued, “If you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin” (verse 9). Make no mistake, favoring some people over others is a sin that breaks God’s heart.
God takes favoritism seriously, so we, too, must take favoritism seriously. We must live a life where we love and serve all of the people around us, excluding no one. After all, there is a place for all people who turn to Christ in God’s kingdom. May we live lives that reflect God’s love for every single person, leaving no one out.
Have you had the mindset of the religious leaders, only accepting the “best of the best?” How have you shown favoritism to the people around you? Confess your favoritism before God and commit to letting go of favoritism starting today. After all, God’s kingdom is for everyone.
James 2:1-13
1My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
In our world today, we often "rank" sins. We rank them from "not so bad" to unspeakably horrible and everything in between. The truth is, however, that God does not view sin in categories like we do. You see, all sin breaks His heart because it all separates us from Him, and it requires the precious blood of Jesus Christ to rescue us.
The apostle Paul explains the severity of sin in Romans 6. In this chapter, Paul explained that if we have placed our faith in Christ, we do not have to be mastered by sin anymore. Jesus rescued us from sin and death through His resurrection on the cross. As He writes about this freedom, he does not mince words about the consequences of sin. He writes, "The wages of sin is death" (verse 23). The price owed for all sin, from the little white lie to the greatest sin we could imagine, is death. All sin is significant. In fact, it results in death every single time. Praise God, however, that He did not leave us lost in sin. He sent Jesus to come to earth, live a perfect life, die on the cross, and rise from the dead to conquer sin and death. That is why Paul continues in Romans 6:23, "The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Yes, sin requires death, but Jesus paid the price that sin requires by dying on the cross. He gave His very life so that we did not have to face a life apart from Him.
Make no mistake, my friend. Sin is costly. It is so costly that it cost Jesus His life. It cost Him excruciating pain and torment as He died on the cross to rescue the world from sin. Because of this, none of your sins and none of my sins are "not so bad." They all cost Jesus His very life. May we understand just how weighty our sins are and just how precious Jesus' sacrifice on behalf of our sins is.
IIt is time to take sin seriously. Is there a sin in your life you have ignored because it did not seem like a big problem? Bring it to God today. Tell Him about the sin, repent from it, and commit to living differently. Ask someone whom you trust to help you let go of that sin to live a life that pleases and honors Him.
Romans 6:1-23
1Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
©2025 Sagebrush Church
