This chapter at first glance seems like it will contradict the teaching of justification in faith alone because of what James says in verses 14-26. James is not teaching something contrary to scripture, but I think what can be summed up is the commandment to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Taking the chapter as a whole, I think that loving your neighbor as yourself will help with both the sin of partiality and showing works that derive from our faith. Let’s dissect this.

The Sin of Partiality

What does it mean to show partiality? To show partiality means having favoritism, an unfair bias, or a preference toward someone based on something. In this case, it seems like the audience James was writing to, had this problem that they would take in all the people who were rich, well put together, and had the ability to give and show them favoritism over those who were poor, probably looked rough, and had little to give. When the rich people came in, the people of the church would give them all the attention, give them the best service, and give them the best seats. When the poor came in, they would be ignored, belittled, and not loved. The reason this is sin is because by doing this they are not truly following the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.” When we get to a point where we are showing favoritism to people based on outward circumstances like someone’s wealth then we stop loving them and become interested in what they have and not in the actual person. This also goes against God’s very character because God shows no partiality. God is not impressed by what we have or don’t have, but God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for all who repent and believe not caring what their social or economic status is. Once we start to show favoritism, we distort the pure message of the gospel because we show people something contrary to what we teach. Instead, the gospel calls us to love and welcome all people and preach the truth to them no matter what background they come from. If we start to show favoritism to people based on outward things, then we know we are committing the sin of partiality.

Faith Without Works

Sometimes it might be difficult to read through this and not think that James is teaching justification by works. I can assure you, that is not what he is doing. What James is teaching is that if you profess to be saved, yet you do not have a desire to do good to others, provide for their needs, or serve, it is questionable that you are actually saved. To James point, merely saying that you believe in God does not mean that you are saved because EVEN the demons believe in God. People who have been truly saved have been given a new heart with new desires. These new desires will align with the heart of Christ, and the heart of Christ is always seeking to serve others in their needs. That is why James says that if you do not have those kinds of works, it’s possible that you are not actually saved. He gives one example, if a brother from the church comes to you and says, “hey I haven’t had a meal in a few days and I am so hungry,” and your response to them is “I will pray for you,” and not offer them food that is questionable. This is just an illustration, there may be times where we don’t have the ability to actually give because we don’t have, and the Lord knows that. But if we have enough and we refuse to give a meal to a brother or sister who has not had one and that is always the pattern in our lives then it is safe to say we either need to pray God helps us to have a heart of service or that God actually save us. Works do not justify you, but having works can be a testimony of the salvation in your life. If we truly are to follow the command to “love our neighbor as we love ourselves,” then our salvation will work toward serving others, providing for others' needs when we have the ability for it, and being mindful of people who have less than we do. If the gospel is at work within us, we should strive to put the sin of partiality to death and work toward serving others knowing that the gospel gives us the grace to do so.