I do not understand verse 1: "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons."
The part I don't get is "have not the faith" - sounds to me as though James is saying our Lord Jesus Christ has NOT the faith with respect of persons - which is totally opposite to what the rest of the chapter says.
I know from reading the rest of the chapter (and other scripture) that we believers should not have respect of persons based on outward appearance, positions of power, political influence, etc. to the detrement of persons of ordinary stature.
First of all, he says my brethren. So these are believing Jews. Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. So when it says my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's exactly what it says in the Greek text. It is the faith of Jesus Christ. It is His faith. And we have it. We have His faith that He has given to us.
So it says to stop having the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Now that term "with respect of persons," the Greek word literally means to receive according to the face, or in other words, outward appearance. If the judge recognizes you and wants to let you off the hook, he will. But that's not justice.
So what he is saying here is you actually have, continuously with you the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, but when you discriminate, that does not go together. God does not discriminate. He does not show partiality. And having the faith of Christ and discriminating against people, the writer of Hebrews says later on in Verse 9 of James Chapter 2 that it is a very evil sin.
Hi Joe, I think there are a lot of things that we should not mix or confuse with our faith in the Glory of Christ by our partialities that are so much a part of us as weak vessels. We need to lay these weights aside by the grace of God in our lives.
The part I don't get is "have not the faith" - sounds to me as though James is saying our Lord Jesus Christ has NOT the faith with respect of persons - which is totally opposite to what the rest of the chapter says.
I know from reading the rest of the chapter (and other scripture) that we believers should not have respect of persons based on outward appearance, positions of power, political influence, etc. to the detrement of persons of ordinary stature.
First of all, he says my brethren. So these are believing Jews. Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. So when it says my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's exactly what it says in the Greek text. It is the faith of Jesus Christ. It is His faith. And we have it. We have His faith that He has given to us.
So it says to stop having the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Now that term "with respect of persons," the Greek word literally means to receive according to the face, or in other words, outward appearance. If the judge recognizes you and wants to let you off the hook, he will. But that's not justice.
So what he is saying here is you actually have, continuously with you the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, but when you discriminate, that does not go together. God does not discriminate. He does not show partiality. And having the faith of Christ and discriminating against people, the writer of Hebrews says later on in Verse 9 of James Chapter 2 that it is a very evil sin.
This verse can't contradict other scripture. Since he addressing the brethren let see if a pronoun helps.
James 2:1 My brethren, have (you) not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Hope this helps. GBU
Carleton
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