If you have true saving faith, you will practice impartiality (vv. 1–13) and see people in terms of character and not clothing. You will not cater to the rich or ignore the poor, but you will love each person for the sake of Jesus Christ. Christian love simply means treating others the way the Lord treats you and doing it in the power of the Spirit.
The early church was not drawn from the wealthy or ruling classes. It was largely made up of poorer people, those who were “poor in the eyes of the world
James 2:1-9 NIV1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
- We can discriminate on the basis of appearance.
- We can discriminate on the basis of ancestry.
- We can discriminate on the basis of politics
- We can discriminate on the basis of age.
- We can discriminate on the basis of achievement.
- We can discriminate on the basis of affluence.
- Matthew 9:10-13 NIV While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- For there is no partiality with God. (Rom. 2:11)
- God blesses those who willingly recognize their spiritual bankruptcy (Mt 5:3).
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
- He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given. (Prov. 19:17)
- Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. (Prov. 21:13)
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
- The same God who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said “Do not murder.” It is also the same God who gave the royal law of love for one’s neighbor. The person who breaks just one of these laws has “become a lawbreaker.”
Galatians 6:1-2 NIVBrothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
But remember, it is Jesus Christ who saves.