What does it matter if you think highly of yourself, when someone else despises you? Are we not all one body, both great and small? Therefore if in principle we are all one and members of each other, why do you mindlessly exalt yourself? Why do you bring shame on your brother? For just as he is a part of you, so you too are a part of him.

James here demonstrates that those to whom he is writing were full of faith but empty when it came to works.

Anyone who does things by showing favoritism covers himself with great shame and reproach, for that way he brings disdain not only on his neighbor but much more on himself as well.

Far from me is the notion that in your tabernacle, Lord, the rich should be more highly regarded than the poor, or the noble than the less wellborn. You have chosen the weak things of this world to put the strong to shame, and you have chosen things which are dishonorable, despised and of no account, in order to bring to nothing the things which are.

What James says here applies not just to rings but to any sign of wealth, for the ring is meant to stand for a treasure house of riches.

There is no difference between rich and poor in Christ. Pay no attention to the outward appearance, but look for the inner faith instead.

Who could bear to see a rich man chosen to occupy a seat of honor in the church when a more learned and holier man is passed over because he is poor? Is it not a sin to judge by appearances that a rich man is a better man?

The word and often occurs here, where we would expect subordinate clauses instead. This was the older way of speaking, which James records for us.

It is by choosing the poor that God makes them rich in faith, just as he makes them heirs of the kingdom. It is rightly said that he chose this faith in them, since it was in order to bring it about that he chose them.

The apostle’s testimony is a very serious matter. Do the nobility think that they are immune from his strictures, because he referred only to the rich and not to the noble as well? But there is so great an overlap between these two groups in practice that it makes little difference which one of them the apostle was speaking about. His words certainly ap-ply to both.

Some people say that this is meant to be a comfort to the poor whohave been thrown out of the houses of the rich or who dwell in inferior accommodations. Even if they are poor in material things, they may be rich in faith.

When poor people are not preoccupied with the things of the world, when they come to faith, they often become more energetic and more determined to work at it than rich people do.

Bear their greed as patiently as you can! Those people destroy themselves, not you. For while they rob you of your money, they strip themselves of God’s favor and help. For the one who bases his life on greed and gathers all the wealth of the world around him is in fact the poorest of all.

Here James shows us more clearly who these rich people are, whose humiliation and destruction he talked about earlier. They are people who put their riches before Christ, who are themselves strangers to his teaching and who use their power to oppress those who believe. They take poor people to court and blaspheme the name of Christ. That there were many upper-class people in the time of the apostles who did this kind of thing is clear both from the Acts of the Apostles and from Paul’s letters.

This refers to the rulers of the Jews, who enriched themselves on tithes, and also to the leaders of the Romans, who were idolaters at that time.

This is the name of the God of Israel, which was invoked on your behalf in Egypt, as well as in your baptism.

Love your neighbor means three different things. The first is corporal, that is, the literal sense of the words. The second is spiritual, according to which we love those close to us even though we may be absent from them. The third is contemplative, by which love itself is beheld. But we have to understand that one leads to another. The corporal inspires us to go on to the spiritual, and that in turn lifts us up to the contemplative. The spiritual may sometimes regress to the merely corporal, but the contemplative never fails us. The corporal and spiritual forms of love are common to human beings and have analogies in animals, but the contemplative is reserved for humans alone.

Just as you want to be treated justly and properly by your neighbor, so you must behave toward him as you would towards your kinsman and child of God. What our Savior said about this is absolutely right: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. For this is the law and the prophets.^[1]

It is a sin to show any class distinction among persons, for the law says: You shall not be partial in judgment, you shall hear the small and the great alike.^[1] Jesus confirmed this when he said: Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.^[2]

Is it possible that the person who has discriminated between rich and poor is guilty of murder, adultery and sacrilege? That does indeed seem to be the conclusion which James is drawing. Such a man is guilty of every crime, because by offending in one point he has become guilty of them all.

What does it mean to offend in one point and lose all, except to have fallen from the precept of love and thereby to have offended in all the other commandments? Without love none of our virtues amounts to anything at all.

When we wear a piece of clothing, it covers us all over. Righteousness is like this, for it protects itself by good works at every turn and leaves nothing exposed to the ravages of sin. For if someone is righteous in some of the things he does and unrighteous in others, it is rather as if he is covering one side of his body but leaving the other side naked. Such a person is not doing good works, because these works are made evil by the unrighteousness which is present in him.

To fail in one point is to lack perfect love, for this is the source of all good deeds. If something in the head is not right, the rest of the body suffers as a result. The entire purpose and plan of God is designed to lead to perfect love. That is the meaning of the commandments such as Do not commit adultery, Do not kill and so on.

Why does James choose these two commandments as his examples? Because they are the ones which deal most closely with loving and with hating one’s neighbors.

James added these commandments in order to give examples of what he was talking about, which was love. For someone who loves his neighbors as he ought to will neither commit adultery with them nor kill them. When these things are done, they indicate contempt for the neighbor.

By the New Testament law everyone is born again, free and equal with one another.

The law of liberty is the one which does not recognize classes of persons. This is the law of Christ. Whoever shows favoritism is not free but a slave, for A man is a slave to the one by whom he has been overcome.^[1]

Mercy is the highest art and the shield of those who practice it. It is the friend of God, standing always next to him and freely blessing whatever he wishes. It must not be despised by us. For in its purity it grants great liberty to those who respond to it in kind. It must be shown to those who have quarreled with us, as well as to those who have sinned against us, so great is its power. It breaks chains, dispels darkness, extinguishes fire, kills the worm and takes away the gnashing of teeth.^[1] By it the gates of heaven open with the greatest of ease. In short, mercy is a queen which makes men like God.

He who judges without mercy will be judged without mercy. And in this sense only is the same measure to be understood, that the mercy which he did not show will not be shown to him, and that the judgment which he makes will be eternal, even though the thing judged cannot be eternal.

Just as oil enables athletes to escape the hands of their opponents, so mercy prepares those who practice it to avoid and escape the demons.

God will never cut us off by his severe judgment. Rather, mercy triumphs over judgment and with his accustomed faithfulness, he will unite us in the eternal blessedness of his storehouse, if that is agreeable to him.

If you are merciful and lenient to the poor in your judgment, you will have nothing to fear from the judgment of God.

If we forgive others the sins which they have committed against us and give alms to the poor and needy among us, then God’s mercy will deliver us from judgment. But if, on the other hand, we are not well-disposed toward those around us, we shall receive the condemnation handed out to the wicked servant, along with the retribution which is mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer. For there we ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us,^[1] but if we do not forgive them, we shall not be forgiven either.

In order to help them, God has put fear in the hearts of believers, lest they think that they might be saved by faith alone, even if they continue to practice these evils.

If someone does not show by his deeds that he believes in God, his profession of faith is worthless. For it is not the one who just says that he is the Lord’s who is a believer, but the one who loves the Lord so much that he is prepared to risk even death because of his faith in him.

Take note of what spiritual understanding really is. It is not enough to believe in a purely intellectual sense. There has to be some practical application for this belief. What James is saying here does not contradict the apostle Paul, who understood that both belief and action were a part of what he called faith.

These are the words of faith, spoken to those who know that there is only one God, who is the Father of all his children. True love has two sides to it—help for the body and help for the soul. Here James concentrates on the first of these because he is speaking especially to those who are rich.

It is obvious that words alone are not going to help someone who is naked and hungry. Someone whose faith does not go beyond words is useless. Such faith is dead without works of Christian love which alone can bring it back to life.

Who does not hate this kind of [merely verbal] mercy? In it an idle piety flatters the sick with elegant language. Fruitless tears are offered to heaven. What does it profit to bewail another man’s shipwreck if you take no care of his body, which is suffering from exposure? What good does it do to torture your soul with grief over another’s wound if you refuse him a health-giving cup?

Since mercy will be exalted over condemnation and the gifts of clemency will surpass any just compensation, all the lives led by mortals and all different kinds of actions will be appraised under the aspect of a single rule. No charges will be brought up where works of compassion have been found in acknowledgment of the Creator.

Christ says: My justice can give you nothing except what your works deserve. To no purpose do you cry out, now that you are dead and in the power of another, for when you had opportunities and saw me in the person of the poor, you were blind.

If someone dies in his sins he has not truly believed in Christ, even if he has made a profession of faith in him, and if faith is mentioned but it lacks works, such faith is dead, as we have read in the epistle which circulates as the work of James.

I do not understand why the Lord said, If you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments,^[1] and then mentioned the commandments relating to good behavior, if one is able to enter into eternal life without observing them.

While faith provides the basis for works, the strength of faith comes out only in works.

Works give life to faith, faith gives life to the soul, and the soul gives life to the body.

If we are ashamed to imitate Christ’s sufferings, which he endured for us, and to suffer as he suffered, it is obvious that we shall not become partakers with him in his glory. If that is true of us, we are believers in words only and not in deeds.

Even if somebody believes rightly in the Father and the Son, as well as in the Holy Spirit, if he does not lead the right kind of life, his faith will not benefit him at all as far as his salvation is concerned. For although Jesus says: This is eternal life, to know you, the only true God,^[1] we must not think that merely uttering the words is enough to save us. For our life and behavior must be pure as well.

Faith is shown by deeds like the features of the face in a mirror.

Those who believe and act according to true faith do live and are not dead, but those who do not believe, or else who believe like the demons, trembling but living evilly, proclaiming the Son of God but not having love, must rather be accounted dead.

Will the devils see God? Those who are pure of heart will see him, and who would say that the devils are pure of heart? Nevertheless, they believe and tremble.

Good works are witnesses to the Christian faith, because otherwise a Christian cannot prove that he has that faith. If he cannot prove it, it must be considered completely nonexistent.

Those who believe but who do not fear God are even worse than the devils. And those who believe and tremble but who do not practice what they preach are just like the devils.

You can believe what God says, you can believe that God exists, and you can believe in him, which means that you love him so much that you want to do what he tells you. There are many evil people around who can manage the first two of these. They believe that God means what he says, and they are quite prepared to accept that he exists. But it takes someone who is not just a nominal Christian but who is one in deed and in living to love God and to do what he commands. Faith with love is Christian, but faith without love is demonic.

James gives us the example of the devils, saying that those who profess faith with their lips only are really no better than they are. For even they believe that Christ is the Son of God, that he is the Holy One of God and that he has authority over them.

The apostle says that a man who believes and does not act has the faith of demons. If that is true, imagine the fate of a man who does not believe at all.

Holy Scripture should be interpreted in a way which is in complete agreement with those who understood it and not in a way which seems to be inconsistent to those who are least familiar with it. Paul said that a man is justified through faith without the works of the law, but not without those works of which James speaks.

Just as faith without works is dead, so the reverse is also true. Therefore let integrity in faith shine forth along with the glories of upright living.

Although the apostle Paul preached that we are justified by faith without works, those who understand by this that it does not matter whether they live evil lives or do wicked and terrible things, as long as they believe in Christ, because salvation is through faith, have made a great mistake. James here expounds how Paul’s words ought to be understood. This is why he uses the example of Abraham, whom Paul also used as an example of faith, to show that the patriarch also performed good works in the light of his faith. It is therefore wrong to interpret Paul in such a way as to suggest that it did not matter whether Abraham put his faith into practice or not. What Paul meant was that no one obtains the gift of justification on the basis of merit derived from works performed beforehand, because the gift of justification comes only from faith.

According to James, someone who thinks that it is possible to believe without acting accordingly is out of his mind.

When Abraham went up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, he took four things with him—a sword, fire, a heavy heart and a pile of wood. What does the fire stand for if not the suffering of Christ? What does the sword signify, if not death? What does the wood indicate, if not the cross? And what is the importance of Abraham’s heavy heart, if it does not stand for the compassion of the Father and the angels as they beheld the death of Christ? Isaac was an earthly type of Christ and was offered up for us all. According to tradition this occurred on 25 March, the day on which the world was created, the day on which the last judgment will occur. The place where it happened was none other than the one which God would later choose for the site of his temple on Mount Zion, which is so called because Zion means mirror of life, for it was there that Abraham saw as in a mirror the life which was to be revealed in the New Testament.

James makes deft use of the example of Abraham in order to provoke those Jews who imagined that they were worthy followers of their great ancestor. In order to show them that they did not come up to the mark in times of trial and to test their faith by specific examples, James takes Abraham as his model. For what greater trial could there be than to demand that a man sacrifice his beloved son and heir? How much more would Abraham have preferred to give all the food and clothing he possessed to the poor than to be forced to make this supreme sacrifice at God’s command? James is merely echoing what it says in Hebrews: By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.’^[1] Looking at one and the same sacrifice, James praised the magnificence of Abraham’s work, while Paul praised the constancy of his faith. But in reality the two men are saying exactly the same thing, because they both knew that Abraham was perfect in his faith as well as in his works, and each one merely emphasized that aspect of the incident which his own audience was most in need of hearing.

Now someone might object to this and say: Did Paul not use Abraham as an example of someone who was justified by faith, without works? And here James is using the very same Abraham as an example of someone who was justified, not by faith alone, but also by works which confirm that faith. How can we answer this? And how can Abraham be an example of faith without works, as well as of faith with works, at the same time? But the solution is ready to hand from the Scriptures. For the same Abraham is at different times an example of both kinds of faith. The first is prebaptismal faith, which does not require works but only confession and the word of salvation, by which those who believe in Christ are justified. The second is postbaptismal faith, which is combined with works. Understood in this way, the two apostles do not contradict one another, but one and the same Spirit is speaking through both of them.

On the one hand, the blessed James says that Abraham was justified by works when he bound Isaac his son on the altar, but on the other hand Paul says that he was justified by faith, which appears to be contradictory. However, this is to be understood as meaning that Abraham believed before he had Isaac and that Isaac was given to him as a reward for his faith. Likewise, when he bound Isaac to the altar, he did not merely do the work which was required of him, but he did it with the faith that in Isaac his seed would be as numberless as the stars of heaven, believing that God could raise him from the dead.^[1]

He has sacrificed the spiritual victim and announced that the laws of nature have been overcome. He has opened up the heart of his unquenchable love for humanity and shown that nothing on earth can compare with the love of God.

Abraham had such a vibrant faith in God that he was ready to do whatever God wanted him to. This is why his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness, and it was in order that we might know the full meaning of this that God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son. It was by his perfect accomplishment of God’s command that the faith which he had in his heart was shown to be perfect.

Abraham, who was called the friend of God, proved himself faithful by becoming obedient to the words of God.

Abraham was justified not by works but by faith. For although he had done many good things, he was not called a friend of God until he believed, and every one of his deeds was perfected by faith.

That Abraham believed God deep in his heart is a matter of faith alone, but that he took his son to sacrifice him . . . is not just a great act of faith but a great work as well.

Abraham is the image of someone who is justified by faith alone, since what he believed was credited to him as righteousness. But he is also approved because of his works, since he offered up his son Isaac on the altar.^[1] Of course he did not do this work by itself; in doing it, he remained firmly anchored in his faith, believing that through Isaac his seed would be multiplied until it was as numerous as the stars.

The person who in faith honors the God and ruler of all has righteousness as his reward.

The works mentioned here are works of faith. No one can have perfect works unless he has faith, but many have perfect faith without works, since they do not always have time to do them.^[1]

The works of which James speaks are not those of the law but those of righteousness and the other virtues.

Rahab was a prostitute, but even so she was numbered among the saints.

Listen to the testimony of Scripture. In the midst of prostitution there was a pearl, in the mire there was burnished gold, in the mud there was a flower blooming with godliness. A godly soul was concealed in a land of impiety.

There must have been some people who would have argued that Abraham was a special case, since nobody would now be asked to make such a sacrifice, and that therefore his example does not really count. To answer this objection, James looks through the Scriptures and refers to the case of Rahab, a wicked woman and a foreigner to boot, who nevertheless was justified by her faith because she performed works of mercy and showed hospitality to members of God’s people, even though her own life was thereby put in danger.

Just as the spirit joins itself to the body and by doing so brings the latter to life, so works, joined to faith, give life to it as well. Furthermore, it is to be understood that faith without works is not faith at all, just as a dead man is not really a human being. But how can some say that because the spirit which gives life to the body is more honorable than the body, therefore works are more honorable than faith? I have looked into this matter in some detail and shall try to explain my position on this. It is undoubtedly true that the spirit is nobler than the body, but this does not mean that works can be put before faith, because a person is saved by grace, not by works but by faith. There should be no doubt but that faith saves and then lives by doing its own works, so that the works which are added to salvation by faith are not those of the law but a different kind of thing altogether.

Faith without works is dead, and works without faith are dead also. For if we have sound doctrine but fail in living, the doctrine is of no use to us. Likewise if we take pains with life but are careless about doctrine, that will not be any good to us either. It is therefore necessary to shore up the spiritual edifice in both directions.

In order that we may bear the name Christian as a remedy, not leading to judgment, let us take up good works while the remedies are still within our power.

James is talking here about faith after baptism, for a faith without works can only make us more guilty of sin, seeing that we have received a talent but are not using it profitably. The Lord himself demonstrated the need for works after baptism by going into the desert to do battle with the devil.^[1] Paul also exhorts those who have entered into the mystery of faith to strive to enter his peace,^[2] as if faith by itself were not enough. Holiness of life is also necessary, and for that great efforts are required.