Real Love

Partiality is inconsistent with God’s Grace. Otherwise it would not be grace. 

It’s not like we need a reason. Humans are pretty partial. In fact, they are by nature, petty. We have petty desires and petty preferences. I used to be much more picky about what I ate, until I visited another country. I was broken from that pretty quick. Each time I feel like turning my nose up at food, I remember what I’ve seen and experienced in other cultures. I remember the warm smiles of people who had nothing! They were worse than poor, but didn’t care or even notice. They gave their all for us. They gave of their own, from their own families for us. They gave the best they had. They were excited to see us and share in the ministry of the Word. I didn’t care what was in the bowl or what the drink was; their love for me had changed all of that. 

None of us really need a ‘why’ to not be partial; we know it’s wrong. James was led of the Spirit to write such a thing though. In James 2.5-11 we see why partiality is wrong. If James was inspired to write it, I think we should be motivated to know it and obey it. Partiality is wrong for the following reasons:

One, Because it is against the poor. When we are partial against the poor, we are against those whom God has chosen. (James 2.5-6a) Poor can mean much more than just money. That is the first thing North American believers run to, but in scripture poor means so much more. For instance, Matthew 5 says “blessed are the poor in spirit”. It’s no mystery that this is not referring to money, or possessions of any kind, but in reference to the beggarly heart. We must be spiritually destitute, dependent on the One and Only and not ourselves. Generally speaking though, God loves the poor. As in Psalm 69.33— “For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.” When Christ came to the earth He identified himself with the poor according to 2 Corinthians 8.9— “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Think about it— He borrowed a stable for his birth; He borrowed loaves and fishes for a miracle; He borrowed a boat from which to preach and teach; He borrowed a coin to illustrate a truth; He borrowed a donkey to ride into Jerusalem; He borrowed a tomb to be buried in. Luke 4.18-19 says that Jesus cares for the poor— “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Those to whom James writes were despising the very ones for whom Christ cares. God help us. 

Secondly, For the rich. When we are partial toward the rich, we support those who are against Christ. (James 2.6b-7) Then, the rich oppressed Christians. They were both civilly and religiously hostile towards Christians. There’s nothing new about that, and there is nothing new about what God feels about it either. If someone looks down on you for your position in this life now, remember Proverbs 14.31— “He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.” God’s got your back. Do not be envious of those who are only in it for the fame or the fortune, because they will trade you in for more. 

Third, We are guilty of it all. When we are partial we break the whole law of God (James 2.8-11) Here, James refers to Leviticus 19.18 and the royal law. In Leviticus 19.18 it states— “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.” In context verse 15 says—“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.” Verse 37 says— “Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.” James, like the law of God, is saying that if you break one law, you have broken the whole law. If you are a murderer but not an adulterer, you have still broken God’s law which says “thou shalt not commit adultery”. The law of God is like a window— break one commandment and you have shattered the whole law. James’ point is: that partiality is a sin and breaking this commandment makes you ‘a law breaker’.  

So, all commands are related. The central answer is this then: you cannot fulfill all of them all the time, you are human! Therefore we remain an offense to a holy God. What we need is unconditional forgiveness brought on by grace. If He were partial in His love, I’m afraid I wouldn’t make the cut. I have broken the whole law. Why should I think I am above this? If He was and is impartial to me, giving abundant grace to me, why would I not naturally do the same to others?

Jesus summed up all the commands into only 2 in Matthew 22.36-40. Basically it is: Love God and Love others. Jesus further clarified in the 2nd command this issue of partiality. He also did so through John in John 13.34— “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Break this command, you break them all.

There has been so much confusion brought today from Matthew 22.39— “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Two false points have been asserted: 1) That you have to concentrate on this new commandment first. My answer is: Nope. How can you follow 2 before 1? I can only love others correctly based upon my love for God. This is not new, because it’s from the book of Deuteronomy written 1500 years before Jesus said this. “New” isn’t like ‘new off the shelf’, but new as in ‘a reminder’. In other words, this is a command that needs constant reminding. 2) That you cannot love anymore than you love yourself. My answer is: Nope again. It doesn’t mean that. The clarification of John 13.34 helps here. This commandment to love others is predicated on how much you are loved. In other words— “…Thou shalt love thy neighbour (others) as thyself (as you are loved).”

We are not just to love one another, but love one another: as He loved us. He does so, unconditionally, without reservation, and without partiality.  

The true identifier of what it means to be a follower of Christ is our real love for others. Jesus said in John 13.35— “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” You cannot really love people and have hypocritical partiality or judgment in your heart for them. It’s hypocritical, because we are all breakers of the Law. We are all guilty, no one more than the other. Jesus, the innocent, died for us, the guilty… all of us.