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NASB Bible

James 2

The Sin of Partiality

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 aMy brethren,  bdo not hold your faith in our  cglorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of  dpersonal favoritism.

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For if a man comes into your  1assembly with a gold ring and dressed in  2 afine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in  bdirty clothes,

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and you  1pay special attention to the one who is wearing the  afine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,"

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have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges  awith evil  1motives?

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Listen,  amy beloved brethren: did not  bGod choose the poor  1of this world to be  crich in faith and  dheirs of the kingdom which He  epromised to those who love Him?

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But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and  1personally  adrag you into  2court?

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 aDo they not blaspheme the fair name  1by which you have been called?

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If, however, you  aare fulfilling the  1royal law according to the Scripture, " bYOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.

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But if you  ashow partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the  1law as transgressors.

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For whoever keeps the whole  1law and yet  astumbles in one point, he has become  bguilty of all.

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For He who said, " aDO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, " bDO NOT COMMIT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the  1law.

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So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by  athe law of liberty.

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For  ajudgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy  1triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

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 aWhat use is it,  bmy brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can  1that faith save him?

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 aIf a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,

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and one of you says to them, " aGo in peace,  1be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

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Even so  afaith, if it has no works, is  1dead, being by itself.

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 aBut someone  1may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your  bfaith without the works, and I will  cshow you my faith  dby my works."

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You believe that  1 aGod is one.  bYou do well;  cthe demons also believe, and shudder.

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But are you willing to recognize,  ayou foolish fellow, that  bfaith without works is useless?

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 aWas not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

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You see that  afaith was working with his works, and  1as a result of the  bworks, faith was  2perfected;

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and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, " aAND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called  bthe friend of God.

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You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

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In the same way, was not  aRahab the harlot also justified by works  bwhen she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

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For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also  afaith without works is dead.



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:24:31 2007)

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