Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 2, Verse 8 “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”

James makes an argument for love for all which excludes partiality. What is the royal law? Not the Old Testament Law from Moses. This law is the law of liberty (vs. 12). Refer back to verse 25 of chapter 1. I believe James is referencing the entire Christian rule, all that God demands of New Testament people.

Sometimes people refer to the New Testament as the Christian law. This is not an accurate portrayal of the New Testament purpose. Are there instructions in the New Testament for Christians? Yes, much of the letters are written for that purpose. In truth the Christian’s law or rule book mainly consists of loving God and loving others. Everything else depends upon that rule of behavior. These two practices fulfill the entire will of God from beginning till end.

Failure to love God and failure to love others are sins. They are the means of failure as far as the Christian is concerned. The word of God tells us how to do both of those.

Task for Today: Want to keep God’s law? Love Him, love everyone else. This would be an excellent time to look inwardly and see if there is any non-love in our hearts. Don’t be a “I like them, but don’t love them” person. This verse does not leave any wiggle room. Today, remove all hate and/or animosity from your heart.