Love and the Law

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week's Study: James 2:1-13; Mark 2:16; Lev. 19:17-18; Rom. 13:8-10; John 12:48.
Memory Text: For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13, NASB).
We know the story well; the question is, How well has it sunk in?
First a priest, then a Levite, going from Jerusalem to Jericho, encountered a man lying half dead in the road. Though both just finished their religious duties, neither was, apparently, able to link those duties with any sense of obligation to the injured soul, and so each kept walking. Finally, a Samaritan, a half-pagan, happened by, took pity on the man, bandaged his wounds, and paid for his stay at an inn where he could recover. He also promised to pay the innkeeper for anything else the man might need (see Luke 10:30-37).
Jesus told that story in response to a question by a lawyer about eternal life. Rather than tell the lawyer, Try harder! or Do more!-Jesus painted a picture of love in action. That is, we are to love even in potentially dangerous or unpleasant circumstances, and we are to love even those we don't like.
Though it's not easy, and often goes against our nature, true love involves a substantial amount of risk and calls us to tear down barriers that separate us as people, both outside and (especially) inside the church. This week we'll see what James has to say about this crucial truth.
*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 1.

Sunday October 26

The Man in Gold
Read James 2:1-4. It is, among other things, a study in contrasts. One person is rich, well dressed, and, apparently, important, while the other is poor, shabbily dressed and, apparently, a nobody. One receives the utmost courtesy, the other disdain. One is offered a comfortable, prominent seat; the other is told to stand off to the side or find a place on the floor.
The description is not a very pretty one, especially because it is depicted (potentially at least) as happening in a worship service! The Greek word for gathering or assembly in verse 2 is synagoge, probably an early reference to a Jewish-Christian Sabbath service, many of which would have taken place in private homes (see Acts 18:7-8).
In the Greco-Roman culture of the first century, one's public image and position were all important. Those with wealth, education, or political influence were expected to use these assets to enhance their reputation and benefit their personal interests. Any large gift to public or religious projects obligated the receiver to reciprocate to the giver in some way. Kindness was repaid with loyalty and generosity with public appreciation. The few upper-class people who attended Christian services expected privileged treatment. To ignore these expectations would have brought disgrace on the church. A failure to be politically correct or to reject societal values was a recipe for offense and a cause for division.
Read Mark 2:16 and Luke 11:43. What societal expectations are involved? How do they conflict with the principles of the gospel?
It is not a sin to be poor or rich, but one barometer of our Christian experience is how we treat people who are different from us in age, wealth, education, and even religious convictions. We tend to give more respect to those we perceive as above us on the social ladder and less respect to those below. We must remember that it is easy to get pulled into convention even though God calls us to be different (see Rom. 12:2).
Let's face it: we might not be as open and as crass about it as James depicted, but are we not all easily susceptible to playing favorites? How can we learn to recognize this problem in ourselves and, ultimately, deal with it?

Monday October 27

Class Struggle
As every literature evangelist knows, very often those who have the least are willing to sacrifice the most to buy Christian books. Well-to-do neighborhoods tend to be tough territory to sell books in, because the people who live there may be content with what they have and so very often do not feel their need of God as much as those who have less. The same phenomenon is also detectable on a much larger scale: the church often has grown the fastest in places and periods of economic and social stress. After all, aren't even those individuals who are struggling with big issues often more open to the hope presented in the story of Jesus than are those who think that things are going great for them?
Read James 2:5-6. How does James expand here on what he wrote in the four previous verses?
Judging from this passage, it would seem that there were major issues in the church among the rich and the poor. God chose the poor who, though rejected by the world, were rich in faith, while the rich used their wealth to oppress the poor. This problem, that of the rich exploiting the poor, was an ever-present reality at that time. Even worse, Roman law codified discrimination against the poor and in favor of the rich. Persons of lower class, who were thought to act from economic self-interest, could not bring accusations against persons of higher class, and the laws prescribed harsher penalties for lower-class persons convicted of offenses than for offenders from the higher class.-Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 694.
Read James 2:7. What important point does James make here about the impact of this bad behavior?
Their bad behavior is really blasphemy against the good name of Jesus. Bad actions are bad enough in and of themselves; what makes them worse is when those who profess the name of Jesus do them. And even worse would be those who, in the name of Jesus, use their wealth or power to gain advantage over others in the churches, which often leads to divisions and quarrels. Hence, how careful we should be that our words and actions match the good name we associate ourselves with.

You are assuming merely having them is the same as cherishing them or acting them out in thought, word, or deed. Believers who are abiding in Jesus, walking in the Spirit, partaking of the divine nature are like Jesus in that they are not sinning and that they are growing in grace and maturing in the fruits of the Spirit. This is only true, of course, while they are abiding in Jesus, walking in the Spirit, and partaking of the divine nature.

Tuesday October 28

Loving Our Neighbors
Read James 2:8-9, along with Leviticus 19:17-18 and Matthew 5:43-45. What crucial message are we being given here?
James calls God's law the royal law (James 2:8) because it is the law of the KING OF KINGS (Rev. 19:16). The law of His kingdom is given in detail in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which includes the first of nine references in the New Testament to loving our neighbor.
Jesus' words in Matthew 5:43 suggest the way Leviticus 19:18 was understood at the time. For example, the immediately preceding commands in Leviticus use apparent synonyms for one's neighbor: they prohibit hating one's brother (Lev. 19:17) and holding a grudge against one's fellow Israelite (Lev. 19:18).
Most likely some interpreted these commands to mean it would be fine to be angry with or hate someone who was not an Israelite, because he or she is not specifically mentioned in these Leviticial texts. After all, people who were not Israelites were also generally considered to be enemies. We now know that such an attitude existed in the Qumran community, a group of devout Jews who had separated themselves from the rest of the nation. They were taught to hate the children of darkness and the men of perdition (The Community Rule 1QS 1:10; 9:21, 22), labels which apparently included not only foreigners but even Israelites who had rejected the community's teachings.
Sin is the greatest of all evils, and it is ours to pity and help the sinner. There are many who err, and who feel their shame and their folly. They are hungry for words of encouragement. They look upon their mistakes and errors, until they are driven almost to desperation. These souls we are not to neglect. If we are Christians, we shall not pass by on the other side, keeping as far as possible from the very ones who most need our help. When we see human beings in distress, whether through affliction or through sin, we shall never say, This does not concern me.-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 504.
Jesus' life is the greatest example we'll ever have of selfless love for the undeserving and those who didn't love back. How can we learn to express such love for those whom we deem undeserving or who don't love us back? Why is, in the end, complete self-surrender and death to self the only answer?

I assume no such thing. The only fact we must accept is that when one gets closer to Jesus, he more clearly sees his own faults and imperfections. The only way he can be deluded into thinking that his nature is like Christ's is to be blinded to his own faults and imperfections and/or to be duped into believing that Jesus had the same faults and imperfections. No assumptions are necessary, other than that the SOP is correct on this point.

It doesn't seem like you are making a distinction between having them and cherishing them or acting them out in thought, word, or deed.

I'm also not making a distinction between Newtonian and Relativistic mechanics, or between God's command and His permission, whether or not women should be ordained, or a host of other Red Herrings. There is no need for such complications.

It's simple: "...the closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature."

Closer to Jesus -> clearer vision -> see faults and imperfections -> distinct contrast between our nature and His. That's what always happens when one gets closer to Jesus. If one does not see that contrast between Christ's nature and his own, he must not be close enough to Jesus.

Yes, they see things more clearly. But it is not because they are guilty of sinning. The 144,000 will have sinful flesh nature after probation closes. It will tempt them to sin. But they will be sinless.

Exactly. And they see faults and imperfections in themselves, unlike Jesus.