James 2:1-7

v1: The sin of favouritism is a great evil that should not be found in the church. Both rich and poor are sinners in need of the salvation which Jesus gives to those who have faith in Him. “No one’s riches set them closer to God,” nor does “anyone’s poverty set them further away from God.”

v2-3: We must guard against “all undue honouring of worldly greatness and riches” especially in the life of the church. The external privileges people have must never be allowed to influence who is appointed to be a leader in the church, or exempt them from church discipline, or in anything else “that is purely a matter of religion.”

v4: “The attitude, behaviour, and ways” that “show favouritism,” like all sins, can be traced back to our hearts and thoughts, from which everything flows. Putting to death the sin of favouritism in our lives begins there.

v5-7: Favouritism is a detestable sin, “because in committing it we show ourselves most directly going against God.” For, “many of the poor of this world are the ones who have been chosen by God.” Poverty does not prevent someone from “being God’s chosen,” neither should it “prejudice the evidence that they have been chosen.” Just as those who have more are expected to “be rich in good works, because the more they have, the more they can do good with,” those who have less are to “be rich in faith, for the less they have here on earth, the more they may - and should - live in the faithful expectation of better things in a better world.”