Speaks Against His Brother...Speaks Against The Law

James 4:9-14 - Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

James 2:8 - If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.

James 5:9 - Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Isaiah 2:22 - Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

Conclusions:

• The law of love is called royal because it is the supreme law that is the source of all other laws governing human relationships
• The royal law is the summation of all laws
• James calls for patience toward believers as well as unbelievers
• “The Judge is standing at the door!” is a reference to Christ’s second coming and the judgment associated with it
• The New Testament insistence on imminence arises from the teaching that the last days began with the incarnation
• We have been living in the last days ever since the incarnation
• The next great event in redemptive history is Christ’s second coming
• The New Testament does not say when Christ’s second coming will take place, but its certainty is never questioned and believers are consistently admonished to watch for it
• It was in this light that James expected the imminent return of Christ
• “Stop trusting in man” means cease from man or give up on man
• “Stop trusting in man” describes the rejection of the Messiah
• Ironically, the one Man who should have been trusted and esteemed was rejected, given up on by men
• The Messiah alone was (and is) worthy of the esteem wrongly given to frail leaders

Application:

• Do you keep the royal law?
• Are you patient toward others and do you watch for Christ's second coming?
• Do you trust in man?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible