My Friend James: Mercy's Place

In James 2:13, sandwiched between the lesson about the sin of partiality and the connection between faith and works is this gem from our friend James: “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

The first sentence in this verse is reminiscent of Jesus’ words in Mattew 7:1-2 [NKJV] 1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Judgement and mercy appear together is several scriptures, including Matthew 23:23 [KJV] “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

We just read that both mercy and judgement are “weightier matters of the law”. They are both important components to be remembered.

We know that we will be judged. James 2:12 tells us to act as those who know we will be judged.

Psalm 86:5 [NKJV] 5 For You, Lord, [are] good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

But in verse 13 James tells us the mercy triumphs over judgement. How so?

Mercy wins or triumphs because the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God pays for all sin. Sin requires judgement, and the judgement upon all sin is death. Upon repentance, mercy is applied to that sin, negating the judgement of death.  

Then, if mercy triumphs over judgement, why do we need to act as those who know we will be judged? This question is similar to the one we find in Romans 6:14-16 [NKJV] 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin [leading] to death, or of obedience [leading] to righteousness?

Precisely because the precious blood of Jesus results in mercy triumphing over the judgement that we deserve do to sin, we seek to live a sinless life. We seek to live a sinless life not so that we can receive God’s abundant mercy [See Numbers 14:18; Psalms 86:5, 15] but because of that abundant mercy – because His mercy has already triumphed over judgement.

Just like this verse about mercy is sandwiched between discussion of the sin of partiality and a outline of how works demonstrate our faith, God’s mercy stands between the judgement we deserve due to sin and the faithful life we live due to that mercy.

I hope you will continue to meet with me here and will share your own thoughts on the book of James.

You can write me any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org