Message Title: See People with God’s Eyes
Message Truth: How we treat other people is a great test if we truly understand the Gospel.
Message Text: James 2:1-13
James examines how we grow up in Faith?
1st Test- How do we handle Trials?
2nd Test – How do we handle Temptation?
3rd Test – How do we handle Gods Word?
4th Test –How do we handle other people?
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, Ephesians 2:11-14
Two truths:
- Favoritism happens naturally because of sin.
- Favoritism is wrong logically because its impractical and unspiritual.
James says favoritism is wrong on 2 Levels:
Practical level (v.4)– your dividing people superficially just by appearance, money, race or social status.
Spiritual Level (v.5-10) – your dishonoring God wants to honor. Most people who followed Jesus were common people.
It’s easy to Judge, but it’s a special person that can show mercy.
Mercy over Judgement v.12-13
Mercy triumphs over judgment because God, in his loving character, provides a way for salvation and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which satisfies divine justice for humanity’s sins. In Christian theology, Jesus’s death acts as a substitute, allowing those who believe to receive God’s mercy instead of facing the eternal judgment they deserve. Therefore, mercy is seen as the greater and ultimately victorious attribute, exemplified by God’s love and offered through the act of faith, rather than by human works.
