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My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality.
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For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue,(a) and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in,
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and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”
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haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
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Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
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But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts?
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Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
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However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”(b) you do well.
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But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
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For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
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For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,”(c) also said, “Do not commit murder.”(d) Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
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So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom.
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For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Works
(Galatians 3:1–9)
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What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?
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And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,
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and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
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Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
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Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
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You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder.
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But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
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Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
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You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected.
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So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,”(e) and he was called the friend of God.
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You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.
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In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
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For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
Footnotes