Thursday September 22, 2011
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
James 2:10-11
James is trying to convince the reader that it’s not enough to keep just certain parts of “the law” or God’s rules but not submit to the rest of the law. When we violate any part of the law, the whole law is broken. In regards to being a “respecter of persons” or favoring one kind of person over another because of some outward issue, Warren Weirsbe says this:
“Showing respect of persons can lead a person into disobeying all of God’s law. Take any of the Ten Commandments and you will find ways of breaking it if you respect a person’s social or financial status. Respect of persons could make you lie, for example. It could lead to idolatry (getting money out of the rich), or even mistreatment of one’s parents. Once we start acting on basis of respecting persons and rejecting God’s Word, we are heading for trouble.”
Application:
I know that today, I needed to read this today. My question for you is this
How is “fear of man” or being a “respecter of persons” leading you into sin?
Are other people controlling your behavior and thoughts more than God?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
I learn from the passage that if you follow the law or the ten commandments but along the way you like offend someone you ate like guilty of all sins. God also says not to murder or commit adultry…but if we don’t commit adultery but still kill people then you have broken the law you have become a violator of the law.
Are* typo
Exactly Mafalda! Great points!!! 🙂 if u Sontag follow the 10 condmandments like if u break one or two or even all of them. It’s called sin, sin is something tht God will forgive us from. The bible says tht god will forgive us from our sins and give us a home in heaven if we acknowledge tht he created everything and is the lord of lords and the god of gods! 🙂 if u have been a rule breaker of gods word then u r a sinner. All of us r. We all have sinned and came short from the glory of god! And I loved today’s veruses and it was a great lesson and message! 🙂 loved it! 🙂 love u guys and c u guys on Sunday! 🙂
Great Point Tristi! If we just break 1 or 2 of the laws its still sin even if u didn’t break all of them! We r ALL sinners and we have come short of the glory of God! But God will forgive u of everything u hv done! 🙂 But remember 2 forgive ur self too!! 🙂 This was an awesome lesson and verses! See u guys sunday! 🙂 Love u guys!!! ❤
Missed you last night Allie. Hope you’re feeling better. 🙂
These verses remind me that although sins have different consequences that all sins are sins in Gods eyes. I may have not murdered anyone but I have definitely hated people before and that is the same. The bible also says “as a man thinkith in his heart, so is he”. Thank the Lord sending us a way out of this sinful mess we are all in.
These verses are also a great reminder that I often think… I am doing alright because I don’t have this huge weight of sin in my life but it’s being complacent with sin that can lead us to destruction. God hates sin and we should too no matter if it’s a sin we have acted on or a sin we have thought. We need to see sin as God views sin and ask for forgiveness and turn from those actions or thoughts.
My application today is a little different. I am going to spend a little while in prayer this morning asking God to help me know the sins in my life and to repent of them.
Around us there is so many things that keep us away from God’s word it’s sad. But i’m glad I did this today to remind us that there is stuff in this world that can hurt us but God’s law is so much better.
I think James is saying that it’s kinda pointless to obey one of the commandments, and completely disobey all of the others. If you break one law, you break them all. I could be good at honoring my father and mother, but be lying and cheating all the time. If that was true, then what’s the point in just keeping one commandment?! I should be trying to keep all of the commandments, even though it’s hard.
I think the way that I’m a “respecter of persons” is because I care too much about what other people think of me, which can control my behavior and thoughts more than God. But I’m working on letting ONLY God control my behavior and thoughts, and this passage is very helpful! 🙂
That’s a good way of thinking about it Alexis…
I’ve been wondering this questions all week, how can we be respectors of persons without going into sin? Well.. idk exactly. I know that sometimes by trying to reach out to a certian person, it can lead to me doing things i wouldn’t normally do. Today for example, i really wanted to connect with others today that i normally wouldnt talk to. The only way some people respond is if your in some way like them. Well, i knew this wasnt the way to go because where would that get me? No where if i’m not being myself! I don’t want to have to change in order to be accepted. I talked to them as myself, Lindsey Amber Mentzer, and let me say it wasn’t exactly the outcome i wanted, but it was an effort 🙂
I’ll be honest, other people seem to control my thoughts more than God at times. I’m surrounded by ungodly people 5 days a week for 7 hours or more. It’s hard not to be influenced by others, and i know that i fall into sin everyday. Verses 10-11 basically say that when we break one law, we break all laws. I’m just as guilty as someone who has murdered 10 people.. sin is all the same in God’s eyes, just with different consequences as Megan said. It makes me feel like i’m a terrible person. I’m so thankful to know that Jesus died for my sin and saved me from all the wrong i do in my life. I don’t deserve the everlasting love God shows me, and i wish i could do more to show God how much i really do love Him!
Just to clarify, and I think this will help you a little Lindsey (and others)…
Just because we do for one person what we haven’t done for someone else it doesn’t mean that we are showing favoritism.
It is favoritism when we say, I only want to do for this kind of person, and I definitely would never or don’t ever do for that kind of person.
When we do for one person what we wish we could do for every person, that’s when we are doing what is right.
And if everyone did for one person what they wish that they could do for everyone else, the world would be a lot different of a place.
Does that make sense?
That makes complete sense! Thank P.Ben 🙂
This is something I’ve been struggling to deal with all week. My friends are either Christians, but don’t really go to church or have a real relationship with God, or they don’t know Him at all. They’re actions reflect on how they behave and live. My friends are really judgmental, and sometimes I find myself being judgmental of others because I’m wrapped up in it. This is so wrong.. I’m ashamed to admit that only does this happen, but that sometimes my friends influence me to do it. I’m supposed to be a good testimony to them and show them what Christ is like and what Christianity is all about, but I can’t do that by letting my friends control my thoughts. I try to be myself all the time, I’m not a fake person and I don’t try to be, but by letting other people control my thoughts sometimes I’m not being any better than my friends. This is a problem and it needs to change! These verses this week have really touched my heart and I’m trying to really reach out to those who are “invisible” in my life. I want to serve God for the rest of my life, it’s my passion, but I really need to start applying these practical verses to my life and start putting on the body of Christ and being a true follower of Christ! No one is perfect, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to be like Christ! Love you all and I hope these verses are hitting you like they’re hitting me! I’m gonna be super long winded Sunday 😉 yay Tristian, Mafalda, Mackenzie, Bryce, and Allison! Lol jk I’ll make it fun! Have a great night everyone!
im feeling better. Thanks Megan!!! 🙂
People definiley have an effect on how you behave. So we need to be careful on who we let influence us.