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James and 1, 2, and 3 John

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of James
    18 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    James and Scripture
    19 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    1 John
    21 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    2 and 3 John
    21 Activities
  5. Lesson Five
    Proto-Gnosticism
    13 Activities
  6. Course Wrap-up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

Participants 5

James and 1, 2, and 3 John James and Scripture In | Leviticus and James
Lesson 2, Activity 4

In | Leviticus and James

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The book of James reinforces this idea by revisiting themes from Leviticus, whose moral commands are alive and well in the early church. See some comparisons between Leviticus and James in the table below.

Leviticus (NIV)James (NIV)
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. (19:15)My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. (2:1)

But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. (2:9)
Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (19:18)If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. (2:8)
Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. (19:16)Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. (4:11)
Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. (19:13)Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. (5:4)
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people. (19:18a)Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! (5:9)
Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. (19:12)Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. (5:12)
Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. (19:17)Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (5:20)

Table adapted from: J. Michael Walters, James, 1997, pp. 74-75.

James reminds us that concepts like “law” and “works,” as well as those like “love” and “freedom,” are common to both Testaments. We heard from Jesus in the passage from Matthew above that, “whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19 NIV).

So if we were tempted to misread Paul as contradicting Jesus, James provides a helpful correction. He reminds us that long before the gospel of God’s love in Christ and His Spirit, there was the “law of Love,” illustrated clearly in Leviticus 19.