The Sin of Favoritism 

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My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with _an attitude of_ personal favoritism. 

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For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in bright clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 

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and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," 

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have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 

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Listen, my beloved brothers: did not God choose the poor of 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. Is it not the rich who oppress you and they themselves drag you into court? 

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Do they not blaspheme the good name by which you have been called? 

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If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. 

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But if you show partiality, you are committing 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," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 

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So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by _the_ law of freedom. 

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For judgment _will be_ merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.Faith and Works 

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What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 

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If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 

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and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for _their_ body, what use is that? 

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Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. 

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But someone will say, "You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the 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 are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 

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Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 

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You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected. 

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And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. 

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You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 

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And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 

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For just as the body without _the_ spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.