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Chapter 2

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¹ My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

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For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,

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and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my feet,"

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have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? ²

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Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor ³ in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

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But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court?

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Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?

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However, if you fulfill the royal ⁴ 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 commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

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For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it.

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For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not kill." Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law.

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So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom. ⁵

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For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

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⁶ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

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If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day,

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and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?

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So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

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Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

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You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.

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Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?

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

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You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.

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Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God."

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See how a person 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 welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?

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