Today’s sermon audio can be found on Castbox at 149 “Whoever Keeps the Whole Law”, James 2:8-13.

Our primary text for January 18 is James 2:8-13. For our first reading we read Galatians 5:1-6. We started with a review of the Law/Gospel distinction and related early Protestant categorizations: the 3 Categories of the Law and the 3 Uses of the Moral Law.

Given that framework we considered the concerns that James wrote about. Along the way, to help us understand James, we considered various assertions that the Apostle Paul made. James drives us to consider the questions “Do I really fulfill the royal law?” and “Do I really love my neighbor as I love myself?”. James and Paul both speak of judgment. But Paul also tells us that “by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). James wants us to act in a manner commensurate with the royal law of liberty. I think James uses the word liberty to remind us of the Gospel. James is using the law in the third way (to guide believers to express their gratitude to God by obedience). We need to distinguish Justification and Sanctification just as we need to distinguish the Law and the Gospel. I wonder if James observed “easy-believe-ism” there in the Dispersion. But I am encouraged to think that even the author of Hebrews felt “sure of better things - things that belong to salvation” (Hebrews 6:9).

  1. Introduction: Law and Gospel
  2. The Royal Law (2:8-11)
  3. The Law of Liberty (2:12-13)
  4. The Third Use of the Law

Scripture References: Galatians 5:1-6; James 2:8-13; Hebrews 6:1-9; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Romans 7:21-25;

The 3 Categories of the Law

  1. Ceremonial Law: the OT religious rituals, rules, sacrifices, etc
  2. Civil Law: the legal system of the OT theocracy of Israel
  3. Moral Law: the 10 commandments, 2 commandments, 1 commandment

The 3 Uses of the Law (primarily the Moral Law)

  1. convict unbelievers of sin, righteousness, judgment
  2. guide all human beings to love their neighbors
  3. sanctify believers by showing us how to love God and neighbor

The Law/Gospel Distinction

  1. Law: Do this and live (Leviticus 18.5); salvation by works
  2. Gospel: It is finished (John 19.30); salvation by grace