Ministry of Grace Church

My brothers, do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

Truth to Learn

Do not show favoritism based on outward appearances.

Behind the Words

The word translated “Lord” is kurios, which comes from the noun kuros, meaning “might or power.” The word kurios means “one who is supreme in authority or power, a master, or an owner.” When we refer to Jesus Christ as our Lord we are saying that he is our master and our owner, the one who has supreme authority over all that we do.

“Christ” is translated from the Greek word christos. It is really not a translation, but a transliteration, that is, a word which is brought literally from one language to another. Christos comes from the verb chriō, which means “to anoint.” Hence, christos means “the anointed one.” It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Mashiach, or Messiah.

The word translated “partiality” is from the Greek word prosōpolēpsia, which is made up of prosōpon, referring to “the face” and a form of lambanō, which means “to take” or “to receive.” This word does not appear in Greek texts earlier than the New Testament but is equivalent to an earlier Hebrew idiom meaning “to lift up the face on a person;” that is, to show favoritism to someone. Hence, in its root meaning, prosōpolēpsia refers to “treating one person in a more favorable way than someone else.”

The words “of glory” are translated from doxēs, which is from the word dokeō, meaning “to think” or “to recognize.” Hence, doxes refers to “thinking of or recognizing a person for what they really are.” That is, giving them the glory or honor they deserve. The words “the Lord” are implied here and have been added to make the sentence smoother.

Meaning Explained

James concluded the first chapter talking about the form of true religion. He picks up the second chapter talking about the practice of true religion. James directs his remarks to his brothers, to those of the Christian faith, and directly addresses the issue of playing favorites.

Most of the early converts to Christianity were brought up in the Jewish faith. As such, they were accustomed to the special recognition demanded by their religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, who were wealthy and powerful both religiously and politically. Within the Christian faith we are to respect a person’s position as Paul teaches:

render, therefore, to all their dues; to whom tribute, the tribute; to whom custom, the custom; to whom fear, the fear; to whom honor, the honor. (Romans 13:7)

But, within the church, we are not to give special attention to anyone simply based on the outward appearance.

Application

Our faith establishes a relationship between ourselves and Almighty God. We have become His children and as such are to treat everyone with equal respect whether they are rich or poor, powerful or weak, male or female, old or young.