guilty – Ministry of Grace Church

For whoever shall keep the whole law, but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all of them.

Truth to Learn

Even a single little accidental sin condemns us as unrighteous.

Behind the Words

The Greek verb translated “shall keep” is tereō which is the word used of a guard keeping watch over a prisoner. This word can also mean to “hold fast” or to “keep.” It is expressed in the subjunctive mood, so it could be translated, “might keep.”

“Whole” is translated from holos, which means “the whole thing.” Hence, James is referring to the entire body of laws which the Jews were expected to keep.

The word “stumble” is a form of ptaiō, meaning “to trip or stumble.” James’ point is that this is an unintentional commission of an act.

“Guilty” is translated from enochos which is made up of en, meaning “in or on” and a form of echō, meaning “to have” or “to hold.” Therefore, this word means “to be ensnared” or “to be held on to.”

The word translated “of all” is pantōn, meaning “all” but it is a possessive plural adjective. Hence, it means, “of all of them.”

Meaning Explained

James is now drawing an application based on the summary that he just declared in the past two verses. After reading these two verses, someone might say, “But it’s not such a big thing to show favoritism. I mean, it’s not like I just killed someone!”

Some churches teach that there are minor sins and there are major, or cardinal, sins. James disputes that. He uses exaggeration here to make his point. He says that if there were someone who should be able to keep the entire body of the law, and yet should accidentally slip-up on one little thing, he is just as guilty as if he had broken every law – including murder.

In God’s book of records, He judges us all based on keeping all of His laws. Unless we live a perfect life and do not violate a single part of His law, we are marked as unrighteous. And, according to Romans 6:23, the penalty for our sin is death. Jesus Christ is the only man who is able to live His entire life without violating any of God’s laws (because He is God). We, on the other hand, have a sin nature and are incapable of living a sinless life, which is why we need a sinless Savior who was willing to pay the penalty for our sins with His life.

So – if we treat others differently, simply based on how they look or how they dress, we are guilty of sin no matter how insignificant we think this type of action might be. Even if we do it unintentionally, we are guilty and must pay the penalty.

Application

Are you trying to please God by living as good a life as you can? If so, then one day, when you stand before the Judgment of God, you will be declared unrighteous and sentenced to eternal death in the lake of fire. No ifs, ands, or buts. On the other hand, if you have humbled yourself before Almighty God, confessed yourself to be a sinner, and accepted His free gift of life through the blood of His Son, then you are now legally declared to be righteous and you will spend eternity in heaven with Him.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 3:19

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Truth to Learn

None of us can live without breaking the rules, no not one.

Behind the Words

The word translated “guilty” is hupodikos, a compound word made up of hupo (hypo), meaning “under” and a form of dike, which means “judgment.” Hence, it means “under judgment, guilty, or condemned.”

Meaning Explained

Paul is talking to the Jewish Christians in Rome who were proud of the fact that they were descendents of Abraham and proud of the fact that the Law and the Prophets (the Old Testament) had been entrusted to the Jews. They were believers in Christ, but they still believed they needed to obey the Law.

Paul has just completed a number of quotations from their Scriptures which clearly show that all men are sinners; no one is righteous in God’s sight. The logical argument from a devout Jew would be that they are righteous because they obey the Law. Paul understood that attitude; he felt the same way before his conversion. Here’s what he said about himself:

I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. (Acts 22:3)

Gamaliel was a Pharisee, one of the ruling Sanhedrin, a Doctor of the Law, and honored by all the people as one of the greatest teachers of his time. So you can see that Paul was well aware of the attitude that would pervade those devout Jews even after they became Christians.

Therefore, he now shows them why their reliance on obedience to the Law is pointless. Those things that are delineated by the Law are spoken to those who try to obey the Law for one reason,

that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

In other words, Paul is saying that the purpose of the Law is to condemn all those who try to keep the Law. “But that doesn’t make sense,” you may say. “Why would God give the Law to mankind knowing that no one could keep the Law?” Paul will answer that question in the next few verses.

For now I want us all to recognize that none of us is righteous by keeping all the regulations and requirements of whatever church we belong to. Churches today have become very much like the Pharisees of Christ’s time. They imply that you have to obey all the rules and requirements of The Church, become a member, get baptized a certain way, say the right kind of prayers, or worship the proper way, and God will usher you into heaven because you’ve done the right things.

Paul says that’s baloney!

Application

Are you relying on following all the rules of your church or keeping the Ten Commandments in order to get to Heaven? If so, Paul says you’re in for a big shock when you stand before God on the Day of Judgment.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: guilty

James 2:10 – Guilty of All

Romans 3:19 – Guilty!