2:1 This is the reason why we must not condemn another with our judgement: we do not have the perception to understand each other well enough to glean the whole, unbiased facts. Determining that a person is inferior based on their short-comings condemns us to being determined based on ours.
Being free of judgement does not mean to be free of order; it does not mean anarchy. This judgement being spoken of references our everyday encounters with people from disparate places and ideologies. If we are labeling our acquaintances as only and nothing more than their weaknesses and mistakes, we label ourselves as the same through that unfair and unkind action.
2:2 Conversely, when God analyzes character, He both knows and understands the reasoning and though process behind our actions, inaction, reactions, thoughts and words. His omniscience allows him to glean the whole, unbiased facts. Jeremiah 17:10, God is privy to the nature of our true hearts.
Oddly, I can best explain this using a Harry Potter reference. In the films, there is a waterfall called the "Thief's Downfall." When one passes through this waterfall, all of their disguises and deceptions, costumes, enchantments, concealment: everything that is not true to themselves is washed away. Humans do not have this cleansing device, on earth it's a fairy-tale, but God actually does. Whatever we are trying to get away with, He can tell. He sees straight through whatever outward appearance we pretend to have and instead sees right into the core of who we truly are.
So, sometimes, something/someone appears bad (to us, from our limited perspective) but God can accurately perceive that there is good-intention at its core. Other times, something/someone might appear to be good, but God can accurately perceive that at its core, it is not.
The upshot of this is: do not be prejudiced; do not discriminate.
2:3 This message is written directly to hypocrites and people with superiority complexes. Refer back to The Book of Matthew 7:5 and Luke 6:42: you cannot logically accuse someone of something you are also guilty of. For various reasons a person might label another inferior, but the very act of doing that, makes the accuser inferior. Inferior to compassion, and respect. Guilty of being cruel.
2:4 We never want to be jealous or envious of another's happiness. If they are truly, spiritually happy, they have worked really hard to have it. God has lead them through their mistakes and adversity but they traversed the path he laid out.
2:5-6 The way we treat others is the way we communicate to God how we wish to be treated. However much respect and compassion we give out is what rebounds back into ourselves. What we receive is dependent on what we give.
2:7 We must live this way: patiently continuing in doing good. Those are the bricks which lay our path toward spiritual life.
2:8-9 Conversely, aggressively continuing in wrong-doing earns us bleak repercussions. When a person is greedy, unjust and evil, the suffer the consequences of those actions: a life deprived of contentment, love, compassion, hope, and truth.
2:10 Live well, live, think and act with empathy; enable your own peace.
2:11 Both the good and the bad are analyzed by God in the same manner: what they have done in their life equates with who they are as a person, and what the quality of their soul is.
2:12 A person who has lived without order will consequently arrive at disorder as their destination. Having not lived without the laws of kindness, they have un-tethered themselves from the laws of kindness. And if a person has lived imposing harsh law through corrupt authority or arrogance, they too will have the law harshly imposed upon them. Sound foreboding? What all of this means is that the way you live your life exemplifies to God what you believe is fair and just. If you do not protect and promote life, He perceives that you do not want your own live protected or promoted. Therefore, such a person is extinguished, gone from the spiritual (eternal) life which exists beyond this one.
And really, even if you're a person who does not believe in life after earth, your priority should still be to be kind and a promoter and protector of others' well-being. Our mental and emotional peace here on earth is derived from our kindness.
2:13 Do you WALK in faith or do you just talk of faith? Here is one of the most important verses of the bible: "For not the hearers of the law (God's philosophy) are just in the sight of God, but the DOERS of the law will be justified."
It does not matter how familiar your butt is with the church pew, if you stand up and walk out those church doors and do not live according to what you say you believe, the compassionate and purposeful philosophy of God, you are hypocrite and your faith is false and nonexistent.
Work! Faith without works is dead: James 2:17. Work is done through our temperament, through our action, through our compassion, through out reaction, through our thoughts and words. Be a worker; be a DOER.
2:14-15 The nature of our hearts is revelatory of whether of how aligned we are with this philosophy of God. Even a person who has never heard of the bible or of Jesus or of God is still aligned with them if their hearts are good, if they naturally express and work in compassion. God knows our thoughts and if they are good, we are excused of any repercussions and if they are bad, we accuse ourselves of our own unkindness.
2:16 God will analyze our true selves according to how well we align with this philosophy of life He gave to us.
2:17-20 This chapter directly targets hypocrisy. Paul is speaking specifically about people who pretend that they are supremely innocent and helpful, faithful and capable but are not because their actions and internal thoughts are unkind. He speaks about people who have a superiority complex (and we find these people in all arenas in life: church, home, work, school, etc.) and look down on other people or feel that they are better than others. There are ways to be a hypocrite that are both subtle and bold; we must ensure that in all moments, we live and work and interact with others with humility.
2:21-24 Paul gives us the upshot in these verses: Don't say one thing and do the opposite. Not only would you be wasting everyone's time, but you would also be ruining it. You are employing disorder and contradiction in your life and others' lives.
2:21-24 Paul gives us the upshot in these verses: Don't say one thing and do the opposite. Not only would you be wasting everyone's time, but you would also be ruining it. You are employing disorder and contradiction in your life and others' lives.
2:25 This circumcision is symbolic: when you remove from yourself unkindness, greed, and deception. Some people believe that actual circumcision determines a faithful person... incorrect. If you are not a kind person, all of your efforts identify you as unfaithful.
2:26-28 Paul clears it right up for us: No matter how religiously you follow the customs of tradition, culture or religion, if you haven't had unkindness removed from you, your efforts are fruitless. A kind person who has never picked up a religious text, never contemplated spiritually, never thought about God or a god can still be a faithful child of God without realizing: kindness tethers us to Him rather than religious customs.
2:29 What characterizes you is the quality of your spirit. God recognizes you based on your core. It's not wrong to have cultural or religious traditions and customs but neither do they identify who you really are. How you interact with others, your actions, your thoughts, your compassion and promotion of justice and truth is the only custom you must consistently follow.
2:26-28 Paul clears it right up for us: No matter how religiously you follow the customs of tradition, culture or religion, if you haven't had unkindness removed from you, your efforts are fruitless. A kind person who has never picked up a religious text, never contemplated spiritually, never thought about God or a god can still be a faithful child of God without realizing: kindness tethers us to Him rather than religious customs.
2:29 What characterizes you is the quality of your spirit. God recognizes you based on your core. It's not wrong to have cultural or religious traditions and customs but neither do they identify who you really are. How you interact with others, your actions, your thoughts, your compassion and promotion of justice and truth is the only custom you must consistently follow.
