James 2:8  If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9  But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11  For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

We notice in verse 8 that law keeping is not wrong. God did not give the law for fun. He did not do so just to take up time. He gave the law because It is the LAW. What has happened often throughout history is the wrong understanding and application of the law.
In verse 9 God pointed out the purpose of the law. The person who shows respect to persons based on their status commits sin. How do we know that? The law tells us that. The born again Christian does not need to walk on tiptoes thinking he is walking on eggshells. He is set at liberty to enjoy life.

Galatians 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Philippians 4:1  Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

II Thessalonians 2:15  Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

In all three of those verses we are commanded to stand fast. True Christians have a spiritual back bone. They have been born again and they know God’s Word is truth. I heard a secular person state: ‘if you won’t stand for truth, you will fall for anything’. That person was talking about the resistance against the tyrannical government we have had for 9 years now. The problem with that person and thousands others like her is that they do not stand for truth. They stand for their particular version of truth. A corrupted truth is much more enticing than absolutely truth.
The few people who are saved, will love the truth. It would be good to take the time to read Psalm 119. The Psalmist was directed by God to spend that entire Psalm talking of the blessings of living by the Word of God. It does not support the Pharisaical misuse of the Word of God. There are many religions that misuse God’s Word. I have been accused of misusing God’s Word. Since I love the Lord, it concerns me when someone accuses me of misusing God’s Word. It truly is not that difficult to know if a person is misusing the Word of God.
First of all, you need to be saved. The indwelling Holy Spirit is there to give witness to those who are truly saved. He will give understanding of the truth. He does not work in a vacuum. The saved person must be a student of God’s Word. He must dismiss anything else as chaff.

I Peter 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
16  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

Throughout Scripture, there has been an attack against God’s Word and against those who love the Lord. A person who is loved by the majority, is obviously going the wrong way. A person who can find a ‘home’ in the many corrupt organizations around, is obviously going the wrong way.
In verse 10 of our text we are further reminded that the saved person cannot prioritize the things he appreciates about God’s Word and dismiss the things he does not like. We also learn that the person who thinks that law keeping is the way of salvation or blessing is in big trouble. No one can keep God’s law perfectly.
A truly born again Christian does not have a list of laws that he memorizes and checks off every day. A truly born again Christian understands that all of God’s Word is important. He or she reads God’s Word daily and he meditates on God’s Word day and night. In today’s world, there is very little worth listening to on the radio. The Internet offers a real smorgasbord of thoughts. A godly person is one who is well grounded and being grounded in the Word of God. That is his primary source of information. He loves God’s law and he wants to be more like his Master all the time.
In verse 11 God pointed out some of the hypocrisy we can be guilty of. Genesis 2:24 sets the foundation for marriage. God has never changed that foundation. Jesus took the Pharisees back to that foundation in the New Testament. Anyone who breaks God’s law on marriage, is committing adultery. That is what God says. I know the perversions corrupt the truth and many people are living in sin because they have chosen to believe something that agrees with their corrupted heart, rather than believing what God’s Word says. God’s Word will lift the true saint up and draw the person closer to the Lord. The corruptions will keep the person bound by sin and looking more like the world all the time.
James was directed to use the example of adultery in this text. However, he was also told to use the example of murder. To kill someone without just cause is sin. A just government has the responsibility and the authority to kill a murderer. Canada does not have a just government. They kill innocent people like babies. There are many doctors and nurses and mothers and fathers who are guilty before God on this account alone. Interestingly, our government refuses to enact capital punishment, but it loves to kill babies. Now we have MAID which is being promoted in more and more cases. The government also tried to kill people with the shots that too many people took over the past few years. Those shots were not nearly as potent as the governments would have wanted. However, those who have taken them are a ticking time bomb.
I am currently dealing with a man who is suffering massive neurological issues due to the shots. The ‘system’ does not give him long to live. Of course the naysayers will insist that you cannot prove that the shots are killing him. The system certainly believed they could prove thousands of people had the Wuhan virus. They used a faulty test that was never designed to be used for that purpose to “prove” infection. They removed good, inexpensive medications from the shelves so that people could not access them. Doctors and nurses lost their jobs if they would not submit to the murderous government plot. There is still a massive shortage of health care workers due to the government’s ungodly demands.
God’s law is good. God’s law is liberating. God’s law sets the person free to glorify Him. The born again Christian lives by Christ’s righteousness.

Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We have many verses in this devotional. Meditate on those verses. Think about what they say. If you have been crucified with Christ, then you have died to your old self. You are alive, but not in that old life. You are now a true child of God and your life is found in Christ.
It is not law keeping that saves. Salvation changes the recipient and the new nature given to them by God, changes them. It is not a passive change. It is an active change motivated by the love of Christ dwelling in the saved person. The saved person rejoices in God’s gift of salvation. The ungodly person complains about holy living. They want the world and they have convinced themselves that worldliness is godliness. Don’t be deceived. Honour God and know His blessings.
Pastor Bartel