James 4:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

NIV: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?

NASB: There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?

CSB: There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

NLT: God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

KJV: There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

NKJV: There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

Few people are more eager to judge others than those who are struggling to do right themselves. In the previous verse, James insisted that to speak against and judge our neighbors is to make ourselves judges of God's Law itself. It's not our job. This is especially true because, as James wrote in verse 6, God gives us more grace in response to our sin. For us—Christian believers who are forgiven only by God's grace—to try to make ourselves arrogant judges of other people's sin is an extreme form of hypocrisy.

Here, James makes it clear that God is the only Lawgiver and the only Judge. He is the only one able to save or destroy. If we mean to have our works judged by the Old Testament Law, the Judge will destroy us as guilty sinners. If we mean to be forgiven by the Judge on the basis of His grace through faith in Christ, we will be saved. As people dependent on God's grace, we should not presume to pronounce any verdict against others based on our own judgment. What arrogance that would be!

James 4:1–12 builds on the end of chapter 3, describing how living according to the world's wisdom has led to great conflict among James's Christian readers. They were fighting with each other because they couldn't get what they wanted. James says that living that way is adultery. It's ''cheating'' on God. He calls them to quit their friendship with the world, humble themselves, repent from their sin, and receive God's grace. God is the Lawgiver and Judge, not man.

What was causing fights and quarrels among the Christians to whom James was writing? They were living by the world's wisdom. This false perspective says human beings should do whatever it takes to get what they want in this life, even if it hurts other people. James says that to live that way is adultery, but God gives grace. Christians should repent and move close to God again. We should trust Him to provide, to be the Judge, and to lift us up in His time. In humility, we must acknowledge that all of our plans are dependent on Him, and He can change them at any moment.

The book of James is about what it means for a Christian to live a life of complete trust in God. Chapter 4 builds on the end of chapter 3, where James described the self-seeking wisdom of the world. Following this worldliness was the cause of fights among James's Christian readers. He called them to repent and, in humility, receive God's grace. He called them to stop making their plans for business as if they could accomplish anything without God. In chapter 5, he will continue to talk about the dangers of trusting riches instead of the Lord.

The book of James is about specifically understanding what saving faith looks like. How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believer's life? What choices does real trust in God lead us to make? Those are the questions James answers. Most scholars believe the writer was Jesus' half-brother, a son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus' birth. James may not have come to believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Eventually, though, he became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. This is possibly the earliest-written of all the New Testament books, around AD 40–50. James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered around the known world.

Accessed 5/3/2024 2:43:24 PM