But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
To have respect to persons is to break the royal law to love one's neighbor as oneself, to commit sin, and to stand convicted as a transgressor of the law. God recognizes no caste, color, rank, wealth, or worldly honor, but estimates men as men and judges worth by character and union with Christ. The poor, unlearned, outcast, and needy are precious and dear to Him, and to neglect or slight them is to slight Christ in His people. So in church and its work every soul bought by His blood is to be treated with equal interest, courtesy, sympathy, and care, with no favoritism seating the rich in a good place while telling the poor to stand aside. The same law forbids racial prejudice and caste, for converted colored men and women who love God and do His will are His property and of as much value as white people, and all are to meet as one free and equal brotherhood.
Meaning of Sinful Partiality
Showing favor to some over others breaks the royal law to love one's neighbor as oneself, and to do so is to commit sin and stand convicted by the law as a transgressor. In institutions this means every worker bought by Christ's blood must be treated equally, with no favoritism telling the rich or favored to sit in a good place while telling the poor to stand or sit under the footstool. There is to be no confederacy to bestow favors on a select number while others are neglected, set aside, despised, and assigned to hard places until their spirits are grieved and wounded. Those who deal partially are charged with the temptations that come upon those unjustly treated, for wrongs done to Christ's saints are wrongs done against Jesus in their person. Honoring the rich while slighting or neglecting the poor is this same sinful partiality, and the poor should receive as much interest and attention as the rich, since neglecting them may mean neglecting Christ in His people.
Discouraging and hindering the appointed work in the South at Nashville, acting as critics, tearing down the work given to brethren, and working to keep back or turn aside the means that ought to go to that field is the partiality condemned here. Such a course displeases God, is called robbery, will meet His judgment, and demands immediate reformation, looking at self in the divine mirror, reading the Word to purpose, and helping instead of hindering. The principle belongs to the practical teaching of the chapter and is to shape daily conduct as part of a life of righteousness. Partial judges of evil thoughts shall have judgment without mercy because they showed no mercy, and though punishment is delayed it will surely come, and it shall not be well with the wicked.
The law remains God's moral standard, the standard of righteousness and character, a mirror by which to examine character and conduct. Believers in Christ are to obey it and put its truth into daily practice, letting its practical teaching govern life. Violation of the royal law makes a person a transgressor, for God's law reveals sin and exposes guilt.
The royal law governs the mind, yet it proclaims liberty. Being convinced of the law as transgressors is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, who at the cost of infinite sacrifice and suffering brings power that enables a person to overcome and subdues the government of Satan. With the consent of the human being, the Spirit who convinces of sin expels sin from the heart, and the mind is then brought under a new law, the royal law of liberty. Surrendering to Christ and obeying His will brings freedom from sin and restores human character.
The law exposes guilt and reveals sin, but practical faith in Jesus is the only thing that saves, and His blood cleanses from sin. Disobedience makes a person a transgressor of God's law, and no excuse for breaking its commandments, including the fourth, will stand in the judgment.
Refusing to conform character to God's great standard of character, erecting a different standard to suit self, and compelling all others to conform to it simply because human authority wills it is to commit sin and stand convicted by the law as transgressors. That course leaves no place for mercy and produces horrible tragedies against those beloved of God. It is the work appointed by Satan, and the same spirit that crucified Christ and slew the apostles and that moved Nero against the faithful in his day, as seen again in the persecution of the Waldenses.
God Values All Equally
God makes no distinction of caste, color, rank, wealth, or worldly honor, but estimates men as men and measures human worth by character and union with Christ rather than by rank, wealth, intellect, position, talent, or education. The religion of the Bible ignores worldly honor and requires recognizing the Spirit of Christ wherever it is revealed, whether in a white man or a black man, without shame in speaking with an honest black man in any place or in shaking him by the hand. White and black are from the Bible standpoint, not the world's standpoint, one free and equal brotherhood, and the colored man must be treated just as respectfully as the white man, with those who have received many favors living fully in the light of God's countenance so they know how to treat those less favored. Living in the atmosphere in which Christ lives teaches a person to put God's estimate on men and to bring influence against prevailing worldly customs by acting nobly and courageously in the sight of God and the Saviour, in the face of the world and heavenly intelligences, no matter the gain or loss.
Wealth and social position will not affect the final judgment, when people are judged by character, integrity, purity, nobility, and love for Christ. Rank and wealth cannot change the outcome, and favoring people because they are wealthy or socially prominent is sin that makes the partial person a transgressor of God's law. The poor and the rich are to receive equal courtesy, sympathy, and care, for wealth and position do not determine a person's worth before God.
The poor, unlearned, socially outcast, and needy who cherish the light and opportunities given them are precious and dear to God, and as His sun shines on rich and poor alike those who serve Him must show the same impartial care to all. Honoring the rich while slighting or neglecting the poor is sinful partiality that makes those who do it transgressors of God's law, and neglecting them may mean neglecting Christ in His people. Slighting the needy slights Christ, dishonors Him, and brings divine rebuke and displeasure, while refusing companionship to the lowly because they lack worldly honor brings rebuke.
A rich man is not of one jot or tittle more value for his riches, position, talent, or education, for those things do not weigh in the scale with God. They weigh only when all are brought as tribute to lay at His feet and the whole being is surrendered to God to cooperate with the divine agencies to make him a vessel unto honor. God designs that men regard themselves as part of the great web of humanity to pity and sympathize with, to help, and to love one another.
Converted colored men and women who love God and do His will are God's property and are of as much value in His sight as white people however educated and talented. They are not responsible for their color and cannot change it, so despising God's workmanship on account of skin, depressing and trampling down those who should be helped up, keeping Black minds in a species of slavery, and treating with contempt one to whom God gave a colored skin reproaches God. Slighting a brother because of his color slights Christ, and excluding colored people from places of worship or from church membership because of race is sinful partiality and violation of God's law, with guilt resting on the church for past neglect and for strengthening prejudice that should have died when Christ redeemed the soul from bondage of sin. They should hold membership in the church with the white brethren and be lifted up, educated to have clean pure souls, appreciated without regard to color, and restored as far as possible to what was lost through privation and slavery, yet without running into fanaticism by throwing down every partition wall or teaching and practicing intermarriage.
Living Without Partiality
In church and institutions every worker bought by Christ's blood is to be treated equally with the same interest, attention, courtesy, sympathy, and care. There is to be no favoritism that gives the rich or favored a good place while telling the poor to stand or sit under the footstool, and no confederacy that bestows favors on a select number while others are neglected, set aside, despised, assigned to hard places, and wounded in spirit. Favoring people because they are wealthy or socially prominent dishonors Christ and brings God's displeasure, for wealth and position do not determine worth before God. Neglecting or slighting the poor may mean neglecting Christ in His people, and in the final judgment rank and wealth cannot change the outcome, for God judges by character, integrity, purity, nobility, and love for Christ. Those who are partial judges of evil thoughts and show no mercy shall have judgment without mercy, wrongs done to Christ's saints are wrongs against Jesus in their person and bring a charge for the temptations that come to those unjustly treated, and though punishment is delayed it will surely come and it shall not be well with the wicked.
The verse forbids caste, racial prejudice, unkind judgments that exalt one person over another, oppression, and injustice. The Bible recognizes no caste, color, rank, wealth, or worldly honor as a measure of human worth, God estimates men as men, and character decides worth with Him. The requirement is to recognize Christ's Spirit wherever it is revealed, whether in a white man or a black man, with no shame in speaking with an honest black man in any place or in shaking him by the hand, and to treat white and black from the Bible standpoint as one free and equal brotherhood. This calls for Christlike self-sacrificing love toward even the least and most neglected, without coarseness or unkindness in thought and feeling toward those for whom Christ died, learned by living in the atmosphere in which Christ lives and putting God's estimate on men. Those who have received many favors are to live fully in the light of God's countenance so they know how to treat those less favored, bringing influence against prevailing customs of the world, acting nobly and courageously in the sight of God and the Saviour and in the face of the world and heavenly intelligences no matter the gain or loss, holding to equality and not being cowards, and winning others by precept and example.
Keeping the verse requires placing missionary work for the colored people on the ground of principle and educating those who accept the truth to be Bible Christians. There is to be no exclusion of colored people from places of worship, for they are Christ's property just as much as white believers, and they are to hold church membership together with the white brethren. Guilt rests on the church for not making greater effort for salvation among the colored people and for strengthening prejudice that should have died when Christ redeemed the soul from bondage of sin, and the wrong done to them is to be corrected and wiped out. Those who love God and keep His commandments must unite to lift them up, educate them to have clean pure souls, appreciate them without regard to color, elevate the standard of character among them by exemplifying the spirit of Christ, and restore to them as far as possible what was lost through privation and slavery, since converted colored men and women who love God and do His will are God's property and of as much value as white people however educated and talented. Yet this does not require carrying things to extremes and running into fanaticism by throwing down every partition wall or by teaching or practicing intermarriage, which is not the right thing to teach or practice.
Discouraging and hindering the appointed Southern work at Nashville, acting as critics, tearing down the work given to brethren, and working to keep back or turn aside the means that ought to go to that field is the partiality the verse condemns. Such a course displeases God, is called robbery, and will meet His judgment. It demands immediate reformation, looking at self in the divine mirror, reading the Word to purpose, and helping instead of hindering. True religion under the verse also requires putting away during the week of prayer all that hinders coming together in unity, making right every wrong between brethren, and not leaving sins unconfessed.
To have respect to persons is to break the royal law to love one's neighbor as oneself, to commit sin, and to stand convicted as a transgressor of the law. God recognizes no caste, color, rank, wealth, or worldly honor, but estimates men as men and judges worth by character and union with Christ. The poor, unlearned, outcast, and needy are precious and dear to Him, and to neglect or slight them is to slight Christ in His people. So in church and its work every soul bought by His blood is to be treated with equal interest, courtesy, sympathy, and care, with no favoritism seating the rich in a good place while telling the poor to stand aside. The same law forbids racial prejudice and caste, for converted colored men and women who love God and do His will are His property and of as much value as white people, and all are to meet as one free and equal brotherhood.
Meaning of Sinful Partiality
Showing favor to some over others breaks the royal law to love one's neighbor as oneself, and to do so is to commit sin and stand convicted by the law as a transgressor. In institutions this means every worker bought by Christ's blood must be treated equally, with no favoritism telling the rich or favored to sit in a good place while telling the poor to stand or sit under the footstool. There is to be no confederacy to bestow favors on a select number while others are neglected, set aside, despised, and assigned to hard places until their spirits are grieved and wounded. Those who deal partially are charged with the temptations that come upon those unjustly treated, for wrongs done to Christ's saints are wrongs done against Jesus in their person. Honoring the rich while slighting or neglecting the poor is this same sinful partiality, and the poor should receive as much interest and attention as the rich, since neglecting them may mean neglecting Christ in His people.
Discouraging and hindering the appointed work in the South at Nashville, acting as critics, tearing down the work given to brethren, and working to keep back or turn aside the means that ought to go to that field is the partiality condemned here. Such a course displeases God, is called robbery, will meet His judgment, and demands immediate reformation, looking at self in the divine mirror, reading the Word to purpose, and helping instead of hindering. The principle belongs to the practical teaching of the chapter and is to shape daily conduct as part of a life of righteousness. Partial judges of evil thoughts shall have judgment without mercy because they showed no mercy, and though punishment is delayed it will surely come, and it shall not be well with the wicked.
The law remains God's moral standard, the standard of righteousness and character, a mirror by which to examine character and conduct. Believers in Christ are to obey it and put its truth into daily practice, letting its practical teaching govern life. Violation of the royal law makes a person a transgressor, for God's law reveals sin and exposes guilt.
The royal law governs the mind, yet it proclaims liberty. Being convinced of the law as transgressors is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, who at the cost of infinite sacrifice and suffering brings power that enables a person to overcome and subdues the government of Satan. With the consent of the human being, the Spirit who convinces of sin expels sin from the heart, and the mind is then brought under a new law, the royal law of liberty. Surrendering to Christ and obeying His will brings freedom from sin and restores human character.
The law exposes guilt and reveals sin, but practical faith in Jesus is the only thing that saves, and His blood cleanses from sin. Disobedience makes a person a transgressor of God's law, and no excuse for breaking its commandments, including the fourth, will stand in the judgment.
Refusing to conform character to God's great standard of character, erecting a different standard to suit self, and compelling all others to conform to it simply because human authority wills it is to commit sin and stand convicted by the law as transgressors. That course leaves no place for mercy and produces horrible tragedies against those beloved of God. It is the work appointed by Satan, and the same spirit that crucified Christ and slew the apostles and that moved Nero against the faithful in his day, as seen again in the persecution of the Waldenses.
God Values All Equally
God makes no distinction of caste, color, rank, wealth, or worldly honor, but estimates men as men and measures human worth by character and union with Christ rather than by rank, wealth, intellect, position, talent, or education. The religion of the Bible ignores worldly honor and requires recognizing the Spirit of Christ wherever it is revealed, whether in a white man or a black man, without shame in speaking with an honest black man in any place or in shaking him by the hand. White and black are from the Bible standpoint, not the world's standpoint, one free and equal brotherhood, and the colored man must be treated just as respectfully as the white man, with those who have received many favors living fully in the light of God's countenance so they know how to treat those less favored. Living in the atmosphere in which Christ lives teaches a person to put God's estimate on men and to bring influence against prevailing worldly customs by acting nobly and courageously in the sight of God and the Saviour, in the face of the world and heavenly intelligences, no matter the gain or loss.
Wealth and social position will not affect the final judgment, when people are judged by character, integrity, purity, nobility, and love for Christ. Rank and wealth cannot change the outcome, and favoring people because they are wealthy or socially prominent is sin that makes the partial person a transgressor of God's law. The poor and the rich are to receive equal courtesy, sympathy, and care, for wealth and position do not determine a person's worth before God.
The poor, unlearned, socially outcast, and needy who cherish the light and opportunities given them are precious and dear to God, and as His sun shines on rich and poor alike those who serve Him must show the same impartial care to all. Honoring the rich while slighting or neglecting the poor is sinful partiality that makes those who do it transgressors of God's law, and neglecting them may mean neglecting Christ in His people. Slighting the needy slights Christ, dishonors Him, and brings divine rebuke and displeasure, while refusing companionship to the lowly because they lack worldly honor brings rebuke.
A rich man is not of one jot or tittle more value for his riches, position, talent, or education, for those things do not weigh in the scale with God. They weigh only when all are brought as tribute to lay at His feet and the whole being is surrendered to God to cooperate with the divine agencies to make him a vessel unto honor. God designs that men regard themselves as part of the great web of humanity to pity and sympathize with, to help, and to love one another.
Converted colored men and women who love God and do His will are God's property and are of as much value in His sight as white people however educated and talented. They are not responsible for their color and cannot change it, so despising God's workmanship on account of skin, depressing and trampling down those who should be helped up, keeping Black minds in a species of slavery, and treating with contempt one to whom God gave a colored skin reproaches God. Slighting a brother because of his color slights Christ, and excluding colored people from places of worship or from church membership because of race is sinful partiality and violation of God's law, with guilt resting on the church for past neglect and for strengthening prejudice that should have died when Christ redeemed the soul from bondage of sin. They should hold membership in the church with the white brethren and be lifted up, educated to have clean pure souls, appreciated without regard to color, and restored as far as possible to what was lost through privation and slavery, yet without running into fanaticism by throwing down every partition wall or teaching and practicing intermarriage.
Living Without Partiality
In church and institutions every worker bought by Christ's blood is to be treated equally with the same interest, attention, courtesy, sympathy, and care. There is to be no favoritism that gives the rich or favored a good place while telling the poor to stand or sit under the footstool, and no confederacy that bestows favors on a select number while others are neglected, set aside, despised, assigned to hard places, and wounded in spirit. Favoring people because they are wealthy or socially prominent dishonors Christ and brings God's displeasure, for wealth and position do not determine worth before God. Neglecting or slighting the poor may mean neglecting Christ in His people, and in the final judgment rank and wealth cannot change the outcome, for God judges by character, integrity, purity, nobility, and love for Christ. Those who are partial judges of evil thoughts and show no mercy shall have judgment without mercy, wrongs done to Christ's saints are wrongs against Jesus in their person and bring a charge for the temptations that come to those unjustly treated, and though punishment is delayed it will surely come and it shall not be well with the wicked.
The verse forbids caste, racial prejudice, unkind judgments that exalt one person over another, oppression, and injustice. The Bible recognizes no caste, color, rank, wealth, or worldly honor as a measure of human worth, God estimates men as men, and character decides worth with Him. The requirement is to recognize Christ's Spirit wherever it is revealed, whether in a white man or a black man, with no shame in speaking with an honest black man in any place or in shaking him by the hand, and to treat white and black from the Bible standpoint as one free and equal brotherhood. This calls for Christlike self-sacrificing love toward even the least and most neglected, without coarseness or unkindness in thought and feeling toward those for whom Christ died, learned by living in the atmosphere in which Christ lives and putting God's estimate on men. Those who have received many favors are to live fully in the light of God's countenance so they know how to treat those less favored, bringing influence against prevailing customs of the world, acting nobly and courageously in the sight of God and the Saviour and in the face of the world and heavenly intelligences no matter the gain or loss, holding to equality and not being cowards, and winning others by precept and example.
Keeping the verse requires placing missionary work for the colored people on the ground of principle and educating those who accept the truth to be Bible Christians. There is to be no exclusion of colored people from places of worship, for they are Christ's property just as much as white believers, and they are to hold church membership together with the white brethren. Guilt rests on the church for not making greater effort for salvation among the colored people and for strengthening prejudice that should have died when Christ redeemed the soul from bondage of sin, and the wrong done to them is to be corrected and wiped out. Those who love God and keep His commandments must unite to lift them up, educate them to have clean pure souls, appreciate them without regard to color, elevate the standard of character among them by exemplifying the spirit of Christ, and restore to them as far as possible what was lost through privation and slavery, since converted colored men and women who love God and do His will are God's property and of as much value as white people however educated and talented. Yet this does not require carrying things to extremes and running into fanaticism by throwing down every partition wall or by teaching or practicing intermarriage, which is not the right thing to teach or practice.
Discouraging and hindering the appointed Southern work at Nashville, acting as critics, tearing down the work given to brethren, and working to keep back or turn aside the means that ought to go to that field is the partiality the verse condemns. Such a course displeases God, is called robbery, and will meet His judgment. It demands immediate reformation, looking at self in the divine mirror, reading the Word to purpose, and helping instead of hindering. True religion under the verse also requires putting away during the week of prayer all that hinders coming together in unity, making right every wrong between brethren, and not leaving sins unconfessed.