2 My brothers and sisters, I know you’ve heard this before, but stop playing favorites! Do not try to blend the genuine faith of our glorious Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, with your silly pretentiousness. ² If an affluent gentleman enters your gathering wearing the finest clothes and priceless jewelry, don’t trip over each other trying to welcome him. And if a penniless bum crawls in with his shabby clothes and a stench fills the room, don’t look away or pretend you didn’t notice—offer him a seat up front, next to you. ^3-4 If you tell the wealthy man, “Come sit by me; there’s plenty of room,” but tell the vagrant, “Oh, these seats are saved. Go over there,” then you’ll be judging God’s children out of evil motives.

⁵ My dear brothers and sisters, listen: God has picked the poor of this world to become unfathomably rich in faith and ultimately to inherit the Kingdom, which He has pledged to those who love Him. ⁶ By favoring the rich, you have mocked the poor. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it the rich who step on you while climbing the ladder of success? And isn’t it the rich who take advantage of you and drag you into court? ⁷ Aren’t they the ones mocking the noble name of our God, the One calling us?

⁸ Remember His call, and live by the royal law found in Scripture: love others as you love yourself.^[a] You’ll be doing very well if you can get this down. ⁹ But if you show favoritism—paying attention to those who can help you in some way, while ignoring those who seem to need all the help—you’ll be sinning and condemned by the law. ¹⁰ For if a person could keep all of the laws and yet break just one; it would be like breaking them all. ¹¹ The same God who said, “Do not commit adultery,”^[b] also says, “Do not murder.”^[c] If you break either of these commands, you’re a lawbreaker, no matter how you look at it. ¹² So live your life in such a way that acknowledges that one day you will be judged. But the law that judges also gives freedom, ¹³ although you can’t expect to be shown mercy if you refuse to show mercy. But hear this: mercy always wins against judgment! Thank God!

¹⁴ Brothers and sisters, it doesn’t make any sense to say you have faith and act in a way that denies that faith. Mere talk never gets you very far, and a commitment to Jesus only in words will not save you. ¹⁵ It would be like seeing a brother or sister without any clothes out in the cold and begging for food, and ¹⁶ saying, “Shalom, friend, you should get inside where it’s warm and eat something,” but doing nothing about his needs—leaving him cold and alone on the street. What good would your words alone do? ¹⁷ The same is true with faith. Without actions, faith is useless. By itself, it’s as good as dead. ¹⁸ I know what you’re thinking: “OK, you have faith. And I have actions. Now let’s see your faith without works, and I’ll show you a faith that works.”

¹⁹ Do you think that just believing there’s one God is going to get you anywhere? The demons believe that, too, and it terrifies them! ²⁰ The fact is, faith has to show itself through works performed in faith. If you don’t recognize that, then you’re an empty soul. ²¹ Wasn’t our father Abraham made right with God by laying his son Isaac on the altar? ²² The faith in his heart was made known in his behavior. In fact, his commitment was perfected by his obedience. ²³ That’s what Scripture means when it says, “Abraham entrusted himself to God, and God credited him with righteousness.”^[d] And living a faithful life earned Abraham the title of “God’s friend.”^{[e] 24} Just like our father in the faith, we are made right with God through good works, not simply by what we believe or think. ²⁵ Even Rahab the prostitute was made right with God by hiding the spies and aiding in their escape.^{[f] 26} Removing action from faith is like removing breath from a body. All you have left is a corpse.