Sons and Heirs

²⁶ For you ^(A)are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For ^(B)as many of you as were baptized into Christ ^(C)have put on Christ. ^28 (D)There is neither Jew nor Greek, ^(E)there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all ^(F)one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And ^(G)if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s ^(H)seed, and ^(I)heirs according to the promise.

^8 (A)But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who ^(B)is renewed in knowledge ^(C)according to the image of Him who ^(D)created him, ¹¹ where there is neither ^(E)Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, ^(F)but Christ is all and in all.

Character of the New Man

¹² Therefore, ^(G)as the elect of God, holy and beloved, ^(H)put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ^13 (I)bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ^14 (J)But above all these things ^(K)put on love, which is the ^(L)bond of perfection.

Beware of Personal Favoritism

2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Lord of glory, with ^(B)partiality. ² For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in ^[a]fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in ^[b]filthy clothes, ³ and you ^[c]pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴ have you not ^[d]shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my beloved brethren: ^(C)Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be ^(D)rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom ^(E)which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But ^(F)you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you ^(G)and drag you into the courts? ⁷ Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are ^(H)called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ^(I)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; ⁹ but if you ^[e]show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as ^(J)transgressors.

Faith Without Works Is Dead^(A)

^14 (B)What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ^15 (C)If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and ^(D)one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

The Outworking of Love

^16 (A)By this we know love, ^(B)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(C)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?