Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Don’t Favor Rich People over Poor People

2 My brothers and sisters, practice your faith in our glorious Lord Yeshua Christ by not favoring one person over another. ² For example, two men come to your worship service. One man is wearing gold rings and fine clothes; the other man, who is poor, is wearing shabby clothes. ³ Suppose you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say to him, “Please have a seat.” But you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor at my feet.” ⁴ Aren’t you discriminating against people and using a corrupt standard to make judgments?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Didn’t God choose poor people in the world to become rich in faith and to receive the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? ⁶ Yet, you show no respect to poor people. Don’t rich people oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Don’t they curse the good name of Yeshua, the name that was used to bless you?

⁸ You are doing right if you obey this law from the highest authority: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ⁹ If you favor one person over another, you’re sinning, and this law convicts you of being disobedient. ¹⁰ If someone obeys all of God’s laws except one, that person is guilty of breaking all of them. ¹¹ After all, the one who said, “Never commit adultery,” is the same one who said, “Never murder.” If you do not commit adultery but you murder, you become a person who disobeys God’s laws.

¹² Talk and act as people who are going to be judged by laws that bring freedom. ¹³ No mercy will be shown to those who show no mercy to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

We Show Our Faith by What We Do

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him? ¹⁵ Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food ¹⁶ and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don’t provide for that person’s physical needs, what good does it do? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.

¹⁸ Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.

²⁰ You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? ²¹ Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? ²² You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. ²³ The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. ²⁵ The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.

²⁶ A body that doesn’t breathe^[a] is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.

Speak Wisely

3 Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely.

² All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn’t make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does. ³ We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do. ⁴ The same thing is true for ships. They are very big and are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer ships wherever they want them to go. ⁵ In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can brag about doing important things.

A large forest can be set on fire by a little flame. ⁶ The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell. ⁷ People have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures. ⁸ Yet, no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison.

⁹ With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! ¹¹ Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water.

Live Wisely

¹³ Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living the right way with the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don’t brag. Don’t say that you are wise when it isn’t true. ¹⁵ That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It belongs to this world. It is self-centered and demonic. ¹⁶ Wherever there is jealousy and rivalry, there is disorder and every kind of evil.

¹⁷ However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial, and sincere. ¹⁸ A harvest that has God’s approval comes from the peace planted by peacemakers.