February 5 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 36—James 2:12–13

¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Devotional:

Here's something you don't hear every day—God will judge you. "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged …"

By what standard will God judge you? "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law …" If there is no law of God, then there's no sin. Why? Because sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4. If there's no sin, then we need no salvation. But God makes it crystal clear that there is sin—"if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors," (v. 9).

But if you are resting in Jesus Christ as he's offered in the gospel, remember the nature of the standard by which he will judge you. "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty." God's law is a law of liberty for those who are resting in Jesus as Savior, and only for those. Why? Because Jesus sets sinners free! He sets them free from the guilt of sin, so that they needn't fear the punishment they deserve. He also sets them free from the power of sin, so that they are enabled to walk in newness of life. One believer had been a habitual thief. Every time he saw the Eighth Commandment—"Thou shalt not steal"—it pierced his conscience; it drove him to despair. But one day, after praying earnestly about this, he saw it again. But this time it suddenly struck him in an entirely new way—no longer as a condemning indictment but as a promise of empowering by the Spirit of Christ—"Thou shalt not steal!" He rejoiced that not only had Christ forgiven him of his theft, but also that Christ had set him free from committing theft.

When the fact that Lord shows such grace and mercy to undeserving sinners triumphs in your heart, then you will show mercy to others, even poor, undeserving others. "Judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy." If you have no mercy toward others, then evidently you have never experienced God's mercy in Christ. Seek the Lord while he may be found!

"Mercy triumphs over judgment!" We see this most clearly at the cross of Christ. God visited his own Son in judgment so that he might visit sinners in mercy. He laid all our sins on the Lamb of God, and Jesus paid their full penalty, so that God is just in justifying us, Rom. 3:26. "Mercy triumphs over judgment!"

O living God, may the knowledge of your judgment make me afraid to sin against you; and may the experience of your mercy in Christ make me ashamed to sin against you!

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.