What is the "Law of Liberty"?
Your liberty ends when you offend. Don't let your liberty become a license to offend or to sin.
Romans 14 The Law of Liberty
Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose] and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:
“ As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
I Peter 5 says,
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Then we can look at what James 2:12-13 says.
So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 1:25 says,
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
John MacArthur writes,
"James here uses an even stronger verb for looking thatn in verse 23. Parakupto (looks intently) means to bend over and carefully examine something from the clearest possible vantage point. It is the verb used by Luke to describe Peter’s looking into the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:12) and by John of both Peter’s and Mary’s looking into the same tomb (John 20:5, 11). The person who looks intently at God’s Word, the perfect law, the law of liberty, examines it to discover its deepest and most complete meaning. For him it is not a mere exercise of curiosity, as with the forgetful person just mentioned. When he discovers a truth, he abides by it, understanding that this is the purpose for the Lord’s revealing it to men. God did not reveal His Word simply to be learned, but to be obeyed and applied.
Adam Clarke wrote,
[But whoso looketh into the perfect law] The word parakupsas, which we translate “looketh into,” is very emphatic, and signifies that deep and attentive consideration given to a thing or subject which a man cannot bring up to his eyes, and therefore must bend his back and neck, stooping down, that he may see it to the greater advantage.
There Is An Objective Aspect In Our Looking
What is it that we are looking into? James calls it “the perfect law of liberty.” And some believe that this is specifically the Gospel, while others view it as “the law of God or His will” (Barnes). But James has been referring to the totality of God’s Word, so that must be what is meant by “the perfect law of liberty.” It is God’s revelation that is meant here.
The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown commentary says that the perfect law of liberty – the Gospel-rule of life, perfect and perfecting (shown in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:48): making us truly walk at liberty (Psalm 119:32,45).
Warren Wiersbe said - Why does James call the Word of God “the perfect law of liberty”? (James 1:25) Because when we obey it, God sets us free.
There Is An Ongoing Aspect In Our Looking
"and continueth therein" The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown commentary says that there is a contrast here with that one that “goeth his way” in James 1:24.
A. T. Robertson said that the word “continueth” (Paramenoo) means “to stay beside.”
Adam Clarke wrote [And continueth] Parameinas, takes time to see and examine the state of his soul, the grace of his God, the extent of his duty, and the height of the promised glory. The metaphor here is taken from those females who spend much time at their glass, in order that they may decorate themselves to the greatest advantage, and not leave one hair, or the smallest ornament, out of its place.
The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says that the word “continueth” (NT:3887 – parameinas) means "To remain beside, continue always near (and continues to do so, not departing till all stains are washed away)".
Barnes says, [And continueth therein] means He must not merely look at the law, or see what he is by comparing himself with its requirements, but he must yield steady obedience to it.
The Reward Comes Through Faithful Living
(James 1:25) "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
There Is A Different Way Involved In The Life Of Blessing
"being not a forgetful hearer, as is seen in verse 24, describes one who does not immediately put the Word out of their mind after they are confronted with it."
A. T. Robertson says that the phrase means “not a hearer of forgetfulness” or one “marked by forgetfulness.”
There Is A Doing Of The Work Involved In The Life Of Blessing
The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says that, "Doer of the work" - rather, ‘of work:’ is an actual worker, "blessed in his deed", [poieesei] - ‘in his doing.’
This describes one who is not just listening to the Word but living the Word through their work.
Cf. (Joshua 1:8) "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
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