The Royal Law & the Unity of God’s Commands | James 2:1-13

August 28th, 2025

The Royal Law & the Unity of God’s Commands

“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”
James 2:8-11

After exposing the sin of partiality, James turns to the heart of the matter: the law of God itself. Favoritism is not a minor misstep—it is a violation of the royal law, a transgression of God’s holy standard.

Here James gives us three truths: the call of the royal law, the seriousness of partiality, and the unity of the law.

1. The Royal Law

James identifies the command to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18) as “the royal law.” Why call it royal?

It comes from the King. God Himself spoke it, and Christ reaffirmed it.
It governs all other relationships. Jesus declared this and the first commandment—to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—as the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:37–40). On these two, He said, “hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
It reflects the kingdom. To obey it is to live as a citizen of God’s kingdom, where love rules.

Paul agrees in Romans 13:9–10: “The commandments… are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Notice James’s encouragement: “If you really fulfill the royal law… you are doing well.” Obedience to this law is not drudgery—it is flourishing. When believers truly love their neighbors, they reflect the King’s character and the kingdom’s culture.

2. The Sin of Partiality

But James quickly contrasts: “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”

Partiality is not merely poor manners. It is sin. To judge others by outward appearance—wealth, class, race, influence—is to reject the very heart of the royal law. Instead of loving a neighbor as yourself, you love yourself more and despise your neighbor.

This is why favoritism is so offensive:

It contradicts God’s impartial character (Deut. 10:17; Acts 10:34).
It denies the gospel, which unites Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor, into “one new man” in Christ (Eph. 2:15).
It mocks the grace of God, who loved us not because of anything in us but simply out of His mercy (Titus 3:5).

John Calvin explains: “James shows that by favoring the rich they transgress the law of love, for they despise the poor who are their neighbors. He calls this the royal law, because it is the rule which ought to prevail in life.”

To show partiality is to fail the royal law. And to fail the royal law is to sin against the King.

3. The Unity of the Law

James presses deeper: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

Here he teaches the unity of God’s law. The commandments are not a buffet line where we can choose which to obey. The law is a seamless garment. Tear it at one point, and the whole fabric is damaged.

He illustrates: “For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

Why? Because the same Lawgiver gave both commands. To break one is to rebel against Him. As Matthew Henry comments: “To break one commandment is to affront the authority of Him who gave the whole law. He that said, ‘Do not kill,’ is the same that said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ Therefore, by willful sin in one, we make ourselves guilty of all.”

This destroys the illusion that some sins are “small” or “respectable.” James shows that partiality—the sin of playing favorites—is placed alongside adultery and murder as rebellion against God’s authority.

William Perkins wrote: “The law is not divided as though some part may be broken without guilt. To despise one command is to despise the Lawgiver Himself.”

Application: No Excuses, No Loopholes
James leaves no wiggle room.

We cannot excuse favoritism as “just a bad habit.”
We cannot claim righteousness in one area to excuse sin in another.
We cannot love God while despising our neighbor.

The law convicts us all as transgressors. Every one of us has failed to love perfectly. This should drive us to Christ, the only One who fulfilled the law without fault. He loved God with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. He loved His neighbor—even His enemies—by laying down His life. And His righteousness is credited to us by faith.

Living Out the Royal Law
So how do we respond?

Examine your heart. Where do you show favoritism? Is it toward the wealthy? The educated? Those like you? Repent and confess it as sin.
Pursue impartial love. Ask God to help you see people as He sees them—not by outward appearance but by the heart.
Remember the gospel. You were not chosen because of your status but purely by God’s grace. Show the same mercy to others.

The royal law is not burdensome. It is the law of freedom (James 1:25). It liberates us from the tyranny of self-love and frees us to love as Christ loved.

Conclusion
James’ warning is sobering: favoritism is a violation of the royal law. And breaking one law is breaking them all. But his call is also hopeful: to love our neighbors as ourselves is to “do well,” to live in step with the kingdom of God.

Christian, remember: mercy has triumphed over judgment in Christ. Now walk in that mercy. Love God, and love your neighbor. Fulfill the royal law, not in your strength, but by the Spirit of the King who loved you first.

Posted in Articles, Church, James
Posted in James