The Pulpit Commentary — James — Section 72

absolul~ly, ~here is one L1nvF.ivcr, one J uilge. 1: The legislative authority of God: rooted m his very nature, 11s God. And the spec111l law of love rooted In this, thnt "God is love." 2. The ;'udici,a,l authority of God. He discerns inra\libly tho sin of the creature. (1) As being himself perfectly goo,l: an essential requisite. 'J'ho mirror and the br~ath. So that infinite holiness I (2) As being the One to whom nll sin is adversely relateil. Whatever its exact bearing8 directly, it is essentially hostile to God. And as in him we live and move and have our being, its hostility is immediately known by God. 3. The executive authority of God. "Al1lc to save, ond to destroy." (1) To save: taking into blessed fellowship with himself, ns having affinity. (2) To destroy: casting off from himself, as being alien (see 2 'l'hess. i. 9). So there is nothing arbitrary in the jud~ent of God, from first to last. The legisla- ti\•e, the judicial, the executive functions are all rooted in his nature, and in the essential relation of that nature to us. "Who," then, "art thou that jud~est thy neighbour?" Actun\ly judging, not thy neighbour, but the law; nay, not the law, but the great God from whom all law ~!'rings, and to whom it all returns! May God save us from this !-T. F. L. Vers. 13-17.-" TT7,at is your lifd" The life of the savage is characterized by an almost total lack of true foresight; no calculatior,s of the future. 'frue civilization, on the contrary, is largely built up on the principle of far-seeing prudence. Yet there may be a false ~e of a true principle. And so it may come to pass that we manifest an unchristian reliance on the future, and an absorbed engrossment in plans for its direction. It is this which James condemns. He sets forth the false glorying, and, over against the false, the true. I. THE FALSE GLORYING. 1 . .A false love of the wo,·ld. "Trade, and get gain." So the parable of the rich fool (Luke xii. 16-21). And the essence of such sinful worldliness is this: "Layeth up treasure for himself." But the gains on which men•~ hearts are set may be other than these material ones: position, power, fame, intellectual achievements. It matters not what they are, if they be sought covetously and selfishly, they come under the condemnation of a false love of the world. 2. .A false view of life. "Spend a year there." So the parable, as above. Really? (1) The transiency of life in itself. "A vapour." A,; compared with the ages of history. How that dwindles our little day! As compared with the life of God (Ps. xc. 4; xxxix. 5). (2) The permanence of its spiritual results: left for infPrence, how immensely important every moment now! So Ps. xc. 12 ; xxxi.x. 13. The glorying is evil, then, whet her of speech or of heart. For the principle is not one of words. A man may talk piously of the brevity of life and of the will of God, while really his heart is as essentially worldly as that of the man who makes no pretensions to better things. II. THE TRUE GLORYING. So also the contrasted glorying, " If the Lord will," etc., is not one of words-" D.V.," and the like. Use of words not unimportant as regards practical results; but it is really the attitude of the heart which God regards, and which constitutes us what we are. So, then, "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Cor. i. 31). 1. .A true view of life. "If the Lord will, we shall live." (1) His governance of human vicissitudes: "The Lord reigneth." l!'ate, chance, human wilfulness-all governed by bis will. (2) His regard for human destiny: educating us. That mighty future, shall we be made ready for it? YeR; for " he that spared not," etc. (Rom. viii. 32). 2. A true love of the world. "Do this or that." A living will runs through all these things, and it is given to us to blend our wills with it, and IIO help to work out God's design. "If on ouz daily course our mind Be set to hallow all we fiud ••- that is the secret of a true, a godly love of the world. We have knowledge of these things, for we have "tasted the powers of the wo1·Jd to come" (Heh. vi. 5). Therefore, what shall be our sin, if still our glorying is in the world (see John ix. 41)? Oh, tow, as from heaven, the warning comes: "YeCh{isth1ns, arouse youreelves, 11,Ild live for heave~ and God I "-'f. F. 4 • ' OII, V, 1-20.] THE GENERAL EPI8TLE OJi' JAMES. 61