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My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
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For if a man enters into your assembly with a gold ring, in fine clothes, and there should also come in a poor [man] in dirty clothes,
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and you have respect for him that wears the fine clothes and you say to him, "You sit here in a good seat," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here under my footstool,"
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and so did you not differentiate among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
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Listen, my beloved brothers. Did God not choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those that love Him?
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But you have dishonored the poor. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into court?
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Do they not blaspheme the noble name by which you are called?
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If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well;
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but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
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For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one [point], he has become guilty of all.
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For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but [yet] you murder, [then] you have become a transgressor of the law.
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So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
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For judgment is without mercy to the one who does not show mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
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What does it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Is that [kind of] faith able to save him?
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If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
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and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the necessary things of the body, what [is] the benefit?
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Thus also that faith, if it does not have works, is dead, [being] by itself
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But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith [apart] from your works, and I will show you my faith by means of my works.
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You believe God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe--and they shudder!
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But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
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Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
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Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by means of his works faith was made perfect?
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And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called a friend of God.
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You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
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Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by means of works, when she received the messengers and sent [them] out another way?
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For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
