“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well” (James 2:8)

The royal law, “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, is so called because of its association with the King, Jesus Christ Himself. James engages this teaching in order to instruct his Christian community in the living vibrant faith – which is his passion. He is showing these people what pure and undefiled religion actually is. He is warning these believers how to keep themselves unspotted, uncontaminated, by the world. In so doing he presents them with the royal law.

In our last study we examined the perfect law of liberty, which is the Scriptures. Now he hones in on one aspect of this perfect law of liberty, which concerns our relationships within society – the worthy response to that great question “Who is my neighbour?” This is known as the royal law.

The King Giving the Royal Law

This royal law was first given by Christ as His summary of the second table of the ten commandments.

The first four commandments were covered by the words – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37)

The second set of six, relating to man were captured with – “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39).

On these two commandments Jesus said “hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). This is a high and exacting standard. It is also a hugely significant moral statement. Morality begins by loving God and is followed up by a love for our neighbours. The two co-exist and are inter-dependent. We cannot love God without loving our neighbours and true love for our fellow man is erected upon a foundation of loving God. This is why Christianity has shaped the moral and ethical destiny of the western world.

Christ, however, took this standard from the Old Testament. The ten commandments were given by Moses and paid great stress upon how we treat each other. We are to honour our parents, we are to respect life, marriage and property. We are commended not to bear false witness and to expunge all coveting from our hearts.

Taking note of our neighbours specifically, however, is also taught in the Old Testament.

The words translated neighbour bear this out.

For example in the ten commandments (Exodus 20) the word employed is Rea, which means a spouse, family member, close friend, an associate or one you transact business with.

Another word is amiyth, means a comrade or one of the same kindred or family. This term is much narrower in its focus than rea. (Leviticus 19:15).

A further term which is much closer to our understanding of neighbour is Shaken, which literally means one who lives next door (Exodus 12:4).

The term neighbour is not used explicitly of those outside of Israel in the Old Testament. They are, however, embodied in the spirit of the teaching.

This is borne out in Leviticus 19 where a series of instructions are given concerning one’s conduct towards the covenant nation, Israel. Does this mean that the strangers didn’t matter? Not at all. In fact Moses enforces a duty of care towards the stranger indicating that they were included within the compass of the neighbour:

“And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34)

The stranger was expected to follow the laws of Israel, but they could not engage in the covenant privileges such as the Passover, unless the men folk of the family were circumcised (Exodus 12:48) Nevertheless they were to be treated with the same compassion as would have been shown to one who was of Israel, whether circumcised or not. The stranger was very much a neighbour.

In summarising the ten commandments, Christ was bringing all of these concepts together into one code. He used the common Greek word plesion, which means a fellow man, one who is near.

This is the royal law.

The King Living His Royal Law

Christ practiced this law in his ministry. He constantly challenged the narrow sectarianism of the Pharisees in reaching beyond the normal comfort zone of the Jews.

There were occasions when he broke the social barriers. He called the fishermen, from the less cultured northern region of Galilee to be his disciples.

At times he reached sinners among Israel, people rejected by the Pharisees on account of their unrighteousness. Therefore Matthew the tax collector became one of his disciples. He stopped to defend the woman taken in adultery challenging the assembled mob – “He that is without sin cast the first stone.”

He went beyond this though in travelling through and embracing the people who belonged to what the Pharisees regarded as the apostate sect of the Samaritans. The story of the Samaritan woman of Sychar and the conversion of her townsfolk is one of our favourite Bible stories.

He even reached Gentiles going beyond the frontiers of Judaism completely. He commended the faith of the Centurion – “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Luke 7:9).

He was constantly breaking frontiers. Women, so often treated as second class citizens in the ancient world were honoured by him whether it was Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene or the Gentile lady of Syrophoencia – all were recognised by Him.

The King Teaching His Royal Law

The royal law was taught by the King. His actions were an extension of his teaching. Throughout his entire ministry he taught the importance of loving one’s neighbour.

For example, in the Sermon on the Mount Christ unfolded the character and conduct of those who belong to His Kingdom. The King gave His mandate for Kingdom life. The King commends highly the less obvious traits of His Kingdom — poverty of spirit, meekness, hungering and thirsting after righteousness and peacemaking, for example. His standards are altogether different from those of the world. These are characteristics we pray into our own lives. They are also the kinds of people we seek to commend. These are the people whom the King calls blessed.

He dealt extensively with the commandments governing our relationships with others. Murder was traced back to hatred in the heart. Adultery was traced back to lust. Instead of demanding an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, His people were to turn the other cheek, go the second mile and refuse to close their hearts against those in need.

Our love must not be confined to our friends, our own community or those with whom we agree. Christ commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. These are the standards of the Kingdom. This is what it looks like to be a child of our Father in heaven.

The same spirit appears in Christ’s teaching on forgiveness. When Peter asked, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” he evidently thought seven times was generous. But Christ answered, “Until seventy times seven.” Is this not how Christ deals with us? Is that not how He Himself lives out the royal law?

The King’s teaching, however, comes into the sharpest focus in Luke 10:29 when He responds to the question _ “Who is my neighbour?” Is my neighbour my family, my countryman, one who belongs to my culture, my identity, my politics, my faith? Is this the neighbour? Is this who I should love as myself?

Then the Lord unfolded the story of the Good Samaritan, of the man whom the Jews hated helping a Jew abandoned and dying by robbers when the Levite and the priest passed by on the other side.

The Saviour reversed the question to draw the desired response and the teach the all-important truth. ‘Who was the one who was a true neighbour’ Jesus asked. The answer could not be denied. If the Samaritan was the true neighbour then the Samaritan is your neighbour. Go love him as yourself.

This lesson is not about our community. Rather this is about our humanity.

The King Modelling His Royal Law

James was at pains to teach how this royal law should be modeled by the King in the life of the Church.

He presents a picture of the Church at prayer. A gathering of Christians are assembling. A rich man in fine clothes appears. The usher in a fawning manner shows this man to the front row, giving him pride of place because he is rich. The poor man, however, wearing nothing but rags is forced to stand or sit on a stool, wherever he can get in. This spirit of elevating those who are highly regarded while deprecating those who had less of a standing caused James considerable angst.

This was not the royal law at work. This rather was the Church reinforcing and reflecting the social divisions within society.

The tenor of the New Testament is that all are equal. Paul said that there is no rich and poor, no slave or freeman, no man or woman, no Jew or Gentile, no Barbarian or Roman – we are one in Christ (Colossians 3:11, Galatians 3:28).

When the Church judges people according to wealth, occupation, career, house, ethic background, lifestyle before conversion – we set aside the royal law by not treating others as we would ourselves like to be treated. Always let be said that the men who reach office in this congregation are selected not for their social standing but for their godliness. Never allow a judgmental or even a snobbish spirit to enter our ranks. Let us engage the seventy times seven rule in every occasion. I have a vision of a Church where the divorcee can feel at home, where the Roman Catholic feels welcomed, where one who has been guilty of some moral scandal is not pushed off but embraced, where the wounded soldier is lifted up and not pushed into the gutter to die, where the immigrant is as welcome and the person who has lived a lifetime in this locality. Sometimes I hear talk of outsiders. And I think – we have not yet learned the royal law.

The Great Commission is both our most intense challenge while at the same time it is our greatest opportunity.

The ultimate form of loving our neighbour is to care for their souls. This involves presenting the Gospel to every man and woman, boy and girl without reservation or discrimination. There is no them and us, there is no Protestant, Catholic, Moslem, Jew, Hindu, Loyalist Republican when it comes to the Gospel, We are to teach all nations. This includes all the people and all the cultures who are under our sphere of influence. These are our neighbours. The people up and down this valley whom the Lord has placed in our way. They are our neighbours.

Are we fulfilling the royal law?