ROYAL LAW

James 2:8-9:  "If ye fulfil the royal law >>according to the scripture,<< Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors."  

What witnesses in scripture is this passage referring to that picks up the concepts of "loving your neighbor", not having "respect of persons" and consequence of blood guiltiness in sin and transgressing the law? 

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Leviticus 19:9-18: "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.  Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.  Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in >> righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.<< Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.  Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but >>thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself:<< I am the LORD. 

So, "Loving your neighbor as yourself" is not the world's definition of love, it is not a John Lennon style "Kumbayah" Love, it is not a feeling, it is not an opinion, it is not a man-respecting flattery--It is a biblical love that puts the focus on saving the soul.  This biblical love involves several precepts such as reproof or rebuke, removing the log of sin from one's own eye, not having blood guiltiness, doing Good God's way and not failing to communicate his Word to others, and walking as the Messiah walked and using plain speech to communicate, even if that message is harsh--don't sweeten the bread!   This Royal Law is the communication of the Kings:  speaking God's plain Truth without respect of persons and without guile and without ear-tickling flatteries, rebuking sin out of the church, and walking as Christ walked and bearing his cross, even to the death. 

Reprove / Rebuke

The scripture commands rebuke as a tool to provoke action to turn others from their sin.  Rebuke warns and corrects others by pointing out what it means to sin and how to avoid it.  It may involve knocking down pride and covetousness and desires of the flesh so that God's grace can truly work in them by convicting their hearts to do things his way; and those being rebuked learn how their own conduct affects others, and how that same conduct can lead them into eternal damnation if they don't repent and turn their ways around towards God.   When you raise a child, who thinks like a child, it is often important to sharply rebuke them, even discipline and scold them, because they do not have the wisdom and understanding yet to know how to change or why, nor understand the seriousness of the charge.  

In Titus 1:10-14 it says "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision (clergy): Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's (money's) sake.  One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, with slow bellies.  This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth." 

This is a hard task, and will be met with resistance, stubbornness, pride, strife, contention and pushback--even hate and persecution.  If you truly love another person, even your neighbor, reproving them is the most loving thing you can do to save their soul!    There are rules to rebuke, however, and it is important to follow the biblical guidelines on how to do it.  See the link "Rules of Rebuke".  

Be not a Respecter of Persons

Not only is God not a respecter of persons, but he instructs his servants to also not be respecter of persons: as quoted in James above, we are not to give favoritism to any person whether they be a son or a boss or a king and treat everyone the same in the Lord.  The possibility to rebuke and share the Truth, even when it is hard truth, puts the servant into a position of being hated, even if only for a time.   Hopefully, when the rebuke is done in love and under the discernment of the Holy Spirit to measure out its level of response appropriate to the crime, the receiver can be humbled and repent, and even grow in gratitude afterwards.  God clearly expects no guile (no hidden agenda and no lies) and speech seasoned with salt from his servants.  However, per the rules of rebuke, the target audience for reproof is not necessarily an unbeliever or a pagan who is "lost" as the world sees it, but are the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Or those who claim to Love God with all their heart and soul and are even members of a church clergy, who are in the presence of the whole congregation, rebuke them like it says in 1 Timothy 5:20 "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear."  Know that in prophecy, God has determined a remnant of His people (the Lost Sheep) to hear his Words instead of the words from the wolves and hirelings in the churches or the deceivers and vain talkers in the street.  Some of God's Israel will be called and not choose to respond, and will be condemned to tribulation as a result, and others will respond, repent and be accounted worthy of God's Kingdom and will be saved.  Some people are simply pots fitted for destruction as heart breaking as that might be, but God has spoken it to be true and will come to pass.     

Take the log out of your own eye

When we rebuke, we call out the judgement on those we are speaking to.  In the context of Leviticus 19, we are commanded to judge, but not with hypocrisy and we are to judge only by God's righteousness, which is the 10 Commandments.  As Yeshua says:

Matthew 7:1-5: "Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."   

This verse is often taken out of context and misquoted by people, who especially want to prevent others from judging or even having sound judgement, desiring the world to cater to their sins, the root of such behavior is the spirit of rebellion.  But this verse does not stop at "thou shalt not judge", but specifically commands you take that log of sin out of your own eye first so you know how to cast the sin out of others and not to be a hypocrite in how you do it.    

The primary definition of sin in the bible is 1John 3:4:  "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."  This is not referring to man-made laws, sacrificial laws of the Torah, but the Law of God, which is the 10 Commandments.  This is also known as the "moral law," which as it says in James 2:10 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."  James continues in this chapter about the Royal law and refers to it as the "law of liberty,"  similar in purpose to how Paul describes the 10 Commandments in its spiritual context of Sarah and Hagar (Galatians chapter 4),  understanding that this Covenant got magnified as described in Isaiah 42, verses 18-25 by the "True Prophet" Yeshua who seeks to fulfill his teaching of "opening the ears of the deaf and opening the eyes of the blind," which is the entire purpose of the Royal Law and goes onto describing it in James 2 as showing mercy to others just as God shows mercy to His servants who repent and take up the cross.      

Blood Guiltiness

In Leviticus 19 the phrase "standing not against the blood of thy neighbor" also connects to scripture we find under the Watchmen Calling in Ezekiel, chapters 2, 3 & 33.  The concept here is we have a duty to communicate with others about their sin and if we see them sin and say nothing then God will also hold us accountable for their sin equally as transgressors.   We are personally responsible for warning people, even if they don't listen; our job is to simply obey God by giving them warning and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.   

Ezekiel 3:17-21:  "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.  Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.  Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. "  

Do Good, Communicate, and Forget not!

In the Old Testament, Israel atoned for their sin through the rituals of the temple sacrifices.  However, in many places throughout the Torah and prophets God even says he did not desire for them to do these things, but instead they were to simply "obey his voice" and live righteously.  But because they didn't obey his voice, and had deep indoctrination of pagan practices learned in Egypt, God allowed animal sacrifices for a time but to be done only to Him and only in the place that he specifies, and only until the time when the True Prophet is sent to teach them the higher principles of his Covenant (Read all of Deuteronomy with emphasis on 18:15-22). This narrative is also confirmed in the book Recognitions of Clement, spoken from the mouth of Peter to Clement.  When that True Prophet came, he taught his disciples to talk as he talked and walk as he walked and teach the doctrines that he desired for them to understand, and tells them not to stray off that path to the left or the right (Deuteronomy 5:32, 17:11-20, 28:14, Matthew 7:12-14, Ecclesiastes 10:2) .   It was a ministry of putting other people first above yourself, walking humbly with God and speaking all the words He would have you speak to those that don't have His Truth.  God's sound doctrine is the unleavened bread written to feed the poor in Spirit and heal the broken in heart (Isaiah 58:7, Isaiah 61:1).  

In Hos 6:6, God says: "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."  

2 Peter 3:18: "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Yeshua Messiah. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."

Hebrews 13:15-16:  "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Philippians 4:14: Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.

Galatians 6:6: Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

1 Timothy 6:18-19: That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

A higher level of servanthood in communication is the Watchmen who stands on the wall or the Porter in the gate of the city,  who blows the shofar, warns the people about the armies that encompass the cities and the impending doom by the judgements of God.  These are not the people who will be tickling ears and making people feel comfortable in their mundane blessed lives, but will stir the people to action--come hell or high water, because the situation in the world is about to get very uncomfortable and the people must be ready, if they have even a chance to overcome and survive what is coming!  

Ezekiel 3:17: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me."

Isaiah 52:8: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion."

Isaiah 62:6-7: "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."

Jeremiah 31:6-9: "For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.  For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.  Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.  They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn."

The Watchmen's duty to communicate is done by obedience through Faith, even if the assignment God gives you seems staggeringly larger than you think you can handle, or is beyond your knowledge, experience and comfort level, as you rationalize it in your puny mind and flesh, the important lesson here is not to overthink it and just do it.  One big example in scripture of simple men tackling duties larger than oneself is with Moses, who was considered the meekest of all men (Numbers 12:3), who even questioned God's assignment by saying "Whom am I, Lord?""  and was tasked to stand before Pharaoh and demand of him to let Israel go from captivity (Exodus 3).  God was irritated with Moses for asking, but Moses was obedient and allowed God's power to work through him to contend with the magicians of Pharaoh, call down judgement upon all of Egypt with plagues, lead Israel out of Egypt, part the Red sea so Israel can cross it upon dry ground,  smash the armies of Egypt, deliver the people to Horeb to give them a Covenant and a Promise for a Kingdom--done entirely by God's hand through the weakness of flesh; in men willing to do nothing more than walk where God told them to walk and speak the words God tells them to speak.  God uses these meek (those who are wise in the knowledge of God) and those with a humble and contrite spirit to confound those who think themselves to be wise and strong.  This humble and contrite spirit and willingness to communicate, allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you, is what scripture calls a true "sacrifice worthy unto God,"  which simply cannot be fulfilled by the blood of bulls and goats or by the work of men's hands. 

Psalm 34:8-19:  "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?  Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."   

Psalm 51:10-17:  "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." 

Christ spoke explicitly about an end of days scenario where he commands the Porter (the servants of God) to watch or else; when He returns to judge the earth, he will come upon those not watching like a thief and cut them down like the wicked.  Because His servants have the responsibility to warn and teach people to obey God's Covenant so that they don't suffer the eternal consequence of sin and separation from the Kingdom.  

Mark 13:32-37: "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.  For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:  Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.  And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."

Same account in Matthew 24, with slightly different messaging:

Matthew 24:45-51:  "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,   And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

The Watchmen who do communicate and speak with salt will allow the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel to Hear God's voice and enter into life through His Son, even when these Lost Sheep are held spiritually and mentally captive by a culture and by a church who fail to feed them.  

John 10:1-18:  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Yeshua unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Yeshua unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

Shoe Covenant (Walking in Each others Shoes / Walk as Christ Walked)

There is a cultural tradition in ancient Israel about how two people form an agreement, they take off one shoe and give it to the other and place it upon each other's feet, signifying that both are walking in each other's shoes and walking together in agreement as one man.  Then if one party breaks their agreement, that offender can be taken in front of councils and Elders to be publicly shamed and the shoes are returned to the two parties, sometimes by throwing the shoes at the other.  In scripture part of the Royal Law is getting your steps in to go into cities to speak the Truth.  We see how Paul wore out many shoes walking through Europe and preaching the Gospel, bringing light to darkness, sometimes being persecuted and thrown in prison and walking in obedience with the Fear of the Lord, even unto death. 

1John 2:1-6:  "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua Messiah the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.   And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 

Rom 10:13-18:  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things (Isaiah 52:7) But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? (Isaiah 53).  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."    

These Preachers who bring the "Glad Tidings of Good Things" are the one's watching and the ones teaching the Refreshing of the Holy Covenant.  This is the True Gospel.