God, the Judge of All

God knows all things. He knows all our thoughts, our motivation, our arrogance, our humility, and our faith. He is the Judge of all.

James 4:11–12 prohibits the members of God’s church from speaking against their brothers wickedly. In this portion of his epistle, he is not addressing them as “adulteresses,” “sinners,” or “double-minded,” as he did earlier. He uses the softer term, “brothers,” for these people were born of God (Jas. 1:18). They had savingly put their trust in their glorious Lord Jesus Christ (Jas. 2:1). They were all members of God’s family. Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many brothers—many brothers who conform to his image, including these brothers James addresses.

In James 4:7–10, James instructed his readers to go down ten steps so that they may become humble and be filled with grace. In this study, we will look at three points James emphasizes in verses 11 and 12: the ministry of the devil, the ministry of the true church, and the ministry of Jesus Christ.

The Ministry of the Devil

James begins, “Brothers, do not slander one another” (v. 11). You may ask: how can those who are filled with the grace of God speak evil of their Christian brothers? How can they quarrel with them and envy them? They are all, in truth, God’s elect, effectually called and justified. The Spirit of holiness and the Spirit of truth dwells in all of them.

The people of God are to love one another as Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25). Speaking against one another is to speak with evil thoughts (James 2:4). Such people are acting like the devil, who is the diabolos, the accuser of God’s people.

From the beginning, the devil has been speaking against God. So we read, “‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Gen. 3:4–5). And in Revelation 12:10 John writes, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers [the devil], who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.’”

Those who are children of the devil also speak against God and his people. The psalmist says, “You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son” (Ps. 50:20). Paul told the Corinthian church, “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder” (2 Cor. 12:20).

If brothers speak against their brothers, they destroy the unity of God’s covenant community. The psalmist said, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! . . . . For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore” (Ps. 133:1, 3b). Jesus said, “Where two or three come together in my name,” that is, in love and in unity, “there I am in their midst” (Matt. 18:20).

Speaking against our brothers grieves the Holy Spirit and results in divine rebuke. God punished Miriam when she spoke against Moses. The anger of the Lord burned against her and she became leprous (Num. 12:8–10).

Speaking against God’s servants is a dangerous and self-destructive activity. To speak against God’s delegated authorities (husbands, parents, pastors, teachers, and other authorities) is to speak against God himself, who appointed them.

Throughout their wilderness journey, the people of Israel spoke against God and Moses. They murmured constantly, and God killed them. He kept killing them until 603,548 people had died. So in Numbers 16, we read that Korah and his company of rebels spoke against Moses. The earth swallowed some of them up, while fire came and consumed 250 of these insolent men. Our God is a consuming fire. In Numbers 16 we also see how God used a plague to kill 14,700 people because of their incessant murmuring (Num. 16:49). In Numbers 21, the people once again spoke against God and Moses: “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’” (vv. 4–5). At that time, God used venomous snakes to kill many of these grumblers. As the Hebrews writer warns us, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

So James commands us not to speak against one another. Moses told us, “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:16-18).

Ministry of the True Church

What, then, are we as members of God’s church to do with one another? It is the will of our heavenly Father, who loved us and sent his Son to die for us on the cross, that his children love one another, not only in words but also in sacrificial deeds. Paul instructs us, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph. 4:29). We are to love God with all our heart (Jas. 1:12; 2:5). And we are to love our brothers as ourselves (Jas. 2:8). In this epistle James calls us “beloved” (agapêtoi) three times (Jas. 1:16, 19; 2:5). We are eternally beloved of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and we are to be beloved of all God’s people.

It is the command of our Lord Jesus that we love one another: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34–35). This is a command, not a suggestion. It is a new command from the mouth of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. It is a higher command than that of the federal government or any other earthly authority.

Jesus also said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). This is how we can test ourselves and see whether we are Christians: Do we obey God? He also told us, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. . . . You are my friends if you do what I command. . . . This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:12, 14, 17).

We are to love one another as Jesus loved us by laying down his life for us. In John 10 he says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. . . . I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 15).

Jesus calls us, not to come and dine, but, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, to come and die. So we read, “Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’” (Matt. 16:24). Have you denied yourself?

In his first epistle, John exhorts us to love one another: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16–18). He also writes, “We love because he first loved us.” By nature, we did not have the capacity to love God. We hated God and were his enemies. But when God saved us, he also gave us the capacity to love him. So John says, “We love because he loved us.” But then he continues, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” Then he concludes, “And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19–21).

Paul also speaks of this obligation to love our brothers: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ “Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8–10). James says the same thing in James 2:8.

Paul also says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . . . And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:4–8a, 13). And Peter exhorts, “Love the brotherhood of believers” (1 Pet. 2:17).

If we speak against our brothers, we are not loving them. Rather, we are wickedly judging them. Not only that, we are also sitting in judgment on God’s law, which is holy, righteous, good, and spiritual. We are not obeying God’s law, which James tells us is the law of freedom. It is the royal law, the law given by the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Jesus is the Lawgiver and the Judge. He himself said many times, “You have heard it said, but I say unto you” (Matt. 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44). If we speak against our brothers by slandering, defaming, and despising them, we are not obeying God’s law of love. (PGM) We have become judges with evil thoughts. We have usurped the place of the one Lawgiver and Judge, our Lord Jesus Christ.

This does not mean we are not to rebuke and judge truly according to the law of God, the Bible. We are to speak against the world and its sin. Jesus himself described so-called religious people who were wicked as “hypocrites,” “blind fools,” “whitewashed tombs,” “snakes,” and “brood of vipers” (see Matthew 23).

While we are not to speak against our brothers, we have a right to rebuke and counsel them. The Scriptures tell us, “Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt” (Lev. 19:17). The psalmist says, “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it” (Ps. 141:5). We also read, “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise” (Prov. 15:31). Jesus said, “So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). Paul writes, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” from the Bible (2 Tim. 4:2). He also says, “This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). A true pastor will rebuke people as needed. He doesn’t look at their clothing or wealth or beauty. He will tell them what they need to hear.

The Lord Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent” (Rev. 3:19). We also counsel people. Paul writes, “I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to counsel one another” (Rom. 15:14). This is not just a charge to ministers but to all God’s people. Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God” (Col. 3:16). We are not to pull down the church that Christ is building; we are to build it up by prophesying. In 1 Corinthians 14 the word “edify” or “edification” appears seven times.

God’s delegated authorities especially are to judge and rule for God according to the Bible. Priests are to judge according to the Bible (Deut. 17:8–13). Kings are to rule and govern according to the Bible (Deut. 17:18–20). Parents and pastors are to teach and judge according to God’s infallible word. So Paul writes to Timothy: “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Tim. 3:15–4:2).

Fifty percent of the ministry of God’s delegated authorities is rebuking and correcting. The other fifty percent is teaching and training in the word of God. It is all based on the word of God. He who judges must not judge by mere outward appearance or by human standards. Delegated authorities must live and rule by Scripture. They must always rule for the good of those under them, unlike many politicians or other worldly rulers. Delegated authorities must judge righteously. And they must take the plank out of their own eyes first to see the specks in the eyes of their brothers.

There are times when the church must exercise discipline in the church. Discipline is a mark of a true church. When the Scripture warrants it, those who are insolent and rebellious must be put out of the church. This is done for the health of God’s church and the possible ultimate salvation of the person being excommunicated. So we read, “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:10–11).

Paul says, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Rom. 16:17–18). If you go to a church where the pastor is speaking smooth words, you must realize that he is trying to pick your pocket. He is a peddler of God’s word, trying to please people for financial gain (2 Cor. 2:17).

Who are we to speak against our brothers saved by Jesus? We are mere creatures, sinners saved by grace, falling blossoms, mere mist, dying creatures. Or, as John Wesley said, we are “poor, weak, dying worms.” We can have a nice suit, a nice tie, and a nice car, but we are still ephemeral, dying worms.

The Ministry of Jesus Christ

So James cuts us down to size. “You, who do you think you are to judge your neighbor, your brother?” (Jas. 4:12, author’s version). Who are we? We are not God Almighty, who gave us the law, and therefore, is the ultimate Judge of all the earth.

Modern people have made God into a nice Jesus who only hugs us. He never rebukes or corrects us. He never kills or sends any diseases. But that is a false view of God. The God of the Bible is almighty both to save and destroy. God has given all authority to his Son to judge all his church and the world. Jesus Christ alone is able to save.

In the Old Testament we read, “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; it is he who will save us” (Isa. 33:22; see also Deut. 32:39). The title “Lord” in the New Testament is given to Jesus. He is the Judge and the Lawgiver. He is also our King and our Savior. Jesus alone is able to save and destroy. May God help us to change our view of who Jesus Christ is!

Jesus says of his disciples, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29). And we read, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). We also read, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There is no other savior.

Has Jesus Christ saved you? Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal life and salvation? Are you in Christ? Then you can rejoice.

But Jesus is not only able to save; he is also able to destroy. James says, “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” (Jas. 5:9). He is speaking about Jesus Christ at his parousia, his second coming. In Isaiah 43:13 this mighty Judge speaks: “Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” In Revelation 6 we read, “Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” (vv. 15–17).

Jesus Christ is going to judge. Peter said, “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). People do not think of that when they sin. God sees everything. We may have fooled people with a nice tie and nice hat and all that. They may think we are somebody, but God knows everything. So Paul writes, “This [judgment] will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares” (Rom. 2:16).

The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way: “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:28–31). May God minister to us how dreadful it is (see also Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20:11–15), that we may not sin against him.

Christ is coming again, but I am not worried, because I believe Jesus died in my place for my sins. The wrath of God that was against me was poured out upon him. He is my glorious substitute and my atonement. He is my Savior and my Lord. And he has been judged in my place. But he is coming again, and he will judge and destroy those who treated him with contempt, whether generals, heads of state, kings and queens, the rich and mighty, the powerful, the defiant, or philosophers, scientists, or others.

So do not worry about your brother or speak against him. You are not his master; Jesus is. Paul writes, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4).

The vast majority of people in the world and in this country are outside of Jesus Christ. He is coming again to judge them, but he is coming again also to save us. So let us make our own calling and election sure. Let us judge ourselves in the light of God’s law. Let us examine ourselves and see whether we are in the faith. Let us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love and serve and build up our covenant community. Let us proclaim the gospel and live a holy life. Peter tells us, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:11–13).