My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.  (2) For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come a man in filthy clothes, (3) and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place” and say to the poor man, “You stand there” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” (4) have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?  (5) Listen my beloved brethren:  Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?  

Our verses today were written by James, the half brother of Jesus.   James is addressing Jewish Christians and warning them of the sin of favoritism/ bias, based on outward factors – gender, dress, skin color etc – all and any kinds of prejudice and judgment.  This sin of pride can be subtle or blatant.  They are judging others without looking beneath the surface and they are separating themselves from each other.  And all this is as true today as it was in the ancient church

James is addressing this problem by focusing on Christ Jesus.  That Christ has given us eternal spiritual life and light and we are to live in this world not of it.  Judgments based on outward appearance alone are faulty and only God sees the hearts of men – we do not and should not presume to assess the character of others.  Remember we are saved in Christ, apart from any effort on our part and being rich or poor is not Gods punishment or reward for how we live our lives.  God’s choice is completely based on His will and grace and purpose

The faithful love God because He first loved them.  God chooses, not man, and in man’s favoritism man is assuming – erroneously – the role of judge.  Partiality is wrong because it aligns us with God’s enemies

Christians.