“Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”
To correct the problem of derogatory speech about others, James asks us to examine four categories:
1) others,
2) the law,
3) God and
4) ourselves.
He who speaks evil of a brother
Note the threefold emphasis on the word “brother.” James tries to draw the attention of Jewish Christians spread throughout the Roman Empire to their family relationship in Christ. Slander from fellow members of the family is particularly devastating.
PRINCIPLE:
A proper view of our family relationship in Christ should inhibit us from maligning fellow Christians.
APPLICATION:
It is one thing to meet with smears from outside the body of Christ, but it is an entirely different matter to hear it from within the church.
Gal. 5:15, “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”
