Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

God’s patience is his goodness in delaying the punishment of the offending
creature (Nah. 1:2-3). (For its purpose, see 2 Pet. 3:9; for its pattern, Col. 3:12.)
God’s faithfulness is his goodness in dealing predictably with his “trying”
creatures (Deut. 7:9). (For its standard, see Jer. 18:7-10; Ps. 119:138; 1
Thess. 5:23; Heb. 10:23; for its ground, Ps. 36:5; 89:36-37; for its graciousness,
2 Tim. 2:13; for its toughness, Ps. 119:75; for its encouragement, Ps.
37:34; 40:1; Isaiah 30:18; 40:31.)
Finally, God’s mercy is his goodness in relieving the misery of perishing
creatures (Lk. 10:37; 18:13). (For its greatness, see Psalm 57:10; for its sovereignty,
Ex. 33:19, for its perpetuity, Ps. 103:17; 136:1ff, for its pattern, Jam.
2:13.) To show mercy is more than just to share or care, to extend a helping
hand or show a compassionate heart. It is always extended in “terminal”
cases. Failure to do so invariably means that “the end” is inevitable, however
defined. It is to rescue a drowning man or woman, in whatever area, at whatever
time, in whatever way, and for whatever reason, from gloom and doom,
from despair and destruction, including terminal pity parties and suicide. The
fact that we are daily invited to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain
“mercy” is telling (Heb. 4:16). It spells out our condition, even as saints, as
James explains at length in James 3:1-4:11. Without ever continuing mercy in
the framework of sanctification we would still perish.
This clinches the matter at hand. The least anyone, who continuously
does and must plead for mercy can do, is to display mercy. Specifically, the
consideration, “Shall it be mercy or judgment for me in the end,” is not just
an added, but the concluding, and clinching incentive to shun partiality irrevocably
with regard to all people, in all circumstances, and at all times.
It is telling that in the present scenario both the “rich” and the “poor” are
viewed as terminal cases that require mercy! This makes eminent sense. After
all, a slighting of the poor may embitter them to the point that they never turn
to a Gospel preaching community again, while the rich may end up with such
a feeling of smug sufficiency that they will never taste the need for the Gospel!
In James’ illustration both the ostentatious “gentleman” and the shabby
“tramp” were in need of “mercy,” in fact, the former even more so than the
latter, and both were deprived of it. 240 Come to think about it, the treatment of
240 Cheung, 117-119, points out that for some scholars, such as N. T. Wright, “the mercy
code” replaces the “holiness code” in Jesus teaching, and presumably in James as well. He
rejects this, however, as an exaggeration of the inclusiveness of mercy, because there is “simultaneously
an intensification of the demand of the Torah.” To Cheung, mercy in Scripture
is not a “black hole” in which holiness disappears. “It is nevertheless true,” he adds, “that love
and mercy become for Jesus (as well as James) the true form of holiness, in contrast with establishing
holiness by ritual cleansing and setting boundaries between clean and unclean peo-
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