James 4:11-12
One Lawgiver and Judge
Read the passage
11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.
12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
James forbids believers to slander one another. Speaking against a brother or setting ourselves over him as judge violates the law that calls us to love our neighbor.
James says such a person judges the law itself. Instead of obeying God's command, the slanderer behaves as though it does not bind him. The issue is deeper than an unpleasant tone: we are claiming authority to disregard what God requires in our treatment of someone else.
There is one Lawgiver and Judge, able to save and destroy. That authority belongs to God. James's question about judging our neighbor calls us back to our proper place as people who must obey Him.
This does not forbid recognizing wrongdoing or helping someone repent; James will later urge believers to bring a wanderer back. It forbids the proud, condemning speech that treats a neighbor as beneath our love and ourselves as above God's law. We can speak truth about sin while remembering that both speaker and hearer answer to the same Lord.
Questions
1 What does James forbid believers to do?
AnswerSlander one another. Speech that condemns a brother in disregard of God's law fails to love the neighbor God commands us to love.
2 How does slander become judging the law?
AnswerThe speaker acts as though the command to love does not bind him, placing his own judgment above obedience to God's law.
3 What authority belongs to God alone?
AnswerHe is the one Lawgiver and Judge, with power to save and destroy. We are accountable to Him rather than above His law.
4 How can we correct wrongdoing without slander?
AnswerSpeak truthfully and humbly for the person's good, remembering our own accountability to God instead of treating the person with contempt.
What This Means for Us
Before discussing someone's fault, ask whether the conversation serves a truthful and loving purpose. Refuse exaggeration, ridicule and speculation about motives.
If correction is needed, seek the person's good and use an appropriate setting. Remember that you also need mercy and instruction from the God whose law you are seeking to obey.
Prayer
Lord, You are the one Lawgiver and Judge. Forgive our slander and pride. Keep us under Your word, truthful in correction and humble toward the neighbors You command us to love. Amen.