Looking Into the Perfect Law of Liberty

James pronounces a blessing on those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere by being doers who act on what they see (James 1:25). He goes on to say that we must act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty (2:12). Before we can look into that liberating law, we must look for that elusive law. We may be thinking of law as a legal pronouncement or code of laws, but in this practical and ethical book, James follows the Jewish understanding of law as Torah or teaching. What is this liberating teaching? Many candidates come forward in Scripture: 1) The New Testament rather than the Old Testament, 2) The wisdom of the Proverbs, 3) Isaiah’s promised liberation of captives (Isa. 61:1-3) fulfilled by Jesus (Lk. 4:18-22), 4) Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, and 5) Paul’s teachings of freedom for Gentiles who confess crucified Jesus as Lord (Gal. 5:1; Rom. 8:1-2).

James clues us in to his understanding of the law of liberty when he cites the “royal law” to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:13-18; James 2:8) and the year of Jubilee as a proclamation of liberty (Lev. 25:10). I took James’s instruction to “look into” literally and read those chapters, especially Lev. 19 & 25. I was amazed at how many of the themes in James are found there. Those who confess a merciful God must do concrete acts of mercy to their neighbors, especially the poor.

Our search for a particular perfect law of liberty may not “get” James. He points us to Scripture (2:8, 23; 4:5). All the above options may be true. His point is that it will not suffice to merely confess that truth. It must be exhibited in action. Even the greatest confession that God is one, the Shema of Deut. 6:4-5, is useless without works (James 2:19-20). Both Abraham the patriarch and Rebab the prostitute showed their faith by their neighborly deeds – faith apart from works is dead. May we learn from James to be such a wise community.

—Tom Yoakum