We continue our series in James to learn from James 4:11-12, James calls us not criticize and condemn, and how acting in this way relates to the law. The heart issues here seem to be the underlying issue behind the conflict addressed in this letter last week.

The criticism James talks about here includes willful false accusations, exaggerations of faults that are real, needless repetition of real faults, and slander. When we do any of these, we are actually trying to judge the law ourselves, setting ourselves up as judges, and putting ourselves in God’s place. Don’t criticize each other. Instead, let’s humbly serve Christ together. We will confront sin when we need to, but may our default posture be to support, encourage, and challenge each other to grow.

Sermon notes