Today, we’re continuing with our scriptures from the book of James. This one basically tells us that if we keep almost the whole law, except one little part of it, then we’re guilty of it all. 

That doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Well, let’s look at it this way. God says that we must be perfect in order to receive salvation and enter His presence. Perfect means 100 percent. If we offend the law in one point, that’s not 100 percent perfection. It’s not good enough. Think of it as a pass-fail system rather than a A-to-F grading scale. Miss just one point, and it’s an automatic fail. 

This scripture is telling us that it doesn’t matter how good we think we are or if our goodness outweighs our badness. It doesn’t matter if that “one point” we offended was nothing big or if it was a pretty huge sin. We shouldn’t wonder and debate over these things because it’s much more cut and dried than that. 

This scripture is gently reminding us that we will never be good enough on our own to “pass.” Only one human being lived a perfect life, and that was Jesus Christ. He took the imperfections of each and every one of us upon Himself. He took our “fail” and gave us His own “pass.” 

Instead of focusing on our own spiritual greatness or pretending to be perfect, let’s recognize our true standing before a perfect God and accept the free gift of His Son’s perfection — because when we understand this scripture, we understand how much we desperately need that gift.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.