Main news for 5 January 2021

The apostle James opens to us with these words the big secret of God's mercy. Righteousness and reward for the works are important things; the just judgment of our acts is unavoidable, quite as all the laws of the world. The brick thrown at the top falls on the head according to the law of gravitation. Sin entails death... But this just judgment does not limit itself by the destiny of the world and of man. There is God's mercy, and it is superior and more important than the judgment. The translation of the New American Standard Bible transmits very accurately the meaning of the Greek word: mercy triumphs over judgment. This revelation is fantastic, and it has a more direct relation with our hope; and it is exactly by this triumph of the mercy that the world is gorgeous.

But for the apostle James, it is important that we understand correctly his thought. The triumph of God's mercy does not mean that we can "allow" ourselves to sin, relying on the fact that God will have "in any case" grace. Such an opinion still appeared at the apostolic time and was instantly rejected. The apostle underlines that mercy is effective insofar as we are being guided by it in our life. Not "being in practice", it remains inaccessible for us. Here is properly, why God emphases as the main for man – to love God and his neighbour.