James' words that, by breaking something in the Torah, a person thereby breaks the whole Torah may seem somewhat strange. The laws differ, and breaking a law is a very specific act. That would indeed be so if the Torah...
James' words that, by breaking something in the Torah, a person thereby breaks the whole Torah may seem somewhat strange. The laws differ, and breaking a law is a very specific act. That would indeed be so if the Torah were viewed only as legislation or a moral code. But the apostle is speaking primarily of what was then called the inner Torah, and here the situation was different.
The inner Torah was understood as a system of God's intentions, embodied in commandments and addressed directly to the person. Ideally, it was to determine a person's entire life. This meant that the person had freely and willingly to bring their own life-shaping intentions into accord with God's, that is, with the commandments.
Such alignment cannot be a single act accomplished in a single moment. Our whole life consists of successive intentions, whether we are aware of them or not, and each must be brought to awareness and related to the commandments. Only in this way can our entire life become conscious and conform to the Torah. If this process breaks down, our spiritual life is destroyed, and it no longer matters exactly where the breakdown occurred. One thing is violated, and the whole inner Torah collapses, although from the standpoint of the external Torah, only one particular commandment may have been broken.
Such violations may also concern relationships with our neighbors, as the apostle reminds us. It is enough to stop seeing a person as the image of God and begin focusing on their wealth or social status for the church community to come to an end. The person immediately disappears from view, and normal relationships with someone thus hidden behind their wealth or social status are no longer possible.
But as a person ceases to notice God's image in their neighbor, they gradually cease to see it in themselves as well. Willingly or not, a person begins to judge themselves as they judge others, from the same standpoint and by the same criteria. Their own spiritual life then goes downhill too. These are the simple things the apostle reminds his readers of, for the whole of spiritual life consists precisely of such simple yet utterly important things.
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2:13 Judgment without mercy shall be to him - In that day.Who hath showed no mercy - To his poor brethren. But the mercy of God to believers, answering to that which they have shown, will then glory over judgment.