Rich and Poor - "The kind of huge miracles faith works in our hearts."

In James 2:1, the apostle says: "My brothers, SHOW NO PARTIALITY as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory." If you prefer the rich over the poor because of their wealth, this means you are focusing on the person and thus have no faith. That is an attitude that faith will not TOLERATE as James says quite correctly.

This means that where there is faith, this kind of attitude must disappear, because faith does not focus on the person but on the relationship that person has with God. Faith thinks: "This poor beggar has been redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. As far as I am concerned, this makes this man worth as much as a king or an emperor." These are the kind of huge miracles that faith works in our hearts.

C.F.W. Walther, Law and Gospel p. 233

Twentieth Evening Lecture, Feb. 27, 1885