Let us read the passage in context, beginning in Romans 13:8:

“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does not harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment [better: fulfilling] of the law.”

The Amplified Bible gives the following rendering, with the brackets in the original:

“Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor–who practices loving others–has fulfilled the Law [relating to one’s fellowmen], meeting all its requirements…”

Just the opposite is true! Christians still have to make a continuing choice to obey God and to reject the wrong way, and the Bible fully explains this most remarkable and foundational truth!

As a beginning point, we need to understand that God’s intentions have always been that mankind would ultimately be given the sustainable option to choose a path leading to life and reject the one leading to death. Chapters two and three of Genesis recount the epic account of how Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. From this record we see very clearly that God gave man an opportunity to choose for himself (compare verses 16-17).

In another time, after having selected the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as His chosen people, God, nonetheless, required that the people choose to follow His way and to reject the wrong way (compare Deuteronomy 30:11-20):

We will be trying to answer this question as best as we can. In the past, the Worldwide Church of God attempted to strike a proper balance as to what is appropriate and inappropriate clothing, but in the process, some might have gone overboard at certain times by leaning too much to the “right” or to the “left.” Occasionally, the Church was even accused of promoting a yard-stick religion, while at other times, it was perceived to allow for appearances which were clearly not in line with biblical standards.

The following write-up is a conglomeration of discussion and communication, between the ministry and their wives, of the Church of the Eternal God and their corporate affiliates, the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada, and the Global Church of God in the UK. We believe that it will be sufficient for the wise, but if particular additional questions should arise on an individual basis, please address those to the ministry and their wives (or widows of late ministerial husbands). We also need to keep in mind that we must NEVER condemn or judge self-righteously our spiritual brother and sister for what is being worn (compare James 4:11-12; 2:1-4, 13). If a matter needs to be addressed on an individual basis, the ministry will do so. We are all learning to become more and more perfect in the eyes of God, and to increase in stature with people, and this process requires time and patience.

James 2:2 contains a statement which, at first sight, may be difficult to understand, as it seems to contradict other biblical passages. A careful analysis of the Scripture shows, however, that there is no inconsistency, and that James addresses an important principle related to our Christian way of life.

James 2:1-6 reads, in context:

“(1) My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. (2) For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, (3) and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ (4) have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?… (6) But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into courts?”

First of all, let us read these verses in the book of John:

“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!’”

Christ spoke with authority! It is obvious from other passages that Jesus, who was recognized as a Rabbi, had authority. In John 3:1-2 we read: “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.'” Here Nicodemus addressed Jesus as Rabbi which is translated “Teacher” (compare Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible) or “Master” (which is an official title of honor – compare Strong’s Hebrew & Greek Dictionaries).