James 2:12-13 reads: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

Sailors, so I’m told, use stars to guide them. The North Star has become the symbol of finding and being guided by an ultimate reference point.

James urges the messianists to use — as their North Star — the reality of judgment on the basis of the law that gives freedom.

The law that gives freedom — the Torah as understood by Jesus through the lens of loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself — is the final criterion that God will use in judging humans.

Therefore, live in light of a judgment that will exact judgment on the basis of that law.