"For there is no partiality with God." (Paul's letter to the Romans, 2:11)
"My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? ... But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors." (Book of James, 2:1, 9)
Image: Icon of the Embrace of Peter and Paul
The Feast of Saints Peter & Paul, martyrs, has been celebrated since the 4th or 5th century.
While most Christians would argue that the New Testament is internally consistent in its content on significant issues, it is interesting to note the specific sayings that are found repeatedly. For example, the NT expression of what some call the golden rule is found six times (Note 1), four in the gospel and two in Paul. Jesus' call for his followers to lay down their life for the cause of the gospel is found six times. (Note 2) I bring this up because the statement above and a unique word construction describing the impartiality of God is found seven times by three different speakers, namely, by Peter, Paul, and James. (See Note 3).
It is not merely the principle that is repeated, but the an unusual word, prosōpolēmptēs (προσωπολημπτης), which seems to be constructed from the idea of "choosing the face," from the words take/receive/lift or "choose" (lambanō/λαμβανω) and the word for face (prosōpon/προσοπον), which is one of the most important and frequently used words in reference to human relations in both the Old and New Testaments. (There are at least three other words and six additional references to partiality in the New Testament. James addresses the topic at length in James, chapter 2.)
Peter, Paul and James are three of the most important Christian leaders of the early church. Peter is the well known leader of the original apostles and believed to have written two New Testament books that bear his name. Paul was the most famous leader in the early church who was not among the original twelve, and writer of approximately 1/4 of the New Testament. James was the brother of Jesus, believed to have been early pastor of the "first" church of Jerusalem, primarily Jewish Christians, and also believed to be the writer of the NT book that bears his name.
Their agreement on this very important saying about the impartiality of God is significant, and in all likelihood, it is the fruit not only of their struggles and beliefs about the emerging early church, but reflective of discussions and arguments that they almost certainly conducted among themselves. Was one of them the first to advocate the idea among his brothers? What was the nature of their conversations? We can speculate to an extent, based on their writings and some highlights of their work found in the book of Acts (a narrative of the earliest church events following the death and resurrection of Jesus).
To what practical issues would this "non partiality of God" apply in their relationships and in the church? Just as today, the issues manifest would have been a) religious differences, in this case, primarily Jewish vs non-Jewish ("Gentile") Christians and the accompanying religious moral principles; ethnic and class differences which would have confronted the church in a multi-ethnic and multi national environment, economic differences, and of course, gender.
There are four significant events that undoubtedly helped shape this debate, and the outcome in which these three leaders arrived at a unified expression on this principle of equality of people in the eyes of God. The historical order is debated, but the events include:
(1) the context of the Antioch church, described in Acts 13:1, which consisted of a significant diversity of believers including Paul (Jewish and Roman citizen), Barnabus (Jerusalem), Lucius of Cyrene (Greek city in North Africa), and Simon called Niger (Latin for black), also thought to be from North Africa, and Manaen who had been brought up in the Roman royal court. This collection of believers proved to be very significant in the early church, and it is said that they were first to be called "Christians" (Acts 11:26);
(2) Peter's heavenly vision, described in Acts 10, which led him to accept Cornelius the Roman centurion into the church. During this encounter, Peter spoke the above quote about the impartiality of God;
(3) a confrontation, in Antioch, between Paul and Peter concerning whether or not to require Gentile believers to submit to specific Jewish religious practices. This encounter is described in Galatians 2:11-14, and
(4) the Jerusalem council (Acts 15), in which the church leadership debated a dispute between the traditional Jewish believers in Jerusalem and the more diverse collection worshipping in Antioch of Syria, approximately 300 miles to the north. Leaders, including Paul, Barnabus, James, and Peter, came to a compromise involving questions of Jewish and non-Jewish Christian practice. (Note 4)
I cannot here do justice to complexity and significance of these events. But it seems apparent that the outcome had a similar impact on these three leaders whereby each espoused very similar expressions of the same principle of the impartiality of God. The limited corpus and time frame of the New Testament did not entail a detailed working out of this principle in the various areas of human social life. That task remains for every generation in every community, in every land and among every group that claims to embrace this principle of the expression of God's love ...
Image: https://www.thepoorinspirit.com/post/122786040061/the-feast-of-saints-peter-and-paul-and
Notes
(1) Matthew 22:35-40 "A lawyer asked Him a question, testing Him, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?' And He said to him,"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." These two commands come not from the Ten Commandments but from two other places in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:17-18. See also Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31, Mark 12:29-33, Romans 13:9, and Galatians 5:14.
(2) Luke 9:23 "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." See also Matthew 16:24-25, Mark 8:34-35, Luke 14:27, Matthew 10:38-39, John 12:24-25.
(3) Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, James 2:1, 9 and 1 Peter 1:17 (positive form of the same word, "impartially."
(4) Helpful collection of information in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_at_Antioch.