First, we have to receive in meekness God's word implanted in us. Then we can avoid wrath, bridle the tongue, take care of the orphans and widows, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world, according to the perfect law of freedom (1:19-27). Paul told us clearly that the law of letters is a law of bondage. In Galatians 5 he said that Christ has released us from the bondage of the law of letters. But here James referred to the law as the perfect law of freedom. James uplifted the law in the Old Testament dispensation to the uttermost, mixing God's New Testament economy with the outdated Old Testament economy (Acts 21:18-20).
The kingdom is an incentive, inciting us not to have respect of persons by not dishonoring the poor because they also are heirs of the kingdom, which has been promised by God to His lovers. Furthermore, James said that we should not regard the rich, who oppress the believers and drag them to the courts and blaspheme the honorable name by which the believers are called. Also, we should love our neighbor as ourselves to fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture that we may not be judged by the law of freedom without mercy (James 2:1-13). The royal law is the law of Moses. The law of Moses says that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The commandment of the law of letters was crowned by James, because to him it was the royal law.
According to Romans 2, God will judge people according to the law in a general way. The New Testament also teaches that Christ will judge His believers at His coming back at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10). That judgment will not be according to Moses' law but according to the law of life. We were condemned under God's judgment, but we passed that judgment by believing into Christ. Now in Christ we should have a life according to the law of life. Then when Christ comes back, He will judge us not according to Moses' law, the law of letters, but according to the new law, the law of life. But James still exalted the law of letters, calling it the royal law.
James's vision was vague. In the English language, the capital letter I looks similar to the Arabic number 1 and the lower case letter l. It is difficult for someone who is not familiar with the language to have a clear vision of this. When little children, especially foreigners, learn English, they may confuse certain words and letters because their vision of the English language is vague. Because of his vague vision, James uplifted the law, but in the Bible there are two kinds of laws: the law of letters for bondage and the law of life for freedom. In the New Testament, we should live according to the law of life, not according to the law of letters.