We began our study of James 1:19-27 in last week’s article with an emphasis on (1) Receiving the Word. We focused on verses 19 and 20: “…let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Receiving the word also includes verse 21: “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” Let’s summarize what is involved in “Receiving the Word.” First, be quick to hear, second, be slow to speak, third, be slow to anger, fourth, prepare the heart. You prepare the heart by repenting and changing your life. James says get rid of all filthiness and wickedness. Preparing the heart also means we practice humility. Humility is the state of being humble. The one who is proud or arrogant is not a humble person. The Bible has a lot to say about being humble. For example, read these two verses: I Peter 5:5, 6. This word which we implant or fix deeply within the heart is able to save us. It can do that because it is the gospel. And the gospel “…is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”(Romans 1:16). Jesus said, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved…”(Mark 16:16).
Upon receiving the word, one must put it into practice. James says it like this: “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (v. 22). To delude yourself is to be self deceived. James uses this word three times in chapter one, verses 16, 22, and 26. In verse 16 he says, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” The fact that he said, “Do not be deceived,” is a sure indication one can be deceived. In this context the deception is not from an outside force but from within. Hearing the word is of upmost importance. The Apostle Paul states that “…faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). One humbly hears the word, receives it and allows it to be planted in the heart. That person will be a doer of that word. If all one does is hear, the word is not received and implanted. And you have deceived yourself. James illustrates this truth by his reference to a mirror: “For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was”(vs. 23, 24).
Blessings come when we hear and put what we hear into practice. Hear James: “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does” (v. 25).
In the next article we will conclude our study of “Being a Doer of the Word” by considering the last two verses of James one.
Do you need and want God’s blessings? Yes! Then do your best to do what God says. Be a doer of the word!
— Les Ferguson Sr., South Huntington Church of Christ
