James 1:22-25

LISTENING IS POINTLESS WITHOUT DOING

Text 1:22-25

James 1:22.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.

23.

For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror;

24.

for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25.

But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

Queries

69.

Explain how hearing without doing is actually deluding oneself.

70.

What is the natural face?

71.

The natural face and the mirror represent what concerning the man who hears and does not?

72.

How is the New Testament the perfect law? (Remember the Biblical meaning of the word perfect.)

73.

Why would the New Testament be called the law of liberty?

74.

Since the word law is here used in describing the Word of God, could it be that James is speaking of the Old Testament law, and not of the New? How do you know?

75.

In what way may Christianity be referred to as a law?

76.

Since the doer must work, is not James teaching salvation by works?

Paraphrases

A. 22. You fool yourselves if you listen to the Word of God but don-'t obey it.

23.

For if this is what you are doing, you are like a man looking at his physical face in a mirror;

24.

who sees himself but immediately departs without remembering what he saw.

25. But he that continues to see himself described clearly in the New Testament and, unlike the man above, proceeds to do something about what he sees, shall be blessed for his action.

B.*22.

And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. So don-'t fool yourselves:

23.

For if a person just listens and doesn-'t obey, he is like a man looking at his face in a mirror;

24.

As soon as he walks away, he can-'t see himself anymore or remember what he looks like.

25.

But if he keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men he will not only remember it, but do what it says, and God will greatly bless that man in everything he does.

Summary

A man fools himself who thinks there is profit in reading the Word of God without doing what it says. But if a man continues to read the Word and conforms himself to what he reads, God will bless his action.

Comment

Self-deception is a means of cheating oneself. The desire to believe a lie is behind self-deception. And why, one may ask, does a person wish to believe a lie? Because the truth hurts, and we do not like to be hurt. This particular deception is ironic in that it is so obvious in others, and yet so hard to detect in ourselves. The secret is desire. If we love a sin or a wrong doing, with reluctance we examine it in the light of God's Word. Once having seen what it really is in God's sight, we are caught in a dilemma: for the Word of God and our conscience say no, and our desire says yes, We can either reform our desire and continue with the Word of God, or we can engage in a bit of mental gymnastics that reasons: This is an interesting bit of advice but, of course, it doesn-'t apply to me. When we do the latter, we promptly turn from the Word of God (It makes us uncomfortable!) and dismiss it from our mind. The rationalization involved may be quite complicated, or it may be as simple as that above. In either case, the result is that we have deluded ourselves into believing a lie. a lie so obvious that anyone else can see through it easily; but we, in blissful self-chosen ignorance, continue with our dirty sin no longer knowing that it stinks in the sight of God and in the nostrils of men.

Self-deception, ignorance, and conceit go hand in hand. We have already pointed out that one who prefers to be ignorant of God's truth will deceive himself; and one who deceives himself will become ignorant of the truth he once understood. Galatians 6:3 points out that conceit is very closely related. For if a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Either directly or indirectly, a man will boost his own ego in order to rationalize his action to the point of complete ignorance of God's will. The whole process, of course, is self-deception. Puffed up with our inflated opinion of ourselves, we arrogantly ignore God's plain words regarding our action, explaining our disobedience to ourselves in such a way that our conscience will be eased and we can forget what we read.

Oh, beloved brother. how do you read God's Word? Is the Word of God a pattern by which your life is adjusted and governed? Is God's will for your philosophy, or for your life? Do you find His commandments grievous, and His will contrary to your own? Do you rejoice to go back to God's Word again and again to determine His will for your life, or do you prefer to read and forget? Do you prefer to argue the Word with others about peripheral interpretations and matters that do not pertain to your own personal life? Can it be that you need to see James 1:16-27 as your own personal mirror, and read it again and again; then on your knees before God ask for His help in making the proper adjustment in your life?

The natural face we see in a mirror of silver, copper or tin is the same face that other men see when they look at us. The natural face is here the face given to each person by physical birth and natural growth; hence, the physical face, or the face that nature gave him. (Ropes) The face we see in the mirror of God is our spiritual appearance. not primarily as we appear to others, but rather as we appear to God. Therein we see our soul as God sees us. We may not like it, in fact we are not expected to like it.. Therefore we turn to God for help in making it over. We seek to be born again so that God can make us what we ought to be. This involves far more than a change in desire and spirit. it involves a change in deeds and action. Since there is no earning power in the deeds, the deeds without the converted heart earn us absolutely nothing in God's sight. Yet the converted heart that does not change the deeds and life of the individual is not converted in the manner that God wants. The total conversion involves deeds as well as desires.

The perfect law, the law of liberty is obviously the gospel of Christ which sets us free. This is the same Word of Truth that makes us new creatures (James 1:18). Yet, why will it be called a law here? The point of emphasis is that it must govern our lives and deeds, and this is the primary function of law. Hence, the New Testament is a law in that it is a pattern for my life and a guide for my deeds. It is not a law in the sense of the Old Testament law. wherein a person earns wages and receives what he earns. In the gospel law, I govern my life and conform to God's wishes, but I do not receive what I earn. I am a sinner, I have earned death. eternal death. Christ fulfilled the law in that He received what I earned, thus I do not take upon myself the just recompense for my deeds. Rather, I receive eternal life and joy and peace, none of which I have earned. Christianity is therefore a way of life (law) founded on faith (belief) in Christ which bestows upon me the grace (free gift) of salvation. (For other references of the New Testament as law, see John 13:34; Romans 3:27; 1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2; 1 John 2:7 ff.)