James 1:26-27

VAIN AND PURE RELIGION CONTRASTED

Text 1:26-27

26.

If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.

27.

Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Queries

77.

The faith and works (hearing and doing) of the previous passages are summed up in a single word in James 1:26. Which word is it?

78.

These two verses tie very closely with James 1:19. Wherein is the tie?

79. Explain how a man with a run-a-way tongue has deceived his heart.
80.

What does the word pure mean? How can it modify religion?

81.

Does James 1:27 describe a full definition of religion?

82.

If not, what is lacking?

83.

We who can call God our Father stand in open contrast with something else in this verse. What is it?

84.

What is the meaning of unspotted? i.e., what is it that can spot the Christian? Spotted with what?

85.

What is the world as it is used here?

86.

James 1:26 speaks of the possibility of a vain religion. What is a vain religion?

Paraphrases

A. 26.

A man with a run-a-way tongue is deceiving himself if he thinks he is religious. Such a religion would be of no profit to him.

27.

A clean religion that stands without accusation before God includes the visiting of suffering orphans and widows, and the keeping of oneself free from the sinful desires and deeds of this life.

B.* 26.

If anyone says he is a Christian but doesn-'t control his sharp tongue, he is just fooling himself and his religion isn-'t worth much.

27.

The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father's point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and whose soul remains true to the Lordnot soiled and dirtied by its contacts with the world.

Summary

A man also fools himself who has both religion and a wild tongue. A profitable religion is one that causes a man to keep himself free from sin and also helps others who have need, rather than slaying them with his tongue.

Comment

The religious man is here one who worships; both with the heart and with acts of worship. Applied to the Christian, this would describe the ardent church-goer who professes himself to be a Christian through prayer, worship, and Bible study. Yet all this does not bring profit to the man. James has just previously stated that all this without a life of doing the will of Christ would bring no profit. Now, he adds that all this without controlling the tongue would also spoil his religion. Even as worship without the deeds of Christ is a means of fooling oneself, so worship with a sharp tongue is also a means of self-deception.

James has already mentioned the subject of unwise use of the tongue in James 1:19 let every man be slow to speak. Now he returns to the subject with renewed vigor, and he will not drop the matter here! Surely this must be one of the greatest and most wide-spread weaknesses of human nature. No doubt there was reason for the special emphasis in the churches that received James-' epistle. And what church today does not yet need the same emphasis? Is not this another proof that human nature has not changed? Each of us may have particular sins that do easily beset us, yet this one sin of misusing the tongue we all understand. James expands the subject in chapter 3, and no wonder!

The particular verb used in describing the controlled tongue suggests the bridling of a wild horse. Again, James by inference introduces a figure he shall describe more fully later on.
The self-deception involved in the misuse of the tongue is an interesting thought. A man, secure in the conviction that his religion and his worship is acceptable with God, will grow all the more vehement with his tongue-slaughter. Like Moses, if he is not careful, he will sit on the throne of God and pass both judgment and sentence on his fellow man; personally seeing to it that the sinners that surround him will get the tongue-lashing they deserve. And the deception feeds itself! The more he lashes and cuts and destroys, the more like God he feels; until finally the very air reeks with his presence and all men tremble at the sound of his voice. It seems that some tongues will only be stilled when their owners face God in the judgment!
This is not intended to be a complete definition of religion. The worship implied by the very word religion is a vital part of Christianity. Complete surrender to Christ, a faith in Him that will go all the way, a compliance to the scheme of redemption He has designed Himself, is all necessary to true worship. James is not here talking of these things. He has mentioned two things that will make a man's religion vain: The lack of good action, and the uncontrolled tongue. The opposite of these two is the unspotted life and the helpful attitude towards those in need. James is thus showing the two extremes in these two matters.

Vain Religion

vs.

Pure and Undefiled Religion

Religion without action. (James 1:22-25)

vs.

Doers of the word, unspotted from the world. (James 1:23; James 1:27)

Religion with an uncontrolled tongue. (James 1:19; James 1:26)

vs.

Sympathetic help for those in need. (James 1:27)

These two comparisons have to do with human relationships. Omitted are the divine relationships. A full definition of pure religion would, of course, include this.
Interesting also to note is the interplay between the fatherless and those of us who can appeal to our Father. We who have a heavenly Father to whom we can appeal should feel all the more sympathy to those who have not the advantage of an earthly father. Of course, our sympathy for those who know not our heavenly Father would be all the greater. Far from the desire to cut and lash with our tongue, we would desire to win them to Christ, to love them for the Father's sake, and to lead them to what they could be rather than cursing them for what they are.
Not to be slighted is the picture of the man spotted by the sinful slush of this world. The young man, with his car polished clean and white, asked if he could park it in front of the house. You may park that pretty car there is you wish was the reply, but you won-'t drive it away! Thinking the matter some kind of a joke, the car was left parked. Three hours later the young man returned to find his car covered with great gobs of black mud. He had parked his car by two mud-filled holes in the pavement, and passing cars had done the rest. Yes, friend; you are free in Christ. You may park that lily-white carcass of yours by the sinful chugholes of this world if you wish. but you will not be lily-white for long! If we could only realize that it is not just for His good pleasure that God warns us. but for our benefit!