"Rightly Responding to God's Word"
James
1:19-27 covers the first of Six Tests of Living Faith in the book of James.
This is how D. Edmond Hiebert divides up his notable commentary on the book of
James "The Proverbs of the New Testament". But before the first test
is studied, James, who is the Lord’s half-brother, gives an extensive
introduction to his book covering the subject of testings and temptations in
1:2-1:18. Then, he begins dealing with the first test which is this most
important topic of “Rightly Responding to God's Word”. Right response to
the Word (v.19, 20) includes being "Swift
to hear" employing God's wisdom, "Slow
to speak" utilizing patience, "Slow
to wrath" the outworking of self-control. These responses of the
Spirit-filled Christian are designed to
1.
Eliminate the wrath of man
2.
Exalt the righteousness of God!
The emphasis is on hearing, listening to
and evaluating by the Spirit before responding, allowing time to pass before
speaking out and giving your estimation of what is being discussed, and then
necessarily containing the attitude of wrath with the self-control that only
the Holy Spirit can provide. He does not say stop your wrath altogether, but
slow to wrath, for the Scripture clearly teaches there is a time for anger/wrath:
"Be ye angry and sin not"
(Ephesians 4:26). Righteous anger/indignation is appropriate in certain
cases. Receiving the Word is next on the agenda (v.21).
But, before the Word can be received,
there must be a putting away of all that would hinder the reception of God's
Word. "Filthiness" includes
moral uncleanness, impurity, and corruption; "Superfluity of naughtiness" indicates an overflowing of
wickedness, vice, malice and ill-will. These two categories of sin and all
others we must "Lay apart"
literally put away from us. This can only be accomplished by thorough
confession and forsaking of those sins. (I John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13). Paul's
later command to: "Put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts" (Ephesians 4:22) perfectly harmonizes with this
command which is the earliest written command to "Lay apart..." these sins.
Once we are cleansed of these sins, we can
then "Receive with meekness the
engrafted Word." This command dictates our action and attitude alike.
We must be willing to receive, take into our soul, openly bringing the Word
into our being, with the attitude of meekness, controlled strength, gentleness
and heartfelt consideration "Engrafted"
indicates the implanting of a seed sown in the heart, rooted deeply in our
innermost being, and there taking it's designed effect, transforming us from
within by renewing the spirit of our mind! The Word of God has this miraculous
transforming power! It is the very source of our faith (Romans 10:17) and it
alone can supply us with the power to minister to the Lord and those He brings
into our lives. (Colossians 3:16, 17)
This Receiving the Word into our being is
the only way our souls can be saved/delivered from our enemies, the world, the
flesh and the devil! Here the Sword of the Spirit is shown to be the only
method whereby we can be have real lasting victory over these powerful attacks
on our souls! After all, the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) was utilized
by the Lord Jesus as the only way to victory when Satan himself confronted Him
with those powerful temptations in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). How then can
we, mere mortals, expect to win over the vicious assaults of the enemies of our
soul without practicing the same tactics as our Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, His half-brother James also knew the
tried and proven method to victory and he wrote it down here (v.21) to
underline and emphasize our only way of winning in the ever-present spiritual
battle that continually rages in the heavenlies for the souls of men! Yes, our
souls can be saved/delivered! We can enjoy the tremendous victory of being
overcomers, if we will but heed the commands of Scripture. (I John 2:14b).
Obedience to the Word follows receiving it in (v.22) where James demands active
doing, acting upon what the received Word commands: "But be ye doers of the Word" keep on obeying the
message, submit yourselves habitually to the ways and working of the Word of
God. "Not hearers only"
hearing but not following through with obedience, not putting feet to the
command, hearing with the mind but not initiating action from the heart.
"Deceiving
your own selves" the natural result of not heeding an important
command/warning, is self-deception by not acknowledging the validity and
importance of the warning. Valid as to its source, important as to the effect
of not heeding will have upon us. If we devaluate the validity of the source
which is the very Word of the Living God, we devaluate and literally destroy
the important position the Word of God should have in our lives! By ignoring
the Word, through hearing only and not obeying, we deceive ourselves, reducing
the vital position of authority the Word should have in our own minds! This
faulty humanistic reasoning, the process of hearing and not doing, will cause
our hearts to be hardened as layers and layers of God's Truth go unheeded and
form a spiritual schlerosis, a hardened shell which blinds the eyes of our
heart, and we are deceived continually not having the power and presence of
God's Word actively working in our hearts and minds!
This hardening process was demonstrated in
the life of Pharoah as the miraculous working of God was displayed abundantly
before his eyes and he did not act upon what he saw and heard obeying the
command of God to release the children of Israel, and therefore his heart was
hardened. The Jews in Jesus day even though "He
had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him"
and therefore "He hath blinded their
eyes, and hardened their heart" (John 12:37, 40). God is actively
involved in the hardening process when His Word and His miraculous working is
rejected by unbelief. The disciples hearts were hardened on several occasions
due to their unbelief (Mark 6:52, 8:17). This warning from James must be given
close attention by those of us who have the privilege of hearing the Word of
God proclaimed by our Pastors every time we go to church, for that matter, any
time we hear the Word of God through any source we must be ready and willing to
respond. Hearing the Word by the Holy Spirit occurs every time we read and
listen to His voice!!
Unless our hearts are responsive to the
Holy Spirit's working through the Word we risk falling victim to this very sin
of hearing and not doing, and thereby opening ourselves up to self deception by
ignoring, and therefore hardening our hearts to God's Word! James aptly
illustrates the results of hearing and not doing: "For if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he like unto a
man beholding his natural face in a glass (mirror): For he beholdeth himself,
and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."
The man looking into a first cenutury
mirror would have gotten a somewhat distorted view of himself, for mirrors were
made of polished metal and did not provide an accurate, clear image. "Beholdeth" indicates a
prolonged view of something that needs attention, but, "forgets" demonstrates the fact that no action is taken
to correct, but, he immediately goes on his way, carelessly and hastily putting
his heart need out of focus.
In direct contrast the doer pictures the
man penetratingly gazing into "The
perfect Law of liberty", James' colorful description of God's Word,
and receiving an undistorted, accurate, and truthful portrait of his heart
condition he "Continuing
therein" is gripped by what he sees, and goes on obeying the truth,
"Being not a forgetful hearer",
he acts immediately on what he saw in God's Revelation and is fitly described
as "A doer of the work".
James masterfully replaces Word with "work"
giving us the description of the result of one who is Biblically motivated to
perform his duty by doing, not just hearing! The natural outcome of this type
of obedient service to the Lord is that he is "Blessed in his deed". Doing God's will as described in
His Word always brings blessing, both temporal and eternal.
Illustrations of Active Obedience follow
in (v.26, 27). “Vain religion” is
described by James as one who does not control his tongue, but rather speaks in
an unbridled manner, like a wild horse, without any restraint. This type of
person gives away his seeming religiousness by such conduct, and in fact his
religion is vain, empty, worthless and futile. Colossians 2:18 warns us to "Let no man beguile you" by
this type of self deceived religionist who is "Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." "Vainly" is
from the same root word used by James to describe the "Vain" religion of this man who also "Deceives his own heart" in (v.26).
But, “Pure
religion” is set forth in (v.27) describing one who acts upon his faith and
goes to the aid of the "Fatherless
and widows", those who are at a disadvantage in society and truly need
the help of those who possess "Pure
religion and undefiled". These two social acts of the love of Christ
are deeds which encourage those who are lost, showing them that we, who are the
children of God, do not just talk about religion, but we walk and move on what
we believe in our heart. Outward action comes from inward personal purity "Keeping oneself unspotted from the
world". One who is unblemished, without spot or wrinkle, and in right
relationship with the Holy One of Israel will demonstrate his heavenly position
with earthly action from a pure heart!
Let me, now, ask you about your personal
response to the Word of God. Are you a hearer only deceiving your own self? Or
are you one who responds to the voice of the Spirit when He speaks? Where does
the Word of God fit in your list of "Important Things to Do Today" on
the scale of 1 to 10? Remember, action must be the result if God speaks through
His precious Word, else we are self-deceived by our inaction and thereby cut
off the communication lines with our Lord Jesus Christ! Rightly Responding to
the Word includes engrafting the Word into our very mind, heart, soul and
spirit! This can only be accomplished by letting the Word of Christ dwell in us
richly, memorizing and meditating on His Word, allowing it to saturate our
souls, sowing it deep within our entire being! It is only through this blessed
practice we can have spiritual "success, prosperity and profiting"!
(Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2, 3; I Timothy 4:15)
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