James - Chapter 1, Part 2
JAMES 1:19-27
1:19-21
When we last left James in verse 18, he was instructing us concerning God’s word. Now he shifts into teaching concerning human words. From “the word of truth” he now moves to “the word of anger”.
While still focusing on the theme of wisdom, he now brings us to the relationship between wisdom and speech (a connection we will see again in 3:1-4). In 1:6-8 James taught that wisdom is the gift of God, and now he points out that a wise person is slow to speak.
James asks us to consider carefully what is to be said, rather than simply speaking on impulse words which may be unwise.
OT scripture teaches caution when we might be too hasty in speech and we are commended on the value of listening. (Proverbs 10:19 & 13:3 & 17:28) (Matthew 12:36-37 continues this theme in the NT).
Proverbs 10:19 “… he that refraineth his lips is wise”
Proverbs 13:3 “… he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction”
Proverbs 17:28 “ Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”
Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thou words thou shalt be condemned”.
Note that James does not forbid anger, rather he warns us against responding in anger at every opportunity, thoughts which mirror Eccl 7:9, and we see taught again in James 3:13-18.
Eccl 7:9 “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools”.
Verse 20 reminds us of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:21-22. Human anger does not produce the kind of life God wishes for those who are His.
Matthew 5:22 “… whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…”
Our main message here is that if Christians are to speak with wisdom, they must first rid themselves of all that is corrupting and not of God, and then, by humbly relying on the word of God that is already within them, they can speak properly. This two fold action of repentance and faith (specifically rejecting evil and accepting God) is the path by which believers come to the Lord upon conversion. This is the key to Christian life.
1:22
Now James teaches that accepting the word of God leads surely to the concept of doing the word of God. From proper speech, we move to proper action, which is caring for those in need in charity (love). This is the path James uses to move toward his third theme that is Christians are called to be generous in the face of poverty.
We are not just to be hearers of the word, but must be doers of the word. The “doing” is our response to our “hearing”. Only knowing the word and not applying the word is deceiving ourselves. Knowledge without action is incomplete faith.
SIMPLY: DO WHAT THE WORD SAYS. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This concept is not new to the readers of James in his time. One of the most honored of all the Jewish teachers of the law of Moses, Gamaliel, wrote: “Not the expounding of the law is the chief thing, but the doing of it”.
Paul himself picked up on this identical theme in Romans 2:13:
“For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified”.
Jesus himself taught the same lesson in Luke 11:28:
“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it”.
1:23-24
Now James illustrates his previous points with a word picture, a small metaphor.
The person who reads scripture, or even studies scripture, and goes away unchanged is like a person who gets up in the morning and sees his reflection showing how dirty or poor they look but then forgets about what he has seen when the proper thing to do would be to clean up.
Seeing but not doing is again incomplete.
1:25
Contrasted to verses 23-24, the man who acts to correct what is discovered wrong or needing to be done is acting completely.
The perfect law of liberty is likely meant to reflect the teaching of Jesus which was that one is set free by the gospel, as opposed to the earlier Law which held the people in bondage to its many rules and could never be fully obeyed. The act of keeping the law of liberty through doing after hearing is a happy experience and a man is blessed as he produces good fruit by his deeds.
1:26-27
James now sums up the teaching of chapter one (remembering there were no chapters when the books were written). He says the mark of a true Christian is first to gain the ability to control his tongue. Second, he must be willing to act in charity to those in need (generosity to poverty) and third, he must overcome the trials and tribulations brought forth by the world (testing), and must count all these things as pure joy.
In verse 26, James teaches that one must focus upon assessing our self as to whether our religion (our faith) is true. If one appears to be religious but does not control his own tongue, then his religion is in vain.
LORD HELP ME TO OBEY THIS TRUTH!
In verse 27, James tells us what God considers as truly religious. Our acts of charity (love) must be evident and constant in the life of a believer AND one must keep ones self from the corruption of the world. We are to be unstained, pure, and undefiled by the world by remembering we are IN the world but are not to be OF the world.
The clear message is that true religion is shown by a lifestyle of obedience to God. We will see this thought throughout the next four chapters of James.
We also see that James is unafraid to use words rarely seen in the rest of the NT. The words religion and religious and rare in the NT. They are seen only in Acts 26:5 & Col 2:18.
Maybe James uses such broad words in order to sharpen his point. Anyone who claims the religious experience MUST submit that experience to certain testing and one of the strongest tests is for that man to begin to keep a tight rein on his tongue. Failure to do so is self deception.
Finally, John Calvin works hard to help us understand the thoughts of James. He teaches:
“James does not define generally what religion is, but reminds us that religion without the things he mentions is nothing”.
