7 Belief That Behaves—Part 2 A Proper Reaction to the Word
(James 1:22–27)
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone 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. 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 will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (1:22–27)
As important as the proper reception of the Word of God is, without obedience to its truths it is not only without benefit but becomes a further judgment against its readers. It is essential to hear the Word with an attitude of submission, but even that is not enough. Obedience to the Word is the most basic spiritual requirement and is the common denominator for all true believers. The bottom line of true spiritual life is not a momentary feeling of compliance or commitment but long-term obedience to Scripture (cf. John 8:31).
When the Jews began returning home after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, they found their beloved city of Jerusalem, including the temple, in ruins. Their first desire was to rebuild the temple, and that work began under the direction of Zerubbabel. But the walls of the city also were in serious disrepair, leaving the people vulnerable to attack by an enemy A Jew named Nehemiah, who had been cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Babylon, secured the king’s permission to go to Jerusalem and help his people rebuild the wall. Under his extraordinary leadership and through the guidance and power of the Spirit of God, the people accomplished the formidable rebuilding task in only fifty-two days (see Neh. 1:1–6:15).
Once that was done, the people clearly acknowledged that the hand of God had brought them back to their homeland and to their holy city and had empowered them as they rebuilt the temple and the city wall. Nehemiah reports that
all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, … and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. … Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered,” Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground…. They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading. (Neh. 8:1–3, 5–6, 8)
Ezra and others took turns reading and interpreting the law to the people, sometimes having to translate the Hebrew, since many of the people had not learned it while captive in Babylon. That reading and hearing of the Word set the stage for a spiritual revival in Israel. That is where revival always begins, with the Word—“Bring the book.”
From the beginning, the people showed their spiritual hunger, spontaneously standing up in reverence as soon as Ezra began reading the law and then bowing low and worshiping God with their faces to the ground in humility when he had finished. As their hearts were convicted, they also began “weeping when they heard the words of the law” (v. 9). But at the end of the reading, Nehemiah declared the day to be a holy day and instructed the people to stop weeping and instead to “eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (v. 10).
True revival also involves confession of sins, which was the people’s response. Nehemiah reports that about three weeks later,
on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. (9:1–3)
There was a display of sorrow for sins, which led to confession, along with the knowledge of the Lord’s forgiveness of those sins, which was cause for celebration.
Following confession and celebration came a covenant with the Lord. On behalf of the people, the Levites and other leaders declared before the Lord:
Now because of all this we are making an agreement in writing; and on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests. … Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God [joined] with their kinsmen, their nobles, … taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes. (9:38; 10:28–29)
Under the direction of the godly Ezra and Nehemiah, the people made the proper responses to God’s Word: confession of sins, celebration for forgiveness, and a covenant to obey it.
Those who consistently disobey God’s Word give evidence that they are without His life within them. Those who consistently obey the Word give evidence of the life of God in their souls. As noted several times in earlier chapters, that is the central theme of James’s epistle, which is succinctly reiterated at the beginning of the present text: But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
A more literal translation of the present middle imperative tense of ginomai (prove yourselves) is “be continually,” or “keep on striving to be,” doers of the word. When people are blessed with regular, in depth preaching and teaching of Scripture, they may become so enamored with their knowledge of God’s Word that they become self-satisfied with that knowledge and forsake the effort to live out the profound truths they have come to understand. But a true believer will not be inwardly satisfied with merely knowing the Word. His conscience and the prompting of the indwelling Holy Spirit will keep convicting him of his failure until he becomes obedient.
The substantive form of poiētē (doers) carries the characterization of the whole personality, all of a person’s inner being—mind, soul, spirit, and emotions. It is one thing to have to fight for a few days or weeks in an armed conflict; it is something else to be a professional soldier, whose whole life is dedicated to warfare. It is one thing to make periodic repairs around the house; it is another to be a professional builder. It is one thing to teach an occasional class in Sunday school; it is another to be a divinely called and divinely gifted teacher of the Word. Here James is speaking of Christian doers of the word, emphasizing what they are rather than just what they do. There are people whose very lives are dedicated not only to learning God’s Word but also to faithful and continual obedience to it. One commentator says that James has in mind “a person whose life is characterized by holy energy.”
The Greek word akroatēs (hearers) was used of those who sat passively in an audience and listened to a singer or speaker. Today it could be used of those who audit a college class, which they are required to attend and presumably listen to, but for which they are not required to do outside study, write papers, or take any tests. In other words, they are not held accountable for what they hear. Tragically, most churches have many “auditors,” members who willingly expose themselves to the teaching and preaching of the Word but have no desire for that knowledge to alter their day-by-day lives. They take advantage of the privilege of hearing God’s Word but have no desire for obeying it. When followed consistently, that attitude gives evidence that they are not Christians at all, but only pretenders. Such people, who are merely hearers and not also doers, think they belong to God, when, in reality, they do not. Proclaiming and interpreting God’s Word are never ends in themselves but are means to an end, namely, the genuine acceptance of divine truth for what it is and the faithful application of it.
The biblical line between saint and sinner is abundantly clear. “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). Peter admonishes believers to “be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Pet. 1:10, emphasis added). It is not a question of what one claims to have experienced but of how one lives in light of the Word of God.
Examining the dynamics of his own humanness against his new nature in Christ, Paul says.
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. (Rom. 7:15–19)
The apostle’s point here was that, when he fell into sin, it was contrary to his new nature expressed in his inner spiritual desire, and he therefore hated it. That is a certain indication of a transformed, redeemed life in Christ. The basic longing of a true believer is to do God’s will, manifest in His Word. Later in that epistle, Paul says that “the requirement of the Law [is] fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (8:4). In other words, a newly created, regenerated, saved life will manifest itself in the desire for behavior that corresponds to God’s standards in His Word. The life that is counted righteous in Christ will be demonstrated in righteous living. Expressing that same truth, John writes,” By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him, ‘ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4).
In the long run, how we behave is proof of our salvation or of our lostness. In light of that truth, there is good reason to believe that there are countless men, women, and children who come to church regularly and make a strong profession of being a Christian, but whose lives testify that they are not. They regularly listen to the preaching of the Word, claim to believe it, and discuss it favorably with fellow church members. But their hearts are devoid of the saving, transforming grace of God. Jesus declared unequivocally,
Not everyone who says to Me,” Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day,” Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them,” I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness,” (Matt. 7:21–22)
In his classic allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, Puritan preacher and writer John Bunyan describes the magnificent mirror that the Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains showed to Christiana and Mercy:
Now the glass was one of a thousand. It would present a man, one way with his own features exactly; and turn it but another way, and it would show one the very face and similitude of the Prince of pilgrims Himself. Yea, I have talked with those that can tell, and have said they have seen the very crown of thorns upon His head by looking into this glass; they have therein also seen the holes in His hands, in His feet, and His side. The man who continues looking into the mirror of God’s Word sees in it things far more wonderful than his own face. He sees not only his filthy garments, not only the spots and stains on his life; he sees in it Christ, the Christ of the thorn-crowned brow, the Christ of the Cross, his Saviour, whose blood cleanses him from all sin.
Bunyan’s point is that, when a person honestly and humbly looks into the Word of God, he will see two things—his own sin and the sinless Savior and Lord. When such a person sees and responds to Christ and then lives out the Word, he is blessed in the doing. Through Joshua, the Lord declared: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh. 1:8). The doer puts the Word into practice in his life. Enjoying the Word is more than a momentary experience; it is the lifetime application of its truth. Any response to the Word other than unqualified obedience to it is self-deceptive.
The character of men is evidenced primarily by their conduct. Over time, conduct is always a reliable test of the inner person, for inevitably the true nature of the person will express itself outwardly. “You will know them by their fruits,” Jesus said. “Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matt. 7:16–17). “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil” (Matt. 12:34b-35; cf. Prov. 4:23). According to the same principle, as James illustrates later in his letter, a fountain does not produce both pure and putrid water (3:11).
Conduct is the visible measure of true discipleship. Jesus asked,
Why do you call Me,” Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6:46–49)
On another occasion He declared unambiguously,” You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14); and,” If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (14:23). Echoing that basic truth, the apostle John writes,” By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3). Conversely,” He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:24; cf. Luke 6:46); and,” The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him, ‘ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
Such principles were not unknown to the Jews to whom James was writing,” the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad” (James 1:1). An ancient rabbi had said,” [You] ought not only to read [the laws of Moses], but rather to practice what they command you.” Another rabbi wrote,” It is not the expounding [of the law that] is the chief thing, but the doing of it,” Most Jews of Jesus’ day regularly heard the Law and the Prophets read and expounded in their synagogues but were content only with that hearing and superficial compliance and had no real desire to fully obey these words.
Just as there are three elements to hearing and receiving the Word (with submission, purity, and humility), so there are also three elements to obeying the Word. Thus, the true believer, the hearer and doer of the Word, proves his faith in three ways: In relation to himself, he is willing to apply the Word without deception (1:22b-26); in relation to others, he is willing to apply the Word without selfishness (v. 27a); and in relation to the world, he is willing to apply the Word without compromise (v. 27b).
WILLINGNESS TO APPLY THE WORD WITHOUT DECEPTION
who delude themselves. For if anyone 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. 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 will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. (1:22b-26)
Any response to the Word other than faithful, unqualified obedience is self-deceptive. Paralogizomai (delude) literally means to reason beside, or alongside, and therefore refers to incorrect reckoning or reasoning, often including the idea of deliberate false reasoning for the purpose of deceiving. In mathematics, the meaning is that of miscalculation. Professing Christians who hear the Word without obeying it make a serious spiritual miscalculation, which causes them to delude themselves. They are self-deceived. An old Scottish expression speaks of such false Christians as “sermon tasters who never tasted the grace of God.” Any response to the gospel that does not include obedience is self-deception. If a profession of faith in Christ does not result in a changed life that hungers and thirsts for God’s Word and desires to obey that Word, the profession is only that—a mere profession. Satan, of course, loves such professions, because they give church members the damning notion that they are saved when they are not. They still belong to him, not to God.
In order to explain this self-deception, James uses a simple analogy: If anyone 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.
Katanoeō (looks) is a strengthened form of the verb noeō, which means simply to perceive, or look at something. The compound verb James uses here, however, carries the additional idea of careful, cautious consideration of what is being looked at. The hearer of the word who is not also a doer is like a person who carefully observes his natural face in a mirror, yet, as soon as he is finished looking, has immediately forgotten what kind of person he has just observed himself to be.
In New Testament times, mirrors were typically made of highly polished brass or bronze, although a wealthy person could buy one of silver or gold. But even the most expensive mirrors were primitive compared to glass ones, which were not developed until the fourteenth century. Consequently, those early mirrors gave a dim and distorted reflection of the person using them. But by carefully turning the mirror and finding the best light, a person could eventually see a fairly accurate image of his face, and that is the idea James has in mind. By careful and patient observation, as indicated by katanoeō, he could eventually discover what he actually looked like. But, for whatever reason, when he stops looking at himself and [goes] away, he immediately forgets what he has just seen. It is that forgetfulness which is the point of the analogy. Whether because of distraction, not being pleased with what was seen, or simply because of a poor memory, all the careful looking suddenly becomes wasted. Whatever the original purpose was for looking at oneself, what is seen is quickly forgotten.
A person who looks at God’s Word, even if it is carefully and accurately done, and yet does not apply the truths he has discovered to his own life, is like someone who immediately forgets what he has just seen in a mirror—except that the consequences are immeasurably worse. He sees his sin portrayed for the horrible evil that it is and he also sees God’s gracious provision in Christ for a remedy, yet he goes on his way as if he were never exposed to those realities.
Conversely, however, the 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 will be blessed in what he does. James here uses an even stronger verb for looking than in verse 23. Parakuptō (looks intently) means to bend over and carefully examine something from the clearest possible vantage point. It is the verb used by Luke to describe Peter’s looking into the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:12) and by John of both Peter’s and Mary’s looking into the same tomb (John 20:5, 11). The person who looks intently at God’s Word, the perfect law, the law of liberty, examines it to discover its deepest and most complete meaning. For him it is not a mere exercise of curiosity, as with the forgetful person just mentioned. When he discovers a truth, he abides by it, understanding that this is the purpose for the Lord’s revealing it to men. God did not reveal His Word simply to be learned, but to be obeyed and applied. The key to James’s analogy is this: The faithful hearer and doer of the Word does not study the mirror itself but rather what the mirror reveals, namely, God’s revealed will and truth.
The perfect law, so called because Scripture is inerrant, sufficient, and comprehensive (cf. Ps. 19:7–9), encompasses all of God’s revealed Word. But by referring to it as law, James laid particular emphasis on the Lord’s commands to men, His requirement for the genuine and positive response of obedience to those commands. And by referring to the Word as the law of liberty, James focused on its redemptive power in freeing believers from the bondage of sin and then freeing them to righteous obedience (John 8:34–36). It allows us to serve God not out of fear or mere sense of duty, but out of gratitude and love. One day it also will free us from this world and its corruption; from our fallenness; from our flesh; from temptation; and from the curses of sin, death, and hell.
God’s law is thought of by some as bringing bondage; but in reality it brings great liberty. That truth is expressed clearly and succinctly by Paul in his letter to the church at Rome.
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Rom. 6:16–18)
Later in that letter, the apostle exults,” For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption [and freedom] as sons by which we cry out, Abba! Father!’” (8: 14–15).
Being saved solely by God’s grace through saving faith does not in the least revoke or diminish the requirements of His law. Forgiveness for past breaking of the law does not remove the present obligation to obey it. “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets,” Jesus declared;
I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:17–20)
God’s law still reflects His holy will and His standards for human conduct. It provides all the truth and guidance we need to live godly lives. It is consummate, flawless, without error or omission, and will meet every need, touch every part of life, fulfill every godly desire of true believers, the children of God. As we look to that law, it liberates us to forsake sin and to pursue righteousness. The true believer abides by God’s perfect law … of liberty because that is His heavenly Father’s will, and above all else he seeks to please and honor Him. He therefore willingly and eagerly abides by His divine and holy law, enabled by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4).
Implicit in James 1:23–25 is the idea that one’s motive and attitude in studying God’s Word become evident by the response to what is learned. A person who pays no heed to what he learns from Scripture proves his motive for studying it is not godly. At best, he is interested in mere factual knowledge, and even that he soon forgets. In doing so, he brings even greater judgment on himself than a person receives who has never been exposed to the Word. He also gives strong evidence that, despite a profession of belief in Christ, he is not really saved.
One of most serious and pervasive obstacles to salvation is fallen man’s natural aversion to serious spiritual thought. He may love to study philosophy and man-made religions and theology. But he is not inclined to seriously search for God’s truth, realizing, even if subconsciously, that his life falls short of divine standards and that God will demand more than he is willing to give. Men are not naturally inclined to look at themselves honestly, to perform a self-evaluation under the bright and perfect light of God’s Word. They know instinctively that their pride, self-will, and love of sin will be exposed under the Lord’s righteous standards.
On the other hand, the person who humbles himself, by figuratively stooping over to get a better look at the Word, proves his right spiritual motive and attitude. His concern is not with bare facts but with divine truth, and he therefore obeys what he learns. In doing so, he is blessed and God is glorified. He also detests the reflection of himself that he sees in the mirror of the Word, and his overriding desire is to have every sin, every spiritual and moral blemish, removed and replaced with God’s righteousness. Seeing himself as he really is, he says, in effect,” Lord, continue to expose my ugliness, my hopelessness apart from You. Draw me to Yourself and cleanse me from my sins and fill me with Your truth, Your love, and Your purity. “Such a person is not … a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer and will be blessed in what he does. The genuine believer sees things as they really are, and his will is brought into union with God’s will. He loves to do what the Bible commands him to do, because that is the will of his heavenly Father.
God’s blessing results from a believer’s obedience. Through Joshua the Lord commanded and promised: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Josh. 1:8, emphasis added). The only way to a spiritually blessed and prosperous life is through faithful study and application of God’s Word, to “meditate on it day and night,” and “to be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” The hearer and doer of the Word discovers that its demands are just as Jesus said: the “yoke is easy” and the “burden is light” (Matt. 11:30).
Obviously the distinctions between right and wrong attitudes about and responses to God and His Word are not always clear-cut, at least to our human eyes and understanding. Some unbelievers make a strong effort to act like believers, acknowledging that Scripture is inspired and true, attending church regularly, giving lip service to worship of God, and outwardly acting morally. In a similar but opposite way, true believers do not always live up to their understanding of Scripture, sometimes falling into serious sin. But James is speaking of the heart commitment to God’s Word or the lack of it. The unbeliever cannot keep up a spiritual facade indefinitely, and the true believer cannot be content to remain in sin indefinitely.
Moving away from the analogy of the mirror, James makes clear that the doer of the Word is not simply someone who is involved in religious activity. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
Religious is from thrēskos, which refers to external religious rituals, liturgies, routines, and ceremonies. The famous Jewish historian Josephus used the word to describe worship in the temple at Jerusalem. Paul used the noun form of this term when speaking of his former life as a zealous Pharisee (Acts 26:5). By contrast, the word most commonly used in the New Testament for genuine, God-honoring and God-pleasing worship is eusebeia, whose basic meaning is that of godliness and holiness.
Such things as attending church services and activities, doing volunteer work, following various rituals and ceremonies, saying prayers, and even having right theology have no spiritual value in themselves apart from true saving faith and honorable motives to glorify the Lord. The person who trusts in those outward things sooner or later will expose his faithlessness with his mouth, because he does not have the inner power to bridle his tongue. Trusting in those things to please God and receive His blessing are deceptive and worthless. Even if a ritual or liturgy is biblical in its wording, it is as futile as pagan idolatry unless the heart is right with the Lord. A corrupt and unholy heart eventually will be exposed by corrupt and unholy speech.
The tongue is not the only indicator of true spirituality but is one of the most reliable. It has been estimated that the average person will speak some 18,000 words in a day, enough for a fifty-four-page book. In a year that amounts to sixty-six 800-page volumes! Many people, of course, speak much more than that. Up to one-fifth of the average person’s life is spent talking.
If the tongue is not controlled by God, it is a sure indicator that the heart is not, either. Jesus told the self-righteous Pharisees,” The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart…. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:34, 37). Religion that does not transform the heart, and thereby the tongue, is totally worthless in God’s sight.
WILLINGNESS TO APPLY THE WORD WITHOUT SELFISHNESS
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, (1:27a)
The second proper reaction to the Word of God is the willingness to apply it to one’s life without selfishness, with genuine concern for the welfare of others, especially those in great need. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is to serve them with love and compassion. Jesus said,” By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
Katharos (pure) and amiantos (undefiled) are synonyms, the first emphasizing cleanliness, the second denoting freedom from contamination. James is not speaking of what may seem best to us, best to the world, or even best to fellow believers, but what is best in the sight of our God and Father. The genuineness of anyone’s religion is not determined by his or her own qualifications or standards but by God’s. The greatest spiritual mistake of the scribes, Pharisees, and other Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus was in that very regard. They had replaced God’s standards in the Law with their own man-made traditions. Of such men Jesus said,” You invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me’” (Matt. 15:6b-8).
Episkeptomai (to visit) means much more than to drop by for a chat. It carries the ideas of caring for others, exercising oversight on their behalf, and of helping them in whatever way is needed. It is from the same root as episkopos, which means “overseer” and is sometimes translated “bishop” (see the NASB and KJV texts of Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25). Episkeptomai is used frequently in the New Testament of God’s visiting His people in order to help, strengthen, and encourage them (see, e.g., Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16; Acts 15:14 KJV; the NASB reading uses the expression “how God first concerned Himself about;” and Heb. 2: 6 KJV; the NASB reading uses the expression “concerned about”).
In speaking of the separation of the sheep and goats in the day of judgment, Jesus used the word to describe those who truly belong to and love Him, saying,” I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me” (Matt. 25:35–36, emphasis added). Actually, all of those ways of ministering could be included broadly under episkeptomai. To visit in a way that is pleasing to our God and Father is to meet as best we can all the needs of orphans and widows and any others in their distress.
Generally, the neediest people in the early church were orphans and widows. There were no life insurance or welfare programs to support them. Jobs for either group were scarce, and if they had no close kin, or at least none who would help them, they were in desperate straits. But the principle applies to anyone in need. Because such people without parents and husbands are unable to reciprocate in any way, caring for them reveals true sacrificial love.
God has always had special concern for orphans and widows and has commanded His people to reflect that same concern. David affirmed that “a father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation” (Ps. 68:5). The Mosaic Law included the instruction,” You shall not afflict any widow or orphan” (Ex. 22:22), and,
“At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do“…”Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.” And all the people shall say,” Amen” (Deut. 14:28–29; 27:19)
Through Jeremiah, the Lord declared to Israel,” If you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever” (Jer. 7:5–7).
Loving, selfless service to others, especially fellow believers, is also a frequent New Testament theme. Paul gave the command to “honor widows who are widows indeed” (1 Tim. 5:3), which included bestowing financial and any other help that was needed. John declares that
the one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. … By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another…. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. … We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 2:10–11; 3:10–11, 14, 16)
Later in 1 John, he says,
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7–12)
True Christianity is manifested from a pure and loving heart by the way believers talk and by the way they act. It is manifested by how they love and care for those who are in need, not by how they love and care for those they prefer, those who are close to them, or those with whom they share common traits and interests. Love is to be the central and most visible manifestation of salvation. And, as John makes clear, love for God cannot be separated from love for others, especially for fellow believers and most especially for those who are in … distress. The professed Christian who does not show such compassion has reason to doubt that he is born again. A truly redeemed heart reaches out to others (cf. Matt. 5:43–48; John 13:34–35).
WILLINGNESS TO APPLY THE WORD WITHOUT COMPROMISE
and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (1:276)
The third proper reaction to the Word of God is the willingness to apply it to one’s life without moral or spiritual compromise.
To keep translates a form of the Greek verb tēreō, indicating regular, continuous action. In other words, keeping oneself unstained by the world is the perpetual obligation of Christians, allowing for no exception or qualification. Those who belong to God are to be characterized by moral and spiritual purity, by unstained and unblemished holiness. Peter admonishes believers to “conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:176–19).
Neither James nor Peter is speaking of sinless perfection, a human spiritual condition solely manifested by Jesus in His incarnation. “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth,” the writer of Ecclesiastes assures us,” who continually does good and who never sins” (Eccles. 7:20). Although Paul could honestly say,” I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day” (Acts 23:1; cf. 24:16), he also confessed,” I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord”(1 Cor. 4:4), and “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (Rom. 7:18–19).
Every Christian falls short of the Lord’s standards. Like Paul, we find ourselves doing things we know are wrong and not doing things we know are right (cf. Rom. 7:14–25). Even the most faithful and loving believer does not always show as much compassion as he should, love his fellow believers as he should, or love God as he should. James is speaking of the basic orientation of our lives, of our central commitment and allegiance. If that allegiance is right, then our deepest desire will be to love and care for others and to confess our selfish sin to the Lord when we do not. The genuine Christian cannot be happy or content when he fails to show compassion for others. It is not our perfection that proves our salvation but rather our hating our imperfections and seeking, with God’s help and power, to correct them. In his inmost heart, the genuine Christian longs to speak and do only those things that are holy, pure, loving, honest, truthful, and upright, things that are uncorrupted and unstained by the world.
On the other hand, a person who does not have compassion for others, who is not concerned about living righteously, and whose satisfaction is found in his sin, cannot be a true disciple of Christ and child of God.
Kosmos (world) has the basic meaning of order, arrangement, and sometimes of adornment. In the New Testament it is used figuratively of the earth (see Matt. 13:35; John 21:25) and the universe (see 1 Tim. 6:7; Heb. 4:3; 9:26). But most often it is used to represent fallen mankind in general and its ungodly spiritual systems of philosophy, morals, and values (see John 7:7; 8:23; 14:30; 1 Cor. 2:12; Gal. 4:3; Col. 2:8). That is the sense in which James uses the term in the present text. (See discussion below on 4:4.)
With that meaning of world obviously in mind, John warns,” Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15–16). Love of God and love of the world and the things of the world are totally incompatible and mutually exclusive. The phrase “the things of the world” does not pertain to such things as participating in business, being involved in social activities, or buying and using the material necessities of life. It is the overriding love of and allegiance to such things that are ungodly and come between men and God.
Godly religion, that is, biblical Christianity, is a matter of holy obedience to God’s Word—reflected, among other ways, by our honesty in regard to ourselves, by our selflessness in regard to the needs of others, and by our uncompromising moral and spiritual stand in regard to the world.