.png)
God Has Spoken! (3 of 6)
Hearing Only Verses Hearing and Doing
James 1:19-27
We’re continuing to focus on the place and application of God’s Word (the Bible) in our lives. We’re considering the glorious truth that – God Has Spoken! Our first response when facing the various challenges of our day needs to be to ask – What does God say about that?
James 1:19-27 (ESV) –
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
We’re reminded that God has spoken and we’re called not only to know the truth but to know it and live it out. We’re called to obedience – to hearing and doing! Knowing the truth and failing to live it out is worse than not knowing the truth in the first place. God has spoken and His Word needs to be embraced and obeyed.
Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) –
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) – “...it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
God’s Word corrects us, it calls us to repentance, it tells us when our thinking is wrong and moves us to right thinking. God’s Word actively transforms us, working within us and changing us from the inside-out.
1. We must avoid a quick temper and reckless words.
James 1:19-20 (ESV) –
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
We’re warned of the peril of uncontrolled anger and the reckless words that inevitably follow.
James 1:19 (ESV) –
“…let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger…”
Proverbs 10:19 (ESV) –
“When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
Proverbs 15:1 (ESV) –
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverbs 17:27-28 (ESV) –
“Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”
Can you see the danger of agreeing with these proverbs but failing to let the truth transform our speech? Are you feeling the peril of knowing the truth but not living it out?
James 1:20 (ESV) –
“…for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
It’s easy to be quick-tempered, we don’t have to work at saying whatever comes to mind, while skipping on listening, this is how we behave by default. Yet we’re called to hear (listen), control our tongue and guard against the dangers of unchecked anger.
Consider our cultural moment and social media…reckless words go farther and spread faster than ever before. It’s incredibly easy to be reckless with our words.
James 1:19 (ESV) –
“…be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger…”
2. God’s Word hasn’t been truly embraced until it’s put into practice. Hearing and obeying must not be separated.
James 1:18 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
Through God’s Word we come to see and understand our sin and also learn of the Savior. It’s through the word that we were born again when we responded to the Gospel and received the Lord Jesus as Savior.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV) –
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
John 3:16-17 (ESV) –
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Romans 10:14-17 (ESV) –
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
When we first placed our trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone to save us from our sin – at that moment we crossed from death to life and the Holy Spirit came and set up residence inside of us. He indwells all believers. The word is implanted within us.
James 1:21 (ESV) –
“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Through the word we begin our lives with Christ and through God’s Word we live for Christ.
Psalm 119:9-11 (ESV) –
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
Psalm 119:105 (ESV) –
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
James 1:22 (ESV) –
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
We must be doers of the word. Hearing the word must lead to godly action, to obedience. The word hasn’t truly been received until it has been put into practice.
Those who hear and don’t live it out deceive themselves in the deadliest way imaginable. Someone who is not obeying the word is deceiving themselves if they assume they’re okay. We must understand that hearing without doing only increases our accountability.
Luke 12:47-48 (ESV) –
“And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating.”
Luke 11:28 (ESV) –
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
John 14:21 (ESV) –
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.”
John 14:23 (ESV) –
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word...”
1 John 2:4 (ESV) –
“Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him…”
God’s Word tells us who God is and who we are. We mustn’t look into the mirror only to walk away without taking action.
James 1:25 (ESV) –
“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
James 1:25 (ESV) –
“…the perfect law, the law of liberty…”
We’re accountable to live out what we know. Hearing is essential because obedience begins with hearing and understanding. We can’t obey what we don’t know. However, it doesn’t stop there. We need to know what God says and obey it, knowing it alone isn’t enough. For those who live under the authority of the word there’s the promise of blessing.
James 1:25 (ESV) –
“… he will be blessed in his doing.”
3. Genuine faith will necessarily be lived out.
James 1:26 (ESV) –
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”
Uncontrolled speech is a mark of phony religion while a tongue that is under control displays a heart that is being actively transformed by the word through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 6:45 (ESV) –
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) –
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
In contrast to phony religion, true religion is described in verse 27 and characterized by care for the vulnerable.
James 1:27 (ESV) –
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…”
Isaiah 1:17 (ESV) –
“…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”
Psalm 68:5 (ESV) –
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
James 1:27 (ESV) –
“…and to keep oneself unstained from the world…”
We’re reminded that God has spoken and we’re called not only to know the truth but to know it and live it out. We’re called to obedience – to hearing and doing! Knowing the truth and failing to live it out is worse than not knowing the truth in the first place. God has spoken and His word needs to be embraced and obeyed.