James 1 Verses 19 to 27 Just Do It January 16, 2021

James 1 Verses 19 to 27 Just Do It January 16, 2021

Class Presentation Notes AA

Background Scriptures: Psalm 119:11, Proverbs 10:19

Main Idea: You will not have victory in the Christian life until you can learn to control your temper.

Quick Read: We must listen to the Word and honor the Word humbly.

Create Interest:

· The title of today’s lesson gets at what is really a fundamental human problem: the disconnect in our hearts and minds between hearing and doing. The problem is not really a lack of information but rather what we do or don’t do with it. Consider: we know so much about what we should or should not be eating, yet we find it difficult to adhere to healthy dietary guidelines.

· Some have pointed to the problem of an “attention economy.” Our attention is scarce, the argument goes, and is therefore valuable. Advertisers, tech companies, and social media platforms recognize this and capitalize on it. Advertising is everywhere. Even gas stations have pumps fitted with display screens to advertise while we fill our tanks.

· During all this noise, we learn quickly how to tune out calls to action. We become so practiced in this that it can be difficult to tune in to the calls that are truly important.

· The Christian walk is much more that head knowledge. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our lives 24/7/365. We will all acknowledge that talks out real smoothly but is a challenge to do.

· In our lesson today we are going to explore ways the Holy Spirit would like to guide us in our daily lives…. that being quick to hear the Word of God, being a doer of the Word of God, bridling our tongue, and visiting the needy and keeping our selves unspotted from the world.

· At this point you may say you always have a good grip on these things…and I would suggest you join us in exploring what the Word has to say to us…and then pray daily to truly allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in them.

Lesson In Historical Context:

· In the previous two lessons in this chapter, I have given information about the historical context of James, Jesus’ brother, the time of his writing as best as historians can establish, that being in the early 50’s of the first century, and his purpose for writing to the twelve dispersed tribes never forgotten by God

o If you are reading this and would like to have the first two lessons in James, please write me at [e-mail] I will send them to you properly cited as best I can. You will note I don’t sign these lessons as I give the Holy Spirit the full credit for guiding me to compile them for you.

· Amid all that the Creator provided Adam and Eve in the garden—amid all the evidence of God’s goodness—the first humans heard the command not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden. But they failed to do what God commanded (Genesis 3) when they failed to tune out a contradictory voice. The disconnect between hearing and doing was and is at the heart of sin.

· This is also the story of Israel. Even after clear evidence of God’s presence during the Exodus, the Israelites failed to obey, instead creating an idol to worship (Exodus 32). During the time of the judges, the Israelites went through relentless cycles of oppression, deliverance, and relapse. They never seemed to make the connection between their actions and the results. This pattern was fundamentally a problem of the heart (see Proverbs 4:23).

· The power of speech is likewise a thread that can be traced through Scripture, beginning in Genesis 3. As we study, we remember the context of James’s audience: economic oppression, some infighting, and persecution.[1]

· So far in James 1 we observed how important the proper translations of the words used are for us to “hear” what the original hearers heard. We have learned much about testing and tempting and know for sure that God always keeps his promises, never tempts, works all things for good for those that love and accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, and never leaves, forgets, or forsakes us.

· We have learned that God does test us and that the testing purpose is allowing such experiences to lead to faith, endurance, and tested character, but He never tempts us to sin. Our sin nature succumbs to Satan’s temptations and leads, if allowed to grow, to death and separation from God.

· We also have learned that God’s character is always constant, true, unchanged, reliable good and faithful. God is Holy, pure, and perfect and we can always trust Him.

· We learned that in James time the Gospel was “The Word of Truth” ….and still today is living and active and can and will guide us to our external hope of living with Christ forever in Heaven.

· In summary as James was addressing the dispersed Christians offering them hope, we look back and see that their lives, like ours can be today, were transformed by the Gospel, learning to look at the world differently, standing firm against temptation, as “first fruits, and the start of a large project”, Christ’s return to earth to set up His earthly kingdom.”

· From this letter written as one of the earliest Christian writings, thus far in James loving address to the dispersed, we can testify that:

o God is faithful for our salvation

o His goodness is unchanging.

o His goodness us underserved but given by grace.

o His goodness is unending.

o As Jesus has saved us from our sins, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will see us through our sorrows.

· Let’s jump into the lesson.

Thoughts to soak on as we go through the lesson

· We must keep reminding ourselves that James wrote his letter to Christians who were experiencing terrible persecution. This created all kinds of problems for them, and James wrote to give them guidance and encouragement.

· One of the problems created by the persecution was the tendency to doubt the goodness of God. It was the ‘If God is good, why is this happening to me?’ syndrome.

· James responded to that problem by affirming three things about the goodness of God: He is the only source of goodness, He is the unchanging source of goodness and He is the source of the supreme act of goodness. The supreme act of goodness is, of course, the goodness of salvation, and that goodness flows to those who believe through the Word of God.

· His mention of the role of the Word of God in salvation took James to yet another problem associated with his readers’ persecution, namely, how they could find strength to face it.

· Can we relate to these people? The problems of life demand strength, and we often feel that we have no strength. The demands are great, and reserves are depleted! The question of James’s readers is, then, the same that we often find ourselves asking: Where can we find strength for the living of these days and the facing of our difficulties?

· James’s answer is plain and emphatic: strength is found in the Word of God! Every Christian has already experienced the strength of God’s Word. Salvation is nothing less than a demonstration of the power of God’s Word. Each believer was once in the spiritual graveyard—dead in trespasses and sins!—but the Word of God came and brought spiritual life. God used the truth of his Word to save us.

· Now that same powerful Word is still available to us.God did not use his Word merely to save us and then withdraw it. No! It is still available, and it is still powerful. If we want strength for living, then, we must look to the Word of God.

o But as powerful as the Word of God is, it will not infuse its strength into us if we do not appropriate it. And it is this business of appropriation that James addresses in the verses before us.

· What must we do to appropriate the Word of God? We can summarize what James says in three words: swiftness, filthiness and meekness. Proper appropriation of the Word means developing swiftness, laying aside filthiness and cultivating meekness.[2]

Bible Study:

James 1:19-21 (NASB

19 Thisyou know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

· Ultimately the key both to responding to trials and resisting temptation is to be found in one’s reaction to God’s Word. Receptivity to the Word, responsiveness to the Word, and resignation to the Word are essential to spiritual growth. One must accept God’s Word, act on it, and abide by it.[3]

· And so, we may observe, our duty rather is to hear God’s word, and apply our minds to understand it, than to speak according to our own fancies or the opinions of men, and to run into heat and passion thereupon. Let not such errors as that of God’s being the occasion of men’s sin ever be hastily, much less angrily, mentioned by you (and so as to other errors); but be ready to hear and consider what God’s word teaches in all such cases.[4]

· The thrust of these three verses is seen in v. 21: receiving the Word so that a person’s soul will be saved. The greatest temptation in the world is for a person to walk through life doing what he wants and pleases, and thereby ignoring, neglecting, and rejecting God. The result is death (Js. 1:15).

o Therefore, if a person is to be saved—if he is to be delivered from the great temptation that will doom his soul—he must prepare himself. He must be quick to hear the Word of God. He must make sure that he hears the Word of God.

· Vs. 19: James begins by using Hebrew parallelism to inform his people of their triple duty in responding to the Word: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry”.

o We must be “quick to listen.” This was particularly important to the Jewish church because, apart from the Old Testament, there were no canonical Scriptures at this early date. Virtually all communication of the gospel was oral when they met together in their house churches. Thus, listening was imperative. Those who were not disciplined in listening ran the risk of spiritual impoverishment. It is not too dramatic to say that ready listeners gained for themselves a life-giving spiritual advantage.

§ In so challenging his first-century flock, James has put his finger on a great need in the church today, for many of us today are non-listeners.[5]

§ Questions for reflection

📷 What kind of listener of God’s word are you? Can you think of recent examples in your own life where you have listened well to the Lord?

📷 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (v 20). In what situations do you find one (or more) of these commands especially difficult?

📷 Do you need to see God’s word differently, or make practical changes, to become a better listener?[6]

o We must be slow to speak. The appeal to be slow to speak demands silence until we have understood and applied the message. It is a call for restraint lest we produce hasty, ill-timed reactions.[7]

§ This means that a person must be willing to listen instead of speaking his own ideas about right and wrong and about how a person is saved. He must sit and listen instead of hanging on to his own ideas; he must be willing to listen to God’s Word instead of insisting upon what he thinks.

§ James advocates “an eloquent silence.” The Lord Himself might have spoken to Pilate in his own native dialect and opened his eyes. He might have told him that, in His kingdom, He was served by ministers who were a flaming fire. He might have told him of legion upon legion of mighty angels, standing with swords already drawn, in the unseen world. He might have told him of a throne, high and lifted up beyond a billion teeming galaxies in space. He might have answered Pilate’s cynical question, “What is truth?” by an exposition of all of the follies of all of the philosophers of Athens and Rome.

📷 But He did nothing of the kind. For the most part, He said nothing, and that terrible silence spoke more loudly to Pilate than any words. The reason the Lord was so silent was simple. He had nothing to say. Pilate knew perfectly well the innocence of his prisoner. He knew fully the motives and the malice of the Sanhedrin, and he knew where his duty lay. That was all there was to it. Pilate had never before met a prisoner who defended himself so brilliantly by saying little or nothing at all.

§ When James says, “Be slow to speak,” he means, perhaps, that we would do well to think twice before we speak. When Nathan the prophet came to David with the story of the rich man who had stolen a poor man’s one little lamb, to provide a feast for a visitor, David exploded, when he should have been slow to speak. His anger “was greatly kindled,” the Holy Spirit says. “As the Lordliveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb fourfold,” he blurted—and, in so doing, he condemned himself.[8]

o Vs. 20: We must be slow to wrath or anger. James expressed himself clearly and strongly in this verse: “The righteousness of God” (dikaiosunēn theou, freely translated by the NIV as “the righteous life that God desires”) cannot be accomplished by human anger.

§ Only God can vindicate the righteous by His anger without becoming involved in sin. Who is not convicted by this verse? “Righteousness” also appears in 2:23and 3:18. Whether in relationship with God (2:23) or in relationship with others (3:18), anger must be ruled out.

📷 Human anger will inhibit the wholehearted trust necessary for the relationship between the believer and God.

📷 Human anger will injure the merciful peacemaking required for the relationships among fellow believers and those outside their fellowship.[9]

Thoughts to Soak on before moving on:

· Because the Christian stands in the front rank of God’s creatures, he is not, therefore, to carry himself confidently as if he were superior to the lessons which others need, and to be excused from showing that respectful reticence (reserve or restraint) or caution which is idly assumed to become such as are in a lower position.

· As his spirit has been kindled from on high, the Christian, above all men, carries himself circumspectly. In so far as he is brought spiritually nearer to God, he is swift to hear. As he is closest to the throne, he is, above all, slow to speak. He, near of kin to the Spirit of Divine justice, is, above all, slow to wrath. He should know, better than any, that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.[10]

· At first glance, these verses read like simple wisdom proverbs. Believers need wisdom and knowledge, and we learn more by listening than by speaking. Big talkers are rarely good listeners, and angry talkers may not hear a thing. Therefore, we should be deliberate, not rash, in speech. It takes strength to hold the tongue, to wait and deliberate until thoughts grow ripe. This kind of care, with proper emotional self-control, leads to edifying speech.[11]

· Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. The anger prohibited by this passage is not so much a flashing, destructive temper as a simmering pot of hostile, mean-spirited feelings.

o Human anger wastes the energies of God’s people, produces divisions, and often comes from selfish ambition. The righteousness that God desires includes deeds which are pure; … peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (Jas. 3:17). Angry words and deeds cannot produce purity and peace. Proverbs 29:22 warns that “an angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.” Moses’ murderous anger in Exodus 2:11–15 resulted in his flight from Egypt and added forty additional years to the misery of the Jews in Egypt (Acts 7:27–32).[12]

Let’s move on:

· Vs. 21: We must put aside all filthiness. In the noun rhuparia denotes “dirt, filth”; figuratively, in an ethical sense, it means “moral uncleanness, sordidness, vulgarity.” This term is used only once in the New Testament, and that in the figurative sense (James 1:21). James challenged his readers to remove the moral uncleanness, especially greediness and the prevalent malice or vice (Davids, New International Greek Testament Commentary, James, p.94).[13] He tells his readers to strip themselves of all vice and filthiness. The word he uses for strip is the word used for stripping off one’s clothes. He bids his hearers get rid of all defilement as a man strips off soiled garments or as a snake sheds off its skin.

o Both the words he uses for defilement are vivid. The word we have translated has one very interesting connection. It is a derivative of rupos and, when rupos is used in a medical sense, it means wax in the ear. It is just possible that it still retains that meaning here; and that James is telling his readers to get rid of everything which would stop their ears to the true word of God. When wax gathers in the ear, it can make a man deaf; and a man’s sins can make him deaf to God.

o Further, James talks of the excrescence (perisseia) of vice. He thinks of vice as tangled undergrowth or a cancerous growth which must be cut away.[14]

§ We must put aside all that remains of naughtiness, wickedness, and evil.The idea is this: even after putting aside all filthiness, there will still be some naughtiness or wickedness that will show up within us. Therefore, we must be alert to these uprisings and put them off and lay them aside as well. We must be completely clean and pure from all dirt and naughtiness to hear the Word of God.

§ We must receive the Word of God with meekness. We must be as a child before God our Father, that is, sit before Him meekly just as a child does his father.

📷 The idea is that we must be humble, gentle, quiet, and attentive in listening to the Word of God. We must sit and listen with an open heart ready to hear exactly what our Father says.

· Vs. 21: The person who sits before God like this discovers a most wonderful thing. Note the word “implanted” (emphuton). It means to implant; to be born within. When a person listens and hears the Word of God, it is planted within his heart and life.

· The gospel is here represented under the image of that which is implanted or engrafted from another source; by a figure that would be readily understood, for the art of engrafting is everywhere known. Sometimes the gospel is represented under the image of seed sown (Comp. Mark 6:14, seq.); but here it is under the figure of a shoot implanted or engrafted, that produces fruit of its own, whatever may be the original character of the tree into which it is engrafted. Comp. Notes on Rom. 11:17.[15]

o What God says is actually born within his heart, and the person hears exactly what God says.

o The Word of God is born within his heart and life and the person’s soul is saved. He conquers and triumphs over all temptation, including the terrible temptation of rejecting God and doing his own thing and living like he wants. He is saved to live eternally with God.

· This is the first preparation that a person must make to withstand temptation: he must be quick to hear the Word of God.[16]

· God puts His law on our hearts (Jer 31) and His Spirit in our hearts (Ezek 36), and the Spirit of God though the Word of God moves us. This is the language of James 1 (18, 21). God has planted His Word in us, and our hearts find life in this Word. Like the blood that flows to our hearts, we need this Word.

· May God help us in our day, for we need this Word that is able to “save your souls”. The language here is potent, emphasizing how we are not saved by working but by receiving the Word, and how that Word planted in us then moves us to action. This is the heart of James.

o We work and put our faith into action, yes, but we do this by the Word at work in our hearts, the Word that has given us life (v. 18). As you accept this Word and humbly submit to it, your soul experiences the depths of salvation. Don’t underestimate the power and the importance of the Word of God.

§ Do you long to receive this Word? If you do, that is good. It should be a treasured and cherished possession for you. If it is not, then get rid of the filth and evil and worldliness that are drawing your affections away from the Word that saves you. Receive the Word humbly.[17]

Listen to what God’s Word shares with us.

· Matthew 13:23 (NASB) 23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

· Luke 10:39 (NASB) 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word.

· Acts 2:41 (NASB) 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

· Acts 17:11 (NASB) 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

· 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NASB) 13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but forwhat it really is, the Word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

Thoughts to Soak On:

There are few wise men who have not been impressed by the dangers of being too quick to speak and too unwilling to listen. A most interesting list could be compiled of the things in which it is well to be quick and the things in which it is well to be slow. In the Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, we read:

· “There are four characters in scholars.

o Quick to hear and quick to forget; his gain is cancelled by his loss.

o Slow to hear and slow to forget; his loss is cancelled by his gain.

o Quick to hear and slow to forget; he is wise.

o Slow to hear and quick to forget; this is an evil lot.”

· Ovid bids men to be slow to punish, but swift to reward. Philo bids a man to be swift to benefit others, and slow to harm them.

· It is James’s advice that we should also be slow to anger. He is probably meeting the arguments of some that there is a place for the blazing anger of rebuke. That is undoubtedly true; the world would be a poorer place without those who blazed against the abuses and the tyrannies of sin. But too often this is made an excuse for cantankerous and self-centered irritation.

o The teacher will be tempted to be angry with the slow and backward and still more with the lazy scholar. But, except on the rarest occasions, he will achieve more by encouragement than by the lash of the tongue.

o The preacher will be tempted to anger. But “don’t scold” is always good advice to him; he loses his power whenever he does not make it clear by every word and gesture that he loves his people. When anger gives the impression in the pulpit of dislike or contempt it will not convert the souls of men.

o The parent will be tempted to anger. But a parent’s anger is much more likely to produce a still more stubborn resistance than it is to control and direct. The accent of love always has more power than the accent of anger; and when anger becomes constant irritability, crabby annoyance, critical nagging, it always does more harm than good.

· To be slow to speak, slow to anger, quick to listen is always good policy for life[18]

James 1:22-25 (NASB) Hearing and doing and the true law 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 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; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 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.

· Contrary to what most people think, it is not enough to hear and know the Word of God; we must live and do the Word of God. Note three points.

o Vs. 22: First point, The person who only hears and knows the Word deceives himself. If a person thinks that he can hear and learn the Word of God and then go out and live like he wants, he deceives (deludes) himself.

Thoughts to Soak On:

· There are many who sit under the Word of God week after week, and they learn and know as much of the Word as anyone. They think that their listening and learning makes them acceptable to God, that it makes them safe and secure. When they slip into sin, they feel that they can ask God for forgiveness and that He will forgive them. They just feel that God would never reject them. But note something, the most critical fact:

o Second Point, God does not accept us because we hear and know the Word nor because we confess our sins. Each of these are necessary and very important, but they are not enough.

o God accepts us because we confess and repent. Repentance means that we turn away from our sins and turn to God. God accepts us because we turn to Him and live for Him. When we believe God—really believe Him—then it is that we trust and follow Him, doing exactly what He says.

· Vs. 23-24: The person who only hears and knows the Word soon forgets what he has heard. If a person does not practice what he learns, it soon fades from memory. It is just forgotten, and it never becomes a part of the person’s life. He is like the person who looks in a mirror to see if he needs to do anything to his appearance, then walks away and thinks of something else and forgets the pimple or rustled hair that needed to be cared for.

o A receptive spirit is not alone sufficient. Actionmust follow. Holy Scripture is a mirror, in which a man may see his own image reflected. The man merely listens to it sees his own likeness, perhaps, but “goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.” Without doing, what is the good of hearing sermons? Knowledge without obedience only increases condemnation.

o So our Lord’s severest denunciations were for those cities which had known most of his mighty works;. and “many stripes” were reserved for that servant who knew his Lord’s will and did it not (Luke 12:47).[19]

Thoughts to Soak On:

· The following happens so often…. We hear the Word and are convicted of some defect, some shortcoming, some failure that we need to clean up. But as soon as we walk out from under the Word, we are distracted by the world and its affairs, and we soon forget to do what the Word of God told us to do.

· Vs. 25: The person who hears and does the Word of God is blessed. Note that the Word of God is called the perfect law of liberty. This means that the Word of God will set a person free from the bondages of sin and death. The Word of God will free a person from all the temptations of this life and give him the full and victorious life for which his soul longs—a life that will continue on and on eternally with God.

o A person who does and lives the Word of God will find that he is freed from all that enslaves his soul upon earth. He will discover love, joy, and peace—a soul that just soars with a sense of …freedom and liberty, purpose and meaning, security and safety, victory over temptation, joy and rejoicing, assurance and confidence, life over death, deliverance from sin.

o Third Point: The Word of God is the law of liberty, the law that sets a man free to know and fellowship with God forever and ever.

o But note a critical point: we must continue in the Word of God. We must continue to live just like it says. If we do, then we shall be blessed, made abundantly and eternally happy.

Listen to what God’s Word shares with us.

· Matthew 7:21 (NASB) 21 "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.

· Matthew 12:50 (NASB) 50 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."

· Luke 6:46-49 (NASB) 46 "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 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. 49 "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."

· Romans 2:13 (NASB) 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

James 1:26 (NASB) Bridle our tongue 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his ownheart, this man's religion is worthless.

· Judging from James 1:26 and 3:1, some believers in the churches to whom James wrote were accustomed to saying and teaching whatever happened to come into their minds, without giving it careful thought or checking it against Scripture. Many of the would-be teachers were perhaps sincere but poorly taught and unprepared. Some were proud and arrogant (see 4:6) and enjoyed hearing their own voices and being considered teachers and leaders. Some, being discontent, were given to criticizing and wrangling with each other (see 3:14; 4:1–2, 11; 5:9). And, although James does not mention the problem specifically, it would seem certain that there were also unbelieving false teachers who were deceptively undermining the doctrine and faith of church members, causing great confusion and damage.[20]

· Great emphasis today is placed on being religious or upon religion. Religion tends to make men feel good about themselves and secure in their own deeds and merits. It is for this reason men will reject Christ and cling to their religions.

o Religion or being religious does not get a man to Heaven. It is Jesus Christ who saves a man’s soul. All religions do not lead to Heaven. That teaching was made up by religious men who reject Christ as the only way to Heaven. Christ is the only way to Heaven! Men’s works have no merit at all when it comes to the matter of salvation.

§ John 14:6—Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

§ Ephesians 2:8–9 … For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. Christianity is not a religion of dead deeds; it is a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a way of life that follows Christ.

· When we examine the Bible, we find that God’s definition of being religious is not the same as man’s. In these verses, James brings the matter of religion and being religious into perfect focus. Notice that James states, “If any of you seem or “thinks” to be religious …” There are many today who claim to be religious, but are not at all, as we will see.

· What does James mean by this word “religious?” It comes from the Greek word threskoswhich refers to external, religious rituals, liturgies, routines, and ceremonies. This word was used by the historian Josephus to describe the temple worship in Jerusalem. In contrast, the New Testament Greek word that was used for genuine, transparent, Christ-honoring worship was the word eusebeia, which had a basic meaning of holiness and godliness.

o A truly religious person will honor Christ and live a godly, holy life. James instructs us that pure religion means to put into practice God’s Word. As we will see, it involves sharing His Word through our service, speech, and separation from sinful living.[21]

· James concludes this important paragraph on the practical implications of true Christianity by singling out some specific ways in which obedience to the word is to be manifested. One of these, which is apparently of great concern to James, is the whole matter of controlling the tongue. He has already counselled his readers to be ‘quick to hear, slow to speak’ (v. 19). In chapter 3 he will develop the issue at some length, and he returns to it again in 4:11–12.

· The tongue, James suggests, is like a wild animal. Properly controlled and directed (‘bridled’), it can accomplish great good. But when left on its own, its destructive powers are enormous.

o A person who fails to control his tongue deceives his heartabout the reality of his religion. He is a mere ‘hearer’ of the word, and by failing to put what he hears into practice, he shows that his religion is vain.

o The word religion captures well the meaning of the Greek thrēskeia (and the rare adjective thrēskos). The term is not specifically Christian and is used widely in Greek religion to denote the reverencing and worshipping of a god (or gods). It often connotes outward acts of worship.

o The true test of any religious profession, suggests James, is not the outward ritual of worship, which many go through unthinkingly and with little heart commitment. No, the real litmus test of religion is obedience—without it, religion is vain: empty, useless, and profitless.[22]

· If the person is actively religious, very faithful in his religious worship and service, but is loose with his tongue …

o interrupting and dominating the conversation

o being easily provoked and lashing out at others

o gossiping and telling tales

o criticizing and murmuring

o judging and condemning others

o using slang and cursing

o engaging in suggestive and off-colored talk

o talking about and running down others

§ …. he deceives himself, his religion is empty, he does not please God and is thereby unacceptable to God.

§ For a person to withstand and to conquer temptation, he must bridle his tongue. This is the third preparation necessary to conquer temptations.

Listen to what God’s Word shares with us

· Ephesians 4:31 (NASB) 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

· Titus 3:1-2 (NASB) 1 Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, 2 to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

· James 3:6 (NASB) 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

· James 4:11 (NASB) 11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.

· 1 Peter 3:10 (NASB) 10 For, "THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.

James 1:27 (NASB) True Worship 27 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.

· Two things are said to be necessary in this preparation.

o A person must visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. This certainly would apply to visiting all who have need within a community, those who are …orphaned, widowed, shut-in, newcomers, lost or unsaved, fatherless, or motherless, bedridden, lonely, or grieved.

o A person must keep himself unspotted from the world.

§ Pure religion does not become corrupted with false beliefs or with false religion. It holds to the purity of the gospel and to the Word of God.

§ Pure religion does not focus upon form and ritual and ceremony.It focuses upon the power of God to change lives eternally and it reaches out to change people’s lives by visiting them.

§ Pure religion does not become morally corrupt; it does not become entangled with the affairs and pleasures of this world. True religion stirs people to separate themselves from the things of this world that arouse their fleshly desires and cravings. True believers of true religion keep themselves unspotted from the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life—all of this world. This is a necessary preparation if a person is to conquer the temptations and sins of this world.[23]

· Whatever the need, God expects us to visit them. He expects us to reach all within our community, and the task is not really all that difficult, not in a country where a church is in practically every community.

o Letting the community know that one really cares will cause many to call upon the believers of the church when the hour of crisis strikes.

o In addition to this, every church should, of course, have a corps of genuine believers who can share Christ with the lost.

· The second characteristic focuses on the world, a designation common in Paul and John for human culture, mores, and institutions (1 Cor. 1–3; 5:19; Eph. 2:2; John 12:31; 15:18–17:16; 1 John 2:15–17). True devotion is not conformity to human culture but transformation into Christ’s image (Rom. 12:1–2). For James this means specifically rejecting the motives of competition, personal ambition, and accumulation that lie at the root of a lack of charity and an abundance of community conflict (e.g., 4:1–4). In declaring this alone to be true religion in God’s eyes, James declares that conversion is meaningless unless it leads to a changed life.[24]

Listen to what God’s Word shares with us

Relating to verse 26…………………………..

· Matthew 25:34-36 (NASB) 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me somethingto drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

· Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB) 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

· Mark 16:15 (NASB) 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

· Hebrews 13:3-4 (NASB) 3 Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. 4 Marriage is to be heldin honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Relating to Verse 27…………………..

· Matthew 5:8 (NASB) 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

· Romans 12:2 (NASB) 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

· 1 Timothy 1:5 (NASB) 5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

· 1 Peter 1:22 (NASB) 22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

Thoughts in closing to bring this lesson to life

Studying the Bible with Others

· Christians have always instinctively understood listening to God to be a group activity. After he was raised from the dead, Jesus looked at the Scriptures with two of his disciples, who later reported how their hearts burned within them as Jesus explained the true meaning of the texts they studied with Him (Luke 24:27, 32).

· From its earliest days, the church in Acts devoted itself to the teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42). In Berea, the Jews were commended as an example of receiving the gospel message enthusiastically, and then earnestly searching the Scriptures daily to see if Paul’s teaching was true. We are told that because of this, “many of them believed” (Acts 17:11–12). Later in life, Paul impressed upon Timothy the centrality of preaching the Word of God and of handling it correctly (2 Timothy 4:1–2; 2:15). God’s word has always been at the center of the corporate life of his people.

· It is for this reason that, in addition to the public teaching of God’s Word in services, many churches encourage their members to study the Bible together regularly in smaller groups. These are a wonderful way for a group of Christians to learn from and teach one another together. Almost without exception, we will learn things from having examined the passage together that we never would have learned if we were looking at it on our own. It is a precious time of the week.

Studying the Bible on our Own

· We must not lose the corporate/group aspect of listening to God’s Word, nor must we allow this to be the only way we come into contact with the Bible. Just as vital as looking at the Scriptures with others is cultivating the discipline of looking at it on our own. In various Christian traditions this has become known as the “quiet time”, a period set aside each day to read and reflect on a passage of Scripture and to spend time in private prayer. It is no accident that earlier generations referred to it as a Christian’s “devotional life”, for it is not merely an exercise in personal instruction but, above all else, a means of deepening your relationship with God.

o Many have found first thing in the morning the best time to do this. How vital for God’s word to be the first voice we hear each day before our mind is crowded out with the matters of the coming 24 hours!

o Others have found lunch breaks or during a long commute to be the most practical time.

o But what matters more than when and where we look at God’s Word is that we actually do it.

o Those who have never done so, or have fallen out of the habit, would do well to think carefully about how they might set about starting afresh.[25]

· The principles of today’s first-century text can be brought readily into the twenty-first century. Do we not deal with the same problems of words in relation to action? In one respect or another, God’s Word reveals in all of us our stubborn tendency to run our lives on our terms—to value words and actions (or lack of either) in ways that God does not. If we do so after we have confessed that God’s way is the only way, then it is time to allow God’s Word to assess ourselves anew.

Faithful actions must accompany faithful speech.[26]

[1]Cotten, C., Boatman, C. R., Taylor, M. A., & Thatcher, T. (2020). Hearing and Doing. In R. L. Nickelson, J. A. Kenney, M. K. Williams, & J. Gerke (Eds.), The NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2019–2020 (Vol. 26, pp. 418–419). Standard Publishing. [2]Ellsworth, R. (2009). Opening up James(pp. 54–55). Day One Publications. [3]Blue, J. R. (1985). James. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 822). Victor Books. [4]Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume(p. 2410). Hendrickson. [5]Hughes, R. K. (1991). James: faith that works (p. 63). Crossway Books. [6]Allberry, S. (2015). James for You(C. Laferton, Ed.; p. 47). The Good Book Company. [7] Lea, T. D. (1999). Hebrews, James(Vol. 10, p. 264). Broadman & Holman Publishers. [8]Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring the Epistle of James: An Expository Commentary (Jas 1:19–20). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp. [9]Richardson, K. A. (1997). James(Vol. 36, pp. 89–90). Broadman & Holman Publishers. [10]Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: James (pp. 139–140). Jennings & Graham. [11]Doriani, D. M. (2007). James(R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; pp. 46–47). P&R Publishing. [12]Lea, T. D. (1999). Hebrews, James(Vol. 10, pp. 264–265). Broadman & Holman Publishers. [13]Gilbrant, T. (1991). ῥυπαρία. In The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary. WORDsearch. [14]Barclay, W., ed. (1976). The letters of James and Peter (pp. 56–57). Westminster John Knox Press. [15]Barnes, A. (1884–1885). Notes on the New Testament: James to Jude (R. Frew, Ed.; pp. 30–31). Blackie & Son. [16]Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). Hebrews-James(p. 238). Leadership Ministries Worldwide. [17]Platt, D. (2014). Exalting jesus in james (Jas 1:19–21). Holman Reference. [18]Barclay, W., ed. (1976). The letters of James and Peter(pp. 55–56). Westminster John Knox Press. [19]Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). James(p. 7). Funk & Wagnalls Company. [20]MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1998). James(p. 72). Moody Press. [21]Mattoon, R. (2005). Treasures from James (pp. 113–114). Rod Mattoon. [22]Moo, D. J. (1985). James: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, pp. 89–90). InterVarsity Press. [23]Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). Hebrews-James(p.238- 240). Leadership Ministries Worldwide. [24]Davids, P. H. (2011). James(p. 43). Baker Books. [25]Allberry, S. (2015). James for You(C. Laferton, Ed.; pp. 44–45). The Good Book Company. [26]Cotten, C., Boatman, C. R., Taylor, M. A., & Thatcher, T. (2020). Hearing and Doing. In R. L. Nickelson, J. A. Kenney, M. K. Williams, & J. Gerke (Eds.), The NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2019–2020 (Vol. 26, p. 423). Standard Publishing.