Lesson for May 17, 2023
Principles for Christian Living – Lesson 2
Doers of the Word Not Hearers Only
James 1:19-22, “You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls.But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.”
Many Christians have heard these verses, but do most really know what they mean? I think the most common explanation is that they mean to engage in some overt “Christian activity.” However, to understand what these verses mean, we must consider the context in which we find them.
James was writing to a group of Jewish believers who had been scattered throughout the region. It is significant that these were believers, which means the Book of James was not written to explain salvation. It was written as a guide to the Christian life.
James 1:20 – “For a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.”
The Greek word here for anger is “orge,” which is a reference to the mental attitude sin directed toward another person. The Greek word for man (mankind) in this verse is “aner,” which is a word used for nobility. The reason this is important is that before a person believes in Christ as their personal Savior, they are just part of mankind. Upon faith in Christ however, a person becomes Royal Family of God (nobility).
The Greek word for “righteousness” refers to practical righteousness or producing divine good. In other words, it means to produce the righteousness of Christ in your life. There are two types of production found in the Word of God: divine good and human good. Divine good is done under the filling of the Holy Spirit and human good is done under the influence and control of the sin nature.
Both divine good and human good will be evaluated in the life of each believer by Jesus Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Fire is often used in the Bible to represent judgment and that is what we find in I Corinthians 3:11-15, “For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.”
When the fire of judgment hits gold, silver, and precious stone, it purifies them. When the same fire hits wood, hay, and straw, it burns them up. The gold, silver, and precious stones that remain after a believer’s life is evaluated will result in great rewards in Heaven.
As believers, we are either producing divine good or human good. Human good
has no place in the plan of God. When we attempt to replace divine good with human good, we are missing the entire point of our spiritual life. The Bible says, “if a man thirst, give him a drink.” If we fulfil this command trying to coerce God into blessing us or to be seen by others, then we have done it for the wrong reason, and it is human good. If, on the other hand, we do this command because we love God and desire to please Him by obeying His instructions, then we have produced divine good. (Matthew 10:42; Romans 12:20; II Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 6:1)
James 1:21 – “Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”
This verse tells us how to correct the problem of being out of fellowship due to mental attitude sin. The word “therefore” should be translated “because of it,” referring to the information in the previous verses. The Greek word for ridding is “apotithemi,” which is a compound word meaning to remove soiled garments – an analogy for the Rebound Technique found in I John 1:9.
All filthiness is the Greek word “ruparia” and is used for pollution. This pollution is anger from the previous verse. It’s talking about polluting the soul with sin. Remains is the Greek word “perissueo,” meaning to overflow. Wickedness is the Greek word “kakia,” meaning malice (a companion to anger).
In humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. Humility is the Greek word “prautes,” which is another word for grace. A believer can receive the Word of God only under the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is a grace function of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Receive is the Greek word “dechomai,” and means to embrace. Its usage in Greek is a term for an intimate embrace, an embrace with love in mind. So what James is saying is to embrace the Word of God, to love the Word of God and to have an intimate relationship with the Word. This phrase is in the imperative mood, which means that it is a command. Therefore, it is God’s will for each of us to love His Word.
The Greek word for implanted is “emphutas,” and it means rooted. What is it that is being rooted? It means to learn accurate Bible doctrine, the truth of the Word of God and to use it to glorify God in your life by fulfilling His plan for you.
The Greek word for save is “sozo,” meaning delivered. When God’s Word becomes an integral part of your thinking, it can deliver you from anything. This is not talking about a mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. This means that you have learned it to the point that Divine Viewpoint Thinking is now your norm and standard for life and not the Human Viewpoint Thinking of Satan’s world system.
The doctrinal translation of James 1:19-21 is “Fellow believers, because a believer with mental attitude sin cannot produce divine good, we should get back into fellowship, and lay aside the pollution in our thinking, and the evil in our minds, and embrace the implanted Word of God under the grace function of the filling of God the Holy Spirit, which has the potential to deliver us from anything.”
James 1:22 – “But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.”
The Greek words for prove and doers are “ginomai” plus “poietes,” meaning to become appliers of accurate Bible doctrine. If it goes no further than hearing (academic knowledge), it is useless. The Greek word for “hearers” is “akroates,” meaning to listen. The meaning should be clear, listening to God’s Word is not enough. Deceiving your own selves means to defraud yourselves of truth. If the Word of God is not changing our thoughts, attitudes, and actions, then we are not properly applying it.
Doctrinal translation of James 1:19-22 is “Fellow believers, because a believer with mental attitude sin cannot produce divine good, we should get back into fellowship, and lay aside the pollution in our thinking, and the evil in our mind, and embrace the implanted Word of God under the grace function of the filling of God the Holy Spirit, which has the potential to deliver us from anything. But don’t stop there, be appliers of the Word of God, and not just those who listen, who defraud themselves of the opportunity to have a victorious Christian life.”