Doers of the Word Not Hearers Only
James 1:20-22
Most of us have heard the verse, “be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.” But do we really know what it means? I think the most common explanation is that it means to engage in some overt activity. What we are going to learn is that it does not mean that at all.
In order to understand what verse 22 means, “be ye doers of the Word…”, we must consider the context in which we find this verse. Therefore, let’s begin with a little background and then take a look at verses 20, 21 and 22.
James is writing to a group of Jewish believers who had been scattered throughout the region. It is significant that these were believers. Therefore, the Book of James is not written to explain salvation. It is written as a guide to the Christian life. We will see the importance of this as we continue our study.
Verse 20- “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God”
The Greek word here for wrath is “orge,” which is a reference to the mental attitude sin of anger. Any sin, including this one, takes you out of fellowship with God. As a result, you are unable to learn the Word of God.
The Greek word for manis “aner.” Normally the word used for man in Greek is “anthropos.” which is a general term. “Aner,” on the other hand, is a word used for a nobleman or nobility. The reason this is important to note is that before you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior you were “Anthropos,” just part of mankind. Upon faith in Christ you become “aner,” nobility or Royal Family of God. You are no longer simply God’s creation, you are now God’s child.
When we put these two words together, what we have is a believer out of fellowship due to anger. You haven’t lost your salvation (we know it’s impossible), you’re still “aner.” So, it’s talking about a believer who has a mental attitude sin. So, the mental attitude sin of anger does not work the righteousness of God. “Works not” is a reference to divine production. In other words, mental attitude sins, such as wrath, cause the believer to be incapable of producing for the Lord.
The Greek word for “righteousness”refers to just or fair dealings. It is a reference, therefore, to divine production or producing the righteousness of Christ in your life. We have studied the two types of production found in I Corinthians 3:11-15. Production done under the control of God the Holy Spirit is called gold, silver and precious stone. Production done under the control of the sin nature is called wood, hay and straw. I Corinthians 3 tells us that both of these productions will be evaluated by fire (a representation of the judgment by Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ). 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. Once again, we are talking about believers, not unbelievers. 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. There is nothing wrong with human good unless we substitute it for divine good. What do I mean? The Bible says, “if a man thirst, give him a drink.” If we fulfil this mandate trying to gain a reward from God, then we have done it for the wrong reason (from the control of the sin nature) and it is wood, hay and straw (human good). If, on the other hand, we do this because of the character of Jesus Christ residing in us (from the control of the Holy Spirit), then we have produced gold, silver and precious stones (divine good). See the difference! (Matthew 10:42; Romans 12:20; II Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 6:1)
Verse 21- “Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, 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 “wherefore” should be translated “because of it,” because of the information in the previous verse. Then we have the Greek word for “lay apart” which is “apotithemi.” It’s a compound word meaning to put off soiled garments. It is another way of saying, “get back into fellowship.” Confess your sins, examine yourself, “lift up holy hands,” make straight paths and take off those dirty clothes are all synonyms for getting back into fellowship. In other words, you can’t produce divine good when you are out of fellowship, so get back in fellowship.
“All filthiness”is the Greek word “ruparia” and is used for pollution. This pollution is anger, as we saw in the previous verse. It’s talking about pollution of the soul, your mental attitude. “Superfluity”is the Greek word “perisuo” and means to overflow. “Naughtiness”is “kakia” in the Greek and means evil. So when we put them together we have, “because a believer with mental attitude sin cannot produce divine good, he should get back into fellowship and lay aside the pollution in his thinking and the overflow of evil in his mind.”
“And receive the Word”is our next phrase. Receive is the Greek word “dechomai” and means to embrace. Its usage in the Greek is a term for those in love or 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 be intimate with His Word.
The next word in this verse is “meekness,” the Greek word “prautes” and is another word for grace. You can only receive the Word of God under the control of the Holy Spirit. So, it is obvious that this is a reference to the grace function of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Then we have “the engrafted Word.” This word is “enphutas” in the Greek and it means impregnated.What is it that is being impregnated? It’s the mind of the believer, who has gotten back into fellowship, isolated and removed certain mental attitude sins, and is now embracing the Word of God under the grace function of control of God the Holy Spirit.
“Which is able to save your souls”is the last part of this verse. This Greek word for save is “sozo,” but is not talking about salvation, since you’re already saved. It’s talking about deliverance of your soul. So, it’s the impregnated Word that has become a part of your thinking that can deliver you from anything. This is not talking about a mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. This means that you have learned and believed what the Word of God is teaching.
You have learned it to the point that it has so become a part of your thinking that Divine Viewpoint Thinking is now the norm and standard not Human Viewpoint Thinking. But it says it is ableto deliver you, which is still only potential. Do you see where this is going?
Verse 22- “But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
So far we have, “Because a believer with mental attitude sin cannot produce divine good, you should get back into fellowship and lay aside the pollution in your thinking and the evil in your mind and embrace the impregnated Word of God under the grace function of the control of God the Holy Spirit, which has the potential to deliver you from anything.”
Again, I want to emphasize that we only have a potential to this point. The only way that the Word of God is going to be able to deliver you is if you apply it. This is what is meant by being adoer of the Wordand not a hearer only.!
“But be ye doers”is “ginomai” plus “poietes” in the Greek and it means to become a doer. “The Word”is the Greek word “logos” and is a reference to the Word of God or divine viewpoint. A doer is an applier of the Word. If it goes no further than hearing, it is useless. Where does application take place? It takes place in your thinking.
The Greek word for “hearers”is “akroates” and it means to listen. The meaning should be clear, listening to God’s Word is not enough. The last phrase of this verse, “deceiving your own selves”means to defraud yourselves. The Greek word for “deceive”is “paralogizomai” and it means to defraud or to self-deceive in one’s mind.
The believer that fails to go all the way with God’s Word, from study, to belief and to application is defrauding himself of the opportunity to have a victorious Christian life. If the Word of God is not changing your thoughts and actions, then you are not applying it.
Translation: James 1:20-22, “Because a believer with mental attitude sin can not 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 impregnated Word of God under the grace function of the control 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.”