Hearing and Doing - James 1:22-25

James 1:22-25 ²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ 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. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ 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.

Based on these verses, complete the thoughts below:

1.        Be ________________of the word and not just __________________.

2.        When you don’t do anything with what you have heard (or read) in the Word, you are ______________________ yourself. Why would James use that word? Explain.

3.        According to this passage, a person who hears but doesn’t act on what she hears is like what?

4.        James called Scripture ___________________________.

5.        What does this mean?

6.        According to these verses, what happens when you hear AND do what God’s Word says?

7.        What happens if you just take in God’s Word and don’t do anything with it?

-          The word decieve shows that the person who reads, but doesn’t follow God’s word is being misled or fooled. How? This person thinks less of scripture than what it really is, which is the truth- God breathed, authoritative, sacred words to us. 

MYTHS ABOUT SCRIPTURE THAT PEOPLE (really do!) BELIEVE:

1.      The word is simply relative and not absolute.

         The bible is just an alternative way of living. I’ve heard people say that you must take scripture “with a grain of salt”, specifically by catholics who believe that the church has an equal authority as God’s word and need to interpret or correct where the word is “not relevant”. In other words, everyone gets to pick and choose what parts of the bible to live by. 

2.        God’s word is a good luck charm.

           If you carry your bible with you, you will be protected and will have a good day. If you read your bible before a test, in the morning before school, or every night, everything will be okay and God will bless you for your efforts. 

3.        God’s Word will make you feel better about yourself. 

          Sometimes we only read what makes us feel good, and discredit any scripture that does otherwise. Examples include how the most widely used verses are John 3:16 (For God so loved the world), Psalm 23 (though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…), Isaiah 40:31 (run and not grow weary). These are awesome verses, but quoted out of context they are simply "feel good" verses. 

           People will stay away from deeper  scriptures with more weight because they are either “hard to understand” or make them feel “guilty”, which people often think must be wrongly placed in the bible. I’ve heard people argue Genesis 1, how “God made everything good”, without even thinking about Genesis 3, how Adam and Eve gave in to sin. The truth is that God’s word DOES bring us happiness and true joy, but this comes when we are humbled, have contrite hearts (regret and sorrow for sins or offenses), and then learn to trust God and have love for Him. 

4.        God’s word is a tool for debate. 

          People will use the bible only to get their way. Some parents never put a finger on the bible, but will instantly quote “honor thy mother and thy father”. In the same way, some of us hardly ever read the bible, much less follow it, and will use the bible to support what we want. For example, just because a boy is a Christian and you are “equally yoked” does not mean you should be dating, if you are not even ready to handle a romantic relationship. If you’re not ready to commit to marriage, this is a sure way to have sin in your life. 

          Your own wants do not define God's word. 

We can go our entire lives believing any of those myths, but without taking the bible to heart and acting on it, we will never choose to repent of our sin and confess our need for a Savior- which leaves us with no hope.

-           

   What does it really mean to persevere?

In verse 25, the word PERSEVERE reminds us that we must continually feed on God’s word.  

John 15:5-6
        I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

1.        What does it mean to abide in Jesus and he in us?
              We need to LIVE in him, in his sacrifice for us which we find in his word, the Bible.

2.         It doesn’t matter what we think we are doing or consider to be “good fruits” if we aren’t living in Jesus. 
              Apart from him we can’t do anything, because if we aren’t worshipping God, the creator of all things, we are only continuing to worship the things he created instead, which is sin. (Romans 1:24-25)

3.        Practically, we can’t read God’s word only once. 
              If we aren’t living in it, then our spiritual growth will stall or even die out.

Another verse to look at is 1 John 1:5-10:

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

-If we are not walking in the light, no matter what we say, his word is not truly in us.

-              If we ARE walking in the light, some proofs of that is that we have confessed our sins, are forgiven and cleansed through the blood of Jesus, and have fellowship with one another.

-         -  The word says (Romans 3:23) that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
               It doesn’t matter if we read the bible. If we don’t admit how we have sinned against God, we are lying and not saved, or not truly Christian.

Let’s look at verse 25 again: “the perfect law, the law of liberty”. Just like when he says “joy” and “trials” together, James is again using a paradox to show a point:

  How can a law bring freedom?

Although laws are meant for good, we have all broken God’s law, and therefore have all sinned against a loving, perfect, and holy God of infinite worth. The law in itself can’t save us, because we can’t fulfill it. That means that the law only shows us that we have sinned. However, Jesus frees us of that curse by becoming that curse for us, and fulfilling the law perfectly for us so that we can be justified. 


Galatians 3:10-13:

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”¹² But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— ¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

OVERVIEW:

-          -The bible is nothing less than the actual word of God. It reveals truth about God and ourselves to us.

-          - If we’re not actually living by what we read in the bible, then it shows we don’t truly believe it and there is no point – we are just deceiving ourselves about who God truly is.

-          -We can’t truly follow the bible if we aren’t consistently reading it and thinking about it.

-          -God’s word is the perfect law of liberty. It frees us from the eternal death that we deserve for sinning, and gives us eternal life and true Joy through Jesus’ sacrifice for us.