The Bible is the second greatest gift God has given to His people (salvation in Christ is the greatest). Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” God breathed His Word by the Holy Spirit to more than thirty men, so they could physically write the Scriptures that teach Christians how to obey the gospel. The gospel-the good news-is the means by which God reconciles man to Himself. Every story, every law, everything in the Bible (every word is true-God’s Word does not fail) points to the reconciling of man to God through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. James 1:19-26[1] teaches two ways in which Christians must interact with the Bible: Christians must receive the Word, and do the Word.
In verses 19-21 Christians are taught to receive the Word of God with humility (meekness). Christians receive the Word in a few different ways: through music (hymns contemporary and ancient), through preaching, through personal Bible study. We must be humble in our reception of God’s Word. Often the tendency for humans is to forget that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal, and their Creator. Humans contend with the words of Scripture as if they believe they know more than God. Christians should be slow to speak and quick to hear; God is the author of all things. There are hard teachings in Scripture, but Christians must receive those teachings, believing that God knows what is best and what is right. The Scriptures lead people to live lives full of joy and purpose; therefore, we must respect even the most difficult teachings for our sakes’ and for the gospel.
Christians receive the Word by allowing God to plant it in us like we are soil; so that it can grow roots, and bear fruit. A cherry tree implanted in the woods will bear cherries. The Word planted in us bears the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodnesss, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”[2] In order for God to plant His Word in us we must be willing to study His Word often, and listen to His Word preached regularly. Study the Word daily. Begin your day with prayer and scripture reading, and end your day the same. Surround your day with the fellowship of God through prayer and His Word, and if your study is done with humility (a desire to learn and grow) then your tree will bear much fruit. Listen to the Word preached often (podcasts are useful tool for listening to the preaching of the Word on other days besides Sunday and Wednesday). The Bible is our source of Christian nourishment. In Psalm 119 David wrote, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
The Christian is not complete however, unless he becomes a “doer” of the Word, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Scripture teaches the Christian how to live according to the gospel-the good news that through Christ God reconciles man to himself by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:7-8). In Christ Christians are new creations; therefore our lives are radically different with Christ than without. If a person reads the Bible, memorizes every word, but does not change then, “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.” (James 1:24). The Bible is like a mirror in that man can look in its pages and see his own filthiness, and if he does not change then he remains filthy. Paul writes in Romans 8:13; “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” We do not have the power on our own to conquer sin in our lives, but if the Christian has placed his faith in Christ and therefore has received the Holy Spirit, and by the Spirit we can put sin to death. It is only by the Spirit that we “do the Word.”
“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). Humans are slaves to sin from birth. God’s Word shows man how to be free from sin, for it is the perfect law of liberty. Salvation is not an excuse to sin void of any consequence; it is the means by which you are freed from sin, so that you can live. Sin=death; salvation=life. Apart from Christ every decision we make, or action we take, is an attempt to pleasure ourselves with something other than Christ. If we “do” the Word, by faith in Jesus Christ, then we can experience the true joy that is only found in glorifying God (we were created to glorify God).
The doer of God’s Word will love and care for those whom God cares for and loves. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”[3] In the context he meant that whatever we do to benefit the hungry, sick, naked, imprisoned; we do for Jesus. The opposite is true, in that when we ignore the hungry, sick, naked, imprisoned, widowed, orphaned, depressed, and lonely-we ignore Christ. A doer of the Word will love his neighbor as himself, and desire to meet the physical and spiritual needs of his fellow human beings. In order to meet a person’s physical needs we must do more than wish them well, but we must actually meet their physical needs. Tending to the physical needs of our fellow man requires self-sacrifice, but like 1 Timothy 6 says, we should be content with food and clothing, because we have faith in He who is eternal. We must also meet our neighbor’s spiritual needs, in teaching them the Word that we have received, the good news that man can be free from sin and live forever glorifying God.
The two greatest commandments can be summed up simply; “Love God. Love people.”
[1] James 1:19-26 “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.
[2] Galatians 5:22-23
[3] Matthew 25:31-46,
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