James 1:21-25 – “Seeing the Value”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹Wherefore, putting off all filthiness and excess of badness, receive in humility the engrafted Word, the one being able to save your soul; ²²and be doers of [the] Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, ²³because, if someone is a hearer of [the] Word and not a doer, this one is like a man observing the face of his birth in a mirror; ²⁴for he saw himself and has gone away, and immediately forgot what he was; ²⁵but the one looking [intently] into the perfect law, the one of freedom, and continues [in it], not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in his doing.

There is so much in these verses, but it all comes down to the question of whether God’s Word actually changes me or not.

I think in the past, as I have read these verses, there has been a sort of underlying discontent in my heart. Of course I want to be a doer and not just a hearer; but I think I’ve always sensed it isn’t enough to simply be determined, “I’m going to be a doer.” I would want to be a doer, not just a hearer, but then I would go away not really sure what I need to do to make it happen.

I think now, having studied the text, it is just that there is so much more going on than meets the casually glancing eye. As I hope I can explain, it is the casual glance which in the end is part of the problem. Yes, we should all be doers and not just hearers, but the very admonition should cause us to stop and ponder and sincerely search out what it is that moves a person from a hearer to a doer. The passage before us actually provides some answers to this question, but I think it particularly teaches us to consider deeply what it is we desire, what it is we actually value.

Here’s what I mean: Obviously, following the text, there is a need to put off our natural rottenness, all our “filthiness and excess of badness!” I suspect this is a starting point – how do we see ourselves? If we flatter ourselves, highlight our good and minimize our bad, we won’t really see the need of the Word. On the other hand, “filthiness and excess of badness?” Those are not flattering words! Grace would reveal to us “Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness – only wounds and welts and open sores” (Isaiah 1:5,6). “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Jesus admonished the Laodiceans, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Rev 3:17,18).

“Buy from me,” says Jesus. But we’ll only “buy” to the extent we really believe we need Him. There in Rev 3, they didn’t see they were “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” so they didn’t see the need of Jesus’ help. In our text, if I don’t see the need, if I’m not desperate for Him, I’ll hear but I won’t value what I hear. When it comes to the Word, to not value it guarantees it won’t change me. Here’s another place to see it is so important to understand that desire is the gatekeeper of our hearts.

That is why, I think, He says “… receive in humility the engrafted Word, the one being able to save your soul.” As I Peter 5:5 tells us, “God resists the proud; He gives His grace to the humble.” It is an “engrafted Word.” The truth is something which must be engrafted into our hearts. We do not possess it naturally. It must be received in the humility of realizing we don’t have it but need it, like Jesus’ “gold refined in the fire” and “white clothes to wear” and “salve for our eyes.” And it isn’t just any word, it is “the one being able to save your souls.” The issues in which it would barter are our eternal welfare.

If we would be doers of the Word, it must be a Word we desperately need, one which dwells naturally nowhere within us but must be received, must be engrafted into us, and one which we understand has the power to transform our very existence. Again, it is a question of value. We’ll only receive it if our heart’s gatekeeper sees its value and truly desires it. Back to verse 14, desire allured by sin will get us killed. But, in verse 16, desire can also be sanctified if our hearts would see that “every good and perfect gift is from above.” It’s a question of what we want, what we see as valuable.

This passage has more to say but I think it all centers around this question of value. I want to record more of these thoughts but I’ll stop here and continue in the next post.

God help us all to truly value the Word, to “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Only then will we find the blessing of being doers of the Word.