Doers of the Word...

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

(James 1:22 ESV)

While reading in James 1 this morning, I began to wonder what is meant by being a doer of the word. Did James mean that we should work to satisfy the law? It seems that in order to be doers of the word, we need to know what the word is that we should be doing.

James gives us a clue in verse 21: "Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21 ESV) He says that the word he is speaking of is implanted and that it is able to save our souls. That's a pretty strong clue.

If we do a quick study of the word 'word' in the new testament, we can fairly easily form an idea of what it refers to. A few scriptures:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John 1:14 ESV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

(John 5:24 ESV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

(John 8:51 ESV)

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

(John 15:3 ESV)

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

(Acts 2:41 ESV)

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

(Acts 6:7 ESV)

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

(Acts 10:44 ESV)

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

(Romans 10:17 ESV)

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

(1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV)

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

(2 Corinthians 2:17 ESV)

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

(Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV)

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

(Philippians 1:14 ESV)

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

(Colossians 4:3-4 ESV)

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

(1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV)

...since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God... And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

(1 Peter 1:23,25 ESV)

Okay, so that was a lot of scripture! But from it comes a clear understanding of what the New Testament word of God is. It is the gospel; the announcement that God sent His own son to live a sinless life, be crucified and resurrected on our behalf. James is not telling us to become slavish adherents to the Law nor even the imperatives of the New Testament, but to humbly accept the gospel (the word of truth) and to live by it - do it, if you will. It is like a mustard seed, as Jesus said. The seed may indeed be small, but within that seed is the complete potential of the believer. James is not encouraging us to become an olive tree, something different than our God-given nature, but to grow up into our nature and become a mature mustard tree with spreading branches.

It is not enough to simply acknowledge the gospel intellectually. We need to grasp the biblical concept that the gospel is an entirely alien kind of righteousness that is imparted as the gift of God. It has nothing to do with our old self-righteousness nature, and will not coexist with that nature. It demands that we stop our own 'doings' and begin acting according to the truth that we have been made righteous through the life and death of Jesus Christ. His righteousness within us produces fruit. That is what it means to be 'doers of the word'.

The problem is that we are forgetful creatures. If we are not constantly immersed in the gospel word of God, we invariably and inevitably wander back into the wasteland of our own self-righteousness. Lest there be any question that this is what James is speaking of, let's look at James 1:25: "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." James can only be referring to the gospel as the 'law of liberty'. The Mosaic Law was no law of liberty, but of bondage (see Galatians 3). So it is in this 'looking' into the gospel that we find the power and will to 'do', providing that we 'hear' and 'persevere'.

I find this all very refreshing and encouraging - liberating! For a while I struggled with the book of James because I thought it set forth quite a different message from the balance of the New Testament. But the more time I spend with it, the more I am encouraged to run to the gospel and seek to be a 'doer' of it.

God Bless