Pure and undefiled religion - But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers.

James 1:19-2:17 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹⁹ This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. ²¹ Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. ²² But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

2 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism…⁸ If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ¹¹ For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴ What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

James focuses on the believers faithfulness to serve in today’s text. He writes:  If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world; and     ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  This aligns well with what Jesus says in Matthew 25, when He is speaking about the judgment of the nations (ethnos- every race, tribe and tongue). Matthew 25:4 says: “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

It is important for us to remember though that: by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)       We are not saved by our works. The things we do to serve and minister to others must be done from a pure heart, not grudgingly or out of compulsion. We are not to show love to other simply because we are righteous. The love and service we show to others is a result, an outpouring of the love and grace we have been shown.  We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:9) If we do the right things, serve others, for the wrong reasons, to show our righteousness or out of compulsion, then even our works of service become works of the flesh. Jesus says: “when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Let’s look now, at today’s text from a slightly different perspective.  We again read James’ words:  If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Two things stand out to me in these verses, which are often overlooked. First, James is describing religion. Religion is:  the belief in a god or in a group of gods - : an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods - : an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group (Merriam-webster) We are called to a relationship, not to religion. Romans 8:14-17 says:  For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

The second part of this says:  and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James says: ²¹ Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. ²² But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. Again, we are called to a relationship, a relationship with both God the Father and Jesus our Lord and Savior. Jesus Himself says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) Remember Jesus is: 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) Jesus is the Word. If we will be obedient to Christ we must be obedient to and be doers of the Word.

James speaks of our obedience in terms of the things we do and the things we refrain from. What else though does Jesus say in His Word, which should impact how we live.

Jesus says:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) As a doer of His Word, are we living an abundant life?

Jesus says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”(Mark 16:15-18) As a doer of the Word are we doing what He commanded?

There are obviously far too many things which Jesus tells us to do to list and respond to now. That is why if we have a relationship with Jesus, we must also have a relationship with the Word. The psalmist says: O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.(Psalm 119:97) If we are to be doers of the Word we must be hearers. The Holy Spirit will also speak God’s Word to us, He is our teacher and our guide. Jesus says:  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.(John 14:26). In order to remember we must have heard. To be a doer, to keep Jesus commandments and thereby show that we love Him, we need to hear and love His Word.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ for calling me not to religion, but rather to a relationship with You. Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to enable me to walk in the fullness of that relationship. Thank You for Your Word, Your written Word, Your spoken Word and Your living Word. I love Your Word and by Your Spirit I desire to be a doer of Your Word each and every day.      Amen.