James Expounds on Faith Volume 15

 Be Doers of the Word of God Part 3

James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. KJV Note: NKJV=New King James Version

The Apostle James summarizes his point with these words on being a doer of the Word of God and not a mere hearer, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:25) (KJV). The little English phrase 'whoso looketh' at the very 🔰 beginning of this verse is translated by the Greek word parakuptō which means to bend beside, that is, lean over (so as to peer within): - look (into), stoop down. In other words, it is not a surface, shallow, or superficial inquiry but instead a diligent, diving, and digging into the Word of God with some effort as an athlete does when he or she is training hard to prepare themselves to compete at their very best in their next game or event, Remember when the Apostle Paul compared himself to such athletes, although referring to his preparation as spiritual training exercising self-control, as it is written, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) (NKJV). The Apostle James is telling us to look into the 'perfect law of liberty' and for us this means our gazing upon our Lord Jesus Christ who is the living Word of God and when we do so with gazing and not glancing we then can walk in His love for us and find ourselves living in freedom from our old nature. The Apostle Paul wrote his entire letter to the ⛪ Churches in Galatia to reprimand them, refute them, and then remind them of the freedom they received when they were saved by grace through faith and walking in the Spirit. Paul wanted to remind them that the law declares men 🚹 and 🚺 women guilty and imprisons them, but faith sets men free to enjoy liberty in Christ, however, liberty does not mean we now have license to sin all we want and as much as we want, but freedom in Christ means freedom to produce the fruits of righteousness through a Spirit-led lifestyle. Here is how the Apostle Paul greeted those brothers and sisters 'in Christ' in Galatia, "Paul, an Apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the Churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."  (Galatians 1:1-5) (NKJV). Christ redeemed us and paid our ransom to deliver us from this present evil age or time or period in human history, not so that we could continue to be the filthy sinners that we were in our first birth, but by our new birth live our lives enjoying and rejoicing in the liberty we have 'in Christ' to say NO to sin and pursue righteouness. Remember when the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the ⛪ Church @ Rome, "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign(rule) in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" (Romans 6:11-16) (NKJV).

There we have it, we can present our selves as slaves to Christ leading to righteousness or be a hearer of the Word of God only and not a doer and consequently continue in sin leading to unrighteousness and death (spiritual and physical), remembering these words written by the Apostle John, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him (Jesus Christ), that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death." (1 John 5:14-17) (NKJV). Back in the day everyone who loaded up their vehicles to travel to places far from their homes carried with them a road map 🗺 that showed all of the highways and State roadways so that one could navigate their way to their final destination where ever that might be (the time before cell 📱 phones with talking navigation systems). Back then we had to 📖 read and study the 🗺 map intently so that we would know where we were and where we were going, the Word of God is to we believers in our Lord Jesus Christ our Road Map 🗺 that guides us down the right roads in our sojourn and pilgrimage here on the 🌎 earth into the will of God for us daily till we get home 🏡 in Heaven. Just like someone in a car 🚘 driving to a destination can get lost without reading and studying the road map 🗺, so can we Christians lose the sense or who we are and whose we are (the Lord Jesus Christ) when we put down our Road Map 🗺 the Word of God we will then fall into darkness, despair, and destruction losing the joy of our salvation. Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of James 1:25, "The Gospel is a law of liberty, or, as Mr. Baxter expresses it, of liberation, giving us deliverance from the Jewish law, and from sin and guilt, and wrath and death. The ceremonial law was a yoke of bondage; the gospel of Christ is a law of liberty. [2.] It is a perfect law; nothing can be added to it. [3.] In hearing the word, we look into this perfect law; we consult it for counsel and direction; we look into it, that we may thence take our measures. [4.] Then only do we look into the law of liberty as we should when we continue therein - 'when we dwell in the study of it, till it turn to a spiritual life, engrafted and digested in us' (Baxter) - when we are not forgetful of it, but practice it as our work and business, set it always before our eyes, and make it the constant rule of our conversation and behaviour, and model the temper of our minds by it. [5.] Those who thus do, and continue in the law and word of God, are, and shall be, blessed in their deed; blessed in all their ways, according to the first psalm, to which, some think, James here alludes. He that meditates in the law of God, and walks according to it, the psalmist says, shall prosper in whatsoever he does. And he that is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work which God's word sets him about, James says, shall be blessed. The papists pretend that here we have a clear text to prove we are blessed for our good deeds; but Dr. Manton, in answer to that pretence, puts the reader upon marking the distinctness of scripture-phrase. The apostle does not say, for his deeds, that any man is blessed, but in his deed. This is a way in which we shall certainly find blessedness, but not the cause of it. This blessedness does not lie in knowing, but in doing the will of God. John 13:17, If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. It is not talking, but walking, that will bring us to heaven."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…