June 14, 2017 BE A DOER
James 1:21-22, 25: “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 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 shall be blessed in what he does.”
We tend to complicate and over-analyze. 2 Corinthians 11:3 is a warning for believers not to “be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” The good news of the gospel is that what God has spoken in His word, and what He demonstrated in Christ, is easily understood by the one who belongs to Him and His ways are not burdensome. “For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Matthew 11:30. One of the works of the Holy Spirit in each believer is to reveal the truth of the scriptures and to give believers the power to live out the scriptures. It may be that seeing God’s word as ‘complicated’ serves as an excuse for not living by the scriptures. The book of James makes the point that there is a connection between faith and obedience to the word, as seen in the familiar passage, James 2:20: “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” The simple, over-riding truth is that God has spoken through the scriptures that we might experience life as He designed by keeping His commandments. As these verses point out, we are to receive the word in such a way that it is ‘implanted’ in us. It is also interesting to see the admonition to believers to “put aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness.” At salvation our sins are forgiven and we are made new, but then starts the maturing process in which we lay aside those things that the Holy Spirt points, those things that are not in keeping with the ways of the Lord. If we are ‘healthy’ spiritually, then it is our desire not only to study the scriptures, but to also put in to practice what we learn from the scriptures. The scriptures are full of instructions concerning how we are to conduct ourselves in daily life. We do not keep His word in order to be accepted by Him, but because He has already accepted us as His sons and daughters and now because we love Him, we desire to do the things that please Him. If we know Him as the Father that He is, obeying His every word becomes our hearts desire. When we abide by, and become a doer of the ‘law of liberty,” that is, the word of God, we are blessed in what we do. This is not a promise that if we keep His word we will have no trials in life, but it does mean that even in the trial, we will experience His blessings. Finally, James refers to the word of God as the ‘law of liberty,’ and indeed it is just that because the keeping of His word out of our love for Him brings about the ultimate freedom we can experience. True freedom is not found in living for self, but in living unto the Lord. God, being our creator and designer, knows exactly what we need to be free, and in His word we discover our true design and identity, and when we do, we experience true freedom.
Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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