Crosspoint Baptist Church Blog

Text: James 1:22-25

Proposition: Believers are taught that it is not enough to simply hear the word but to put the word to work in their lives.

Introduction: Recap

1.) Trials are used by God to accomplish His purposes in the lives of believers.

2.) Believers are encouraged to seek, by faith, the wisdom of God to endure trials.

3.) Believers are reminded of both their identity with and inability without the Lord Jesus Christ.

4.) Believers are blessed for having endured trials.

5.) Believers are warned against the temptation to sin in the midst of trials.

6.) Believers are encouraged in the midst of trials by the unchanging goodness of God.

7.) Believers are taught that they should be submitted to the word of God as they grow in their faith.

8.) Believers are taught that it is not enough to simply hear the word but to put the word to work in their lives.

Introduction 2: As James is beginning to get into the heart of his message, he reminds us that as believers that we are to have a faith that is growing and visible to a lost world. Jesus said something very similar when he said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.”[1]

In scripture, there has always been a connection with being and doing. Our being in Christ will always lead to our doing for Christ. The reason is because we have been saved and our passions and desires have submitted themselves to the will of God, the word of truth. We begin to hear what scripture says and we begin to put this into action in our lives. The danger many face is that they have not submitted to God’s word and they do in order that they may gain God’s favor. They believe that if they “do” something for God then they will gain his favor. Yet the opposite is what is true. God grants us faith and repentance leading us to Him and then he works in us and through us to accomplish His will in our lives.

This leads us to our text today. On the heels of what we have learned up to this point, James now says to not just hear, though that is our first response (vs. 19) but that we should become doers of the word. Let’s think about this text for a few moments and we can learn what it means to be a doer of the word.

We are Formed by the Word to Accomplish the Word

1.) The Connection of Hearing and Doing - 22

2.) The Danger of Hearing but not Doing – 22-24

3.) The Delight of Doing in the Light of Hearing – 25

“22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 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.”

1.) The Connection of Hearing and Doing – 22

EXEGESIS: First as the text says, one must be a hearer and a doer but not just one of each. The connection of hearing and doing is that both compliment each other. Hearing has already been discussed in the passage. In verse 18, the word of truth is heard and in verse 2o, the readers are told to be quick to hear. In verse 18, the word of truth which one hears is used by God to bring about new life in their lives. In verse 20, the same word that brought life is the same word that instructs one in godliness and holiness. Now, James connects the final dot, which is the heart of his message, and that is to put the word into action into your life.

APPLICATION: The application is clear for us today. We must understand the significance of hearing the word and putting it into action. In every sequence of verse 18, 21, and 22 there is a sense of urgency. Be urgent in hearing what God says and then do it. To disconnect either of these is to live with complacency and laziness. The first act of doing is responding to the good news that despite our inability to truly know God and have a relationship with because of our sinfulness, God has provided the needed atonement in Jesus Christ. Christ bled and died for our sins in order that we may have new life. Now that we have that new life we continue to hear and to put what we hear into action.

2.) The Danger of Hearing but not Doing – v. 22-24

EXEGESIS: In the text, James says that to simply be a hearer of the word is to ignore the true message of the gospel and to live without urgency. In verse 22 James says that one is to be a doer and not simply a hearer in order that they may not be deceived. The word deceived is a word that carries with it the idea of delusion or one cheating themselves of something. In the context of the passage, hearing the word only is to just observe what it says and by not carrying it out in life, is to cheat yourself of the real value that the word holds. In verse 23, James says that one who hears is like one who contemplates what he his hearing and as soon as he quits observing they leave and immediately forget what they saw. The text says that they forget what manner of person they are.

APPLICATION: The danger of hearing only is that it disconnects faith from reality. It is religious information but not spiritual transformation. We’ve already seen the connection between hearing and doing but now it becomes clear that the word, as it reveals our greatest need and the answer to that need found in Jesus Christ, it leads to living out this transformation that is visible to a lost and dying world.

ILLUSTRATION: “Waitin’ on the World to Change”

3.) The Delight of Doing in the light of Hearing: v. 25

EXEGESIS: In verse 25, James shows a stark contrast of those that merely hear and those that listen and then do. He says that the one who has looked, that is they have stooped to look in, into the perfect law of liberty, the gospel, then that person will be blessed in their work. The text is rich in content. Unlike the hearer of verse 22-24, the hearer in verse 25 has listened attentively and with great care to understand what the word is saying and then they go out and live it before the world around them. The perfect law of liberty is none other than the gospel. It is the word of truth and Jesus said the word of truth will set you free. This perfect law is Jesus. The idea in the text is that they persevere in this law; that is they remain in it continually. James is teaching the church to let the word of truth dwell in your thoughts and heart each moment of each day. This law is perfect because “it rests on the work of Jesus Christ, whose truth sets us free.”[2] He then gives another beatitude (v. 12) that says the doer who is in action will be blessed. They will enjoy a divine happiness because they are doing in the light of hearing.

APPLICATION: The application of this text is clear for us this morning. Our doing for Christ should flow out of our being in Christ. We have heard the glorious truth of the gospel and it has changed us. Now, rather than just being a casual hearer, we continue to hear that message, revealed throughout all of scripture, and we live it out each day. We are to remain in it continually thus avoiding the trap of forgetting and living without urgency. May God grant us the ability to do for Him because we are in Him.

Conclusion:

1.) This morning you may be here and you don’t know Christ. You know about him and you think he’s a nice guy but you don’t trust your soul to him. Friend, won’t you be saved today. Come to Jesus this morning and be reconciled to God.

2.) This morning you may be here and you are the one who hears but doesn’t act. We’ve all been there and will probably be there again. Yield your life to the Lord and live for Him each day. Find someone to hold you accountable.

3.) Finally this morning, you may be here and God may be leading you to partner with us in church membership. I will be down front just as soon as the service has ended and I can share with you how you can join with us here.