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The Word of God

James 1:17-27

All goodness and perfection which comes as a free gift to us proceeds from above, from heaven.

God is the Father, meaning Creator or Source, of lights. He is the source of every form of light in the universe, physical or spiritual. Light is also a symbol of goodness and perfection. In the source of light there can be no darkness. For example, the sun, source of light, is all light, whereas the moon, which only reflects light, is dark on the side which doesn't receive light. As the moon turns round the earth it alternatively shows its light and dark side to us.

As the Source of all lights, God never changes, there is no variation in Him, or shadow caused by turning. God's gifts are good and perfect like He is Himself. And now we come to God's greatest gift to us.

It was by God's own will that we were brought forth. This is a reference to the new birth. He wasn't compelled to provide it, because He found any merit in us or for any other reason. It was entirely voluntary on His part, by grace prompted by His love, unmerited, unsought and unbought.

The instrument used by God to achieve His purpose is the word of truth, His word, the Bible (1 Peter 1:23). Real conversion is only achieved by belief and trust in what the Bible teaches. Only the Bible describes and explains all we need to know for our salvation.

Two wills are involved: God's will, substantiated in the Bible, and the sinner's will, who consents to listen and accept it.

We are given new life by God, and by this regeneration we become His children. A parent-child relationship can never be broken. We are also assured by His word that this new life is eternal, therefore not subject to death in any circumstance.

We are a kind of "firstfruits" of His creatures in three aspects:

1. The mainly Jewish believers to whom this early letter was first addressed were among the first converts and the primary reference is to them, who were the first to be harvested in the Christian era.

2. The firstfruits of the Jewish harvest were offered to God in gratitude for His generosity and in recognition of the fact that all comes from and belongs to Him. Believers, similarly, offer themselves as living sacrifices in gratitude for the ample and sufficient redemption paid by God for their sins.

3. The firstfruits were a foretaste of the full harvest to come. We are the first to be delivered from the bondage of corruption, but one day all creation will be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:19-23).

As the Word of God is a good and perfect gift, because it proceeds from God, so let every man:

Be swift to hear it: as children of God we are indwelt by the Spirit of God who wants to teach us the word of God which He inspired. We should be ready to hear the word of God, and to accept the teaching of the Holy Spirit who inspired it, including all its counsel and admonition, and to put it into practice in our lives. In other words, let us strive to be taught and guided by it.

Be slow to speak: compulsive talkers are more likely to transgress, and this matter is expanded upon a little later in this letter. We must be guarded in our conversation, as the wise king Solomon advised: He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction, and In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise (Proverbs 13:3 and 10:19). Believers need to be very careful not to reveal their ignorance of the Word of God. Listen to it first: we need to be very careful as to what we say. Let us also make sure about our own life first.

Be slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God: a quick temper isn't conducive to righteous judgement and behaviour. On the contrary, it is a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of God (1 Peter 3:4). Uncontrolled tempers spoil testimonies as much as anything in this life can spoil them: those who lose their tempers give a wrong impression to unbelievers about the love of Christ they preach. We may feel that we are angry because we are defenders of the faith, but the wrath of man simply does not work the righteousness of God. Make no mistake, because He isn't angry - He is concerned with saving.

Because of this, we are to divest ourselves of all filthiness and overflow of wickedness. Filthiness includes every kind of impurity, whether spiritual, mental or physical. Overflow of wickedness may refer to any forms of evil which have been left in our character or behaviour from our unconverted days. Like dirty garments, they are to be cast away to make us morally clean and able to receive the truth of the word of God. It has been said, very accurately "Sin will keep you from the Bible, or the Bible will keep you from sin."

This letter is addressed to those who have received the implanted Word in their hearts. Salvation is in three tenses: past, present and future. In the past, having meekly received the Word in our hearts, it brought us salvation from the penalty of sin. But we still have a life to live down here as believers. Salvation in the present tense, which is salvation from the power of sin, is being dealt with here. Obedience to the word of God is the only way for us to save ourselves from the power of sin. Every child wants to hear the voice of his father, especially if it is a voice of comfort as well as a voice of correction. The child of God can never get away from the Word of God. One who isn't interested in the Word of God or doesn't stay near it - if he is a child of God - is going to get into trouble.

There is no virtue in possessing or even in just reading the Bible: it has to be put into practice in our lives. There has to be an unquestioning willingness to obey God's word. This will become our own translation of the Bible for those around us to read.

Someone has expressed it poetically:

The Gospel is written a chapter a day
By deeds that you do and by words that you say.
Men read what you say, whether faithless or true.
Say, what is the Gospel according to you?

Looking at a mirror we can see things in our appearance which need changing: hair combing, face cleaning, shaving, for example. But if we just go away and forget about it, the mirror has done us no good. The same applies to the word of God. It is easy to read it casually and out of a sense of duty then turn our minds to other things and forget what we read. It is there to be read and obeyed in order to straighten our lives, otherwise it is virtually useless and we are cheating ourselves into thinking that we are proceeding righteously.

The Word of God is different from most books in that it does not only provide information, knowledge, intellectual stimulation, spiritual inspiration, amusement or entertainment, but it demands action. This is perhaps one of the reasons why it is not as widely popular as other books.

If we regard the word of God as the perfect law of liberty, its precepts are not burdensome but they tell us exactly what our new nature, given to us upon our new birth, loves to do. As we put them into practice, we are released from the bonds of human traditions and carnal reasoning. The truth makes us free, and our childlike trust and obedience in what we are told brings incalculable blessings in what we do.

Religion has to do with rituals, forms, sacrifices, penitence and ceremonies regarded as pious, and an unbridled tongue is one of its expressions. No matter the sincerity, faith and compliance by their adepts, they are all useless and deceitful, because such things do not please God.

The expression of the true religion of the children of God is practical love and practical holiness.

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

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 observing his natural face in a mirror;

24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.