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“The Right Way to React to the Word of Righteousness - Pt 2”
The Right Way to React to the Word of Righteousness (Jam. 1:21-25) – Part 2
Wade Webster
In the first installment of this study, we saw the first two reactions that we are supposed to have to the word of righteousness. We are to remove wickedness with diligence and receive the word with meekness. In this second and final installment, we will see the third reaction that we are supposed to have.
Respond With Obedience
Once we have received the word with meekness, we are to respond to it with obedience. James wrote, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jam. 1:22). A doer is a performer. He is one who obeys or fulfills the law. James’ words remind us of words that his older brother Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. We read, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven....Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Mt. 7:24-27). Hearing is not enough. Calling Jesus Lord is not enough. We must obey. We must do the will of the Father. James’ words also remind us of the words that God spoke to Ezekiel: “As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them” (Ezek. 33:30-33). Those of Ezekiel’s day were talking him up. They were inviting their neighbors to come and hear the eloquent prophet. They came as God’s people. They sat as God’s people. They listened as God’s people. They showed love like God’s people. However, they didn’t obey as God’s people. They were hearers only. Sadly, many today are satisfied being hearers only. They think that hearing is enough. However, James says that they are deceiving themselves. The word translated as deceiving means to cheat by false reckoning and reasoning. When we hear but don’t do, we cheat ourselves out of blessings. Blessings follow doing, not hearing. Within the context, James wrote, “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” (Jam. 1:25). It is the diligent doer and not the haphazard hearer that is blessed. Doing what we hear makes it a part of our lives in a way that hearing alone never can. That is why James refers to those who hear only as “forgetful hearers.” He compares them to a man looking into a mirror. The man looks in the mirror and sees changes that need to be made but goes away without making them. Perhaps, he has intentions of making changes later, but he forgets.
James prescribed three reactions to the word of righteousness. First, we are to remove the wickedness with diligence. Second, we are to receive the word with meekness. Third, and finally, we are to respond to the word with obedience.
