[But] be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For 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. ²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. —James 1:22-24
Many commentators have noted that James is the “Proverbs of the New Testament.” The book is not narrative like the gospels and Acts, telling the story of Jesus during His sojourn among us as the Incarnate Son of God. It is not like Romans, a theological treatise highly structured to present a logical flow of thought that would both instruct and intrigue as it develops and substantiates faith. It is not corrective and instructive in the same way Paul’s letters to the various churches are, though it is instructive and it is directed to Christians scattered throughout the world. James is more a collection of wisdom sayings and understanding, a library of sanctified thinking, if you will. It is not, however, without logic and flows within the themes it presents.
James 1:22-24 begins with a comparison word, but. To understand what comes after this word we must consider what went before it. We have to take a look at the first part of the comparison so we can understand the importance of the second part.
First, James securely establishes our very existence as people of faith and followers of Jesus (disciples) in the will and outworking of His Word. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures (1:18).
Christian, you are a product of God’s Word. Remember when Jesus asked the twelve, on the occasion of many people departing from following Him, “'Do you want to go away as well?' Peter said, 'To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'” (John 6:67-68). God’s Word, taught and embodied by Christ, is the source of spiritual life for all who put their faith in Him.
We live by the Word. We also are saved by the Word. "Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (1:21). Picture this: a man’s heart fails, the electrical mechanism that controls its ability to beat is worn out and dies. Doctors implant a pacemaker device that sends a regular electrical stimulus to his heart muscle causing it to beat, allowing him to live. God has planted His Word in the dead hearts of sinners, giving them new spiritual life and life eternal. But, just as the man with the pacemaker must make lifestyle changes that cooperate and do not oppose the working of the pacemaker (in order for him to live), so also the believer must make lifestyle changes that cooperate with and do not oppose the Word of God within him.
That leads us to the but of verse twenty-two. Instead of the old life where we might have heard the Word and ignored it, or heard the Word and forgotten it, or heard the Word and disobeyed it, now that it's planted in us and is our source of life and salvation, we are obligated to move beyond merely believing God’s Word to enacting God’s Word in our lives. The beauty we see in the mirror of grace must become the beauty others see in our lives. In good times and bad, in joys and sorrows, in temptations and trials, in adversity and freedom, those to whom the Word gives life must persevere in the Word. By not just believing but doing what God says, we will be “blessed in [our] doing” (1:25).
For Reflection
How do you respond to connecting words in the Bible (but, therefore, because)? Do you go back to see what went before in order to understand what comes after?
How does knowing that God's Word is the source of your life motivate you to receive it with meekness?
Ask the Lord to help you see the beauty of grace, and to work that beauty in your life for others to see in you.
Dale McIntire is pastor of Cornerstone Community Church and author of Catching the Wind: A Guide for Interpreting Ecclesiastes. He is married to the originator of the Fighter Verses concept, Linda Fregeau McIntire. They share a like zeal for infusing the next generation with love for God’s Word.