James 1:22-27 - Listening and Responding to God with Bible Reading

Introduction

Is there something that you do or think about almost every spare minute you get? What is the first thing you do or think about when you wake up? Do you have an insatiable craving or an obsessive dependency on something? This is what we would call an addiction.

If we look at James 1:22-27, we see that there is only one thing that we should be addicted to…the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today as we look at this passage, we will see that worthless religion leaves the Gospel, but pure religion doesn’t. Today I want to ask you, “What are you addicted to?”

Exposition

Worthless religion leaves the Gospel

In James 1:22-24, 26 we see that worthless religion leaves the Gospel. In verses 19-21 James told us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. We are to produce the righteousness of God in our lives. We are told to put off the evil in our lives, and instead receive the word of God which has been implanted in us. Thus, the active work of God has, at our regeneration, put God’s word in our hearts.

But do we live this way? Do we live as if God’s word is implanted in us? We end up being quick to speak, slow to listen, and quick to anger. We look for the implanted word, but we often can’t find even a tiny seed of it anywhere inside us. We can feel as if we are a hypocrite. Why do we do this? Because we leave the Gospel and become self-deceived.

Worthless religion leaves the Gospel and becomes self-deceived (vss. 22-24)

James gives a command in verse 22 that we must be doers of the word. What does this mean? That our life is to be characterized by doing the word of God or being obedient to it. But isn’t this the trouble? We think we are quick to hear the word, but our actions show that we are slow to do it, and that we don’t need it except at the time we hear it.

We can easily trick ourselves into thinking that we care about the word of God when we come to worship once a week. The problem…we don’t continue in what we heard, but rather it just passes through our ears and disappears. James says we are deceived if we are listening without acting upon it and are not constantly applying and remembering it.

He then tells us in verses 23-24 that someone who hears and doesn’t act is like a person who takes a good look at themselves, their “natural face”, in the mirror and then as soon as they walk away can’t even remember what they look like! Can you imagine?

We see for a moment in time who we really are, our sin, our need for God, his word, and the Gospel. We embrace the truth, but then we forget and continue to live as we are. Instead of embracing his freedom and rescue in the Gospel, we go right back to who we were. And so, like a person who knows what they really are, but soon forgets, so are we.

We think that by simply hearing God’s word that it is enough. Our salvation is in and through Christ alone? What more do we need? Don’t we just need to listen to it and trust? Yes, but James tells us that listening isn’t enough. God’s word must be implanted in us. If the Gospel is only something that we hear, and not something that we do, or something we are, then we have deluded ourselves.

When all we do is hear the Gospel, without practicing it, and are not consumed by it, we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are doing what we are supposed to. However, we forget what Jesus said at his temptation. Quoting Deut. 8:3b, “…man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

It isn’t simply hearing the word of God, but living by it, every word of it. So, if we leave God’s Word, the Gospel, we trick ourselves into thinking that we are practicing true religion, but James tells us that if we do this we more than likely have become loose-tongued.

Worthless religion leaves the Gospel and becomes loose-tongued (v. 26)

I remember the first time I rode a horse, Lady. I started at a gentle trot, went around a little, then after some time started a full-out run. When I was nearing a fence, I used the reins and the bridle that was in her mouth to steer her away from the fence to avoid my leg being smashed. Without this bridle, I couldn’t have controlled her.

James says that if we think we are religious but don’t bridle our tongues, then we have a worthless religion. When James uses the term “religious”, he is talking about conforming our outward selves to what is expected of us in religion: worship, giving, and prayers. We may do these duties, but if our belief doesn’t impact our speech, we are deceived. We believe that we are religious when our external conduct in matters of religion shows us to be conforming to what we think is expected of us…we are tricking ourselves and are acting on a “religion” that is worthless. If we can’t control our tongue, then any worship that we give God is empty or futile.

When we leave the Gospel, forgetting the truth of God’s love toward his creatures, and the length that Christ went to save us, speaking words of slander, boasting, defilement, hurt, or any other evil speech, we are walking away from the truth of the Gospel. We are forgetting Christ’s love toward his enemies. We can’t speak however we want if we are remaining in the Gospel. The Gospel controls us and helps us to live considering what Christ has done for us. When we leave the Gospel, our tongues become tools to devour one another.

Worthless religion leaves the Gospel and becomes uncompassionate (v. 27)

In verse 27 we see what pure and undefiled religion is. It is three things: loving God, loving neighbor, and keeping from the world’s defilement. James is telling us that when we have Gospel amnesia, we become uncompassionate. We deceive ourselves, we deceive our hearts, and we have a corrupted religion that is worthless. It is only in pure and undefiled religion that we can truly care from our heart about the weak, marginalized, and broken. We can care for them without trying to get something out of helping them. We aren’t trying to make ourselves feel better, atone for wrongs, clean up our cities or villages to have a better life, get a tax write off, or anything else.

The Gospel causes us to focus on God and others, not ourselves. Compassion comes when we have genuine love from the heart that is more concerned about others than ourselves. When we leave the Gospel, we lose our ability to live out a pure religion. We cannot love God, love others, and keep from corruption unless we constantly and continually remember and become Gospel addicts!

Pure religion never leaves the Gospel

The second thing we see in James 1:25, 27 is that pure and undefiled religion never leaves the Gospel. After spending time telling us about worthless religion, now we see pure religion and how to do it.

What is pure and undefiled religion? It carries the idea of being morally and spiritually pure from the heart, without defilement. It is one free from all guilt, and absent of any defilement. The only way to have this is to love the Gospel, live the Gospel, and give the Gospel.

Pure religion never leaves the Gospel and becomes a Gospel-lover (v. 25, 27a)

In verse 25 we see that pure religion never leaves the Gospel but loves it. The one who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, doing what it says, will be blessed as they do it.

Have you ever seen something on the ground or somewhere else that deserved a closer examination? Perhaps it was a beautiful flower, a mechanical item crafted with precision, a beautiful piece of art, or a wonderfully built car. What do you do? You stoop down, look intently at it. You investigate it from all angles, you marvel at its craftsmanship.

This perfect law of freedom refers to God’s requirements for right conduct, his will as expressed by and in Christ. This perfect law of liberty refers to the Gospel. We are to stoop down, look intently, closely into the Gospel and not forget what we see. We are to be a Gospel-lover (loving God with all our heart).

Christ is the true giver of the law, and now the law of love is written on our heart (2:1-13). We are to hold onto faith in our Lord Jesus Christ…the Gospel of what Christ has done for us and in us.

It is called ‘perfect’ because the Gospel is the perfect rule for conduct. The Gospel itself is perfect, and it leads us to true freedom. Which is why it is called the ‘law of liberty’. The Gospel is the best and perfect law. It is God’s final revelation. There is nothing past the Gospel. It is transformational and it leads us to become, by the power of the Spirit, like Christ himself. It is a freeing law. This Gospel is the only thing that can free us to follow God and his plan for loving him and others.

We are to be a Gospel-lover who acts upon it. Not like a forgetful person, but a doer of the Gospel. This phrase ‘a doer’ refers to the characteristic activity of the one who never leaves the Gospel!!! We must be Gospel addicts to live out the Gospel. We can’t persevere in what we don’t love. We must love the Gospel and act out of this love.

We must remember that the Gospel is not an ‘it’, it is a him! It is the person, work, and life of Jesus. It is Jesus making us into children of God. Our loving God gives us this message. It is him we love; it is him that we intensely gaze at. We are to be madly in love with our God, consumed by him “inordinately”. You see, James shows us this as he describes what pure and undefiled religion is. He says that it is before God the Father. It is one of relationship, one of childhood. We are brought into relationship with him, and pure religion comes from this.

We are then told that as we do what it says, living out the Gospel that we love, staring intensely at Jesus, we will be blessed. As we live out the Gospel…Gospel-doing, we will receive Gospel-blessing.

So, we see here the first tablet of the law…because of our new birth, we are brought in as sons and daughters, and brought in to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We are enabled to love because we have been born again. In this new birth, the word has been implanted in us, and this word is the Gospel. We are in love with the Gospel because we are in love with God.

Rather than waking up first thing in the morning and running to our news, our games, our social media, our coffee, or any other addiction, we run to our true addiction, the Gospel, the God of the Gospel. We make a mad dash to meet our Lord Jesus Christ and gaze into his eyes, into his heart. This and this alone will allow us to be a Gospel-liver.

Pure religion never leaves the Gospel and becomes a Gospel-liver (v. 27b)

So out of our relationship with God, our love for him, our love for the Gospel that Christ proclaimed, that he is, comes the results of our Gospel-living. We love our neighbor as ourselves. Our heart and love for God extend outward to love those he has created that are in need.

As we were in need, helpless and dead, God’s loving breath blew on us and made us alive by the Spirit, even when we were hostile to him in our sins. He gave us new hearts that respond to him, new hearts that love him. Helpless, weak, and needy, we were loved by God.

This is Gospel motivation; this helps us to see what we should do when we see orphans (fatherless) and widows in their affliction or distress. We go to them to take care of them, to help them. We don’t just chat with them but visit them to care for their needs and be involved in their lives. This is caring love. This is what God did for Adam and Eve. He found them in the garden when they were hiding and ashamed.

Notice this isn’t a command but rather a description of a life that loves and lives the Gospel…a life that understands its own condition. It has looked in the mirror and seen itself. It remembers its own hatred of God and pride, its deadness and evil. It has a heart that is not deceived. It is softened by the Gospel; it loves the Gospel and consequently lives the Gospel. The life of a Gospel-lover is also a Gospel-liver.

The outflow of a grateful person is to love and serve in the same way in which it has been loved and served. When a helpless person has been helped by God in love and compassion at the cost of the blood of the very Son of God, what do they do? They love and serve others who need help, not to pay anything back, but to express gratitude.

And so out of gratitude, love to others is lived out, but more than this, love and devotion to God is poured out in the form of a life of loyalty. Thus, the person who never leaves the Gospel becomes a Gospel-giver.

Pure religion never leaves the Gospel and becomes a Gospel-giver (v. 27c)

James describes one who never leaves the Gospel as keeping himself unstained or unspotted from the world. This one is a Gospel-giver. You might be asking if we will be irrelevant to the culture if we keep ourselves unstained from the world? The short answer…no.

God knows that Gospel-living reveals an other-worldly person. It doesn’t live by the world’s systems. It doesn’t just do good deeds for others, because anyone can do these out of selfish motives. A life that is lived in personal purity and holiness is something that is so out-of-the-ordinary that it demands a second look, a second glance.

This other-worldly person is giving the Gospel when they are living the Gospel by loving God, loving others, and keeping themselves from the defilement of the immorality and sensuality of the world. Pure religion then is loving God, loving others, and making disciples.

Application

Let’s apply this. Pure and undefiled religion is three things: Gospel-loving (loving God), Gospel-living (loving others), and Gospel-giving (making disciples). The question for us is this? Are we Gospel addicts? Are we fixated upon the Gospel? Do we love to gaze into the perfect law of liberty, be consumed by it, and wrap our life up in God? Or do we have Gospel amnesia? Do we walk away from seeing who we are, what God has done for us, and go back to loving ourselves, avoiding those who need our help, and being consumed with the world?

If we have gospel amnesia, there is a remedy. Look into the Gospel. Look into the pre-incarnate Christ in all his glory. Look at the incarnate Christ, what he gave up for us in his life. Gaze upon him in all his agony, suffering for us, forsaken, suffering the punishment for our sins. Look at the resurrected Christ. Look at the post-ascension Christ in all his glory. See him on his throne in all his majesty and wonder. See him helping and loving us. See him conquering all his and our enemies. Wait for his coming in judgment to right all wrongs. See us safely under the shadow of his wings. See us with him judging angels. Look at post-judgment and see us living unendingly in glory with our Lord and Savior. This alone can help us remember. Be fixed upon this, look to what Christ has done, is doing, and will do. Become a Gospel addict.

Practically the way we do this is by making God’s word, the revelation of Christ a daily part of our lives. We must not only come together and read it, but we must read it individually. And when we do, we must respond to it. We can respond to it in a few ways.

We can see that there are specific commands to obey. We can see challenges to trust God in specific ways. We can see calls for us to repent and confess our failures and sin to trust and obey him. We can see challenges to pray for something specific. We can see a call to worship God, love him more deeply, and be thankful for him.

In order to do this, we need to make a practical plan to read the Bible. If you haven’t been reading at all, start with a book of the Bible. Mark is a good start. Just read a section a day (follow the headings). Or, use a bible reading plan that connects the OT, NT, and the Gospels.

We should pray before we read for revelation and understanding. We should then listen by asking questions of the text: Who is God here? What has he done? Who are we? How do we now live? Next, we respond by asking what God is moving us to do: Obey? Trust? Repent? Pray? Worship? Love? Live in thankfulness? And finally, like Jesus says in Matthew 5:19b, we need to teach others or share it. What have we learned that we can share with others? Who can we share it with?