Faith Obeys

Some things in Scripture are prescriptive. Scripture is prescribing how we should live. Scripture is giving us commands that, by the grace of God, we should and must obey for the good of our lives and for the glory of God.

But then there are times when Scripture includes events that are descriptive. In other words Scripture describes something that happens. Now, it's important in those instances when the Word is describing an event not immediately to assume that this means Scripture is prescribing something. For example, when Balaam has a conversation one day with a donkey (Num 22:28-30), Scripture is describing this event, but Scripture is not prescribing that God's people should talk to donkeys. This is not a command that we should obey.

In that light I would like to describe something God has done in my life and family that I would not necessarily prescribe (or suggest that God prescribes) for others. But I share this part of my own spiritual journey to shed light on how James 1:19-25 has affected my life personally.

Not long ago God began convicting me about how I was using the resources He has entrusted to me. God used chapters like 2 Corinthians 8-9 and 1 Timothy 6 to uncover a lack of priority for the poor in my life. The more I studied Scripture, the more I realized how important the poor are to God. The more I looked at my life, the more I realized how indifferent I was toward the poor.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina invaded my life and family, sending our house underwater and causing us to lose pretty much everything we had. As a result, we had a chance to start over with nothing and acquire 15possessions more simply and wisely in this world. In a world that says, "You need more and bigger and better," this was our chance to start over and not live according to that mantra.

But we blew it. Within a year after Katrina, we had moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and we had more stuff than we ever had before. We bought a big house, and if you have a big house, you've got to fill it with something, so we bought furniture to fill the house, and things were going smoothly until God's Spirit through God's Word began to convict my heart as I asked the question, "Why? Why am I spending so much on myself when God has spoken so clearly, commanding me to give generously, sacrificially, and cheerfully of my resources for others?"

Unfortunately, I ignored the Word of God. I put God off. Yet, by His grace, He walked with me in my disobedience until finally His Word broke through my hard heart, and I realized, "We need to make some changes."

So I went to Heather, my precious wife, and I shared various Scriptures with her, and I told her I believed we needed to sell our house and move into a smaller one in order to free up our resources for God's purposes in order to align our lives more with God's Word. We started praying together about it that night, and within a month there was a for-sale sign in our yard. Thus began the journey of trying to sell our house in a time when the housing market was collapsing. We had bought at the height of the housing market, and now we were selling at its nadir. As a result, I was constantly pulled to ask, "Is this wise? Is this good?" We had started the process of adoption again, and some days we thought to ourselves, "Should we really be making this change? Our family is growing, so isn't it contradictory to downsize your house when you're family is upsizing?" Meanwhile, we would have different little things go wrong with the house while it was for sale that needed to be fixed, and we would think, "Why are we spending money on a house we're selling?" To make matters worse, every time a plumber or an electrician or whoever would come over to the house, their inevitable first words were, "This is such a great house. Why are you selling it?"

That year of working to sell our house was filled with ups and downs, questions and struggles, opportunities that came and went. But in the middle of it all, even in the middle of our questions, we knew this was what the Lord was leading us to do. He had spoken clearly in His Word 16about our priorities, and this was the way we sensed He was calling us to put that Word into practice.

I could go on to talk about all the ways God provided for us as we made this change in our lives, including how and where He led us in ways we never could have imagined. In the same way, I could go on to talk about the many other areas of my life that God is still refining to align with His Word. But the clear lesson my precious wife and I learned together in this process was that we never want to rest content simply to hear the Word of God and not act on it. We don't want to put God off. Even when it's challenging, we want to obey God, no matter what, knowing that obedience to God in His Word is more important than anything else in this world.

The Journey of Obedience

The Journey of Obedience

This journey of obedience is what James 1:19-25 is all about. The Word of God is all over this passage. It's referenced in verses 21,22,23, and 25, not to mention verse 18 from the previous section. In verses 1-18 we tried to answer the question, How do we respond to trials? Now the question in this section is, How do we respond to truth—the truth of God's Word? Based on James 1:19-25, there are three ways we respond to the Word.

We Receive the Word Humbly

We Receive the Word Humbly

James 1:19-21

In verse 19 James says we are to be "quick to hear." Basically, he's saying, "Hurry up and listen" (Blomberg and Kamell, James, 85). James also tells us to be quiet, or "slow to speak." Be humble as you approach the Word, not coming with your defenses up, which leads to anger and resistance to the Word. Don't we often approach God's Word talking and not listening? Don't we often come to God's Word thinking, "Here's what I want it to say"? Don't we often come to God's Word looking to justify ourselves? We're like people in an argument who are not really listening to one another, but instead we're consumed with formulating what we're going to say in response. We are not quick to hear and slow to speak but loathe to listen and anxious to argue. We hear a verse like Luke 12:33, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor," and we're already thinking, "How do I get around that?" And this has been true of 17God's people throughout history. Instead of humbly listening to God's Word, His people have resisted it. This was the response of God's people to the prophets in the Old Testament who proclaimed His Word, to Jesus when He spoke the words of the Father, and to Paul after he preached in the synagogues. The crowds in Lystra stoned Paul and dragged him out of town at the instigation of unbelieving Jews (Acts 14:19). Seeing what happened in Scripture to people who proclaimed God's Word will come close to talking you out of being a preacher. Those who proclaim the Word of God don't often end up well in the world.

James says to the people of God, "Be quick to hear" (v. 19). Then in verse 21 he tells them to get rid of "all moral filth and evil." The word translated "ridding yourselves" literally carries the idea of taking off a garment. We bring so many ideas from the world that the Word confronts and counters. The Word thinks so much differently from the world! James tells us to put aside the sinful and selfish ideas of the world and to come humbly to the Word. When I read passages in a book like James about the poor and the way we spend our resources, I think, "How do we get around this?" And then I'm reminded that the goal is never to get around God's Word. Why would you want to get around it?

The second part of verse 21 gives us really good news as James talks about the Word that is planted in you. We need to understand Jeremiah 31 to grasp what James is referring to when he talks about the "implanted word." Jeremiah the prophet was speaking to a people who were not living up to God's law. In fact, they couldn't keep it. And Jeremiah gives them this promise, the promise of the new covenant:

According to Jeremiah's prophecy, God was going to write His law on the hearts of His people, or plant it in their hearts, to use James's language. Ezekiel 36 says the same thing with beautiful imagery:

God puts His law on our hearts (Jer 31) and His Spirit in our hearts (Ezek 36), and the Spirit of God though the Word of God moves us. This is the language of James 1 (18,21). God has planted His Word in us, and our hearts find life in this Word. Like the blood that flows to our hearts, we need this Word.

May God help us in our day, for we need this Word that is able to save us. The language here is potent, emphasizing how we are not saved by working but by receiving the Word, and how that Word planted in us then moves us to action. This is the heart of James. We work and put our faith into action, yes, but we do this by the Word at work in our hearts, the Word that has given us life (v. 18). As you accept this Word and humbly submit to it, your soul experiences the depths of salvation. Don't underestimate the power and the importance of the Word of God.

Do you long to receive this Word? If you do, that is good. It should be a treasured and cherished possession for you. If it is not, then get rid of the filth and evil and worldliness that are drawing your affections away from the Word that saves you. Receive the Word humbly.

We Remember the Word Constantly

We Remember the Word Constantly

James 1:22-25

This point is closely intertwined with the response of humility in verses 19-21. In verse 25 James talks about the man who "looks intently into the perfect law of freedom." The phrase "looks intently" can be used to refer to stooping down and looking closely at something (Moo, James, 93). It's like when my three-year-old son sees a bug, and he stops in his tracks and bends down to put his face inches from the ground to look at it. He gazes on it. Likewise, amid the busyness of our lives, we need to stop for some time during the day, look at the Word, read it, and study it. Don't be content with a little word from God for the day. Dive in deep. 19The language here carries the idea of looking "with penetrating absorption." Absorb the Word.

The man who absorbs the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do so will not forget what he hears. In verses 23-24 James contrasts this kind of man with another man who doesn't remember the Word. James uses a deliberately ridiculous analogy of a person who gazes into his own face in a mirror but then seconds later couldn't even pick himself out of a police lineup. He forgets what he looked like. James says not to do this with the Word—don't forget it.

This command not to forget God's Word reminds us of the history of God's people. In Deuteronomy God gave His people His law, the second giving of the law, before the people went into the promised land.1 Deuteronomy 6:4-9 contains one of the most important passages in Israel's history, and it relates to remembering God's Word:

A couple of chapters later in Deuteronomy, we see God warning His people not to forget His commands and decrees:

Don't forget God's Word: let it lodge in your heart and in your mind; have it always before you. The importance of God's Word is one reason I believe memorization of Scripture is an all-important spiritual discipline for every Christian. People say, "I can't memorize Scripture," and I want to be careful because I know that believers have different abilities to memorize. At the same time, Psalm 19 says the Word is more precious than gold, than "an abundance of pure gold" (Ps 19:10). The question is, "Do we value Scripture?" Do we value it more than we value our reality TV shows, the songs we download on iTunes, and the stats of our favorite sports teams? We tend to commit to memory those things we value most.

If all we do is listen to the Word when we come together for corporate worship, then we are like this fool in James 1:23-24. We listen and leave, and then by lunch, or perhaps by dinner, it's all gone. What good is that? This is why, in my own church, we have intentionally set up encouragement to memorize Scripture so that every week there is a verse (most of the time from the passage we are studying) to memorize. Men ought to lead their families to memorize Scripture together. Singles ought to memorize Scripture together. In a variety of ways and in the context of a variety of relationships, we ought to be encouraging one another to hide this Word in our hearts. If we don't, we will open God's Word and see sin for the horrible evil that it is, and then we will see God's gracious provision in Christ, but we will depart and go on our way as if we had never been exposed to these realities. This is not just dangerous; it's damning.

We Obey the Word Wholeheartedly

We Obey the Word Wholeheartedly

James 1:22

So far in our response to the Word, we've seen that we are to receive the Word humbly and remember the Word constantly. Third and finally, 21we obey the Word wholeheartedly. James 1:22 is the theme verse of the entire book of James. It says, "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." You have not really listened to the Word if you have not obeyed the Word. The bottom line is that the Word evokes action, and if there is no action from the Word, then clearly there has been no acceptance of the Word. This is the essence of faith. James 2 describes saving faith in more depth, but even here in chapter 1 we see this reality: those who have accepted Jesus obey Jesus. To think any differently is to live in deception. To say, "I have accepted Jesus," but then to live contrary to Jesus is to deceive oneself (1 John 2:4). James says you are blind to your true spiritual condition if you claim to have heard and received and accepted this word, yet you fail to act on it. You are deceiving yourself, for you think you're right with God because you listened to the Word, maybe even because you listened intently. But according to James, you're wrong.

James's words sound eerily familiar to Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount:

If your spiritual life is built on merely listening to the words of Jesus and not on obeying them, then one day your life will eternally and ultimately end in destruction. And the danger is that you're going to think you're OK all the way up until that day. Bishop Brownrig said, "To deceive is bad, to deceive yourselves is worse, to deceive yourselves about your souls is worst of all" (in Spurgeon, "Before Sermon"). I am frighteningly convinced that countless people within the church listen to the Word 22week by week, and yet it is not planted in their heart, and it is evident because they are not acting on it. Sure, they act on the things that agree with their lifestyle, or they act when it is convenient to obey. But when this Word confronts, challenges, convicts, or tries to change them, they put it aside and forget it, never putting it into action. Be careful if this describes your life because this is not the Christian life. In the Christian life the Word is planted in your heart, and you receive it like blood to your heart, humbly and constantly, and by the grace of God that moves your heart, you obey it. This is the Christian life. A life that is doing what this Word says.

As a pastor, one of the phrases that most concerns me is when someone says, "I just need to be willing to obey God's Word, particularly when it calls me to do something radical in my life or my culture. I just need to be willing. That's enough." Based on James 1, I want to warn you that this mind-set is extremely deceptive. Now, there's a grain of truth here, for Psalm 51:17 says, "You will not despise a broken and humbled heart." God desires a willing heart, just as God desires a listening heart, a heart that trembles at His Word (Isa 66). But if you listen and you don't do anything, you've not really listened. And if you're willing, but you don't do anything, you're not really willing.

Don't be willing to obey the Word; obey the Word. Don't be willing to help the poor; help the poor. Don't be willing to share the gospel; share the gospel. Don't be willing to live in purity; live in purity. We are to "be doers of the word and not hearers only" (v. 22). This exhortation—do it—can sound burdensome if we're not careful. However, listen to the language in James 1:25:

James switches from speaking of the "word" to describing "the perfect law of freedom." As soon as you start talking about obeying God's Word or His law today, many people hear that as legalistic, and they run away. But James says not to run, for the law is good. The "perfect law" James refers to in verse 25 is not the Old Testament law of Moses but rather the law understood through Christ—that is, the words of Christ and the truth of Christ that free us from slavery to sin and this world. The law says to us, "There is another way." Look at this way, this law, and do it, and you will be "blessed" in what you do (v. 25). It sounds like that 23blessing is conditional, and if you're wondering whether you have to do something in order to experience blessing, no, I'm not saying that—James is! And it's not just James—it's Jesus too, along with the rest of Scripture!2

We have created a Christianity that stops at saying Jesus loves you just the way you are and Jesus loves you no matter what you do. Certainly, there's glorious truth to this when it comes to Jesus saving us from our sins, no matter how horrible they are, and Jesus loving us when we have nothing in us to deserve such love. But at the same time, Jesus says things like, "You are My friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:14). And, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word" (John 14:23). John tells us in 1 John 2:4, "The one who says, 'I have come to know Him [Jesus],' yet doesn't keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." So, how do we understand all this? How do we understand a law that brings freedom and an obedience that God commands? Understanding this concept helps bring the whole passage together.

James tells us glorious blessing is to be experienced in obedience to God's Word. That naturally leads us to wonder, "How do you obey God's Word?" The answer is not that you muster up obedience to the best of your ability. No, the answer is to receive the Word humbly, the Word planted in you, and to focus on it, remember it, and hide it in your heart and on your mind. As you do this, that Word which initially gave you life as a Christian will work in and through you and move you to follow God's decrees.

So don't settle for just listening to it. There are surely many followers of Christ to whom God has been speaking for days, weeks, months, maybe even years, and by His Word He's been calling them to do something in particular in their life or in their family. My counsel is this: Do it. Receive the Word humbly, remember it constantly, and obey it wholeheartedly.

For some followers of Christ, there may be an area of outright disobedience or an area of delayed obedience. It's an area of life where they have been putting off God's Word. They know what God's Word says, but they are not putting it into practice. The Word is saying, "Care for the poor," and yet they're still not doing it. The Word is saying, "Turn from gossip, turn from pornography, be reconciled to your spouse," and they are ignoring it because it doesn't fit with what they want. Or maybe24 the Word is saying something that so goes against the grain of the way this culture works, and they think, "I don't know if anybody will understand." In the end we must obey God's Word, regardless of the circumstances or consequences. This is one of the marks of true faith as the Bible defines it.

One of the books that has had an impact on me when it comes to the house church in China is called Back to Jerusalem. It is written by three Chinese pastors, and at the end of the book the pastors talk about the difference between believers and disciples, that is, people who just say they believe in Christ and people who are really following Christ. I think that difference is akin to James's distinction between hearers and doers. These pastors write, "True disciples are usually people that few understand. They are viewed as potentially unstable fanatics. Often the same governments that tolerate the existence of mere believers will stop at no ends to completely eradicate any disciples within their borders" (Yun, Yongze, and Wang, Back to Jerusalem, 115). Did you catch that? These pastors are saying that the government in China really does not care about people who are listening to the Word. But the government wants to imprison people who are doing the Word.

We stall so often at this point, and I want to be careful because I'm not suggesting that we throw godly, biblical counsel out the window and act without thinking. But at the same time, we can so worry ourselves by thinking that we might mess up that we end up not doing anything at all. If you are listening to the Word and absorbing yourself in it, I want to encourage you that you can rest confident that the Word planted in your heart is going to lead and guide you. So abide in God, abide in His Word, and when He speaks, obey.

Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. What role should God's Word play in our pursuit of Christlikeness?
2. Why do you think so many professing Christians struggle to find time for God's Word? Is it a problem of discipline or desire? Or both?
3. What does it say about our hearts that we often find it difficult to listen instead of expressing our opinion?
4. How does a heart bent on sin affect the way we receive God's Word? How have you seen this play out in your own life?
5. Explain this statement: the Word that requires obedience empowers obedience.
6. 25Outside of corporate worship, how does Scripture influence the way you think and live? What are some specific ways you could grow in this area?
7. Why is it deceptive to hear God's Word and not obey it?
8. Can you think of people you know who profess to follow Christ but show no evidence of being saved? How might you approach them with wisdom and boldness?
9. List some areas of your life where you've said you're willing to obey, but you're not actively obeying. How will you move forward in these areas?
10. How is James's call for obedience different from an attempt to earn a right standing before God—that is, works-righteousness?