First is the ASSUMPTION found in verse 18 and subtly reiterated in verse 21. The assumption is the sovereignty of God! James tells us that He (the Father of Lights in 1:17) brought us forth in the exercise of His will! What a glorious truth this is! We were regenerated by God in order to fulfill His desire! It was God's desire that we be born again. Therefore, He saved us! MacArthur writes,
this "is not just a wish, but an active expression of God's will, which He always has the power to accomplish."There are two modifying clauses describing this regeneration. First, we were regenerated
"by the word of truth."It is God's word that brings spiritual life. We do not need to go to another source nor do we need to direct others elsewhere. We do not need to convince people to believe and we do not need to move them or influence them to make a decision. We simply need to preach the Word of God! It is so simple, yet so profound! James hints at this in verse 21: when he writes,
"receive the word implanted."We did not plant the word in ourselves. This passive verb reminds us that the Lord is the planter! Second, we see that we are saved for a purpose. Christians are intended to be first fruits the Lord's creation. The work of our Lord does not end with salvation, but continues to produce the kind of fruit He desires! What a great promise!
Second, we see the ATTITUDE found in verse 19:
"...be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger."In other words, be teachable! As Christians, when we hear the Word of God preached to us, we must not get angry! We must not even seek to repeat it or talk about it too quickly! Rather, we must listen! We must be prepared to obey Scripture! As the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we must be ready to act on those convictions! The Word of God has not been communicated to us so that we can talk about how great it is, while continuing on in our sin! We are to come ready to act on what is taught! Ignoring this responsibility leads to pew potatoism. In other words, we just sit there being useless. Come to church prepared to respond to what the Lord has to teach you!
Third, James gives us a COMMAND. Verse 21 commands us to
"receive the word planted."The command is definitely related to the attitude. If we come prepared to receive the word of God, then receive it! Don't put all of that preparation aside, forgetting to act! Do not wait for the conviction to leave! Receive the word, that is, act on it! What a waste of the time to listen to the preaching and teaching of God's Holy Word and then fail to respond! James even gives some some pointers to help us respond. First,
put aside all filthiness and whatever remains of wickedness.MacArthur describes it as putting off dirty clothes. The dirty clothes would be moral vice (filth) and evil desire (wickedness). In other words, confess to God and repent of any sin or evil desire prior to acting on God's word. Quite possibly this may require an alteration of your Saturday night and Sunday morning schedule! We act on God's Word by putting off these things. Next we see another pointer intended to assist our acting upon God's word. The phrase
"in humility"further defines how we prepare to respond to God. If we confess and repent of our sins, we should be in a humble position, knowing that the God of the universe has forgiven us and provide atonement for us. Is anything more humbling than this? While the "putting off" and coming "in humility" should be obvious, James reminds us to do these things. The intent is to act!
The last point is a CHALLENGE. In verse 22 James challenges the believer to
"prove yourselves doers of the word."He has already given us the assumption, the attitude, and the command. Not it is time to challenge believers to action. He teaches us that doers are different than hears. Hearers delude themselves. MacArthur writes that this word was used to refer to a mathematical miscalculation. Further he states,
"Professing Christians who are content with only hearing the Word have made a serious spiritual miscalculation."Do you know what is scary? Hearers think they are doers! They think that they are acting upon God's Word, yet they are simply glossing over its application, forfeiting glorious communion with Christ! Hearers sometimes manifest this trait in a lack of joy. Because they are ultimately not obeying the Word, they are missing out on the manifold blessings of God promised to the obedient. The doers must pray for and attempt to hold accountable the hearers, constantly examining themselves to ensure that they are in fact doers! Oh how the hearers can hate this! Never-the-less, James challenges all believers to prove themselves doers of the Word! What a great prayer and challenge for us all!
1 comment:
Curtis, again you hit right at my heart. I know that it is the Holy Spirit through his Word applied to John MacArthur's commentary and your fingers to the keys, to the blog, to my eyes, to my mind, and finally to my heart. Now the hope and prayer is that it will move to my actions. If it truly is implanted into my heart then I will be obedient.
God is so faithful. His Word truly does not return void. Maybe(okay so it is a fact) we don't obey as we should because we do not know God's Word and we are not quick to apply it and confess our sin of disobedience and improper conviction and application. I pray that we all pray more to be doers and not just servers of lip stew, mixed with pew potatoes, a side salad of apathy dressed with indifference, and finished off with a dessert of wickedness. All washed down with disobedience.
What a horrible meal, but too often we run back to the trough and devour our regurgitated sin, and become deathly sick.
Thank you Jesus Christ for delivering us from this body of death. Praise him for not leaving us in our dead and weakened state, but choosing us as the first fruits of his creatures and imparting onto us the righteousness of Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit who through His Word empowers us to put of filthiness and wickedness and live a God glorifying life with the hope of immeasurable reward in heaven.
Thank you Curtis for being obedient to Christ and His Word. Thank you for the challenge. And thank for the term "pew potatoism".
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