James 1:19–27

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 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.

If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James now moves on to tell his readers the details of how they will be the firstfruits of a movement that will turn the world upside down.

And James’s teaching is anything but easy. He begins with keeping wrath in check. Wrath is anger out of control—even if it’s righteous anger. It’s a great example of how sin can ruin anything. Righteous anger comes from our innate sense of justice. As such, it’s a good thing.

But our sinful nature can cause righteous anger to boil out of control—turning a good thing into one of the seven deadly sins.

“Therefore,” James continues, we must act like the people we claim to be, laying aside wickedness and being doers of the word, not just hearers. Remember who you are.

James then makes a clever point—forgetting that you’re a Christian is as absurd as forgetting what you look like in a mirror.

This is mockery. It’s not really forgetting; it’s faith that’s a joke.

James then gives two examples of Christian behaviors that we shouldn’t “forget”—control our tongue  and minster to the afflicted.

These, along with being slow to wrath and laying aside wickedness (and keeping oneself “unspotted from the world”), are of prime importance to the principal task of a Christian—glorifying God. This sets the stage for the rest of the book.

James is an essential book. Some of its points are blunt, but they’re important.

Many Christians need this kind of a wake-up call.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.