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19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For 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. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:19-25 ESV
I. Our Relationship To The Gift Of The World
A. The passage is about the relationship of a Jesus’ follower to the Word of God.
B. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is His Word. (2 Peter 1:21, John 8:32)
II. Our Reception of the Glorious Word
A. Listening to and loving the Word of God is a hallmark of the true Christian’s life.
B. The Word will confront us because we have been so conformed by the world and we need to be conformed to Christ.
C. Because of our being conformed to the culture and not Christ the Word will not just confront us but will also convict us of sin. (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
III. Our Response to God’s Word
A. We can’t just have an open mind to the Word but must live in obedience to the Word.
B. Don’t just listen to the Word and love to listen to the Word but live by the Word and live out the Word as well.
IV. NEXT STEPS: Our Redeemer And God’s Word
- Jesus listened to and loved the Word.
- Jesus lived the Word out as the Living Word.
- Jesus became the Living Word out of love for us so we could know the love of the Father and listen to, love, and live out the Word as well.