Guidelines to Application: James 1:19-22 by Olin Hudson
(Reprinted from the March, 2000 online edition of The Expository
Files, http://www.geocities.com/~expository/)
I never have really liked "lab" classes in school. These are the classes where you are expected to put into practice what you have learned in the lecture classes. I guess my dislike for them originates from the fact that nothing ever seems to work the way it is suppose to work. It is much less difficult for me to understand something on a theoretical basis than to actually apply the theory.
This is the same problem many of us have with our spiritual lives. It isn't too difficult to understand how God wants us to live but acting upon that knowledge is a whole different story. The first chapter of the book of James gives us instruction on going beyond the mere hearing of God's word into the doing of it. If we are to better apply God's word in our own lives then we desperately need these instructions.
1. Be Swift to Hear. James begins his guide of application by giving us the first step..."So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." (James 1:19). It is impossible to apply principles that we do not even know. If we are not swift to hear what God has to say then we will not be able to live the way he wants us to live. Also included here is the desire to hear. We should always base our actions and our decisions on God's word. In 1 Peter 2:2 Peter states, "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." Our growth originates from a desire for God's word. If we are swift to hear then it shows we desire God's guidance.
2. Lay Aside All Filthiness. The second step in applying God's word is found in verse 21..."Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness." If we are not willing to refrain from actions that displease God then we are going to be hindered from performing actions that are pleasing to him. In Ephesians 4:22 Paul says "put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." Again he states in Colossians 3:5,8-9, "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry...But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds." In application of God's word we must take ourselves down from the throne of our lives and lay aside our evil practices.
3. Receive God's Word in Meekness. The third step is stated in the last part of verse 21..."Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." Once we have taken ourselves off the throne of our lives then we need to put God in that position. When we meekly receive his word we are saying that we will submit our will to his, his word is what will rule our lives. In Ephesians 4:23 Paul says that in order for you to lay aside the old self and put on the new self you must "be renewed in the spirit of your mind." We must change our attitude and our direction in life from serving ourselves to serving God. This is similar to what Paul said in Romans 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." An application of God's word demands that we recognize God as ruler of our lives.
4. Be Doers of the Word. Once the above three steps are completed and are present in our lives then we can become doers of God's word. James 1:22 states, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." The only thing that appears to keep us from applying God's word after we have truly performed the first three steps is our own deception. It is a sad situation indeed when we attempt to explain away why we have not obeyed God. All we are doing in this instance is trying to deceive ourselves. We need to "look in the mirror" and fix what is wrong instead of walking away and pretending everything is all right.
Application of anything is much more difficult than the mere knowledge of that thing. The same difficulty is present when discussing the application of God's word in our lives. James has given us guidelines, however, so that we can become "effectual doers" of God's word. Put these steps into practice and stop deceiving yourselves!
Plain English by Bill Blue
(http://www.bibleweb.com/)
I always marvel that humankind can complicate everything. Take for instance reading. One of our maxims here in America is that "you can't believe everything your read." I have seen the truth of this principle realized on many occasions in my dealings with the Tallahassee Democrat and other newspapers. Although I am not aware of any occasion when the newspapers with which I have dealt personally have intentionally misrepresented the facts, I have been disappointed on occasions when they have misreported the facts, or wrote their stories in a "technically correct" fashion which nonetheless leads people to believe a false impression. Of course the fact that newspapers sometimes err in their reporting is nothing new and surprises no one. Yet despite this, people today tend to believe what they read. Thus, we have another truism in this country which says, "people tend to believe what they read." Judge yourself. Did you read any articles in the paper today that you believed were true?
To complicate things further
Of course, I have not told you anything new. We all know that we should not believe everything we read and we all know that we tend to do so anyway. That is human nature.
Unfortunately, these truths are reversed when we read the Bible. For whatever reason, people will read newspapers, magazines, textbooks, autobiographies, and fiction all exactly the same way, but they will read the Bible differently. Even though the vast majority of people accept the Bible as a book of truths, even inspired from God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21), they will not accept the plain meaning of what it says as true. Instead they will invent ways to twist the truth of what the Bible says.
Consider the text of Mark 16:16 where Jesus Himself is quoted as saying "He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned." If you were reading that statement in any other book, you would reach the conclusion that to be saved, you must both believe and be baptized because the word "and" joins the two elements together as necessary. The verse doesn't read "He who believes or is baptized will be saved," does it? Nor does it read "He who believes and is not baptized," "He who believes not and is not baptized," or "He who believes only regardless of whether he has been baptized will be saved."
Those who ignore the word "and" in verse 16 remind me of President Clinton when he testified under oath before the grand jury that "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
The reasons why many people ignore the plain meaning of the passage are many. Some people simply want to read the Bible in a way that is consistent with their own lifestyles (2 Tim. 4:3), others want to read the Bible in a manner consistent with the beliefs they had or were taught before they read the Bible for themselves (2 Tim. 4:3). Part of the reason why some will not trust themselves to interpret the Bible may be the lingering result of the fact that Catholic clergy for centuries opposed the widespread printing of the Bible in languages people could read. Today, denominational preachers will tell their brethren that the word "and" in verse 16 does not mean what is says (But see Gal. 1:6-12; Rev. 22:18-19).
True, the New Testament of the Bible was originally written in Greek and later translated into English, but the translation of verse 16 is accurate and the Greek word for "and" used in verse 16 means exactly the same thing we use the word "and" for today.
Common sense tells all believers that God intended for the Bible to be in writing for a reason, and that reason must have been to enable each of us to read and understand God's message (Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). If you do not believe that the word "and" in verse 16 means "and," then why do you suppose that all of the major translations (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV, RSV, NIV, etc.) insert the word "and" there? Why didn't they choose another word, a transliteration, or omit it altogether to avoid misinterpretation?
PARTING THOUGHT