Be Doers, Not Hearers Only

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant 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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 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)

What this is teaching here is the essence of the gospel of our salvation. For Jesus Christ gave himself up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now follow him in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. For by his grace we are delivered out of our bondage to sin so that we can now serve the Lord Jesus Christ with our lives, in surrender of our wills to the will of God, and for his purposes, and for his glory, honor, and praise – all in his power within us.

[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20]

But sadly, this is not what is predominantly being taught in today’s modern market-driven “churches” here in the USA. The “gospel” message which is permeating the church here is that we can “believe” in Jesus (rarely biblically defined), and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is now guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. But Jesus taught if we are to come after him we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands (see Luke 9:23-26).

And that is what James and the other NT apostles taught, too. For if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine God-provided and God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, we deny self, and we die with him to sin, not just once, but daily (in practice), by the Spirit (Romans 8:1-14). We put away all the filthiness and rampant wickedness of our sinful natures, i.e. we repent of our sins, so we can now receive with meekness the implanted word of God (Jesus Christ and his gospel message), which is able to save our souls.

And they are only able to save our souls as we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, and as we cooperate fully with his work of grace in our lives, and as we make it our practice (by the grace of God and in his power) to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives for the glory and praise of God. We must forsake our sinful practices so that we can now follow our Lord wherever he leads us to go and to do whatever his word says we must do to be saved from our sins.

But, yes, it is by God’s grace that we are saved, through God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, and this is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. There is nothing in our flesh that we can do to earn or to deserve our own salvation. But our salvation from sin is not absent of works, they are just the works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them in his power and strength and wisdom. And he commands that we die with him to sin and that we now walk in obedience to his commands.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

So, we have to be doers of the word and not hearers only. We are not saved from our sins and promised eternal life with God on the basis of a verbal profession of faith in him. We cannot just make a profession of faith in our Lord and then just walk away and forget what we look like, and then go on living life as we choose. We don’t get to choose how we live. God does! Belief is persuasion of God, and he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent and obey him.

And this is what it means to look into the “perfect law,” which is the gospel of Christ, the gospel of our salvation. For the gospel of Christ is the law of liberty, but not liberty to live however we want after we make a profession of him as our Lord and Savior. For Jesus died on that cross to put our sins to death with him in order to liberate us from our slavery (addiction) to sin, not to free us to keep sinning without guilt and without punishment. For it is us who are DOING the will of God, in his power, who will be blessed of God.

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263