Now when we get to verse 19, your translation might have this passage under a new heading. In the ESV (the English Standard Version) which I am reading from, after verse 18 the translator has put the heading: Hearing and Doing the Word.
And then we go into verse 19. And that break gives us a sense that we are now entering into a new thought. But in verse 19, James is actually continuing a thought that he introduced in verse 18 in which he reminds us that we were saved by the word of truth, that is the Gospel message. Salvation came when we heard the truth of God and then responded to the truth of God.
And what James wants his readers to understand is that the Gospel message isn’t just the message that saves us, it is the message that we live out everyday, the Gospel is the hope we live in, it is the grace we live it, it is also the work that we are called into. It is the eternal truth that God calls us into a relationship with him for his glory and our good.
And so James is telling his readers as you live out your faith in Christ and as you experience the trials of this life, continue to anchor your life to the word of truth–the very word of God that is at work in you, the word of God that continues to shape you and convict you.
When we view our life, it must be viewed through the lens of the word of God. Too often when we view our own life we view it through the lens of our own opinions, we view it through the lens of our own pain, we view it through a cultural lens, a political lens, a moral lens, a social or economic lens, a relational lens. And yet as Christians we are to view our identity and the world around us through the lens of the Word of God, through the lens of the truth of God.
James is writing to an audience that is experiencing trials and conflicts and temptations. And these trials and conflicts are creating a lot of debates and conversations and opinions about how Christians should be viewing these trials and temptations.
And what happens when there are many words spoken and many opinion given, it is easy to begin to view this topic not from a biblical perspective but from my a human perspective–from our own opinion.
And so as James writes to Christians who are trying to understand how to view trials and temptations and he challenges them not to be people who are quick to speak, quick to state your opinion about this issue, quick to get in debates with other Christians because normally when we are quick to speak and quick to speak our mind, quick to try to make our case, and quick to try to win an argument, then we are also quick to get angry. And James says that doesn’t reflect the righteousness of God.
But instead James says, when you are walking through trials and encounter temptations and you are trying to figure out how to handle this situation as a Christian be quick to listen.
Now the context here is not to be quick to listen to other people (although that is a biblical principle of relationships and loving other people). But in this context, James is saying be quick to hear the word of God. That is where your wisdom should come from as you walk through trials and temptations.
Your truth should not come from your opinion or your friend’s opinion or the prominent commentator on this issue. Your truth should come from the word of God.
In verse 21 the phrase “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness” can feel a little jarring even accusatory. Where did this come?
James is very directly saying is that if you are going to endure trials and not give in to the temptations of trials that lead to sin and disobedience, it requires two things: that we first examine our own hearts before God and then we walk in obedience to the word of God.
And this examination requires the work of God. This is why the psalmist says in Psalm 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Before I can walk in obedience to God, I need to make sure my life isn’t holding on to unrepentant sin.
Sometimes trials creates bitterness in us, anger in us—it can create a hardened heart that refuses to be convicted and shaped by the word of God. And so before our heart is able to truly be led by the word of God, we have to have a heart that is truly prepared to receive the word of God.
And so James says to “receive with meekness the implanted word.”
We receive the word of God with meekness or your translation may say with humility. And one of the things that humility allows us to do is to allow our hearts and minds and thoughts to be shaped by God and not simply using the word of God to justify our own actions.
Too often we go through trials and temptations, and we use God’s word to justify our own position. And we pull verses out of context, or we use the word of God as simply a weapon to win debates.
But when we humbly receive the word of God, we are asking God to change us, shape us. We are asking that our will be aligned with his will.
And as we are humbly aligned with his will we can even come to the place where we are willing to walk through the fire of trials for the glory of God. We allow the trials to not make us bitter but gracious.
James says, “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
James is writing to Christians, who have been born again and so when he says that the word is able to save your souls, he is viewing salvation here as the entire Christian life. As one pastor wrote, “We have been saved (justified) through the power of the Word of God; we are kept saved (sanctified) through the power of the Word; and we will be ultimately, completely, and eternally saved (glorified) through the power of the Word.”
As you walk through trials, keep yourself anchored to the word of God that has been implanted in you and is at work in for your continued sanctification and ultimate glorification.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Tommy Nelson, a pastor in Texas used to say that when he would counsel people who are going through challenges and trials, one of his first questions would be “tell me about your time in God’s word.” Because he wants to know if they are walking through this challenging season listening to their own wisdom or are they listening to the word of God and humbling receiving the word of God.
We have to be people of the word in our personal lives. Are you a man of the word? Are you a women of the word.