All In: Obey – February 9, 2020

James 1:19-27

Key Idea:
Obeying is the bridge between knowing and doing.

1) Humility makes obedience possible (vs 19-21)
a. Pride pushes us to be right.
b. Humility allows us to submit to others.

2) Obedience needs action (vs 22-25)
a. Complacency leads to apathy

3) Let your character speak for itself (vs 26-29)
a. Let the inward match the outward.

James 1:19-27 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent,[a] humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face[b] in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone[c] thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Footnotes:

  1. 1:21 Or the abundance of evil
  2. 1:23 Or at his natural face
  3. 1:26 Other mss add among you

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.