But be ye doers of the
word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer
of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face
in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth
what manner of man he was.
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of
liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
If any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is
vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
from the world.
My brethren, have not
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel,
and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him
that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place;
and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye
not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God
chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he
hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich
men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme
that worthy name by the which ye are called?
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the
scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have
respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as
transgressors.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit
adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou
kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as
they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
For he shall have
judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against
judgment. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and
destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are
needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Even so faith, if it
hath not works, is dead, being alone. James
1: 22- 2:17
Paul has said much the same thing as James is here saying.
Yeshua himself is often recorded as saying him who has ears to hear let him
hear. This hearing is not about audible recognition nor is it about
understanding of articulation. This hearing is about living out what has been
said. To be clear it is not a call to do a thing but instead to become one who
does those things as a natural flow from the life within us.
The religious challengers of Messiah where called hypocrites
because they were trying to overcome the wicked life within them by acting
correctly; Yeshua condemned their actions because in so doing they had made
themselves their own makers. YHWH had clearly stated that He alone is our
maker, that He alone would place His law in our hearts and minds; the same law
which Moses witnessed was the way of life. The living word is the way the truth
and the life and so only by becoming one with him in a marriage covenant and
taking His name can a man be saved. All others are relegated to simply trying
to act right.
For this reason Hosea said the just shall live by faith.
Only YHWH’s life in us will give us life. We must repent of the dead works of
our own attempts to possess life and place complete trust, dependence, and
expectation in YHWY to live in us through His Messiah Yeshua. Only when we are
one with Yeshua can our old man die in His cross and then our mortal bodies be
given life through YHWH’s breathing His Spirit into us.
When the Father and the Son are living in us through the
Spirit then we do by nature the things found in the Law as Paul has said in
Romans. In parallel when we are dead in Messiah our old nature no longer
dictates our actions. We must understand that what I have just described is the
perfection or maturity we are being brought to. In our living we are mixed bags;
at times or in certain situations we are trusting in self, or man, or religion,
or even faith which is another way of saying we are not putting our complete
trust in YHWH. Since YHWH has said He will share His glory with no flesh then
when our faith is mixed it receives the same result as the unredeemed man’s
trust in man (sin and death).
If we say we have no sin we are a liar and the Truth is not
in us… but if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us. Yeshua
is faithful because He trust YHWH to be our maker He is just because we are His
spouse and have been made one with Him; both His death and His life.
With this ground work laid out Paul tells the Corinthians to
examine themselves whether they be in the faith. James says to understand (hear)
the word (Yeshua the living word of whom Moses witnessed to us.) but not have
His life living through you is a dead faith. We at times deceive ourselves that
we are right because we know what we should be and do. Instead of living in the
freedom from sin and death being our life we settle to live in forgiveness
alone. Paul referred to such an existence as making Messiah the minister of
sin.
Amidst the listing of examples in which James points out the
results of living faith in us he mentions an interesting phrase; “they that
shall be judged by the law of liberty”. Paul spoke on this same thing when he
spoke of the judgment seat of Messiah.
YHWH stands as the judge of the quick (living) and the dead.
His very presence is life, light, and righteousness to such a degree that He is
a consuming fire; consuming all death, darkness, and wickedness. It is by this
fact that on the day that all men stand in His presence they will be judged.
Those who have His life in them by faith in Yeshua will have
every work, motive, thought, and intent of their heart judged. Those which are
of temporal earthly design (stone, sticks, and clay) shall be purged by fire from
the foundation of Messiah’s life in us and those things which are everlasting
shall be refined and purified.
The law of liberty is the life of YHWH in us making us one
with His life. Making James point simply that if Messiah is living through you
then your works will be what he works through you.
