HOW TO BE BLESSED BY THE WORD OF GOD

James 1:19-25

October 18, 2026 – SUNDAY

To be bless by the Word of God, is not through the eloquent and dynamic preacher, not through the good explanation of the preacher, not through the greek or hebrew translation, not through good illustration, but how should the  hearer is going to do with the Word of God and what he is doing after hearing the Word of God.

     Notice the word “Wherefore” (“this you know” NASB; “know this ESV; “Understand this” NLT; “take note of this NIV; “So then” NKJV). Some writers feel it is not an imperative but a perfect tense indicating the following statements in verse 19 is truth the readers understand. Also note the NASB adds a "but" which is normally a contrast, but no other modern version has a "but." The point is that when you are doing a deeper study, it is always advisable to check other translations (unless you know the Greek or Hebrew which is the best choice). Whether a command or not clearly James desires for his readers to understand the next clause. To reiterate, this verb is most likely a command. The idea would be something like "Come to an understanding of this." The idea then is that what James is getting ready to say, it is nevertheless important for their growth in Christlikeness. So, James is saying “Wherefore as your evil is of yourselves, but your good is from God, let every man know it, and consequently be swift to hear.”

     Notice the words “beloved brethren.” James is saying “my fellow believers”. James with his affectionate “my brothers” considers them as members of the spiritual family. Not by any harshness as James commands and assures them that he wants them to feel that he is not a superior, but an equal, exhorting them. This should strengthen their desire to accept the call of James to attain the ideal for the Christian life.

     The word “swift” in Greek “tachus” (takh-oos) is an adverb which literally means quick, speedy as opposed to slow. The emphasis is on a very brief period of time so that an activity or event occurs with speed or swiftness. In the New Testament, figuratively, quick, swift, with the meaning of ready, prompt (James 1:19). 

     A person who are swift to hear is a person easily taught, easily led or managed. A person who keeps up his own talking makes a bad hearer.

     The effective functioning of the Word in daily life demands a person active cooperation. During early days, "the Christians were dependent upon the preaching of traveling missionaries … and of local teachers for their knowledge of the gospel of salvation. (Acts 13:1 “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.”) for their knowledge of the gospel.'" The first duty of being a follower of Christ is to listen with eagerness to the message. 

     Notice in our text the command “be” which covers all three verbs: hear, speak and wrath (anger). The present imperative for the reader’s continual attention. So, the question, is attention to what? Let us see the right interpretation from the context (James 1:18) on which James is clearly referring to the Word of Truth (in effect the gospel) but which they were saved in James 1:18 “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” So, after describing their initial salvation (past tense salvation, justification), now James focuses on their present tense salvation (progressive sanctification) or growth in Christlikeness. In effect, James is saying that the primary means of maturation is by intake of the Word of truth. The same word that saved them initially (justified) is the same Word that will save them daily (progressive sanctification). As noted in previous verses, the goal of sanctification in this context is to enable them to overcome temptation (James 1:13-15) and bear up under trials (James 1:2-12).

     At first glance James 1:19-20 often interpreted or presented by some teachers or preachers as an isolated exhortations but it is not if we truly studied the context and avoid the misinterpretation. We will erroneously arrive in distorted interpretations like many cults did because they are experts at taking a text out of context to deceive their victims. 

     The context of James 1:19-20 includes the previous passages. So, let us read James 1:16-18 “Do not err (do not be deceived), my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” It is clear that James is describing persons who have listened to or heard and received the Word of truth and have been born again and become “a kind of first fruits among His creatures”. The term “Word” in verse 18 means the message of God’s truth as embodied in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:13 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”).

     The verses preceding and following James 1:18-19 refer to the Word of God (the Word of Truth). Therefore, it is reasonable to interpret that James 1:18-19 as referring to one’s reaction or attitude toward the Word of God. So, in order to maximize one’s reception of the Word of God one needs to listen (“swift to hear”), restrain speaking (“slow to speak” – it is very difficult to hear God speaking if we are speaking) and refrain from anger (slow to wrath), which is a major hindrance to receiving the Word and growing in Christlikeness as James explained in James 1:20 “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God”. 

     As a born again, we are given new life from God, we must prepare our hearts to be receptive to God’s Word. The receptive heart opens the ears, controls the tongue, and controls the emotion of anger.

     Because it is by the Word that we are begotten (v.18): let us be swift to hear it “Slow to speak” (v.19). James is telling us that there is so much sin in us when we speak the less, we speak the better.  “Slow to speak”. Two ears are given to us, but only one tongue: The ears are exposed, the tongue is walked in behind the teeth.  Then James said “slow to wrath”, in the multitude of words, we don’t come short of sins. And too much talkativeness is seldom disconnected from too much sinfulness. “Slow to wrath.”

II – LAY APART ALL FILTHINESS OF LIFE – v.21     

James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Lay apart or putting aside (“apotithemi”) all filthiness (“rhuparia”) and superfluity or all that remains (“perisseia”) of naughtiness or wickedness (“kakia”).

“Lay apart all”, means once for all as a filthy garment.

      “Fillthiness” is cleansed away by hearing the Word (John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”)  

     In the immediate context, James’ spoke of accomplishing the righteousness of God (James 1:20). This would be the equivalent of present progressive sanctification. But one who is justified by faith, immediately enters into present tense salvation, which is an ongoing, day by day process, often described in the New Testament as the Christian "walk". We begin the new life in Christ by faith and we continue this new life of daily dependence and growth in Christlikeness. Yet we have the responsibility according to James to put off, the dirty filthy garments of the former life (this is ongoing sanctification). 

      This passage teaches an important Biblical principle that you will not have an appetite for the Word of truth if you are actively, willfully living in darkness! How's your appetite been for the Word of God? If you find you have little appetite for the Word of truth, the diagnosis may be unconfessed sin! The soil of the heart must be prepared to receive the Word. If we have unconfessed sin in our hearts, and bitterness against God because of our trials (James 1:2), then we cannot receive the Word and be blessed by it.

      Before the Word can have full sway in the believer’s life, he must remove all that hinders in its operation (James 1:21). James is saying to let personal sin be cleansed so you can hear. Before the Word can be effectively welcome into their lives, hindering sins must be dealt with definitely (I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”; Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”)

      The major reason many Christians do not welcome the Word of God, do not read the Word of God, and do not study the Word of God is that their lives are too compromised by moral filth and evil they absorb from TV, movies, the internet, unhealthy relationships, etc. 

      James talks about “the superfluity of naughtiness” (James 1:21). What is the superfluity of naughtiness? It is the “excess” (as the intemperate spirit of “wrath” (James 1:19). The word “superfluity” means that which remains or that which is left over, and what we would call “hangover sins” when you get saved. You can be saved; you can have life, but you still have the grave clothes—the grave clothes of that old man. You still have with you the “superfluity”, those sins of your old life as unbeliever in your unbelieving days. You know, some people, when they get saved, they lose about half their vocabulary? They’ve got another half they still need to lose. Old language, old lust, old laziness, old learning, old loves—they have to be taken away; they have to be stripped away. And friend, a lot of us are saved, but we have the grave clothes of the old life, superfluities that hinders the blessing of the Word an keep us from having abundant life.

III – RECEIVE WITH MEEKNESS – v.21                   

James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”    

     After we lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, what we have to do next? Receive the Word.

     The word “receive” in Greek “dechomai” (middle voice of a primary verb) means to accept with a deliberate and ready reception of what is offered, to receive kindly and so to take to oneself what is presented or brought by another. It means to welcome a teacher, a friend, or a guest into one's house (Examples: Jesus said to the Seventy sent out - Luke 10:8, 10 “And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: ¹⁰ But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,”; Rahab welcomed the spies - Hebrews 11:31 “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”). Therefore, “Dechomai” pictures one assenting to God’s Word of Truth and indicates that the reception is to be a voluntary and willing act on the part of the reader (hearer). “Dechomai” describes accepting the Word with open arms, minds, and hearts (not only into your head by knowledge but into your heart by faith).

     The word “receive” like the ground receiving seed. The Word of truth is living and active and like a seed. So, once you have pulled all the weeds (filthiness and naughtiness or wickedness), welcome the seed of the Word into good soil and bear fruit.

ILLUSTRATION OF DECHOMAI: Believers in Berea 

Acts 17:11 “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received (“dechomai”) the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

          How should we receive the Word? We should receive the Word “with meekness.”

     The word “meekness” or humility in Greek “prautes” (prah-oo-tace) describes the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance. The essence of “prautes” is the opposite of anger (“orge”) in James 1:19. And so prautes in James 1:21 is the humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself in a patient submissiveness to offense, free from malice and free from desire for revenge. “Meekness is not weakness, but strength under control." Meekness is the very opposite of the common attitudes of self-interest, self-assertiveness, and self-direction. The ultimate example of meekness is the Lord Jesus in His humanity. 

     Instead of brashly asserting themselves in anger (v.19), they need to be humble and teachable in order to rightly receive the divine message. 

     When you receive the Word with meekness you accept it, do not argue with it, and honor it as the Word of God. You do not try to twist it to conform it to your thinking. 

    We must not read the Bible too quickly because the way a Christian treats the Bible shows how he regards Jesus Christ. Jesus is the living Word (John 1:1, 14), and the Bible is the written Word, but in essence they are the same. Jesus and the Bible are both bread (Matthew 4:4; John 6:48), both light (Psalm 119:105; John 8:12), and both Truth (John 14:6; John 17:17). Be careful how you treat your Bible. Receive it with humility.    

     “Prautes” is a one-word summary of “teachable spirit.” The teachable spirit is someone humble to learn and is without resentment and without anger and is therefore, able to face the truth, even when it hurts and condemns. The teachable spirit is not seduced by laziness but is so self-controlled that it can willingly and faithfully accept the discipline of learning. “Prautes” describes the perfect control of everything in a man’s nature which would be a hindrance to a man’s seeing, learning and obeying the truth.

     When we received the Word with meekness, what kind of Word we received? We received the engrafted word.

     Notice the words “engrafted” in Greek “emphutos” from “emphuto” means to implant. (From “en” = in + “phuo” = to generate, produce, bring forth, let grow) means inborn, native or engrafted. Secularly, “emphutos” was used most often in the sense of implanted by natural process. Although emphutos may denote that which is inborn, or native, the Word of God is not native to the human heart. The Word can also denote a subsequent implantation, which is clearly the meaning here. Although the Word is not native or inborn to the human heart, it is well suited to be planted therein. As a living seed, the nature of the Word of God, need to root itself deeply into the soil of the believing heart. As the Word of God was implanted at regeneration the moment we got saved, the living Word actively roots itself in the heart as a vital part of the new nature. In Romans 6:5 “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”, this adjective “implanted” is used of the believer's being "united with" the indwelling Christ when the believer got saved. The rendering "engrafted" (KJV) is not quite adequate, since the Word is not a bud grafted into us.' Rather, the picture is that of seed sown in the heart. The power of this seed to root itself deeply is not an automatic process. The imperative verb “receive” denotes that a welcoming human response is involved.

     When a person listens and hears the Word of God, it is planted within his heart and life. What God says is actually born within his heart, and the man hears exactly what God says. The Word of God is born within his heart and life and the person's soul is saved. When that person hears the Word, he conquers and triumphs over all temptation, including the terrible temptation of rejecting God and doing his own thing and living like he wants. Man is saved to live eternally with God. This is the first preparation that a person must make to withstand temptation: he must be quick to hear the Word of God.  

     When we received the word with humility or offer our hearts as the good soil, the engrafted Word or implanted Word could easily grow.     

IV – BE A DOER OF THE WORD – v.22                   

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Psalm 19:11 “Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”

     James gives the qualification of “be swift to hear” (verse 19), and that is “be ye doers of the word.”

“Be ye doers. . . not hearers only”, not merely “do the word” but “be doers” that is systematically and continually. Be a consistent doer of the work. 

     Notice the word “But” in Greek “de”. (term of contrast) introduces the contrast between hearing and doing. Don't just receive the Word, but respond to the Word. Active obedience should follow.  James contrasts those who only hear God’s Word with those who obey God’s Word. Hearing is good, but without obedience, hearing becomes self-deception. James uses the “but” to draw a line between passive religious listening and genuine, obedient faith. James is not interested in his readers just being hearers but also for becoming doers of the Word of Truth. A person may appear religious because they listen to Scripture, but James says that without obedience the person is “deceiving” themselves (James 1:22). The contrast exposes the difference between seeming righteous and being righteous.

     The word “hearers” in Greek “akroates” from “akroaomai” means to listen or hear, this describes one who hears referring primarily to the perception of sounds by the sense of hearing. James is addressing his Jewish brethren. In the Jewish home, the education process, and in the synagogue worship, the hearing of the Law read aloud played an important part in Jewish life.  The business of the Jews was to listen to the Word of God.

     Akroates is used 3 times by James here in chapter 1 (James 1:22; James 1:23; James 1:25)

     Among the Greeks, akroates was a common term for persons who were attendants at a lecture but not disciples of the lecturer. They were hearers who in life did not follow the instructions given. Many Christians are not exempt from this common attitude of not following what they heard. If all who are auditors of the Word on Sunday would put it into practice during the week, what a difference that would make! Our churches today are filled with spiritual sponges who soak up the information, sit, sour, and eventually stink. (smell bad).

     Notice the words “deceiving your own selves”, James, the half-brother of Jesus and a leader in the early church, addresses the crucial issue of genuine faith versus mere lip service. James contrasts two types of people: those who only hear the word and those who both hear the word and do. In satisfied with possessing knowledge from the Word without applying it, they were the victims of their own deception. Yes, it sad to be deceived, yet it is most miserable to be self-deceived. Many still think their godliness is based by the quality of the sermons they heard or often times reading the Bible instead of action and obedience to the Word. 

     We often spend our time going to church, attending Bible studies, reading Christian books and magazines, and listening to Christian music. We may think that in doing those things we are living the Christian life. We are deceived! Although each of these activities is a worthy, but all of these are all nothing if we never put into practice the knowledge we gain. Our today’s generation has access to more biblical information than ever before, but we’re not necessarily the most skilled at living out the truths of that information. “Be ye doers of the Word”.

     Notice the word “doers” in Greek “poietes” from “poieo” means to do, to make, to accomplish. “Poietes” is the same Greek word used for a poet which carries with it the idea of creativity, such as a poet whose personality includes a creative ability to make a beautiful poem. James is telling us that we must get creative if we cannot easily think of a way to do what has been preached to us. Whether the word “poietes” (used as a poet) or “poiema” (describe God’s creative power in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship (“pointes”), created in Christ Jesus unto good works,”), it always refers to someone putting forth his fullest creative abilities to achieve something. This is what James is talking about of the word “poietes” in James 1:22, that by God’s grace and help of the Spirit, we must put forth our fullest efforts and most creative abilities in doing what we have heard preached. Listen, we cannot hope and expect that the Word of God becomes a part of our lives, unless we have to get creative and find ways to make the Word a practical part of our lives. “Be doers of the Word”.

     Jesus taught the same principle that hearing without obedience is worthless. .Jesus emphasized hearing and doing.

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶ And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷ And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

V – BE MINDFUL OF THE WORD – v.24-25                   

James 1:24-25 “For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. ²⁵ 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.”

Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

     The man glances into the mirror of Scripture, catches an accurate glimpse of his true spiritual condition, but then walks away without responding in obedience to what he has seen. The mirror has done its work by exposing reality, but the man refuses to act on what he has seen. 

     The man’s problem is not a poor memory but an unresponsive heart. The man has heard the truth without allowing it to penetrate in his life. The Word has informed his mind but has not transformed his conduct. The result is self-deception, a dangerous condition, for hearing without obeying always produces spiritual blindness. James' point is clear as he goes on to explain in the next verse 25 that the blessing of God's Word belongs not to those who merely glance at it, but to those who gaze intently into it, remember what they have seen, and respond with obedient action.

     The best thing to do when you look into a glass, and spy a spot on your face, is to wash it off directly. To look in the glass, and not to wash off the spots, is but a piece of vanity. The same is true when we hear a sermon, or read a chapter, and we do not put it into practice what we are taught, is a sad waste of time.

     The words “goeth his way” carries the thought of leaving permanently. He does not want to return to the Word because it exposes him for what he is. 

     The word “straightway” or “immediately” in Greek “eutheos” refers to the astonishing speed with which spiritual truth evaporates from the mind of the hearer who fails to act upon it. The sooner a man turned away from the mirror of God’s Word, the searching conviction begins to fade. The searching exposure of God's Word quickly fades from his mind, and he returns to life as though nothing has happened. He forgets not merely the details of what he saw, but what he forgot is what kind of person he really is, a sinner in need of continual cleansing, correction, and transformation by God's grace.

     The word “forgetteth” in Greek “epilanthanomai” does not suggest a momentary lapse of memory but a failure to retain the truth in such a way that it governs one’s life. The man does not forget because his memory is deficient, nor with a poor memory, but rather a man with poor priorities. That man doesn’t remember what he saw in the mirror because he doesn’t regard it as very important. God, heaven, eternal life, and all of the other doctrines in the Bible are interesting and nice, but this guy has a career to pursue. That person got money to make, got his hobbies and toys that are his passion on his days off. The man forgets what God’s word says about his sins because, really, for him it just isn’t all that important compared to these other priorities in his life. Forgetfulness is not an excuse (James 1:25; 2 Peter 1:9).

James 1:25 “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.”

     James describes a person who does not become a forgetful (“epilesmone”) hearer (“akroates”). Instead of allowing God's Word to slip away, he treasures, retains and responds to God’s Word with obedient action. This marks a sharp opposite with the self-deceived hearer of the preceding verses 22-24, who glanced into the mirror of God's Word only to walk away and immediately forget what he had seen.

     Who is this doer of the work or effectual doer? The doer of the work is marked by persistent performance of what he has learned in being receptive hearer of God’s Word. The emphasis is not on certain notable deeds he performs but on his characteristic obedience to God’s known will. 

     The words “in his deed” or “on what he does” (literally “in his doing”). The singular noun “doing” in Greek “poiesis” used only here in the New Testament, view his whole life as a consistent doing. God wants the believer’s entire life must be devoted to the unceasing doing of God’s will. 

     Sermon emphasis: As emphasized above, James 1:19, 20, 21 refers primarily to listening to and receiving the Word, while James 1:22, 23, 24, 25 emphasize primarily the doing and obeying the Word. This order is quite logical because you cannot obey the Word of Truth until you hear the Word of Truth!

     Sermon summary: The proper reaction to the Word (James 1:19, 20). The condition for effective reception of the Word (James 1:21). The importance of obedience to the Word (James 1:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27).