“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
—James 1:22
Note that this command begins with “but.” There is a contrast. James has told us to “receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But…” Recognize then the gravity of what James is saying. If you go to the doctor, and he hands you a prescription and says, “This is able to save you life, but…” how earnestly are you going to listen to the words after that follow that conjunction? The implanted word is able to save your souls but…
James here speaks of the necessity of doing concerning the salvation of our souls. There is a doing that must be done in the doing of your salvation. This can make us uneasy. We may even feel as though there is a tension within the Word of God. The same tension is felt when James later says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). Some have so profoundly felt this tension that they pit Paul against James. But before we resort to pitting James against Paul, let’s see James in harmony with Jesus. Fewer dare to pit Paul against Jesus. Paul is in harmony with Jesus. James, we will see, is in harmony with Jesus. This is because Jesus is in harmony with Jesus, and Paul and James both are apostles of Jesus Christ. There is not a Jesus of Paul and a Jesus of James. Any tension we feel is owing to us, not the Scriptures. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24–27).
Many try to escape this tension because they are trying to escape this truth: there is a doing that must be done. Many are not trying to resolve a felt tension by seeking Biblical harmony. They are trying to escape conviction by emphasizing one truth to the exclusion of another. They think their huge ears will compensate for their tiny hands. “[R]eceive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. But, be doers of the word and not hearers only.” There is a doing that must be done in the doing of your salvation.
Still there is a felt tension, but much can be alleviated when we examine more carefully the doing that is to be done. The hearer-doer does the perfect law, the law of liberty. What is the perfect law? While this could refer to the law being whole and complete in itself (cf. Psalm 19:7), I believe it refers to the law as being complete in Christ (Matthew 5:17–20). The perfect law then is the law received from the hand of Christ who fulfilled the law for us.
What is the law of liberty? It is the law as received by those who have been set free in Christ. It is “the law of the Spirit of life.”
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1–4).
The doing that must be done is a doing within the context of the gospel. It is not a doing for life, but a doing from life. It is not a doing that procures salvation, but that is part of our salvation. This is not a “do this or you will not be saved,” but a “do this or you have not been saved.” It is not a doing that results in salvation, but a doing that is a result of salvation. No doing, no salvation. Or, as James will later put it, no works, not faith. Faith lays hold of Christ and Christ has been made unto us righteousness and sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). Do not deceive yourself that you have Christ if you only have a claim to justification but no demonstration of sanctification.
No Other Boast 