19 Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.

23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:

24 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing. 26 If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James has been speaking of the word of God as the instrument whereby a new life is imparted to the believer. He intimates that his readers are familiar with this fact, and with the gracious purpose of God toward all men: "Ye know this, my beloved brethren." He deems it necessary, however, to give certain instructions relative to the use which should be made of this word of God, this "word of truth," this gospel message. In fact he reaches the central thought of his epistle as he insists that truth must be received, into the heart and expressed in the life. There are those who seem to think that "the word" is intended as an objectt about which we are to talk or to fight. Some men find little else in the Bible than subjects for debate. On the contrary James insists that the message concerning Christ must be heard with eagerness and carefully obeyed. "Let every man be swift to hear," let him improve every opportunity for learning more truth, let him listen again and again to the divine message, let him be ready to receive light from any source. Let him be "slow to speak," humbly taking the place of a learner, or if it becomes his duty to testify or to teach, let him do so with modesty and reverence, avoiding all carelessness and flippancy and self-confidence. Let him also be "slow to wrath." Unhappily religious discussions are too often attended with heat and anger. Too many public teachers seem to feel that the bitterness with which they assail their opponents will attest their zeal and devotion. James reminds such that "the wrath of man" cannot produce "the righteousness" which God requires and which he aims to produce in the conduct of Christians. True hearers will put away all evil and malicious thoughts, and by a spirit of meekness will prepare the soul, as good soil, for the reception of "the word," which is implanted like good seed and springs up in a harvest of virtue and holiness and life.

That this blessed issue may result, the believer must receive the truth not only with meekness but also with prompt and resolute obedience: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves." This delusion is common in the case of those who suppose themselves to be religious because they are familiar with religious truths and their discussion. One who merely listens, or whose knowledge results in no action, is likened by James to a man who gives a hasty glance into a mirror and then turns away forgetful of what he has seen and with no effort toward improving his appearance. What a magic mirror the Word of God provides! It shows a man exactly what he is, with all his faults and failures and infirmities; and yet, as he gazes upon that reflection, he beholds another image, that of the ideal Man, and he sees what he himself should be. Most marvelous of all, as he looks steadfastly upon the glorious perfection of his Lord, he finds himself free from the bondage of habit and self and sin, and becoming "transformed into the same image from glory to glory." Surely, one who makes such a use of the word of truth, one who gazes into it and makes its revelations the law of his life, cannot fail to find the blessing of God on all his deeds; he is "not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh."

James has suggested that a man may deceive himself as to his religious state by his enjoyment of religious discussions, or by his fluency of speech on religious themes, or by the warmth of his passion in religious disputes; he now adds that another cause of self-deception may be found in the care with which one performs religious rites and ceremonies. One may be most scrupulous in observing all the prescribed forms of religion, he may give alms and pray and fast, as the Pharisees did; he may attend church and sing hymns and observe sacraments; but his religion may still be an empty and vain delusion. James suggests three tests of religion, or to follow his words more exactly, he prescribes three religious exercises which cannot fail to please God.

The first of these is self-control. The example which he gives is that of ability to bridle the tongue. In contrast with those members of the Church who prided themselves upon their skill in debate and their ability to distress their opponents, he suggests that a truer test of religion may be found in the ability to keep silence, particularly under irritating and annoying circumstances. "Holding the tongue" is only one of many forms of self-discipline, but, as James suggests in a later chapter, it is a supreme test, and, "if any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body."

The second exercise of religion which James proposes is charity. As the Old Testament frequently intimates, those usually most in need of sympathy and aid are orphans and widows. But they are not the only persons who make their appeal to our pity; James mentions them simply as types or examples; but he declares that care for them constitutes a true religious ceremony, it is part of a real ritual: "Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction."

The third expression of religion mentioned by James is purity: "To keep oneself unspotted from the world." To be religious, in this true sense, is by no means easy. The world about us is full of evil; its maxims, its practices, its ideals, are too commonly opposed to the will of God. By obedience to them the pure soul is sullied and stained by sin. To walk "in white garments," to have clean hands and clean hearts, this is to be religious, this is to please God.