What does it mean to be “doers of the word” in James 1:22?

James 1:22. One of the most misinterpreted bible verses. The key thing to note here is the question:

What is the word that believers in Christ are to be doers of? Is it the word of the Law or the word of Faith?

The law is not of faith. The law voids faith. Many preach James 1:22 in the context of that horrid “neither cold nor hot" mixture of part-Law and part-Grace that says:

“You see, now that you are saved by Grace through faith, you have to obey the Law and do your best to be sinless by your own effort at keeping the law so that you can be godly (be like God) and make it to heaven."

Not so when you read the verse in its context. When you take a "text" out of its context, you are left with a "con." This con of interpreting James 1:22 in terms of doing one's best to be godly (be like God) by human effort is the same one that Satan sold to Eve in Eden. It is an impossible feat that leads to death as it did with Adam and Eve. See James 1:22 in its context:

"But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like." AMPC Version.

See the The Passion Translation- "Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let His Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life! 23 If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning. 24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin. 25 But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!"

Notice that those who are not doers of the word are those who do not live out Christ's message that they hear? These are doers of works of the law that kills. You usually find such boasting about how God blessed them and how they deserve salvation because of the good things they do and not because of what Christ has done. They profess Christ but do not obey His message. And what is the message of Christ? See this in Romans 1:

16 "For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Understand that it was religious, law-toting Pharisees and such whose lives were all about obeying the Ten Commandments and doing good things in order to be godly (be like God) and get God's favour that hated Christ, called Him a “friend of sinners" and tried to make Paul feel ashamed of the gospel of Christ who is Grace-personified. The same thing is still happening today. Notice that the Word that we are to be doers of or the message that we are to obey tells us how God makes us right in His sight and that its effect is accomplished from start to finish by faith? The Law is not of Faith. We see a detailed account of how God makes us right in His sight in Romans 3:

"26...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

The Law is not of faith. This is the Word that we are to be doers of: the word of God's Grace- believing that in Christ, we are made righteous and remain righteous by faith in Christ and not by human effort (arm of flesh) at keeping the law. This is the crux of the message of Christ: Righteousness by faith in Christ. Trying to obey the law in order to get into God's good books voids faith- “

For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” Romans 4:14.

Some church leaders try to compartmentalize the law into moral law/oral law/ceremonial law and say that we who believe are still subject to some of these compartments of the law. What a horrid antichrist teaching! The law is a whole and just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law - see this in Romans 7:8-12) which has many parts, eating of any part of the law (letter) kills, whether moral, oral, ceremonial or the one with which man privately judges himself in his heart (see Romans 2:12-15.) Christ paid the price for our salvation from sin and death. He came to free us from every kind of sin.Titus 2:14 says of Him:

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Whatever it is that man thinks he can or needs to do by human strength (the arm of flesh that God's word says will fail) in order to achieve any of the things in Titus 2:14 or in order to “not perish but have everlasting life" is law. Doing those futile human strength-driven activities is as pointless as the Israelites that were bitten by snakes in the wilderness rushing off to do things by their own power in order to get God to save them from death. All they had to do to be saved from the snake sting (for us today, the root of sin) and its deathly symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death) was look to the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up (a picture of Christ.) Christ HIMSELF gave this typology in the most popular Bible passage (John 3:14-16,) but man just wants to rush off to do things to save themselves by the puny arm of flesh (human strength at keeping the law) that will fail. Believer, let's not be found here. Christ saves from sin and causes to live right all who trust in Him and not our silly efforts to save ourselves.

Romans 7 also shows us that the law that we who believe are dead to includes the Ten Commandments; Paul used the 10th Commandment (You shall not covet) as an example in this chapter.

The letter (law) kills but the Spirit gives life" is a very popular Bible verse. With the Spirit of the Lord, it is neither by (human) might nor by power. It is impossible for doers of works of the Law to deceive themselves in this matter: if you knew and believed that it is Christ in you doing the works and not your own might and power, it would be difficult for you to point accusing fingers at others who are still struggling with sin and threaten them with judgment/God's wrath if they don't “change.” Rather, you would see how helpless man is to overcome sins and produce good works by his arm of flesh (human strength) and point such to Christ who saves from sins and transforms the sinner who truly believes to live right as you claim He is doing for you.

Be wary of "men of God" who boast about how their law-keeping, various fasts, good works, dowdy clothes and religious tithe payment are what gingers God to bless them and makes them heaven-bound. These ones depend on and boast in their own human effort (arm of flesh) to make them godly (be like God) and not in Christ. This is not grace (undeserved, unmerited favour.) There is no Jesus saving in their equation. They are their own saviour. Believers, let's not be found here.

Back to: “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like."

The TPT version says: 23 “If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning. 24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin. 25 But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!"

Now consider Romans 5:9 — “And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Notice that it is through the blood of Jesus that we are made righteous in God's sight and not because we obeyed the Ten Commandments or did good things? Verse 24 of James 1 says of those who are hearers of the word and not doers:

“You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.”

Those who are mere hearers of the word and not doers are those who forget how God sees them through the mirror of His word- Righteous by the blood of Jesus. After hearing the word, such do not obey the Word of Truth that they heard. Instead of believing that they are righteous by faith, they go back to trying to obey the Ten Commandments and doing all sorts of “good works" in order to get right with God, maintain their salvation, obtain His favour and escape His wrath, all of this after Christ shed His blood for us for this same purpose. Romans 10:3 says of such:

"For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God."

Following this way that seems right to man but whose end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12) aka trying to obey the law in order to be godly (like God) while professing Christ who suffered and died to make us righteous like God has dire consequences-

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.” Galatians 5:4.

No Christ as Saviour from sins in the lives of such who depend on their human strength to obey the law in order to be godly (be like God) or to earn a smidgen of righteousness/goodwill from God. So sin proliferates. Such are not a new creation in Christ. They still have the old/sinner nature that was inherited from Adam. Recall Romans 5:19-

“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”

All who have Christ as their righteousness and are no longer striving to be right with God through obeying the law are a new creation in Christ. The one with the old/sinner nature strives to be godly (be like God) through human strength at keeping the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil like a certain tree. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the Law that many churchgoers are striving to obey in order to be godly in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG-)

“Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me…”

The law that many churchgoers are being seduced into trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God) arouses sinful passions that cause them to sin profusely. We see this in Romans 7:5-

"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

The law was not given for us to obey in order to notch up points of righteousness before God or show God that we are doing our best to be good like Him (be like God.) This is why the Law was given: to show us all up as guilty and cause us to see how sinful we are. See Romans 3-

“19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

Some people who wanted to be doers of God's work asked Christ what they must do in John 6. See our Saviour's response:

28 “They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” 29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”

To be a doer of the word is to believe that in Christ, we are righteous (in God’s sight) by faith in Christ and not by what we do/don't do or puny efforts at obeying the Ten Commandments. This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.

But many observe themselves in the mirror of God's word and then go out and stop believing that God sees them as righteous because of the sacrifice of His own Son. Only when we continually see ourselves the same way our heavenly Father sees us in Christ (righteous) can true transformation happen; not by human effort at obedience but by the power of the Holy Spirit. See this in 2 Corinthians 3:18-

"But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed to the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

In Christ, our salvation is not at all about behaviour modification by human effort. It is about hearts’ transformation by the Holy Spirit. Christ in us does it all. When we look into the mirror of our fleshly/human lives, there is so much imperfection. God knows how screwed up our lives can be. But He does not want the believer in Christ to see himself in these imperfections, obvious as they are. He wants us to believe and confess how He sees us in Christ: righteous, “even though we are guilty of many sins” -

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16.

A common refrain of even churchgoers to this truth of Grace is:

"So you are saying once we are saved, because the righteousness of Christ covers us we should continue in sin?”

Beloved of God, beware preachers of the above doctrine of demons that equates righteousness in Christ with lawlessness. Matthew 1:21 tells us what Christ came to do:

"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Christ Himself tells us in (John 6:43-46) what He is doing in the life of every believer:

“Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End."”

Beloved of God, how can these two things - being saved from sins/put together by Christ and continuing to live in sin - how can they co-exist? How can the blind receive sight from Christ and continue to be blind? Believers, run from any pastor that posits this kind of horrid antichrist argument that says that righteousness in Christ is licence to commit sin. What a horrid antichrist doctrine it is. Let's take our blessed brains to church: Titus 2:14 tells us what Christ came to do:

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

How then can these two things - being saved from sins by Christ and continuing to live in sin - how can they co-exist? How can you who have Christ who saves from sins (Matt. 1:21) as your Saviour continue to live in sin?

Those who push this argument of “Christians continuing to wallow in blatant or covert sin after being joined to Christ who saves from sins" that is so lacking in God's Wisdom (Christ Himself) imply that Christ cannot accomplish His work as Saviour from sins in the life of the sinner who utterly depends on Him for salvation, even salvation from sins.

This false argument belies the fact that its promoters trust in their strength to make them godly (like God) as Eve was deceived into doing. Such see themselves as their own saviour from sins and ungodliness. This is the very definition of unbelief in Jesus Christ.

Believer, our Heavenly Father in Christ wants us to continually believe and keep on seeing ourselves as He sees us in the mirror of His word- Righteous through Christ's blood (Romans 5:9.) This is what it means to be a doer of the word. This Way, we are transformed by His Spirit and so, get to live right.

Recall “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].”

Those who are hearers alone and not doers forget their righteousness in Christ and their divine origin and so reason that they have to “maintain their righteousness" through the Law. Such do not obey the Truth. Paul called Peter out for such behaviour in Galatians 2:11-14, when he (Peter) did some "eye-service" and reverted to the Law of Moses by not eating or associating with Gentiles because some of James' Jewish friends from Judea were in town-

“When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. 12 He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles. 13 He and the other Jews hid their true feelings so well that even Barnabas was fooled. 14 But when I saw that they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone and said: Peter, you are a Jew, but you live like a Gentile. So how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Peter's action was contrary to the truth. He didn't obey the truth of the Good News: “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].” He tried to dissociate himself from the Gentiles and their un-kosher food- something that the Law requires. Some might reason that Peter's sin wasn't such a big deal, until we read James 2:12, in the chapter right after James 1:22-

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point, he is guilty of all.”

This too does not seem fair, until we realise that the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear. This reason why we are not wallowing in sins and why those who depend on their ability to obey the law think that they are doing good all by themselves is evident in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13:

"12 So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

No sin is beneath anybody. The arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) will fail. The reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them and that they can keep the law for whatever reason, just like Peter who boasted in his ability to keep the commandment about not bearing false witness and thought Christ was wrong when He told him of his then upcoming denials. Without Christ as our strength should Satan come a-sifting, we will all fall flat on our faces.

Believer, by Grace, whenever we fail or mess things up, let's not go the way of Judas who turned to his human strength at keeping the law to make things right. Let's turn to Christ who perfects, establishes, strengthens and settles us after each trial that He brings us out of as He did Peter. Only then can we be strong and do exploits, yet not us but Christ in us.

The message of the cross is righteousness by faith through Christ Jesus. Doing works of the Law in order to to be anything at all in God's sight after Christ died to make us righteous and perfect in His sight is what it means to be a hearer of the word alone and not a doer.

Paul goes on to say in verses 17–21 of Galatians 2:

17 “But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”

Interpreting or acting on the belief that being a doer of the word is obeying the Ten Commandments and doing works of the law in order to be anything before God is rebuilding the old system of the law that we who believe in Jesus already tore down. It is treating God's grace as meaningless.

“Law” and “Grace and Truth" are on different sides of the aisle, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17.

For us who are in Christ, this truth is not “obey the Ten Commandments in order to be righteous.” No one can (Romans 3:20.) This is the sure-fire way to get cut off from Christ: “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.” Galatians 5:4.

No Saviour from sins here so sins proliferate, smack where Satan wants everyone to be.

Our truth is that in Christ, God sees us as righteous only because of the shed blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, “even though we are guilty of many sins"-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16.

Those sins that you struggle with, your inability to live a godly life and your lack of good works which antichrist pastors deceive you into believing that you can get rid of by your arm of flesh (human strength) and thus be godly (be like God,) Christ came to free you from all of them. Titus 2:14 says of Him:

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Antichrist churchgoers teach dependence on human strength at attaining godliness as Satan did to Eve. Such place the burden of salvation from sins on the helpless sinner, describe the truth of Grace as license to sin and preach that man can be godly by human effort at doing stuff, thus expressing their unbelief in Christ who came to free us from every kind of sin and cause us to live right. But God's word says differently-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

Only by forsaking our own (self)righteousnesses and believing Jesus (having Him as our sole and utter Source of righteousness and strength) do we get to live in triumph over sin and death. This is the Good News. Following it is being doers of the word and not hearers alone, and this we do by Grace alone. When your believing is right, right living will follow.