Trailblazin Ministries

Blessed by the Word - James 1:25

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 23 July 2007

It's been a minute since we've had a devotion, but we're finally back in the saddle and we're going to pick up right where we last left off in our look at the book of James. Today, we are going to examine the third and final point that is to be brought about concerning being a doer of the Word of God. We have already seen thus far that: 1) the person who only hears the Word and does not do it, deceives him/herself, and 2) the person who hears the Word and does not put it to practice will quickly forget it and not make the changes that need to be made in their life. We will take a look at James 1:25 in order to find the third and final point to be made about being a doer, and not just a hearer of the Word.

James 1:25 (NASB95) - 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

I don't know how much plainer this verse could possibly be because it is so simple and can really be taken at face value. Simply put, if we abide by the Scriptures and apply it to our lives then we will be blessed. How easy is that? Of course, you know that there is more to be taken out of this verse than simply what we can see on the surface, but let's begin by stating what our final point is before going any further:

The person who hears and does the Word of God is blessed.—Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible

With that being said, the first thing that we want to point out is the phrase "perfect law, the law of liberty." What is the "perfect law" and the "law of liberty?" Without making things all complicated, both of these are the same thing, which is: the Word of God. The perfect law is that which is contained within the words of the Bible. For the recipients of this letter that would have been the Old Testament scriptures, as well as those letters that had already been written by the apostles that were being circulated amongst the churches; for us today, the perfect law would be those 66 books that we have in our Bible, the infallible and perfect Word of God. In essence, the Bible is our standard for morality and holiness, and that is what we are to live by, it is perfect in all its ways.

But if we remember the Words of Paul in Romans, he said that the we would never would have known what sin was unless we had the Law, yet it is knowing the Law that makes us want to sin. If that is the case, how can it also be the law of liberty? It is the law of liberty because of Jesus Christ and what He was able to do for us on the cross. He lived the Law to the letter and had His blood shed so that the Law would be fulfilled in Him, thus having His righteousness accounted towards us. And it is in this process that we are then able to have a desire to follow after the Lord and walk in holiness, keeping His commandments close to us, which then creates in us the character that we desire to have. In short, that is the law of liberty, one that frees us from the bondage of sin and death.

Now, let us not forget that this passage is speaking of one who is a doer of the Word and how he is blessed by intently looking at this perfect law of liberty. We get a very clear picture of what this looks like if we look at the 2nd (Beth) strophe of Psalm 119 (verses 9-16). The way that we become blessed by intently gazing upon the Scriptures is that we begin to look more like Christ and walk in His character, which includes a freedom from sin and also gives us love, joy, and peace, among other things. Just like the psalmist, we should seek the Lord with all our heart and that by doing so sin would be far from us, and Him nearer to us. That is what the purpose and true blessing of being a doer of the Word is: being in fellowship and communion with the Lord our God. What greater joy do we have than to be in the presence of the Lord and to treasure His words to us?

How does this happen? Just as the text says, it happens when we make it our priority to intently and closely study and examine Scripture, and then internalize it as a part of our lives. Once we do that, we are then capable of knowing the Lord in a greater capacity, as a result of knowing His Word, and it puts us in a position to commune with Him and ultimately take on His character (think fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5). This is the blessing of being a doer of the Word, and not simply a hearer only, who ultimately deceives him/herself by thinking that they "know" God and His Word.

The greatest thing about all of this is that this is what God desires for all of us, and it is made available to us. If we would dedicate ourselves to the Word of God, studying it and keeping it near to us and our lives, then we can be like the psalmist in Psalm 119 and be a doer of the Word like James speaks of in this passage. We just have to be diligent and make up our mind that this is what we want. For all you doers of the Word, keep doing and drawing closer to the Lord. If you're just a hearer, then make up in your mind today that you want to be a doer of God's Word so that you can be blessed as this text says. Amen? Amen.