<p>1:22 <i>But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding your selves</i>- This plainly states how easy it is to hear the word, and <i>deceive</i> ourselves into thinking that this very process justifies us. But if we are not doers of the word, we only &ldquo;seem to be religious... (<i>deceiving </i>our) own heart, this man&rsquo;s religion is vain&rdquo; (James 1:26). We are invited to see a parallel between the process of hearing God&rsquo;s word, and seeming to be religious.</p><p>The subsequent warning &quot;Be doers of the word&quot; in the sense of bridling the tongue and visiting the sick (v.22,26,27) implies that &quot;the word&quot; of the Gospel included practical matters- something hinted at in many other passages. The believers to whom James was writing had already received the implanted word-seed of the Gospel at their conversion- but James implies that they needed to keep on receiving it. 1 Pet.1:22,23 connects loving &quot;one another with a pure heart fervently&quot; with &quot;being born again... by the word of God&quot;. Thus again the new birth is not just a question of accepting doctrine in the sense of 'first principles', but also the doctrine of practical Christian living. Thus it needs continued intercourse with the word to create a stream of new life. On a practical note, let us remember that we should get this power of new life entering us from re-hearing the basic Gospel as much as from the deeper parts of our Bible study. Notice that the word can &quot;save your souls&quot;, showing that the soul does not always just refer to the life or body/creature, but can also refer to our spiritual selves, which the word is able to save or preserve.</p><p>One of the easiest forms of self deceit is to hear the correct exposition of the word and feel that therefore we are on the right track towards the Kingdom. Yet a comparison with v.27 indicates that it is quite possible to be &quot;spotted by the world&quot; as well as being a hearer of the word. This must be something we are especially liable to, hearing as many of us do up to three times a week the correct exposition of the word at church meetings. There must be a reference back to Rom.2:13: &quot;for not the hearers of the Law are justified before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified&quot;. Thus again James is thinking of the Jewish nature of his readership, and leading them to redirect their zeal for keeping the Law to zeal for receiving and doing &quot;the engrafted word&quot; of Christ's Gospel. &quot;Deceiving&quot; implies 'reasoning'- and again, James has his finger on the pulse of human nature. If we ask ourselves, 'Do I reason with myself that I am doing the word when actually I'm only hearing it' the instinctive answer is, 'No, I'm not aware I do anyway'. The reasoning or &quot;deceiving&quot; goes on in our deep subconscious. &quot;Doer&quot; is also translated &quot;poet&quot;, in the sense of a performer of a written script. Thus Paul speaks of &quot;how to perform that which is good (i.e. the law/word of God, v.16) I find not&quot; (Rom. 7:18). This theme of self-deception is continued in v.26- if a man &quot;seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue (he) deceives his own heart&quot;. Words are a product of the mind (Lk. 6:45), and thus to bridle the tongue is to bridle the mind, which can only be done through the application of the word. If this is not done, then we deceive ourselves- which v.21 says we do by hearing and not doing the word. Thus to be a doer of the word in this case is to apply the word to our minds, to consciously make the mental effort to let the word control our thinking and words when in a provocative situation. Therefore being a doer of the word does not necessarily involve any physical work. There are other examples of 'works' not being physical actions but mental effort to apply the word to our minds, allowing the operation of the Spirit:</p><p>- &quot;This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent&quot; (Jn. 6:29- cp. Rom. 10:17 &quot;Faith comes by hearing... the word of God&quot;). Prov. 12:22 (Septuagint) speaks of the man that &quot;works faith&quot;.<br />- &quot;The work of the Law written in their hearts&quot; (Rom. 2:15)<br />- Sin &quot;did work in our members&quot; (Rom. 7:5)<br />- God &quot;has begun a good work in you&quot; (Phil.1:6)- i.e. in your spiritual development<br />- &quot;Fruitful in every good work... patience... longsuffering... joyfulness&quot; (Col. 1:10,11)<br />- A man carefully examining himself by the word, &quot;the perfect law of liberty&quot;, is &quot;a doer of the work&quot; (James 1:25).<br />- We will be judged according to our works (Rev. 22:12)- and our spiritual development rather than physical achievements will be of paramount interest to our Judge.<br />- Those who believe false doctrine about Christ's nature should be shunned because &quot;He that bids him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds&quot;, i.e. his beliefs (2 Jn. 11,7). A like example is in Rev. 2:6,15: &quot;The <i>deeds</i> of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate... the <i>doctrine </i>of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate&quot;.<br />- Similarly the Lord worked &quot;the works of Him that sent me&quot; (Jn. 9:4; 17:4) not just in miracles and good deeds, but in developing that perfect character until He &quot;finished the work (of saving man) which you gave me to do&quot;.<br />- &quot;The works of Abraham&quot; (Jn. 8:39) in the context were to believe in Christ.<br />All this is part of the great Bible theme that our thoughts really are reckoned as works by God. In the light of this housebound housewives and hard working bread winners can take courage that their lack of 'works' physically achieved is totally appreciated by the Father. With this definition of works it is no longer necessary to feel we can only work for God at weekends or in the evenings- or after the children are asleep. Our whole life can be one of active, working service. But to inspire those works, constant contact with the word must be made. The odd glances at the pocket Bible during the day, or the Commandments of Christ on the wall, will be worth their weight in golden faith in the great day.</p>