What Therefore can tell us
The book of James is straight forward. James was Jesus’ no-nonsense brother. But, in another sense, the book is like a maze. The lessons on the tongue are a solid example. You read a verse like James 1:26 and think, “Okay, I want my religion to be legit. Better work on taming the old tongue.” James moves on to various other topics, then circles back to warn you over and over about your speech. (For an exhaustive list on what all James tells us about our speech, see Day 5.0.) In the same way, whenever we see a therefore, we have to be careful to circle back to see what it is referencing so that we may receive the implanted word. Let’s not be suckers for verses which sound great, but have lost their foundation.
It’s a just like Romans 8. It begins, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. We think, “That sounds nice.” But, what is the therefore there for? Well, you have to circle back to Romans 7:21-25 at least to find out!
Labyrinthine propensities
No, I realize I am probably trying to blame my own labyrinthine propensities on the author. I should say, I get sidetracked and stuck on certain topics which are never the main topic I set out to discuss. Therefore, this non-sequitur squirrel chasing habit of mine means that we have overlooked some of the most important exhortations in James 1. It’s my fault, dear reader. Forgive me, James!
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:19-22
Therefore
We covered James 1:19-20 on Day 2.0. Feel free to skedaddle back there and have a read on the ol’ Inner Goggins. I wanted to include the verses here because there is a great transitional verse which we have not yet covered. In verse 19 we are charged with something to do: be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. Verse 20 tells us why running our mouths in anger is worthless. If I am not listening, but chiding others (or myself) – no doubt filling in whomever on what they ought to be doing – the net righteousness produced is zero.
Producing righteousness is our goal. At least, it should be. We know what doesn’t produce it, so what does? Verse 21 starts with a keyword, Therefore. The therefore announces that James is going to give the answer. Sticking to the exhortation to be quick to hear, I will skip for a moment the first part of the the verse. We’ll come back to it. First, check out this formula for righteousness. (Going to Frankenstein these verses together for a point, then we’ll put the whole creature into proper shape at the end.)
A Recipe for Righteousness
Be quick to hear…and receive with meekness the implanted word.
In Day 2.0 I mentioned that I believe what we are meant to hear was the Word of God. I love that James calls it the implanted word. We can only hear the implanted word if we read the scriptures for ourselves, attend worship each Lord’s Day, read the Bible with our families, attend Bible studies, etc. I know the Spirit can work with only a verse or two. I know the Spirit is not limited. But, I believe we cannot receive the implanted word of God unless we meekly seek it out.
James is all about action. The action we need to take is being quick to hear the word so that the word becomes the implanted word.
Another Goat Path
The Bible is filled with delicious verses we can take out of context, and serve up one verse at a time. Often these verses are even paired down, so that the real core of the verse is removed. I see this with a Bible app I have. It has the Bible in multiple translations, which is excellent. But, it also gives you a single verse each day with a snazzy background. Here’s one from today:
Now, that sounds nice. Plus the all-caps in this one make it sound authoritative.
Who was saved? YOU. How? BY FAITH IN GOD. (If you would like to read what Ephesians 2:8-9 actually says, I will put it below. They are a wonderful truths unfortunately misrepresented above.)
I am so tempted to get derailed and go into all that is wrongheaded about this card-thing. At least it’s shareable, though! This is the sort of innocuous thing you are supposed to share to social media to let all your followers know you are a spiritual theist who doesn’t go in for the pesky details of the scripture. You feel this is what the original verse really meant. Maybe you even think this is the original verse! Let me guess, you believe Jesus was a free love hippy, and that Christianity was a great religion until that jerk Paul came along.
Slow to speak, slow to anger
“Now, calm down, Neddly diddily diddily, doodily. They did their best shoddilyddily iddily iddily diddily.” – Ned Flanders (Simpsons, Hurricane Neddy)
Let me internalize the implanted word of what James wrote, and move on.
The Implanted Word
I was in a men’s Bible study for a few years. There were men struggling with various sins. We always encouraged each other to spend time reading, studying, praying. Each week we each reported how the previous week had gone. Inevitably, the men who continued to struggle with besetting sins, even after a year or more of being a part of this men’s group, reported they were not making time to study God’s word. One man said he had started reading the verse of the day, but that he hadn’t noticed a difference in his life. The verse of the day, even if you read it every day, is not the path to righteousness. Doubly so, when each verse of the day is misrepresenting God’s word.
We must be quick to hear and to receive with meekness the implanted word.
A tree planted by streams of water
Here’s what David, a man after God’s own heart, said about the word.
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Psalms 1
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
I am running out of time here, but I’d like to quickly work backwards through this Psalm, keeping James 1:20-21 in view. …the Lord knows the way of the righteous. What is the way of the righteous? He is like a tree planted by streams of water. Planted you say? What nourishes this righteous man? His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Day and night? I guess you could read the verse of the day twice.
Promises, promises
Tomorrow I will go through the same set of verses. James 1:19-22 and Psalm 1. We can see what the Neddy No-Nos are. There is another side to attaining righteousness. The key is the power of the word of God working in us. Therefore, we have to go to it, read it, hear it, meditate on it so that it becomes implanted. But, we cannot neglect to follow the admonitions of both James and David.
As promised, here is the whole of Ephesians 2:8-9: If you dig in and go beyond the cards into the full Verse of the Day, it’s solid gospel:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
It takes the burden off