notes

Main point summary

Merely saying what you believe is not good enough. God's Word should change us by causing an outward manifestation of our religion, namely taking care of the weak and oppressed.

Discourse**

editing

NT

James 1:26-27

esv

mine

If anyone thinks he is religious

If a person thinks he is full of religion

q and does not bridle his tongue

and does not control what he says

concessive

but deceives his heart ,

moreover, deceiving himself, thinking he is religious

progression

this person’s r religion is worthless.

his religion is non-existent.

conditional

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:

True and perfect religion in God's sight is this:

s to visit t orphans and widows in their affliction,

putting into practice your religion by taking care of orphans and widows and giving them what they need

and u to keep oneself v unstained from the world.

and keeping yourself from the influences of the world.

series

ideaexplanation

situationresponse

I think 2c-2d the main thrust of this passage. Self-deceit is the worst thing for a person who views himself as religious or spiritual.

discourse

Wisdom, Works, Worship

Wisdom, Works, & Worship The book of James is that of practical religion. We see the how the passage represents on big response to religion: either one hears and practices what he believes or he does not. It is as simple as that. However, James goes into a bit more detail about what that looks like. A religion of self-deceit • This person is marked by the characteristic of an uncontrolled tongue. Simply put, it is someone who speaks a good game but has nothing to back it up with. Alexander Ross puts it best in his commentary on James: It is painfully easy to degenerate into one like Mr. Talkative, whose portrait is painted with such biting satire by John Bunyan. He was “the son of one Saywell, who dwelt in Prating Row, and notwithstanding his fine tongue, he is but a sorry fellow.” The man who does not bridle his tongue may very easily deceive his own heart, as, for example, by the dangerous delusion that fine talk can make up for the absence of practical, godly living, or by being careless in his speech, fancying that words matter very little, forgetting one of Our Lord’s most solemn utterances (Matt. 12:36, 37), or, if he be a preacher, by pouring out a great flood of words with little reality of personal experience in them. Such religion is futile." ( Ross, Alexander. The Epistles of James and John . The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1954, p.42) • James' harsh words don't stop with self-deceit. He goes on to say that this kind of person's religion is worthless! In other words, they are probably not a genuine Christian. The Greek word used for 'worthless' is the word μάταιος (mataios). It means useless or empty. Surely we are all guilty of this at one time or another, but I believe that James has in mind the person who makes it a continual thing in his life to only "hear" the word but never to obey. It is also irony that the word for 'hear' (the verb form–the text has the noun) is usually connected with obedience. This makes it especially heinous as the word itself suggests one who listens with the greatest of care. A religion of holiness • The great response from the previous situation we see is to practice what God sees as a pure religion: James gives the practical example of taking care of widows and orphans. We must be careful at this point to not think that this is the only part of religion. Widows and orphans were greatly viewed in God's sight, especially in the Old Testament and God cared deeply for their plight by making provision in the Law for their care. James' main thrust of this passage is simply to not just hear what God is saying in His Word but to put it into outward practice. Application It would seem that 2c-2d is the main point of this passage. How sad indeed to be one who has every intention of being truly religious before God but has an empty religion instead. This should cause all of us to ask ourselves some tough questions: Am I putting into practice that which I hear from God's Word? Am I simply talking Christian talk without walking a Christian walk? What areas of my religion are vain and worthless? (let's be honest; we all have some!) Does God see my religion as pure and undefiled? This last question is the most important of all. If God does not see our works in Christ, but rather our own efforts, we are doomed! Let us consider carefully this passage from James and make sure we are living a religion of holiness.

Main point summary

Merely saying what you believe is not good enough. God's Word should change us by causing an outward manifestation of our religion, namely taking care of the weak and oppressed.