James Chapter 1 — Commentary on Verse 20

    For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

    Here James gives a reason for the last clause. Men’s anger stops them from attaining God’s righteousness and from doing what God requires in his Word.

    Forman’sanger. He emphasizes man’s; he does not say anger in general, for there is always a righteousness in the wrath of God.

    Doesnotbringabout. That is, does not attain, does not bring about any righteous action. It prevents God from perfecting his work in us.

    The righteous life that God desires. Some say this is justice mixed with mercy, which is the righteousness that the Scriptures ascribe to God, and anger will not let a man dispense it. But this sense seems too forced an interpretation. Others say that it means anger that does not execute God’s just revenge but our own malice. However, the righteousness of God is the righteousness that God requires, approves, brings about. In this sense in Scripture things are said to be of God or of Christ when they are effected by his power or commanded in his Word. Thus faith is said to be the work of God (see John 6:29). It is clear that James is using a figure of speech here by which more is intended than said. The apostle means that human anger is so far from working righteousness that it brings all kinds of evil.

    Notes on Verse 20

    Note1. From the context, note that the worst thing we can bring to a religious controversy is anger. The context speaks about anger occasioned by differences about the Word. Usually no passions are so outrageous as those that are engaged in quarrels about religion. However, this should not be the case. Christianity, of all religions, is the meekest and most humble. It is founded on the blood of Christ, who is a slain Lamb. It is sealed by the Spirit of Christ, who descended like a dove. Both are emblems of meek humility. Should a meek religion be defended by our anger, or the God of peace served with angry passions? Christ’s warfare does not need such ungodly weapons. The devil’s kingdom is often ruined by the rage of his own instruments. You cannot assist Satan more than when you wrong the truth by an unseemly defense of it. Use strong arguments but soft words.

    Note2. Doesnotbringabouttherighteouslife. Anger is not to be trusted. It is not as just and righteous as it appears to be. Of all the passions, we most often justify anger. Anger, like a cloud, blinds the mind and then rules it. So do not believe anger. People give credit to their passion, and that increases it. Anger is full of mistakes; it seems to be just and righteous when it does nothing to promote therighteouslifethatGoddesires. Passion is blind and cannot judge; it is furious and has no leisure to debate and consider.

    Note3. Man’sanger…therighteouslifethatGoddesires. Note the contrast, for the two words man and God are emphatic. The point is that an angry spirit is a spirit not welcomed by God. God is the God of peace and requires a quiet and composed spirit. Angry people are most unfit to act with grace or to receive grace. Angry people make room for Satan but grieve the Spirit (see Ephesians 4:26-27 and 30); they are more fit to receive sin than grace.

    Note4. This last note is more general and comes from the whole verse. Man’s anger is usually evil and unrighteous. Anger and passion are sins that the people of God are often surprised by, and all too often they accept it without remorse, from conceit.

    I shall therefore endeavor to show two things briefly:

    (1)      What anger is sinful.

    (2)      How sinful, and how great and evil it is.

    It is necessary to state that all anger is not sinful. One type is allowed, another is commanded, another is reproved.

    a.      There are some reflex actions that are natural and not sinful. Anger in itself is only a natural response to what is offensive. So the apostle says, “In your anger do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). He allows what is natural and forbids what is sinful.

    b.      There is a necessary holy anger, which is the whetstone of fortitude and zeal. So it is said, “Lot … was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men” (2 Peter 2:7). Christ himself “looked around at them in anger” (Mark 3:5). Moses’ anger grew hot (Exodus 11:8). This is only a reaction of the will, guided by the rules of reason. Certainly those who are angry at nothing but sin are angry and do not sin. However, this strong emotion must be used with great caution.

    First, the principle must be right. God’s interests and ours are often confused. We are more likely to be angry at affronts to ourselves than to God. Pride and self-love often rage at our own contempt and disgrace. Zeal is too good an affection to be sacrificed to the idol of our own esteem and interests.

    Second, it must have a right object. The heat of indignation must be against the crime rather than against the person. Good anger is always accompanied with grief; it prompts us to pity and pray for the offending party. Christ “looked around at them in anger … deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts” (Mark 3:5). False zeal has malice in it and wants the offender rooted out. It seeks revenge rather than correction.

    Third, the manner must be right. See that you are not tempted to any indecent speech. Moses had good reason to be angry, but “rash words came from Moses’ lips” (Psalm 106:33). In religious contexts anger is often vented freely and lies unchecked under a pretense of zeal.

    c.      There is a sinful anger when it is either hasty and deliberate or excessive.

    First, rash and sudden emotions are never without sin. Some fragile spirits are like fine glasses, broken as soon as they are touched, and all in a rage over a trifle. Some meek and grave spirits are like flints that do not spark unless there is a violent and great collision. Feeble minds are prone to anger. They are like broken bones, which flare up at the least touch. It argues much unmortifiedness to be so quickly moved.

    Or, second, such anger is excessive when it exceeds what is merited. Anger should be like a spark that is quickly extinguished—like fire in straw rather than like fire in iron. Thoughts of revenge are sweet, but when they linger they are apt to turn sour. Aristotle reckoned there are three degrees of angry men, each worse than the former: some are hasty, others are bitter, others are implacable. Anger retained becomes revenge. This spirit is most unchristian. The rule of the Word is, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26). If the sun leaves us angry, the next morning may find us malicious. Plutarch said of the Pythagoreans that if they had fallen out during the day they would before sunset mutually embrace one another and depart in love. There is a story about Patricius and John of Alexandria, between whom great anger had passed. At evening John sent him this message: “The sun is set.” At this they were soon reconciled.

    Third, anger without sufficient reason. “Anyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:22, NIV footnote). But what is a sufficient reason for anger? Are injuries? I answer, no. Our religion forbids revenge as well as injury, for they differ only in degree.

    Fourth, all anger must be aimed at correcting offenses, not executing one’s own malice. The stirring of the spirit is not sinful until revenge mingles with it. So then, as there must be a good cause, there must be a good purpose. Cain was angry with Abel without cause, and therefore his anger was wicked and sinful (Genesis 4:5). But Esau had some reason to be angry with Jacob, and yet his anger was not excusable because there was revenge in it (Genesis 27:41).

    My next task is to show you how sinful anger is.

    a.      Nothing gives room for Satan more than anger. Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “In your anger do not sin,” and then, “Do not give the devil a foothold.” It is as if the apostle had said that if you give room to anger, you will make room for Satan. When passions are neglected they grow into habits, and then the devil has a kind of hold on us. The world is full of the tragic effects of anger, and therefore when it is harbored you do not know what this may result in.

    b.      It greatly wounds your own peace. When the apostle spoke about the sad effects of anger, he added, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit loves a meek spirit; the clamor of passion drives him from us. It is only just for God to allow no peace of conscience to those who care so little for peace.

    c.      It disparages Christianity. The glory of our religion lies in the power that it has to sanctify the spirit. When people who profess Christ burst out in rude and indiscreet excesses, they stain their profession. Pagans are famous for their patience under provocation. When I find them passing over offenses with a meek spirit, without any intention of revenge, I cannot but wonder and be ashamed that I have less command of my own spirit than they had.

    Therefore,getridofallmoralfilthandtheevilthatisprevalent,andhumblyaccepttheword planted in you, which can save you.

    The apostle, having spoken about the power of the Word, and that it should be heard willingly and without a contradicting spirit, and having shown the evil of anger, returns to his main exhortation.

    Lay aside all wrathful affections, he says, that you might be more fit to welcome the Word with an honest and meek heart, for your comfort and salvation. In the verse there is a duty to acceptthe word. To help you achieve this, getridofallmoralfilth. This duty is to be performed humbly, with submission to the word planted in you. The motive is, which can save you.

    Therefore. That is, because anger is such an obstacle to the righteousness that God requires; or it may refer to the whole context.

    Get rid of. The word implies that we should put it off as an unclean garment. The same metaphor is used by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:22, “Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires”; and in Colossians 3:8, in a similar case, “But now you must rid yourselves of … anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.”

    All moral filth. The word is sometimes used for the filthiness of ulcers, and also for the nastiness and filth of the body through sweating. Here it is used to stir up greater abomination against sin, which is elsewhere called “dirt from the body” (1 Peter 3:21). Some suppose the apostle is referring to lusts that are most beastly. But either the sense must be more general to imply all sin, or more particularly restrained to filthy and evil speaking, or it does not fit the context.

    Theevilthatissoprevalent. This may be translated “the overflowing of malice.” It indicates scoffing. See 1 Peter 2:1, to which James might be alluding, as he wrote after him. Beza translates it, “the excrement of wickedness.” Some think it alludes to the refuse from the sacrifices in the Kedron valley. Most take it generally for that abundance of evil and filthiness that is in the human heart.

    Accept. This word is often used for the appropriation of the Word. Accept means to make more room for it in your hearts. Thus 2 Thessalonians 2:10 says, “they refused to love the truth.” Faith is expressed in this way: “all who received him” (John 1:12).

    Humbly. That is, with a teachable mind, with a modest, submissive spirit.

    Thewordplanted. Some refer this to reason, others to Christ, but this is absurd. This word shows the purpose and fruit of listening—that the Word may be planted in us. The apostle shows that by the industry of the apostles, the Word was not only propounded to them but rooted in them by faith. A similar metaphor is used elsewhere: “I planted … but God made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6). This metaphor is also used in Colossians 1:6, “this gospel is producing fruit and growing.”

    Whichcansaveyou. That is, as it is accompanied with divine grace; the Gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

    Yoursouls (KJV). That is, yourselves—souls and bodies. Salvation is attributed to the soul, as it is the principal part of the whole. In other passages the same manner of expression is used: “the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9). So Matthew 16:26 says, “forfeits his soul”—that is, himself. In such forms of speech the body is not excluded, because it always follows the state of the soul.

    Notes on Verse 21

    Note1. Getridof. Before we come to the Word there must be preparation. Instruments must be tuned before they can make melody. Solomon says, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:1). Christ says, “Consider carefully how you listen” (Luke 8:18). Come prepared. Let me say one word by way of caution and another by way of direction.

    (1)      By way of caution:

    a.      Do not exclude God from your preparations. The very dispositions of the spirit are from God.

    b.      Though you cannot get your hearts into the condition you desire, trust God: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The help that is absent to sense and feeling may be present to faith. You do not know how God may come to you. The eunuch read and did not understand, and God sent him an interpreter (see Acts 8). It is not good to neglect duty out of discouragement; this is to commit one sin in order to excuse another: see Jeremiah 1:6 and Exodus 4:10-11.

    (2)      By way of direction: the heart must be purged, faith exercised, repentance renewed, weaknesses reviewed, God’s glory considered, and the nature, grounds, and ends of the ordinances weighed in our thoughts. There must be enough preparation to make the heart reverent. God must be served with a joy mixed with trembling. The heart is never right in worship until it is gripped by awe of God: “How awesome is this place!” (Genesis 28:17). Such preparation will settle the spirit in a heavenward direction. David says, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast” (Psalm 57:7)—that is, composed in a heavenly and holy frame. Engage in preparation that will make you humble and hungry. Grace is usually given to the hungry soul: “He has filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53).

    Note 2. Christian preparation mainly consists in getting rid of evil frames. Weeds must be rooted out before the ground is fit to receive the seed: see Jeremiah 4:3. A filthy spirit and the pure holy Word do not mix. Those who do not turn from their sins are unfit listeners. There is an extraordinary vanity in some people, who will lay aside their sins before some solemn duties but intend to return to them later. What can people who come in their sins expect from God? Their state denies their worship. God will have nothing to do with them.

    Note3. Getridof. Take it off as a rotten and filthy garment. Sin must be left with utter detestation: “you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, ‘Away with you!’” (Isaiah 30:22). Sin is often expressed as an abomination. It is so to God; it should be so to us.

    Note4. All. We must not get rid of some sin, but all sin. So in Peter the particle is universal: “all malice” (1 Peter 2:1); and David says, “I hate every wrong path” (Psalm 119:104). When we hate sin as sin, we hate all sin. The heart is most sincere when the hatred is general. The least sin is dangerous and in its own nature deadly and destructive. We read of some who have been devoured by wild beasts, lions, and bears, but also of others who have been eaten up by vermin, mice, or lice. Pope Adrian choked on a gnat. The least sins may undo you. Christ speaks of a little leaven.

    Note5. Moralfilth. Sin is moralfilth; it sullies the glory and beauty of the soul and defaces God’s image. This expression is often used. Consider “contaminates body and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1). Not only gross wickedness, such as comes from human lusts, is called moralfilth, but such as is more spiritual—unbelief and heresy. Original corruption is given this name. “What is man, that he could be pure?” (Job 15:14). People are greatly mistaken when they think sin is an ornament, for the Spirit of God calls it dung and excrement. But more especially I find three sins called moral filth in Scripture:

    (1)      Covetousness, because it debases the spirit of man and makes him stoop to such indecencies as are beneath humanity.

    (2)      Lust, which in Scripture is called filthiness or the sin of uncleanness (see 1 Thessalonians 4:7), because it makes a man submit his desires to animal happiness, which is sensual pleasure.

    (3)      In this passage, anger and malice are called moralfilth. We take pleasure in such, but it is only filthiness.

    So, all that has been said encourages us to resist sin, to detest it as a defilement. It will darken the glory of our natures.

    Note6. Theevilthatissoprevalent. There is a great deal of wickedness to be purged from the human heart. As there is salt in every drop of the sea, so sin is in everything that is framed within the soul. In the understanding there are filthy thoughts and purposes; there sin begins. In the will are filthy tendencies, and the affections mingle with filthy objects. The memory retains nothing but mud and filthiness. The conscience is defiled and stained with the impurities of our lives. The whole body is an instrument of filthiness. Second Peter 2:14 says, “with eyes full of adultery” (the original says “full of the adulteress”). The tongue betrays the rottenness of the heart in filthy language. How we bless God that there is “a fountain … to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zechariah 13:1). Certainly conversion is not easy work—there is such a mass of corruption to be set aside.

    Note7. Accept. Our duty in listening to the Word is to receive it. In the Word there is the hand of God’s bounty, reaching out comfort and counsel to us; and there must be the hand of faith to receive it. In receiving there is an act of the understanding, apprehending the truth and musing on it. So Christ says, “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you” (Luke 9:44).

    Note8. Humblyaccept. The Word must be received with all meekness. Christ was anointed to preach good news to the meek (see Isaiah 61:1). The main purpose now is to show what this meekness is. Consider its opposites. Since the fall graces are best known by their opposites. This meekness excludes three things:

    (1)      An angry fierceness, in which people rise in a rage against the Word. When they are admonished, they revile. Deep conviction often provokes fierce opposition: “The word of the Lord is offensive to them” (Jeremiah 6:10).

    (2)      A proud stubbornness. People scorn to set sail before the truth; and though they cannot maintain their opposition, yet they persist in it. (3) A contentious wrangling. This is found in men who have undisciplined thoughts. The psalmist says, “He instructs sinners in his ways. He will guide the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (Psalm 25:8-9). Out of all sinners, God takes the meek sinner for his scholar. Camero observes that the Scriptures are so written that those who want to know can know, and those who have a mind to argue may take offense and perish through the rebellion of their own reason. For, says Camero, “God never intended to satisfy men of a stubborn and perverse wit.” And Tertullian observed the same: “God has so disposed the Scriptures that those who will not be satisfied will be hardened.” Our Saviour Christ says in Mark 4:11-12 that “To those on the outside everything is said in parables so that ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving.’” As a just punishment for willful blindness and hardness, those who do not want to see will not see. When the heart is humble and obeys a truth, the mind is soon opened to accept it.

    Secondly, I will show what meekness includes:

    a.      Humility and brokenness of spirit. There must be meekness before grafting. Gospel revivals are for the contrite heart: see Isaiah 57:15. The broken heart is not only a tamed heart but a tender heart, and then the least touch of the Word is felt.

    b.      A teachable spirit. “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving” (3:17). The servants of God come with a mind ready to obey; they wait to discover their duty: “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us” (Acts 10:33). Perverse opposition will be your own ruin. Luke 7:30 says, “The Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose,” but this was “for themselves”; that is, it was to their own loss. So Acts 13:46 says that you “do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life.” Disputing against the Word is a judgment on yourself. It is as if, in effect, you said, “I do not care for God or for all the grace and glory that he gives me.”

    Note9. The Word must not only be understood by us but planted in us. This is God’s promise: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33); that is, he will enlighten our minds to understand his will and will frame our hearts and affections to obey it. Then we shall not only know about our duty but have the inclination to do it. This is the true grafting. See, then, that the word is grafted in you. You will know it in this way:

    (1)      If it is grafted, it will be “producing fruit” (Colossians 1:6); it will spring up in your conversation.

    (2)      The graft draws all the sap from the stock to itself. All your affections, purposes, cares, thoughts will serve the Word: see Romans 6:17.

    Note10. The Word in God’s hand is an instrument to save our souls. It is sometimes called “the word of truth,” at other times “the word of life”; one notes its quality, the other its fruit. It is called “the power of God” (Romans 1:16) and “the arm of the Lord”: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). The Gospel is a saving Word; let us not despise its simplicity. Gospel truths should not be too plain for our mouths or too boring for our ears. “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” says the apostle, “because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

    Note11. The main preoccupation of a Christian should be to save his soul. This is put forward as an argument for listening to the Word. It will save your souls. Usually our greatest concern is to gratify the body. Man is part angel, so to speak, and part beast. Why should we please the beast in us rather than the angel? In short, your greatest fear should be for the soul, and your greatest concern should be for the soul. Your greatest fear: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body … be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). So your greatest care—riches, and splendor in the world—these are the conveniences of the body; and what good will they do you when you come to be laid in the cold, silent grave? “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). It is only a sorry exchange to give the eternal welfare of the soul for a temporary reward from the world. “For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?” (Job 27:8). Many ungodly people rise early, go to bed late, and eat the bread of sorrows. Oh, that we were wise enough to consider these things, that we would make it our business to provide for the soul, to clothe the soul for another world, that we would wait on God in the Word, that our souls may be furnished with every spiritual and heavenly excellency, that we may not be “found naked,” says the apostle in 2 Corinthians 5:3.

    Note12. Those who have received the Word must receive it again. Even if it was grafted in you, receive it so that it may save your souls. God has planned it to be a means not only of regeneration but of salvation. So until we come to heaven, we must have its help. Those who live above ordinances do not live at all, spiritually speaking. The Word, though it is an immortal seed, needs constant care and watering.

    Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

    This verse continues from the previous verse. He has spoken about the fruit of the Word and the salvation of the soul. In order that this may be obtained, he shows that we should not only hear it but practice it.

    Do what it says. Here doing implies receiving the work of the Word into the heart and expressing the effect of it in life. There are three things that make people doers of the Word—faith, love, and obedience.

    Donotmerelylisten. Some neither hear nor do; others hear, but they rest in it. Therefore the apostle does not discourage listening. Listen, he says, but not merely.

    Deceive. The word implies a syllogism. It appears to be true, but it is false in matter or form. The apostle refers to those false discourses that are in men’s consciences. Paul uses the same word to imply the deceit that people impose on others by plausible arguments: “I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments” (Colossians 2:4).

    Yourselves. The argument receives force from these words. If someone wants to baffle other people, he would not deceive himself in a matter of so great consequence. Or else it may be an admonition: you deceive yourselves, but you cannot deceive God.

    Notes on Verse 22

    Note1. Listening is good, but it should not stop there. The apostle says, Donotmerelylisten. Many go from sermon to sermon and hear much, but do not digest it in their thoughts. The Jews were much given to turning over the leaves of the Scriptures but did not weigh them. Therefore our Saviour reproves them in John 5:39, “You diligently study the Scriptures.” They thought it was enough to be concerned with the letter of the Scripture, and that mere reading would give them eternal life. There is a sad description of some foolish women in 2 Timothy 3:7, that they are “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.”

    Note2. The doers of the Word are the best listeners. It is good when we hear things that are to be done and do things that are to be heard. That knowledge is best that is most practical, and that hearing is best that ends in practice. David says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). It is light indeed that directs you in your paths and ways. Matthew 7:24 says, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” That is wisdom, to go to the Word in order that we may leave it better people.

    The true use of ordinances is to go to them so that we may profit from them. If you cannot find immediate benefit in what you hear, consider how it may be useful for you in the future. It is good to provide for Babylon while we are in Zion, and not to reject truths as being irrelevant to us but to store them up for future use.

    Note3. Deceiveyourselves. Do not cheat yourselves with a false argument. Observe that self-deceit is founded on some false reasoning. You can help your conscience not to be deceived in the following ways:

    (1)      You may build on right principles. It is good to “hide the word in our hearts” and to fill the soul with sound knowledge. This will always rise up against vain hopes. If you want to destroy weeds, you must plant the ground with different seeds. “Bind them upon your heart forever … when you awake, they will speak to you” (Proverbs 6:21-22).

    (2)      If the witness of conscience is not to fail you, observe these rules: First, note the first sign of an aroused conscience. Sudden promptings through the Word or through prayer are the birth of conscience. The first voice of conscience is genuine. Therefore, whatever peace wicked people like to claim, their consciences truly witness to them. The artificial and second report of conscience is deceitful and partial, when it has been flattered or choked with some ungodly principles. But the first report, like a stitch in the side, is true and faithful.

    Second, wait on the Word. One of its main uses is to help the conscience in witnessing and to bring us and our hearts to know each other: “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). It reveals all those schemes through which we try to hide our actions from our own conscience.

    Third, frequently call your conscience into the presence of God. First Peter 3:21 talks of “the pledge of a good conscience toward God.” Will your conscience witness in this way to the all-seeing God? When Peter’s sincerity was questioned, he appealed to Christ’s omniscience: “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you” (John 21:17). Can you appeal to God’s omniscience and assure your hearts before him? “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20). God’s omniscience is mentioned there because that is the attribute to which conscience appeals.

    (3)      For conscience to do its work as judge, you must do this: First, when conscience is silent, be suspicious of it; we are sometimes careless, and our heart grows senseless with pleasures. A dead sea is worse than a raging sea. This is not a calm but death. A tender conscience is always witnessing; so when it never asks, “What have I done?” that is a sign that it is seared. There is constant talk between a godly man and his conscience; it is either suggesting a duty or revealing defects. It is believers’ daily exercise to judge themselves. Just as God, after every day’s work, reviewed it and “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1), so they review each day and judge its actions.

    Second, if conscience does not speak to you, you must speak to your conscience. David told insolent men to “search your hearts and be silent” (Psalm 4:4). Take time to speak with yourself. The prophet complained, “No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’” (Jeremiah 8:6). There should be a time to ask questions of your own souls.

    Third, clarify every uncertainty. Conscience will sometimes lisp out half a word. Draw it out to full conviction. Nothing makes the work of grace so doubtful as when Christians content themselves with being half-persuaded. The Spirit delights in complete conviction: “He will convince the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). Conviction comes when things are laid down so clearly that we see it is impossible that it should be otherwise. The Spirit does this whether it is in a state of sin or righteousness. God says he will deal with his people so roundly that “you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation” (Ezekiel 16:63). They will be so convinced that they will not have a word to say except “Unclean! Unclean!”

    Note4. People are easily deceived into having a good opinion of themselves because of mere listening. We are prone to latch on to the good in any action and not to consider its evil: I listen to the Word, and therefore I am doing well. Watch out for this deceit. Such a weighty structure should not be raised on so sandy a foundation: see Matthew 7:26.

    (1)      Consider the danger of such a self-deception. Listening without action brings greater judgment on you. Uriah carried letters to Joab, and he thought the contents were for his preferment in the army, but it carried the message of his own destruction. We hear many sermons and think we will point something out to God; but from those sermons will God condemn us.

    (2)      Consider how far hypocrites go in this matter. They may stop following errors and listen to the Word constantly: see Luke 6:47. They may approve of the good way and applaud it: “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you” (Luke 11:27-28). They may display a great deal

    of false affection: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). They may be endowed with gifts of prophecy and miracle-working; but see Matthew 7:22. Christ says, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down” (Matthew 7:19). There must be something positive. There may be some external conformity, but there is no effectual change; the tree is “a bad tree” (Matthew 7:18). So outward duties with partial reformation are no good.

    (3)      Consider how easily we are deceived: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Who can trace and unravel the mystery of iniquity that is in the soul? Since we lost our uprightness, we have many schemes through which we avoid the voice of conscience (see Ecclesiastes 7:29).

    Anyonewholistenstothewordbutdoesnotdowhatitsaysislikeamanwholooksathisfacein a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

    Here James enlarges on the previous argument about the vanity of superficial listening, with a simile taken from a man looking in a mirror.

    Anyonewholistenstothewordbutdoesnotdowhatitsays. That is, he is content with superficial listening and superficial knowledge about the Word of God and does not leave resolved to obey.

    Islikeaman. In the original the word for man is the word for the masculine sex. Some people criticize this. The apostle does not say, “like a woman”; women are more diligent. They look at themselves over and over again to remove every spot and deformity. But this is more clever than solid. The apostle uses the word man to mean both men and women, as in verse 12: Blessedisthe man who perseveres under trial”—the man or woman.

    Wholooksathisface. “The face of his nativity.” What is meant by that? Some say, the face as God made it at its birth, that he may behold God’s work in it, and so they condemn makeup; or his natural face, on which men bestow least care. I think face means his own face, the mirror representing the very face that nature gave him.

    Afterlookingathimself,goesawayandimmediatelyforgetswhathelookslike. He forgets his facial blemishes. A careless soul ignores what the Word exposes and is not repentant.

    Notes on Verses 23-24

    Note 1. The Word of God is like a mirror. But what does it show us?

    (1)      God and Christ. “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). A mirror implies the clearest representation that we are capable of here on earth. I admit that a mirror sometimes represents a dark vision, as in 1 Corinthians 13:12 (“Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face”). Someday we shall see God himself: “We shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). But now we have his image and reflection in the Word. Sometimes in Scripture the phrase “heart of flesh” stands for an earthly mind, and sometimes it stands for a tender heart. In contrast to “heart of stone,” “heart of flesh” is taken in a good sense. Similarly, in contrast to the shadows of the law, seeing in a mirror implies clear discernment.

    (2)      The Word is amirror to show us ourselves; it reveals the hidden things of the heart and all the deformities of the soul: “Whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed” (Mark 4:22). The Word reveals everything. Our sins are the blemishes that the law reveals; Christ’s blood is the water to wash them off and is revealed in the Gospel. The law reveals sins: “Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died” (Romans 7:9).

    Application. Here is a meditation for you. When you are looking into your mirror, think: the Word of God is a mirror; I must look after the complexion of my soul. Take part of the law and exercise yourself with it every day, and you will soon see the deformity of your own spirit. Do not look in a flattering mirror.

    Note2. The knowledge of formal professors is only slight and superficial. They are like people looking at their faces in a mirror, or like the glance of a sunbeam on a wave; it rushes into the thoughts and it is gone. Under the law, the beast that did not chew the cud was unclean. Meditation is very useful and sheds constant light. Some people know things but are loath to let their thoughts stay with them. Luke 2:19 tells us that “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” A slippery, vain mind will hardly hold on to truths.

    Note3. Proud men leave ordinances just as they go to them: they look and go away. Like the beasts in Noah’s ark, they go in unclean and come out unclean. So many come unhumbled and unmortified and go away the same. Let this never be said of you.

    Note4. Poor understanding makes a very weak impression. Things work when the thoughts are serious and deep; musing makes the fire burn: see Psalm 39:3. And David, when he expressed his deep feelings, said, “My sin is always before me” (Psalm 51:3). Men thoroughly affected say, I shall remember that sermon all my life. David says, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life” (Psalm 119:93). Others let good things slip because they never felt their power.