Sunday, October
1, 2023
James 1:18-25
18 Of his own will begat
he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man
worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart
all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted
word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of
the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer
of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in
a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself,
and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer,
but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
KJV
James 1:21
21 So get rid of all
uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle,
modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your
hearts] contains the power to save your souls.
AMPLIFIED
We are
born again by the power of the Word of Truth. This is an obvious
reference to the Bible and an explanation of the battle that rages for an authoritative
text. Why are there so many versions and translations? On the one hand there is
a sincere desire to understand what God wanted to communicate to man. On the
other hand, there is an unconscious desire to remanufacture the Word to lower
God’s standards to match my behavior. I will never hold to or teach a standard
higher than my own behavior! I think therein is a cycle of decline.
When
my behavior begins to decline it first begins with my ignoring or abandoning the clear teaching of
the Word of God. Perhaps I misunderstand it or, possibly, I decide it does not apply
to me! The result is that I have become a transgressor – a rule breaker. As a
transgressor, I have broken the peaceful relationship between me and the
Lawgiver. I am culpable – guilty. I am unwilling to remain in this guilt for long.
At this
point repentance should be the action taken but, if I am unwilling
to abandon my sin, I still try to reconcile with the rules. I begin to change the rules! If I sin,
then I redefine the portion of the Bible that speaks to that topic. I make the rules
more agreeable to my sin. If I have begun to drink, then I must rewrite the Bible
to make my behavior acceptable. Gradually the Bible begins to be reshaped to agree
with my behavior. My sin becomes less sinful to me, and the Bible soon becomes
a patchwork of my own desires.
If
I am a teacher, then my teaching begins to reflect the changes in my behavior. I am
no longer comfortable teaching that my behavior is wrong so instead of changing
my behavior I change my teaching. I make the Word of God to confirm my
practices. All my followers will rise no higher in their devotion and obedience
than my highest behavior. I have become the new law unto them. I have become a
false teacher! Slowly an entire culture is
transformed!
So,
how can we turn this ship around? We will not recover until we rediscover and
return to the authority of Scriptures. I must no longer practice my faith based
on my feelings and opinions. During the reconstruction of
Neh 8:1-4
8:1 And all the people
gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water
gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses,
which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
2 And Ezra the priest brought
the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with
understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
3 And he read therein before
the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before
the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the
people were attentive unto the book of the law.
4 And Ezra the scribe stood
upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose…
8 So they read in the book
in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand
the reading.
If we
are to reclaim our culture, we must return to the understanding and practice of Biblical teaching.
Whenever my behavior and my Bible disagree, I must revise my practice and not the
text.
Jer 15:16
16 Thy words were found,
and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Dear Lord, as I view
myself in the mirror of Your Word, let me yield to its truth and make changes in
my life. Let me not be a forgetful hearer but one who practices the truths
within. AMEN
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