James, The Gospel At Work - Part 3
James 1:19-27
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. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Good morning. The last two weeks I haven't been here. Two weeks ago, David opened up the Book of James for us, and then last week we heard from Luke as he took us through the middle of chapter one. This morning, I'm going to close out chapter one.
I just want to remind us of a couple of things. The first thing is this: as we go through the Book of James (as I think David shared in our first week), it is pretty unique in the New Testament. In fact, there were actually reformers in the 1500s, like Martin Luther, who famously wanted to have the Book of James removed from the Bible because he thought it talked about works too much. It didn't talk about grace enough. It is a unique book in that it cuts sharply and deeply in really practical ways, and sometimes it offends us because it asks us to do things that we don't think we should have to do.
As we look at it, and David drew this parallel as well, the Book of James is like the Book of Proverbs. It’s a book of divine wisdom, inviting us into a way of living that is greater than what we typically would live or how we see the world living.
So, as we go through the Book of James, each section is likely to offend us at some level. The invitation from James and from Jesus is for us to slow down, examine our hearts, and see what God is asking us to do. There are several different things going on in this specific section, but the overarching theme of the Book of James is the gospel at work.
We are not, in any way, setting aside the grace of God or the grace of Jesus as we go through the Book of James. What the Book of James is inviting us to see is that the grace of God, the work, and the person of Jesus accomplish things, change things, and transform things in ways that nothing else in this world can. If nothing has changed, if nothing has been transformed, then what exactly have we experienced in the way of grace?
That’s a hard question to ask, and we don’t like to ask it much. We prefer to assume the grace of God in our lives and then move forward as we always have. But the Book of James doesn’t let us do that. The way the Book of James does this is by explicitly presenting three things in this section:
How do I deal with anger?
How do I respond when the word of God exposes me?
How do I relate to the least of these, to those who can never repay me?
You might think these three things are separate and distinct, but hopefully, as we go through this, we’ll see how they are actually related.
So, let’s start with the first section: how do I deal with anger? Every time I use the word “anger,” I invite you to have the word “offense” in the back of your mind. James is talking about offense as well as anger. This makes it a deeply personal issue.
James instructs us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to take offense. He follows this up by saying that the anger of man, the offense of man, does not produce the righteousness of God. Our anger and offense do not produce righteousness.
The implication is that there is an anger that can produce righteousness. James doesn’t say not to be angry; he says to be slow to anger, slow to speak, and quick to listen. Are we offended yet? This is not easy. For instance, when we're parents, telling our kids to "stop talking and listen" is challenging. Similarly, if your boss told you to stop talking and listen in a heated moment, it wouldn’t be easy either.
In the context we’re discussing now, where we’ve just worshiped and are in a good mood, these words don’t offend us. But when someone in authority tells us to stop talking and listen, our responses can be defensive. James is addressing these intensely personal moments—those between us and our loved ones or authority figures. It’s difficult to hold our tongues and listen when we feel offended because our offense does not produce the righteousness of God.
The Greek word used here describes an intense feeling of anger. Is it good or bad? Yes. In Colossians, Paul tells us to put away our anger, but in Ephesians, he says, "Be angry, but do not sin." This indicates that intense anger can be felt without acting sinfully. This same word is also translated as “wrath” in other parts of the Bible, relating to God’s anger.
We see from the Bible that acting out hastily in anger is warned against, but God’s anger is something He possesses and uses. James tells us that our anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Maybe there is an anger that produces righteousness, but we must be careful.
James uses the analogy of fire, which can be both beneficial and destructive. Fire can cook food and warm homes but can also cause uncontrolled, destructive fires. Similarly, wrath can be righteous or destructive, depending on how it is controlled.
In Matthew 5, Jesus says, “You have heard it said of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” Here, unrighteous anger is equated with murder.
Our unrighteous anger is an uncontrolled, destructive force. We know this intuitively from the consequences of our anger, whether it's outbursts or passive-aggressive behavior. Ephesians 2 says that before knowing Jesus, we were by nature children of wrath. But because of Jesus, God’s wrath has been satisfied, and we’ve received grace and righteousness.
James invites us to see this truth and to live in its light. If our anger doesn’t produce righteousness, but God’s anger does, and if we have received grace, how should we relate to others who anger us—even righteously? There are times when our anger is justifiable, but we must still be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Social media exemplifies this issue. It’s easy to express anger online without accountability. Our anger does not produce righteousness. James is inviting us to live differently, to listen, hold our tongues, and examine our hearts.
In verse 22, James transitions by saying we should not be hearers only. He compares it to looking in a mirror. If we are quick to listen and slow to speak, it’s like examining ourselves in a mirror—the word of God is that mirror. Most of the time, we use the word of God as a weapon against others rather than as a tool for self-examination.
James describes the word of God as the perfect law, the law of liberty. This might seem contradictory since we often view freedom as the absence of restrictions. However, James is teaching that true freedom is the ability to live to our fullest capacity. We understand this concept in everyday life, such as laws that protect us and enhance our freedom.
The law of God is designed to give us abundant life, not restrict us. Living under God’s law provides true freedom. It’s like the laws that prevent harm and ensure safety—they provide freedom to live without fear.
We often forget what we see in the mirror of God’s word. It’s like chewing food but not swallowing it. We may feel momentarily convicted, but if we don’t act on it, there’s no lasting change. James warns that faith without action is worthless.
We must examine ourselves honestly. We sometimes read the word of God without truly reflecting on it, which prevents us from experiencing true change. Instead, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us.
James closes by addressing how we relate to the least of these—orphans and widows—and keeping ourselves unstained by the world. These are two specific ways we demonstrate pure religion: loving others who cannot repay us and pursuing holiness.
Often, churches focus on one of these aspects while neglecting the other. James calls us to pursue both. As we examine ourselves honestly, we will find that grace will lead us to love unconditionally and grow in holiness.
James isn’t setting grace aside but showing us what grace looks like in action. It’s about laying down our offenses, examining ourselves in the mirror of God’s word, and experiencing lasting change.
Let’s pray:
Jesus, we are offended, but we lay that down before you. Your anger was just and righteous, yet we receive the consequences of none of it. We have been given grace. Father, we submit to you, and we ask that you would continually be setting us free from the bondage of our old way of thinking. Father the prison doors have been opened. We have been set free. Would you help us to walk out of those cells and never look back? Help us to leave the old way behind and to pursue deeper grace, deeper holiness, and deeper love. thank you Jesus, we love you, amen.