THE IMPLANTED WORD: JAMES 1:21

Verse 21: Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

  James now advances his line of reasoning for the believer’s need to develop Christ-like characteristics. He states that we are to put aside the baser qualities of our lives that fail to reflect the glory of God. Putting aside is one word in the original Greek. It means to renounce these immoral attributes, and to do so at once and never to practice them again. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews basically conveys the same lesson using the identical Greek word, translated ‘lay aside’:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1; emphasis added)

Therefore, two traits are to be put aside. First, ‘all filthiness.’ The Greek word has the root meaning of dirt or filth. But it also has a figurative connotation “in the ethical field [of] moral uncleanness, vulgarity.”1 Most scholars believe that this is referring to any evil conduct considered as disgusting or offensive,2 especially that of an immoral sexual nature pertaining to lustful impurity. 

Second, we are to put aside ‘all that remains of wickedness.’ The KJV translates this phrase ‘superfluity of naughtiness,’ which obviously doesn’t communicate the same way today as it did 400 years ago. So what is ‘wickedness?’3 It denotes “evil in a moral sense meaning wickedness of heart, life, and character.”4 This is the evil disposition towards others which James will discuss in the next chapter. The Apostle Paul enumerates some of these evil traits, again using the same Greek word as James—‘put them all aside’:

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. (Colossians 3:8)

In writing to Titus, Paul singles out both the filthiness and wickedness which we are to put aside from our lives:

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

It is instructive to note the use of the word “all” by both James and Paul, for all means all. We are not commanded to put aside some of these evils, but all of them.

Upon our compliance to put aside all filthiness and wickedness, we are now commanded to receive with an attitude of humility the Word implanted. This command appears to be a contradiction, for how are we to receive ‘the Word’ that has already been implanted? If we already possess ‘the Word,’ why do we have to receive it? This is where the Greek grammar helps us. The word ‘receive’ is in the middle voice which is reflexive meaning that we are to receive something for our benefit.5 James is telling us that we are to embrace and implement ‘the Word’ that has been divinely implanted in us at the moment of our salvation with all the potentialities of spiritual blessings and empowerment.

What is this ‘Word implanted’? In verse 18 it is described as the ‘Word of truth,’ which had its inception as the powerful gospel message. And we should never overlook the fact that the truth of the gospel is just the beginning of our salvation experience. The gospel Word which saves us is implanted within us for all eternity. But the essence of what is implied by the word ‘implanted’ is that the Word isn’t meant to remain within us idly—it is to germinate, like a plant taking root, it is to grow. So, our receiving this Word implanted should be demonstrated by an enthusiastic and methodical study of God’s Word, not just reading the Word, but examining, analyzing and meditating on the precepts of the Word of truth.

How was this Word implanted? The text seems to imply that this implanting of the Word was accomplished in the believer by another, i.e. the Holy Spirit. If the Word is a reference to doctrine, then it follows that we are to humbly receive the Spirit’s moment-by-moment guidance without resistance.

And finally, James states that the reception of God’s Word is ‘able to save your souls.’ This word ‘saves’ does not always refer in Scripture to salvation from eternal damnation. There are variations for the definition of this term: To save, deliver, make whole, preserve safe from danger, loss, destruction.6 The Word of truth—the gospel—not only saves from eternal damnation those who accept Christ as their Savior, but that Word implanted at salvation has the power to deliver and keep the believer from sin that damages the soul. This requires that the believer be committed to the intake of God’s Word, which is the growth pattern and the source of motivation for a dynamic Christian life (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

This is what the apostle Paul meant when he commanded for believers to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b). This work requires the daily routine of Bible study. The learning  and implementation of the doctrines of His Word, plus the total reliance upon the power of the Holy Spirit enables the believer to produce divine good which glorifies Christ.

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[1] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1957). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 745.

[2] Barnes, Albert (2005) Notes on the New Testament, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, James 1:21.

[3] Kakía in the Greek [κακία]

[4] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G2549.

[5] Wallace, D. B. (1996) Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the Greek New Testament, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, p.419ff.

[6] Zodhiates, G4982.

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi

WHAT ARE CHRISTIAN VALUES?

   During a recent discussion I had concerning the Christians’ responsibility of voting in the U.S. Presidential election, it was mentioned that ones’ ‘Christian values’ should be considered when deciding upon which candidate to vote for.

   At the outset, it would be beneficial to have a definition of ‘values’. According to The American Heritage College Dictionary values are “a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.”[1]

   So exactly what are Christian values? What are the principles and standards of the Christian faith? Where do you find them? And are they the same for everyone?

   Wikipedia has summed it up in this manner:

Christian values historically refers to the values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ and taught by Christians throughout the history of the religion. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools of thought.[2]

   The sad part of this is the phrase: specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools of thought.

   This means that there are widely variant Christian values. Wikipedia gives clear examples of these from the political stances held by those they describe as being conservative or liberal.

   They contend what conservatives or those who are on the Christian right believe their Christian values are:

•  Censorship of sexual content, especially in movies and on television.
• The desirability of laws against induced abortion.
•  Sexual abstinence outside marriage and abstinence-only sex education.
• The promotion of intelligent design to be taught in public schools and colleges as an         alternative to evolution.
• The desirability of laws against same-sex marriage.
• Support for laws against the acceptance of homosexuality into mainstream society.
• The desirability of organized school prayer in public schools.

   And the liberal or social democratic political groups, the values they supposedly identify with:

• Support for a culture of empathy and compassion, seen as central to Christianity among a diverse range of religions and worldviews; favoring individuals, families (of all compositions) and small communities' interests over the interests of large corporations and the powerful.
•  Protection of the environment as the product of a deep reverence for God's creation.
• The undesirability of war other than as a last resort and a respect for diplomacy.
• Embrace inclusion and acceptance of immigrants and refugees.
• A living wage for all and the right of workers to form trade unions as keeping with the solidaristic nature of man.
• A high, progressive income tax to promote greater income equality in keeping with Jesus' words in support of the poor and against excessive riches.
• Promoting "Render unto Caesar" as an endorsement of secular governance separation of church and state (secular laws do not affect or no relations with religious freedom, such as same-sex marriage; churches can reject holding weddings for same-sex couples) and religious tolerance, consistent with the concept of Christ's kingdom not being "of this world" and warnings against the hunger for potentially corrupting temporal power throughout the Bible.

   Reading through both of these lists, you might agree that some of these offerings are certainly commendable. It is not necessary to analyze the pros and cons of each item on these lists, but it is beneficial to point out that they demonstrate the dilemma in which we find ourselves as Christians today. There is very little consensus between the various denominations which generates an inconsistent witness of Christ within our culture. It’s obvious that the Apostle Paul’s appeal to believers for unity seems to have gone unheeded:

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1–6)

   To emphasis: Paul states there is ONE body, ONE Spirit, ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God.

•  ONE GOD – The fact that he mentions the Godhead (God the Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit) should give us a clue that there is only ONE God Who created us and the universe and Whose plan of salvation we benefit from in time and eternity. Since this is a Biblical truth the other unifying factors are of equal importance to our walk of faith.
• ONE BODY – one company comprised ideally of like-minded redeemed people.
• ONE BAPTISM – (not water) but a Spirit baptism that identifies us as His, saved from the slave market of sin, Ephesians 1:13.
• ONE FAITH – a single corpus of doctrine (Scripture/God’s Word) containing everything believers need to live this life righteously.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

   And so what is missing from these lists sited from Wikipedia and the many other lists of ‘Christian values’ that can be found on any internet search engine is that it is essential that Christian values have a foundation based upon Scripture → absolute truth.

   Does this mean that Christian values are arbitrary? As the apostle Paul would have answered: God Forbid, No!

   Christian values as they pertain to the believer’s walk of faith are contained in Scripture and they are vast and many. They comprise various doctrines which believer’s should understand and maintain. They are all based on sound interpretation of Scripture, and never based upon an emotional or personal preference (2 Peter 1:20-21). And they should be maintained by all believers, without variations.

   So when it comes to voting according to our Christian values, it becomes very perplexing. For by nature, politicians seeking to appeal to the as many citizens as possible do not maintain Christian values in their entirety. That means we have two choices: either not to vote at all, or to discern which candidate will fulfill the needs of the community, state or country without a comprehensive violation of Biblical standards.

   Therefore it becomes imperative that we understand the truths (absolute truths) of God’s Word. We need to pay attention to the political issues that violate God’s standards as well as those that support God’s Word and to analyze them and determine if they align with His Word, and taking care that we are not letting our emotions or personal preferences dictate our values.

   For it is good if we remember Proverbs12:15:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

   And by applying this verse to our lives, our counsel should be God’s inspired Word of absolute truth.

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[1] The American Heritage College Dictionary (2007) Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, p.1514

[2] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_values [as found 10 March 2020]

QUICK TO HEAR, SLOW TO SPEAK, SLOW TO ANGER: JAMES 1:19-20

Verses 19-20: This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

The phrase this you know1 is one word in the Greek and should be translated as a command: “Know this” emphasizing that we need to be attentive to what follows. It stands to reason that this is a command from James, for if the reader already knew, as ‘this you know’ implies, then there would be no reason to divulge the good advice he is about to provide them.

Next, he addresses everyone. Literally from the Greek it is: all men. And as typical in the Bible, all means all. No exceptions to the rule. Ideally, this advice should pertain to all men, believer and unbeliever alike. But here, it mainly applies to believers and their testimony before all men.

James commands that we be quick to hear—that is, to begin at once to become hearers of the word of truth mentioned in v. 18, and to be quick about it, that is, quick with the meaning of being ready and prompt.2 The idea behind being a hearer is that of being a learner and ideally being taught by a pastor-teacher. And as James will state in v. 22, we are to be not just hearers, but doers of the Word. Many new believers are never taught that at the outset, after they have believed in Christ, they need to become a hearer of the Word, so that they can effectively live the Christian life as it is formulated by the plan of God.

He then tells us to be slow to speak, emphasizing that we should not be quick to verbalize our opinions before we know what we are talking about. There must have been a problem with 1^st Century believers who were expressing their errant beliefs of what God was doing in their lives regarding the trials they endured. A lesson for us today is never to correlate the events of our lives as something undesirable or even positive until we understand what God’s Word declares.

Finally, we are to be slow to anger. James may well be implying that if we are slow to express our mistaken beliefs, we could avert or slow the impulse of being angry about trials we must endure.

Within the overall context of verses 17-19, James is providing a guide to dealing with various trials: learn God’s Word so that you will not be so quick to blame God for life’s testing. We will then not be so quick to lose our temper, but instead fully realize personal growth through the testing. For James has already stated in verse 3, that by testing we “may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

The Anger of Man

In verse 20 James explains the futility of anger, particularly when we express anger toward a negative situation confronting us. MacArthur maintains that this word anger “describes a deep, internal resentment and rejection, in this context, of God’s Word.”3 James corroborates this when he asserts that in reality anger does not achieve the desired results in the Christian life, namely, the righteousness of God. This is substantiated by the Greek word for achieve, which actually means to work, “accomplish, carry out.”4 In essence it describes the production of one’s labor. Anything in life that a person aspires to produce usually requires work, physical and/or mental. This principle applies likewise in the Christian’s spiritual life in the production of the righteousness of God. The reaction of anger to a trial is counterproductive in fulfilling God’s purpose for us to produce His righteous character.

But what is the righteous character of God?

Scripture reveals that the core of God’s character is holy (Leviticus 19:2), blameless (Deuteronomy 18:13), perfect (Matthew 5:48). There are many other facets of God’s character, but here, James is emphasizing God’s perfect sinless nature that we should endeavor to imitate (Ephesians 5:1). The Apostle Paul instructs how we are to do this:

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1; emphasis added)

For believers to produce the righteousness of God means that they are to be perfect and holy—sinless. Paul tells us how this can be accomplished by cleansing ourselves. First, the believer must confess all personal sins. John tells us that this will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). At this point nothing can hinder our relationship with the Lord and therefore we able to understand spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).

Second, Christ provided the cleansing of His church “by the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26) in order to sanctify His believers—set them apart from sin so that they are holy, blameless, perfect. This cleansing by the word takes place when believers follow Paul’s instruction to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Therefore, the knowledge of God’s Word is indispensable for the believer to produce the righteousness of God. If a believer desires to serve the Lord faithfully, studying His Word is essential. It is something that many believers have very little self-discipline and patience in applying themselves to an intense study of Scripture. But contained in His Word is all that we need in order to achieve His righteousness.

Conclusion

What James is telling us is that anger to trials and testing is not the acceptable response that God desires; it is counterproductive to the divine objective of producing His righteous character and reflecting His glory to others. Thus, James tells us that joy is the only appropriate response (v. 2) and joy demonstrates the spiritual maturity of the believer. David notes the spiritual ruin that anger poses for the immature believer:

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. (Psalm 37:8)

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[1] Oída in the Greek [οίδα] is a Perfect Active Imperative or Indicative

[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G5036

[3] MacArthur, J. (2010). The MacArthur Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, James 1:20 note.

[4] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1957). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 307.

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi