Seeking Jesus First - July 28, 2023
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27, NKJV)
This is a pretty simple measuring stick if you happen to be looking for one. Well, the first two are easy but what does the last part mean? I’m glad you asked…
A great way to understand a verse is to read what comes before and after. If that doesn’t help, read the author’s other writings. Caveat: Holy Spirit is the inspirer of the original and He will inspire the understanding. Stay in relationship with Him and listen to Him. So, we do both. We read the context and we listen to Holy Spirit. We have the mind of Christ and the Spirit of God. Therefore, The Word of God is an “open book” to us - literally and figuratively.
“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” (James 1:26, NKJV)
If your form of religion does not change the way you speak, it is vanity. You see, when what you believe reaches your heart, your mouth will speak it. It is a two-way street from the heart to the mouth. In fact, the roads that lead to what comes out of our mouth include the ears and the mind too. The most powerful route is the one that gets used the most. Many have unbridled tongues and say whatever the wind blows through the mind. Many just repeat what they have heard because they have no inner strength. They just want to please others. And many have just learned from the worldly environment in which they were raised. But we have not so learned Christ, so we develop a strong relationship with God through His Spirit and Word and say what we hear Him say.
The previous verse says, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25, NKJV)
Hearing the word, Looking in the word, continuing in the word, results in pure religion and a bridled tongue. The word encourages us to bridle our tongues. A bridle keeps a horse under control and going in the right direction because of the bit that is under the tongue. (Read more about this in James 3.)
The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness and self control. When a person in born again and has received Holy Spirit, the love of God floods their heart. The spirit becomes one with God through the unity of The Spirit of God. The spirit, which is flooded with the love of God, starts producing the fruit of the spirit mentioned above. Love is the main component of all of the fruit. If the fruit of the spirit are a work of faith then they are motivated by love.
Self control is not law. Self discipline is not being tainted by “religion”. Self control is motivated by love for self and love for others. Self control is a fruit of the spirit that bridles the tongue and the rest of the flesh. The tongue is attached to the flesh. It is flesh. It is capable of deceiving the heart. Either the tongue will submit to the heart or the heart will be deceived and submit to the tongue.
We keep ourselves unspotted from the world by bridling our tongue. We bridle our tongue by being one in spirit with Holy Spirit, keeping our attention on Jesus and His word, and being a faithful hearer and doer of His word. Yes, keeping yourself unspotted from the world has faith, hope and love at its very core.
Faith in Christ Jesus made us righteous. Only faith in Him produces righteousness in us. Continuing in faith keeps us unspotted from the world. Faith works by love and gives us hope that we will receive all that salvation has to offer - especially a loving godly lifestyle. Faith has corresponding action because it is motivated by love and helps us to look toward the future full of hope that God has in His thoughts for us. (“I know the thoughts I have concerning you says The LORD”, Jer. 29:11)
The Word of God is layer upon layer of love and truth that builds on love and truth. The theme of faith, hope and love grows on every new layer of truth. Whenever Scripture tells you to do something, start listening to receive the love of God through that word. Then, faith to say and do it will be produced in you. Then expectancy will build toward the manifestation of salvation in that area of your life
Read the passage from James again with a focus on the listening, speaking and doing. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal the love of God in it. God is thinking good thoughts toward us so His word will produce a hopeful and fruitful future for us.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:22–27, NKJV)
Keeping oneself unspotted from the world is, simply put, staying in faith, walking by faith and living by faith.